There are some shortcourse off road racing teams and clubs in your area. Greg and Travis Dinsmore are just down the road from you in Paris, ON. They have been off road racing for a long time in buggies and trucks, and do everything you want to learn about in their shop, fabrication, engine/ trans rebuilding and more. Greg is a wealth of knowledge, and would probably be the guy to get ahold of. Travis is a hell of a driver as well as fabricator. Their website is
D-R Transmission & Engine Ltd. - Home I'm actually pretty jealous that you're so close to them, great group of guys. Give them a call, and offer your help, if they don't need it, ask if they know someone that does.
What to expect: Starting out you'll get the crappy jobs, removing and cleaning parts, washing body panels, sweeping up, mainly unskilled work. Do a good job on that stuff, and you'll get trusted with more responsiblilty and show that you are worth training. You probably don't realize it, but it takes a decent amount of time and work to train someone, even if they have basic mechanical knowledge. Simple things like showing up on time, doing your best work(no matter how meaningless the job) go a long ways towards showing that you are dedicated to learning and being apart of the team. IMO, it is a huge waste of time to train someone that isn't dedicated. For example, a good friend of mine would come help on my race truck from time to time. Problem was, it took longer to show him how to do a simple job, than actually do it myself, and then he wouldn't finish it. Only took a couple times of that to stop having him help. You can either be an asset to the team, or in the way, its up to you.
How to prepare: Start by learning shop safety, this is often overlooked and VERY important(search youtube). You can be seriously injured or hurt someone else by not understanding the hazards involved with the tools and equipment. Go deeper than general shop safety, and find videos on the tools you be using, angle & die grinders, welders, presses, mill/ lathe, etc. Hearing and eye protection is extremely important. Around here, our Tech school offers intro classes for welding, auto tech, and machining. These can be very helpful in getting the basic knowledge as well as learning about shop safety. Fix your own stuff, car, lawn mower, etc. This will help you find the work you like to do, and the areas you need to improve on.
Racing groups near you
CORR
CORR - Canadian Off Road Racing
CORRA
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