VegaS10
Well-known member
I lurk this fourm alot, and rarely post. If this is in the wrong section, mods please feel free to move it.
I'm copying and pasting this from my main forum, as alot of the guys there were asking tons of questions about getting into a auto tech program at their local community colleges.
I figured I'd take pics of where I attend to show them what's available.
Enjoy....
It's rounding off the end of the semester, and the shop is trashed. It's cool though, because it looks like a real shop. There's tons of activity, which is cool, and we're seeing alot of "teamwork" from the students.
Enough of my rambling, on with the pics.
Right now, I'm in the machining class, steering and suspension, and my 4th electrical class (they stress the **** out of electrical).
This is the insides of the machine shop:
Flat sander. It's not used much, but it's there.
Piston press. The machine on the right is a small press which pops the piston pins out. The machine on the left cooks the rods and heats them so the rod and easily pass through the piston.
This is a really awesome resurfacing machine. I've done about 5 heads so far (3 Hondas) and it's a really easy machine to use. Setting up can be a pain in the ***, but once done, it's a breeze. I've setup a couple of blocks, but haven't machined one yet.
The valve seater machine, this cuts valve seats in heads. Pretty easy to use once it's setup. I cut valves in my buddie's H22 head. We used oversized Ferra (spelled wrong) valves and new valve guides.
Flow bench. Truly badass. Our teacher for this class is the dept. chairman. He's got a huge interest in circle track racing and 350 chevy engines. We spent about a week watching him port and flow a Dart head. He showed us how to make huge improvements over stock, and he gained a considerable amount even from the Dart heads.
Here are some heads:
Some students boring a 350 block:
This is the lathe. One of our assignments is to make a brass drift. Our instructor assigns you a 1 inch thick, 12 inch long brass drift and has you cut it to a certain diamter, chamfer the ends, and knurl a handle on it. It's a very time consuming process, but in the end, it's a handmade tool you get to keep.
Inground Dyno.... Not really used until you get to the performance classes.
The BIG press. I used this to do alot of suspension bushings on Steve's ITR over the summer.
The alignment pit. Uses all Hunter products. Very cool and easy to use. If you have a lowered car, it may not happen...
The tire changer, Snap-On. It does 24s, not sure if it does any bigger.
The balancer. Hunter 9700. Does Roadforce and everything. I have mastered the hell out of this machine. Truly awesome.
Brake lathes for disc and drum. These are older than dirt. However, if you can work these, you can work any of them.
Simulators. These do Airbags, ABS, electrical, spark, etc. really cool.
On car brake lathe. This lets you cut the rotor while it's still on the car.
The parts washer. This thing is huge. It can easily fit a 350 and 2 heads with no problem. I've seen this thing remove sludge, tar, gook and all sorts of **** and when it's done, it looks amazing.
Chain hoists in the ceiling:
A block getting ready to get honed.
Flywheel resurfacer.
Random pics of students working hard to get thier engines back in their cars:
Overall, it's a great learning experience. There is TONS of hands on learning, and you can pretty much rebuild your whole car if you time it right. I've learned alot of new things, and gained a new appreciation of mechanincs. I will say though, they push electrical VERY hard, so if you plan on working in this field, you better be ready to learn wires...
I'm copying and pasting this from my main forum, as alot of the guys there were asking tons of questions about getting into a auto tech program at their local community colleges.
I figured I'd take pics of where I attend to show them what's available.
Enjoy....
It's rounding off the end of the semester, and the shop is trashed. It's cool though, because it looks like a real shop. There's tons of activity, which is cool, and we're seeing alot of "teamwork" from the students.
Enough of my rambling, on with the pics.
Right now, I'm in the machining class, steering and suspension, and my 4th electrical class (they stress the **** out of electrical).
This is the insides of the machine shop:
Flat sander. It's not used much, but it's there.
Piston press. The machine on the right is a small press which pops the piston pins out. The machine on the left cooks the rods and heats them so the rod and easily pass through the piston.
This is a really awesome resurfacing machine. I've done about 5 heads so far (3 Hondas) and it's a really easy machine to use. Setting up can be a pain in the ***, but once done, it's a breeze. I've setup a couple of blocks, but haven't machined one yet.
The valve seater machine, this cuts valve seats in heads. Pretty easy to use once it's setup. I cut valves in my buddie's H22 head. We used oversized Ferra (spelled wrong) valves and new valve guides.
Flow bench. Truly badass. Our teacher for this class is the dept. chairman. He's got a huge interest in circle track racing and 350 chevy engines. We spent about a week watching him port and flow a Dart head. He showed us how to make huge improvements over stock, and he gained a considerable amount even from the Dart heads.
Here are some heads:
Some students boring a 350 block:
This is the lathe. One of our assignments is to make a brass drift. Our instructor assigns you a 1 inch thick, 12 inch long brass drift and has you cut it to a certain diamter, chamfer the ends, and knurl a handle on it. It's a very time consuming process, but in the end, it's a handmade tool you get to keep.
Inground Dyno.... Not really used until you get to the performance classes.
The BIG press. I used this to do alot of suspension bushings on Steve's ITR over the summer.
The alignment pit. Uses all Hunter products. Very cool and easy to use. If you have a lowered car, it may not happen...
The tire changer, Snap-On. It does 24s, not sure if it does any bigger.
The balancer. Hunter 9700. Does Roadforce and everything. I have mastered the hell out of this machine. Truly awesome.
Brake lathes for disc and drum. These are older than dirt. However, if you can work these, you can work any of them.
Simulators. These do Airbags, ABS, electrical, spark, etc. really cool.
On car brake lathe. This lets you cut the rotor while it's still on the car.
The parts washer. This thing is huge. It can easily fit a 350 and 2 heads with no problem. I've seen this thing remove sludge, tar, gook and all sorts of **** and when it's done, it looks amazing.
Chain hoists in the ceiling:
A block getting ready to get honed.
Flywheel resurfacer.
Random pics of students working hard to get thier engines back in their cars:
Overall, it's a great learning experience. There is TONS of hands on learning, and you can pretty much rebuild your whole car if you time it right. I've learned alot of new things, and gained a new appreciation of mechanincs. I will say though, they push electrical VERY hard, so if you plan on working in this field, you better be ready to learn wires...
