I learned all my auto repair skills off of YouTube...

[Land Shark]

At 40 years old I am still learning how to do basic auto repairs. I wish I had a Dad who could of taught me. My Dad never even changed the oil in his cars. He would drive them until they stopped running and then be forced to pay a huge repair bill or buy another car. One time he had a small radiator leak so the parts store guy gave him a bottle of liquid radiator stop leak to fix the problem. My Dad then went out and poured it into his OIL. With-in a couple minutes of driving the engine seized up.

Here is one of my mistakes...

I started to do a brake job on my 1967 Polara. I put the rear axle up on jack stands and then spent 20 minutes trying to remove the tires. I couldn't figure out how to get the tire past the fender lip. I was pulling on the tire like a mad man and even tried rounding the fender lip with a hammer. Nothing worked. I then got the bright idea of using my floor jack on the rear frame rail to jack up the car. It was only then that I realized that this is the only way to get the rear tires off and how I should have done it from the beginning. In my defense this is the only car that I have owned that had rear fenders opening so low that you couldn't get the tires off while the rear axle is on jack stands.


It’s also fun to note that after removing the rear brake shoes I realized I had the wrong ones. My car uses 2” thick rear brake shoes and the parts store gave me 2 ½” thick pads. I’m pretty sure I got the wrong size for the front also but wont know that until I get the front drums off. On a side note I've been to the parts store ordering parts so much that the last time I went into the store one of the clerks pointed at me and announced “1967 Polara, Right?!!” What fun…

 

[commando1]

I respect any man or woman who are eager to get their hands dirty.

 

[monaco75]

Gotta start somewhere. Only one way to really learn is do it. Youtube can be a great source for some things. I've referenced quite a few repairs on there.

A lot of great help on here as well.

Hell I never did any kind of welding/metal work 2 years ago. The last year and a half my car has been torn apart in my garage with new metal, and a welder getting new panels welded in. Thanks to a lot of help on here, and a couple weeks with a friend/mentor.

Keep at it!

 

[commando1]

When I was a little kid, I was walking down a street (when little kids could actually walk down a street alone) when I came upon a grizzly long haired biker (this was the 50's don't forget) wrenching his Harley hardtail in his driveway. It was in a 1,000 pcs. He worked silently and never looked up but I saw tattoos on his arms that had a huge impact on me and I'm pretty sure affected my outlook on life.

Running down one arm was the inscription "If you don't work with" and on the other arm the inscription "your hands, you ain't ****".

Pretty powerful stuff when you're a kid...

 

[furyus 67]

I know the feeling land shark! My dad considers himself a car guy but I haven't seen him do anymore than change his oil and that was back in the 80's. I'm far from a great mechanic but I manage to get the things I take apart, back together. Ill be 40 later this year but I've been turning wrenches since my 1st car at 14 yrs old. Before that I was taking bikes and go carts apart to modify. My 1st rule of thumb is a service manual, a factory service manual preferably. If I can't find one of those then I'll settle for a Hanes or a chiltons. After that I hit the forums! They were priceless in helping me build my talons and jeeps. This one has also been a great help with the fury. You learn it as you live it. I could never afford to pay someone to fix my cars besides that I have trust issues! Keep on wrenching and one you'll be able to help someone that was in your shoes!