i don't have too much knowledge on cars, like whats under the hood and how everything works. Over the summer i want to learn more and i was just wondering what the best way is too learn? People have recommended reading books, taking classes at tech schools, and just working on a car

 

Read this forum.

I've learned A LOT from just creeping around the forum and reading. From the DIY to the major for sale section. Another good idea would be to hang out with people that are knowledgable with rotaries.

 

hang around at meets, drag,drift,track, and listen to the terms, and get familiar with it. someones gotta start somewhere.use the search bar,you be ok that or take courses,but hands on is always the fastest way.

 

reading is huge, pictures help a lot especially when you dont know all of the names of things.

diy thread is a biggie

unfortunately the easiest way to learn about something is to have something break on your car and have to fix it. youll never forget what that little **** of a part does and why it broke and what you should do in order for it not to break.. lol

 

reading is worthless. classes are worthless. and hanging out with people at meets is generally a bad idea because 90% of the people that "know" about cars, dont actually know anything. you can read as many books as you want to on karate, jui-jitsu, and tae kwan do, but youre still gonna get your *** handed to you in a tournament until you get up and start practicing. the best way to learn about cars is to go buy a $500 POS that hasnt moved an inch in 10 years and doesnt run. and fix it up entirely yourself.

thats what i did with my rx7, in the 3 years ive owned this car its seen 2 shops, and thats the state inspection for the two years its been on the road. it took me a year to do it. but im damn proud of it. and i learned wayyy more than any "tech" class could ever hope to teach, or that i could "learn" from jerkoffs who hang out at meets that think their neon is an F1 car.

and again, its not to say that there arent people at those meets that actually do know what theyre talking about. cuz there are. but they are few and far between, and nothing compares to doing the work yourself.

 

The very first thing you need to do is invest some $$$ in good tools.

That's how you learn how to fix a car; by having the right tools and learning how to use them

 

+1. This.

 

I bought a 1999 Nissan Maxima in 2007 and let me tell you, I was under the hood of that sucker every month. I learned cars very quickly because of that car!

 

I'll agree that getting your hands dirty is really the best way to learn. But, don't discount books and advice from people who do know about the mechanics of cars. I started working on cars 50 years ago when I bought my first car, a '57 Buick Roadmonster. The oil pump on the engine packed it in with obvious consequences. With the help of my father, who knew about mechanical stuff, I pulled the engine and rebuilt it with my father advising along the way. So having someone there who knows is always a plus. Also, whatever car you buy, the first tool you should buy is a factory service manual that contains all of the electrical schematics. When I got out of the army, I swung wrenches for a living, sometimes at dealers, and proper manuals were always a huge help, in both diagnostics and the actual procedures needed to do a repair, especially with today's cars that count so heavily on electronics.

I helped my son with his first couple of cars. He had a VW GTi that he installed a supercharger on with virtually no help from me, and today is very comfortable swinging wrenches and doing most of all his own work.

 

My learning curve was my RXt local group that were all interested in cars, so my car would break, and then 3-4 people would come over and we'd all diagnose the problem and wrench on it together. There are 2 people in the group that know cars very well.

So, over the course of ownership, we did exhausts, suspension, clutches, fluids, brakes, and finally culminating with an engine swap.

I would suggest getting with your local group if you have one and seeing what's up.

 

Buy this book from ebay



Sample

 

^ That looks very interesting! ..and probably wouldn't hurt to read.

 

/\

That book is AWESOME.

I have it (gift from a fellow forum member when I bought my car), and have read it at least three times.

 

I know that book. Then again if you look at the beginning to see who the 4 technical editors are, you'll find my name!

 

^ I'm sure it is! I have placed my order through Amazon already.

 

There were still a couple of little mistakes in there but overall they were very minor. It is still the best rotary book ever made.

 

that book is legit. taught me alot. id deff recommend getting it. i got it at B&N's for $16

 

+1
What a great bonus when buying a car.

So where is my signed copy?!?!?!?!?!?

