View Poll Results: What best describes you and your automotive credentials?
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TECH Resident
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 800
Likes: 1
From: Simi VAlley,CA
I suppose I fall into an "in-between" category, in the business at the dealership level for 35 years....been to every tech class GM ever had in the 70's, 80's, and most of the 90's until I got into management. I grew up with the very first "closed loop" systems and advanced through all of the systems as they were released. I've been involved in all sorts of racing ventures from circle track to off-road (desert) to drag racing and everything in between. My main interest is fabrication and building old school type hot rods.....now that really doesn't "fit" with our high tech, sequential, computerized powerplants we have available now but I am a realist! I love the fact that my old '35 Ford will dust most street machines on the road, idle like a Swiss watch and get over 25 mpg. Try that with my wifes flathead Ford roadster!! No comparison. Why should you listen to my opinion??? I don't think that's necessary, I just throw my two cents worth in when I feel I can save someone time and money because I've "been there...done that" in alot of cases. I don't consider myself any kind of expert, mostly self-taught in the school of hard knocks! 
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 503
Likes: 1
From: Texas
Originally Posted by Oscar Will
I love the fact that my old '35 Ford will dust most street machines on the road, idle like a Swiss watch and get over 25 mpg. Try that with my wifes flathead Ford roadster!!
Oh man, that made Dr. Pepper come out my nose...
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 618
Likes: 0
From: San Diego
I spent 10 years doing bomb squad work for the US Army, did it for contract money for about a year, now I'm just collecting unemployment going to school
Got my first LS1 in October of 98, started learning about cars. With friends I've done pretty much everything short of engine assembly, on my cars, their cars, etc. Broken pretty much anything you can break on an LS1, and attempted to fix it..
I help local guys out with their tunes also, took that EFI 101 course plus I have done countless hours of logging and tuning with HP Tuners.
Got my first LS1 in October of 98, started learning about cars. With friends I've done pretty much everything short of engine assembly, on my cars, their cars, etc. Broken pretty much anything you can break on an LS1, and attempted to fix it..
I help local guys out with their tunes also, took that EFI 101 course plus I have done countless hours of logging and tuning with HP Tuners. 
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
I have worked as a Professional auto mechanic for 20 years, 6 of them as a GM tech. I have had machine shop and race engine assembly experience.My passion and hobbies are drag racing and building more power from my own motors and race tuning the cars. I do all of my own work, I have built many perf. engines for others and i specialize in head porting and induction work.
I never have any money for my hobbies so I am forced to modify stock parts and wring out as much perf. as possible from them. I do things the hard way such as no power adders, but is probably more satisfying this way even though Im not as fast as many. I love this site and perf. tech is the most interesting subject for me.
I never have any money for my hobbies so I am forced to modify stock parts and wring out as much perf. as possible from them. I do things the hard way such as no power adders, but is probably more satisfying this way even though Im not as fast as many. I love this site and perf. tech is the most interesting subject for me.
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Technical enthusiast.I have formal training in Auto,Diesel,Hydraulics with machine/race shop experience.I am an industrial salesperson but have a trade to fall back on if need be.Do my own work for the most part.Work part time as a mechanic or engine builder.
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FormerVendor
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
From: Decatur IN.
4- years shop boy @ RJ racecars
3-years clutch specialist Mark Whisnant racing, pro stock truck/pro stock car
1-year crew cheif john lingenfelters modified cavalier(eco tec)
1- year crew cheif matt hartford pro RWD
3-years and going strong, shop manager@ Exotic Performance Plus
2000 ws-6, 2000 s-10, 98 s-10 4wd and a iron 6.0?!?!?!waiting
3-years clutch specialist Mark Whisnant racing, pro stock truck/pro stock car
1-year crew cheif john lingenfelters modified cavalier(eco tec)
1- year crew cheif matt hartford pro RWD
3-years and going strong, shop manager@ Exotic Performance Plus
2000 ws-6, 2000 s-10, 98 s-10 4wd and a iron 6.0?!?!?!waiting
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 555
Likes: 0
From: Blairsville, GA
I work in a metal shop, fabricating cages for a gorilla habitat near the shop. I'm 29, been a gearhead for most of that time. Our Jeep and WS6 are my automotive credentials. I've advised friends on what to do with their cars(and those who listened were not let down), as well as build my own Mopar 440 Magnum.
The Jeep has been fitted with homemade dual 2 1/2" exhaust including muffler, Offenhauser dual-port 4bbl intake(port-matched to head), Holley 450 CFM, Crane 204*/216*@.050", .456"/.484", 112* LSA cam, Hedman dual outlet header, 4.56 gears, 4340 front axles inner and outer with Spicer 760X u-joints and internal spline hubs, 1-piece axles in the rear, Detroit Locker rear, and TrueTrac front.
