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my dad was the one who helped me back at the beggining, now he often rings me for help, which was weird the first time it happened.
be prepared to fail occasionally, its not like you have to be 100% succesfull first time everytime, on your own car, as long as you know you failed and why its all a learning experience, the old saying goes,
"School gives you lessons and then a test, life gives you the test and the lesson afterwards."
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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For me, it was a need for all things shiny without the budget. I would look at something, research the construction methods, then dumb them down to the point where it was possible to re-create in my shed or on the gravel drive.
The initial learning about basic mechanics was done through trial and error, as has been noted all the way through this thread, the only way to learn is to get stuck in.
One thing that is quite important and will ensure that you make steady progress without getting disheartened, is to make sure the work is being carried out on a non critical item. Having to get the car ready and 100% road worthy every sunday is a pain, so learn these skills on something else, wether that be another car, bike, lawmower, kart, washingmachine etc etc, all of these things are mechanical and the skills learnt splitting and re-building can be carried fowards.
Kind regards,
J
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Last Edit: May 11, 2011 9:05:22 GMT by Blown_Imp
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May 11, 2011 11:21:35 GMT
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However, the increasing prevalence of the 'Built, Not Bought' brigade seems to be opening up a gulf between car enthusisasts like me who love driving and appreciate cars from a theoretical, aesthetic and dynamic standpoint and those who are handy with spanners. I feel like I'm being elbowed out of the scene I love. Bullhonkey, at least from my perspective. I would consider myself to have a hand in both of those camps and I've never looked down my nose at the average joe who pays to have work done, sometimes these guys just do not have the time to work on a car. You could always assist me down The Bunker every now & again if you want some mentoring.
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Potter
Part of things
'E who dares wins,eh Rodders??!
Posts: 304
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May 11, 2011 11:45:07 GMT
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In my opinion it's all in the mind. You can because you think you can! So get out there and give it a shot! It's only metal after all!
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More cars than sense or money!🙄
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mr
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,538
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May 11, 2011 12:04:11 GMT
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i took my motor appart with no idea what i was doing. i had two good friends to tell me what i needed to know via email or on the phone. the engine and suspension were my worries but as long as you do things in the correct order and don't rush youll be fine. i took hundreds of pics as i dismantled the car,mainly for reference when looking for brackets etc during reassembly. just don't be affraid to ask for help,i did. its cheaper than buying the parts twice cos you buggered something. most is common sense and its only nuts and bolts at the end of the day. just have realistic time scales. you will do stuff wrong.....i did. i ran the engine while the dash was out and the oil pressure gauge feed pipe spat litres of oil into the car....it happens. you wont make the same mistake twice!!!! do it yourself and youll be so glad you did,my car looked like junk when i took it for its mot but i was so damn proud it all worked i didnt care about the looks. oh, buy a breaker bar,they're the nuts!!! undoes everything and acts as a extra hand when undoing stuff from two sides. as for help,i gave in with the haynes manual....it lied!! the stuff on a 30 year old car wont just come undone like in the book. i ran a build log of my rebuild on an owners site as a complete idiots guide to striping and rebuilding the car but showing what really happens and what will go wrong.
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Got the car from 105 bhp at the crank to 152 at the wheels.nitrous going on next.....if it ain't broke,keep bolting on go faster parts until it is........ www.fordgranadaclubuk.freefo.de
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Tim
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,340
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May 11, 2011 16:31:11 GMT
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I've got to tackle my first major maechnical job this weekend. Luckily a neighbour has lent me his covered car port so i've got somewhere to hide out of sight of the neighbours.
Crankshaft, oil seal, cambelt, water pump - wondering its worth doing rear crankshaft oil seal and clutch as pre-emptive measures whilst the engine is half out of the car - although i have never seen a clutch up close, let alone changed one :-)
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May 11, 2011 17:25:56 GMT
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I've never had a problem with bought not built brigade I've just always preferred to do it myself . i've had hands in building for other people and the end product is only restricted by the budget given to build it the end result is the same a cool car (or not in some cases) but i would have to say the one part that does annoy me with the (mostly top dollar ) bought cars is that some owners will always try to pass it off as their own work when half the time even the idea was not if you have it built you should give recognition to the builder and not take all the credit that's not to say you shouldn't have and credit for it for commissioning it in the first place but i think that is where any potential rift between the built and bought crowds seems to stem from
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May 11, 2011 17:36:01 GMT
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my dad was the one who helped me back at the beggining, now he often rings me for help, which was weird the first time it happened. I had this too, with my dad showing me the ropes on my Estelle, and driving it home from Kent for me. He used to run a classics resto business, and rebuilt a humungous Morris J-van, and a Minivan from scratch, and a full overall on the Olds, and the Caddy, and the Oxford... Fast forward 7 or 8 years, and I'm driving him home from Oxford with his new car, and doing his servicing and MOT prep for him. I used to rely on my dad for when something went wrong, get him to sort it out, but now its me fixing whatever problem he runs in to. It took ages for it to stop being weird. While I'm at it, I should also point out that a mentor/expert at the end of a phone line is one of the biggest assets you can have. I doubt I could have got through my first few jobs successfully without Daverapid always giving me advice when things went wrong - never mind the fact he pretty much rebuilt my orange estelle from the ground up. Find yourself a legend, and draw all their knowledge out of them
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,855
Club RR Member Number: 174
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How do you guys do it??!?stealthstylz
@stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member 174
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May 11, 2011 18:08:33 GMT
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If there weren't people to buy modified old cars how would you move onto a new project, or if there weren't people who paid to have things done how would businesses specialising in it survive?
