learning new skills is a PLUS! jump on the chance!

[grumpyvette]

I know! youve never done something and your afraid youll mess it up,

EXAMPLE

the first time I looked over a TPI injection system I was very reluctant to start taking things apart, so as a hedge I took a dozen close up digital photos and labled every connection with masking tape and a majic marker sharpie pen, I had no idea how the injector connectors were released and didn,t realize there was a spring retainer untill Id got four removed, but after about the first dozen, I didn,t even bother looking any longer since things were so familiar.

EXAMPLE

the wifes MERCURY had the power seat control switch in the door go bad, I bought a new one,but I was very reluctant to disassemble the door panel, as I was sure ID screw it up!, but some careful inspection revealed it could easily be accessed and in 10 minutes I was done doing a job ID been hesitant to start for days.

theres a first time for nearly everything and youll be surprised, in many cases youll find you enjoy knowing how to do things better.....think back to how clumsy and hesitant you probably felt when you started dateing,but learning new skills has its benefits

 

now I got asked,

"what do you do, who do you call when your about to tackle a job youve never done before?"

now most guys sub out jobs to the dealer or a corvette shop when they get into areas they may not be familiar with,but I do ALL the work on my corvettes for TWO good reasons, first I could NEVER afford the shop rates and I can NEVER trust the quality of work many shops do, now ILL be the VERY FIRST GUY IN LINE to ADMIT Im in WAY over my head at times! but Ive always been able to research the processes, tools, and skills and do the work, or find someone too teach me the skills eventually, youll NEVER learn new stuff if your not willing to tackle new projects and get in way over your current skill level....besides it USUALLY requires buying LOTS OF new tools and meeting new friends so you can,t hardly lose!

 

IF you take this advice seriously youll save ALOT of time and money,

BUY YOUR CARS FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL.

 

DO YOURSELF A HUGE FAVOR

buy these books, FIRST it will be the best money you ever spent, read them, and you will be miles ahead of the average guy. youll save thousands of dollars and thousands of hours once youve got a good basic understanding of what your trying to do!

 

http://www.themotorbookstore.com/resmchstvi.html

 

how to assemble an engine basics on video

 

 

these books

 

 

HOW TO BUILD MAX PERFORMANCE CHEVY SMALL BLOCKS ON A BUDGET by DAVID VIZARD

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Performance-Blocks-Budget-Design/dp/1884089348/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195231793&sr=1-1

 

JOHN LINGENFELTER on modifying small-block chevy engines

 

http://www.amazon.com/John-Lingenfelter-Modifying-Chevy-Engines/dp/155788238X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195231760&sr=1-1

 

 

SMOKEY YUNICK,S POWER SECRETS

 

http://www.amazon.com/Smokey-Yunicks-Power-Secrets-Yunick/dp/0931472067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195231724&sr=1-1

 

How to Rebuild Small-Block Chevy Lt1/Lt4 Engines

http://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Small-Block-Chevy-Engines-Hp1393/dp/1557883939/ref=pd_sim_b

[91_4x4runner]

I wholeheartedly agree. That's how I feel after working on my Z (first major project). I still feel body work is daunting, but I'm willing to give it a try... the car was cheap after all.

[johnc]

When a big job appears daunting and you can't get started on it, pick one simple task and get that first step done. That leads to another small task and then another and before you know it, momentum has taken over and you're getting a lot of work done.

 

For example: You don't know how to rebuilt an engine, but you can figure out how to remove the oil pan. Do that.

[jeffer949]

I felt the same way about painting my car. Never really done body work and never shot a metalic or a whole car. Im more of the dive into something though lol. Like Hey lets start with just taking all the paint off the car lol

[grumpyvette]

we ALL tend to remember better and learn more from our own and others ,SCREW UPS than when things go flawlessly...if your not occasionally screwing something up its obvious your not doing much engine rebuilding or many extensive modifications on a steady basis,

 

EXPERT= REQUIRES YOU TO BE EXTENSIVELY EXPERIANCED IN A CERTAIN FIELD OF ENDEVOR

 

EXPERIANCE= VERTUALLY REQUIRES PAST SCREW UPS

[cygnusx1]

Often times people approach me, mostly kids, and ask, "how did you learn to do all of this stuff?" My standard reply is, "By doing it." I tell them to read, read and read, go take a part off of the car, clean it, paint it, and put it back. Do that over and over, studying the parts, reading about what they do and how they work. Make an adjustment, notice a difference. Read why. Think about why. Why not. make one change at a time. Reset changes that don't do anything. Read, Read, Read. Get the RIGHT tools.

[grumpyvette]

a few dozen shop manuals, and books on engine rebuilding helps a great deal, being a tool freak doesn,t hurt either,and the CD I posted above plus having big dreams and a pitifull wallet brings the skills you need to compensate and do your own work when ever you can into clear perspective.....youll rarely if ever regret buying good tools or gaining skills and experiance........BTW if any of you local guys need help contact me, I do lots of the simpler stuff for the cost of parts/materials and coffee, and more extensive stuff dirt cheap, or free if your willing to do a good deal of the work along side me, plus the cost of parts/materials and coffee, naturally as I generally enjoy working on cars, and you can never have too many friends around to help on your personal projects or contacts either

[DavyZ]

That's one of the benefits of not being able to afford to have someone else to do the job for you. It's actually a blessing in disguise many times. I have learned how to remodel a house by doing it more than twice! I just hope I can do the same on my car...

