Its still up @ 12 nidnight EST
"From Lars: Why I left the Forum
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I have had several people e-mail me with questions regarding my absence from the Forum, so I will provide a brief run-down.
For those of you who remember automotive engineer Duke Williams ("SWCDuke"), his disappearance from this Forum was for the same reasons as mine…
I became active on this Corvette Forum in 1999 after seeing a lot of questions about carbs and ignitions, and after seeing even more bad and incorrect answers to those questions. This fall, however, I dropped off the Forum and stopped my participation.
As some of you may be aware, I have an engineering background and an in-depth understanding of GM ignition systems and Q-Jet carbs following work I did as an instructor at the GM Training Center (SLC). In addition to my engineering degrees and background in thermodynamics and systems engineering, I received extensive training by Rochester and Delco on the GM systems.
Following my work as a GM instructor, I was heavily involved in NHRA racing, musclecar restoration, and racecar fabrication & tuning, having started my own successful automotive restoration business which now employs 20 people. I have written over 30 articles on various tuning and restoration subjects, and my articles have been published by Peterson Publishing and several automotive professional trade journals.
To assist the enthusiasts in this hobby, I started the "Tuning for Beer World Tour" a few years ago where I travelled around the world, at no charge, with tools and parts to demonstrate the tuning and setup techniques that I advocate. I did "live" tuning of hundreds of Corvettes and other musclecars to show the soundness of the methods and philosophy of my tuning approach. I don't think there are many tuners in the country who can match the success of the "Tuning for Beer" seminar series. I have also been building custom small block Chevy engines for specific applications, and I've been doing dyno tuning and running of these engines to produce consistent power levels in excess of 500hp (normally aspirated) from street-driven Chevy small blocks.
Setting up carbs and ignitions requires a methodical systems-level approach and an understanding of the system tuning parameters & variables. It's not a trial-and-error parts-swapping exercise - that's backyard bubbaeering, not engine system engineering. If that's the extent of one's requirements and knowledge, call the Edelbrock carb tech line and good luck…
In the process of doing this hands-on tuning, setup, testing, and racing, I compiled a ton of data and results. I have used this hard data and these genuine real-world results to answer a lot of questions that have been asked here on the Forum. However, there are a lot of backyard hot-rodders who think they know more, and there's a limit as to how much time and effort I will put in, and how much I will put up with, from the philistines who don't understand the 150-year old science (physics including thermodynamics and fluid mechanics) that underlies IC engine technology, and who can't present, interpret, or place in proper context analysis and test results, and who then refer to me as a "bench racer" and someone who's "got it all wrong." This is likely why one sees essentially NO engine engineers from industry or academia participating in these forums, and the reason that qualified people such as Duke Williams and me eventually turn away.
I continue to do tuning, restoration, and engine building on a limited and personal basis, and I continue to provide accurate technical advice to those who request information. But the basic questions about carbs and ignitions have been asked and answered, and after posting answers dozens of times, I frankly am tired of posting the same information, particularly when there are ten guys who want to argue facts without having any practical knowledge whatsoever of the subject. Unfortunately, few actually appear to learn anything - the same poor, incorrect answers keep appearing (I see there are some on this very page right now as I scroll down...), and the ignorant keep posting and arguing. I'm not going to argue or discuss facts with guys who are clueless in their technical approach and background – I don't need to, and it serves me no purpose.
So as of the end of last year, I am not participating in public "forums," and various events and comments made to me on this forum have considerably damped my enthusiasm. I expect my participation in the future will be sparse, if at all. There are a few bright and knowledgeable people here and, with minor exceptions, they are generally courteous.
My observation, as was Duke's, is that it was the best and brightest who got involved in this Forum early on, but as time passed, marginal players joined in and degraded the quality. These people are advocating cheap fixes, and promote incorrect technical advice while not being able to communicate in intelligible English, much less comprehend basic engine tuning processes and terminology. Slowly but surely the guys like me are bailing out. I contributed a lot and learned a lot, but given the degradation of participant quality, it is time to move on.
Lars"
