when I was younger I had several friends who were serious about both building engines and learning darn near anything about racing ,I had several friends and we all spent many nights and weekends over at each others garages doing modifications and fabrication work or changes on each others cars, I remember thinking many times that "what could be better., this guys car I work on paid for the parts and I get to make the changes and see the results (GOOD OR BAD) thus testing the change while working on HIS CAR AND ON HIS DIME!" simply for the time and effort it took to help out, thus I was learning skills, testing parts and seeing both the success and failures without risking my money or my car in the process and thus I learned what worked and what didn,t work worth a crap at little or no risk and without spending more than a few days or hours to learn the new skills or watch the tested results.
I got to test various welders, drill presses, floor jacks, belt sanders, good and crappy jack stands, ETC. and I also got to use tools i could not yet afford like plasma cutters or air ratchets. and I darn sure found out that most of the parts advertized in the magazine articles produced far less spectacular results than the magazines suggested would result, I also very rapidly learned that most bargain basement price tools were not worth the price paid and that as an example there was a good reason too spend two to three times more on a name brand welder vs the the cheap import crap you see advertized at times.
I also saw a great many mistakes being made and learned to think things thru and measure carefully, as an example
I remember one instance where a friend purchased a dana 60 rear differential he got out a a salvage yard and needed it to be 5" narrower, so he measured the rear and sent it off to a local machine shop with instructions to cut 2.5" off each side and buy and install matching 2.5" shorter axles for it,add a new ring and pinion with a different ratio, etc, the bill came to over $1200 back in the 1970s when that was REAL MONEY several, weeks pay checks, what he forgot was that the center-line on the pinion was not necessarily spaced equally from each end of the differential, and as a result his new very expensive , modified rear differential required another $800, in custom mods before it would fit correctly in the BIG BLOCK POWERED VEGA, he was building.
that was an expensive lesson learned but thankfully not on my dime!
but the lesson was learned!
now I find that theres a great many people that don,t seem to have any desire to help out and work on other peoples cars, while they don,t mind experienced help working on their car, they always seem to be "BUSY or CAN,T GET FREE" if someone else needs help, and in the long term they will suffer , they won,t gain the skills and experience and the hobby suffers as a result
yeah, "not enough coffee" and taking the time and effort, too ,
make accurate measurements
and writing them down and sketching out ,
while in the planing stages.. of making or fitting custom parts,
and constantly checking clearances,
before, your start the actual parts fabrication process,
several times, REPEATEDLY in the fabrication process.
tends to make , or allow most of us, to have too go back and re-think ,
and usually modify our original plans,
on the plus site it frequently results in having a bit more time and being a bit more alert, to the other options,
or routes one might take, or ways to accomplish the intended results.
you might be amazed at the number of times a cardboard and duct tape pattern ,
assembled before you start on the actual parts brings into glaring light,
the potential mods and flaws and clearance issues,
that will need to be carefully addressed in the actual components being fabricated.
more than once Ive been in the process of installing an oil cooler,
fabricating an oil pan, or building a custom accessory bracket,
only to find the original design needed to be tweaked to fit,
and function or allow access to some other part, or its mounting bolts.
we ALL tend to remember better and learn more from our own and others ,SCREW UPS than when things go flawlessly...if your not occasionally screwing something up its obvious your not doing much engine rebuilding or many extensive modifications on a steady basis,
EXPERT= REQUIRES YOU TO BE EXTENSIVELY EXPERIENCED IN A CERTAIN FIELD OF ENDEAVOR
EXPERIENCE= VIRTUALLY REQUIRES AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF PAST SCREW UPS, AND LONG HOURS SPENT SOLVING PROBLEMS AND FABRICATING OR FITTING PARTS, AND ACTUALLY READING INSTRUCTIONS ASKING QUESTIONS AND LEARNING NEW SKILLS
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=4687&p=34918&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p34918
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=5893&p=35134&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p35134
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=9612&p=35603&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p35603
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=7422&p=25168&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p25168
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=339&p=21398&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p21398
I got to test various welders, drill presses, floor jacks, belt sanders, good and crappy jack stands, ETC. and I also got to use tools i could not yet afford like plasma cutters or air ratchets. and I darn sure found out that most of the parts advertized in the magazine articles produced far less spectacular results than the magazines suggested would result, I also very rapidly learned that most bargain basement price tools were not worth the price paid and that as an example there was a good reason too spend two to three times more on a name brand welder vs the the cheap import crap you see advertized at times.
I also saw a great many mistakes being made and learned to think things thru and measure carefully, as an example
I remember one instance where a friend purchased a dana 60 rear differential he got out a a salvage yard and needed it to be 5" narrower, so he measured the rear and sent it off to a local machine shop with instructions to cut 2.5" off each side and buy and install matching 2.5" shorter axles for it,add a new ring and pinion with a different ratio, etc, the bill came to over $1200 back in the 1970s when that was REAL MONEY several, weeks pay checks, what he forgot was that the center-line on the pinion was not necessarily spaced equally from each end of the differential, and as a result his new very expensive , modified rear differential required another $800, in custom mods before it would fit correctly in the BIG BLOCK POWERED VEGA, he was building.
that was an expensive lesson learned but thankfully not on my dime!
but the lesson was learned!
now I find that theres a great many people that don,t seem to have any desire to help out and work on other peoples cars, while they don,t mind experienced help working on their car, they always seem to be "BUSY or CAN,T GET FREE" if someone else needs help, and in the long term they will suffer , they won,t gain the skills and experience and the hobby suffers as a result
yeah, "not enough coffee" and taking the time and effort, too ,
make accurate measurements
and writing them down and sketching out ,
while in the planing stages.. of making or fitting custom parts,
and constantly checking clearances,
before, your start the actual parts fabrication process,
several times, REPEATEDLY in the fabrication process.
tends to make , or allow most of us, to have too go back and re-think ,
and usually modify our original plans,
on the plus site it frequently results in having a bit more time and being a bit more alert, to the other options,
or routes one might take, or ways to accomplish the intended results.
you might be amazed at the number of times a cardboard and duct tape pattern ,
assembled before you start on the actual parts brings into glaring light,
the potential mods and flaws and clearance issues,
that will need to be carefully addressed in the actual components being fabricated.
more than once Ive been in the process of installing an oil cooler,
fabricating an oil pan, or building a custom accessory bracket,
only to find the original design needed to be tweaked to fit,
and function or allow access to some other part, or its mounting bolts.
we ALL tend to remember better and learn more from our own and others ,SCREW UPS than when things go flawlessly...if your not occasionally screwing something up its obvious your not doing much engine rebuilding or many extensive modifications on a steady basis,
EXPERT= REQUIRES YOU TO BE EXTENSIVELY EXPERIENCED IN A CERTAIN FIELD OF ENDEAVOR
EXPERIENCE= VIRTUALLY REQUIRES AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF PAST SCREW UPS, AND LONG HOURS SPENT SOLVING PROBLEMS AND FABRICATING OR FITTING PARTS, AND ACTUALLY READING INSTRUCTIONS ASKING QUESTIONS AND LEARNING NEW SKILLS
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=4687&p=34918&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p34918
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=5893&p=35134&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p35134
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=9612&p=35603&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p35603
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=7422&p=25168&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p25168
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=339&p=21398&hilit=+getting+learning+over+your+head#p21398
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