Learning new Hobby Skills Later in Life

[Jsf721]

I am no usually one to post too much personal info on line but I am in my mid 50's.

My Dad was a great guy and I lost him when I was 23. He was no too handy and he encouraged me as much as he could but there was not much he really knew in terms of fixing stuff. He was a brilliant business man and taught me a ton and made me what I am today- I'm forever grateful for those lessons and about life and business. I can do basic plumbing repairs, install light switches and outlets and do basic wood working, and painting. (I know I'm not impressing this crowd with my listed skill set ). I am a near Professional Level Detailer and have made good side money at it. I'm well versed and own all the equipment for High level Paint correction, ceramic coating etc. I invested in a decent set of Power and Hand tools for the garage and am not apposed to upgrading or adding when needed.

I kind of plateaued and i really want to learn more on the mechanical automotive front. I can deal with my snowblower but it kind of comes to a screeching halt there.

Auto I can handle oil changes on basic stuff, air filters and tire stuff. I'd like to be able to do my own brakes, plugs and move on to learning how to trouble shoot auto electrical and repair and re build a motor. I'd like to take on a project. My buddy has a beautiful 1987 928S sitting that I dream about and would like to buy something similar and getting it running. I just cannot pay someone to do the work.

How do you begin from Near Zero in Automotive diagnosis and repair? I have a full time gig running a business and my M-F is some long hours so its me being a weekend worrier.

 

[Sweetcorn]

I'd look around for a community college or vocational school that offers adult education classes focusing on the areas you'd like to learn about.

I'd always wanted to learn autobody and paint, but didn't know anyone that could teach me. Ended up finding out that my local vocational school had an adult ed evening class. Signed up for the first one and ended up taking all of the rest of them they offered. It was great and I learned everything I wanted to and a lot more. It helped that the instructor was as skilled as you'll find and the class size was small. I'm still friends with the other guys who took it. A great experience and I'd happily do it again.

 

[vavet]

I started when I was 16 because my POS car wouldn't run otherwise. Dad helped a little, but not much. He wasn't interested. I learned most of what I needed to know by diving in with the help of Haynes and Chilton's manuals. I don't know if those manuals are as good as they used to be, but there's even better info online now.
Never be afraid to take pictures of something before you take it apart. With digital cameras and phones now, it's easier than it has ever been. This can help with wire routing, getting the right fasteners back in the right holes, component orientation (I'm thinking about drum brakes and getting the springs lined up right) and lot of other things. You don't anticipate every picture you need until it's going back together, so take plenty of them from different angles to hedge your bets.
Some things will just take two people to do well, do safely, or do in a time efficient manner. Bleeding brakes can be done by one person with special tools, but it's much faster with two people.
You don't need Snap-on level tools for the weekend warrior type stuff. The stuff you can buy at Home Depot, Lowes, and even Harbor Freight is so much better than it used to be and will be fine for most of what you're doing. Don't go broke buying tools.
You'll need a decent meter for electrical troubleshooting, but you'll also need wiring diagrams. Those are not hard to find, but you will have to pay for them. I think there are 1 day and 1 week subscriptions you can get...or buy the downloadable manual for your particular vehicle.
Depending on how serious you want to get with it....buy a project car. What's your interest? Trucks? Jeeps? Miatas? 1960s muscle cars?Do you like modern, fuel-injected Hondas? Or old V8s with a carb on top and a distributor?A project vehicle means that way you are not wrenching on your DD that you know has to go back together before 7Am tomorrow to get you to work the first time you try to tackle a brake job . You'll be much more likely to explore some things and push your limits. Work safely - get decent jack stands and ramps to go under the car while you're working on it. Don't rely on the jack. Give the car a good shake before getting under it. Better to have it fall because you shook it, even if it bends a suspension piece or crunches some sheet metal, than it is to have it fall ON YOU because you were wrenching on something too hard.

Warning: pretty soon you'll be spending lots of money upgrading tools, buying parts, etc. Get familiar with the laws regarding insurance, registration, etc on a car in your state, even if you're not driving it. Does you town/county allow you to have a car outside if it's not registered, roadworthy, insured, etc or does it have to stay in the garage. It's easy to say that a car is a project and won't be on the road for a year. Virginia requires different levels of notifications if you cancel insurance without selling the car to avoid actions against your license. Occupying the garage with a non-running hobby vehicle might be a bitter pill for your SO when he/she is digging out their car under a foot of snow know there's a perfectly good garage.

