Multiple people are saying it's $20 but I see it as $25. Did Alex change the price due to this post gaining traction?
The art of auto engineering
81–90 of 131 posts
Re: The art of auto engineering
#82Good stuff, but to do all this "at home" requires ample garage space and a solid investment in tools and equipment. It also helps to have non-busy roads in the vicinity, in order to do "test flights" after the fixes. It is certainly helpful as a guide to understand the basic automotive systems and not get scammed at repair shops, but for most people to start wrenching on their car confidently, not so much.
> a solid investment in tools and equipment That's true. You need a lot of special tools for modern cars. When you acquired the required tools you'd best stick to that manufacturer with future car purchases or you'll have to buy the whole set again for your new brand.
For situations like this I find www.automotivespecialtytool.net to be particularly useful. It's a peer-to-peer car tool rental community. So if you have a rarely used, very specific tool you can rent it out to others; similarly if you need such a tool you can just rent it without having to buy it.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#83I'm curious if anybody would be interested in this sort of cliff's notes breakdown of any other mechanical engineering topic? My dad's a retired mechanical engineer and many of my cousins are also mechanical engineers. I'm media savvy. Should I prompt them to doing something like this? Auto engineering seems much more broadly appealing than, say, fluid dynamics in ventilation systems. Maybe more youtube-channel-level appealing than pay-for-lifetime-access appealing?
Re: The art of auto engineering
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I bought the course a couple years ago, really happy to know that there's more content on the way. PS: I could never had imagined that the acceleration pedal controls air intake and not gas.
Hah, I remember disassembling a motorcycle for the first time and in the process figuring out that the throttle cable just opens a valve that I had just taken the airbox off of, I was mind blown! To anyone that's looking to get into wrenching on your own stuff, I can definitely recommend getting started on a motorcycle if you have space, money or time constraints. It's a lot more accessible initially.
Good tip. If you really want to work on a car but have a choice in which one, do some research. Cars vary a lot on how easy they are to work on.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#85Oh no! I come to procrastinate on HN and find my own site at #2. After many years, it's still not ready to share!! I've got so much more I want to do with it. Even though I'm sure it looks abandoned, I have been working hard on getting back into this. The last couple of months I've been developing a 3D viewer for mechanical components that lets you disassemble/rebuild/step through processes. I wish I could share it b…
I bought the course a few years back, and am really happy with the price/value in its current state.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#86Multiple people are saying it's $20 but I see it as $25. Did Alex change the price due to this post gaining traction?
It was $20 when I first started and about three years ago I put the price to $25 because I felt like I’d made a lot of progress. That’s the last time it changed.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
> a solid investment in tools and equipment That's true. You need a lot of special tools for modern cars. When you acquired the required tools you'd best stick to that manufacturer with future car purchases or you'll have to buy the whole set again for your new brand.
This is untrue. Yes there are specialized tools, even some per manufacturer, but in reality 95% of the jobs people will be doing can be done with a standard mechanics toolset.
Ehh, for VW at least some jobs are a lot easier with VW tools.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
I asked GPT about some snorkel trails near my house, as I wanted to know what it knew of them and see if there was anything I didn't know about that I should find out before I snorkel again. First of all it told me that the area is not suitable for snorkelling, and that it is dangerous here. When I corrected it and reminded it about the snorkel trail it confidently corrected itself, then directed to me to snorkel 6 m…
Well why don't you tell me about the hiking trails around my house? Oh you don't know them? It's too specific information and you couldn't possibly know that? Ah interesting... The trick is to ask it only things that are both physically possible and also possible for it to actually know or provide the required extra context from which to deduce the answer. Otherwise it acts not unlike someone pushed against a wall by…
What they won't do is pretend they know about them, including mentioning the names of the trails, while mixing up which trails are strenuous and easy while sounding 100% confident.
Re: The art of auto engineering
#89Somewhat related, there's a series of German videos made for kids that show how a car is manufactured. It's mostly the bodywork and assembly, not engine stuff, but it's still a good overview. If you're interested in this stuff, it could be worth watching, even if you don't understand German.
Autobau Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVNX--ROvtU
Autobau Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on-PhI5Rlyc
Autobau Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeqY03HUmlU
Autobau Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3cpM6jbqNA
Re: The art of auto engineering
#90Multiple people are saying it's $20 but I see it as $25. Did Alex change the price due to this post gaining traction?
It was $20 when I first started and about three years ago I put the price to $25 because I felt like I’d made a lot of progress. That’s the last time it changed.
Got ya, I bought it. I have wrenched before on cars and bikes but it's a fair value to increase my knowledge.