car knowledge?

[dave2u]

Can i ask if the majority of you on this site are around the 19/20/21 mark ,  how did you come about the car knowledge you obviously have?
When did you start fiddling round with cars?

I thought a spark plug was when you got an electric shock off the plug in the living room up until a few weeks ago &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('> &nbsp;

[podboy3]

i am 25 and i know that is outside the 20, 21 ages you stated but my step-father collects classic cars and my first car when i was 16 was a 1966 mustang that we bought for 500 hundred dollars and did a colpete restoration on.

[Kid Zelda]

Me...just turned 20.........since I was a little lad....I've been amazed by cars, first my uncles Mustang, hearing the roar of a V-8 at WOT was cool.
Afterthat, I was just into watching car races on TV, around 17, I started to do little stuff, like changing my mom's oil filter, oil, spark plugs.
Then I got my 240sx, starting messing with it, research on the net for info, and hands -on experience.

I am learning new stuff everyday about the 240, its wonderful. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

(Edited by Kid Zelda at 5:37 pm on Nov. 19, 2001)

[transient]

I'm 18. I guess i've always liked cars, but I never really knew anything about them. I started getting interested a little while before I got my license. The internet (this board mostly) is where i've learned everything <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[LanceS13]

I've liked cars since I was probably 12 years old. &nbsp;But I didn't really start to get into them until about two years ago (17). &nbsp;What little I know has come from internet research, hand-me-down info from my self-taught mechanic dad, and limited simple hands-on stuff that I've done on my own like change oil, change exhaust, various suspension work, changing a valve cover gasket, etc. &nbsp;I've yet to really get into the internals of an engine, but I have a good understanding from my reading/research and my dad. &nbsp;My knowledge should get a little better once I do my engine swap hopefully next year. &nbsp;Written and oral info are good for a general idea, but the best teacher is raw, hands-on experience.

[S13Grl]

I'm 19, and, well... I've always liked cars. Only recently did I get into the mechanical parts. I started studying manuals, reading magazines, finding stuff on the net. When I got my 240 is when I really got into it. So... I know a lot more than I did about 8 months ago.

[LanceS13]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from S13Grl on 6:50 pm on Nov. 19, 2001
When I got my 240 is when I really got into it. So... I know a lot more than I did about 8 months ago. </td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
me too <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[chickenmanq]

I've loved cars since I was a kid. &nbsp;My baby sitter used to drive on sidehills for me, and swing the rear end around. &nbsp;My dad responded well to &quot;faster, faster&quot; when I was a kid, too. &nbsp;Since then, I've driven all my trucks like race cars. &nbsp;I'm pretty hard on them, and I fix what I break, leaving me with my current knowledge, and enough interest to learn as much as I possibly can about engines, transmissions; anything mechanical. &nbsp;Road and Track is a good source, as is hanging around junk yards.

[konkman]

Ask and ye shall find

I got into the workings of the car after I bought my 240 (was 18 now am 20). &nbsp;My cousin has a 91 Cavalier Z-24 3.1L NA (that beats 5.0L mustangs), he got me into putting mods in my car. &nbsp;From then on I just became a car nut. &nbsp;

If you read lots of car mags on installs, ask lots of question to anyone who knows you'll benefit. &nbsp;If you don't know what someone is talking about ask. &nbsp;You'll learn something and you won't be the one who sits and nods throught those conversations.

[West]

Growing up I always liked cars and trucks. But back in the day I was more of a off road kinda guy. That all changed once I saw a 300ZX in 1990. When I was 15 I started getting into cars but never knew how to get access to information to modify them. So I took it on myself to learn cars. No FSM no tools no nothing, I just took apart my car and tried to see how it worked and see what I could do to it. After I somehow came across the 240SX when I was 15 I bought it the second I saw it. Owned it for about 1.5 years and only found mods like the strut bars and intake. Sold it off and by then I knew quite a bit about cars from reading online stuff and magazines. I bought my 300ZX and began to really mod cars. I did every insall on the Z myself, even the headers (which is about as ez as pulling the engine). About that time I got a chance to go to a Mechanic School for some time, but even though I got hands on and did a whole lot, I quit after 2 months because they didnt teach me anything. I was the only import guy there too. It was a bunch of rednecks with mullets. My &nbsp;last day there this one kid decided to be funny and punched my 89 s13 and dented it, so I got out punched him in the face and then kicked him in the face and took off after he started to cry. But anyways, I have learn by curiousity for the most part. Cars arent really that hard once you get the basics down.