 

[CraigStu]

I wouldn't even touch a 928 and I have been an auto tech for most of my life. Parts are way too expensive and it is not a simple car. If you want to have a project to learn on, I'd look for an old Camaro or Mustang or even a C4 Corvette.

Chevrolet Corvette (C4) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The problem w/ Mustang or Camaro is dealing w/ rusted body parts but a 350 Chevy or a 302 Ford engine would be a great engine to learn on. A C4 generation is maybe the least popular of all Corvettes so you can still buy them pretty reasonably and I suspect their value will slowly climb.

 

[Voi]

I'm 52 and lost my dad when I was 19. He was actually a very handy civil engineer and architect but wanted me to be a jock and didn't let me help with much.

Turns out I'm pretty good at teaching myself stuff and have had various DIY hobbies throughout my adult life.

My only perspective is that I have found that while I still like figuring stuff out I sometimes resent having to work on stuff in order to use them.

I would love to have an old Jeep and drive it around the National Forest here in the Black Hills. But if another one of my hobbies is any indication I'd resent having to work on it in order to enjoy it. Any given problem that I had to figure out a solution for would be seen as a small victory but come with at least a seed of resentment.

You are likely totally different but just thought I'd mention it.

 

[Neggy]

I learned a lot of my diagnostic skills back in the day from mistakes, other peoples mistakes, watching people that knew more than me, and reading every trade magazine that came into my friends shops.

Having a working knowledge of various engine designs helps too

I knew I had made it when I diagnosed something my friend who could diagnose and fix anything couldn't

a used car a dealer bought it cheap after it was traded in at a big dealer after a botched repair.... and as usual he thought we could fix it cheap so he could flip it

It was a balance shaft engine, the dealer tech didn't get the timing right, and after my friend tried for a day to fix it I diagnosed it 5 minutes after I walked in the shop because I knew the engine design

This was a long time ago, when there were similarities between engines, now outside of Government mandated OBDII codes being generic, there is no easy way to learn all the different manufacturers systems

We have a guy we call when we get stuck, he has almost all the factory level software and he goes from shop to shop reprogramming things, doing updates, and deep dives that are beyond our Snap On scanners limitations. He gets $150 to walk in the door.

There is a reason your local gas station does not have service bays anymore, the tooling and software is to $$$$$ to be profitable.

Cripes you need a interface to tell the rear calipers on some cars to retract so you can slap a set of pads in

Now if you want to slide over to my other specialty, Auto Body, you need to be a damn metallurgist with all the different materials used... what can be heated, what can not, what can be repaired and what can not, welding and bonding techniques that restore the car to pre loss condition, plus repairing aluminum is a whole different world.... and the CANBUS issues when replacing parts, re-calibrating all the anti-collision, lane departure, adaptive cruise control stuff....

But you are never too old to learn, or you can become a YouTube mechanic like most of our customers who think I can fix something in 11 minutes because the guy on YouTube they saw do it can.

 

[didit]

The community college suggestion is good advise. They offer courses in a wide variety of disciplines.
I used to be one of the guys mentioned with the manufacturer DRB back in '96 when the ISO system became federally mandated. I have been retired over 20 years now and things have evolved so much, it would be tough for me to catch up and I have no interest in doing so. I prefer working on older pre-digital age vehicles now. Less time diagnosing, more hands on satisfaction.

 

[thr3squared]

I agree with the community college approach too.

Also mentioned was the Haynes/Chilton manuals - I found these VERY helpful for the first car I started working on ('93 Wrangler). Easy to follow instructions with pictures. A step up from that is to scour the interwebs for a pdf of you vehicles factory service manual (these can also be purchased from a dealer $$$). These are huge documents, so print the sections that are useful to you and put them in a binder. It will have all the torque specs, oil/brake fluid types, maintenance intervals, etc in enormous detail.

From there start selecting small projects/tasks and add more as you get comfortable. Lastly (I always forget this), search youtube....chances are you'll find a tip/trick that will get you past a hang-up in your projects.

 

[theoldwizard1]

My son-in-law is a great guy and a great father. Handy he is not ! He threw out a decent lawn mower because he cut the bowl gasket re-assembling after trying to clean the carb he removed the gasket completely and of course fuel was pouring out).

He broke the tensioning spring on a paddle snow blower. Watched a YouTube video on how to repair it. Bought the part and installed it, but it was not right. The video was for a completely different snow blower.

