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How a car works (2012)

howacarworks.com

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Re: How a car works (2012)

#101

Post by jdmichal »

AlexMuir wrote: post #46
mrspeaker wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I think this site is amazing and certain appeals to my "hacker aesthetic" even though I'm not a car person! One thing that I'd like to see is some kind of guided tour - I got to the page and instantly saw "how heating systems work" and then "the engine - how power is created" and this confused me a bit. It made it seem like the first thing you need to know about cars is how the heater works! Then I realized ther…

You're right - the order to Basics is somewhat chaotic - I'm going to fix this today. I'd reordered it to push heavily trafficked articles to the front page for SEO reasons. That was a bad idea with hindsight.

I don't think that was a terrible choice. Just that maybe if you're going to do that, that there should also be a "Start Here if you have no idea what's going on" option that would be an ordered walkthrough of the basics.

Re: How a car works (2012)

#102

Post by gregsexton »

AlexMuir wrote: post #19

This is my site! This was a pleasant surprise to find my own site on HN this morning! I wondered why it was getting a few more FB likes than usual today. I'm happy to answer any questions. I finished this redesign last week so any feedback is welcome. The main task was to recreate labels and annotations on the illustrations in SVG format, and to reformat the articles in a way that flows nicely and is responsive, but…

I would love to own a print copy. Do you have any plans to publish?

Re: How a car works (2012)

#103

Post by troels »

AlexMuir wrote: post #19

This is my site! This was a pleasant surprise to find my own site on HN this morning! I wondered why it was getting a few more FB likes than usual today. I'm happy to answer any questions. I finished this redesign last week so any feedback is welcome. The main task was to recreate labels and annotations on the illustrations in SVG format, and to reformat the articles in a way that flows nicely and is responsive, but…

From your "a year on" article:

"Getting backlinks

There are still hardly any backlinks to the site and I don't really know how to boost this efficiently. I was thinking about licensing the content under Creative Commons as I've noticed a couple of sites just copy and pasting my articles in without even a link back."

Did you try contacting the sites and ask them to provide a backlink? Seems like a very reasonable request that most would comply with.

Re: How a car works (2012)

#104

Post by esalman »

gregsexton wrote: post #102
AlexMuir wrote: post #19

This is my site! This was a pleasant surprise to find my own site on HN this morning! I wondered why it was getting a few more FB likes than usual today. I'm happy to answer any questions. I finished this redesign last week so any feedback is welcome. The main task was to recreate labels and annotations on the illustrations in SVG format, and to reformat the articles in a way that flows nicely and is responsive, but…

I would love to own a print copy. Do you have any plans to publish?

The site was created from a paper book. See about section- http://www.howacarworks.com/about/making

Re: How a car works (2012)

#105

Post by electic »

AlexMuir wrote: post #19

This is my site! This was a pleasant surprise to find my own site on HN this morning! I wondered why it was getting a few more FB likes than usual today. I'm happy to answer any questions. I finished this redesign last week so any feedback is welcome. The main task was to recreate labels and annotations on the illustrations in SVG format, and to reformat the articles in a way that flows nicely and is responsive, but…

I love this site. Would love one guide on the details of electric cars as well.

Re: How a car works (2012)

#106

Post by rpcope1 »

RankingMember wrote: post #74
matthewrhoden1 wrote: post #55

I didn't see the article for when it's 2AM and you can't get that one last bolt off.

Propane or MAPP gas torch. Heat what the bolt goes through until it's cherry, then wail on it with an impact wrench. The torch is often referred to as "the big red wrench". Also, don't underestimate the power of soaking the stuck bolt in penetrating oil.

Even better than any penetrating oil you can buy: ATF + Acetone[1]. Also, having a rosebud torch with Oxygen + Acetylene is a must if you find yourself dealing with rusty bolts often.

[1] - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/penetrating-oil-s...

Re: How a car works (2012)

#107

Post by rpcope1 »

nicboobees wrote: post #28
gregpilling wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GM stopped putting carburetors in vehicles in 1985 for the US market, which is 30 years ago. When can we let go of old tech?

People will always use "old tech". "Old tech" often just works. Flawlessly. I have a dumper truck I borrow from next door. Crank handle, diesel. It just works. Starts every time. No battery, no crap to go wrong. "new tech" is often designed to last 5 or 10 years maximum. After that is anyones guess as to whether it'll work.

Speaking of old diesel tech that just works and will be here forever, if you're in the U.S., it's still possible to pick up an M35A2 on the cheap (like ~$2000 cheap), and they'll run just about any fuel (multi-fuel Hercules diesel FTW), and are almost indestructible by normal means. They are also far less temperamental than many older trucks. You just need anchor arms to steer it and the ability to drive stick shift.

Re: How a car works (2012)

#108

Post by yason »

alexcabrera wrote: post #71
giancarlostoro wrote: post #34

I always feel so uncomfortable about my car considering how old it is, and I know nothing about it or how it works. Everyone around me just cracks open their hoods and fixes their car, swaps tires, etc. I can't just move stuff around without actually understanding what anything is. I honestly have been wanting to learn more about cars. It also helps keep up with mechanics when they tell me things I don't fully unders…

The single best thing you can do is buy the Bentley Repair Manual ( http://www.bentleypublishers.com/ ) for your car. They're expensive, but will show you how to take your model apart and put it back together again. If you want to learn how a car works, the best thing you can do is take one apart and then try to get it running again. When you're working on a car, dead tree repair guides + a beater laptop are your bes…

I can recommend the Bentley manuals.

With general knowledge of how an internal combustion engine works I basically learned how an actual car really works by reading through one back in the 90's.

The Haynes manuals are merely worth a quick reference book if you really need to know something model-specific and you don't have access to the maker's original service manual, but not much more.

Re: How a car works (2012)

#109

Post by cherry_su »

nicboobees wrote: post #28
gregpilling wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GM stopped putting carburetors in vehicles in 1985 for the US market, which is 30 years ago. When can we let go of old tech?

People will always use "old tech". "Old tech" often just works. Flawlessly. I have a dumper truck I borrow from next door. Crank handle, diesel. It just works. Starts every time. No battery, no crap to go wrong. "new tech" is often designed to last 5 or 10 years maximum. After that is anyones guess as to whether it'll work.

To add to your last statement, it seems like cars are engineered for the length of a typical lease. Afterwards, nondeterministic electric gremlins start showing themselves.

Re: How a car works (2012)

#110

Post by myth_buster »

AlexMuir wrote: post #46
mrspeaker wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I think this site is amazing and certain appeals to my "hacker aesthetic" even though I'm not a car person! One thing that I'd like to see is some kind of guided tour - I got to the page and instantly saw "how heating systems work" and then "the engine - how power is created" and this confused me a bit. It made it seem like the first thing you need to know about cars is how the heater works! Then I realized ther…

You're right - the order to Basics is somewhat chaotic - I'm going to fix this today. I'd reordered it to push heavily trafficked articles to the front page for SEO reasons. That was a bad idea with hindsight.

Hey, can't you put them all into a popular/most visited section on the home page.
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