Is it me is imagination drying up

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

618 Syndicate

You won't...
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2020
Messages
6,609
Reaction score
15,467
Location
Southern Illinois
I had a professor tell us that if you can’t sit through an hour class without your phone, you’re to important to be there.
Everyone has their style. Some of my colleagues are real particular about classroom decorum, I'm more relaxed. As long as they're not causing a distraction I don't really care.
 

89GMCJOHN

I'm Awesome
Joined
Jun 16, 2017
Messages
426
Reaction score
444
Location
Clermont Fl
I agree on all your points ....when I go to a car show I always gravitate to the guys cars or trucks who fabricated something or sourced out of the junkyard and made it all work . Maybe it was budget driven in its roots etc . I love that when I go to rod runs there will be 10- 12 guys around a $5k rat rod and one guy looking at the catalog queen parked right next door that the guy has $55k in it and its flawless.

"I think you hit the nail on the head here. This is just my personnal take on whats happened so I am not judging anyone else. Thinking back to the early days, that's the 60s and 70s for us older folks, there wasn't the endless aftermarket range of stuff available. Guys would go to the wreckers yard and wander around getting inspiration and go home with a trailer load of parts that they would assemble at home in a way only they could visualize. Then they would hand make the rest of the pieces needed to bring it all together into a functioning motor vehicle that was unlike anything on the road, think Ed Roth etc. Today we have so much available that we have maybe got lazy or we have lost our imaginations so that now we can just sit down with a catalogue and write a shopping list of parts that just bolt on an we call that custom. Unfortunately, this way costs a truck load of cash so it appears that we can't afford to do proper customs but that's just because we are looking at the problem from the wrong direction. I also think the proliferation of custom and hotrod shows on TV where they have pull down a donor vehicle and then wait for the delivery truck to arrive with the latest and greatest parts to put it back together with has added to the problem as well. So that's my 10 cents worth.
Agree
 

Erik the Awful

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
7,611
Reaction score
15,526
Location
Choctaw, OK
I feel like people are too afraid of what would other people think or it is impossible. Nothing really is impossible you just gotta set your mind to it
Y'all need to go to a 24 Hours of Lemons race. If you don't know, look it up on YouTube. We used to race an MR2, and we cut the body off and grafted on the body from a 1967 Simca 1600.

This !!!!! I teach HS and have done so for the last 25 years. I've seen the era of instant gratification (and answers) come to fruition. Why put in the work when you can get an answer or an idea within seconds? I'm certainly not saying there aren't young people that are creative and don't have the motivation to get the job done.
Personally, I think manufacturers have gone out of their way to make vehicles harder to work on in the belief it will make more people bring their cars to the dealership. Bullcrap. It did a better job of driving technicians out of the career field. My son is a gearhead, but every job he needs to do on his car usually ends up being an epic battle.

Since we're here talking GMT400s, which would you rather do? Swap out the engine on a Vortec, or swap out engine on a TBI? My '99 Suburban took me a full day. My '89 took me four hours.
 

MIHELA

1-5-6-3-4-2-7-8
Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
1,367
Reaction score
1,596
Location
Sioux Falls, SD
Part of the problem is, back in the day when cars were carbureted, it was much easier to swap from one type of engine to another or even a different make entirely. Everything was standalone and mechanical. No E-trans, no modules, much simpler wiring. Now everything is so tightly integrated and computerized it's very difficult to make the parts work together.
 

GrimsterGMC

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
1,148
Reaction score
3,726
Location
New Zealand
Part of the problem is, back in the day when cars were carbureted, it was much easier to swap from one type of engine to another or even a different make entirely. Everything was standalone and mechanical. No E-trans, no modules, much simpler wiring. Now everything is so tightly integrated and computerized it's very difficult to make the parts work together.
This is a very valid point, it's a big task to break down a complete wiring loom and modify it while still looking tidy let alone factory.
 

Cadillac Bob

Slammin original 4x4 Cadillac doors!
Joined
Feb 8, 2016
Messages
1,314
Reaction score
1,989
Location
Waterford MI
Not to derail the original point of this thread, but I guess this goes with the less money point. The client and my company originally signed the contract for this project 5yrs ago. It's a union job that instead of falling under the "collective agreement" it was a "site specific" one. 5yrs ago there was a lot less union carpenter jobs to be had, so the union signed off on it just to keep members working. Well now they can't man jobs up enough so the company went to the client and said there is only one way to get workers to site was to pay them the full rate under the "collective". It's not as simple as adding for inflation, goes with how much work is in coming up when the companies and union negotiate new contracts.
Yes in deed!! Was on E-board for 3yrs and 2 other boards until I retired from them due to getting my dream job as a union tradesmen at university! Plus I had to but I couldn’t of stayed on even if I wanted to since I would no longer be in the same boat of employment. Now for the thread tittle yes and no yes in the department of regular people who have customized their own vehicle because yes money is key along with being able to buy parts how we all buy parts. No part is I have to be creative half the time I’m at work and a third of time at home. What you may be trying to say that you haven’t said is having the ability to look at something and see in your head what you need to make/do to fix or improve on whatever’s in front of you that’s “visualization” seeing what your going to do before you do it. Even people who do the same line of work do not possess the same abilities. It’s just as said before if there’s anything to get figured out but no means for able buying then creative flow has to come into play.
 

Tommy1234

I'm Awesome
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
1,907
Reaction score
2,881
Location
Chicago il
Yes in deed!! Was on E-board for 3yrs and 2 other boards until I retired from them due to getting my dream job as a union tradesmen at university! Plus I had to but I couldn’t of stayed on even if I wanted to since I would no longer be in the same boat of employment. Now for the thread tittle yes and no yes in the department of regular people who have customized their own vehicle because yes money is key along with being able to buy parts how we all buy parts. No part is I have to be creative half the time I’m at work and a third of time at home. What you may be trying to say that you haven’t said is having the ability to look at something and see in your head what you need to make/do to fix or improve on whatever’s in front of you that’s “visualization” seeing what your going to do before you do it. Even people who do the same line of work do not possess the same abilities. It’s just as said before if there’s anything to get figured out but no means for able buying then creative flow has to come into play.
This is the most valid and thorough reply I've read so far.
 
Top