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depending on what area you want to concentrate on, there are three areas to look at;
southern california, los angeles area specifically
north carolina
michigan.
in southern california you have the hub of custom car builders, people like chip foose, boudi stroud, etc.
in north carolina you would be looking at all the race shop, petty enterprises, hendrick motorsports, RCR, etc.
in michigan you will get a good cross section of everything.
so think about what you are interested in doing, and then start sending out resumes to the various shops in those areas. understand that you WILL start at the bottom. for instance if you go to a race shop in north carolina, your first job will very likely be cleaning wheels, mopping the floors, and doing odd jobs until you have proven yourself to be competent. you might have an easier time in the los angeles area as you will be more likely to get an apprentice position.
I suggest you joint iATN (international Automotive Technicians Network) www.iatn.net It has over 50,000 professional mechanics on line, that would be the best place to ask this question. The site has free basic membership.
Note: This site is for professional mechanics only, it is not open to the general public.
Well there's always Dallas, but you wanted somewhere it doesn't get too cold so that's why I mentioned Houston, which has very mild winters & a beach nearby. Its also a VERY diverse city & has a pretty decent nightlife. The cost of living is so low practically anyone could afford to live there. Houston has lots of automotive tuners & enthusiasts as well, but so does Dallas. Both areas have 1/4 mile & 1/8 mile tracks if you're into drag racing.
I figured houston.It's strange cause I had a dream about the city and I designed a super car...that pushed the boundaries in the automotive world....
It's just crazy you would mention that....
But I was also seeing if there where any other options..
You'd have to know how to speak Spanish to live in SA. Not really, but still. They can hire a Mexican to assemble trucks for less than anyone else would be willing to work for.
They probably have a starting pay of about $8.00-$10.00 an hour tops.
Are you recieving an Engineering or Engineering tech degree? If you want to actually engineer components you won't be working in a garage. What exactly do you want to do?
Well I want to engineer vehicles (perfomance +luxury) and engineer performance parts.
I can fix cars now. I want to be versatile but engineering is really the main goal.
I suggest you joint iATN (international Automotive Technicians Network) www.iatn.net It has over 50,000 professional mechanics on line, that would be the best place to ask this question. The site has free basic membership.
Note: This site is for professional mechanics only, it is not open to the general public.
Possibly a dream gig for you would be to work for Dinan in CA.
Unfortunately CA has high cost of living, and MI has horrible winters, so you are left with NC and NASCAR if that's what you want to do.
Of course you could go back to school more or less full-time, and wrench for spending money weekends and evenings. The beauty of being a decent wrench is that your talent is in demand essentially everywhere.
There is an excellent hands-on engineering school in Oregon, OIT. Google them.
If your dream is really to be an engineer, than you really need to go and get an engineering degree. All deference to Lincoln Tech and I'm not slamming you or them, but major outfits are hiring engineers with engineering degrees from major colleges. No one's going to hire an engineer with a degree from Lincoln Tech to design a car. Performance parts, maybe, if you can get in with the right folks. Even the major NASCAR shops are hiring MIT and CalTech people these days.
If you want the real brutal answer it's go back to the best engineering school you can get into and work in shops on the side to build contacts and earn money.
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