The WS6 has been fitted with a lid, TB bypass, and 20-cent !CAGS. Plans call for OEM true duals, LTs, LS6 intake, ported TB, U/D pulley, sleeper cam, recalibrated suspension, SFCs, 9" rear w/either 3.70s or 3.89s, !EGR, !AIR, and lots of seat time.
The Jeep has been fitted with homemade dual 2 1/2" exhaust including muffler, Offenhauser dual-port 4bbl intake(port-matched to head), Holley 450 CFM, Crane 204*/216*@.050", .456"/.484", 112* LSA cam, Hedman dual outlet header, 4.56 gears, 4340 front axles inner and outer with Spicer 760X u-joints and internal spline hubs, 1-piece axles in the rear, Detroit Locker rear, and TrueTrac front.
The WS6 has been fitted with a lid, TB bypass, and 20-cent !CAGS. Plans call for OEM true duals, LTs, LS6 intake, ported TB, U/D pulley, sleeper cam, recalibrated suspension, SFCs, 9" rear w/either 3.70s or 3.89s, !EGR, !AIR, and lots of seat time.
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
From: Alaska
Divorced twice, 39 year old “other” with a six month old granddaughter. To further clarify the “other”, I’m not gay or bi. I like women more than wrenching, and I love to wrench and tweak.
To respond to the question, ‘why should you listen to my opinion?’, maybe you shouldn’t. But then only a self righteous fool thinks that any opinion, regardless of the source, is not worth listening to. Those wonderful gems of information that all human beings can learn from the most, come from very unexpected places.
I haven’t figured out how to net a six digit income building engines after paying the note to finance a shop outfitted with machinery and tooling. Until I do figure it out, building engines for friends and family will have to be enough to satisfy my passion for making power.
I started down this path in the sand box. When the other kids were playing with their toys, I wasn’t just tearing them apart, but was putting them back together. I haven’t stopped since then. I’ve got a ‘super automatic’ espresso machine sitting on my bench in parts trying to figure out what makes it work. –long story with that damn thing.
My father had a road construction and logging company when I was young. At 8 I was annoying the mechanics who maintained his fleet with constant “what’s that do” questions while making $.25 an hour washing parts. My first IC engine overhaul was at 10. From there it was my dirt bike motors, making them go faster for the motocross tracks. My first four stroke was in high school. I found a 65 ½ mustang fastback when I was 14, bought it, and did a frame off restoration with my father. The 289 and drive train work was done in shop class. My shop instructor was a retired race engine builder. His retired from a well known shop outside of Charlotte NC that concentrated on Cup engines. The high school shop was also an automotive machinist tech school. I learned how to build engines and run machines there over the course of three years. My ‘class projects’ were engine overhauls and building race engines that the school built for a small fee that would go into new tools and equipment for the school. By my senior year, I was instructing students. This is where I learned to torque plate hone a block with the gaskets to be used, bell housing torqued to the block and hot water circulating to find that ever elusive 0 taper. I also learned how easy it is to completely screw up a perfectly good port design with a die grinder.
After graduation I worked as a welder for a year and continued to build engines on the side because I wanted a year off prior to attending college. I won an athletic scholarship to Bozeman State University and was going to major in mechanical engineering……then I met a girl.
Six years later I got my Honorable discharge form the USN (and lost the girl in boot camp). I went through the nuclear program and worked in the surface ship nuke plants (primarily on rotating machinery). After the service I worked in a nuke plant on the east coast…..then I met another girl….. A year later I was divorced for the first time and working for a consulting company as a rotating machinery specialist. We catered to oil and gas companies and would evaluate vibration data and make recommendations for repair. One of the oil companies persuaded me to jump ship and work for them as a rotating machinery tech and millwright. I’m still there, but somehow got talked into a staff position as a maintenance lead. – I miss my tools.
I’m still riding dirt bikes and building engines on the side as time permits, and dreaming about that shop with dyno room, CNC mill, CV-616…….
In the meantime, I’ll continue to irritate you pro’s and engineers with my “what’s that do, and why does it do it that way” questions.
To respond to the question, ‘why should you listen to my opinion?’, maybe you shouldn’t. But then only a self righteous fool thinks that any opinion, regardless of the source, is not worth listening to. Those wonderful gems of information that all human beings can learn from the most, come from very unexpected places.
I haven’t figured out how to net a six digit income building engines after paying the note to finance a shop outfitted with machinery and tooling. Until I do figure it out, building engines for friends and family will have to be enough to satisfy my passion for making power.
