The art of auto engineering

[AlexMuir]

Oh 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 but I'm not there yet. Babylon JS is amazing though.

EDIT:

I'll throw down some random notes because I've never really talked about this:

- I've learned a LOT over the three years since I made these videos - about cars, life, boats, love, fabrication, quaternions and myself.

- I made these videos in a backstreet garage in Budapest. A personal situation arose and I left Hungary and tried to get going again back in the UK.

- I built a new garage/studio in the UK and kitted it all out in preparation.

- Then lockdown struck and I had to get involved in a real-world business that I co-owned. The people who did my video production couldn't travel, and when they could, the UK had become so difficult that they had no desire to stay. So I had to find a new team which wasn't easy.

- I also had to rebuild my own life and that took a lot of time and effort. I didn't have the energy to go back into videos - it's something that I did at a certain time of my life, and I knew that I needed to be stronger to revisit it or I would risk my own happiness.

- I feel a combination of emotions - I am immensely proud of what we achieved with this, and I'm embarrassed by my failure to finish it. That said, I don't think I've ever been more excited by this project.

Edit 2: Go and watch Tim Hunkin's Secret Life of... series @ https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1 You'll be glad you did!

[savgore]

I bought this course a year or two back and I don't feel short changed whatsoever, I really enjoyed it and thought that something will have caused the projec to drop off as the passion and knowledge is there in all your content.

Thanks for the work you've done on it so far - and super excited to find out that the passion is still burning to make it even better.

[jonhysilvers]

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.

[devnullbrain]

Using an NB Miata is interesting: they're common donor cars for modern Locosts. That crowd might appreciate this as the ultimate workshop manual.

[BlueGh0st]

As usual, Miata is the answer. But in a world where the Miata doesn't exist, which car do you think you would have chosen for this project?

[mattlondon]

Major props for Tim Hunkin.

He is self-publishing on YouTube these days but in the past was broadcasting similar things on UK national TV: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Machines

Both the old and recent stuff is great.

[tclancy]

This is exactly what I've been looking for. Purchased! One request if you get time/ it's easy: can you add a Chromecast option to the mobile app? At least on iOS I don't see an option.

[kkirsche]

I hope you are doing well these days after what sounds like a challenging journey to get to this point. Thanks for making and sharing this great content.

[runlaszlorun]

Looks great.

Just my two cents… if it’s $25 for lifetime access you might want to make that more obvious (I was on mobile).

It’s not that I don’t think it’s worth it- actually the opposite. Hitting the landing page I actually assumed it’d far more, or have a series of upsells, etc. I started to navigate away when I noticed the smaller print.

Anyway, looks like great stuff. And thumbs up for Budapest.

[fl7305]

I bought the course a few years back, and am really happy with the price/value in its current state.

[quicksnap]

As a software engineer fascinated by cars/engine work, I instantly purchased this for $25, even if the content is incomplete.

I'm sure there are many more people like me. Please keep making more videos and information. We'll happily pay more to support the effort.

[chanakya]

Just wanted to add to the many voices who felt they got way more than the $25 they paid for the content on the site. Wonderful videos, and your passion for cars got me to working on my own car, where I've made several changes since.

Wish you all the best as you add to it!

[arnsholt]

The course description and the car is modern, but would this also be helpful for understanding a classic car? I’ve inherited a classic Jag which is great, but being reliant on others for understanding and repairs is sometimes a bit limiting.

[dangerboysteve]

Just learned about the course from this post and signed up for it. Looks like great value from an entertainment perspective.

[calvinmorrison]

Do you have any recommends for oscilloscopes in a tablet formet with like 4 or 5 channels that I can use ?

[csours]

Love Tim Hunkin, truly a hidden gem.

[AndrewOMartin]

For $20.

> Will this course teach me to fix my car?

> I am asked this a lot. If you just want to fix one thing on a car then you don't need to understand automotive engineering or how things work. You can find videos on YouTube that will show you almost any repair, and you just follow those videos. But if you want to be able to diagnose and fix any car, any engine without spending hours Googling then you want a deep understanding of car mechanics.

[moffkalast]

Why spend hours Googling when I can just ask the latest version of GPT in <current year> and it'll tell me how to work the problem and diagnose it.

[swimfar]

Somewhat 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

[bluetomcat]

Good 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.

[fl7305]

I went from zero knowledge to changing my timing belt with the aid of the mfg manuals and YouTube videos.

A general series like this really helps putting individual YT videos into context.

A YT video on changing the timing belt might show me all the steps, but not how the engine internals look and what "interfering" means.

[AlexMuir]

This is true - I can only speak about Europe but almost no young people have feasible access to either the space or tools to do any of this unless it's their career or they have family. I wish I could solve the space, tools, and money situation but I can at least help with knowledge.

[biftek]

> requires ample garage space and a solid investment in tools and equipment

Not really although it definitely helps. I started working on cars in a garage that barely fit a Miata with a basic set of wrenches and sockets piled up in the corner. I think you'd find that's how a lot of people start out in this hobby.

