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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ a panel of experts

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 1 2005, 03:27 PM

I was reading a recent "what kind of oil" topic and I got to thinking:

we need a "what our panel of experts say about... " section in our FAQs...

where the rescpected members of our little club post what brand/ weight of oil, tranny oil, how often to do particular mainenance items(ie valve adjust), options on ignitions, suspensions and such... since we get these threads so often(not that it's wrong we get the threads)...

this way any of us can just pull up the FAQ and see "what would Jake do" or "what does Brad think about this... " we have plenty of people that are truly experts in these cars, their engines, etc... why not have a think tank for that info?! there are plenty of people on this board who's opinion on these things can be taken as gospel truth... Jake on Engines, James on Trannys, Z on pornograhic avatars...

I think this would be a great benefit to comprise a questionaire of these common threads, and have a panel of our expert members fill out the portions they are experts in... and have it in our FAQ section...

does this sound like a good idea? or have I lost it?

if I've lost it, tell me to , , or give me one of these...

Posted by: URY914 Apr 1 2005, 03:33 PM

Good idea, I'm and expert in

PAul

Posted by: Part Pricer Apr 1 2005, 03:55 PM

Damn it! I wanted to be the expert in

PAul

Posted by: CptTripps Apr 1 2005, 04:06 PM

That's a pretty good idea. I'm not an expert in anything, but I think it sure would be cool to have a list of 'opinions' on topics that show up every few weeks.

Posted by: black73 Apr 1 2005, 04:25 PM

Very good idea!

Posted by: Jake Raby Apr 1 2005, 04:32 PM

I'm not an expert and never will be.....
DON"T CALL ME THAT!

"Experts" are either fools or liars, or both...

I'd be willing to help from a non expert level though..

"well experienced" is a good term.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 1 2005, 04:32 PM

QUOTE (CptTripps @ Apr 1 2005, 05:06 PM)
That's a pretty good idea. I'm not an expert in anything, but I think it sure would be cool to have a list of 'opinions' on topics that show up every few weeks.

that's the idea, anyway...

all new 914 owners have some of the same questions, I know I asked lots of these questions when I started, and I learn more every day... and everyone has opinions, but there are some opinions you take in much higher regard than others...

when it comes to type 4s: for example, I take Jake's word as gospel... when I was rebuilding my carbs I asked him: "what vents, jets for this combo..." it took him all of about 2 seconds and I knew it was a correct answer, not just some guy's opinion...

sorry if I'm picking on Jake, he's just an example that I can think of that no one will argue about...

like Rich Johnson (or others) with /6 conversions...

I realize a lot of the info can be found in 1000s of searches, but to have it one place would be handy... not just for newbies, but all of us... they still boil down to opinions, but you don't have to wade through a dozen of MY limited experience opinions, just to get to someone like Jake, Brad, Rich, James or whoever is the experts on the topic you are interested in...

Posted by: vsg914 Apr 1 2005, 04:38 PM

Good idea, but, first ya gotta define "expert". Then ya gotta decide who the "experts" are. Then ya gotta get the "experts to agree with each other, which don't happen very often around here.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 1 2005, 04:46 PM

QUOTE (Jake Raby @ Apr 1 2005, 05:32 PM)
I'm not an expert and never will be.....
DON"T CALL ME THAT!

"Experts" are either fools or liars, or both...

I'd be willing to help from a non expert level though..

"well experienced" is a good term.

"well experienced" then...(splitting hairs aren't we Jake;) ) to me the term expert in the sense we're talking about is "well experienced" I don't know how one becomes an expert other than being well experienced...

I know what you mean though... but it usually applies to someone calling THEMSELVES an expert... when your peers call you an expert it's the real deal, because that term is not thrown about lightly...

so, who should be on our Panel of "well experienced"

Def. Jake... IMO (btw, thanks for volunteering)

who else?

what questions?

what oil, etc...?

Jake, what are the questions you get sick of answering? which ones do you see so often your eyes bleed?

this can be anything... product endorsements, things our panel have done scientific research with, things they have switched to after using something else for years, things they recommend everyone do(change oil every X,000 miles), anything!

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 1 2005, 04:54 PM

QUOTE (vsg914 @ Apr 1 2005, 05:38 PM)
Good idea, but, first ya gotta define "expert". Then ya gotta decide who the "experts" are. Then ya gotta get the "experts to agree with each other, which don't happen very often around here.

they don't have to agree... if Jake likes one Brand of oil, and someone else likes another... they each have their reasons... and one is not wrong or right, but they give a good baseline where the rest of us can start from...

"expert" is "defined" "above"

we all have an invisible list of people we respect opinions of... and in what areas we respect their opinions... I think we'd all be surprised how much these lists overlap

Posted by: vsg914 Apr 1 2005, 05:02 PM

Sorry Wayne, it was my poor attempt at humor.

Posted by: lapuwali Apr 1 2005, 05:04 PM

We're ALL experts in something, so collectively, the whole board's opinion should be construed as an "expert opinion".

