June 2018 Newsletter

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Past newsletters and the ETCG Blog can be found here.

The 2018 Car Show Schedule, Meet Me and the #FairmontProject!

I’m sorry to get this to you so late. This year kind of got away from me. It seems like I just got back from Finland and that was 5 months ago.

Here are the dates and places I will be this summer with the Fairmont. I hope to see you at one or more of these events. If I do, I might have a tshirt for you.

June 1-3 Carlisle PA  The Ford Nationals

The Hot Rod Power Tour June 9-15

June 9 Bowling Green KY  Sloane Center

June 10 Chattanooga TN  Chattanooga Community College

June 11 Hoover AL  Hoover Metropolitan Stadium

June 12 Hampton GA  Atlanta Motor Speedway

June 13 Darlington SC  Darlington Raceway

June 14 Raleigh NC  PNC Arena

June 15 Concord NC  zMAX Dragway

June 22-23 Norwalk OH Summit NHRA Nationals

July 13-15 Iola WI  Iola Car Show

It’s possible I’ll be doing a couple of other shows this year, but I haven’t confirmed any yet. I’ll also be taking the Fairmont to Edgewater Sports Park this summer for a few test and tunes to see if I can lay down a solid ET for once. Keep an eye on my social media for those dates and times.

The Mini Series

The Mini is just about done, and I only have a couple of videos to complete. I’m waiting on one more part to show up. A rear hatch switch. Other than that, it runs and drives with no offensive lights on the dash. #Winning!

I also want to paint the calipers. After finishing the brakes on the Mini, I took some pictures. The corroded calipers just weren’t selling it for me so I bought some caliper paint. Don’t worry, I’ll be making a video on how to paint your calipers. Fair warning, it’s not my passion to paint calipers so I’ll probably do it in the hackiest way possible. Remember, I’m selling this car.

Those of you that follow me on social media know that I screwed up the Mini engine. Not too bad, but bad enough. I had to remove the cylinder head to replace 2 exhaust valves. It’s back together and running great now.

It sucked having to go back and take the engine apart, but it was a great opportunity to make a couple more videos with this car. It seems that most of you enjoy my engine videos anyway. Besides, if you have a timing chain fail in your N14, you’ll appreciate these extra videos because you’ll need to do the same thing. Yes, the N14 is an interference engine. You’ll also need new cylinder head bolts if you remove it. I found that out the hard way too.

I’m looking forward to driving the car, even if it’s only for a short time. In Ohio where I live, you can get a 30 day temporary tag as long as you have insurance for the vehicle. I plan to do just that when I get the chance. I’m just trying to time it right so that I can get the most driving time possible.

I’m hoping all the work I put into it pays off. I realize I’ll never see my money back. That went out the door as soon as I bought the $1300 clutch kit.

In the end, I think it will make a great car for the buyer that gets it. In fact, I might already have one lined up.

I’ve scheduled out the video releases for the #ETCGMiniSeries. Looks like the series will be running for the next 11 weeks or so. I ended up with a lot of content on this car. I hope you’re enjoying it.

If this format works, I’ll be doing more video series of this type and creating ‘seasons’ of content like I have with the Mini. I’ve been looking for a more efficient way to produce my content, and so far, at least for me, this has really been working out.

My Milwaukee Trip to Visit Milwaukee Tools

I’m not one to ‘drink the kool-aid, but I think I might have gotten into the red stuff after my trip the Milwaukee tools last month. I’ve never been to an event like this, the Milwaukee Tool Symposium.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking with this one. All I’ll say is that if you’re thinking about buying tools this year, check out Milwaukee. They are absolutely killing it lately.

I feel they already make great tools. They did not pay me to say that BTW. But after seeing what they have coming out this year, I have to say that they seem totally obsessed with dominating the tool market in ALL of the trades. Seriously, totally obsessed.

On a side note, I also got to visit the Harley Davidson Museum while I was there. I think my favorite was the ‘wall of tanks’. Some sweet designs.

The Sharonville OH Car Show

Last month I took the Fairmont to a local car show in Sharonville OH. This is the 41st year for the show. I’ve gone to it a couple of times over the years, but this is the first time I’ve ever had a car in the show.

There were some real gems there. Best in show was the Hudson Hornet, and it really was something to behold. Looked like it was right off the showroom floor.

I’m going to let the pictures do the talking again here. All I say is that I get a real kick out of watching people see the Fairmont for the first time. It stops a lot of them in their tracks. They point, they look, and they seem to really love the car. I feel like a proud papa seeing his baby walk for the first time. ?

Where is Cameraman Brian?

A lot of you have been asking where cameraman Brian has been. Well, he’s had other work and he’s also been vacationing in Nepal. Here’s some pics of his trip.

I’m sure we’ll get back together at some point. For now I’m going to be focusing my time and resources on getting through the overstock of footage I have. I need an editor more than a cameraman right now.

ETCG Gets an Editor

I’ve been sitting on a backlog of content for some time. Those of you that are fans of the #FairmontProject know this all too well. It’s been tough because there are only so many hours in a day. Editing takes the most time out of anything that I do. Even longer than collecting the footage.

Just to put it in perspective, on average, for every 5 minutes you see in a finished video, a minimum of 30 minutes of editing took place.

To combat this problem, I’ve been on the hunt for an editor for some time. This is no easy task. Every editor does things a little differently. Very few work in the automotive space, even less are affordable.

Last month I hired Javan Hovind. He just graduated from UC and has a keen interest in cars. He’s been following my channel for some time, and I’m happy to have him onboard.

Javan has already been helping with the Mini Series videos. You’ll see his credit in the descriptions of the videos he’s worked on.