 

Davy

[sstallings]

There are other benefits as well. I recently took my wife's three year old Toyota Highlander to the dealer for a rough idle problem, but I read the factory manual first. When they told me they were going to charge me $570 to rebuild the IAC, I asked the service rep what the codes were. I guess no one ever asks them that, because they had to go find out. While he was gone, I checked the manual and found out that the IAC on the Toyota 3.0L is not rebuildable (so they were probably going to spray some carb cleaner in it and charge me over 5 bills). When they told me the codes, I asked them how they rebuild IACs, and the service guy turned me over to the service manager who made up a story about dis-assembly, re-tensioning the spring and cleaning/servicing the unit. So I asked him to show me the spring tensioner (which pissed him off since there is no such tool in his shop), then explained to him that the IAC is a press fit so it can't be disassembled, and its not rebuildable according to the manual.

 

I then took my wife's car to a real mechanic who charged me about $350 for a full replacement IAC, and I wrote a letter to Toyota about their dealer. They called me, asked for a copy of my receipt, and sent me a check to cover 100% of my costs and assured me they would handle their dealer issue.

 

So even if you don't do all the work on all your cars yourself, you can save money simply with a bit of research and knowledge. Dealers count on the fact that most people don't understand EFI and are willing to accept any crap they tell them, and pay dearly for that advice.

Never stop learning.

Steve

[grumpyvette]

BTW,

its a known fact you need (4) 6 point and (4) 12 point sockets in BOTH 3/8"drive and 1/2" drive in BOTH standard and deep versions for every size of every bolt, both metric and SAE and every nut on any car you own just to BEGIN working on them,and altho wrenches and ratchets are a bit harder to loose youll need a good sekllection of those also, because at least 1/3rd of those sockets/wrenches,etc. will have rolled under the car, under a work bench or will either brake or get misplaced durring EVERY project!

remember EVERY PROJECT TAKES LONGER AND COSTS MORE THAN YOU THINK IT WILL.....GET USED TO THE FACT AND COMPENSATE FOR IT!,EXPECT IT!

 

once the car runs do an inventory of the tools and buy new ones to replace the ones you throw accross the shop, lost, welded accidently, broke or dropped into non-accessable holes in the car, or lost under the benches and behind machinery in the shop, after awhile you understand the necessity of stopping by SEARs, or MAC ,or SNAPON, regularly, and just figure its a NORMAL part of the procedure, as necessary as band-aids,asprin,a pad and pen and beer ,a few soft cuss words and paper towels are to any car project

[essdeezee]

Had to bring this post back up to the top. Great advice, great inspiration.

 

I'm a young guy, who used to be completely terrified of screwing up.

 

I wanted a Z, but I didn't know the first thing about working on cars!

 

I blew a headgasket on my l24 and was thinking about just writing the car off.

 

An older friend of mine heard what I was thinking about, and straight up confronted me about it.

 

"Are you really serious? REALLY NOW. I'm coming over tomorrow. We're going to pick up some gaskets first thing in the morning, and we are tearing that thing down."

 

A couple hours later, I had a much more intimate knowledge of the L motors than before.

 

The next day, after we buttoned it up and it ran, I had an epiphany: All the learning you do in school, all the reading you do on the internet, and all the people you talk to aren't worth a damn thing unless you are ready to get your hands dirty (well, forearms maybe- love them nitrile gloves!).

 

Since then, I've learned to MIG weld, remodeled a kitchen and bathroom (plumbing, electrical, gas, appliances, drywall, custom woodwork/cabinetry, tile, granite, and other natural stone) , rebuilt my SU's, started rust repair and bodywork on the Z, and have become a craigslist tool section perusing fiend (so much for disposable income).

 

Now, I have come to the conclusion that most things in life are pretty damn simple if you take the time to research, prepare, and purchase the proper tools. That statement is qualified by the "most" in it.

 

 

 

I still have a list of things I feel I can and will learn eventually given the proper situation. I plan to make those situations happen.

 

I'm going to learn to TIG weld, troubleshoot and rewire automotive electrical systems, build my own coilover setup (thank god for hybridz) for the Z, and learn to pull spindle pins.

 

 

Guys, I love interacting with like minded people in a format such as this that encourages research and pushing the boundaries of the conventional.

 

I hope, as I learn and grow, that I will be able to bring more contributions to the table here at HybridZ.

 

Moderators, prolific members, and lurkers: Keep places and things like this alive.

[grumpyvette]

the more I weld the more I tend too avoid my arc and MIG for the more precise stuff,and go with my oxy-acetolene torch and my TIG

btw IVE been in over my head on projects more times than I can remember, it just part of learning

[BillZ260]

Great thread and great insight too. This stuff is what makes me tick, love it. Right now I'm in over my head doing a complete kitchen remodel. Hopefully I'll have pics up by Thanksgiving

 

I should be able to pick up at least one specialty tool durring this job that I don't already have

[MJLamberson]

this describes how I feel with wiring, which is why my Z isnt done yet, I started, But now Im afraid to mess it all up so I havnt touched it in the past few days,,

 

 

I heard a quote once: mistakes are a result of lack of experience, experience is a result of mistakes.

[pparaska]

Oh, so true. This is why we MUST get our kids out in the garage, under the shade tree, whatever to teach them how to do things and how NOT to be afraid to do things. Case in point, this Saturday I am going to be replacing the clutch on my 91 Galant VR-4. AWD adds a bit of fun. Plus, I've never done a FWD/AWD tranny pull. But money is very tight, so I will be doing this myself. My kids will be pulled out there to watch and help. My daughter is not a problem, but my son can't be bothered with it. Well, I will get him to do it, to see that we can do things ourselves. And have fun while doing it and learning!

 

I've always been a bit fearless when it came to the mechanical stuff, and used to freak my dad out by rebuilding an engine at 16yrs old. But I studied the books many times before I started and dove in. That engine was always reliable (stock 327 SBC). I've had a lot of freak stuff go on with my cars over the years, some my fault, some just dumb luck. It reinforces that we must pick up the pieces and start again.