Where Do You Learn All these Things?

i'm 14 turning 15 and know very little about gti's. is there any good sites that would tell you all the things you should know about cars? i'm about to turn legal driving age and i barely know anything! i wanna learn everything there is to know so that when i buy my car i can modify it to the max!

please excuse my ignorance...

 

Best off buying a banger for your first car and then when it goes wrong try get someone who knows a thing or to about cars and get them to show what is wrong with it every time and how you fix it.

Im 23 - got my first car when was 12 it was a mini that i took to bits to find out how it all worked- i nereve put it back together and ended up scraping it but it taught me lots about cars.

A Gti will cost the earth to insure if you can actually get a quote from anyone at 17- Get hold of a base model Mk2 or Mk3 1300.

 

With all things in life - it comes with experience.

The internet wasn't around when I first started to drive, so I had to get my hands dirty. In some ways it's fun but in others it's a complete b*stard.


Edited by: Jon TDI

 

I taught my self on a mk1 ford fiesta 950 pop + when I was a kid, read old car mechanics books, haynes, readers digest and aa. and learn out to the car and figuring it out. I also did my work experience in a large Benz dealers in the Commercial vehicle garage, that taught me how to examine body work (PDI).

 

He's American, You'd be better off with a Bentley A1/2/3 manual depending on what car you get. Do the even sell the Haynes manuals out there?

 

Get your hands dirty. Best way to learn. Ask loads of questions and get as much help as possible.

 

An older car is much simpler, and therefore easier to understand. The guys are right through, there is no substitute for getting your hand dirty.

If you want to understand more about how engines work in general, then http://www.howstuffworks.com/ is an excellent introduction to everything from gearboxes to turbochargers.

Simon.

 

Couldn't agree more. Buy an old car to start with then learn how to service it properly and set it up to run at it's optimum in standard form.

Then when things break, fix them by getting bits from scrap yards where possible. That way you get to practice taking whatever it is apart without having to worry to much about breaking it as it's not your car !

Have someone around that knows a bit about cars helps, but don't let them do the job for you. And if it all goes wrong or you want to double check something, post it on here.

Fewer and fewer people know anything about cars anymore. When I was a teenager (Dark Ages...) we all had our cars in bits at weekends.

 

Learnt my first stuff helping rebuild my dad's old Volvo P1800s. then cut my teeth with rebuilding motorbikes with my Bro when he had his shop, then learnt some more stuff at Tech college, then started playing with cars and then GTI's. Best way is to get your hands dirty definatley

 

I started of with a beetel. a very basic car and easy to understand. It is all about practical experiance. reading stuff does help but doing and reading is completly differant.
Don't be scared of doing anything yourself you won't learn if you don't make any mistakes. there are always pleanty of people willing to answer any question on these forums.

 

I wasnt in the position to start taking a car apart when 17-21, as I drove my parents cars (MK3 then MK4 Golf) but still learned from one of my close friends who completely stripped and rebuilt a mini with a metro 1300cc engine, metro brakes, etc... etc...

Just asked loads of questions, went round to see how the project was coming along, and when I finally got my GTI when 21, I just try to do all the work that needs doing myself if possible (done a lot of brakes work now, wanna move to suspension). Helps to be technically minded, good at maths and have an interest for engineering.

My same friend went on to do a masters degree in Automotive engineering, so handy if I wanna ask anything!

 

You sound exactly like I sounded about one/two years ago!! I had an old shegged out 1.3 89' golf, im on my third golf now and know ALOT more than I did just by fixing it myself!

Find someone you know that knows there stuff about cars, ask them how to do things but dont let them do it, and as everyone says, get your hands dirty.....the more mistakes you make the better, 1) it doesnt matter cause the cars not worth anything 2) its the best way to learn!

Get stuck in and enjoy it!

Matt

 

don't buy an old car, plenty of poo on the side of teh road and abandoned stuff, people looking to clear out their garage

 

It all comes with experiance. (thats knowledge, dirt and a lot of bruises and the occasional loss of blood!!!)(not going to even go mention all the swearing and frustration)

I bet most of the pps on here that know roughly wot their doing had parents that took cars to bits too, back in the day when you could really strip cars down.

Best bet is to get a car that is running and in fairly good nick, if your folks have a garage then your laughin, even better if its bigger than a standard single garage!! Or a friend that has a lot of land!!

I wish this tinternet was up and running like it is now on those freezing winter afts many moon ago when i couldn't figure out how to undo stuff and the group stand and stare at it wouldn't generate any solutions!!!

 

Forget buying anything at your age - pick up a free lawnmower at the dump. It'll be a side-valve job, but fixing it will teach you far more than messing about with engines you don't understand.

 

ok thanks for all the great info...i was expecting alot of criticism lol. i already own a 1992 ford mustang. its a 2.3 liter. i'm sure i could get alot of experience by playing around with that. can't wait till i own a gti though

 

Why are you worrying about cars for, at your age you should be out getting drunk and shagging slightly older girls (for legal reasons) and remember that if you get a decent job you wouldnt have to worry about repairing your own car because you could get some peasant to do it for you

 

i got a car aged 17, i knew fuuuuuccccccckkkk all about it really, then i went to college for a year and learnt a bit (god i hated college so much)

but almost everything i know about cars has come from experimenting and trial and error

 

You were expecting criticism?
You've got a Ford?, oh your in for it now boy!