I started down this path in the sand box. When the other kids were playing with their toys, I wasn’t just tearing them apart, but was putting them back together. I haven’t stopped since then. I’ve got a ‘super automatic’ espresso machine sitting on my bench in parts trying to figure out what makes it work. –long story with that damn thing.
My father had a road construction and logging company when I was young. At 8 I was annoying the mechanics who maintained his fleet with constant “what’s that do” questions while making $.25 an hour washing parts. My first IC engine overhaul was at 10. From there it was my dirt bike motors, making them go faster for the motocross tracks. My first four stroke was in high school. I found a 65 ½ mustang fastback when I was 14, bought it, and did a frame off restoration with my father. The 289 and drive train work was done in shop class. My shop instructor was a retired race engine builder. His retired from a well known shop outside of Charlotte NC that concentrated on Cup engines. The high school shop was also an automotive machinist tech school. I learned how to build engines and run machines there over the course of three years. My ‘class projects’ were engine overhauls and building race engines that the school built for a small fee that would go into new tools and equipment for the school. By my senior year, I was instructing students. This is where I learned to torque plate hone a block with the gaskets to be used, bell housing torqued to the block and hot water circulating to find that ever elusive 0 taper. I also learned how easy it is to completely screw up a perfectly good port design with a die grinder.
After graduation I worked as a welder for a year and continued to build engines on the side because I wanted a year off prior to attending college. I won an athletic scholarship to Bozeman State University and was going to major in mechanical engineering……then I met a girl.
Six years later I got my Honorable discharge form the USN (and lost the girl in boot camp). I went through the nuclear program and worked in the surface ship nuke plants (primarily on rotating machinery). After the service I worked in a nuke plant on the east coast…..then I met another girl….. A year later I was divorced for the first time and working for a consulting company as a rotating machinery specialist. We catered to oil and gas companies and would evaluate vibration data and make recommendations for repair. One of the oil companies persuaded me to jump ship and work for them as a rotating machinery tech and millwright. I’m still there, but somehow got talked into a staff position as a maintenance lead. – I miss my tools.
I’m still riding dirt bikes and building engines on the side as time permits, and dreaming about that shop with dyno room, CNC mill, CV-616…….
In the meantime, I’ll continue to irritate you pro’s and engineers with my “what’s that do, and why does it do it that way” questions.
TECH Resident
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 841
Likes: 0
From: Baltimore, MD.
33 year old Mechanical Engineer. Don't work directly in the automotive world, but do 99% of my own wrenching. Can't stand to have other people working on my projects without me! Some of it is I'm cheap (cant justify taking it to the "stealership" and don't trust anybody else). Some of it is I want to push my mind and technical skills. Rest of it is that its tough to find people with the skills to do engine swaps, do brake upgrades where the brackets don't exist, and similar custom projects.
Enjoy reading (and occasionally posting) here to try to expand my understanding of engines in general and the LSx specifically.
'JustDreamin'
Enjoy reading (and occasionally posting) here to try to expand my understanding of engines in general and the LSx specifically.
'JustDreamin'
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, TX
Semiconductor Fabrication Equipment Engineer for the world's largest semiconductor company for the last 17 years.
I wrench on cars as a necessity and as a hobby. I have dabbled with many makes, many different cars, for the last 27 years. I have built race cars, street cars, street rods, supercharged, turbocharged, 1.5 to 7.4 liters in displacement, FWD, RWD, AWD, German, Japanese, American, Swedish, English... etc...
I wrench on cars as a necessity and as a hobby. I have dabbled with many makes, many different cars, for the last 27 years. I have built race cars, street cars, street rods, supercharged, turbocharged, 1.5 to 7.4 liters in displacement, FWD, RWD, AWD, German, Japanese, American, Swedish, English... etc...
Originally Posted by P Mack
BS in aeronautical engineering (propulsion), work on my own car, tune my own car. I mostly lurk in this forum.
EDIT: N/M, I guess by forum, you meant the "Advanced" forum. That'll teach me to post after coming home from the bar.
In the middle of my automotive engineering technology degree with a minor in manufacturing engineering at Minnesota State-Mankato. Have always loved cars, worked on mostly GM stuff. Im pretty familiar with the SBC, L36, L67, and the gen 3 motors. Ill be involved in formula SAE next year.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 660
Likes: 0
i guess i fall into the category of wrench on everything myself. i have been "into" cars every since i was a little kid, but didn't get to pursue them at an early age like quite a few people in here.
i had a 91 RS 305 TBI when i turned 16 and spent plenty of time fixing it. when i turned 18 i got a 94 Z28 and everything exploded from there. i went to Texas A&M to study electrical engineering which i thought i was interested in. turns out i'm not. in the process of switching to mechanical engineering i was introduced to some great car meets out there and spent all of my time learning/reading/talking/wrenching on those cars and my own. i got too caught up in it for school and i'm not sure what i'm going to do.
