Just wondering how many of us are mechanics and how many people are building a car from scratch without any previous knowledge? I served four years as a Volvo HGV apprentice then moved to a small commercial workshop for two years were we did alot of chassis chops and conversions and for the last three and a half years I've worked for Ryder truck rental on anything from cars to 44 tonne trucks. Also had experience building Ministox and racing Stock Rods on short ovals.

[Edited on 30/7/05 by Ben Graber]

Mechanical fitter to trade, but now working as a self employed subcontractor involving everything from steel erecting through coded welding work to machine rebuilding.

Over twenty years experience in motorsport from bikes and karts to RWD Escorts.


Not forgetting four insane years as a live sound engineer for a death metal record label

[Edited on 30/7/05 by gazza285]

well im only 16 and in full time education but im not too bad when it comes to landrovers lol done a fair amount of work from small stuff like changing plugs to engine swaps gearbox swaps chassis swaps etc

Haven't a clue what I am doing most of the time , But building a car is a good way to find out how they work. So I've decided to strip and rebuild the engine as well.



Day Job - Zoo keeper at a Comprehensive School.

A compooter prograamer all my working life but spent plenty of time tinkering with motors since my mates and I were able to drive. Failed to finish the Luego based locost project recently due to lack of funds, build partner becoming a father and oh yeah a divorce! I'm now toying with the choice of restoring a Capri 2.8i and popping a 2.9EFi in it or designing and building a from scratch mid engined BEC. Over the years I've built up enough knowledge to do either and they'd both cost pretty much the same. I can't weld but I'm keen to give that a go and make a chassis from a pile of steel.

Umm, I haven't really had any time to have a job, but I used to change the straight through pipe for a cat on my dads elise

mech eng degree, work at refinery drawing office. used to work on scramblers when i was younger done a bit on a BSA fleetstar

about to rebuild an ecotec

only became interested in cars at age 23

Lego Technics ---------> Remote Control Cars ----------> Kit Car

Natural Progression isn't it !?

30 year's vehicle contruction engineer = vehicle body builder and makeing grass track car's and racing them .
Jacko

I'm a Mechanical design engineer by trade. Before this I was a manufacturing engineer for a company that built big planes, and before that I was at Uni doing a degree in Aeronautical engineering.

I've only ever serviced a car (plugs/filter etc) and kept a mini on the road with liberal doses of WD40, before taking on a kit-car. It's proving to be a bloody good challenge, far more difficult than I anticipated. I likes a challenge though

Cheers
Andy

Used to be a gardener, maintained all the machinery myself. Bought an old derilic of a landrover 109 and put that back on the road. always maintained and repaired my own cars, not afraid to try something before calling my mechanic mate.
Building the locost was a brilliant experience which i hope to do again soon.

Would recommend it toanyone looking for a hobby ( its a full time hobby keeping it on the road once its built, always some thing to repair or improve)

Lew

hi,

I've worked my families garage buisiness for 20 years.

Have build a couple of space framed national hotrods, a few mini and fiesta hillclimbers (including my own zetec powered MK 1), a Sunbeam Rapier for the classic montecarlo and others that i've probably forgotten about.

Originally qualified as an electronics engineer.

Reached the finals of Top Technician 2005 (sponsored by the likes of Crypton, Remit, vauxhall etc.)

David

Systems Engineer - Rolling Stock (Trains)

Keep clean at work, get covered in shite at home....

Just graduated with a M.eng degree in aeronautical engineering, looking for work at the mo, hoping to go into car design.

Tom

My grandads dad was an engineer my grandad was,my dad still is and me im just a wanabee funny how life turns out .I never finished college (five nights a week in the pub) But I was born with a silver spanner in my hand ...

Its in the blood

quote:

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Originally posted by Chaz
Lego Technics ---------> Remote Control Cars ----------> Kit Car

Natural Progression isn't it !?

---

kitchens and bathrooms for me, and a bit of general stuff. I can take stuff apart well, but usually cant put it back together.

Literally nothing until 30 (company car since licence!) then career change, studied again, bought a Dutton Rico (if anyone knows the model) which came with a Haynes...read it and decided I could change the engine, bought tools, hired a hoist and bought a 1600GT Xflow, and it worked!!! Basically its enthusiasm thats kept me learning, from books but a LOT from you guys.
Tim

Telecommunications (exchange maintenance) then computers, for more years than I care to remember.

I first played with model engineering, then with 12" to the foot scale cars, purely because it has s*d all to do with computers. It was nice to use another bit of the brain now and again.

Prior knowledge was only keeping old bangers running, and even then it was only basic maintenance.

rgds,
David

Started out on two stroke bikes at 16,model boats,submarines,restored a couple of bikes, maintain dozens of bikes and cars to save money. Fancied doing a kitcar for about 20 yrs but kids put a stop to that.My son is now a Ford masters apprentice so now i help him run his ARC TKM kart once a month.Funny how things turn full circle.Currently looking for plans to build a kids fun car like Brummie for my grandson.

