Seen a few schemes
Yeah, I've looked into them a few times but the trouble is they're time based so what happens when you've got it up in the air, all in pieces and find the bit you bought doesn't fit and the car's not got any suspension on it now? or maybe just run into something like a main subframe bolt you've managed to snap? At home, although there's always the weather to contend with, I can just leave it up on it's stands for as long as is needed.
I dont hate being British I just hate scammers. We all have to be educated customers - be the NHS or a car repair garage. It is tough on the elderly but then it's down to us kids to keep an eye on our elders. My mother was a nightmare for breaking stuff and getting it fixed for silly money. Bt when stuff breaks on older cars, the costs for professional repairs are always high. That lets in the scammers so we have to watch our folks like hawks.
That's not such a silly idea. But give some consideration to maybe doing evening classes first which will be affordable and let you decide whether you really want to get involved in the considerable amount of time you'll need to do a certificated course with professional qualification. Just do some in depth research as to what the course offers. I ran evening courses for over 10 years for our local community education department. I ran a beginners course which was very basic, stuff like under bonnet checks including understanding about brake fluids and coolant types, checking drive belts, tyre pressures, changing a wheel, renewing wiper blades, changing a bulb (not so easy on some and diabolically difficult on a few, and that sort of thing. Then, on a different day of the week I did a more advanced course which aimed to cover very basic service work, like oil and filter changes, Pollen filters (some of which can be a real trial to do) spark plugs, checking brake fluid for moisture, fitting new brake pads (and discs if someone wanted to go that far) and more. I also did a women only course which had a basic structure similar to the basic course but I'd ask them if there was anything they particularly wanted to know about and address that. That course was one of my most successful and always fully booked. It was quite "social" too and often ended up in the pub at the end of the evening!
Yes, knowing how tight is "proper tight" is one of the greatest skills a mechanic - or any fitter - can acquire. Of course it's different for every size. Makes an enormous difference when working aggressive bonus schemes.
or how much force to undo
it's the mistakes that make you better
