Can We All Take Stock About Our Knowledge

[Spider]

When I was younger and foolish enough a friend and I attempted to collate ADO16 / Austin / Morris / Riley / MG / Wolseley / Vanden Plas details and timeline. We also attempted to gather the Austin / Morris and Wolseley 1800 / 1885 details.

Alan, I see nothing foolish in this at all. It's in fact an effort to be applauded, especially as I think so little material on these marques I would encourage yourself and your friend to again re-visit this, pick up the reins and continue on with it, even going so far as publishing a result. Will it ever be 100% complete ? Even you doubt this, but it can always be a working progress that can be added to. The last sentence need not be the last word.

A little off topic and I can't give too much away at this point, but I nagged a very dear life friend to write a book on a subject that is close to both of us, he very much has the 'gift' to write and has a magic touch, though, he's never had his own work previously published. I had to keep at him for about 2 years and eventually he agreed on the terms that I find the photos, needless to say he got the better end of that ! Some 2 further years later, I came up with the said photos and also tracked people down, confirmed 'facts' and much of the other back ground research (A huge job in it's own right). A further 3 years down this road, he's now written and completed his part of the draft, I've so far written one chapter but have a few more to add. We are now at the stage of talking to publishing companies and hope to have it in print this year. My friend only mentioned the other day that he never thought it would get this far (I always knew it would !) and others who have reviewed some of the draft chapters has been helpful and encouraging. We also both already know that this will only be a first release and there'll be a little more added (when conditions permit - and that might take a few more years yet). Where I'm going with this is to say don't put limits on yourself, you just never know where these things can go. Certainly with a project like that you and your friend 'wrote off', with the contacts you have, I can't see it being anything other than successful and useful to others, while also remaining as a lasting record long after you and your Moon walking friends have moved on.

[Supersonic]

Chris, it is fabulous to hear from people like yourself in the Southern Hemisphere.

I may have said this before, but I’m a Civil Engineer by profession retired.

When I rode my bicycle into the County Town of Downpatrick on Monday 11 May 1970 to start work at the local Government offices little did I know that this was the start of a 41 year career?

I was fifteen and a half and my new job was as a Technical Grade 3 in the Engineering Department which was the lowest position possible. Little also did I know that some years later I would be head of engineering managing over 100 staff.

In May 1970 it was a different world as we all know. Harold Wilson was the British Prime Minister and my neighbour Brian Faulkner was the Northern Ireland Prime Minister. Richard Nixon was the USA President and the Vietnam War was still raging.

Here in Northern Ireland the troubles were rampant, the Army were out in full force and the Ulster Defence Regiment had been formed in April to replace the B Specials.

In 1970 the Civil Service was full of ex-service people and most senior engineers in the department had served in World War 2. The Department Head was Major Hanna ex-Royal Engineers and you referred to him as Sir or Major Hanna. His assistant was Mr Johnson who served as a Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force. Mr McConville was in charge of the office and he had served as a Royal Navy Lieutenant during the war. None of these men spoke much about their wartime service but you knew by the respect shown by their peers that they were remarkable people.

Most of the older staff were very interesting and exceptional people who treated everybody with respect but at the same time they were disciplinarians. This generation is all gone now but I will never forget them as I learnt so much from them. Their approach was to get the job done and talk about it later, not like now talk about the job for months and never get it done.

The department I was assigned to was Water & Sewerage and in the days before computers, mobile telephones and telemetry, water and sewerage works were manned by operatives who kept in contact by landline telephone or radio telephones. What a different world.

Alan

[Spider]

Again, sorry for being off topic here Alan, but I have to say while brief in your write up there, I think there's quite a fascinating personal story there to be told,,,, just sayin',,,,,

[Colin a]

Hi all,I am sorry but I am one of the lurkers, I have found the conversations quite interesting, i have joined in a few of the topics but feel I haven't got much to contribute, i have worked in the motor trade as a mechanic all my life but never worked for a BL franchise but feel I have been sarounded by BL and their vehicles, living in Swindon with pressed steel as one of the main factories in the town, when british rail shut down most of the best men went to pressed Steele, when I started work in 1958 at the age of 15 ,in a small country garage you did whatever came through the doors, even push bikes and old dears with prays, most cars then were pre war, I remember the first mini coming in, we didn't have a clue what it was,but we had to do a clutch on it, which we did, to me working on cars it was just a job but I always enjoyed my work, I was never interested in racing cars my love was always bikes, which I raced for about 25years. I was offered this 1275 gt in 1990 Whitchurch I had looked after from new, for a few pennies, and being like most fitters I am a bit of an border and thought it might be worth having one day,so i have been working on it over the years and it is almost finished now, but I am running out of steam now and struggle to do anything on it now as I have medical problems, but will finish it in the next couple of years, I find it easyier to work on one of the thirteen bikes I have,but I do love my mini.i have tried joining other forums and clubs ,bikes and cars but I have found that they seem to run it for a few people and are up their own backsides, I feel that since I joined this forum I have gained quite a few new friends, I would love to get my mini on the road to join you all, i bet you regret asking others to join in now,sorry I have to go to bed now, us old men get tired quick. All the best with the best forum I've found. Colin a

[mab01uk]

Thanks for posting Colin, great to hear your background story and about your 1275GT.