Specialty tools can be rented from auto part stores in the US or you can buy them relatively cheaply from Amazon or Harbor Freight.

[asciimov]

> requires ample garage space and a solid investment in tools and equipment

This isn't true. You need just enough space to walk around the car and without a lot of traffic, preferably a spot with a little shade.

As for the investment in tools, you need way less that you think. You don't only buy what you need when you need it. Best advice for tools is to buy the cheapest version the first time you need it, and only when it breaks or doesn't work well buy a better quality.

Finally, you don't always need the "proper" tool to do a job. Those tools are often very expensive and are only used for that one thing. A little ingenuity (and car forums) will get you a long way when doing car work.

[squirtle24]

> requires ample garage space and a solid investment in tools and equipment

On that note, Autozone and OReilly's in the US offers free loaner tools, which would allow you to do most DIY-able jobs. The only tools you need to buy yourself is a decent socket set and a few screwdrivers, and the tools would pay itself back in money saved vs. taking it to a repair shop.

[ofrzeta]

> 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.

[fooker]

You can rent tools and the space to do this for a fairly low amount of money.

Look for DIY workshop/garage services.

[efortis]

Startup idea:

- Crawl the nhtsa.gov technical bulletins (manufacturer communications [pdfs])

- Make them searchable (good enough)

- Some AI (optional)

---

What for?

For example, the mechanic or used car buyer searches for:

`Oil leak S5 2019`

Response: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10155709-9999.pdf

[teacpde]

Seems like Google is already capable of that?

[chefandy]

I'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?

[smokelegend]

Yes, and yes, there's an argument to be made that if something shows up on HN and it's engineering related, it's going to attract a certain amount of eyeballs... "if you build it, they will come"

[aynyc]

Is there an equivalent but focus on maintenance? Going from windshield wiper changes, to oil/fuid changes to advanced (brake pad inspection, changes).

[HeyLaughingBoy]

The thing with maintenance is that it tends to be very vehicle-specific. e.g., the procedure for removing brake pads, while generally similar, can have points where if you don't do it exactly right for that particular vehicle, will break something.

I find that vehicle model-specific forums are really helpful for this kind of thing. And many times the posters themselves have made videos of the process.

[mellosouls]

Looks like just an advert but there is what looks like sample content (or at least sample quality) on his YouTube channel here:

https://youtube.com/@howacarworks

Enthusiastic feedback in some of the video comments.

[benoliver999]

I paid for these and found it really interesting and well made.

However, there have not been any new videos for a while, and there are some glaring bits that need covering (gearbox? suspension?).

[AlexMuir]

Loads to do! I am working on it. I have a pot of money set aside from the sales and my plan is to hire a production company and rattle through it in one long shoot, rather than do one video at a time and then do all the production.

[Eldar_]

Would be nice to have similar course for EV

[kotaKat]

Not to steal thunder from the OP site but WeberAuto has amazing YouTube videos on a LOT of EVs, systems, transaxles, motors, gearboxes, and everything.

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

The professor that teaches it (John Kelly) is amazing and very well experienced in the industry: https://www.weber.edu/automotive/j_kelly.html

[martin_a]

Are you looking into fixing the drivetrain or the "car stuff" around that? I'd rather not fiddle around with the 400 V system of my EV, but I think most of the other things are still the same.

[eggfriedrice]

OMG, I had no idea Tim Hunkin was churning out YouTube videos these days! I was exactly the right age to appreciate the Secret Life of Machines, and it looks like I have several hours of quality stuff to watch there.

[test1235]

This is just an advert, right?

[climb_stealth]

Oh wow, this looks really good! Just preordered as I have been meaning to learn more and I like your style from the video. No rush though in finishing it all.

Some questions if I may ask: Is it possible to order the How A Car Works pdf in print?

Also did you actually write all of it? It looks like an old fashioned instruction manual. You know one of the good ones that explain concepts well. I only read a few pages and love the style.

I'm glad this popped up on hn!

[nbar1]

Multiple people are saying it's $20 but I see it as $25. Did Alex change the price due to this post gaining traction?

[AlexMuir]

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.

[ughitsaaron]

A bit unrelated, but I’m curious if others had small engines or auto shop classes offered in their high schools?

[nbar1]

In my area, they offered such a class as a technical program that high school students could attend off-site at the technical school which also had classes like cooking and childcare.

[pwillia7]

OK you got me because I too have an mx5 21 and want to know more about how it works

[greenie_beans]

sick. i've been wanting to learn about engines. seems like a better use of my time than learning how to code better with the impending ai job displacement!

[nitin87]

just a promotional video . make it free that would work ....

[qwertox]

My first thought was that this is spam. But then, actually looking at what this page is offering, it is really interesting.

@AlexMuir definitely deserves it to be at the top of HN with this project.

[ofrzeta]

Why not pay 20 bucks to an indy content creator?

[zvmaz]

I would gladly pay for such a course.