Sigh ! Great guy, ...

 

[theoldwizard1]

Some things only come with experience (lack of knowledge). I have picked up a lot of "tips" from GJ and YouTube.

Besides suction, name 2 additional ways to start a siphon. Hint. One will only work on a closed tank and the other on an open tank.

 

[firebirdparts]

How do you begin from Near Zero in Automotive diagnosis and repair?

I really love the diagnosis part of this question. These days, I think you would learn a lot from the internet about specific jobs you want to do, like for instance let's say you want to put a timing belt on something (which in terms of skill is not trivial). To do diagnosis, you need a good scan tool for cars built from (about) 1996 and up. These cars were mandated by US federal gov't to have compatible diagnostic interface, and they'll tell you engine operating data on your scan tool. For older cars, it's a little harder.

You also need people you can talk to, and on the internet, I say presume 10% of responses are useful and 90% are idiotic, then make it your goal to pick out that 10%. If you ask a question about fixing a car, you should ask it in a forum that is 100% about that particular car. The forum are out there.

Something that I have found useful is to have two cars alike. If you want to boost your auto intelligence, it's a big boost. But it does require you to have two cars alike, and you may not want to.

For motivation you could buy a project car. That could be a big mistake, too. It depends on what kind of trouble you get into, mostly with other people.

 

[Ralf11]

No on the 928 as per above.

Get an old 911 (up to 1987), shine it up and make your buddy jealous. They are easier to work on than a 928 (by a lot) and are real classics. Parts are easy to come by. Prices are way up but you are still in a range below Italian exotics (which you can beat in a road race or in reliability), tho higher than a VW bug or Mustang.

 

[like2wheel]

Calling bczygan!
Where has he been?
He's the poster child for learning automotive late in life.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I am 75, now. 15 years ago, I bought a JUKI sewing machine and trained myself to do upholstery. My first trade was sheetmetal, so, I thought leather being more compliant might be easy enough to transfer my skill over. I am pleased this worked out.
I did the headliner, door panels, trunk liner, kick panels and the carpet. I also made the mats for the floor.

 

[Bighead38]

Just teach yourself with whatever project car you buy. None of it is particularly hard aside from certain diagnostic issues. These days with the internet and YouTube you can pretty much look up anything you can’t figure out.

 

[Glemon]

A lot of folks are saying it is easy, it is and it isn't, depends on your experience and also how your head works. Some people are good at visualizing in their head how systems work to help them solve problems, some not so much.

I like working on old cars because I am more of a visual/spatial relations guy who likes to work on mechanical things more than electronics. Modern cars it is often figuring out which sensor or black box isn't working and plugging a new one in.

Pick a car you like as a project and then find an online forum dedicated to the make and model, there are guys that will help you both with shopping and diagnosing and repairs. YouTube can be helpful for specific jobs too.

 

[930dreamer]

I'd say find what you want to fix/repair the most and go from there. X2 on continuing education class at a local community college. I started a welding class, it was a bit boring for me as I didn't need hours of cutting torch practice, more like some refresher work and move on but I'm not the teacher and I understand.

 

[ratdoggy]

I couldn't afford someone fixing my stuff...So it was basically sink or swim.
My dad was a pretty good woodworker, But to him it was always "good enough" not to the best of what he could do.

 

[didit]

I couldn't afford someone fixing my stuff...

A long time ago when I was working 80 hours a week, it wasn't a question of affording someone to work on my stuff but more of taking a stand on "principal". I wanted some welding done on a unibody Mopar and had a local one man show/restorer look over the car and I explained in detail what I wanted done. If I had the time it was maybe 12 hours work and $500. tops in materials. First questions out of the guys mouth were, "is this your dream car? What is your budget?" He wanted me to bring the car to his shop and he "would work it in when he had time and to expect a wait of about a year". He even had the balls to ask for payment in advance.
Never did have anyone but my son and I work on that car or any others and still have the old Barracuda today. I will buy the equipment needed and learn to do most anything before farming it out.

 

[p00p]

Gotta have the ability to let your wallet open up to the tools you need to build confidence in yourself to do mechanical work.
I honestly wouldn't start the process and enjoy life without perma black greased hands.

 

[didit]

Gotta have the ability to let your wallet open up to the tools you need to build confidence in yourself to do mechanical work.
I honestly wouldn't start the process and enjoy life without perma black greased hands.

