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So far, I’ve loved working on the Fairmont Project. It’s made me think and work in different ways than I have in the past. Because of that, I’ve really gotten into it. I’ve discovered I love to build things. I still like to fix things, but I really love to build things.
If my channel took more of this direction, what would you think?
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its a lot of pressure doing what you do.
how do you find time to do it all?
how does your family feel about it Eric?I don’t see how you are putting out all these ETCG and ETCG1 videos while running this forum too. That is a lot of work, I hope you know I don’t take it for granted. I’d have to say the ETCG1 videos and down to earth style is what got me to sign up here.
The Future. In short the future is us. I tell you what I mean. For about 2 years I worked the postings on another Forum. That forum was Car Talk (the Click and Clack brothers). There was probably about 15 members that answered questions sent in by the public (with half that doing 90% of the work). As soon as a new post or car question appeared we were all over that question giving help to the person posting. In that 2 years I was involved we just kept getting more and more questions. I say what should happen is more organization between us current and ex-techs to make a name for the site in regards to being a place people can get their car questions answered. Sure we (the people answering questions) did not always agree on the best way to go about a problem but it was kind of fun seeing who could give the best answer first i made a habit of only getting involved in areas I was competent in and staying out of problems I knew little about. My thing was GM light line,interior trim,AC,electrical,the same with BMW and a real good grasp on oldschool air cooled VW repair. Some things i have found people really want to know about is check engine lights and how to go about resolving a code. You will have people posting about getting ripped off and this can get real touchy. I tended to be a hard case in regards to making people prove it was the shop’s fault,some of the other guys immediately took the bloggers word as the truth. Just ask a few questions and you really can unravel most of these “this garage ripped me off” type posts.
[quote=”451Mopar” post=167608]I don’t see how you are putting out all these ETCG and ETCG1 videos while running this forum too. That is a lot of work, I hope you know I don’t take it for granted. I’d have to say the ETCG1 videos and down to earth style is what got me to sign up here.[/quote]
Thank you!
[quote=”451Mopar” post=167608]I don’t see how you are putting out all these ETCG and ETCG1 videos while running this forum too. That is a lot of work, I hope you know I don’t take it for granted. I’d have to say the ETCG1 videos and down to earth style is what got me to sign up here.[/quote]
Ditto all the above , well that man ^^^
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[quote=”Tech 1″ post=167627]The Future. In short the future is us. I tell you what I mean. For about 2 years I worked the postings on another Forum. That forum was Car Talk (the Click and Clack brothers). There was probably about 15 members that answered questions sent in by the public (with half that doing 90% of the work). As soon as a new post or car question appeared we were all over that question giving help to the person posting. In that 2 years I was involved we just kept getting more and more questions. I say what should happen is more organization between us current and ex-techs to make a name for the site in regards to being a place people can get their car questions answered. Sure we (the people answering questions) did not always agree on the best way to go about a problem but it was kind of fun seeing who could give the best answer first i made a habit of only getting involved in areas I was competent in and staying out of problems I knew little about. My thing was GM light line,interior trim,AC,electrical,the same with BMW and a real good grasp on oldschool air cooled VW repair. Some things i have found people really want to know about is check engine lights and how to go about resolving a code. You will have people posting about getting ripped off and this can get real touchy. I tended to be a hard case in regards to making people prove it was the shop’s fault,some of the other guys immediately took the bloggers word as the truth. Just ask a few questions and you really can unravel most of these “this garage ripped me off” type posts.[/quote]
With this site, it’s the tachometer that helps indicate forum experience. I’m not sure how we would verify that someone was a technician or not. As for the check engine light stuff, I’ve always wanted to develop the ‘codes’ page to handle that very thing to help people walk through the diagnostic process. With everything that’s gone on lately I just haven’t had the time to develop it the way I would have liked.
Thanks for your input.
Just found this video and had many thoughts as I watched it. Sorry for the tardy reply!
First and foremost – A person who wakes up every day juiced up to go to work is truly blessed! Everyone always says “Do what you love and then it isn’t work!” So if that is the direction you decide to go, the God bless ya! Oh to be so lucky and have that kind of dilemma in one’s life.
