johnc Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 My Boss: We have a guy here, John Coffey, that knows a lot about Datsuns. Guy Selling a 510: John Coffey? He's a dick! Boss: Really? He seems to be a pretty good guy to me. Guy: He's a cock! A new guy asks a question on a forum and he jumps all over his ass. Boss: New guys deserve that. My plan to become known as a curmudgeon on the Internet is progressing well... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1342 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 He is probably one of those guys that asked a question that has been asked and answered many times before and now he's butt-hurt. I'm all about asking if you don't know, but what have you done to help yourself? Look at it this way, at least you're known in the Datsun Community on and off the forums. Why? Because you know how to hand over reality and common sense. Much respect to you for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeeboost Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 That's awesome, I'd feel pretty self-accomplished if someone told me that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexter72 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Im thinking this guy is among the generation NOT born in the 50's 60's or 70's. Seems a lot of the younger folks were brought up in the Wussification of America era. You know this new era of: Medals and trophies for participating in sports, instead of actually earning them for coming in first, second or third. The ones looking to be Spoon Fed any info instead of spending weeks and or months reading and researching. The ones who finish an automotive school and then expect to be working on real customers cars right off the bat. Instead of earning a mechanic position by doing oil changes, doing good work, not leaving drain plug bolts loose, and oily messes inside customers cars, sweeping floors, cleaning up after techs and dumping trash. Thats what i run into every day as a tech at a Nissan Dealership and as a dad. Young people show some respect for people who have been doing car work for decades. Dont kiss ass, just be respectful. Dont act like you know what your talking about because you just read it in the latest car magazine. Search as much as you can, Save info as much as you can, Learn as much as you can. Research as much as you can. John, Be You. Steppin down off the soap box now, Who's next to step up on it??... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhm Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Love it! Thx for making me laugh, John....got a good chuckle out of this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators RTz Posted September 26, 2014 Administrators Share Posted September 26, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Search. Coffey being a dick has been discussed before. More power to him, IMO. john 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh280z Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Hmm i wonder who started this thread? (Rhetorical) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psdenno Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Datsun ownership is not for the weak. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 "Why you talking loudly? Why you blame MCC?" Because that is where the problem lies. Argue about it all you want, but THAT IS WHERE OUR PROBLEM LIES. If you want to fix it and progress with the startup, you will discuss this with your MCC people. You may not LIKE the answer. This does not change the fact that the answer is CORRECT! CURMUDGEONS UNITE! Don Potter was an ass. I liked him. He was a gawd. Rest Peacefully, Don, we only humbly carry on the legacy. I digress... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 ^^^^^This is one that should be hard^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryant67 Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 People need to realise that if/when you ask a question online, the person answering isn't getting squat for taking the time to help you. With that being the case, you forfeit any rights to politeness or standard of service - be thankful for what you get. I think it's pretty amazing, the information available on forums such as Hybridz. There is a lot on here that 20 years ago would have been privileged information. There are people on here that have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars to grind in the knowledge they have, and they are willing to share it with others free of change. Anyone that dares to complain about the manner in which this free information is shared, well... they need their head examined. Unfortunately we live in an age of entitlement...Nice to be notorious though, eh John! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 (edited) The next step is wankers (enmasse) showing at an event "to set him straight and see if he talks like he does online to my face"... And then someone comes up saying "There were these three guys looking for you, and when they asked me where you were they just looked and said 'uh, that's him? His photos online don't look like that...' and started walking off. That's them, over...there!" (Pointing) Chasing wankers so you can get straight gets tiring. Curmudgeons want to be set straight. Why do they always run off like chickenshits? I think it's a bit of transference on their part... ********** Then another option is a guy coming up, introducing himself with an amused smile, stating "Holy sh*t, you really DO talk like that in person to everybody!" (They seemed amused by that fact!) Edited September 28, 2014 by Tony D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Don Potter was a wealth of information, if you could get him to talk. Generally you had to think up an interesting question (interesting to him) and then he would stay on the phone answering that and many other follow up questions. Somewhere I still have his process specs written down for his cryo treated and shot peened 280z stub axles and front hubs. I really should find my stack of Steno pads with all my S30 notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Another old curmudgeon that was a wealth of information was Dave Kent. He built winning 911s and RX7s for IMSA back in the 1980s and was the best fabricator and car prep guy I've ever seen. He built, under Porsche's direction, aluminum tube roll cages for their early 934s and 935s after Porsche discovered a loophole in IMSAs rule book. It was a one or two year only thing until IMSA fixed that. When I hung out has shop one of those cars was covered up in the back. But, if Dave hadn't had his morning beers, you could not talk to him - period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I got into a conversation with Don at MSA after someone came up to him asking if he could recurve his distributor and he blurted out "$400" and the guy walked off. Don went back to his ongoing conversation and my "Was that rebushing, or using ball bearings on the shaft?" follow up to the other guy's blowoff that got about a 45 minute discussion on cutting the weights and polishing ramps, spring selection, etc... Comparing and contrasting my VW and Corvair background with his Datsun Wizardlyness was a big learning experience as I wasn't really "Mr. Watercooled" having only been building on them in Japan for the prior 5 years...and only had about 20 years of automotive background at the time. People now with the instant gratification syndrome don't understand, unless you really do have a 164 IQ, you won't pick this stuff up on the internet in a year. It takes time. Some things you can read, but other things you have to experience. I know guys who rode a desk for 30+ years and still can't fathom WHY the calculations didn't work out in the real world. Don took pains to tell you why it didn't work like that....in a uniquely "DON" way, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreco Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I became a member of this board back in 2005 on a quest for knowledge. The search feature WAS my friend and the proof is in my garage. If curmudgeons scare you off, then putting a big motor in a small car is not the job you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 What needs realising is that once you reach a certain age you know nothing and were never young either, you are just a grumpy old errr bastard. According to the fast and furious generation whose world began with them and of course is the only one which exists or ever has. Yeah? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 (edited) My reference was the DIY garage owner from "Christine"... That guy was not very far off from the guys I learned a lot from...guys who maybe completed the 4th grade, stormed the beaches in the Pacific (several times) and when it was all over they started back at the garage where they were working before the war. In 40 years, they watched huge advancements in the Automobile, and really had no time in their life to waste on those they didn't feel were serious. Curiously, while stationed in Japan in the 80's I got the same thing from veterans of the "other side" who had a less abrasive, but no more aloof personality. But squatting for hours a day watching amazed as a one-eyed man turned a flat piece of sheet metal into a door skin for a, S30 using nothing more than anvil and hammer engaged me in awe...and eventually in similar fashion a tool was offered, or a gesture given to fetch something....something if I had been paying attention would be obviously needed at that point. You either got it right, or you didn't. And if you didn't, you were JUDGED not worthy to waste their time. And that's what most of the backlash comes from, a sense of entitlement and being judged when they've been told forever they are special. Super. A Star. To guys that have seen enough to know otherwise, you gotta prove yourself worthy of putting the effort into... Most kids really resent that. Even the most scurvy bastard out there sees potential, and will make a way for you to learn. But don't EXPECT him to do it! Then again, most kids today couldn't cope with a slightly all-too-real portrayal of Shop Class in the 70's and 80's... I can think of a few shop incidents where the teacher reigned in those "not bound for college track kids" as in the clip below....aaaaah yes a different time indeed! Edited October 3, 2014 by Tony D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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