fostytou

iTrader: (15)

Every single time. Their guns are set to stop in a specific torque range.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...-wrench-88667/

Get out your flame suits boys. You've been misbehaving.

You've been warned. Keep it clean from here on out. If you have a problem with something someone is posting report it or ignore them. Do not feed the trolls.

fostytou

iTrader: (15)

When I was young I watched my dad teach my brother to change the oil on the car. My dad built things with wood and would do small repairs to things around the house, but wasn't much of a mechanic by any means. I wasn't afforded the same instruction, but learned to do oil changes myself. When I got a 2G DSM I did a terrible job of modding it cheaply with ebay parts, but it got me into the scene and got me to learn the ropes. I did many things wrong, then paid AMS quite a bit to do them very, very right.

I don't regret that decision at all, because it led me down the path of knowing that doing things myself would be cheaper, and would force me to understand what I wanted better in order to get the correct result. Don't in any way let that detract from the service you are getting at a shop like AMS.

After that I had a 1G DSM that I modded, a 300GT VR4, an Evo IX SE, an Evo X (that I blew the motor on tuning myself and overdriving in bad/too cold conditions), and another Evo IX. Any mod that wasn't done to them I researched and did myself, and learned a ton in the process. Each time I did that learning my next result was better and more toward the direction I wanted than the last.

My recommendation - get a cheap car, start working on it. If you have time and want to learn a lot of skills quickly, find a Lemons racing team (thats Lemons, not Le Mans) and race a $500 car. You'll break a lot, fix a lot, and learn a lot without breaking the bank too bad.

Follow people's instructions to fix things yourself. If you are completely clueless and tool-less try to see if a local community college has a cheap Auto shop class you can enroll in, or if a local high school will let you help out.

If I can torque a bolt to spec, I do. I can't count how many times I've heard someone say their wrist is their torque wrench, then break a sprung bolt, see the shift rod fall off their motorcycle, etc etc. Yes, you will build a feel and that is a good skill to have for when you don't have a torque wrench, but I've spent countless hours helping (more recently other people) fix things on the road side that shouldn't have been problems in the first place. To be fair, if your mechanic has a good feel and you know it, you probably don't want to pay his hourly rate to torque things to spec. At this point I don't trust many people working on my cars (or bikes, or family's cars, and many friend's cars) - so I do the work myself, and I learn more every time, and sometimes I put the beer money for fixing stuff toward tools so I have an arsenal ready to attack most problems.

There are certain things that you just won't learn if you don't have mechanic friends. You'll question if you should hit that rotor with a sledge to get it off, but your mechanic friend won't hesitate. If you take it as an opportunity to learn and prevent that problem later it is all worth it.

I always take an opportunity to fix things before they break, to prevent problems in the future by taking a little extra research and effort today, and to do the best work I can (even if it takes twice as long). Not everyone has that opportunity, but if you do it right now you will save yourself much harder time and headaches down the road.

Mainly - just get out there and get wrenching, get reading, and get learning. The FSM is your friend. Some of the Clymer's or other more guiding manuals can help out a newbie a little more, but the best way to learn is to do. So just do it.



Oh - and my dad the non mechanic always asks how I became a gear head. I blame him for making me like motorcycles and putting a wrench in my hand. He flew planes for a bit as a hobby, which is down the same path but a different direction, and building things with wood isn't too far of a stretch from building them with metal. Either way he's pretty happy I've picked up a useful skill.

Ferp

When I work on my own cars I torque almost everything to spec, there are a few exceptions here and there. The first shop I ever worked at our head tech would get really pissy if he ever saw us torquing down anything that required less than 60ftlbs for the sake of saving time and that it was unnecessary. I've come to agree with him partially, a lot of the time it is unnecessary, but I like the peace of mind for my own vehicles. Other shops I worked at were less lenient or more lenient with torquing down bolts.

I got into cars at ten I guess. I have a few older brothers and my step dad always made them fix their own vehicles, even to the point of engine swaps. I grew up helping and I really enjoyed/enjoy it. I have done a ton of different jobs and always am learning new techniques. I don't do it professionally any more and I don't miss that at all. It's so much more fun and exciting as a hobby. 1000x more enjoyable to spend money, install part, tune for part, feel sense of reward. I love that side of it. Fixing a vehicle for a guy I'll never see or meet was just work.

2winscroll

That's the best post I've ever seen! Wow you and I are one and the same! Sorry about all the crappola posted earlier
PS ....I'm originally from Elgin