Young guys, where did you learn mechanics

fortunatly I went to a state run vocational technical school for high school instead of traditional high school!! perfect for a kid like i was. half the year spent in class the other half in shop. that was in connecticut. to bad there not all through out the country in every state.

 

old timers and simple ol figure it out yourself

 

I don't feel so young anymore, (37) but I learned a little from my pops... Very little.... And I learned a lot from my sisters boyfriend. He helped me build my first car, a 60 bug at age 14. Then at 18 a friend of mine at work got me into 50s fords. The rest was trial and error.

 

i learned from my dad and step dad.one was a chevy man the other a ford.so now i have a 63 falcon futura with a chevy motor.they both circle track raced so i got lucky and was exposed my whole life to working on cars.

 

im 26 and cant wait to move from here to find a school to learn the trade or a shop.
I hated the thought of working on engines before I was intoduced to the HAMB.
I wanted to paint cars and do body work(I still do)
But I only want to work on old cars and trucks no new stuff.

 

from my dad, taking about junk cars and the internet

 

I started off as an apprentice motor mechanic and them moved across to the body shop and completed my trade there. I was fortunate that we repaired big smashes and not crappy 'car yard' work, rust and dents, damage that is not repaired these days as insurance companies 'write them off' as unrepairable. I learned how to do things properly and that meant stripping everything out and later putting it back in. A great way to test your organizational and deadline skills. I often remember qualified tradesmen working there asking me, the apprentice, how to do things properly. Funny how I knew more than them and it became apparent that many were only R&R (Remove and replace) with very little exposure to real accident work.
My dad was also a hands on man and I learned a lot from him as a kid and that has stayed with all my life, I've built all my cars, garages, swimming pools, walls and fences etc around my homes. Not much I haven't done within reason, only a problem solving exercise.

 

I was lucky, I grew up in a HotRod family, learned everything I needed from my Father (The greatest man I know). I have never heard of a school with an autoshop in it over here in Oz.

Doc.

 

Im 20, i took some mild auto classes in HS but they were all about modern cars and how to plug a OBD|| scanner into a car and read a code. I got my AS in Automotive. Worked for pep boys when i was 17 changing oil and tires eventually got picked up by a Dodge/Toyota dealership and now i work for a Hot Rod Shop. I guess you learn it as you go and take what ever info you can get from the older generations. I didnt grow up in a hod rod family my father dies when i was 8 so iv been doing it on my own.

 

growing up around cars, my grandpa, uncle, reading a lot of magazines and manuals, and talking to a lot of old guys who know what they're doing...and i believe i've been blessed to grow up around such good and smart people who are willing to help me learn

 

I'm 23, started messing with cars when I was about 13. My dad was a mechanic so most of it I learned from him. I do almost all my own work now.

 

I'm an old guy now but I was young when my Dad taught me about tools and working on cars. I also learned what parts were on cars by building modelcars. I worked in gas stations and even parts houses/machine shops. I raced and eventually got a job teching cars at dragstrips. Everything has revolved around cars from when I was young and it still does today. I do not regret a single minute I have spent with cars.

 

They still have auto shop classes in the local high schools but there isn't much interest. It won't be too long before budget cuts end the classes. A friend who has a shop called the local technical college to see about hiring a graduate from their class. The instructor told him he couldn't recommend any of them for a job. They didn't show up for class and didn't seem interested in learning.

Looks like there will be a worse shortage of mechanics in the future.

 

I learned by playing with go-karts when I was young, raced them for while, and then getting into cars once I started shop class in school. Got pulled over for the first time when I was 12 in a kart of mine.

Grade 9 power mechanics class was a semester of rebuilding a briggs & straton. A buddy and I did ours in a day and then went on to helping rebuild our teachers 440 in his wagon for the rest of the semester.

Grade 12 Wednesdays were Mechanics class, mechanics class, mechanics class, lunch, math. My math teacher drove a shitbox that was constantly in our shop getting repaired so many times I pulled the "I can stay here in Math and you'll be walking home, OR I can go back to the school shop and you'll be driving home tonight."

 

Theres no auto shop at my school, i have a real good friend whos a great mechanic. If i had a question he always helps out. Its a lot of looking on the HAMB i have learned countless of tips and clues from the HAMB. I try to look it up online if i need to.