Here's one way to make this work:

Find someone willing to be the editor. The editor should gather together the list of questions, then hand them out to the board at large for answers. The answers are then edited into one "answer", with caveats and ranges of answers where there's reasonable disagreement. Post the answers and invite review from the board. Repeat until people stop bitching about how "wrong" the answer is. Mind, that may be forever.

Basically, the editor has to be someone who can write decently and is willing to push the process along by nagging people to submit answers and correct edited answers. The admins need to set up the FAQ area and allow the editor (and ONLY the editor [and admins]) to post to it.

New questions can be added over time, so eventually, we'd build up a pretty comprehensive list of common questions with good answers.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 1 2005, 05:08 PM

QUOTE (vsg914 @ Apr 1 2005, 06:02 PM)
Sorry Wayne, it was my poor attempt at humor.

I know... but it was a valid point... people don't agree... and someone would say something sooner or later about that...

they can all they want amoung themselves... I think that is part of the beauty of this project...

we will have the range of answers to these frequently asked questions...

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 1 2005, 05:14 PM

QUOTE (lapuwali @ Apr 1 2005, 06:04 PM)
We're ALL experts in something, so collectively, the whole board's opinion should be construed as an "expert opinion".

Here's one way to make this work:

Find someone willing to be the editor. The editor should gather together the list of questions, then hand them out to the board at large for answers. The answers are then edited into one "answer", with caveats and ranges of answers where there's reasonable disagreement. Post the answers and invite review from the board. Repeat until people stop bitching about how "wrong" the answer is. Mind, that may be forever.

Basically, the editor has to be someone who can write decently and is willing to push the process along by nagging people to submit answers and correct edited answers. The admins need to set up the FAQ area and allow the editor (and ONLY the editor [and admins]) to post to it.

New questions can be added over time, so eventually, we'd build up a pretty comprehensive list of common questions with good answers.

hmmm... sounds very... political

it could work... BUT, I'd be afraid that the true well-experienced opinions will be watered down but those of us who haven't done this stuff as long... I suppose it could work.. I dunno...

in a way this IS being done by the whole board... everyone has input as to what questions, and who should answer them... like elected officials

Posted by: lapuwali Apr 1 2005, 05:21 PM

Another way is simply make an FAQ that consists of pointers to existing threads. This gives you the full answers given by the "experts", along with all of the noise from the "non-experts", but would be easier to do, and requires less judgement on the part of the editor. This is the way the FAQs are handled on The Samba board, more or less.

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 1 2005, 07:25 PM

ok, how about this:

we come up with the list of questions... then we'll set up each question as a "DEFINITIVE" answer thread... everyone can chime in, say their peace, and so on, the admins can remove any off topic posts in these, and then put them in the FAQ section...

how about that?!

the problem with doing the searches FOR the people who want to know, is it becomes information overload... we'd have 1000 posts about oil which would be repetitive and have too much info...

this way if somone has an opinion, it is heard, otherwise, they won't have a use for posting... if they agree with an opinion already posted, they can have their name added to the list of people who share that opinion, instead of adding a post with only in it... or if they wish to expound on an existing opinion, or disagree with all existing opinions, they can post it as normal... no one left out, no voice unheard...

I think this will be the easiest way too...

so, what questions?

Posted by: black73 Apr 1 2005, 07:55 PM

QUOTE (tat2dphreak @ Apr 1 2005, 05:25 PM)

so, what questions?

How to correct oil leaks.
FI or carb: which is better?
How do you get heat in this damn car?
FI diagnostics.
What brands of replacement parts to avoid.
Performance tuning without spending a fortune
Anything on these cars that isn't general automotive knowledge ( that should keep them busy!)

Posted by: Series9 Apr 1 2005, 08:29 PM

I'm an expert on the RS and the things that had to be overcome to make her exist.

I'd be willing to contribute, but I'll leave it up to others to decide my field(s) of expertise.

Posted by: redshift Apr 1 2005, 08:32 PM

I think we should have a special weekly section, entitled "F Production Racing Today, with Britt Dodd".

Britt Dodd sounds like a name you can trust.

M

Posted by: SGB Apr 1 2005, 09:56 PM

miles, you are just whacked, ain't 'cha?

Posted by: tat2dphreak Apr 4 2005, 11:05 AM

ok, we got a few to get started on...

what do you think about:
what brand/weight of oil? which brake fluid? which battery? shocks?
oil/gas additives?
gas octane?
what to adjust your valves at? (.060, .05.. etc )
what do you need for auto-x casually? seriously?

also,

does the method(for getting the info) I posted above "work" for everyone?

we also haven't heard from the admins, who would need to put these threads in the FAQ... input guys?

Posted by: Lawrence Apr 4 2005, 11:24 AM

QUOTE (tat2dphreak @ Apr 4 2005, 12:05 PM)
we also haven't heard from the admins, who would need to put these threads in the FAQ... input guys?

We have a Classic Threads section.

If a thread gets nominated and makes the cut for technical info... then we move it into the section.

-Rusty