How many of you are mechanically inclined?

W

WVHILLS

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How many of you know your way around motors? of all shapes and sizes? Cars, trucks, motorcycles, fourwheelers, boats (inboard and out), generators, diesels, tractors? Anything that could potentially break down/not work when you need it the most?

Lets say you are out and your vehicle "breaks down" you end up spending the night out only because you have a loose plug wire, or it overheated because the thermostat was stuck. These are easy do it yourself fixes. Making fire is a great skill to have, but if all it takes to get you back home is a multitool and some know how I think it's worthy of learning. Just my .02 cents:D
 
Nice post. In reality, these skills are probably much more useful than knowing how to survive in the woods. I am fairly handy, but do not know a whole lot about fixing engines. I plan to go on a cross country road trip when I graduate college in the Spring thus am going to put in a lot of time to learn this stuff.
 
my primary mode of transportation is a bicycle, and i can fix almost anything on it that doesn't require replacing parts...

my main problem with my bicycle is flat tires...it seems as though i get a flat at least every 2-3 months of semi-frequent riding for short trips around town. but when i get a flat, it always ends up being a big ordeal, and i end up having to fix both tires or need to take care of other issues at the same time.

i think i'm finally together though...i have a small stock of spare tubes, freshly replaced tires, and several tools including a nice floor pump and some proper tire levers. i also have a repair kit that i can take with me that includes basic tools to fix alot of things that could go wrong.

good topic to bring up, and a good thing to know about...
also relevent in a TEOTWAWKI type situation where you might need to be fixing and maintaing vehicles to get places.
 
I've been working on vehicles since I was probably 7 or 8 years old, first being Dad's helper and then doing it on my own. I do it for two reasons, it's cheaper and I know it was actually fixed right. I suppose there's a third as well as I do enjoy playing around with them. I agree it's an excellent skill to know and everyone should be able to do at least basic maintenance/repair.

I've not messed with some things (boats, fourwheelers, diesels) but that's because I've never owned one. If you know the basics it doesn't matter much what the engine is installed in, though you don't know all the tricks/problems of certain types of vehicles.
 
I dare say my mechanical skills are in greater abundance than my woods skills :o

I grew up in Maine and owned cheap old POS cars and I can't ever remember calling a tow truck. I also spent many summers cutting cordwood and mowing and bailing hay. Mechanical skills were a necessity or work would have ground to a halt on a daily basis :D
 
BlackHills said:
I've been working on vehicles since I was probably 7 or 8 years old, first being Dad's helper and then doing it on my own. I do it for two reasons, it's cheaper and I know it was actually fixed right. I suppose there's a third as well as I do enjoy playing around with them. I agree it's an excellent skill to know and everyone should be able to do at least basic maintenance/repair.

I've not messed with some things (boats, fourwheelers, diesels) but that's because I've never owned one. If you know the basics it doesn't matter much what the engine is installed in, though you don't know all the tricks/problems of certain types of vehicles.
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Same here, add to that construction, built many houses, plumbin', electrician, carpenter, industrial mechanic, machinist millwright, fabricator, heavy equipment operator, if it's electro-mechanical, computer operated and powered by some source of energy we'll fix it.

My old man always said if ya can't fix it yerself, best be ready to learn or pay someone else to do it.

I grew up breakin' and fixin' things, includin' large and small engines, I've built, repaired and troubleshot everything from Semiconductor wet station processin' and robotic transfer systems to equipment used in the healthcare industry.

One other thing my old man always said, "Mechanial apptitude is somethin' yer born with,, not somethin' ya learn"

I agree, apprenticeships have their place in teachin' and aquirin' specific skills but if you not so inclined, no amount of learnin' will help ya.
 
I am to the extent that I'll take broken things apart and fix them, or just plain void the warranty on whatever in the name of improvement. I haven't owned a computer in years that I haven't built mostly from non-standard parts. Mechanisms are interesting, automatons are interesting, and I have the greatest of respect for engineers. Meddling with vehicles just kills me though. I've assisted in various mods of the VW Gulf [pretty extensive ones], but every time it was simply as a favour 'cos I can take instruction. The events themselves were tedious; hoisting engines, cutting gasket paper, blah blah]. Not once did I ever really process it in a meaningful way why bit X attached to bit Y. Me just needed to know a sequence, I was blissfully elsewhere. 'Tis a strange thing.
 
I`m pretty mechanically inclined. When I was young I rebuilt all of my own engines when I was racing, spent 10 years as a machine maintenance guy, and used to rebuild old military rifles into sporters. I`ve always liked fooling around with stuff.
 
I am very good with autos. Today is a different story. Get an old FWD pre-72 and with a few spare parts you could fix it. Now you need a code reader and an electronics degree. The principles are still the same; air, fuel ,spark but the ways of achieving them is much more sophisticated.
 
I grew up as an urban skateboard kid in a city with my Mom as a single parent so other than being able to drive stick I did not have any mechanical experience but i was kind of handy. When I moved back to a small town in my mid 20's I made a real effort to learn how to wrench on motors etc.