So far we’re still sorting things out, but once we get up and running, I hope to start knocking out some of the #FairmontProject content.

The goal is to start posting 2 videos a week on ETCG. One repair video and one #FairmontProject video. I’m also hoping to mix in some more tool reviews. The last one I did got a lot of positive response.

The #FairmontProject

I took the Fairmont out for a drive yesterday. It was a beautiful misty Sunday morning. The Fairmont loves to eat cool moist air, and I was feeling it! I’ve finally reached that point of get-in-and-go and it is fantastic! This is the car I dreamed of all these years. I could not be happier. Well, maybe a little happier.

You might have noticed the list of cities I’ll be driving to in the Fairmont earlier in this newsletter.

Here are the things I’d like to do to the car before I leave. Much of which was covered in last months newsletter. So if something seems sort on detail, check out last months newsletter.

I need to make the AC work. To do this I’m going to have to modify the exhaust pipe on the passenger side of the vehicle. I have all the parts, I just need to execute my plan.

I also want to install a hood vent. I found the perfect one! It’s out of an 85-89 turbo Dodge Lancer. It has just the right shape and I don’t think it will spoil the ‘sleeper’ look that I’m going for.

The color of the vent is a little off, but I’m not worried. I picked up some paint that is an exact match to the color of the car, code 6P. When I’m done installing the vent, it should blend right in.

I’m installing the hood vent to get rid of the tremendous amount of heat my turbo makes. My cooling fans work, but when sitting in traffic in the summer heat with the AC on, I want to get rid of as much heat as I can. Remember, first and foremost, the Fairmont is a street car. That means it’s meant to be driven on the street. You can’t do that if it overheats in traffic, and that’s when you need the AC the most.

I’m also looking to put in a rear main seal and new transmission mount. I have a few other minor jobs to do as well. All of this needs to get done before I leave for Carlisle. I want my AC for that drive as well as all the other driving I’ll be doing this summer. I’ll practically be living in the car the entire month of June.

Dad Stopped By The Shop

Last month my dad came down for a visit. It’s always great seeing my dad. What was even better about this trip was that I got to take him out in the Fairmont one morning. He really enjoyed it.

The best part for me was when he referred to me as a ‘builder’. I’ve been a mechanic for years, but I really like the moniker “builder”, especially when it comes from my dad, who has been a car guy longer than I’ve been alive.

I made a couple of videos of his visit and our drive in the Fairmont. I’m not sure where those will be released. I know one will go to Premium Members. The other might end up on ETCG1, but that may also go into the Premium Member line up.

Fixing it Forward

Right now the program is in a holding pattern until I’m done with travel this summer. I did get an interesting email from a viewer this morning who works in a program Wheels 4 Hope. They’re doing great work and helping a lot of people get reliable transportation in North Carolina.

I’m hoping to set up Fixing it Forward in a similar manner. My new plan is to acquire vehicles that are donated or bought, fix them up, and give them to deserving recipients.

In fact, I’m hoping to really ramp this up at the end of this year after I finish work on dad’s truck.

You can learn more about Fixing it Forward here.

Premium Member News

I’m happy that I’ve been getting more feedback from Premium Members lately. It gives me a better idea of what members want to see. Thanks guys! Feel free to continue to provide feedback in the comments of any of the Premium Member videos I post for you.

This month Premium Members got 3 Exclusive Videos, “First Start Up of the Mini (Exclusive Video) ”, “Sunday Drive in the Fairmont (Exclusive Video) “, and “Dad’s First Ride in the Fairmont (Exclusive Video).”

Since I have so much travel coming up this summer, I hope to create some exclusive content from those trips. Look for those exclusive videos in June/ July of this year.

The Premium Member (Exclusive Video) library is growing every month. As of now there are over 200 (Exclusive Videos) for Premium Members! That’s like having an entirely new ETCG channel to watch.

Premium Members get up to 4 exclusive videos per month. They also get additional perks on the website, and they help support the site with all of it’s useful, free, repair content.

But wait! There’s more! Premium Members now get a 5% discount on all orders from J&B Tool Sales!

Get your membership today! Details on the new Premium Memberships here.

In Closing

It feels like I’m standing in the foothills looking up at a really tall mountain wondering how I’m ever going to make it to the summit. Time to channel cameraman Brian. Ommmmmmmmmm.

I have a lot of driving to do in the next few weeks, more than I’ve ever done in 6 weeks come to think of it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about it.

The cool part is that I get to do all this driving in the Fairmont. For years I dreamed of driving down the road in a machine of my own making. The time is now. The dream has been realized. Life is not only good, but excellent.

Despite my nervousness, I’m also excited. I’m excited to show my creation to the world. Even if you’re not a Fairmont fan, you have to appreciate the effort that went into it.

I’m also excited to meet new friends and become a part of the car building world. It’s something I’ve wanted for a very long time. Sure, I have tons of followers on the internet, and I’m grateful for each and every one, but for me, nothing beats meeting people face to face.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m not a fan of social media. Never have been. I realize the irony of that statement. I’ve always felt out of place in the electronic world. My fingers were never made to type efficiently on a phone. I hate my phone. I feel much more comfortable shaking someones hand for the first time than I do trying to compose a tweet.

This makes the trips I’m taking this summer all the more significant. I know I’m going to meet a lot of new people on my adventures, and I’m very much looking forward to it. I can interact and enjoy real human contact. That’s something I enjoy a lot more than posting to social media.

Hopefully I’ll get to meet some of you reading this newsletter. I’d like that very much.

Thanks for reading!

Latest videos below. 

Be safe

Have fun

Stay Dirty

ETCG

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