Take This Auto Shop Quiz and We'll Give You a Muscle Car and a Pin-Up Girl to Hang Up
By: Ian Fortey
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
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Image: domoyega/E+/GettyImages
About This Quiz
Pin-up models have been around for longer than cars have, with origins all the way back in burlesque. They were all about a tease more than anything explicit, just that hint of something a little dangerous and risque. Kind of like a muscle car! It was some next-level stuff. A car meant to stand above your typical everyday car. It had power; it could burn up the strip in a drag race. It was just plain cool. It was hip, young and sexy. So it's no wonder that garages around the world could be found with a muscle car parked inside and a pinup or two on the wall. They go together like peas and carrots.ÂÂ
To honor that great tradition of muscle cars and pinup models, you really need to get your head in the car game. You need to be able to understand the fundamentals of what it means to be in the shop. You need to know when those brakes need to be bled, or when to rotate the tires, or how to buff out some scratches in your paint. If you can handle that, we'll match you up with the perfect muscle car and the perfect pinup model. Take the quiz and see how you do!
START QUIZ
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How often should someone bring their car in for an oil change?
Whenever the owner's manual says
When it starts smelling like it's burning
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What's an easy way to tell if tires need some more air?
Listen for that buzzy hum when you drive.
Your dash readout should tell you.
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The car's exhaust is coming out blue. What's going on there?
Check the seals; there's some leaking oil.
Sounds like a worn piston seal
Your oil filter needs to be changed.
If it's not a gender reveal thing. It could be an external engine oil leak.
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What's a good way to extend the life of your tires?
Keeping them properly inflated.
Keep an eye on tread wear.
A regular wheel alignment
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How often do you want to rotate your tires?
Your manual probably has a good recommendation.
They rotate every time you drive, don't they?
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What's the danger of driving on underinflated tires?
It'll destroy your tires way faster than normal.
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When's a good time to replace an air filter?
When you do an oil change
When it looks worn and busted
Your car has an air filter?
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Every car isn't the same. What's something that will require a car to get serviced more often?
Frequent driving in extreme weather conditions
Lots of long-distance driving
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What do you want to do when diagnosing any kind of electrical problem in a car?
Check for voltage with a test light
Clean or replace the spark plugs
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When's a good time to replace the V-belt?
Whenever the manual recommends it
Whenever you get car vehicle serviced
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The car doesn't start at all. What's your first guess about what's causing the problem?
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What's the one tool you want to have more than any other in a shop?
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How are you bleeding the brakes?
Furthest from the master cylinder, then closest
Depends on how the hydraulics are split
Need to know if it's a rear-wheel-drive or a front-wheel-drive
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You don't want to wear loose clothes in the shop. How come?
Super easy to get caught in a machine
They're going to get dirty.
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If you're out in the field changing a tire where do you want to place the jack?
Under the frame near the tire that's being changed
Towards the front or the back, depending on the tire that's being changed.
Wherever gets the tire off the ground.
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What's the best way to fix a scratch in the paint?
Paint match and touch it up
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If a car has a serious vibration when it's driving, what could be causing it?
The brake calipers are stuck
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It can be pretty dangerous when a car pulls to one side. What are you checking to diagnose that issue?
The wheel alignment is the likeliest cause.
It could be something as simple as inconsistent tire pressure.
Have you ever heard of tire conicity? I'd look for that.
Uneven brakes could be an issue.
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Every mechanic meets a rusty bolt at some point. How do you remove them?
An impact wrench ought to do it.
You can bust out the torch in a pinch.
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If the headlights still work but not very well, what's the likely culprit?
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What's the hardest car to repair?
Anything you're not familiar with
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You can get 1,001 different tools. Which one of these is the most useless and overrated in an auto shop?
Non-ratcheting offset screwdrivers
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What's the most important function of transmission fluid?
Keeps your gears from grinding to a stop
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Can you mix different colors of antifreeze?
Only if it's the same brand
Yeah, it's the same stuff.
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What's better in a radiator, water or coolant?
Use whatever your manual suggests.
In a pinch, some water can keep you going.
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Does a car need an alternator?
Your car will run for a little while without one.
You need it, but if it breaks, you can still probably get to the shop.
If your battery is fully charged, you'll have some time to spare with no alternator.
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What does it mean when the battery light shows up on the display at startup?
That always happens on startup.
You may have an electrical disruption.
Your battery may be dead.
You're running only on battery power.
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What's the most common light that comes up on a dash display?
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What's the proper way to tighten a lug nut?
Follow your car's specs for lug nut torque.
Use a dial torque wrench until you hit the right tightness.
Lefty loosey, righty tighty
Hit it with the impact wrench until it clicks.
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What's the best kind of spark plug to use in a car?
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