Rob beat me to it, (more or less) there's no money in posting online and giving away trade secrets isn't exactly a good way to make a living.... If I call the local dealer he's gonna say "bring it in", not "here's where you start". Can you get good advice online, certainly. Can you get bad advice online.... absolutely.



Also I know A LOT of people who can turn a wrench or do wonderful work and couldn't turn on a computer unless you took their hand and helped them push the button.

 

besides some people at the end of the day dont want to talk shop anymore

I was on a site for LS1/LT1 motors, and someone was asking about cam shaft choice, someone posted

something like

"OH I KNOW A THING OR TWO ABOUT THEM"



then when he was asked further his response:



"I DONT GIVE THAT INFORMATION OUT FOR FREE"



you can bet that guy went on my list of people NOT to buy anything from, what a douchebag thing to say

 

Of course when I get help from someone and they don't want money I always make sure I send every customer I can their way, so who knows it could pay off in the long run.

 

but he did not help anyone, even his opinion comes with a price I suppose

 

yea I wouldn't buy **** from that ******* either, just for the simple fact that he made a post to indicate that he was an *******, that takes a special kind of ********

 

just dont ******* say anything, not "OH I KNOW A THING OR TWO ABOUT THEM".... thats it, not call me or contact me I can help you with a cam, just that comment and then the kicker- "I DONT GIVE THAT ADVICE FOR FREE"

 

I do not agree, free advice is worth zero, nothing, Nada, and that should be considered when you use said "free" advise. It might cost you in the long run.



One person comes to mind, Pluto from the evil forum, Steve Kan, he has a reputable shop in the midwest, and has made a living touring the U.S. (possibly further I do not know) tuning cars. He tuned my car purely because of the reputation he had online.



Looking back at his tuning map, it was VERY conservative in the fuel map and almost insane in the timing map.



I decided to do it myself and with a few questions on here and then talking with my above mentioned friend in the Porsche world, then discussing options with a local Mechanic / Guru that built my engine, I set out to tune myself and I do say the maps are sweet.





I asked the owner of a rather good size shop onetime why he does not have an online presence, because at the time, I felt like online was the entire rotary world. His reply was pretty much what was said in this thread, he did not have time to fight with a pimple faced 15 y/o who was a know it all and was only there to slam his product. His products speak for themselves and his success in motorsports speak for them self. He did not need to qualify himself to a 15 y/o punk who only wanted to rattle his cage.



The mechanic I use is not cheap, does not give free advice, and is the best mechanic I have ever met. I send everyone to him because he is honest and good. You do not find honest and good mechanics anymore, not even at dealerships.

 

i think all these point of views are good.. another way to look at it is that a person who has knowledge about something is sometimes not soo quick to put it out there because they know that then whomever took their advice and applied it incorrectly will blame that person and tarnish their reputation.. good work speaks for itself no matter what the media.. but the internet allows things to get warped soo fast..



free advice should be taken with a grain of salt.. it is what it is.. whether bad or not.. We talk alot about this with my brother now, who has a 14y/o (haha .. i just remembered today is his birthday).. ok 15 y/o now.. he is at that stage which you guys speak of. where he knows everything.. and things he heard, he will state as fact.. we are trying to get him to open his eyes and not be soo naive.. teach him things like function over form and the like.. its soo true like you guys said.. he will bash people about **** he has not even tried just because maybe his friends do it differently.. but we'll straighten him out..

I know an older man of 67 years of age.. "Big Al" we call him, he is a contractor and i enjoy listening to his no bullshit point of view.. he tells you things as they are and has good advice.. one of my favorite words of wisdom passed down from him are the "only a fool knows everything". i like to do things myself because thats how you learn.. and sometimes when people ask me to give them advice i always make it a point to state that " this is how i would do it" but not necessarily the best way of the easiest or the most convenient.. yada yada.. another one he tells me too is.. "If you say "**** the future", the future says, "**** you"." smart words i think..