My grandpa always had something in the garage, so my dad learned from him and now im learning from my dad.

 

My old man started the bug for me.

I have worked on:
28 Essex Roadster
36 Dodge Coupe
48 Chevy Coupe
60 Chevy 1/2 ton
63 IH Scout

And I worked on a farm for 5 summers. We had to fix our own breakdowns. I learned a lot.

My favorite was a vandalized tractor diesel tank with granular herbicide in it. I learned to change an inline fuel filter is about 2 minutes, including purging the injector pump. It was so full of powder that the tractor would run 10 to 20 minutes before the filter was plugged. I went through about 100 filters is 2 weeks and finally cleaned itself out.

Fun, Fun, Fun

 

My Grandfather then I spent 25k going to a tech school for a year.

 

I knew I liked to work with my hands but as a kid was not allowed around power tools, or most tools in general. My highschool didn't offer any auto class. However, after I graduated I went to a tech school and started working at a garage. Ever since then I've just learned through tinkering with small engines and anything I can tear apart and put back together.

 

Combine salvage taught alot. All the car stuff is self taught trial and error!

 

i grew up on a farm......'nuff said

 

I learn by breaking stuff, and tearing shit up.

 

My dad bought me a Craftsman tool box with tools for christmas when I was 12.
I worked on bikes and small gas motors until he bought me a junkyard 57 Chevy and told me to take it apart to learn about cars. I also learned how to do body work and bondo(ing). Hands on......THEN I went to school.....

 

Ha.
Lot's of memories here.
My Dad used to go to garage sales, and pick up used tools. The garage began to be filled with them. When ever our family car broke down, he would try to fix it rather than take it to a mechanic. We didn't have the money to pay someone to get it fixed. I guess I finally figured that the best way to get something done was to fix it yourself. I would go out into the garage and take things apart to see how they worked. Most of the time I didn't get them back together, but ended up using the parts for some other project. Took wood shop in middle school, and metal shop in high school. Worked as a gas station attendant in High school, and got the car bug at that time. Got a job as a machinist right after high school and ran an engine lathe at Baker Oil and Tool out here in California. Got laid off when they stopped drilling off of the coast, and joined the Navy for 4 years. Got out, and went to art college so I could draw the things I wanted to make before building them. Everything over the years added to my knowledge, so I guess I can't say that only one thing was instrumental in how or why I learned mechanics. But I know I love making stuff!!

 

ive spent A LOTTTT of time sitting down with the older guys, ive heard some amazing stuff just listening, but my uncle did some hot rods in the 60's and hes taught me a lot about metal fabrication and a friend down the rd taught me the history and what the good stuff is and what its worth

 

I learned a lot from my dad and cousin. Also from T.V. shows, reading magazines and books and a lot of trial and error.

 

This. In fact thats where I am now typing this, just in a break from harvest.

 

My Dad's truck needed a new thermostat and housing, I was 11, my Dad said "Fix my truck, God gave you a brain, go figure it out".

 

A combination of my old man, some buddies, online sources, self taught and two of my dads mechanics on the ranch.

 

My dad is a mr fix it, I just hung around with him fixing things on small engines, cars, and basically everything. I watched and then tried it for myself, I loved working on things, like my bike, back when I was like 10. I learned the lingo, and tools early on too. Then 3 years ago (14 years old) my dad got a 68 camaro, I learned A LOT. I learned a lot from my neighbor too. Now last year when I got my car, I put all I learned to the test. Also for the last 4 years I've been in auto body at my high-school, so I learn a lot of stuff in there.

Today I fixed our echo chainsaw (got ran over). I love doing that stuff.

 

I am anything but a "young gun" but didn't have any auto shot classes in school either. I am a selt-taught mechanic. Trial & error, Murphy's law, and Chiltons manuals were and are my classroom. My dad wasn't into cars and neither was my step-father. Some of the kids I hung out with in the late 70's were into cars and I guess i wanted to be part of the group. I have enjoyed and hated my time working on cars but that is part of the program. I know I have saved many thousands of dollars working on my own stuff and it has been worth every minute - especially when I take out the 31 coupe and all I see is smiles & thumbs up from everyone.