Changing the Focus of These Forums

[64ZCODE]

Seems like people differ in how helpful or on point they think posts are. How about adding functionality to the forum website to be able to "like" posts of others and to rate posts in terms of how helpful they were in answering the question asked?

[redstangbob]

guys I had a long winded reply all typed out and I decided to forget it. In a nutshell, the focus here is tbirds, that won't change. nobody insists you have to be a purist, everyone seems to get the answer they need. try to be your own advocate and search the web, you can't always get instant gratification. if you don't have a hundred bucks for the books, I'm afraid you picked the wrong hobby. if you don't know what end of a screwdriver to hold, again wrong hobby. If you can't afford to pay for an expert when you need one, well you know the drill. nobody insists your car be concours or be judged for points. when you get an answer that tells you what things should be like, it's because that's the way you can be sure things worked. what were the Ford engineers thinking when they designed these cars? not about a bunch of old farts tinkering with them 50 plus years later that's for sure. I know the search is hard to use, but it's what we have so be patient and creative. ask your questions in the correct section, don't expect to have your car fixed over the internet, and realize that if you complain too much about the answers you get, you might not get any the next time. Dirty Harry once said "a man's got to know his limitations" I say you don't become a carpenter when you buy a power saw, a set of sockets don't make you a mechanic. good luck, Bob C

[64ZCODE]

Quit whining? Works for me

[ICON 1956]

Finally, to be said you make your car that makes it your own personality. Period........

[sseebart]

Seems like people differ in how helpful or on point they think posts are. How about adding functionality to the forum website to be able to "like" posts of others and to rate posts in terms of how helpful they were in answering the question asked?

This is an excellent idea. Many boards have "reputation" included as a matter of course. I'm not entirely sure how they work (and Google was no help), but they appear to calculate "karma" based on the number of posts, posts that generate responses and direct feedback. Looks like there's an extension the works with our current software, too: https://github.com/jbreu/phpBB-Reputation-System

~Steve

[sseebart]

I know the search is hard to use, but it's what we have...

I usually try search to find a post that I participated in (or started) and often come up empty (Even though I know it's there).

Another option is to use Google, but force it to search only our forum, like this: site:vintagethunderbirdclub.net <search terms>

An example: http://bfy.tw/NajN

Results are better, and you can even scroll through related images.

~Steve

[rzcrisis]

guys I had a long winded reply all typed out and I decided to forget it. In a nutshell, the focus here is tbirds, that won't change. nobody insists you have to be a purist, everyone seems to get the answer they need. try to be your own advocate and search the web, you can't always get instant gratification. if you don't have a hundred bucks for the books, I'm afraid you picked the wrong hobby. if you don't know what end of a screwdriver to hold, again wrong hobby. If you can't afford to pay for an expert when you need one, well you know the drill. nobody insists your car be concours or be judged for points. when you get an answer that tells you what things should be like, it's because that's the way you can be sure things worked. what were the Ford engineers thinking when they designed these cars? not about a bunch of old farts tinkering with them 50 plus years later that's for sure. I know the search is hard to use, but it's what we have so be patient and creative. ask your questions in the correct section, don't expect to have your car fixed over the internet, and realize that if you complain too much about the answers you get, you might not get any the next time. Dirty Harry once said "a man's got to know his limitations" I say you don't become a carpenter when you buy a power saw, a set of sockets don't make you a mechanic. good luck, Bob C

Bob,

I have a lot of respect for you and your challenging work as a moderator of this forum. I know everyone would definitely agree.

If anything, my original post has hopefully provoked some thought about how we use this forum and all the different approaches to restoration and maintenance of our Tbirds....which as you mentioned...are "engineering marvels" to say the least. We all struggle with how best to keep these beasts alive and enjoyable.

I respect your final thoughts on this as I have quoted from your last post.

Regards
Randy

[Peddller]

I have had and still have concours Tbirds as well as drivers and I enjoyed them both in very different ways. The forum is very important to a lot of people even though they don't all post. If I have some useful information I try to chime in and add to the discussion. I know not everyone has or wants a concour car, I got it, they are expensive to do and often it is hard to enjoy them without degrading the car. Not everyone is like Jay Leno who can afford to drive a #1 car down to a #3. However the concours restorers do something that is very valuable to all of us and most of us don't have time to do it, research. It doesn't matter if your restoring a car to factory original or modifying one to suit your taste, sooner or later there will be some obscure issue you will need to know about. The concour restorations give us the baseline from which we can all build our knowledge about where the car started. These are the guys who can often tell you if you can change a part without totally dismantling the car because they have had their's totally apart. Most concour restorers I talk to have over 1000 hours of pure research in each car they do. At Al Pruitts shop in Glenrock, PA I asked one of the guys who works on Pebble Beach cars all the time "who has to pay for the research?", it's a touchy subject, but in the end the cars owner pays. To that end we get a real bargain from people sharing what they have learned. I get something from reading this and other forums everyday which adds to my knowledge or is thought provoking all of which I think is a positive. I know forums like these have made me a better collector and enthusiast for the car collecting hobby.

[RedBird64]

I could not agree with you more Randy.
I sometimes wonder if some folks have much experience with on-line forums. Some don't seem to realize that forums are for asking questions and getting answers, no telling someone to go look it up - which isn't helpful. I'm not saying that people shouldn't get a manual or other resource materials but in the mean time, it does this forum good to discuss problems and share experiences.

I'm a "driver" type. I like to drive the car and sometimes that requires that it be beyond stock (mechanically) to make it safe, enjoyable and dependable.
I'm really just happy to see people saving these old cars and not cutting them up or junking them.

Scott

[65levian]

Not sure the limitations of the engine running this forum, but a possibility could be to “flag” a post as ‘casual’ or ‘competitive’, obviously based on whether or not you intend on showing the car competitively. Could be more helpful to the poster and the ones who choose to reply. Someone could create a new post and “flag” it based on the type of replies they are looking for, casual fixes or competitive fixes. Just my 2 cents.
Chandler

[scumdog]

I have used the forum to ask questions on many occasions and have been very pleased with the answers that I have received. I believe that owners should try and obtain manuals to see if a problem can be solved and being told to seek out the manuals is good advice as long as the reply also gives a good answer to the original question. I have not been disappointed with the answers I have been given.

That too has been my experience, I used to post more often because I used to need guidance more often!

Through the help of members here and on Squarebirds I got my '66 Town Landau sorted and made road legal for New Zealand, not an easy job with being 12,000miles from the Thunderbird epicentre.

And yes, i also bought manuals and catalogues!

[64ZCODE]

Epicenter! I love it. Like TBirds are a seismic event in an otherwise largely dull car universe, like magma displacement in The Hunt For Red October