When I was young and a beginner I wish I seen this book at the library, kinda old book but it tells all about how engines come about, like before the steam engines, sterling heat engines, jet engines, etc. , pretty cool book, it may be called how things work, have not been able to locat on the internet but it is at the library in the section steam engines or geo thermal energy.
I you are talking about custom bodywork and paint job.. start by looking up Chip Foose's (Foose Design) work would be a nice inspiration, or look up on JDM modifications... my favorite is From Blitz
But if your are talking about performance of the car itself.. well that's gonna take time, because it's not something you can really look and copy, there alot of mechanical engineering stuff you gotta understand first. like heat transfer theory, metallurgy, internal combustion engine calculations, understanding how different kind turbo works, fluid dynamics, electrical and computer system on a car, and not to mention the huge amount of after market parts there are out there.
most important in upgrading your engine perfomance is.. you have to think about the rest of the car when you change or upgrade something, for instance.. if you just slap on a turbo and a piggy back package on you motor, you gotta think what it'll do to your break system, suspension system, cooling system, clutch and transmission system, hat tranny oil should you use, what kind of engine oil should you use, what kind of tires should you use... because most component on car was originally design to work a whole, each contributing something to the car's designed performance.
and remember every car has a different characteristics of power train, transmission and chassis.. so you gotta really know the characteristic of you car first.
Read the bible instead.
so lately i have been fascinated by cars. So here is my question. Lets say i wanted to turn a normal regular car into one of those cars on fast and furious i am talking a complete custom job. Of course i am not going to do something like that as that would mean that i would have to spend a lot of money. I just want to know what would i have to do. Basically i just want the knowledge of how i would do something like that. Like what books should i read, what sites should i visit etc from beginner level to advanced. I am a complete beginners in car world but i really want to get to know more about cars.
P.s I am not planing on becoming anything like a mechanic or something of that sort just really want to know for my knowledge as i find it pretty interesting.
thx