[850man]

I don't bother giving advice anymore. I learnt my lesson on the Australian Mini forums, where I would share my years of knowledge working professionally on classic cars and try to help people with technical problems only to be told I was wrong and they know better. I resigned my 25 year membership and Secretary position in the Miniclub because I dared to help a member and was told I was wrong by the President of the club. I had the evidence, the actual parts in front of me but they refused to accept the facts presented to them.
So I now sit back and let people make fools of themselves. It usually costs them plenty of money to have the mistakes they have made rectified by the specialist Mini workshops. Some of which are just as bad as the internet experts, causing just as many problems. Thats ok, I get paid well to fix other workshops mistakes.
Occasionally I will respond to a forum question, when I have absolute knowledge and expertise. And factual evidence to back up my answer. But not so much anymore. These days I usually only respond when I read some BS response and I feel its my obligation to remind these people that BS, self inflated egotistical answers don't cut it when playing with the big boys.
Sadly I see far too often posts from these so called "experts" taken as gospel by fellow forum members. People read someone's response and because of a high post count or a fancy avatar they automatically believe that said person is knowledgeable.
But I am far more of a sceptic. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way sometimes, if you bother to fact check (a wonderful invention called "Google" can help with this) you will often find that these "Experts" are simply telling lies, or only giving part of a much bigger story. Or quite simply have a pile of workshop manuals, tech bulletins, documents that they quote from. This does not make them knowledgeable people, it merely shows that they can cut and paste. Taking credit for other peoples work is also quite prevalent among these "experts" I have seen this many times.
I am a member of a number of forums, Facebook groups etc.
Not just Mini, anything that interests me. Cars, Guns, Lawnmowers the list is long. I moderate a couple of pages as well. I see these "Experts" regularly.
I have found, and can honestly say that Mini forums are the worst when it comes down to false information and chest beating ego maniacs This forum is mild compared to others (Ausmini comes to mind) and due to Marks diligence it is the best Mini forum available, 95% of the people on here are friendly and have genuine knowledge and experience, but it still has a few "experts" that like to stretch the truth now and then. Thats ok, threads like this goes to show that the 95% can see though the 5%
and that these Narcissists just continue to make fools of themselves over and over again.

[nick@dunsdale]

I don't bother giving advice anymore. I learnt my lesson on the Australian Mini forums, where I would share my years of knowledge working professionally on classic cars and try to help people with technical problems only to be told I was wrong and they know better. I resigned my 25 year membership and Secretary position in the Miniclub because I dared to help a member and was told I was wrong by the President of the club. I had the evidence, the actual parts in front of me but they refused to accept the facts presented to them.
So I now sit back and let people make fools of themselves. It usually costs them plenty of money to have the mistakes they have made rectified by the specialist Mini workshops. Some of which are just as bad as the internet experts, causing just as many problems. Thats ok, I get paid well to fix other workshops mistakes.
Occasionally I will respond to a forum question, when I have absolute knowledge and expertise. And factual evidence to back up my answer. But not so much anymore. These days I usually only respond when I read some BS response and I feel its my obligation to remind these people that BS, self inflated egotistical answers don't cut it when playing with the big boys.
Sadly I see far too often posts from these so called "experts" taken as gospel by fellow forum members. People read someone's response and because of a high post count or a fancy avatar they automatically believe that said person is knowledgeable.
But I am far more of a sceptic. A little bit of knowledge can go a long way sometimes, if you bother to fact check (a wonderful invention called "Google" can help with this) you will often find that these "Experts" are simply telling lies, or only giving part of a much bigger story. Or quite simply have a pile of workshop manuals, tech bulletins, documents that they quote from. This does not make them knowledgeable people, it merely shows that they can cut and paste. Taking credit for other peoples work is also quite prevalent among these "experts" I have seen this many times.
I am a member of a number of forums, Facebook groups etc.
Not just Mini, anything that interests me. Cars, Guns, Lawnmowers the list is long. I moderate a couple of pages as well. I see these "Experts" regularly.
I have found, and can honestly say that Mini forums are the worst when it comes down to false information and chest beating ego maniacs This forum is mild compared to others (Ausmini comes to mind) and due to Marks diligence it is the best Mini forum available, 95% of the people on here are friendly and have genuine knowledge and experience, but it still has a few "experts" that like to stretch the truth now and then. Thats ok, threads like this goes to show that the 95% can see though the 5%
and that these Narcissists just continue to make fools of themselves over and over again.

Maybe i got out of bed the wrong side today or I am just in a bad mood, 850man i am sorry i find your post pointless to this thread and the very antithesis of the original posters point, your post serves no purpose and just reduces the chance of those that lurk to post. I have no doubt you have a huge amount of knowledge, but your post comes across very bitter. I have taken some time to disect your post, this is how it comes across to me.
Sorry if this offends just my humble opion

It usually costs them plenty of money to have the mistakes they have made rectified by the specialist Mini workshops. Some of which are just as bad as the internet experts, causing just as many problems. Thats ok, I get paid well to fix other workshops mistakes.

