I am embarrassed

[Luigi]

I am embarrassed. I know nothing about cars and a lot of you guys seem to know what you are talking about. Trying to read some of the stuff you guys post is like trying to read medical jargon. I know nothing about tuning, power to weight and other stuff y'all talk about.
The only thing I know how to do is change my oil, oil filter, radiator, tires. brakes, and air intakes/air filters.

I guess what I am trying to say is how did y'all get to the level you all are at? How long did it take to learn what you know.

[Luigi]

Lol you scared me. Thanks on the video recommendations I will check them out.

[Macavely]

I learned from my dad, mom, grandfather, uncles.. . and reading a lot of books.. I never liked reading fictional stories in school.. So I would read text books about cars that my dad had at his shop. You can learn a lot just by reading repair ..

[Snaps]

I learned by my dad teaching me, reading on forums, and by pulling things apart - sure, it hasn't worked out the best all the time, and it's cost me and my parents a little more money than I would have liked, but in the end you learn from it, and it's a great experience when you finally understand how to do something reasonably complex. After a while you start to pick up the terms, and understand what they mean. And for the things you don't, you can always do a google search. Most of the information you'll readily find on the internet is pretty much correct, but keep your common sense about you and you won't end up doing anything to your car that you will regret!

The fact that you know how to do an oil change means you're off to a good start. Just keep an ear and an eye out, try and do some more maintenance on your cars, and if something seems simple enough to pull apart, then go ahead, and try to work out how the part works, then put it back together. Although, don't attempt this if you only have one car and it's your daily driver!

www.howstuffworks.com is an amazing site for learning the basics of how an engine works. Once you understand the theory behind that you can start to learn the more complicated things, and because you then understand how an engine works, the more complicated things will make more sense!

[ichitaka05]

Hm... IDK easy way to say it but for me, I just learned it. It's in my blood too, cuz my father's side is pure automotive-holic, so if you don't know anything bout it you get flamed (& I'm not kidding on that one). Beside of it's in my blood, best way to learn bout car is work on it. You already know bout basic stuff, so just advance to next level.

Some people do is buy POS car and make it into project car. Have somewhat of idea what you wanna do to that car and have laptop w internet (w forum that have good DIY), repair manual, and tools then you're ready to go.

There's so many different way to learn, you choose the path! lol

[john]

Just remember, everybody has to start somewhere. Ichi is right..the best way to learn is to get out there into the real world and work on a car yourself.

[BoostJunkie]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Hm... IDK easy way to say it but for me, I just learned it. It's in my blood too, cuz my father's side is pure automotive-holic, so if you don't know anything bout it you get flamed (& I'm not kidding on that one). Beside of it's in my blood, best way to learn bout car is work on it. You already know bout basic stuff, so just advance to next level.

Some people do is buy POS car and make it into project car. Have somewhat of idea what you wanna do to that car and have laptop w internet (w forum that have good DIY), repair manual, and tools then you're ready to go.

There's so many different way to learn, you choose the path! lol

This

Another good way is if you have any buddies that also enjoy cars and work on them their selves, help them, grab a 6-pack and go over and help them work on what ever it is they are working on or fixing and I garuntee you can't help but pick up some knowledge, and if you don't know, ask, I learned from my dad, my buddies, and just doing it myself, and reading in forums, but nobody learns everything over night, it takes time

I don't know about everybody else, but if you have any questions, I'll do my best to help you out, just ask, also before you post a thread about something, try searching, that way you don't get flamed so much

[C-Bone]

Ya, or if you need something done on your own car, research and try to do it yourself before taking it to a mechanic or dealership if you're comfortable with that. I've saved myself a lot of money fixing things myself and even just doing brakes and stuff. The internet is a great tool, use it! you can find almost anything you need on there

[midenginebias]

I'm from a non automotive family altogether. I'm the only car nut on both the father and mother's side.

I just did a whole mess of reading of car mags while growing up out of pure interest.

[Luigi]

Thank you all for the great advice!

@BoostJunkie thanks for offering your help, I might take you up on it. Nice car BTW.

[VenomRush]

try to hang out around people that are involved with cars... it'll rub off on you, and if they're are like the car people i know, when you ask them a question they'll be more than happy to explain to you what you are asking. but in all honesty, you wont learn just by asking. you gotta do the hands on stuff. and sometimes you have to break something to learn how to do it right

[aliphian]

I read every detailed build thread I could find. You start to put two and two together after a while. Also, read the entire automotive section on howstuffworks.com.

[Luigi]

Originally Posted by VenomRush

try to hang out around people that are involved with cars... it'll rub off on you, and if they're are like the car people i know, when you ask them a question they'll be more than happy to explain to you what you are asking. but in all honesty, you wont learn just by asking. you gotta do the hands on stuff. and sometimes you have to break something to learn how to do it right

The thing is I don't know any one who is into cars like that and I am too scared to try and work on my engine. my truck is the only car I have.

[C-Bone]

if you can afford it and if you have the room, maybe look into getting cheap a fixer-uper if you really want to do some hands on stuff. first see what you might want to get and then look online for some forums or help sites for that car and see how much information they have available on tuning and modifying and fixing. That would probably be your best bet if you don't have any friends that work on cars; or you can always take an automotive class