How
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 115
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio Texas
How
How in the world do you all learn all this stuff about Cars? Like rear end ratios, engine modifications, up grades, Drag Racing performance, Basic Corvette knowledge... Is there a book I dont have that could teach me with out spending 4 years in a Mechanicing school and getting an engineers degree in automobiles? Please inform me so I can talk it up with the best of you, I feel like Forest Gump with all the forums technical talk. You say change the rear end gear ratio from one thing to another and Im thinking lifes like a box of chocolates. Please tell me where I can get this info you all posess.
Thank you
Jerry
Thank you
Jerry
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,131
Likes: 12
From: Houston Tx
All kinds of info out there. I gained all my knowledge from my older brother when i was younger. He was into cars as much as i am now. Everytime he would do something with the car he would ask for my help and i would gradually learn from him telling me what to do. Plus being on forums and actually working on your own car also helps. Everytime i would work on my car i would ask my brother and he would just spectate but not do any work. Thats mostly how i learned. Another thing is going to car meets and stuff and just reading about cars.
Just read read and o.... READ!!! Or you could actually go to school for 4 years which wouldnt be bad. But you'd gain tons of knowledge.
Just read read and o.... READ!!! Or you could actually go to school for 4 years which wouldnt be bad. But you'd gain tons of knowledge.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 22,136
Likes: 23
From: In the woods looking for my thrown putter.
St. Jude Donor '13, '15
You can start by just asking questions on this forum. I have learned a ton being here. Don't be afraid to ask anything......you may get some ribbing from some, but there will always be someone willing to help.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 115
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio Texas
Well Ill start my question-aire here very soon cause I have many questions, 
Wish I had an older brother, and for me to work on my own car, thats scarey. I am affraid Id mess something up so bad and end up in a shop where the guys are asking how did you do this?
Jerry
Wish I had an older brother, and for me to work on my own car, thats scarey. I am affraid Id mess something up so bad and end up in a shop where the guys are asking how did you do this?Jerry
Pro
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 536
Likes: 1
From: Henderson Nevada
Whenever I come across a term I don't unerstand ("pushrod", for example
) I go to wikipedia and start clicking away. Usually I end up learning about some obscure topic like Wankel engines...Also I got a coffee table book called "The Complete Book of Corvette" - lots of pictures and covers the evolution of it so you can understand where it came from.
Last edited by SorcererXIII; Apr 24, 2008 at 03:55 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 22,136
Likes: 23
From: In the woods looking for my thrown putter.
St. Jude Donor '13, '15
All I'll say to that is this.......don't believe everything you read on Wikipedia. It is a good quick sourse for tons of imfo, but I have found bad info there also.
Edit: One more thing..........don't ever ask a question in Off Topic unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences.
Last edited by Silverspeed; Apr 24, 2008 at 03:58 AM.
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Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
Shop and Maj are correct and there's a couple other things you can do. First, join a Corvette club local to you, and attend meetings. Find the guys who are into the technical stuff and pick their brain.
Second, I don't know of any shops local to you (altho there must be), but you've got at least 2 Forum tuners/vendors in
Dallas metro (Lou Gigliotti Motorsports and 21st Century Musclecars). Certainly, 2 of the most experienced and qualified tuners in the country. I'd take a day, make an appointment and go talk with them about your car and what you want to do with it. I'm sure they will gladly share info and informed opinions with you.
A lot of this can be a form of procrastination, or "analysis paralysis," but there's no such thing as having too much information. Just not being able to pull the trigger. I'd say, in a relatively short period of time, you'll learn a heckuva lot!!!!
Good luck.
Second, I don't know of any shops local to you (altho there must be), but you've got at least 2 Forum tuners/vendors in
Dallas metro (Lou Gigliotti Motorsports and 21st Century Musclecars). Certainly, 2 of the most experienced and qualified tuners in the country. I'd take a day, make an appointment and go talk with them about your car and what you want to do with it. I'm sure they will gladly share info and informed opinions with you.