Really I mean REALLY !! , have you any idea how this comes across

So I now sit back and let people make fools of themselves

The very reason new posters are afraid to post responses

Occasionally I will respond to a forum question when I have absolute knowledge and expertise. And factual evidence to back up my answer.

Off putting this suggests one should only post when they have definitive knowledge on the subject, and perhaps not post a theory or thought they have on the subject in hand

Sadly I see far too often posts from these so called "experts" taken as gospel by fellow forum members. People read someone's response and because of a high post count or a fancy avatar they automatically believe that said person is knowledgeable.

This appears a directed at regular posters thus off-putting new people to regularly post

if you bother to fact check (a wonderful invention called "Google" can help with this) you will often find that these "Experts" are simply telling lies, or only giving part of a much bigger story. Or quite simply have a pile of workshop manuals, tech bulletins, documents that they quote from. This does not make them knowledgeable people, it merely shows that they can cut and paste. Taking credit for other peoples work is also quite prevalent among these "experts"

Condescending and repetitive

these Narcissists just continue to make fools of themselves over and over again.

Extraordinarily strong and uncalled for where we are just a bunch of guys and girls who share a love for the little brick, there will always be people whom think they know best, that’s life !! everyone is different we are all individual and prone to saying the wrong thing now and again

due to Marks diligence it is the best Mini forum available

One little gem buried in the post

[AndyPen]

Thanks Nick, I just found it very sad to read that someone with knowledge doesn't want to share when others challenge it.

850 man, I am guessing you have had more than one bad experience that has cut you to the core, but unless we challenge experts we often don't really learn. I wrote an entire PhD that challenged very authoritative published works, whilst I respected what they wrote I saw an opportunity to explore further and as it turned out, brought to light things they didn't know.

I have forgotten so much about the mini that I used to know when we rallied them, but thanks to this forum and those who are willing to share, I am remembering more and more stuff as time goes on.

So my thanks to those who already share, and very polite request to ask you to offer your views to the likes of me when I get stuck.

[Supersonic]

Hi all,I am sorry but I am one of the lurkers, I have found the conversations quite interesting, i have joined in a few of the topics but feel I haven't got much to contribute, i have worked in the motor trade as a mechanic all my life but never worked for a BL franchise but feel I have been sarounded by BL and their vehicles, living in Swindon with pressed steel as one of the main factories in the town, when british rail shut down most of the best men went to pressed Steele, when I started work in 1958 at the age of 15 ,in a small country garage you did whatever came through the doors, even push bikes and old dears with prays, most cars then were pre war, I remember the first mini coming in, we didn't have a clue what it was,but we had to do a clutch on it, which we did, to me working on cars it was just a job but I always enjoyed my work, I was never interested in racing cars my love was always bikes, which I raced for about 25years. I was offered this 1275 gt in 1990 Whitchurch I had looked after from new, for a few pennies, and being like most fitters I am a bit of an border and thought it might be worth having one day,so i have been working on it over the years and it is almost finished now, but I am running out of steam now and struggle to do anything on it now as I have medical problems, but will finish it in the next couple of years, I find it easyier to work on one of the thirteen bikes I have,but I do love my mini.i have tried joining other forums and clubs ,bikes and cars but I have found that they seem to run it for a few people and are up their own backsides, I feel that since I joined this forum I have gained quite a few new friends, I would love to get my mini on the road to join you all, i bet you regret asking others to join in now,sorry I have to go to bed now, us old men get tired quick. All the best with the best forum I've found. Colin a

Colin,

Interesting to hear you have motor bikes as well as the 1275 GT Mini. All my mates have old bikes and I have a 1966 Suzuki T20 Super Six. Where I grow up my next door neighbour was a road racer called Brian Steenson. Brian was killed in June 1970. In the January / February 2021 Classic Racer magazine you will see a big article about Brian written by Fred Pidcock. We have a club called the Brian Steenson Group and I’m the Secretary of it. We run cavalcades every September for cars and motorcycles and some lovely stuff attend. Glad to see all the positive posts in this thread and good to hear about your work background, do keep involved.


Alan

[W1NG3D]

I'm far from resembling anything like an expert, and as I fall into a younger category, I don't have a great deal of experience to call upon with Minis or even cars in general - so I understand personally how easy it is to feel reluctant to contribute to discussions online. There are plenty of others who undoubtedly know a lot more than I do (in fact that'd probably be at least 90% of others in the Mini scene!), but at the same time, I've also come to realise I might have occasionally encountered or know about the odd thing that even a seasoned "veteran" of the Mini scene may not know.

I guess it's a case of putting things into perspective, no matter how young or old you are, experienced or inexperienced, there's always something new to be learned. That's why I've started trying to share and engage a bit more across Mini forums and Facebook groups, whether that be asking questions or sharing the little knowledge I do have. You never know how useful some little nuggets of information can be to someone else, and I can definitely say that since being a bit more active in online Mini communities I've learned loads. I've not personally encountered any negativity around this (except divided opinions on styling and personal taste perhaps!), people are generally very helpful and supportive, so it'd be great if more "lurkers" could get involved