My advise to you, Get a FSM, do some work yourself, dont be afriad to fuck up your car because just just about any bolt on is pretty staight forward, and if you mess up you always have the forum to help you with your problems. Learn from the forum, read the Tech section and the more you do the more you will know and the cooler you will be <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

[drifterx]

i started playing around cars and learning to drive since i could walk.........
but i started messing around with aftermarket and maintence since i was 18 or so........ i am now 21
and still learning

[DSC]

I don't know much about cars, then again i'm only 17 <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> I'm a computer guy who figures if he can do computers why not cars...right? So everything I know I learned from speedvision, my friend with his 300zx, or this forum.

Oh, and i've always been into cars (mustangs mostly untill about 99 when my dream car changed from a stang to an m3 [fyi: sports car GT for the Pc was released in 99]) just never old enough to drive one. So I just watch speedvision and dreamed...

(Edited by DSC at 7<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'>5 pm on Nov. 19, 2001)

[lynchmob93240]

Im 17 and I am so knowledgable about cars cuz of all the car magazines that I read and since I live in Plano tx, I see fast cars everywhere

Ever since I was 5 i was helping my dad(getting the tool he wanted) fix the cars that we had which were mostly Subaru's. &nbsp;I can remember one morning when my mom's Subaru wouldn't start, my dad checked the usual things, and found that the radiator was low, so he started filling it and it seemmed to be taking alot of water, then water started pouring out of the top of the carb as he put more in, that was the death of that car. &nbsp;Also living in a rural area everyone around us worked on cars, &nbsp;this is why I too started as an off-road person, though the closest I had to an off road vihicle was a Subaru, but I never got it stuck. &nbsp;Also I was subscribed to Road &amp; Track, Autoweek, and Exellence &nbsp;for several years. &nbsp;Also the internet is a great learning tool.

[gh6o6]

i dont know all that much im 17 but most of my knowledge comes from my brother whos 19 and has an integra, reading magazines, or reading online (mostly this forum). i learned the basic &quot;how the engines work&quot; in 8th grade technology class and ive taken apart my pressure washer motor - similar to lawn mower - because i wanted to see how it broke (no oil, sheared piston rod). read and rip apart - if you break something just get a new FASTER motor

[MingMing]

never touched a wrench within a 5 ft range of a car...
dunno if anyone here considers me knowledgeable... but yea, i was bored when i got back from china.. and started lookin stuff up and posting everywhere... good thing that this msg board has nice ppl
sro has the OCCASIONAL nice person <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('>, but i juz kept asking and reading stuff, now i kno alot of the theories out there, althou i've never touched an engine... and yea, if ur gonna start asking hella questions, always build up a good rep first
i asked about nitrous, but made sure to not call it NOS and read up on how it works and the extra heat and stuff..... ok i babble alot too

[whateverjames]

i'm 21, and i've liked cars since i was about 5, i collected as many hot wheels as i could, and me and my dad would always go to the gas station to play that old ass atari game pole position. around 15 i started watching indy car racing, and always played racing video games.
then in 10th grade, i took a class where i had to study engines and the different designs, and take apart a briggs n stratton engine and learn about the parts inside, and put it back together. what gave me the biggest boost on 240SX stuff were the email lists at 240sx.org &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; i left that because you can only hear the same stuff so many times &quot;is the skyline coming&quot; &quot;sr vs ka&quot; &nbsp;but i'd reccomend it to any newbie to learn from the gurus there. &nbsp; also freshalloy.com

[keepitmovin]

Im 16 and barley learning gonna subscribe to sports compact car to get a little more knowledge. Peace

I am going to school to work on airplanes, you need a license to work on aircraft, I also have a job installing instruments and radios in aircraft.