I have no problem with people who do either. Infact i'd rather that somebody admitted they couldn't build a car and got somebody who can to build it, than to have a badly built car on the road.
"Built not Bought" stickers are probably one of the worst "inventions" to come out of the car scene.
Matt
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May 11, 2011 20:24:33 GMT
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ha ha ha learn.... i never learned anything. thats why I'm still trying to build cars from old tat instead of saving the money and buying something decent in the first place lol.
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chevazon
Posted a lot
1939 Chevrolet 2 door coupe, `67 `Zon estate, `87 Ragtop Cavalier, 4 x 800 Drifters,(!) 1500 Drifter
Posts: 2,259
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May 11, 2011 21:55:35 GMT
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here is my advice - go to a friendly scrapyard and ask if you can take bits off a car and attempt to put them back together. Anything I broke I paid for, but most of the time the scrappy didnt charge me. Also, doing it this way means you don't have yet another project/wreck on your driveway Good advice PS !
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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I'm sat looking at threads about engine swaps and assorted mayhem, like V8 Chevette's, Trabby engined Golf's and the like... How do you guys learn how to do this stuff? I think this all the time. I feel like a total imposter on this forum, having absolutely no skill whatsoever in tinkering with engines and suchlike. I'm in constant fear of being found out. Really? On this forum? Sure there's a lot of people who like keeping old bangers going on the cheap but beyond that it's mainly just people theorising around stuff gleaned off the net. This is the problem with forums, so much information (and miss-information) is shared and recycled everyone ends up looking like an expert.
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May 12, 2011 13:34:56 GMT
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May 12, 2011 13:56:00 GMT
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No one in my family are into cars and neither are my friends or work collegues. What got me are E28's and I wanted to make my current one quicker and handle better. I first paid a garage to do the work but then one day I decided to change the spark plugs my self and it went from there. Now I can do more, fit exhausts, suspension brakes, complete servicing.
I am working up to the point where I can start fabbing stuff and do engine swaps. I would really like to put an M50 into and E30 and rebuild an engine and tune it in the few years. But all that cost money. Start small and work your way up.
My next big job is fitting my own turbo kit (which I am putting together) to my E28. I want do do everything bar fabbing the new down pipe.
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May 12, 2011 15:29:23 GMT
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I think this all the time. I feel like a total imposter on this forum, having absolutely no skill whatsoever in tinkering with engines and suchlike. I'm in constant fear of being found out. Really? On this forum? Sure there's a lot of people who like keeping old bangers going on the cheap but beyond that it's mainly just people theorising around stuff gleaned off the net. This is the problem with forums, so much information (and miss-information) is shared and recycled everyone ends up looking like an expert. I think thats a bit cynical, there are plenty of people on here who modify and build, but talking about possible projects and random ideas is surely a major point of a discussion forum? If someone is inspired by someone elses idea, even just chatting about things is a result.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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May 12, 2011 15:48:31 GMT
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Really? On this forum? Sure there's a lot of people who like keeping old bangers going on the cheap but beyond that it's mainly just people theorising around stuff gleaned off the net. This is the problem with forums, so much information (and miss-information) is shared and recycled everyone ends up looking like an expert. I think thats a bit cynical, there are plenty of people on here who modify and build, but talking about possible projects and random ideas is surely a major point of a discussion forum? If someone is inspired by someone elses idea, even just chatting about things is a result. Yes I'm being blunt and cynical but if someone feels they'll be outed for not being mechanical then I feel the need to say it. RR is a great place for inspiration and chatting, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that and that's why I visit, but lets not pretend there's no more than a handful of particularly skilled people finishing impressive projects on here.
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May 12, 2011 16:21:30 GMT
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Its in the eye of the beholder i think, i remember being very impressed with myself when i managed to fit a car battery and some musical airhorns onto my push bike.
Its ok to measure yourself against other people as long as you don't lose heart, we cant all be mechanical genie arses, you do what you can.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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MWF
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,945
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May 12, 2011 16:30:02 GMT
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Indeed, and as you wrote earlier chances are you'll always be able to find someone who's taken things to another level.
I just think a bit of humility goes a long way and forums, by their nature, tend to breed the opposite.
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May 12, 2011 17:43:04 GMT
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I'm competent at most things mechanical, poor at bodywork. My biggest problem is finding the time, what with work, family ect..
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No one in my family are into cars and neither are my friends or work collegues. What got me are E28's and I wanted to make my current one quicker and handle better. I first paid a garage to do the work but then one day I decided to change the spark plugs my self and it went from there. Now I can do more, fit exhausts, suspension brakes, complete servicing. I am working up to the point where I can start fabbing stuff and do engine swaps. I would really like to put an M50 into and E30 and rebuild an engine and tune it in the few years. But all that cost money. Start small and work your way up. My next big job is fitting my own turbo kit (which I am putting together) to my E28. I want do do everything bar fabbing the new down pipe. Good on you!!! sounds like me ;D
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