Well I started at 15 with a Francis Barnet Cruiser 80, which was lying in a neighbours garden and would not even start.
A book from the library, and I got it going. Cost me 13 weeks paper round wages £6 10s (yup 6 pound 10 SHILLINGS or £6:50 in todayspeak. ie 50p per week)

That was 37 years ago. Maintained all my cars since then. Wont buy a new car with a computer in it, as I cant fix it. Currently have a 1984 Land Rover had that 11 years.

Rebuilt two Land Rovers from the concrete upwards.
This is my first kit Car.

Trade: - At the moment I am a Technical Anal-yst. I sort out other peoples Sh*te.
Worked for BT 36 years, all on the engineering side, mostly planning large business installations and one off's for a customer who cant be mentioned by name. mostly enjoyed it all. Desk bound engineer driving a computer these days looking after customers IT platforms, mainly their requirements, seeing that it happens, and that we get paid! ie co-ordination of Orders and jobs.

My 17 yr old son has just bought a Jago jepe off Ebay as his first car... Now I have two kit cars to sort out!

Im currently a halfords audio/enhancment specialist working towards management.

I have that anoying thing where i have to be making something, computers used to be my thing done the whole college thing got the qualifications only to get bored and move on, blew up and old reno 19 16v one time and after a 10 hour AA toe home decided id fix it my self with no knowledge at all, got me a haynes manual and a hoist and put a new engine in, been into the car thing ever since, mainly as a passion though i dont think id ever do it as a living.. i just stick to telling people how to do it so i dont get dirty funny my first car i ran i dry of oil becuase i didnt know anything!! now i can do a cambelt change on me megane coupe in less than 3 hours loool

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Y
Im currently a halfords audio/enhancment specialist.

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I'm a building surveyor. But playing with cars was inherited from my father.

Happily back in the banger world again where I get involved with the car rather than a garage fixing a company car - how boring and predictable.

My proudest moment with kitcars was converting my Sylva from Vauxhall OHV engine to Zetec power. This was about 8 years ago when zetec power in a RWD car was a real rarity.

Dad was a carpet fitter & ever since age 9 when I went to a breakers yard with him (I filled my pockets with all sorts of switches & things at that time) I've wanted to build my own car. 37 years later I'm making a start.
Oh and I drive a taxi for a living now as I could no longer morally or ethicially accept some of the things I was being asked to do by management. Better wages, fewer hours and no crap.



enjoy

Father, grandfather and great grandfather were plumbers. Family business was s*h*i*t.... so I went to college for engineering, dropped out joined the military, dropped out (couldn't deal with killing people for a living or taking orders from morons - more s*h*i*t different pile) worked as a millwright, then apprenticed and became a mechanic. Built and raced bicycles, stock cars, minisprints (500lb go karts with cages, wings and 440 snowmobile engines here) and a midget for a brief while. Now a specialist at a Ford garage. Loved the seven since the first time I saw one. I understand its simple efficiency. A wife, preteen kids, house mortgage and all that have slowed my build. Well I can always aspire to breaking the longest build time record.

quote:

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Originally posted by madman280
A wife, preteen kids, house mortgage and all that have slowed my build. Well I can always aspire to breaking the longest build time record.

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quote:

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What's that? Are you the Boom and Bling bloke then?

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motor bike mechanic for 15 years, hated the job the last 5 years .
now im a plasterer ,no ones on my back,no nagging full of shite customers telling me that since iv serviced there bike it wont wheelie and now they cant get there knee on the floor round round abouts lmfao,no stress,no worries incase anythings been left loose and no more saturday work unless its a foreigner but now i only use my brain when im driving to and from work

I'm a process engineer for a living (previously prototype/development engineer) but car wise I have built 2 rally cars, (RWD 205 and Mid engined Nova), my grasstrack car, several mantas from bare shell upwards, including full floor and chassis rail replacement, and all manner of other things that I've now forgotten!

time served idiot here

i started when i left school and joined the royal navy as a weapons engineering mechanic (ordanance){gun grease monkey} did this for six years.then a service engineer fixing photo boothes for 2 1/2 years and im presently an airframe fitter working on hercules c-130 transporter aircraft which ive been doing for 10 years. ive always fixed my own cars as ive always been too skint or too tight to pay somebody else to do it. theavon is the first kit ive built.
scott

Have worked at a main dealership...15yrs ago!

Did 4 yrs as TVR race mechanic, mostly for Rollcentre Racing...



Am now HGV driver delivering beer.

Was electronics engineer, now injection moulding / extrusion R&D engineer. Been into rallying for more years than I care to mention so building cars has always been my thing. Locost is first time I've built a chassis though!
Can't look at anything now without thinking 'what could I use that for on my car'!!

Marcus

I am an electronics design engineer, who has spent the last 18 years in the very specific field of designing x-ray machines that inspect food for contamination.

My grandfather was a mechanic, who also encouraged my very early interest in electrical things. I have rebuilt engines, and repaired a metro that had been rear ended.

My most recent project was a total ground up rebuild of a 1977 kawasaki KH250 triple. That explains why my car progress hasnt come far in the last year.

