Things are looking good on the forum. Lots of help to be had and good vibes. It seems we can pare down the most drama filled threads causing arguments to this list: The Third Rail of 348 / 355 forum 1. What is my (or this) car worth? Where are values headed? 2. Salvage car discussion. 3. Well driven cars vs garage queens / low mileage. 4. Which model is better? 5. Valve guide / header myths, truths, best options 6. Timing belt / major service interval I have a solution for the whole group: Let's just refer new posts (especially from members with less than 10 posts) to search for these topics which have been covered ad nauseum Or Send a PM. If you are new to the forum - sign up for a silver or rossa membership and pm a member that will have good insights for you. Best $15 or $50 you have ever spent. That way you can filter good advice from someone that has similar interests. There will REALLY be 100 different opinions on the above topics from 100 members here. Everyone that owns one of our cars is likely a go-getter and type A personality. Probably some stubbornness in there too. So Just PM! Great info behind the scenes / close bonds / and no hurt feelings. What other third rail topics should we Not Waste our time with and move along? Plenty of great threads to capture our interests. Robb
Robb, The truth is always in the middle. Too much good vibes is boring, drops the post count, and tends to end up preaching to the choir. There are F forums dedicated to that. That said the increase in civility around here is quite nice. The reason getting rid of hot button topics is bad is because you need evolution of threads. Take one aspect of the timing belt threads that branched off into a Dayco Vs. Ferrari OEM belt thread. From it we learned about how Ferrari cherry picks its belts from the middle of the drum and how it labels its belts so we can find out how fresh a belt is. We would have never got there without yet another timing belt thread. Take one aspect of bad electrical connections threads where the evolution went from cleaning connections, to S-22, to SRI gold pins to Generic gold or tin pins. While the discourse was not pleasant the users learned about how their options have evolved and each learned to choose their own course to suit their own compromises based on who they believed. There is yet another PPI/Valve guide thread going right now. It has the first mention on Fchat of "running compression tests". I can see that discussion evolving in a number of very beneficial ways. It may seem that the 3rd rail topics are boring ad nauseum but in reality there is value there.
I appreciate the spirit of your post, Robb but this is a discussion board after all. I personally am not a fan of PM and pony up my email right away. I have made many friends here and we talk on the phone, email or txt. Even Luke and I talk and txt now - imagine that?
Those hot button topics for the most part are subjective which means people will have opinions. Because it's an opinion, they are neither right nor wrong. Why it becomes contentious is due to the way some people come off. We can have civil discussions without them necessarily becoming contentious.
As new to the 355 part of this forum I really hope that sometimes, someone will bother to answer my questions even if they have been answered before. I do use the search function a lot, but if I don't feel that I find a satisfactory answer, I will ask. If I, by accident, should bring up a controversial issue and you feel that I have received the wrong answer, don't worry! Just give me the "right" answer and trust me to make my one decisions. And remember if a disease don't have a cure, the treatement often consists of a multitude of different medicaments and regimens.
I, for one, am not interested in the board turning into a George Orwell novel (you will comply!). Who cares if some threads get contentious? We're all adults and the moderators step in if posts cross the line and get personal. If we all hold hands and sing Kumbaya all of the time, this board will get very boring (and a bit creepy).
1) What someone actually pays for it when you sell it. 2) Statistically insignificant. 3) Each owner's car is one or the other, not both. 4) 355 spider! 5) If they're broke, fix 'em 6) 7 years or when the water pump give up. All solved. Nothing left but cold embers. New hot topic: The Third Rail of 348 / 355 forum
When I was "new" here a couple weeks back I would ask really stupid questions, still do on occasion. Of course I would get the "search" for it which kept me reading interesting stuff that did not even relate to my model of car. I also had to determine how thick my skin would have to be, determine who actually wanted to be helpful, and even laugh at the smart a** ( can we type ass on here ? ) remarks you get back. Of course some replys made me think, what have I done to myself my buying this thing, I will be bankrupt at the end of next month. Overall a good experience, lots of knowledge and really good people on here.
I am new to the Ferrari scene, and should be getting my car in the next couple of weeks (96 355 spider 6spd). My first Ferrari. I have been through a number of cars and multiple forums over the years. Each one has its own personality and characters. I have used the master sticky extensively to find information and I appreciate all that have contributed. The knowledge of understanding the problem areas and knowing how to fix them is invaluable. Thank you very much. A good search feature on a forum is the key for me. Some forums have a Google box at the bottom that searches the forum. That usually works very well and is easily understood. Or you can type into google..... "site: ferrarichat.com query". This will search just Fchat forum. I have found all the information I needed to buy a car without ever posting. I dont know if that is good or bad. The forums I have been involved with for many years give me a lot of pleasure sharing my knowledge and I hope I have returned some goodwill to others. We were all newbies at one time. Most of the posts I have read here are constructive, but the hand you bite today may be connected to the arse you have to kiss tomorrow. My apologies if I post something that has been covered previously and did not come up on a search. I hope to become as passionate about my ride as some of the members. Cant wait to post some pics when the car arrives.
