Hey everyone,
I'm looking for a little advice. I'm 21, and have decided that I want to rebuild a Stingray after I finish college (mech. engineering major). The thing is, I really don't know very much about cars. I'm good with my hands and fixing things, but have not had any experience working with cars. I have a few years of school left and a few years after that till I'll have any money to start this project, but I'd like to start learning now so I'll at least have a clue when the time comes. Can anyone recommend some books to pick up to get me going? I'm looking for a book that isn't so much an instruction manual on rebuilding a car, but something a little more general. Any suggestions or advice is really appreciated.

Thanks,
John

 

John

Go to the library & read everything they have on cars. Go to next lib., repeat.
Then do it.

Worked for me.

:cool:

 

Hey John welcome,
First thing you have to do is finish school then you can decide on what year vette you want. I have a 16 yo that I tell the same thing to but he rather talk about getting a 67 big block and 69 small block!
What I recommend you do is call up Bair's in PA and get their video on vettes. It will show you some of the things to look for on a used car. Van Steel has one on rear spindle removal that is worth the money too. The attend as many vette shows you can. There will be a good one in Mystic Ct on 9/30. Spend the day talking to the owners to see what they did when they bought their cars and you'll be able to see the differant models. And lastly ask questions here. This will be your fastest resource for information.
Good luck in school.
Gary

 

Check with your College! Many of them have classes that can be taken at the
Vo-Tech schools and be counted as college credit. I did that back in my college days, and got 9 credit hours for some auto mechanic classes. In many of them, you bring your own car in an work on them in class.

 

Welcome C3lover, first I'd say if you read the forum hear on any regular basis, you'll learn a ton of real world issues along with some great modification ideas & know how. For books, I have the "How to Restore & Modify Your Corvette 1968-82 " by Richard Newton that has come in handy for myself & some of the things I've done with my own car. I'd recommend picking up this book along with maybe looking at some others.

 

Spend alot of time here, ask alot of questions and try to get out and test drive as many vettes as you can. Also order all the free catalogs you can find for vettes and performace parts. This way after you drive a vette, you can get an idea for what it will cost to repair it.

 

Find some guys who work on cars and volunteer to help them out, they'll teach you a lot.

 

Honestly, you have to make a few mistakes to make the perfect car. Everyone here has made a bad choice when it comes to their car, but you don't have to.

I would recommend this-
Buy a decent vette, such as a medium-high mile (80,000-100,000) vette at- http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com Take your time, find the perfect buy for what you want. Buy a less desired year (by less desired I mean less expensive) such as a 78-80. (I left out 82, because they are more rare than the other years, plus 81 and 82 are computer controlled).
You can get one for about 7-9k for a nice runner.

Then, as things go bad with it as it runs up in miles, you will HAVE to work on it. This will let you know the car perfectly and be able to disect it. Not to mention add a little modification here and there to give it a nice look.

Keep in mind- I am 18, so I don't know ANYTHING compared to brilliant people such as Geery or BSeery, but I know that my dad told me to do this. I have been working since I was 14, so I saved up money, and ended up going my freshman year to a Junior College instead of a 4 yr (to save cash). So I bought an 82 vette with only 50k miles. I still tinker with it, make mistakes, and make awesome mods to it.

Just get a cheap one, make it "yours". Then when the time comes and you know enough, go ahead and rebuild one from scratch.

 

John,

Where are you going to school? My advice is to check out the SAE groupt at your school and get involved with either the Mini-baja or the Formula SAE program. It is great hands-on, practical exoperience that will not only halp you learn, but it's a great asset and talking point for job interviews down the road, too.

Dave

 

Thanks for the suggestions....I will definately keep reading this forum and hopefully pick up some info along the way.

John

 

one pointer

You will round off at least one bolt head when you get a car choose one that doesnt mater that much but not the exhaust manifold.

Okay now to the good stuff

Buy a book about how cars work (i think there is one called auto repair for dummies not that any of us are :blueangel: )

Then read about hotrodding the HP series is a very good start

Hope you get a good start ;)

ZD