I dont plan on building any further cars after this one is complete as its taken so friggin long. Perhaps one day when im retired I might build a kit - no way would i attempt a scratch build again.

atb

steve


[Edited on 31/7/05 by steve_gus]

Steve, as is always said, the further you get away from the 'book' the longer it'll take. Your cars on another planet to the book

I hadnt noticed....


atb

steve

tractorboy wrote:
"presently an airframe fitter working on hercules c-130 transporter aircraft which ive been doing for 10 years."

Damn.. I rememeber flying on C130's and C-115's(buffalo). Aren't there airframes with millions of hours out there now? We used to have a running bet on what would break next. And I thought being a Ford mechanic was a busy job
And they used to make fun of us..whats brown and falls out of the back of buffalo??

37 replies and eighty votes in less than 24 hours! Interesting results too, i thought there would be more 'full time' mechanics than anything else.

quote:

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Originally posted by Ben Graber
37 replies and eighty votes in less than 24 hours! Interesting results too, i thought there would be more 'full time' mechanics than anything else.

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I haven't thought about from a non-mechanic point of view and i suppose if i were to be working on cars all day i might not be so keen to build a car but as i work on trucks all day a petrol engine car is a challenge and not my normal day to day work. As for different skills, again i didnt think about car mechanics, but in the last couple of commercial workshops i've worked in, welding and fabricating parts to fit is a regular thing but i'm sure in a main dealer car garage that would be unheard of. Basically i am suprised that the majority of people who are building a car from scratch and, looking at some photo archives, doing a bloody good job of it aren't mechanics. Perhaps I should of put the fist option in the poll Mechanic/Engineer! I never thought so many people would have the balls to take on such a job. My opinion only but i'm full of praise for anyone who's even thinking about having a go.

[Edited on 1/8/05 by Ben Graber]

started life in injection moulding cos they gave good wages , hated it within two weeks , 19 yrs later im doing what i should have been doing back then - ive worked on few nice motors since then.

I have been a Bodyshop manager for the last 13 years (crash repairs, not makeup!). I am now working out my notice, and will be an independant insurance company assessor in 2 weeks time.

quote:

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Originally posted by Alan B
1) if you work on cars all day would you want that for your hobby too?

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I also didn't expect to see many mechanics, for reasons mentioned above.

Myself, I built soap box karts, Airfix and Tamiya car plastic kits, balsa model airplanes, etc as a kid. Don't forget Mecano - do kids still have that?
Also rebuilt and raced lightweight motorcycles in late high school, then had a long break from motor sport while I studied and got my career going. More recently, raced two stoke karts, built karts and engines etc for several years.

I am qualified as a mechanical engineer, and work at management level for a large company that manufactures bulk liquid transport equipment. As I now work at a desk and computer most of the day, I enjoy the practical side of the car building in the garage at home. It makes a nice change to just concentrate on say making a bracket, instead of the multiple conflicting demands on your time you have to manage at work nowadays.

Haven't actually done much practical work on real cars before, apart form the usual messing around trying to keep bangers going as a student, but have always read a lot about cars.

Original car inspiration must come from my Dad, who ran Jag XK120, MG TC and A , Healey 100 etc while I was a very young kid, although he was a Pharmacist, of all things. Unfortunately he passed away while I was still at school, as he would really enjoy what I am doing now.

Cheers

Fred WB

Time served as per my sig as auto electrician at Lucas. Got out of the trade and am now a sales manager for a fork lift truck company. Enjoyed the tinkering and the kit cars are a great way of filling the gap.

Built a cobra replica before this thing.

Am I the only Professional Computer Geek on here?

im not a mechanic but iam a time served mechanical engineer with electrical qualification to boot and now work as a Project Manager in the automotive industry.

As said before i doubt you would find many mechanics doing the jobs that building a kit requires. Most mechanics that i have come across (main dealer that is) have been little more than fitters. If a part doesnt work, replace it etc. I havent come across many mechanics that would take th etime to work out why something doesnt work and suss out an innovative fix - main reason is that it would cost far too much in time and they would go over time. all IMHO of course - im sure there are a lot of highly skilled one man operators that would prove me wrong tho - im mainly thinking of the commercial outfits here.


Perhaps the poll should have included engineers in the list.

Im an engineer for a fisheries research agency. I look after the equipment that scientists use to tell us not to eat cod.
I havent got the foggyest about the mechcanics of a car but I like to teach myself through mistakes!.
If I had known a bit more about stuff before I begun the build I may have remembered to remove the ECU from my donar before I scrapped it!. DOH.

Adam

Bicycle builder (frame maker) at present. Previously tutor/technician/lecturer, yacht designer, sailor, shipwright, and system analyst/computer programmer. The analyst job was the best paid, but the least healthy.

I prefer working at something where I can get my hands dirty and where a day's effort results in something I can hold in my hands (as opposed to spending weeks, months, and years of my life breathing manufactured air and sitting under flourescent light swhile pushing electrons around inside a computer ... bah)