Features "Experts" that tell you what is "wrong" with your item

Started this thread as I enjoyed the current thread about insane prices and low-ballers. Thought there might be some interesting stories on this subject.

We have always packaged our carburetor kits in sealed see-through plastic bags for a couple of reasons: (1) the sealing prevents any parts from being lost as the kits are handled, and (2) the prospective customer can actually see what they are paying for.

Have had the self-anointed experts offer their opinions a number of times, but the one I remember most happened at Iola maybe 50 years ago. We had some really good spaces, and I was honored to have one really well-respected on a specific make expert (he apparently WAS an expert in his field) look over my carburetor kits.

Much to my chagrin, in a very loud voice, he started bad-mouthing my rebuilding kits for the Stromberg EE-1 (97). "You obviously put extra pieces in your kits to drive up the price! Why did you put a power valve in this kit, everyone knows a Stromberg 97 has no power valve !!!".

I was a 30-year-old "kid" and he was one of the most respected men at the show (he had written several books on antique cars).

I had a Stromberg book with me, but why bother attempting to prove him wrong, all I could do was just walk away !

Over the decades, have had several "experts" such as this; probably the second most annoying were the Ford experts that told me to take the tag stating Ford off of an off-topic Rochester Q-Jet, everyone knew Ford used Holleys, not Q-Jets.

Anyway, what can you share?

Jon

 

Experts, sometimes entertaining. I do not drink. but I have eaten lunch at various tavern/restaurants through the years, a neighborhood one sponsored my race car for several years, small $ but it all helps. You can find an expert in/ on Any Subject, health, business, marriage and the ones I always appreciated was how to run my successful Tool & Die shop along with my successful racing business.,Only a bar stool or two away and not even for the price of a beer. I always enjoyed at car shows, cruises how I should/could have done it but when I offered to look at their ride it was always at home in the garage, you know that best of show car. But I will say I enjoy the car hobby, it's been my life long hobby and p***ion, CarCrazy till my experation date.

 

Lots of them on this forum. Just ask any question.
Some genuinely want to help, but others just like to hear themselves talk.

 

RMR&C, agree. Most want to help but, often some responder takes the thread in a totally different direction to show how much he knows about stuff.

 

On any forum…ANY response to a query or request for help that begins with: ‘I’ve never done it, but here’s what I’d do’ should be a red flag.
.

 

these the same sorta guys that will swear up and down ford never built a 400? lol


have had plenty of them, I ain't even sold that much. I had (still have actually.. that says it all)a ford ranger that I was trying to sell for the longest time. had a kid come look at it and complain to me that the inspection sticker was out of date on it because he thought he could drive it home, keep in mind he was from out of state. I don't know what planet he was on that he thought I was going to sell it to him on my plates or something like that.

Facebook marketplace has completely ruined the online side of the hobby. I don't even attempt to use it anymore I've tried explaining that to other people from my generation too but they're too inept to have a face to face conversation with someone to actually make a deal I guess... good news for me at least, saves the in person good deals for me.

I really do want to know the mental hurdles that they go through thinking that being a know it all ***hole is somehow going to get me to give them a better price on something. I'd rather give a deal to someone who I actually like.

 

I was selling a complete, ***embled Olds engine one time. Had a guy come look at it. Told me he didn't want it because it had been "bored out". I asked him how he knew that, and he told me it was bigger than the other Oldses he had looked at.....

 

I miss Tom and Ray of the car talk show, it was hilarious.
They had the concept of these topics, that should never be discussed at the typical Norman Rockwell annual Thanksgiving table, because everyone thinks that they are the ultimate expert on these controversial topics!
1. ***.
2. Artwork.
3. Religion.
4. Automobiles.
5. Politics.
6. Music.
7. Money/Finance.

​

 

Man that brings back some memories! I used to love listening to Car Talk helping my dad run errands when I was a kid.

 

I miss those guys. Always fun to listen to.
Dan

 

I subscribe to "I know a little bit about a lot of things but not a lot about anything".

 

I have a methodical approach to troubleshooting and involves the process of elimination....as opposed to "when this happened to me, it was......" and jumping right to there
Traveling with a number of other 'like' autos, one of them had a problem and I stopped to help as the first one arriving to the scene of the crime ....and started in troubleshooting....others in the group started arriving and derailed my process with 'when it happed to me'...I stepped aside and left to continue on with that days destination as the broken down car was brought to the destination by the break-down trailer....and the carburation problem wound up being electrical

 

There is an old saying : "People who think they know everything are particularly annoying to those of us who actually *do* know everything."

 

I came here to get away from all the static online and other venues. I fit best in the time zone I grew up in, not so much what the industry has done to it. Like-minded people keeping the best part alive. I never tell how or why to do anything not asked for. When appropriate I will, no, used to try to explain what has worked for me with the disclaimer it may be different for them. I fully understand I don't think like normal people. Even at that the Few I stay in contact with seem to need verification for what I give before they even try to use my input. At my age I don't have a lot of time to waste so I have accepted the fact I'm aged out and what I do and know is only correct for me. Yes, armchair builders, let me tell you and look at this people have burned me out. On second thought, maybe I'm the one that has changed so much I just can't get along with the mainstream. At any rate I still enjoy being here on the other side of the monitor.

 

Funny ,,, ask a question and some will post expert stuff unrelated to the question just "to hear themselves talk"

.