That said, your presence with the repair videos will be sorely missed! Yes, that is why I became a fan of ETG. I am sure that as you know, the value in your videos lies in several things:
- You work on real cars, not mock ups or pristine cars. ( I hate all of the “detailing videos” that show techniques on an expensive showroom cars!)
You show what happens when things don’t go right – you cover the “Oh Sh*t!” situations.
Your personality – good brains, nice sense of humor, self deprecation and always POSITIVE!
Your videos are relevant to the DIY’er and perhaps even the professional (as many wouldn’t admit…)Now as far as making a change, are you thinking about how those changes will (or could) effect your “business” as it were? I don’t know if the business model for ETCG includes royalties from YouTube, Subscriptions, Website Advertising, Sponsorship Enumeration, Swag Sales or Repair fees? So wonder how any proposed changes effect cash flow, eyeballs or other items that generate cash? I dunno, just thinking out loud, you seem to have navigated the “business” side of things pretty well, so no doubt you’ll Ace this too!
I am shocked that you have NOT ended up on reality TV yet! I mean really, from the “marketing degree” dude at Gas Monkey Garage, to your fellow Ohioans at Christmas Garage (Fat & Furious?), your stuff is even more interesting and compelling! But dude! Look at what some of the TOP reality shows pull in per episode! Don’t forget the MIT engineering grads on Public Radio: Click & Clack! There is a niche out there with your name on it! But none-the-less: once you get the Fairmont screaming, how long will it be until you to call out the boys in OKC? lol. JK
Now as far as going the direction of “creating something new” from something old, as others have pointed out, that has been done. But I’ll say this – who is your target audience? How do you make it interesting to them? I watch the above mentioned shows and they are nice, but useless when it comes to doing any mods! So many facts are either assumed or left out. I get that for a general population show, you’d have most flipping the channel if you started talking about pros & cons of tire aspect ratios and wheel diameters. But otherwise, the only thing that makes those show go is the personalities and the created conflict that ultimately gets resolved.
Now as to the Fairmont project, that has been interesting, but you lost me early on when you went down your checklist of things you wanted to do. Again, like the reality shows you seem to be talking in a different language (tech talk) that isn’t unattainable, just unfamiliar. What carries me through those sections of gibberish is your enthusiasm and the twinkle in your eye, like a child on Christmas morning!
So for me the “fix” for making the mod videos “must see” is something in between a classroom session with the “Engineering Explained” dude and the hands on nuts & bolts of car repairs.
Then again, perhaps I am not the target audience and if so that’s cool! I remember the advice well of the marketing professor, “You can’t be everything to everybody!” That’s like recognizing people like hot tea and iced tea and deciding to compromise or “get in the middle.” (No one likes luke warm tea!) So you have this “brand” out there – Eric The Car Guy. What do you want to do with that? How will the future path effect the brand?
You are an excellent teacher and that is why I keep signing up for your “classes!” Hope you keep that aspect no matter what you decide to do!
Best Wishes and Good Luck!!! Onward & Upward!
The Fairmont project has a lot of potential to be repair related at the same time, we have yet to see that because we are barely starting to be able to see these videos.
His differential build is full of information that can be used to diagnose, repair, or rebuild a differential.
This gives him reason to show us things we haven’t seen before like how to set degrees on the cam, install a crankshaft, how to inspect and install bearings how to rebuild cylinder heads.I hope not to see the original repair type videos go away completely but this is great for the I know what to do, I just don’t know how to do it people.
I’m excited.
[quote=”CanDo807″ post=171439]Just found this video and had many thoughts as I watched it. Sorry for the tardy reply!
First and foremost – A person who wakes up every day juiced up to go to work is truly blessed! Everyone always says “Do what you love and then it isn’t work!” So if that is the direction you decide to go, the God bless ya! Oh to be so lucky and have that kind of dilemma in one’s life.