A lot of this can be a form of procrastination, or "analysis paralysis," but there's no such thing as having too much information. Just not being able to pull the trigger. I'd say, in a relatively short period of time, you'll learn a heckuva lot!!!!
Good luck.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,836
Likes: 9
From: Rushsylvania Ohio
The best way is the old fashion way, hands on experience! You can read all you want (and you need to), but until you actually put wrenches to parts, you'll just never get it. When I was about 6 years old, my dad sat me on the floor of his garage, sat a 3 1/2hp Briggs & Straton lawn mower engine between my legs and gave me a pile of wrenches. He said to take it all apart and see what was inside. I have been going non-stop ever since.
The biggest thing for me has been to never have a fear of taking something apart. Most anything can be fixed. Anymore people just want to replace what is broken. "Fixing" what is broken is what gives you the experience and confidence you need to tackle any project. (I guess getting a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University did not hurt things either!)
The biggest thing for me has been to never have a fear of taking something apart. Most anything can be fixed. Anymore people just want to replace what is broken. "Fixing" what is broken is what gives you the experience and confidence you need to tackle any project. (I guess getting a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University did not hurt things either!)
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 894
Likes: 0
From: Humble The Republic of Texas
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09
You have a Great Club there is S.A. Check them out.
http://128.121.168.185/default.asp
If the link about does not work, just google San Antonio Corvette Club.
http://128.121.168.185/default.asp
If the link about does not work, just google San Antonio Corvette Club.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
Likes: 1,319
From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
If you want to learn a little about different years of Corvettes, a good cheap book that will give you info. about options, prices, and one or 2 pics of each year is the Corvette Black Book that gets updated every year. Usually about $16.95 for a 4" X 10" book that shows on the front cover what years of Corvettes it covers. The one I have is 1953-2006. In addition, some of us have had a few Corvettes.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,399
Likes: 25
From: Austin Texas
Racer
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 477
Likes: 0
From: Dallas Texas
I started by helping my Dad fix the family car at age 15. I got my first car at age 16 and soon wanted to modify it. I grew up in Southern California during the late 50's and 60's and the car scene was in full swing, with many drag strips scattered about, so I gravitated toward drag racing. I read a lot, was blessed with a fair amount of mechanical aptitude and made a lot of friends that were car guys. Much of what I have learned in 50 years of working on car was learned in the school of hard knocks and by what didn't come out right so I got to do it over. I have had a couple of mentors that helped me immensely in honing my skills, such as learning how to weld and many finer technical points of automobiles. And, of course, I had the desire, I wanted to learn and have nice cars. I di not have a lot of money to do the things I wanted to do to my car so the only way was to learn how so i could do it myself and not hae to pay somebody else to do it.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 115
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio Texas
Thanks guys, I will start checking the books and web sights mentioned. I have also already recieved info on the San Antonio Vet club here. Ill be checking out them in the next month provided my schedule is the same as theirs. Now would someone explain what Gears I have in my rear and which would make me faster off the line? LOL
Thanks for all the info and help
Jerry
Thanks for all the info and help
Jerry
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 10,697
Likes: 1,132
I believe in the Beer Fairy
Also don't forget you have a search button right here on the forum. It's sometimes tough to get the right terms to find what your looking for, but I would say about 80% of the time if you just use the search you will find what you need.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
Likes: 1,319
From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
Usually, the 2.73 rear axle ratio should be a little faster off the line, but slightly less top end speed. However, there's so little difference, it would probably be negligible.
CF Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,313
Likes: 25
From: Tucson Arizona
The Corvette Forum is an excellent resource...I learn new things here almost daily. There are many sources of information...other people, books, the Internet, etc...exploit them all. For pure Corvette information you can't do much better than this forum. It's a great place to learn about your car.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 17,373
Likes: 6
From: Chatsworth California
I love working on cars, and just educate yourself. take it apart and then put it together. That is how you can learn. Just make sure you put everything back before you took it apart.