Good boy. You will NOT regret it

 

Mark didn't even give me my signed copy! He did send me one though, after I had bought it. I wanted the book early and my copy was delayed. I gave one to a friend.

 

Seriously! What an interesting surprise.

Actually, now it doesn't surprise at all. When I do a search in google to find something on the forums about a difficult technical subject, I always come up with something from you. And it's always very helpful information

So did you make any money out of editing the book? LOL

What are the mistakes? Just curious

I certainly agree with you. The book is really well done. It would have been perfect with color pics. But I understand that would make the book more expensive to produce.

Absolutely. The book helped me tremendously as a new rotary engine owner.

In fact, the book has helped me realize the incredible amount of misinformation and bull **** that gets posted on this forum on a constant basis, LOL. So the book helps me sort between forum members that know what they are talking about and those who don't know **** about rotary engines.

I am not a rotary expert by any means. But this books has helped me be a 'better informed' owner. That alone is worth the money of the book.

 

Reading is not worthless, it gives you a general idea of "what to expect"

sure it does not gain you any experience, but at least you know what you should do and what you should NOT do, and that "NOT" it's actually very important, doing things improperly can get yourself killed, especially when you're working on cars. and no I'm not kidding.

well, yes and no, classes is more like someone reading out a book for you plus it gives you a bit of experience to do it yourself. it's good for people who have completely no idea where to start + have tons of spare time, or people who needs to make a living out of it (to get ASE Certification you HAVE to go to some class)

totally agreed, most people at meets doesn't know what they're talking about, those who do, usually pretty quiet at meets (*cough*me*cough*) I'm serious, I don't talk too much at meets

This is so f-king @3!@)$*!)@*#$@ * true. Get some POS and fix it up yourself, but before you do that, you MUST do the following FIRST


Yep, get a set of GOOD QUALITY TOOLS, it saves you #$)@*$# much time it's not even funny. Even most of the "cheap **** to mid range" tools are all Made in China, Quality varies, I mean there is a HUGE difference in quality, don't get tools at ur local 99 cents store, EVER, even u just gonna use it to hang a clock on ur wall.

Don't know what tools to get? generally speaking get a set of tools with about 200-300 pcs set is enough to get you started, and cost maybe 200-1000 bux, depends on which brand you go. I would say for starters Husky from Home Depot, Craftsman from Sears are ok for starters, for me, I'm moving up to Snap On kind of tools(don't worry about it, you are not up to that yet, lol)

and keep in mind if you're going to work on Japanese/German cars, get a METRIC set, if Domestic/American, get SAE set. Why? cuz if u get a SAE set while trying to work on a Japanese/European car, the sockets/wrenches/whatever will be either too big or too small, it's just not the right size. vice versa.

Yeah, except mine is a bit different, my Rx-8 which I bought new in 2005 was my first test bed, got my FC in 2009 and it has been on JAckstand on and off, well now it's on, Engine out, rebuild with 90% new parts, back in, tranny back in, no time to put the rest of the stuff back yet. I'm not even expecting perfect compression on the engine, but hey, that's how u learn, from MISTAKES, sad but true

*cough*

I met a few dudes at meets who really knows what they're talking about, but again they usually are pretty quiet, it's "usually" people who talks all the time have no idea how to work on cars. True story.

 

Yep, although some of the information is too biased toward certain way. it's a good book.

not coo, I had to buy mine !

I saw some noob name Fed something ...

oh I mean, mmm , nevermind

too bad, we still gonna get people like THIS

NOOOOOOB!

 

Dang, had I known that I would have gone to the local B&N instead of ordering online but I would have gone WITHOUT my girlfriend or else I'll be stuck in there for hours.

 

^hahahahahaha yes i can feel your pain on that man...i just go pick up a load of car magazines, go to starbucks inside, grab a coffee, read them all, and HOPEFULLY she'll be done by the time im finished

 

^Not saying it's a bad thing. I love spending time with her. B&N just reminds me too much of a library.