7 replies to this topic

[Irishtone]

Hi all,

 

Not sure if I am in the right section of the forum here or not.....

If any long term members can direct me I will happily move this thread if poss.

 

So,

I'm a total novice when it comes to cars and seeing as how Mini's are pretty basic machines (or so I'm told) I would dearly love to get elbow deep in the car and start doing some things myself.

I figure any money I save on the regular jobs could go towards restoring the parts that are starting to rust....my poor poor doors.....

 

Anyways,

I live around the Woking / Weybridge area.

Does anyone know of a good evening course that would give me the basics?

Just so I could ...y'know..perform a service / sort the brakes....that kind of thing.

 

I have some Haynes books, but I don't have a garage so I can't really set up on the driveway at the moment and mess about with books right at the moment.

 

Thanks in advance all

T
 

[Nopster]

Hi Irishtone... I would also be very interested in any replies to this post, I am also a complete novice who is currently looking into servicing my mini using Haynes manuals... not here to hijack the thread but keeping a close eye.

[Irishtone]

No bother Nopster.

 

Maybe if we get together we can have a go ?

We could build some sort of new mini from the "spare" parts we had after re-assembly.

 

[minisilverbullet]

Before I bought my mini (4/5 years ago) I knew next to nothing about cars. The haynes, and not least this place has really helped me learn. Full of people keen to help out with advice, offer tips and warn about the pitfalls of every job you can think of. 

 

Whatever it is you are doing to your car, you can be sure a number of members here have done the same. So just ask. 

 

Lets get the ball rolling, what is it you plan / need to do? 

[Irishtone]

OK, that sounds good Silverbullet (Great 80's flick by the way if that's a nod)

 

Well, firstly I was thinking...perform a service on the poor old girl.

 

(I'm building...gradually..to tackling the creeping death that is the rust!!!)

But...softly softly catchy monkey as they say.

Edited by Irishtone, 10 March 2014 - 03:32 PM.

[Alex_B]

Youtube! Eric the car guy among others on there are all there to teach basics, and that is a big help to see how certain systems work/ are put together 

But a haynes manual, and a sunny afternoon is often the best way to do things, if you have issues or questions then searching on here for them is a good idea, nearly every thing that can go wrong has happened on this forum and plenty of help available on here, 

servicing is one of the easiest jobs, make sure you have the correct oil, filter, air filter, spark plugs, points, condenser and tools then follow haynes or search the forum, and away you go! 
 

[Irishtone]

I think my issue is....This is my main car at the moment.

So if I mess it up I am in deep doo doo.

 

Is it as easy as people here make it out to be ?

Really ? ...

I mean, I am by no means an idiot, I can handle myself when it comes to DIY etc.

I'm just worried about doing the job, pelting down the road and smashing into a car as I've accidentally drained my brake fluid or something like that.

 

Am I being a paranoid pansy here?  (Feel free to be blunt, I'm not made of glass)

Edited by Irishtone, 10 March 2014 - 03:50 PM.

[Alex_B]

You will know if you have drained you brake fluid fyi dont do that! aha 



But stick to non safety critical systems for now if you're lacking confidence, I have no formal mechanics qualifications, I have however worked on cars for a large part of my life, used to work in a classic car coachworks as a bodyshop guy that was whilst studying motor vehicle bodywork and paint, now I am doing motorsport engineering at degree level. 

but I am yet to be taught how to use a spanner, I just picked one up and started breaking things and then subsequently ended up fixing them  

the mini really is very simple, 99% of the time you can see how something goes together by looking at it and if you cant someone will have taken a photo and uploaded it on here. but stick to the simple things first up, servicing is all good and if theres someone local who knows what they are doing then get them involved and all the better, you will gain confidence very quickly from these little machines :)