[ZeroGS14]

I'm 23 and got most of my car knowledge hands on with my car or other 240's...well that and sharing information with other 240 owners =D

[misnomer]

I'm 19 and am #### good at tinkering. I haven't touched my engine (yet), 'cause there's important stuff in there. But, I've dismantled much of the rest of my car and reassembled it to fix rattlings, install stereo, etc. My car knowlege comes from here and tinkering (dissassembled a lawnmower once, still worked when I rebuilt it) Das about it

I'm 19 and I know very little about cars. My dad knows very little, my friends only pretend to know a lot (&quot;A strut bar is for holding in all those aftermarket parts in the engine bay.&quot; Shut up.), and I generally wasn't that interested in cars during high school. Then I joined the 240SX.org's mailing lists and was like oh $#!+!! People actually spend more money on their cars than what the cars are worth. People were talking about engine swaps, brake swaps, etc swaps. It was all new to me. Even learning about cold air intake and how it works was fascinating. Basically everything I know about cars is from the mailing lists and these forums. It makes me wish I had taken the auto-tech class during high school. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> There's just so much to catch up on.

[yenpit]

first word was &quot;car&quot;. learned what parts were what by building models (many label each part), i think i started around 5-6. I still remember some of em, and i STILL have a bunch stuffed in a box in storage. we used to modify the AMT models (cuz they had metal axles and rubber tires and rolled well) by glueing addtn'l pcs behind the bumpers and sides. then we would play smash-up-derby. my cars usually lasted the longest. at 15 i bought my first MG (last time i messed with plastic models!), took it apart, cleaned and painted, engine was blown....had to put in another one. started buying &quot;parts cars&quot;, started selling the extra parts to make $ to fix up my drivers, went thru 18 MG's over the years, 4 Mini's, a TVR, a Triumph TR2 &amp; TR4. at 25 got involved in Vintage racing (never could afford to build a race car and drive thou <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('>, rats!) 4 years ago got involved in the Sport Compact scene, had 3 Hondas, one well mod'd, now buildin my 240. oh yea, my Dad never liked cars, hardly ever picked up a tool. my brothers and friends in H.S. all worked on cars. now im gettin involved in drag racing and autoxng and lovin every minute!
PS go to SCCA or Vintage events and run ur cars during &quot;touring sessions&quot; at lunch hour....most tracks offer it. or &quot;open track days&quot;. its not $cheap but road courses are the BEST hands down!! (geez another book! <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> )

[onebadm5]

i listened to click and clack since i was about 7. then i started reading magazines, started watching HOTRODTV, MT TV, etc, then, in autoshop, we built a drag car out of an '85 camaro. it was badass, we got custom paint for the beast. it had a 350 4 bolt block, bored 10 over with a stroker kit, crower steel crank, crower sportsman rods, domed pistons, fuelie heads with the 2.02/1.60 valves, crower roller cam with full roller rockers and lifters, dart single plane intake, MSD ignition, and a 750 cfm holley. it was backed by a TH-350, with a 3500 RPM Stall converter, and a Moser 9&quot; with 4:56 gears and a spool. We had M/T E/T Streets on the back. 12.5:1 compression, and a NOS plate under the carb. we only got two runs on the car before something broke. hopefully we'll get it out soon. it should run somewhere in the 11's hopefully.

[onebadm5]

oh yeah, i forgot. then, this summer, i went to work for the local Land Rover/Porsche Dealers. all i can say is that rovers are the biggest piles ever. borrowed engine techology from 40 years ago to power those cars. ####, i'll be damned if their wasnt a car on the lot that didnt leak. but the porsches were hella fun. there was this one time with a '97 993 TT,............ &nbsp; needless to say, i dont work their anymore!

[kitoro]

i just recently turned 18, but lah.. i don't feel i know that much, in comparison w/ my friends, i think i do.
I will learn more as time goes on i guess. ^.^
what i WANT to be able to do in the future is be able to tell what kind of car + mods it is by the sound of its exhaust. j/k LOL