October 2017 Newsletter

September 25, 2017

For the full newsletter click here, or click the image below. If you’re just interested in one topic, click the image or “read more” link and you’ll be taken directly to that part of the newsletter on EricTheCarGuy.com.

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Past newsletters and the ETCG Blog can be found here.

A Busy Fall Season

Things always seem to pick up for me in the fall. It seems everyone wants to get things done before the end of the year. Also shows like SEMA and PRI happen this time of year. This makes for some busy months ahead. I like busy. For me, it’s much better than the alternative.

Given that, I have a lot to cover in this newsletter so I’m just going to jump right in.

The #FairmontProject is Now On The Road!

That’s right, Oliver is up and running and driving on the street. It blows my mind when I think about it. As many of you know, I’ve been working on this car for the past 2 years trying to make it into one bad ass sleeper.

The wait is over. In fact, the day after I wrote the last newsletter I fired it up for the first time. Cameraman Brian was on hand to document the momentous event on video. I did have some issues as you’ll see in future videos, but in the end I was able to get it started and running.

Since it’s been running I’ve run into some issues, but most have been overcome. I covered some of those issues in one of my latest ETCG1 videos.

Getting the Fairmont running was one of my goals during my time off. Now that I’ve accomplished that, I’m turning my attention back to posting videos to my EricTheCarGuy YouTube channel.

I don’t want to go back to what I was doing before. Meaning, posting a new video every Friday. I also don’t want to turn my channel into the Fairmont channel. Mainly, I’d like to get back to posting useful repair videos for you. After all, that’s why most of you started watching my channel in the first place.

I also want to do more builds. Even though the #FairmontProject almost killed me and my channel, I still want more. I don’t think I’ve ever had the kind of satisfaction I’ve gotten from building the Fairmont. I have some great ideas for future projects that I’d like to share with you. However, I don’t want them to take over the channel for 2 years like I did with the Fairmont.

In short, I’m still thinking through how I want my EricTheCarGuy channel and videos to take shape going forward. Once I have that sorted out, it’ll be time to start posting videos again.

In the mean time, I’m going to keep ‘tuning’ the Fairmont until I get it where I want it. I will say this, it’s a beast, and I love it.

The #PullAPartChallenge

Last month I participated in one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life, the #PullAPartChallenge.

As some of you know I’ve had a good working relationship with Pull-A-Part for some time. In fact, they’ve made me the executive producer for all of their videos, including the #PullAPartChallenge.

So what is the #PullAPartChallenge? The #PullAPartChallenge will be a series of 3 episodes featuring BleepinJeep, BriansMobil1, Classic Body Garage, ChrisFix, EngineeringExplained, HumbleMechanic, Matt Maran Motoring (formally SubaruWRXFan), and myself.

They split us up into 2 teams of 4 and we competed against one another to create the ultimate tailgating vehicle using parts from the Cleveland OH Pull-A-Part yard. I don’t want to give away too much, but I will say this, you definitely want to watch this when it comes out.

We had a full production crew curtesy of Two Rivers Pictures. They’ve been producing content for TV as well as the web for many years.

In addition to building the ultimate tailgating vehicle, we had some other challenges thrown at us during the builds. The best part was, all proceeds went to charity.

To say I had a blast doing these challenges with my friends would be a gross understatement. All I can say is be sure to keep an eye on Pull-A-Part’s website in late October. That’s when and where the first episode will air. The remaining episodes will air during November, with the final episode set to air just before Thanksgiving. All 3 episodes will also be posted to Pull-A-Part’s YouTube channel, but you’ll get to see them first on Pull-A-Part’s website.

I cannot wait for you to see these episodes. You’re going to love them, I’m sure of it.

Chattanooga Tennessee and Nokian Tyres

The week after I got back from Cleveland filming the #PullAPartChallenge, I drove down to Chattanooga TN with my good friend HumbleMechanic to visit with Nokian Tyres. You might remember them from my trip to Finland about a year ago.

Nokian is building a new manufacturing plant in Dayton TN and they invited us down for that as well as the launch of one of their new tire lines, the Nokian C/S series.

