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Building and repairing engines


Mama2two
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My 10 year old son is interested in engine repair. He loves to use tools and take things apart

 

Considered buying him a cheap appliance like a blender and handing him "the Way things work" book we already have and tell him to go at it

 

Any other ideas? Any kits out there?

 

He wouldn't want to just build a model

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Do you have any car-wrecking/junkyards around? Or any gardening machines that no longer work? My ds13 is rebuilding a couple of two-stroke engines from yard equipment (rototiller, weed whacker). It is very staisfying hands-on work for him. We're thinking of going to a pick-and-pull to get a car engine for him at some point! He also does basic car maintenance/repair on my car. So far he's changed the oil, and replaced the battery cables and the battery.

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My sons (of which I have 10, ages 3-24) thus far have all really liked just diving in and taking engines apart. The older ones have gone as far as having careers in diesel mechanics, simply from having gotten their hands onto the real deal from early on. (I have one son--now 24yo--who literally changed our skid steer engine at age 9 or 10. He needed dh's help cuz it was too heavy for him to get out himself! lol).

 

I have sons who have been fixing vehicles long before they were old enough to test drive them to even figure out what exactly the problem is.

 

And I have sons who actually make money buying, fixing, and selling lawn mowers/tractors. (So, some are more inclined toward gas engines vs diesels.)

 

All that said, we just let them play around with it on their own with real things. Those for whom it clicked have found this a useful self education.

 

My 24yods does say that Small Engine book Christian Light carries as a high school elective course looks good. I never did end up buying it for him way back when when I was going to.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My brother took a class in high school to rebuild a lawn mower.  Everyone had to bring an old lawn mower to class.

1) Are there any Adult Ed classes that would fit the bill?  Something you could take as a parent/child?

2) How about a bicycle maintenance class?

3) What can you find on YouTube or online blogs for basic or small engine repair?   I just know that Loverboy has fixed several things around the house with help from youtube.

For example, this (not an endorsement; just what came up with a google search):

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Repair-a-Lawn-Mower-Engine./

4) What does your library have under the heading of "small engine repair"?  Is there something you could find on Amazon and request through inter-library loan?

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