Thread: Where to learn how to fix up a car?

I am currently a college student and I have always been impressed by people who buy old muscle cars and fix them up. It just seems like a great hobby to get into that one can do for the rest of their life. The problem is, my high school never had an auto class and my college doesn't either. I'm sure there are plenty of mech heads on these forums, so I ask you - where can I learn how to fix up an old car? My goal is to buy an broken down Mustang once I'm out of college and fix it up.

I think that the logical step for you to take is to find either a local club or a local forum to find people with same interest as yourself.

I am in the same situation as you though..
I'm soon graduating with a master of economics and most people I come across don't care to much about cars.. But I know of a nice forum where I can ask all questions I like.. Most of them are answered in a serious fashion and quite helpful.

Also there are many books about this topic.. Might be worth a look.

Clubs are a very good idea, as was mentioned. Also, just asking around... social networking, eventually finding a few friends, or friends of friends who would be interested in making a little group.

Depending on where you are financially, you can always look into getting cars via reposessed, government auctions, local police auctions, etc. For people who are looking to get a decent car, they have to be lucky here. But for people looking for a piece of junk or a parts car, this can be a goldmine.

a little older friends that have some experience in cars... their fathers :)) lol, but I gues it's a good idea

There's at least 4 distinct hobbies here:
a) classic car restoration -- renewing the original factory look
b) hi perf -- maxing out the muscle
c) customizing -- altering the look of the car
d) backyard mechanic -- getting a car you otherwise couldn't afford by fixing up a beater DIY

In my youth I did a lot of d and a bit of a, and I look back at it now as a bad choice, a waste of time. I never got back any sort of satisfaction reward close to what i invested in time money and pain. Yeah, physical pain, you get a bunch of little injuries working on cars with amatuer tools.

IMHO, cars are a hobby for people who are REALLY into being mechanics, or have lots of money and can afford to get pro help on restoration and buy proper tools, etc. Not a good choice for students with a casual interest.

Been there, Done that. Would never go back.

in a Garage or by reading science books.. lol :P

or there were clubs for that if u want to learn it.. :P

If you want some hands on experience with older cars, apply for a part-time job at your local wrecking yard or u-pull-it yard.

You will learn about the cars, pull lots of parts for knowledge, and meet tons of people that have the knowledge you need.

i mean depeanding on how old you are you could consider a course in mechanics in college or uni maybe. Im from North Wales in the U.K by the way so i dunno if it works differently to where you come from but college is the way to go I find.

I personally learned allot from Eric the Car Guy! He is awesome and pretty funny some times. Here is a link to his youtube channel.

Otherwise, I would suggest getting a Haynes manual for you vehicle, helped me a ton with my car! :)