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Comment by ClosedPistachio | Hacker News Reader

Similarly, I purchased a copy of "Bosch Automotive Handbook" [1]. For $65 it will literally walk you through every component of a vehicle, from the metals required, the fuel, to the electronics. It's presence on my bookshelf is meant to be aspirational.

https://www.sae.org/publications/books/content/bosch10/

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If you're looking to be inspired to take the plunge into car repair, check out M359 Restorations YouTube channel[0]. It's a one-man shop in Frankfurt that specializes in BMW restorations. It's a good look into what it takes to do projects like this well: the tools, the space, the knowledge of the secondary market and parts suppliers, and when/how to repair a component rather than buying a new one. He does use repair manuals for some things, especially engine rebuilds, but a lot of what he does is based on "what looks right" to a person doing this for the last 10-15 years.

As a beginner looking to start with minimal infrastructure, he does some of his restorations outside his shop, often in borrowed personal garages of subscribers. Project Salt Lake City is a good example [1]. For someone looking to do a more advanced repair (arguably the most advanced possible) there are some good engine rebuilding videos, especially with Project Frankfurt[2].

One thing I find surprising is that he still uses a lot of 3rd party services. AC dis/charging, wheel alignment, tire mounting and balancing, dynamo measurement, block reconditioning, head and supercharger refreshes, and even car detailing (which he seems to be actively trying to avoid doing despite his instincts because it is a huge time sink). He is a dynamic, adaptable node in a fascinating, specialized capital network.

0 - https://www.youtube.com/@M539Restorations

1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a9rCI2zfPM&list=PLBcFoVFuPC...

2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyqZoNwKeOM&list=PLBcFoVFuPC...

M359 Restorations is an absolutely fantastic channel, arguably the best car restoration channel on YouTube.

I also recommend ChrisFix, especially for new DIY driveway mechanics as the videos tend to be more general tutorials using hand tools (e.g. "how to do an oil change", "how to replace brake discs + pads").

https://www.youtube.com/@chrisfix/videos

I’m a fan of Vice Grip Garage for the everyday person. He routinely arrives to a broken down vehicle, performs on-site diagnostics and repairs, and then attempts to drive the vehicle 600+ miles back to his workshop. He has a hilarious wit and is quite knowledgeable, and he doesn’t really use fancy tools, techniques, or terminology, so it’s quite approachable and understandable for non-experts.

https://www.youtube.com/@vicegripgarage

Another great book like that is Machinery's Handbook: https://books.industrialpress.com/machinery-handbook/

As someone who never owns a car and wants to learn about car. Do you think it's a good book?

I am still contemplating between buying book about car or buy pc games called Car Mechanic Simulator.

What about learning more about something you already own and use? It would give you an opportunity to have a more hands on, real world experience and if it does break you can fix it?

I really enjoyed John Muir pubs like How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot. They are available for a handful of vehicles (the Subaru one is a favorite of mine). Available at a used bookshop or new.

Great drawings, useful for non-motor-heads. The Sub version has info like resuscitating a drowned lizard :)

Avoid if You hate R. Crumb style drawings and hippies.

Try entering 1566913101 as the search in Amazon, currently USD23.00

Edit, adding: you don't need a specific one to gain great knowledge.

I had this book (and many many many VW's) it was a great help, I did my first valve adjustment with this book in hand.

Pretty sure my dad still has his. I still have memories of his working on our microbus at the time, back in the early '70s. Don't think I was even five, yet, but I remember lying underneath the thing with him, watching while he worked on the brakes(?). And another time, he and Mom working a couple of jacks to pull out the engine.

Yeah, that copy earned its keep. Think it still has some of the grime...

Very cool, thanks for the link

1,766-pages.

Wowzer.

Thanks! Looks like a great book, and it's on libgen (11E). However, the English is positively atrocious. The next edition would be wise to invest in a competent editor. Very first page:

The International Convention on Road Signs and Signals [1] defines a motor or power-driven vehicle as a self-propelled road vehicle. Rail-borne vehicles and country-specifically mopeds which are not treated as motorcycles are exceptions. A second definition in this convention limits the term motor vehicle to those vehicles which are used for carrying persons or goods or for drawing on the road vehicles used for the carriage or persons or goods.

"Country-specifically" -> "jurisdiction-specific definitions of mopeds".

"in this convention" -> "in the convention"

"the term motor vehicle" -> "the term 'motor vehicle'"

The final sentence makes no sense to me and is certainly missing a comma.

Perhaps this is better for you:

A second definition in this convention limits the term motor vehicle to those vehicles which are used for carrying persons or goods, or for drawing on-the-road vehicles used for the carriage of [not or] persons or goods.

This vs the and motor vehicle needing quotes are debatable. The last sentence doesn’t need a comma but probably should be reworded for clarity.

Seems about as difficult to parse as typical highly technical writing.

It's not technical, it's just bad.

It likely being a German translation, I'm not surprised.

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