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Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by jonhysilvers on Thursday April 13, 2023 @06:31AM (#35553394)
I bought the course a couple years ago, really happy to know that there's more content on the way. PS: I could never had imagined that the acceleration pedal controls air intake and not gas.
Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by AlexMuir on Thursday April 13, 2023 @07:01AM (#35553625)
Lots of this stuff surprises me too. If you haven't already - check out Tim Hunkin's Secret Life of... series. https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1
Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by jonasdegendt on Thursday April 13, 2023 @07:25AM (#35553806)
Hah, I remember disassembling a motorcycle for the first time and in the process figuring out that the throttle cable just opens a valve that I had just taken the airbox off of, I was mind blown!

To anyone that's looking to get into wrenching on your own stuff, I can definitely recommend getting started on a motorcycle if you have space, money or time constraints. It's a lot more accessible initially.

Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by fl7305 on Thursday April 13, 2023 @09:43AM (#35555325)
Good tip. If you really want to work on a car but have a choice in which one, do some research. Cars vary a lot on how easy they are to work on.
Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by HeyLaughingBoy on Thursday April 13, 2023 @11:32AM (#35557015)
Bringing it back to the author, I've heard that the MX-5 is about the easiest car to work on that's still readily available. And Saturns. Saturns are like Lego.
Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by wombatpm on Thursday April 13, 2023 @01:33PM (#35559068)
Saturn cars are incredible. I had a 92 SL2. Drove it for 14 years and 350k miles. Sold it to a guy who delivered newspapers and saw it still running two years later. That plastic body that didn't rust was incredible. Sucks that GM just killed that car line.
Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by smackeyacky on Thursday April 13, 2023 @06:09PM (#35562802)
I had pulled back for quite a while working on cars, then bought a 2006 Chrysler 300C with a dead engine last year.

The LX platform is incredibly easy to work on. Rear wheel drive, nothing too complicated to understand, good parts availability from places like Rock Auto. The big Hemi 5.7 is easy to rebuild and very rewarding. I grew up working on small japanese cars and Alfa Romeos, the Hemi reminds me a lot of the Alfa "Nord" engine despite the pushrods.

I had an MX-5 and loved it, but the LX cars are affordable muscle cars that even a modest workshop can make something fun out of.

Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by ian0 on Thursday April 13, 2023 @08:44PM (#35564175)
Any good resources for getting started?
Re:20-hour Auto Engineering Video Course from How a Car Works by jonasdegendt on Friday April 14, 2023 @04:20AM (#35566891)
The course that's linked in this post is excellent for the price. Pretty much all of the engine stuff carries over to motorcycles. Everything else I pretty much learned by looking up specific instructions for my model along the way, either on Youtube or in the service manual for my bike.

As for what bike might be interesting, I bought a fuel injected, single cylinder bike. Pretty much as simple as it gets, and a great way to get started with the basics.

Don't be afraid to jump in, you'll be surprised at how easy it comes to you.