right now i'm 22 and just pursuing a process tech degree for monetary reasons to get on my feet. after i do get on my feet i'm not sure if i'll go back for mechanical engineering or pursue something automotive. if i can find something advanced enough without an engineering degree then i might go that way, but i get bored with the easy stuff.
i've lurked a lot of places and learned a lot. i just started reading this forum a few days ago and i've already got tons of threads bookmarked. i usually absorb them very quickly and hopefully i will be a contributing member of this section soon.
oh, i did work for an engineering company this summer. for a whole three weeks
, but doing a 45k/yr job for 8 bucks/hr and without the sufficient schooling was just too stressful for me. i mean i love figuring out things on my own, but not when it comes to the lives of others.
edit- i've worked on almost every part of both LT1 and LS1 4th gens. taken LT1s down to the bare block and LS1s down to the block with the rotating assembly still installed. about 6 months ago i swapped from A4 to M6 and these past few weeks i've swapped EVERYTHING from a totalled body to a roller. most people bypass the VATS, but i traced down the control and swapped the steering column and VATS control box to the new car (the new car didn't have keys and my old one does). cheaper than getting a key cut and not too bad. gm DOES NOT want you getting to that box though. it's tucked way the hell up in there.
i had a 91 RS 305 TBI when i turned 16 and spent plenty of time fixing it. when i turned 18 i got a 94 Z28 and everything exploded from there. i went to Texas A&M to study electrical engineering which i thought i was interested in. turns out i'm not. in the process of switching to mechanical engineering i was introduced to some great car meets out there and spent all of my time learning/reading/talking/wrenching on those cars and my own. i got too caught up in it for school and i'm not sure what i'm going to do.
right now i'm 22 and just pursuing a process tech degree for monetary reasons to get on my feet. after i do get on my feet i'm not sure if i'll go back for mechanical engineering or pursue something automotive. if i can find something advanced enough without an engineering degree then i might go that way, but i get bored with the easy stuff.
i've lurked a lot of places and learned a lot. i just started reading this forum a few days ago and i've already got tons of threads bookmarked. i usually absorb them very quickly and hopefully i will be a contributing member of this section soon.
oh, i did work for an engineering company this summer. for a whole three weeks
, but doing a 45k/yr job for 8 bucks/hr and without the sufficient schooling was just too stressful for me. i mean i love figuring out things on my own, but not when it comes to the lives of others.edit- i've worked on almost every part of both LT1 and LS1 4th gens. taken LT1s down to the bare block and LS1s down to the block with the rotating assembly still installed. about 6 months ago i swapped from A4 to M6 and these past few weeks i've swapped EVERYTHING from a totalled body to a roller. most people bypass the VATS, but i traced down the control and swapped the steering column and VATS control box to the new car (the new car didn't have keys and my old one does). cheaper than getting a key cut and not too bad. gm DOES NOT want you getting to that box though
. it's tucked way the hell up in there. Last edited by RoAdRaGe912; Dec 20, 2005 at 08:14 PM.
I have been seriously involved with cars since around 12yrs old. I am now 28.I have been working on cars for about 16 yrs now. Wow, I'm getting old...
I currently own an Automotive Performance Shop.I was an electrician for 12 years prior to opening my shop.
As far as wether you should listen to my opinions or not that's entirely up top the person reading my posts. I suggest taking most everyones comments with a grain of salt and then looking into the subject yourself do determine if they have merit or not.Sometimes I am wrong as is just about everyone else. I think I am more often than not correct when it comes to the automotive field. However, everyone makes mistakes or has "different" views on things.
I currently own an Automotive Performance Shop.I was an electrician for 12 years prior to opening my shop.
As far as wether you should listen to my opinions or not that's entirely up top the person reading my posts. I suggest taking most everyones comments with a grain of salt and then looking into the subject yourself do determine if they have merit or not.Sometimes I am wrong as is just about everyone else. I think I am more often than not correct when it comes to the automotive field. However, everyone makes mistakes or has "different" views on things.
Teching In
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
From: eastern WA
Just a 16 year old farm boy. I've been reading these types of sites since I was at least twelve, but tend to read and rarely post. I guess I do know more than the average 16 year old because of working on all the trucks, combines, tractors, and whatnot but I still love learning as much as I can when it comes to this stuff. I aspire to be an engineer in the automotive field. I also try to learn as much as I can from my uncle with his 10 second chevy II that even has the rear seat, that is running small block, and he has built it for fairly cheap. I hope to be doing an ls1/t56 swap into my '91 Firebird that is currently sporting an LO3/t5 and getting help from him when needed.