The never ending question from the wife..."Why do I have to wash the bar of soap before I use it?"

 

[ratdoggy]

He wanted me to bring the car to his shop and he "would work it in when he had time and to expect a wait of about a year". He even had the balls to ask for payment in advance.
Never did have anyone but my son and I work on that car or any others and still have the old Barracuda today. I will buy the equipment needed and learn to do most anything before farming it out.

Sounds like you used the body guy that did my car.....He folded a year after I was done and to me he seemed to be running a Ponzi scheme. Get as many cars as possible in the shop ,get money up front and continually ask for more $$ then close up; skip town and leave 20 cars in pieces

 

[MushCreek]

I'm still learning stuff at 67. My Dad passed when I was 12, so I had to learn on my own for the most part. I never had the money to buy things, so I had to learn how to build or fix what I wanted and needed. I failed plenty, but I succeeded, too. I've come a long way, the ultimate being designing and building my own house. I was a tool maker by trade, so I learned patience and precision. If you're careful and meticulous, you should do well. It took me many years to develop that, though.

As far as the car hobby goes, I recommend starting with a car that has a large community of owners and hobbyists. A few years ago, I bought a '92 Miata. These have a huge following, parts are plentiful and cheap, and there are articles and videos covering ever aspect, from weekend tune-up stuff to full-blown racing to dropping in a V-8. Despite my inexperience (and dislike) of modern computerized cars, I've gotten pretty good at working on the little guy. There's nothing I won't tackle at this point. Bear in mind that this is not a daily driver that I rely on to get to work! My preference is still carbs and distributors, so I'm cleaning up a '72 F-250, technology I grew up on.

 

[bassJAM]

Community college is a good idea, but depending on your mechanical aptitude you may find things go a bit slow.

I suggest starting the easy stuff by using forums and youtube. With those to two things I can figure out how to do nearly anything. You may have to read 10 threads and watch 15 videos, but it's time well spent. Read the comments too! If 95% of the comments on youtube are saying that the video is telling you wrong, listen! So find a forum or youtube video to your specific video and go change your brakes or plugs.

Once you feel confident moving on, small engines are a good place to go. Buy old lawnmowers or chainsaws and start troubleshooting, they're far more simple than cars, but the principles are mostly the same.

 

[larry_g]

Another thought to put into this. If you want an old rig, is it metric or SAE fasteners? If you have to tool up for an old SAE car and t hen acquire a metric car you will have another money hit buying the same tools in metric.

 

[legenddc]

Buy a used Jeep CJ-YJ-TJ whatever your preference/budget includes. Parts are cheap, LOADS of tutorials on YouTube and write-ups on forums., great fan clubs to help if you get stuck. Go take it off-roading, get it dirty and then you can show some before/after pics of the detailing!

My grandfather bought a lake house when he retired and learned to waterski close to 70 so he could teach his grandkids. Never to old to learn something new.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Community college wouldn’t be a bad idea. We had a 50 some year old guy in my automotive electrical class at the community college. He attended since he was restoring his classic cars and knew pretty much everything but electrical. He learned a lot too by the end of the course he definitely knew more than he started out knowing. I definitely believe you can still learn.

 

[egdede]

Yeah Blake is right. Don't give up, it's not over. 50 year-olds aren't done. Old men can learn. I mean, look at me I'm 56 and have what used to be a 'booky' job. I was given acrobat pro when the pandemic started, and "definitely" learned something. I mean I can hack those BDF files like anything now : )

 

[kaymccampbell]

Like it's said above, sign up for a community college course. Take a little time out of your busy day and go. Working 16 hour days to grind a buck is not a way to live. Your age has nothing to do with what you can learn. I'm significantly older than you and in the last year or so, picked up CAD, 3-D printing, and Arduino programming. You can do anything you really want to.

 

[JTx1717]

Yep, trade school can be a way to pick up on something else. I learned about cars by starting fix things on my own. With not much money I had try and do it myself and that's where the learning process started for me. Not only did it help me understand cars but it opened my world to look at things from a mechanical perspective. It was no longer "it just turns on and it runs". My world opened up to troubleshoot things from an electrical or a mechanical side. I've built engines based on what I've learned and done many other projects outside of automotive because a lot of the principles of engineering and mechanics apply to many other things.

Yes, the internet is a great thing. YouTube, forums, walkthroughs and write ups are all out there to help you learn.

