Advice

[anokES]

As an amateur what DIY projects should I take on to better aquaint myself with the car and DIY in general?

[LateFan]

Depends on how inexperienced. I was lucky in high school to have a bunch of motorheads along my alley who were always working on some crazy project. I asked them a million questions until they were sick of me. One of them made a new bolt for me on his lathe after I wrecked it on a Sunday when everything was closed.

I would say change some tires, look at the suspension and how it works while it's up on jacks.

Change your oil, look around at the bottom of the engine, trans., exhaust system.

Learn how to pull out the spark plugs, then clean & gap them or replace with the correct new.

But first, invest in the Bentley repair manual. Worth every dime.

[jalopi]

Buy a good set of sockets and wrenches - I'd say that's the first step towards being good at DIY. I recommend tooltopia.com, that's where I got a good bit of my tools when I was still a mechanic. [FYI, the 'combo' sets usually suck. buy a comprehensive set of each].

Also, a floorjack is a must... fuck that scissor nonsense

Then, decide what you want to do, look it up on the internet, determine whether you've got the tools/skill for it or not, then tackle it. That's the best way to learn.

[anokES]

Cool - I'll start with something easy. Appreciate the advice.

[jalopi]

A good [fairly easy] first project is making sure your valve lash is good.