Building your own car and related careers...

[Crapozo]

Hello,

I am new so let me give you a very brief introduction about me and my relation to automobiles. I am 20 years old (live in sydney) and know near nothing about cars and engines, but I am very interested in learning more about them. I like watching the tv shows they have on cable tv about people building/changing cars/motorcycles. My favourite one is "American Chopper" which is on the discovery channel.

So now I will get down to the questions,
I have been thinking over the past few months about when i get enough money and stuff, i would like to get to build my own car (i like having to customize things to my likeing).

Now this, i know nothing about so i need to ask alot of questions,

1. I searched the tafe website and i see they have alot of courses on automobiles. If i were to learn about building cars, and have little knowledge, which courses would you think i would need to attend?
(would it be best to attend tafe to learn about doing this?)

2. If i got the training to do this, how would i go about doing it?
Some people told me that you would need to get a garage, but like how would i find one?

3. If i learn how to do this i would also like to start a career in this area (in addition to my drafting career i am following now) but i do not know what the options are. I know there is servicing and repairing but that sounds awfully boring. What are some of the "interesting" jobs in this field which has the most amount of employment available?

Also just to give alittle more information, the types of cars that i like (just the shape pretty much) are the Coupe 1960 - 1970's Mustangs.

I hope i did not ask too much questions :evil_laug

[Van D]

Just be warned.. It's VERY expensive and time consuming building cars up from the ground, especially 'customising' them how you'd like. Be prepared to shell out big bucks, especially if the car is older or needs a lot of attention.
My project car is a 1990 XF van (Nothing like an old mustang etc). Allready spent around 2500-3 grand on it and it still has rust, needs panelbeating, paint, work on the engine, more interior work, more wiring etc etc and all these things cost money.

Apart from that (just giving you a heads up, i've seen MANY people give up on projects before they really started because they didn't have time/money).
If you don't know much about cars, i'd probably look at the most general sort of course they have. Something which covers everything.

If you don't have space allready.. You could perhaps hire a large self storage kind of place etc. The best thing is just to have a spare garage joined to the house with PLENTY of room to work on the car.

Jobs.. This is something i've being looking at as well (i'm in yr 12 this year, gotta figure something out soon) and I seem to be in the same boat as you (don't want to have a local mechanic type job where all you'd be doing is repairing others cars). There are plenty of places that restore cars, customise cars, rebuild from the ground up etc, where if you had the right skills (fabrication, fitting and turning, any sorts of engineering etc) you could score a job.
You could also talk to people in the business, or if you'd like to make bikes, you could get into contact with someone like scotty's choppers.

Just some basic info..

[old_mate]

Go to TAFE part time while working, saving up to build a car. Do courses in panel beating, spray painting and general mechanical theory.

If your keen on doing it all yourself, you'll need a big shed, good tools (welders grinders air compressor spray gear etc etc)

Building a whole car from the ground up is lotsa work and lotsa $$$. Paying someone else to do the same is just more $$$

I'm kinda lucky in the way that my trade encourages me to be both electrically and mechanically minded, my own XY build will still however be left to the pros for things like panel and paint, engine build (dont wanna root it by doing it myself, i want 500hp) gearbox build and diff build. All wiring, interior and general fitout will be done by me.

My car is pretty straight and rust free to begin with. Im looking at spending $25g but budget is for $30g. Would be a walk in the park but i stupidly moved out, got debts and a missus

[dansedgli]

Im 22 and building a torana at the moment. I have a donor car that has given me most of the gear I need so that helps. You dont need training to get into this gear. I have completely redone the brakes, brake lines, brake boosters, master cylinders, clutch master cylinders, complete suspension swaps, diff, front end, engine swaps. Ive helped a mate paint his car as well. Its not all rocket science.

I have learned to do everything myself just by looking at how it should go and taking note when I removed it from the donor car.

A course may help with things like getting a perfect finish on a car but after you have done it a few times you get much better at it. An engine building course may be helpful but everything like that is covered in workshop manuals as well. I will be doing my own paint and bodywork but outsourcing the actual engine build to a professional when it comes time to get my 400rwkw.

Im an accountant by day and live with my parents still. Ive spent about 12K all up so far and the body hasnt been touched and the car isnt running. Ive got a stack of high performance parts for it though.

Building cars costs too much and takes too long. I wish I had of bought a car already running and registered so that I could have a good starting point rather than a shell.

[Racecraft]

As the others have said and I'll just add...

Hands on experience is paramount unless you are a cheque book racer with deep pockets. When you are learning a certain level of specialising is also important, I mean pick a particular make or model and research and learn everything about that type of car... No point being a jack of all trades master of none when you are starting out.

Do you like old school muscle? Then spend time learning body repairs, welding and basic mechanics, or do you like Hi-Tec machines? if you're into the modern genre spend time learning auto electrics, diagonstics and the like. As you like Chopper though and are currently studing drafting, I'd say you are more interested in the old school fabrication side of customising.

That brings me back to your second and third questions:-

2. Space, tools and room to be organised all make a build easier.. Its not impossible to do it budget style at home but a quality product needs quality equipment. Start off small, devoted and keen and most things are understandable/achievable by an average Joe.

3. Without a trade qualification or a large bankroll to fund employees that are qualified your best bet is to sell yourself.. Use your car as a marketing tool. Alot of people that do hi-end customising and modifications are in business because of their reputation and past workmanship.

[Crapozo]

Alright

Thankyou everyone for the comments and advice, it has been very helpful