That said, your presence with the repair videos will be sorely missed! Yes, that is why I became a fan of ETG. I am sure that as you know, the value in your videos lies in several things:
- You work on real cars, not mock ups or pristine cars. ( I hate all of the “detailing videos” that show techniques on an expensive showroom cars!)
You show what happens when things don’t go right – you cover the “Oh Sh*t!” situations.
Your personality – good brains, nice sense of humor, self deprecation and always POSITIVE!
Your videos are relevant to the DIY’er and perhaps even the professional (as many wouldn’t admit…)Now as far as making a change, are you thinking about how those changes will (or could) effect your “business” as it were? I don’t know if the business model for ETCG includes royalties from YouTube, Subscriptions, Website Advertising, Sponsorship Enumeration, Swag Sales or Repair fees? So wonder how any proposed changes effect cash flow, eyeballs or other items that generate cash? I dunno, just thinking out loud, you seem to have navigated the “business” side of things pretty well, so no doubt you’ll Ace this too!
I am shocked that you have NOT ended up on reality TV yet! I mean really, from the “marketing degree” dude at Gas Monkey Garage, to your fellow Ohioans at Christmas Garage (Fat & Furious?), your stuff is even more interesting and compelling! But dude! Look at what some of the TOP reality shows pull in per episode! Don’t forget the MIT engineering grads on Public Radio: Click & Clack! There is a niche out there with your name on it! But none-the-less: once you get the Fairmont screaming, how long will it be until you to call out the boys in OKC? lol. JK
Now as far as going the direction of “creating something new” from something old, as others have pointed out, that has been done. But I’ll say this – who is your target audience? How do you make it interesting to them? I watch the above mentioned shows and they are nice, but useless when it comes to doing any mods! So many facts are either assumed or left out. I get that for a general population show, you’d have most flipping the channel if you started talking about pros & cons of tire aspect ratios and wheel diameters. But otherwise, the only thing that makes those show go is the personalities and the created conflict that ultimately gets resolved.
Now as to the Fairmont project, that has been interesting, but you lost me early on when you went down your checklist of things you wanted to do. Again, like the reality shows you seem to be talking in a different language (tech talk) that isn’t unattainable, just unfamiliar. What carries me through those sections of gibberish is your enthusiasm and the twinkle in your eye, like a child on Christmas morning!
So for me the “fix” for making the mod videos “must see” is something in between a classroom session with the “Engineering Explained” dude and the hands on nuts & bolts of car repairs.
Then again, perhaps I am not the target audience and if so that’s cool! I remember the advice well of the marketing professor, “You can’t be everything to everybody!” That’s like recognizing people like hot tea and iced tea and deciding to compromise or “get in the middle.” (No one likes luke warm tea!) So you have this “brand” out there – Eric The Car Guy. What do you want to do with that? How will the future path effect the brand?
You are an excellent teacher and that is why I keep signing up for your “classes!” Hope you keep that aspect no matter what you decide to do!
Best Wishes and Good Luck!!! Onward & Upward![/quote]
Thank you for the detailed response. I’m not saying I’ll do away with the repair videos entirely. In fact, if you look at last week, I threw in a video about topping off AC into the mix. I plan on doing more of that along the way.
Don’t look at the Fairmont videos as just ‘build’ videos. Look closely and you’ll see that I’m actually using this series as a vehicle, pun intended, for the educational component in my videos. A perfect example is this video.
In order to repair something you need to understand how it works. A performance build like this is a great way to get the audience engaged in how these different systems work and how we can sometimes modify them to suite our needs.
In other words, instead of just ‘giving the audience the fish’ with repair videos, I’m ‘teaching them how to fish’ so they can apply that information to all aspects of auto repair. If you have a better understanding of how a vehicle works as a whole, you’ll have more successful results with your repairs.
The Fairmont Project will cover every system on a vehicle, from how the engine works and operates, to how to wire a car up. Before it’s done, I’ll have covered every major automotive system.
I hope that puts a finer point on it. Thanks again for your input.
- You work on real cars, not mock ups or pristine cars. ( I hate all of the “detailing videos” that show techniques on an expensive showroom cars!)
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