Learning how to wrench

[Christopher Clark]

Hello All,
I grew up with books and electronics. Never even changed a tire till my late 30s. Now, I’d kinda like to learn a bit more. My daily driver (09 Pontiac Vibe) gets me to work, so I can’t really play with that much, cuz if I break it, I can’t get to work.

A suggestion I found online said to get a beater car to learn on. Drive it around on weekends and tune and modify to your hearts content.

So, I’m looking for suggestions. I wouldn’t mind getting an older (late 70s – 80s) Jeep Wrangler or Ford Ranger. Are either of those good or bad to work on or is there a car out that is just perfect to wrench on?

Topic

[Joaquin]

Hello, ExileRed
I have read your post and from experienced i can tell you that either of those two cars you want to get will be easy to work on, specially since you are just getting your hands on cars. The only down side to it will be getting parts and if you can get them they might cost you some pretty penny. But everything is possible. I’ve been doing my own repairs for the past 10 years on all my four vehicles. I have found out that there’s no easy car to work on, you just need to initiate that very first step to get something fix. Start doing the easy stuff, and get yourself a good set of sockets and wrenches the experience and confidence will come to you as you progress along.

[Eddy]

ExileRed
I’m just checking the ERICTHECARGUY website out for the first time today , even though I have been a fan of the youtube channel for several months now .

I just wanted to say that your post grabbed me because , I am later in age to the party of automotive mechanics as well , and my fascination of learning about cars has inspired me to consider a career change to automotive industry.
I am currently registered to attend my local community college in taking the automotive tech trade school . I have tons of butterflies and fears looking at learning a new skill at my age of early 40’s…but I know my curiosity will never die , and i’ll never forgive myself for not trying .
I currently drive a 1990 ford f150 4×4 truck . It is certainly on the beater side of car status , and i have opened a huge can of repair opportunities , already fixing 3 or 4 minor repairs , and recently drove into my first major repair issue seeming to be my transfer case . So…I leap into the fire , and this is also my only vehicle at the moment , but it looks like if i want to love on it properly , i’ll have to get another vehicle to drive .

Good luck on choosing a vehicle to learn on…obviously i can recommend a ford…as I’ve been around a lot of them , and there is always something to fix…but they are designed with the mechanic in mind , and are fun to work on .

[Roger Vogel]

And with me it’s the opposite! I helped my dad all the time and did and changed almost everything that was possible, but as for books, my knowledge is much more modest

[Author]

Replies