Wish I could go back in time and do something like the motor project in school or something like that, I know nothing about cars and engines and never really had an interest until I was 18 or 19, and by then I already had a job that I cant just drop to go to college to do a course, and now that I have a child that is now completely out of the question.

My question is, how old were you when you started leaning about cars and engines and doing repairs/builds etc?

I'd like to start to learn little bits and bobs as I'd like to be able to do things to my car without having to take it to a garage and i'd love to build my own car one day but I feel as though ive left it too late and will never be able to learn enough.

 

never too late mate.. not as had as it seems tbh just remember what goes where and label everything

 

Ive always liked cars since i was little and have always been involed with them. Ive worked on cars for the past 16 years for a living.

 

i started when i was bout ten me brother was always messing with bike engines and cars ,built me first bike with his help and recked it trying follow him throw a river started painting when i was bout 14 old landrovers for a local guy as he sore i had a eye for it ,never really got in to engines but can do most things car related other than wiring ,never to old to learn pal buy a manual for your car and give it ago

 

Ever since i was a little boy i've loved cars, i've still got my big tub of about 1000 cars in the loft somewere Since i was old enough to understand what a mechanic did i've wanted to be one, started off working with my uncle at the age of 14 and then went to college when i left school.

Seems working with my uncle paid off cause i flew through level 1 and had to teach other people half the time took a year out to get a job to get driving and tools sorted out and now im sorry to say my passion is starting to die.

I've never seen a happy mechanic, never pleased always miserable fuckers and im having a hard time trying to find a placement so whats the chances that ill find a job if i go back to college.

Thinking about another career involving cars but what else can you do, i;m only 17 now so plenty of time to go to college as i got sacked too

 

I stripped my first engine at 8 learned to drive at 9 and been fiddleing with stuff since fairly easy to learn about cars. best thing do is buy an older car say something simple like mk2 fiesta and strip it put it back together start simple say like removing suspension or something

 

The only real mechanical experience ive had is rebuilding and spraying my bmx numerous amounts of times and helping my dad out with his capri.
Im now 16 and restoring a mk1 fiesta that will be my first car (hardly anyone my age would take on one in the condition as mine ) i actually enjoy doing it and getting stuff done, doesnt seem to be as bad as what people make it out to be.
Just need a little bit of patience and common sence.
and like what R5FORD said, label everything and remember where it goes. Helps alot and makes everything alot easier.
Im not the most intelligent person ever so tbh i think anybody can do it

 

I started off on bikes myself haha forgot to mention that. Always had fun ripping things apart and putting them back together just to see how they work, but its not just the likes of bikes and cars i rip apart, xbox's ps3's ipod touches and all i just cant help myself Have always wanted a mk1 fiesta myself but as you said not many people your age would take on a job like that cause there all rotten, only thing that puts me off is the fact i cant weld so be no point for me as it would cost me a bomb getting it all sorted, can you weld bud, who taught you?

 

I had my first car at 12 years old a mini van was always into cars did my apprentiship when left school had my fisrt ford at 16 mk2 escort the rest is history

 

when i was about 4 i started spending time with my grandad and all the cars he had were crap so maintnance was paramount, if i remember rightly he uesd to shut my fingers in doors, and i caught my finger tips in a fan blade, apart from the minor injuries i didnt lose interest, he went on to actually teach me how to fix them, and 30 years on i still do it, but not for a living. he mainly had fords too. I even remember the local scrap man chopping up a 2 door mk1 escort with an axe!! so he could take it away.

 

I used to service the old mans Austin Cambridge from the age of 13. I used to drive my mates Morris Minor that his parents had bought him to knock about in on the patch of land at the back of his house at 11 years old, with 2 sofa cushion on the drivers seat and blocks of wood screwed to the pedals.

 

its all good fun lol
im studying engineering in college and one of the tutors knew i was restoring my car so he taught me how to weld. you will probably be able to teach yourself in about half hour or so tbh mate.
Alot of the mk1's and mk2's are clean, just depends how much money you spent. mine was a cheapo one, but where there isnt much on the car anyway because its like a crisppacket,, its pretty straight forward

 

about 5 years old i would guess
spent my life at my uncles watching/helping his mechanics fixing classics all my life, my love of cars comes from the time i spent there as my father is clueless on cars they are just things to get you from A to B to him
first car i ever properly drove was his clapped out alfa GTV 2.0 which the scrapman was coming to collect and he wanted it moving to the field
i was 12 years old at the time and while i knew how to drive a car i had never actually properly driven one but when he asked me to move it i was in it and up the road in the blink of an eye lol
stayed in 1st gear all the way with the handbrake on but made it to the field in one piece
rest of the week was spent spanking the old alfa round the field until the scrap man arrived and spoiled the fun by the end of the week i was a accomplished drifter even with the cushion so i could see out the window

changed the rear pads on a E type jag at age 13 as i was the smallest i was volunteered for the job which involves laying in the boot working through a tiny panel in the boot floor to get at the in board calipers while being given instructions from my uncles mechanic andy

 

as soon as i find a new job gonna get meself a nice rusty old ford and get practicing, always a handy skill do have if you can do it properly

 

thats exactly the same as my apart form i dont have a child ivealways thought i should of done something with cars, howevere im meant to be loosing me job in january so now could be the time for me

 

Yes mate, very similar to the Rover P6 set up which the calipers were inevitably rusted solid. They were a bitch to do, with no inspection plate like the Jag. All done on your back ffs.

