How did you guys learn about cars?

[lawman007]

Well I used to watch my Dad work on his Corvairs, change the clutch, throwout bearing, overhaul several engines, do head work. Used to watch him change oil, transmission fluid, flush out radiators, brakes, slave cylinders, master cylinders, etc.
When I graduated high school I was going to community college, and he picked up a '72 Ford Pinto Runabout, 4cyl, automatic, for about $500. It ran and was reasonably mechanically sound. Mom and Dad mostly put gas in the car and insured it. Now if it broke, I had to fix it. Dad would tell me what was wrong, and what I had to do, and even went to the parts store with me to make sure I got the right part. Dad was by no means a mechanic, but he always kept the cars running.

[CWI]

I learned a lot from my dad and from my brother who is now a ASE certified mechanic of 20 years.

When I was in my twenties I had a 1974 Vega (I just admetted that?), actually it was a really good car. I put over 200,000 miles on it in 6 years. When it got tired afte a few years I took it to a shop I was working at. By myself in one day I pulled the engine with the tranny attached. I took the block to a friend's shop, the head to another machine shop and the tranny to my uncle's tranny shop. I learned a lot from him too. After we rebuilt the automatic tranny I put it in the back of the truck, picked up the rebuilt and refaced head and the rebuilt short block and went back to the shop. Again with no help I put everything back together, torqued everything to spec and had it back in the car and driving it home by midnight that same night. That was a gratifying experience.

If you have the ability just dig in and do what you want. If you ever have a question you can get the answer on this forum. There is a ton of info in the DIY section and any decent Camarorade here will answer any question you may have. If yo have the desire to do it yourself, dig in and have fun. It really is gratifying to do things yourself and it keeps costs down as well. Have fun and congrats!

[1LEE]

I learned almost everything from my dad....

He has owned his own shop for almost 38 years now, and has been working on cars since he was 14 years old.

I also learned from reading & tinkering with my own cars.

[Micawber]

When I was really young my dad had a small construction company and ran a service station where he also repaired his heavy equipment. We lived on my grandfather's farm then. At 4 yrs old, I'd steer an idling tractor through a hay field while the men loaded bales on the wagon. By the time I was 8, I could throw bales on the wagon too and my younger brothers took over the driving. Dad would also race stock cars on the weekends sometimes. He lost the businesses after a drunk rear-ended him, he couldn't work for a few years, and the lawyer messed it up.

Eventually dad got back to work following constuction jobs as a mechanic, welder, and/or heavy equipment operator. We usually found places out in the sticks then, with lots of old cars and tools around, and if dad wasn't there to help there were always Motors manuals and the like. He helped me rebuild the motor in one of my first cars; rings, bearings, heads, and all, on ramps beside the driveway with a tripod and chainfall for lifting.

A high school friend became a heavy-equipment mechanic too and I often pit-crewed for his drag racing. That started with bracket racing street cars and eventually turned into an injected alcohol big block dragster. That was before the interwebs so I used to study all the car magazines every month. I've turned some wrenches for myself since then but these days I'm just as likely to let a shop do it. I might get more hands on with the camaro now, but I've got other hobbies too so I'm not sure yet if I want to get into that.

[Nvincent4708]

trial and error. lol

oh and google