I even took a course on small engines and now I am damn good. I can get almost any vehicle started. I also learned a lot of interesting facts.

Modern vehicles suck because that is what the market wants. The average car/truck buyer wants a car that has every bell and whistle and has NO maintenance for 5 years then they get a new one.
Myself I much much prefer the old steel trucks that had no carpet or headliner ,solid axles, steel wheels , real 4X4 that you have to get out and turn the lugs ,standard trannys that need to be double clutched and a ride like a buckboard wagon. They can also run well for 60 years with regular maintenance.

My current truck was as close as I could get as a used truck. It is a black 2 wheel drive 97 GMC Sierra with a 305 small block and an auto(I would have rather had a 350 and a 5 speed) but the owner took exceptionally good care of it. What I really like is it has a lot less extra crap like heated seats ,power windows carpets ,nav systems power windows etc. In any vehicle over 5 or 6 years old all that stuff is just a million broken things to repair.

I do like the engine as well because it is the last real OHV V8 small block chev based on the classic design. The Vortec version has first rate EFI and a very cool roller cam valve train. Not as cool as the Ford roller cam 5.0 but still a cool engine.
 
My Dad is the type that can fix anything. He's an electrical engineer with a mechanical background. I was his little helper all the while growing up but never gained much confidence in myself. Now I can fix just about anything but before digging into something, my Lincoln, my Dodge van, my motorhome or my Freightliner, I call him for advice.
I could probably do it and often do but I need to know I'm looking in the right direction.
 
siguy said:
my primary mode of transportation is a bicycle, and i can fix almost anything on it that doesn't require replacing parts...

my main problem with my bicycle is flat tires...it seems as though i get a flat at least every 2-3 months of semi-frequent riding for short trips around town. but when i get a flat, it always ends up being a big ordeal, and i end up having to fix both tires or need to take care of other issues at the same time.

i think i'm finally together though...i have a small stock of spare tubes, freshly replaced tires, and several tools including a nice floor pump and some proper tire levers. i also have a repair kit that i can take with me that includes basic tools to fix alot of things that could go wrong.

good topic to bring up, and a good thing to know about...
also relevent in a TEOTWAWKI type situation where you might need to be fixing and maintaing vehicles to get places.
Click to expand...

Slime and MR Tuffy's my friend, Slime and Mr Tuffy's. In my early days i rode as a bikemessenger thru the worst part of BC, the DTES, ful of broken glass, needles nails and other tire shredding bits.
 
Really most people have the ability but not the inclination. I was reading an article in popular mechanics that said 4 million Americans called for help changing a tire last year.
I like that Heinlen quote that says all the things a man should be able to do and i am getting pretty close to 90% of it. It is shocking how many people who use a computer can't do their own troubleshooting. Some people just don't like to learn new things.
 
I'm very much self taught on many things. Autos, firearms, electronics and so on. Maybe I should state that as "I failed my way to success".;):D
 
Newer cars engines not so much, too much electronics. Older stuff I do all right, small engines I tinker with as a hobby when I have time. I'm a master plumber so anything piping is no problem. About any thing else residential repair or new construction I can do. Plus most millwright type work, alot of machine repair work and some electrical in in industrial maintenance. I have put several guns back together with the parts were brought to me in ziploc bags I can run a mill or lathe just enough to be dangerous.:D.There isn't much that i can't figure out. I may have to study it a while but I usually git it fixed
Roy
 
I owned an auto shop for 22 years we just sold it about 5 months ago..With most new cars there is not much you can do anymore on the side of the road.. Its great to own a 71 VW bus nothing you cant repair on it on the side of the road lol..

Sasha
 
Bronze medal- auto repair
Silver medal- hiking/woods skills
Gold- DIY home repair
Platinum- Beer drinking, eating BBQ, farting
 
I've taken a few auto classes for fun, so I can say I'm far from a master mechanic, but know how things are hooked up to the point where I can trace down mechanical problems. Modern cars with their complex electronics in many instances you need a code scanner to figure out whats going on. As someone mentioned before with older cars with throttle body or carbs were a snap to figure out, now its much more challenging. I always have my palm tx with me where I store toyota truck pdf workshop manual, just in case it breaks down I can ghetto rig it to limp back to civilization.
 
Unsub said:
Really most people have the ability but not the inclination. I was reading an article in popular mechanics that said 4 million Americans called for help changing a tire last year.
I like that Heinlen quote that says all the things a man should be able to do and i am getting pretty close to 90% of it. It is shocking how many people who use a computer can't do their own troubleshooting. Some people just don't like to learn new things.
Click to expand...

Was that 4 million people who didn't know how to? Or called triple A because they didn't want to get their hands dirty or on the side of the road on freeway? Trouble shooting computers can be very challenging, imo sometimes I just format computer and reinstall much faster than trying to figure what the hell is going on.
 
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