Hey fellas, ive been kicking around the idea of working on cars as a career. I just turned 21, i already have a good, stable job but ive always thought itd be awesome to do something i love to do. Im building an apache in my spare time right now and i learned to weld around 4 months ago. its lookin like my family is movin south to the sc/ga area in a year or two and i want to find a career that i love after i buy a house down there. Any advice for youngster trying to get into a custom car/bike shop? The trade schools seem like an excellent idea, and i ***ume finding a shop apprenticeship. Heres a few pics of my apache build..... Thanks for any help fellas Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
that's a pretty good resume right there , get it running and show people what you can do. In my opinion , those "street rod tech" schools are a waste of time..learn as you do it. some of the top rod builders i have met never went to a school for it,they learned on their own ask around.....what school did jimmy shine , roy brizio , jesse james ,boyd coddington (yeah , i know...he was a top name) barry lobeck etc go to?
Believe me man, you should really do what you want to do. That sounds like an awesome career. Good things in life almost always require a risky decision. If it were easy, everyone would do it. You don't want to be 35 with a house payment, car payments, kids and wife depending on you and then tell them you are going to quit your good job and be a mechanic. Sounds like the time is now...or very soon. Good luck.
My buddy who went to one of those "street rod" tech schools is the best fabricator I know. Click the link below my signature. He did all that work. He has a career in cars and went to school. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
I thought the same thing and went into a rod/ag/paint shop when I was 19. After working on other people projects all day I started getting frustrated with my own. I tried a different ave and went on to lube shop repair and still had the same thing. After I went into parts I had more fun with my own stuff but soon realized the discount was eating up my pay LOL. So I went into machine work and fab and would have stayed put there but it got slow and working for family kinda sux sometimes now Im in compressors Installing them and fabricating. The thing is I love the fabricating and it makes my job fun and gives me great skills to work on my cars, Im thinking I want to do a shop again and start doing stuff for friends and others by word of mouth And soon realize again my own stuff suffers and Im not having fun anymore. Its not for everyone and you may not find the same issue I have but asking here is a good start good luck on what you choose you definitely have skills it shows!
Find a good steady job with benefits,that pays enough to have a home and some toy's.Then in 20-30 years retire,and do what ever you want.I retired at 55,now 61 and it has been great.Still young enough to build stuff and old enough not to make the mistakes we all make when young.
excellent work follow your dream. i will be 62 and wish i had started my own shop. i live in n. ga and have a friend that is on the hamb often. he runs his own shop, by himself, with a 3 year backlog of work. he is hunting someone tat wants to work and will show up on time, and be honest. pm me if you want to know more.
When I was 17,45 years ago, people suggested that I be a mechanic since I like old cars. I am VERY glad I did not become a mechanic and get burned out on cars. DR Smith is right
You are young and have time to try new things. Give it a shot if you dont like it you can go back to school or do something else. At least you can always look back and know at least you tried. I personally love working on my own cars but I dont think I would like to have to deal with the expectations of others. I am still trying to get a job as lotto winner...so failing at that.
If you are honest, work hard, and treat people fairly then you can be successful at whatever you choose to do.
Go to the tech school. All those people mentioned above did not, but it took them 20 or more years to get where they are. With a good education in the field, you can be there is five........................... Also, most painters have ****ty cars and houses becuase they paint all day and DO NOT want to do it when they get home. The same with mechanics. Their cars are always broken down because they hate maintaining them. That's what they do all day long. Getting burned out can happen........................
Nice job on the truck so far. Just remember when you do something all day it may no longer be as fun as it is now, especially when you come home to work on your own stuff. Most of us work on our cars as a hobby, but also a source of relaxation and a form of therapy. Doing it as a living can change all of that, works for some but not for others. WHichever way you go, good luck and keep up the nice fab work.