Nokian is well known in Europe for their awesome winter tires, but lately they’ve been developing a whole new line of all season tires as well as a line of off road tires.

Nokian has also been working hard to get a foothold in the North American tire market. Hence the reason they’re building the manufacturing facility in TN.

Because of that initiative, they invite people like me and HumbleMechanic to events like this to spread the word.

It might be easy to say that this is some form of ‘selling out’. In part you’d be right, but the reality is that’s in part what I do for a living. However, when it comes to Nokian, I have no trouble endorsing their products.

I have their tires on 3 of my vehicles now, including the 1994 Acura Legend Couple Type II 6 Speed that I drove to Tennessee. I can honestly say these tires are fantastic and I highly recommend them. Those of you that know me, know that I’m a certified tire junkie, and I wouldn’t just throw that endorsement around.

They really are great tires. Now that Nokian is setting up shop in the US, perhaps more of you will have access to them to try for yourself.

Premium Member News

Once again I have fallen short of my goal to post more Premium Member content this month. For that I apologize. I had plans to shoot more, but as you might have gathered, it’s been a busy month for me. However now that the Fairmont is on the road, it’s freed up a lot of my time. I’m hoping to use that time to produce more content for Premium Members of my website.

This month I had 2 offerings, “First Start Up of the Fairmont (Exclusive Video)”, and “New Car Update 8.30.2017 (Exclusive Video)”. What I may have lacked in quantity, I made up for in quality.

Premium Members were the first to see the Fairmont come to life. They have also been the first to see my new car, the 1994 Acura Legend Couple Type II 6 Speed I mentioned earlier. If nothing else, Premium Members have had a front row seat to what’s been happening in the ETCG universe right now.

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.

Details on the new Premium Memberships here.

In Closing

Last weekend I woke up on Sunday morning with a jolt at 6:05am. My first thought was, “I’m late and better get my butt out of bed”. I normally wake up about 5:30am every day. On Sunday’s I usually like to sleep in for a bit. Once I wake up, I’m pretty much up. Then it dawned on me, it’s Sunday and I don’t have to get up. It was a very telling experience.

For years I’ve spent Saturday’s editing. I’m usually pretty spent at the end of the day as a result, but I’m happy because I’ve always taken Sunday’s off. Saturday evening has always been my ‘Friday night’. Sunday has always been my ‘weekend’.

Lately I haven’t been editing on Saturday’s and I love it. The Saturday before I woke up Sunday thinking it was Monday, I spent at the shop with my daughter. I wanted to tune the Fairmont a little more and she wanted to hang out in the shop and play with the welder. She’s 12 and probably has more interest in what I do than any of my other kids. We spent the day doing that and it was one of my best days in recent memory. A great way to spend a Saturday.

For years I’ve been so focused on making a living for me and my family that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to actually spend time with them. Then I realized that I’ve been working so much because I felt it was my obligation to take care of them financially. The truth is that spending time with them is what I really needed. I’m not saying I’m giving up on making a living. I’m saying that my experience last Sunday morning was a real eye opener.

I want to spend more time in the shop working alongside my daughter. I also want to spend more time with the rest of my family doing things that families do, especially on the weekends.

Going forward I don’t think I’m going to be spending my Saturday’s editing. At least not all of them like I used to.

I’m still sorting out how to make this happen and still post videos to my YouTube channels, as well as my website. I just want some of my life back, especially the life I spend with my family. I’ve come to realize that spending time with them is equally, if not more important, than providing for them.

Perhaps there’s a lesson in there for you as well. That is if you’re a workaholic like me with a family.

Thanks for reading.

Latest videos below.

Be safe

Have fun

Stay Dirty

ETCG

Related Videos:

Video Title: October 2017 Newsletter -EricTheCarGuy Video Description: Welcome to the October 2017 Newsletter. Projects include A Busy Fall Season, The #FairmontProject is Now On The Road!, The #PullAPartChallenge, Chattanooga Tennessee and Nokian Tyres, Premium Member News, and more. Thumbnail: https://www.ericthecarguy.com/images/newsletter/Oct/2017/October-2017-Newsletter-850.jpg