 

I find as I've gotten older, spent many many years doing frame and suspension work on about anything that had wheels on it. Stock, race (every type), custom built etc that sometimes i catch myself being the "hardened person".

There are and have been times I've misinterpreted someone's comment as harsh, rude, etc. Sad to say but I'm finding myself being that angry old man in certain situations and honestly I have to catch myself, take a breath and re-evaluate.

I still love learning stuff from people that know what their doing and still look for those people. I still love bouncing ideas off of people that know their stuff and have some of those people get upset thinking I'm questioning their ways when infact I'm bouncing ideas. My old boss was great at this and enjoyed doing it. He always told me no one person knows everything and it never hurts to ask questions.

That's one thing I love about this place is bouncing ideas off each other and done it many times thru my posts. I've learned many things thru the years and the biggest thing ? There's more than one way to skin a cat, being hard set to only one way and your limiting yourself to knowledge and experience of others....


....

 

I am by no means a master mechanic. I can often figure out things by process of elimination, google/utube and patience. Step by step checking basics works more often than not.
My brother had a boat with a mercury inboard/outboard, it was apparently a known problem setup. I know almost nothing about boats. He had a "marine mechanic" look at it, he worked on it for 3 hours, declared it fatal. My brother
was upset so I said let me try. did basic troubleshooting with limited tools, had it started in 20 minutes.

 

The worst case of an "expert" for me was at a car show back in 2011 soon after I'd gotten my old Austin g***er on the road. It hadn't been painted yet, and looked like an old survivor drag car.


A group of 4 guys came up to me at a local car show, and their expert began to tell me he used to love watching my "Anglia" run at Woodburn Drag Strip. I politely told him that wasn't possible because it was 100% stock a year before, and it wasn't an Anglia. He began to correct my by telling me it was indeed an Anglia, and I didn't know what I was talking about. And he had watched it race at Woodburn.
I told him the differences in an Anglia grille and an Austin, and he then told me I had a English Ford Prefect, not an Austin. I told him a Prefect was about 10" longer than an Anglia or an Austin, and I'd be happy to show him my vehicle registration showing it really was an Austin. His reply was, "I don't care what your paperwork says, it's an Anglia." At that point I knew it was time to walk away, as his buddies had already walked away and left him, so it was my turn to do the same.



[

 

Best put down for a self appointed expert. My good friend John McNally - yes that John McNally who restored Bill Cushenberry's El Matador - had a 50 Mercury in a car show. Guy approaches with a friend in tow and starts his way around the Merc. He points out every detail and modification and makes a disparaging remark about each one. He gets all the way around, sees John, says, "Oh is this your car?" John never loses his cool. Replies, "Yes. I know it's not perfect but can I ask you a question?" Guy who knows been running his mouth overtime, says "Sure." John just says "This is my car. Where's yours?" Guy couldn't leave fast enough with his friend laughing his *** off.

 

When confronted with this sort of verbal arrogance, my mother would sometimes respond, after the fact, by saying, "No one enjoys the sound of his (or her) own voice more than he (or she) does." She was tolerant but often didn't suffer fools gladly. I didn't appreciate at the time how observant and wise she, and my father, both were.

 

I agree about bouncing ideas off each other. I’ve done this a few times, got many different answers to my question if I get a general consensus I’ll follow it, if not I’ll sort through the info, oftentimes I’m looking for confirmation of my thoughts. For example a while ago I over torqued some rod bolts, dummy me looked at the wrong column on the spec page and used the values for a newer version. During double checking my work I caught my mistake. My post received opinions varying from Don’t worry about it re torque to correct spec to remove bolts and throw away have the rod end resized etc.
what I did was purchase some new ARP bolts (same price as stock) installed and ran. I did check the big end for distortion. I did test the original bolts afterwards I torqued to correct torque measured stretch, torqued to the value and checked stretch both returned to original length then I continued increasing torque until the bolt didn’t return to original length the value was considerably more than the original over torque value. What I learned was everyone’s responses were correct. I could have reused the bolts and been fine, having the rod resized wouldn’t have hurt either just extra expense.
Dan

 

Some people have a problem discerning opinions from facts. I know someone who has, in my opinion, a mental disorder; no matter what I or anyone else says of an automotive nature, he feels compelled to contradict it with a totally baseless response. You could say something as black and white as "The first Chevrolet to be available with a small block V8 was the 1955 model ", and he would come back with "Well, actually, some of the late '54s had them".

 

Take him to a bar, loser pays for the drinks.
Ask him when Chevy put out the first V8.
Answer is in the 19-teens

 

Got a call yesterday from a friend selling his 55 Bel Air and received a deposit on it 24 hours prior. My friend told me the buyer got cold feet because the dash speaker didn’t have the Bel Air script. Buyer said the car was a 150 because of that. My friend told the guy come get your deposit then.

 

Learned something again I did
Thanks
Dan

 

Yeah, 1917. I saw one on a stand in a museum, complete with what looked like nickel plated valve covers!

 

??? learned what: The vin tells the model.

 

Don’t know much about Tri fives I would’ve thought Bel Air script.
Dan

 

Last q-jet I got was from a Dodge truck

experts don’t bother me

and that usually bothers them

 

150 and 210 models have Chevrolet script.
Here’s a 55 150 model dash.