So i was just looking over “An intelligent discussion on upgrades” and it made me think since i have never seen any of you guys in person, like the question said how did you guys learn everything you know about cars, im only 16 and the last time i posted was when i was looking to buy my car when i was 15, i have a 1989 240sx and learning to drive on my moms IS300 and in 3 weeks i will be starting my accelerated youth apprentiship program (OYAP) where i start my apprentiship early, so ill be learning at Centennial college and Jean Vanyer, this is how im going to learn but from reading the forums im just wondering how all of you got your know how?
alot of us have be into the car scene for a while now, and the knowledge just grew with us.
some of us think they know…but really talking out of their asses… and really don’t know sh*t… If your around long enough, you’ll know exactly what I mean… Just give it time, you’ll learn a wack through the forums tho…!
Cheers:R
Everything I have learnt so far can be credited to Pete. He has taught me alot!! 
I did oyap…and i went to centennial too
if your planning on becoming a tech dont do it!
-But as for learning id have to say i did it all just by tinkering, and reading to back back it up. I have a hard time staying focused when it comes to theory so id have to say my learning style is hands on
you can read all you want but sometimes it wont make sence till you **** with it
Ah yes…my mistake…Dan has taught me a few things as well 
I spent I think… 4 years from the age of 13 until 17 just lurking around lots of different forums. I was too shy to post as everyone knew alot more than me. Reading helps alot. But when it starts getting into descriptive stuff, it’s better to be there doing it. I also have made alot friends over the years in teh scene, and that helped, because I would be around when they are tinkering. Try and help.
Growing up, I had ZERO influence in terms of mechanical stuff, and cars in general. I had alot of extensive hands on wrok with my father and grandfather in hope repair and woodwork. So now that I am getting into mechanics, it’s VERY different for me personally. I like to have someone who knows what they are doing around if I’m doing anything beyond my capabilities to point things out.
I find the most important thing when working on cars, is that you can’t just do something and half ass it. It really has to be done a certain way and correct. Otherwise you are risking alot…
I’m only 18. Got TONS more to learn. I know shit all about motors. I mean I understand them, but the nitty gritty is all new to me. My focus now is purely on suspension. Every day I’ll read more and more about suspension, and realize that it’s almost impossible to know everything. It really is an amazing system of bits and pieces. One is off, and the whole system is thrown off wack, and the feel of the car is completely different.
The best thing I can suggest to learn, is to grab something. Pull it apart, and put it back together if you’re talking about straight mechanical stuff.
You’ll NEVER learn more by reading than if you put your hands to work.
Best thing to do is to find a good community thats very knowledgable, and stick with it. Zilvia, nissansilvia (AUS), and 240sxforums were my starting points.
Good luck.
everything i know, i learned by sitting there doing it myself, accept a few times a good 240 lover ted helped me, actually more then a few timees, he is like that jdm master that knows all.
And makes you feel like shit if you don’t know something hahaha.
He is 10000x cooler in real life than on MSN. He’s such a jerk on MSN hahaha.
he is actually in japan now, so im screwed lol
Well, he is still on a plane 
well he took off at 6am, i think the flight was something like 19 hours plus he had to switch in chicago or somewhere in america.
anyways he should be landing soon.
Way to get off topic guys
I was a low self esteemed loner in high school, and I got the Datsun below when I was 11. I don’t know why or how I did, but I used to build a lot of scale plastic model cars, so I figured out a lot about cars through the models. I didn’t really know what the parts did, I just understood where they went. Around the time I started questioning what the parts did, I started reading a lot of magazines, and it helped that my Dad is a beacon of knowledge when it comes to most things technical, with tons of experience in cars. I got little books here and there teaching things like, “Internal Combustion Engine.” When I felt pretty confident I felt the urge to take appart my Datsun, and I understood from the parts in the model kits, and the concepts that I’d read, all about the car. Of course I learnt some new things that just couldn’t go in the models. The biggest reward was putting that car back together by myself and making it run.
Started playing around with my parents camry when I was 14. Back then I learned mostly from www.howstuffworks.com. Then forums. Car mags IMO are useless as well because it’s easy to tell some (most) writers dont know jack shit themselves either. Then getting your own car and reading FSM and playing around with shit. If it breaks, learn from your mistakes. Learn from other people’s mistake as well. I had a 5 month co-op program as a mechanic as well, picked up a couple things there.
In simplified form. Forums and working on my own car with guidance of FSM.
Why would i not wana do it? Isint it only more things to learn, i would want to be learning there over siting in like Italian just to get me a credit. So what did you do at the oyap program???
Oh ya flat240 your cat pic is so damn funny.
I wanted to be a auto technician too and go to centennial for the program. But I realized it’s not the best way to learn, because the information is all out there already and constantly growing. Think about future instead, auto mechanic makes $50k a year, all other college/uni degree makes more (supposably). So I decided to take something that’s more beneficial to my future. After all, cars is a hobbie, I’d hate to think of it as a job where I’ll get tired of it.
I’m more like Osad, i know basics but not in depth, i had a “mentor” when i was younger, he was just a really good friend, like an older brother to replace my older brother that was really busy all the time (or is an ass! lol) he taught me how to drive when i was younger, simple things like shifting and and what not. then went to vehicle control in closed spaces. Also I worked on Rotary engines a lot, tearing it apart from my old parts FC I had (here come the boos and hisses) but as for technical, he taught me everything I know but in my opinion, forums are the best place to go. When you have people like Popcorn, flatsil40 etc…etc…people who have first hand knowledge of how to approach things, thats where you can learn a lot
thanks for the cat comment.
but yea most the stuff i have learned was hands on, other then torque specs ha.
it all depends on the person tho, alot of people like to go indepth with research first, i just go out and try it, if it dosent work then try again. then the next time you know whats good!
I usually follow the saying “When all else fails, read the damn instructions!” (or FSM for that matter)
lol thanks for the help guys