mechanic courses?!

[chloe]

Hi there all,i
m planning on travelling around europe next year in a renault 4
but would really like to learn how to maintain and repair it, at least to the basic standard of knowing what is wrong and what needs to be done,what parts i would need etc,..before i set off.
Does anyone know how i could go about learning this?a short course?or apprenticeship type thing with a specialist?
Im based in East London,any tips and ideas would be greatly appreciated!!??
cheers,Chloe/

 

[malcolm]

There are courses around. I have a friend in South London who did one and it gave him the confidence to take on an enormous project. Most of us have gained the confidence by just doing it.

The Haynes manual (while not perfect) is very useful - doing a 50,000 mile service all the way through is a great start. Important thing whether taking on a course or doing it from a book is doing it yourself. We'll help with questions on the forum if you get stuck.

You will be close to Renospeed the R4 specialist. A short cut might be to pay him for a proper service but insist on doing it yourself with guidance from him when needed. Or pop up here for a day.

There's not a lot that's not involved in basic servicing that you need to know about. If something big went wrong you would be as stuck as the rest of us. Fortunately with the Renault 4s big things don't normally go wrong so long as the basic servicing is up to scratch.

 

[Lobster]

Try contacing your local higher education colleges - many do an evening course covering basic vehicle maintenance.