this whole forum.. is installed and maintained to make it easy for both the beginners and the very experienced hot rodders to find information regarding various car and engine related subjects, youll find threads generally have links to related info, because theres no possible way that I can know each particular problems cause, or suggest the best possible parts choice, in every case , so I try to make it far easier to find answers to the more common problems and questions.
I try to give a good over view on how things work, how they can be tested and what commonly fails.
or I try to provide links to related sources to make your search for information related to any subject covered both easy to find and as extensive as you care to push into your research. Ive been building engines and racing for 40 plus years and while I have done many things, Im always learning and looking to learn from others in this hobby ,so if you can add useful links or information or just as questions to clarify an answer or question you read on the site,to clear up a question or find an answer too the info please do so
welcome to the site, while we have a great deal of hot rod and engine related info to share , learned over many decades and many very skilled members, the sites NOT connected with the LATE gumpy jenkins, BTW I have also talked with the late GRUMPY JENKINS and DOZENS of other older , more experience RACERS
If any thing the sites name is more related to, how my wifes constantly referred to me for the last 45 years
IF you have questions on any car related subject or need help, let us know, ESPECIALLY if your local to myself or other members, as we might be able to help, and its not all that rare to find new friends that you might never have met otherwise , locally by posting on this site
IVE posted lots of info over the years and its a waste of time and effort to re-post much of it so ILL use links to previous posts on different sites frequently, and only re-post some info and this site should also prevent the info's loss when different web sites I post on,change servers like has happened in the past when much researched data was lost, it makes no sense that many forums restrict searches to the last 6 months or only a year, theres tons of info that might have been posted that you can no longer accessto the many more faithful members of the forum this is probably not going to be any surprise but to the newer and less frequent visitors it may be!
OLDER THREADS CONSTANTLY GET NEW INFO ADDED
I see no reason at all to start a new thread anytime a previously discussed subject is being re-addressed, for minor changes or additions , so If I see related info that may be useful I frequently go back and add it , as links or corrections to older threads, and I spend hours a day searching for new info off site and posting it here,doing so!
and that may not always show up as new info, so just because youve read thru a thread several weeks ago doesn,t mean theres not a good deal more linked info or upgrades or corrections having been added since then, the object is to limit your needing to search thru dozens, or even hundreds of similar threads like on most sites, force you to do, to find the bits of info you need, youll also find I try hard to include all useful links to speed up any search, and yeah! I,m well aware you can get lost in a ton of sub links but youll also spend a great deal less total time and get more useful info in doing it that way than in random hit or miss searches like on most sites
example
if I find a new link , or related info ,to show how to do almost anything, like tig weld an exhaust , or a fast way to clean rust , or how to tune your car or verify a components function ID usually place the link to the new info in a previous related thread, not start a new thread
WHY DID I START THE SITE?
AFTER The THIRD site I post on in this year that was closed or said they were closing, or re-configured and then lost all MY old posted data, OR RESTRICTED SEARCHES TO ONLY THE LAST CALENDER YEAR, I felt it was mandatory to save the research and I figured theres a ton of good useful info that was being lost, and I did a great deal of research and my experience that would be wasted, so the only way to prevent that was to start someplace I had control over
I bet I spend 85% -90% or more of my time on the site, ADDING, or CORRECTING info or pictures or graphs or ADDING LINKS, or anything else I can do to constantly upgrade already existing posts so guys will have far fewer threads to look thru to find info on a related subject.
it makes very little sense to me on most sites theres a post on a subject and the guy might ask a question and he might get a half valid answer, but theres rarely any follow-up or even rarer, that someone points out some related info that could save the guy hour or hundreds of dollars if he knew about it....
now hypothetical example
lets say a guy asked how to remove a damper from a crank, because his DAMPER has had the TDC mark obviously rotate, so it no longer indicates TDC
to me it just makes sense to post a few links on the thread links for,
verifying TDC
replacing a TIMING TAB
SETTING IGNITION TIMING
replacing a timing chain
replacing a front crank seal
using a damper tool
OPTIONAL ARP DAMPER BOLTS
repairing striped crank threads
replacing an oil pan gasket
working safely on a firmly supported car
do you gentlemen feel thats helpful or a waste of time?
Its not like the guys forced to read the links but it sure should make things a whole lot easier if hes run into trouble, if hes taken the time to read the links, but it should help a great deal and save time if he does read the links
BTW if your interested??
"GRUMPYVETTE", is a contraction, or NICKNAME, based on my wife always bitching about my attitude over the years, if I'm under the corvette working and she calls me to do some darn silly thing like answer the phone while Im under the car, as in (WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN GRUMPY EVERY TIME YOU HAVE TO GET OUT FROM UNDER THE HOOD OR OUT FROM UNDER THE CAR (CORVETTEs) are what I usually work on)shes told more than one person over the years ("OLD GRUMPYVETTES UNDER THE CAR,ILL HAVE HIM CALL YOU WHEN HE GETS OUT OF THE SHOP!")
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MOST OF THE PICTURES ARE A COUPLE YEARS OLD AND WERE TAKEN ON or BEFORE THE FIRST DAY WE GOT ELECTRIC POWER, EVERYTHING WAS BEING STUFFED IN AT RANDOM AS IT LOOKED LIKE RAIN AND MANY OF THE LARGER TOOLS AND WELDERS WERE NOT UNLOADED YET
no Im not a computer, like the rumors say, just an old geezer! in a red shirt and a old hat...notice the similarity to the avatar
a few more pics, its still a total mess while Im in the process of BUILDING and moving in but IM getting there slowly, I could only get a few of the BBC engines in the shop, I prefer to work on, into the camera/shot
I get asked this frequently
how old are you?how do you know this stuff?
answer, I'm just an old (62) now retired HOTRODDER and mechanical engineer ,whos been building cars and engines, helping my friends on a semi constant basis for well over 40 years,
here,s a picture of me in 1970 with a 1969 camaro I installed a BBC-496 with a tunnel ram into
now you can see I started out 40 plus years back, just as enthusiastic, about big block cars and needing to learn a good deal more about what I was doing, as most of us do!
raced a few corvettes,G.T.O.s ROAD RUNNERS, CAMAROS, Ive build or rebuild over a hundred engines, swapped suspensions, and learned on the way.IVE learned to K.I.S.S. (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID)
IVE learned that a FEW QUALITY parts will BEAT lots of junk
IVE learned careful clearancing and attention to details makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE
IVE learned researching and learning from other people mistakes is FAR cheaper and faster than making your own in a car build.
IVE learned to do extensive research BEFORE buying parts
IVE learned NEVER BUY PARTS that you get on (DEALS) if they don't match your goals
Ive learned that building engines for maximum AVERAGE TQ IN the RPM RANGE you'll use the car beats building for maximum PEAK hp numbers
IVE learned asking lots of questions is far cheaper than making lots of mistakes
IVE learned that a cars performance depends a great deal on its POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO.
IVE learned that to have fun,your combo must be BOTH dependable and faster than MOST but not ALL the competition (most guys will never afford the expence in being the fastest car in your area)
IVE learned a CAR that breaks down is a TOTAL P.I.T.A. and RELIEABILITY is VERY IMPORTANT!
and like many of you IM broke most of the time, because of this hobby,but always glad to help out
Grumpy (Paul), I really enjoyed speaking with you a couple of weeks ago on the phone. I know you were real busy that day. Just wanted to say THANKS for taking the time to chat and for helping so many of us on this and other sites you post at as well!