I think the schools have merit in the fact they teach you skills and learn the right way to do things. It may not be a ticket to success, you have to apply what you learn. It also is no guarantee of a job when you are done. However, you will have the training and be able to get a job someplace that you can be producing right away. Work hard, show up when you are supposed to, be willing to do the **** work while you build your skills, and keep a good at***ude. Do those and you can succeed.
I'm 41. The first time I mowed the lawn as a kid I thought, this is great! It only took about a year before I realized - it ****s. I love OLD cars. New cars are not the same. I purposely avoided a career in the automotive industry because I never wanted to get sick of working on them (like mowing the lawn) and quite frankly, the pay ****ed. Originally, I was an aircraft mechanic until all hell broke loose on 9-11-2001. I'm a plumber now. What's cool about plumbing is: day-shift / weekends off (99% of the time), pay is better than several blue collar jobs, your job can't get shipped to China. Bottom line, IMHO, is to focus on pay, schedule, longevity / retireability. 100% of people want a job they love, 85% of people never get that. If the job you love doesn't measure up in the 3 area's that I mentioned, you will stop loving it and then realize life is short! If I could start over, I would look into being a pipe fitter / welder, but plumbing is working out pretty darn good. Good luck!
My thoughts: --be a lifetime learner --get certifications in any trade such as welding -- if the goal may be to be in your own business--take business cl***es or local free business cl***es. Good skill level does not always equal good business person ---don't count out community colleges when thinking of trade schools ---if you go to trade school, interview and research them to get the most out from what you put in (time and $) ---Your Apache shows good work skills -keep it up!
Beep has it right, trade school will give you other options should you not get a successful start running your shop....I agree with the honest, hard work comment above, but it is hard to control things like recessions, when building a hot rod can get beyond their budget, and even the best shops can go under. And, if you try trade school, learn more than fabrication, learn business skills, running a shop is more than doing quality honest work, it is managing a budget, the legal stuff, knowing labor rules, etc, etc...lots of skilled people fail at their businesses because they do not know about business..... But you are off to a good start with the quality of your work!
Thanks guys, that was one of my main worries was that it wouldnt be fun to work on my own **** anymore. I dont want my personal projects to be "work", should be fun. Chad, i had some offers for graphic design outta highschool but i decided that art was something i like to do as a hobby and would get tiring as a job. Ive considered tattooing but ive broken bones on my right hand 3 times, and that would mean no work for months lol, i have some pics of my OLD sketches in my profile Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
I've been a body and frame technician for about 13 years now . I enjoy it and haven't got burned out just yet. Of course I work on nothing but new stuff but taking a car or truck frame someone else has mangled in an accident then straightening it back to specs is faccinating to me. Working in a body shop is a good plus too when building your hot rods. Cheap or free materials,use of a good paint booth also.
One problem I've seen with some of the promising young techs is that they come into it wanting to work on something HAMB-friendly but the boss wants them to hang a fender on a Camry. I've been that boss, and some of those guys didn't last long. If you can enjoy doing it all, and do it well, you will always have a job.
Everbody is different, I worked all my career as an equipment operator, I loved my work and it was good to me. In my off time, I started a hot rod shop, did commercial work, liked the money, grew to hate the customers and the h***le it brought me, never worked on or drove my own stuff, got out of it. Took a few years to get my p***ion back, my advice is to find something that you'd like that pays well enough to support your coming family, practice your hot rod stuff on the side for extra cash and experience. Choices you make now will pretty much decide how things will turn out later, give your decision much thought, you'll have to live with it when the mortgage and kids come. Good luck.
If you love working on cars, find a career path doing something else. When I was a mechanic, i didn't want to work on my own stuff. When I worked in the Factory, I enjoyed working on cars. Now that I'm older, i don't want to work on anything. When I get off work, I want to sit on my **** and do the HAMB and a few other car sites, to remember how good I used to be. Gene
Study the masters of Quality Harry Miller Leo Goosen The Duesenberg brothers and Frank Lockhart. The quality of your work looks great stand out and make it the best you can. Good luck.
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