Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General learning

what do you guys think is the best way to learn about cars. i don't know much but would love to be able to get under the hood and do some modifications and stuff. how did most of you learn?

Car magazines are a good source of general info on mods different car setups... There's not much out there specific to the contique except the shop manual (available on CD/DVD I think??) Theres always the haynes or chiltons manuals, but these are pretty light on details sometimes and generally only cover standard maintenance.

best way I think is from experience.
hang out with those that know (and really know, not the ones that pretend to know).

since you're from Mass, you should check out the new england chapter more often for meets.
that's a really decent way to not only get to know other enthusiasts, but learn a few things about your tour.
too bad you missed our recent meet. twas a mod meet. definite "car stuff" learning time!

Most community colleges have "auto shop" classes. These can be either during the day or at night so people can go after work. People "donate" there cars for the students to work on so the labor is basically free. Some classes are even "sponsored" by various car manufacturers. I went to one right out of the service which was sponsored by Ford. I don't know how much the fee was because Uncle Sam picked up the tab. It was about a 3 month course, 5 eight hour days a week. When I got out I went right to work at a Ford dealership. That was back when domestic cars were rear wheel drive only, there were still these things called points and condensers, no one had heard of onboard computers and we were mechanics, not technicians!

Karl

I just picked up an "Auto Fundamentals" book. Learning all about the car, parts, functions... Best bet is a class though. I'm pissed I missed Auto class in highschool!

Check out www.Howstuffworks.com . Its a great site with awesome animations/pics for a better understanding of a lot of major automotive systems/parts.

Personal experience helps a lot also. Attend some local car meets and hopefully some of those people will show ya some new things. Buy a Haynes manual too. It has much information to offer on Contours in specific, which will give you a better understanding of cars and mods overall.

I started at an early age, back in the days when my dad would be out fixing up the old van I'd be out there helping him out by handing him tools as he needed them.

Then I just started playing with stuff and learning the hard way alot of times.

When I was in my young teens I learned that my neighbors would give me money if I mowed their lawns. I used my dads mower of course, so when it broke he would help me fix it. The more times I fixed it the less he helped so I had no choice but to learn.

In high school I took a small engine class where we learned how they work and we had a project where we rebuild an engine. The test was to see if would run. I pulled the rope, and I pulled until I couldn't feel my arm, then the teacher said ok, thats enough, I said one more pull. I pulled again and the little engine sprang to life. It smoked, and made horrible noises but I didn't care because I made it run.

Then I took automotive classes and got pretty good since I bought a junker that needed about an hour of work for every hour I drove it.

Thats when I started looking into the sky and saw airplanes and helicopters flying, and I thought that they were the most awesome thing ever. Sure a boat can float, and a car can drive, and they all have alot of really neat stuff about them, but man, they sure can't fly.

Then I went to airplane mechanic school and three years later I walked out with a liscense to fix from the FAA, and for the past 3 years I have had the honor of being able to fix and maintain some of the coolest machines on earth.