 

When i was about 10ish, as my dad and his dad, allways had shiters and allways taking me along to the breakers yards, when they needed bits.

Then a few years later with my dad getting promotions, he started getting decent cars, like jags and range rovers, still shiiters but expensive ones

Then @ 16 got given from my grandad RIP, his 1.1 mk2 40k fiesta, didnt do much too it, but learnt a bit with it, changing the brake pads, alternator, and plugs and gaps stuff, oh and them useless points!

then got a sierra, which i spent everyother weekend fixing something or other on it!


could never work on or with cars for a living tho, as its a hobby

 

Get one where theres still plenty of parts for it. i think loads of parts are available for the mk3 and mk4 escorts etc.
MK1&2 fiestas do have a fair few parts come up on ebay and hadrians panels still make there wings, sills and floorpans etc so that should be okay to start off with.
But it does get pricey fairly quickly, but you can infinatley customise and modify it as you go

Edit: i'll add you on ps3 later

 

Started learning the basics when I was in primary school. Whenever my dad was changing the oil in his car i'd always go out and watch what he was doing. From about the age of 8 or 9 I started reading tech articles in magazines like CCC. I continued to do so on and off until I was 17. Then I bought a 1.1 Fiesta for Ł400 and taught myself to change the suspension, set the tappets, paint and fit bodywork etc. I'm by no means an expert now, but I really enjoyed what I had learned.

Life is just too busy now to be dedicating time to learning about cars

 

Yeah always wanted a mk4 escort 1.3 bonus and sleeper it so think im gonna do that. Yeah okay pal what games you on, only on gran turismo at the minute as i havent got bored yet

 

I think ill give my uncle a call, he fixes cars for his pals etc and does it mainly as a weekend hobby, ill ask to come up to his at weekends to help him and to learn, maybe I will build a my own car one day after all

 

i havent got gt5 yet < real tears, think i gotta wait till x-mas
im on mw2, sometimes nfs shift or grid

my mate was gonna get a mk4 escort bonus and make a rs turbo rep as he had all the kit etc but bought a mk1 fiesta, which i bought off him, then he bought a mk1 xr2, then another 1.0 that hes going to be driving THEN a 1100 that he sold to his other mate. now hes looking at ANOTHER 1.3 lol we love em

 

Id love a Mk3 to turn into an S1 rep, wouldnt care about the engine size or power, I just love the way the S1 looks, maybe after a while do an engine swap but id be happy with just a 1.3 with the S1 kit/decals

 

rs1600i rep would be even cooler

 

I come from a farming backround, and we had a neighbour that every tractor and car he had was shite. I spent a lot of time with him since I was 7 or 8. Really have not taken a spanner out of my hands since, I'm 44, and still loive the job

John

 

I properly got into cars and mechanics when i was 16/17 and got my first car and it just went from there, My first job was a tyre fitter and i worked my way up. At 23 i part owned a garage and at 26 i recently had my first own business but it went tits up But at least i can say ive had a dabble in it and i will do it again some day.

 

About 4-6 months ago and im 21. Still dont know anything

 

I started when I was about 9/10 helping my old man fix one of his many Land Rovers, I then went on to start a NVQ in Motor Mechanics when I left school and because of my Dads help I excelled and ended up getting an apprenticship at the local Mercedes dealers, im not on the spanners now but I still like messing about with cars now and again.

 

was always interested when I was a kid and my dad had a lot of "nice" fords...
then when i was 17 i had the choice of a car or insurance so i bought a mk2 astra 1.4 for Ł50

sadly this didn't end well and i spent about 6 months with a couple of books like the haynes and body repair etc actually making it work and look alright, then i passed my test and discovered the scrap yard and started buying gte bits and upgrading it... all went well untill i stuck the cam and carb fro ma 1.8 in it... was a bit lumpy but went well, i also discovered that i could disable the rev limiter a few weeks later it dropped a valve at about 8000rpm good times!
then i got a mk5b escort and started buggering about with that, now 20 or more cars later i'm just as happy doing jobs on a basic old car as something like a mk3 mondeo or late 90s merc / bm

 

At 14 had my first car W reg gold Vauxhall Chevette,learnt how to take a carb apart and clean it,but always had an intrest in cars since I was tiny

 

31 and just learning now,

looking to do adult course next year..


got myself a skoda VRS project !

 

Funny this tread poping up.

If found one of my old projects i did when i was in year 5.

we got to choose what our projecter were on and do a little presantation at the end.

I have to say im gobsmacked myself at what was writen in my project.

It covered:-

The compleate combustion cycle
The importance of timing belts and what happens if they fail
The importance of oil pressure
How carburators work
How the distrabutor worked.

TBH im very suprised at myself reading it back lol