reading on all these engine builds, swap threads..

[steve88]

this is more of a random rant so please dont flame me;
ive been lurking for a few weeks now all these engine rebuilds, builds, and all this tech talk on engines has been starting too grow on me and i understand more and more..

but what kinda hits me is, where do you guys get it from? i mean i see people talking about building engine mounts casually like no worries, and tearing an engine apart like its a peice of cake

id be terrified doing so, then again i cant say ive done much engine work on my car.. but what posesses someone too start ripping their engine apart? how do you know what goes where/worried of blowing up engine?
do you guys just hang around people rebuilding engines, watch/learn/help?

[TheSaint]

iv learnt much of what i know from here lol

high school helped a bit on the basics - whats what, and where it is etc

my 1st car was an old 87 corolla hatch and that thing was like a mechano set for me, really easy to replace broken + worn parts, once i started doing that i started learning not only how to fix it + make it run smoother but how it would run better as well

also helps if you talk to people and ask ALOT of questions, to be a pro u have to endure being a noob, best to get through it as quickly as possible, and remember there is always something to learn =)

common sense also helps... slapping a pod filter + a canon on a 1.5 efi motor and thrashing the shit out of it isnt going to make it faster... u need a good base to work with from the start and u need to balance your alterations and modifications to your needs and wants

when you see something you like... look into it, read a lot of forums... ask questions etc

its a good community =)

[Photonic_Si]

Funny question. I cant remember exactly when i became competent enough to pull down a motor, clean it, measure it, order correct parts, modify the head, put it back together and tune it, but i know it didnt all happen in one go.

My first head swap took the best part of 12-14 hours with a mate, and now i could do it from off to running in about 1.5 hours. Its all a matter of what you are willing to learn. I remember a time when i was scared to take off my valve cover to paint it, so i masked off the whole engine bay just to do it!! LOL!! going back 10 years now! HAHA!!

Having spent working on my cars and others, i have plenty of hands on experience, and have no worries doing anything on any of my vehicles. Just start small, like installing an intake or something, or doing ur own services, get some skill and go from there. Next thing u know ul be swapping ur first motor!

[TheSaint]

lol i usually have the same, it will take u ages to do something for the 1st time but after that it will take no time at all

learning to do your own services is a good start as well, prob not recommend on a brand new car but anything pre 2003 would be ok

[Zdster]

The place to start is get A REPAIR MANUAL for your car. It has lots of photos and detailed instructions on how to take things apart, fix them, and put them back together. Once you have read the manual and understand the directions try something easy then move on to harder stuff.

Very good place to start :thumbsup:. Once you get a decent understanding, finding a trusting mechanic to help is also a good.

[muhhan]

I agree with all the comments above. If you have some job which you are not totally confident about ask a mate to come around and help you do it. It will make you hell more confident when working on your car by yourself the next time.

I remember when I first started working on my car. I didn't even know how to jack the dang thing up! It took me about 30 mins to figure out how to use the jack and where to put it to get the wheel off the ground! I was a complete mechanical dumbass!

PS. I now know how to jack the car up and do many other things as well :p

[steve88]

i do have my mates, one of them rebuilt his nissan trx no worries... but i mean rather than rely on them i wanna do it myself u know?