To this day, at the age of 43, I'm looking for things to get my hands on and fix. I just posted a thread asking if any others on here stop and look at curbside throwaways like I do because I like to make things work again. Once you learn it's kind of a bug that you catch and stays with you. Now I'm a healthcare administrator by career and go to work in a tie, dress shoes, and slacks. On a hand full of occasions I've been on the way to and from work and have pulled over to the side of the road to grab something that someone has thrown out so I can fix it later. I keep moving blankets in my car at all times to protect my car interior =).

+1 with tool expansion

 

[ckadams00]

The number one skillset/tool you need is to "be curious". I always say there are two types of people: those who say "that's broken" and those who say: "that's broken, let's find out why". Even with chips and boards you'd be amazed at what you can learn to fix and repair, people are often just to uninterested or too quick to listen to the repair person's first assumption. I'm mid 50s as well, my background is professional kitchens. I've never had any shop training. But I'm a decent woodworker, have restored and rebuild tons of simple power tools, replaced the transmission on a washing machine, rebuild two dryers, taught myself to weld (grinders are my best friends), fixed two gas ovens. A buddy of mine showed me how simple it was to work on brakes and I did complete front and rear brake jobs on my 2 10-year old cars. Watch a LOT of YouTube videos it is amazing what you can learn. Take your time, it is easy to screw things up and create more work than you want. Go above and beyond making safety a priority. Have fun.

 

[Pen & Wrench]

I grew up on a farm and it seemed like my Dad fixed almost everything himself, and learned a lot from him. But if its something you are interested in, you can buy a manual for the rig you want to fix up, and with resources on the internet, there are lots of ways to learn things. I agree, community college would probably be a great investment. If you are interested and motivated, you can do just about anything you set your mind to, other than today's vehicles are so much more technical than they used to be, and maybe that's where the community college would really help. Enjoy, do the things you want to do and know that you can always hire the experts when you don't want to tackle it yourself.

 

[CraigStu]

It has been mentioned some but I want to reinforce. YOUTUBE is the answer for 99%+ of anything you could ever want to learn about fixing. Maybe 10 yrs ago I started to notice something I thought unusual at the time. The number of official factory how to videos that are on there is amazing. Yep, you can still find joebob showing how to fix a mower but you will also find a ton of official videos.

 

[MrPink]

My Grandfather was more instrumental in my automotive endeavors than my dad. Dad likes cars but is not mechanical at all. I taught myself most of the stuff I know, the engine rebuilding however was grandpa. I haven't built/rebuilt an engine in years. I however have a 5.3L LS motor that has 400K or so on it that I may eventually rebuild that is if I don't window the block with too much power lol.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Never stop learning, you are never too old to learn. Only a fool stops trying to learn.



Nothing wrong with grabbing a Haynes or Chilton manual. As you get more mechanical inclined you may use it less and less. However, when you're deep into a project and need torque specs, or torqueing sequence. They are priceless. They used to have decent wiring diagrams in the back of them at one time.


If you are fixing something yourself and need a tool, don't be afraid to buy it. The money you save DIYing, will (most of the time) pay for the tool you need. Consider those tools investments.

 

[jives]

My dad was a mechanical engineer then building contractor. Fixed everything, and thus learned that when things break, you fix them. Learned most of my woodworking from high school shop and working for him. But he died right after I graduated college.

Now, at 61, I am teaching myself to weld. Have some projects I want to do. Bought a flux core welder, slowly teaching myself using mostly YouTube vids. I may do the community college route as it is more challenging to well well than first anticipated. I have, though, fixed my garden tractor tiller (stress cracks and added bracing). I am not yet ready to dive into my real project, building a mini farm wagon from old garden tractor parts.

 

[Lucky Llama]

I enjoy taking on new projects in order to learn new skills. This is more of a sanity thing for me. When I have trouble sleeping due to everyday work and life problems, I can think of how to solve my latest fun project problem and go right back to sleep.

 

[Forgottonia]

If you have room maybe you could buy an older "hobby" car to cut your teeth on. Cars from the 60s / 70s are a lot easier to work on.

 

[nadogail]

After i was forced to retire from my last employer, about 2006, and i was still in my 60's, i bought myself an arc welder as a gift to myself.

 

[Jazz1]

Readers Digest had a auto repair manual out 40 years ago that had plenty of pictures and was very easy to comprehend. It was my go to for years.