 

I like what Frank is saying.



The way I see it, if you post something online, that's the way you would go about it or that's the way you understand it.

The internet is input. Not answers. Anybody who thinks the internet means answers is what drives warped perceptions.



I make my living as an honest mechanic. There is people above me that seek my input. I also constantly seek their input. Two heads are better than one. It's about greater wisdom. Whynot bounce an idea off somebody before you get it done? They might notice something you overlooked in your haste. If my head was no good then I wouldn't have people at my job that seek my input. A fair assumption, no? Afterall, they understand that my head provides input, not answers. If they listened to my exact words and performed the job, then they could say it's my fault if it failed. If I listened to their exact words and performed the work myself, it's their fault it failed, not mine, even though I did the job. This is not how it is, and not how it should be. You must used your own mind before completing the work. Both of us, due to the fact that we both completed work, are classed as mechanics. It's pretty childish when one mechanic blames another for the work of his own hands. Accept responsibility and seek input, not answers. Input is assistance to the understanding of how to complete a job. Answers are complete and total brainless step by step procedures about how to get a job done. A mechanic that needs input is wise to apply more than just his own head to a job. A mechanic that needs answers is just brainless. This is understood in a shop setting. Unless you work with children. That being said, when you work on your own car, you are a mechanic (maybe not a licenced one, but who cares). So next time somebody gives you input and you perform the work, and it fails, is it their fault for giving you input, or yours for not knowing what you were doing? Afterall, the destruction was caused by your own hands. The person giving input shouldn't have to defend themselves. How do they know you completed the work properly? Nevertheless, you'll see them out there, getting **** on for giving input. Why? Well you want to call them out on their credability! "That ******* told me to do this and it totally fucked my **** up!" Well, sorry to say, but where is your credability that said you knew better than him in the first place? You wanted answers, not input. But you wouldn't get it. You're not a mechanic.



Look at Jims5543. He gathered input from various sources, stopped and thought about it, make his own decisions using his own brain to complete the work, and he is pleased. He performed good mechanic work with his own hands. Even himself just operating the computer to tune the car is classified as mechanic work, thus he is a mechanic. It's a shame he doesn't think there's any good mechanics out there, because good mechanics just totally helped his *** out. Just remember, when you work on a car, you are a mechanic. Liceneced or not, that's what you're doing. And if you **** up, it's your *** not the guy who gave input and didn't touch a damn thing on your car.

 

You totally missed my point, but it may be my fault I may not have been clear.



There ARE indeed great mechanics out there, I am sure some that are online are good too. (Judge Ito comes to mind right away) The point of this thread was the amazement to see rotary knowledge on a truck website to which my response is, hell yeah! There are a lot of rotary guys that do not bother with forums and do their own thing, learning the hard way over many years and now having a good thing.



There are a LOT of hacks in the real world and online, there was a local guy here, no internet presence at all, his name rhymed with "santander" he was a huge hack and a rip off artist building engines with others throw away parts. There is also one inline on the evil forum right now selling junk engines. We have one in my friends shop right now its supposed to be a FD engine and has Series 4 rotors and series 5 housings.



Some of you know I purchased the flagship car of another RX7 forum, one of the guys that worked on it is HUGE online, especially now and much to my surprise, I expected him to be found out and to fade away, yet he has attained Steve Kan like status and now tours tuning cars. I would pay him NOT to touch my car. That car I bought was the biggest POS I had ever seen, the engine would barely start due to the poor port work done on it, the wiring was done with twists and electrical tape, like no one knew what a soldering iron and shrink wrap was. Yet now one of the mechanics is a icon today. That scares the **** out of me.



For every hack there is a good shop a good guy that knows his stuff and can do you right. Not everyone is bad, I never meant to imply that. The guy I use locally is fantastic and a true craftsman, something you do not see much anymore. There are also many shops in Florida with good reputations and deservingly so.