do these types of forums create a different type of mechanic?
 

the reason I ask ....

I brought my FD( bone stock) about a 18 months ago, before that I had absolutley no idea about engines at all let alone rotorys, but since then I have perservered and rinsed as much info out of the net as possible enabling me to get myself a nice boosted FD with FMIC, PFC etc... along with doing all my own labor.
The thing is i have a few mates who have been doing rotorys for years , they have never used online info and most of them have their own workshops and make good $$$ out of it and they have commented in the past about using online info and how they dont really consider it REAL mechanics and just a load of "here-say" that will eventually lead to trouble ( with my FD) .
Do you think the advent of online info and forums such as these have created a different type of mechanic?
and do you think that maybe the reason these guys dislike online info is because they feel threatened?

the fact of the matter is that most of the people on this forum helping you ARE mechanics. You have to remember that rx7s have been around alot longer than this forum has and that people who are interested in the cars come here to share the knowledge.

Sometimes its a little tedious to weed though all the bs that gets posted, but if you know what to look for I would say that this forum can in many ways be much safer for your car than the average joe mechanic.



The nasioc forums however are a different story
:p:

hey if you do a good honest job then their will always be a place for you as a business. the people threatened are lazy or corner cutters. never forget that if someting is making someone money it is very hard for them to change the way they work. look at gotham they are new and online all the time. older shops not so much.

I consider myself a mechanic, electrician, paint specialist, etc... on MY car :)

Professional mechanics want you to come into their shop to spend your money. They don't want you to fix it yourself.

That being said, they are correct that alot of the information given on internet "forums" is bad. It just takes a little while to figure out who to listen to, and who to ignore.

Well put! Do your own homework and sort through some bs. I agree with the joe shmo part. Any old mechanic can give you a bad day, or more.

Re: do these types of forums create a different type of mechanic?
 

Overall I agree with them. If you look at the amount of info here or on any any other forum there is always muh of it that is misleading or flat wrong. But then again there are plenty of mechanics who are the same way...

It comes down to developing a general understanding for yourself and knowing how to weigh the opinions of others. You have to know who to believe and when. The majority of the time if someone can explain why such and such is so and so then they know what they are talking about. You have to develop a feel for people and understand how to seperate fact from opinion and wishful thinking.

There are plenty of shadetree DIYers out there who are excellent mechanics; you don't need to wear a uniform to know what you're talking about. Taken as a whole though I would have to agree that much of the info available on this board is misunderstood, flawed or wrong. I also have the exact same opinion of mechanics...

Standing inside a building as opposed to behind a keyboard does not make you "better". IMO if I got all the mechanics together and all the contributing members of this board together and had them take a standardized automotive test the forum members would do better. Because you're paid to work in a garage doesn't mean you're better than anyone else, it just means you're willing to make your living that way.