Whatever happened too.......

[nicecar]

Just realized I have been a member since 2011? Darn time flies.I used to love reading posts from Jake Raby and Pedro and others. Dont see them anymore. Can anyone say why or is that like talking about oil, tire,ims or cats? I think I remember arguments where they would fight like cats and dogs. Oh I think Pedro made some part or something proprietary? Oh well I know I would NOT own the boxster longer than a year if I had not found this forum and the super people on here. Thanks to all!

[10/10ths]

Jake’s business has really taken off. He is extremely busy developing new engine solutions for the latest gen Porsche engines and refining his M96 and M97 products. He no longer has any free time to post on the forum.

He also has produced a new video series for techs and others who want to build M96/97 engines at home.

He is a very focused individual and I suspect that he has helped this forum community as much as he could and with the passing of time, all of his answers are readily available through the search function and it was time to focus his energy on the next step in the journey.

He has produced many informative videos for the Porsche Club of America and presented at their large gatherings. He has a You Tube channel. He has also opened at least one new business subsidiary.

The man is busy.

And the world is a better place for it.

The world keeps turning.

I am also a Happy Boxster owner because of his help. He has personally saved me from a lot of grief and helped me when I was stranded on the side of the road with a helpful pickup of the phone when I called in a panic shortly after I bought my Boxster. He was able to talk me through a roadside repair that got me and my wife home.

Like all good folks, he helps everyone as much as he can, and he has done all he could for this forum and now helps us in other ways.

Happy motoring!

[RedTele58]

Pedro dropped out several years ago.

I don't remember details, but someone was being a knucklehead towards him, and Pedro decided to move on. I remember sending him a PM asking him to reconsider, that we needed his wisdom here.

Jake pops up on the Rennlist 996 forum on occasion, but yeah, he's a busy man and was getting tired of some of the quibbling on the forum as well.

[grc0456]

Pedro is still active on his board (the old Pistol Pete site), is still PCA Boxster/Cayman tech adviser, gives presentations at PCA events such as Boardwalk Reunion and Tech Tactics, and is active in his region and track events. Beyond that, he is always responsive to email or telephone inquiries (see his Pedro’s Garage site).

I can’t speak for him, but I think he became fed up or disillusioned by the climate in the online forum a few years ago, as said above. Differences of opinions have a way of turning into attacks when people are on the other side of a keyboard.


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[BYprodriver]

Jake is very busy building engines. Pretty obvious he has no prospects here.

[Banana S]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

Jake is very busy building engines. Pretty obvious he has no prospects here.

Your first sentence is true. Your second sentence is nonsense.

I had Jake do my IMS Bearing Retrofit back in 2010. I got on Jake's waiting list for a Stage II 3.8L Track Performer engine upgrade last June, and am scheduled to have the car shipped to his shop in mid-April. Should have it back at the end of July.

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Banana S

Your first sentence is true. Your second sentence is nonsense.
I had Jake do my IMS Bearing Retrofit back in 2010. I got on Jake's waiting list for a Stage II 3.8L Track Performer engine upgrade last June, and am scheduled to have the car shipped to his shop in mid-April. Should have it back at the end of July.

Banana S, knowing that you will end with a highly desirable and awesome car, I am looking forward to your reviews afterwards, congratulations!
.

[Banana S]

Originally Posted by Gilles

Banana S, knowing that you will end with a highly desirable and awesome car, I am looking forward to your reviews afterwards, congratulations!
.

Thanks. At the risk of derailing the thread, my car has a little over 101,000 miles on it, and I've slowly been updating the car, little by little, over the last two years:
- Mirror covers and front & rear bumpers repainted in 2018;
- PDR of all minor surface dings;
- Clear bra applied to the front bumper and mirrors;
- Had the original Sport Classic BBS wheels refinished and ceramic coated last month;
- New OEM brake calipers and stainless steel braided brake lines added a few weeks ago;
- New speakers front & rear added last week; and
- New roll hoop padding & windscreens on their way within the next few weeks.

The engine is just the last piece of the puzzle. The finished product should be a better-than-brand-new Boxster S, all for far less than the original $61,000 sticker price. My wife and I plan to take it to the PCA Fall Treffen gathering in September.

This is my car at a local PCA show back in 2012 (the yellow Boxster S on the right):

[maytag]

I see this recurring theme, where people who are very knowledgeable and experienced leave this forum when they begin to feel "underappreciated". Obviously, the value of this forum to most of us is predicated on knowledgeable and experienced people remaining.

So that begs a couple of questions:

1. At what point does an individual's (or companies') knowledge and experience become "unassailable" and above questioning? Or is that EVER the case? Personally, I'm not big on answers that don't come with explanations. "trust me" isn't good enough for most people who like to learn. So I'm not sure there should ever be a time when we can't say "why?" or "show me". But what do y'all think?

2. Since the forum sponsor doesn't really moderate this forum at all (as far as I can tell), how do we self-monitor it to keep the offensiveness from driving good sources away?

I'm talking here like I haven't been guilty of it myself; I know I've offended some people here. I could've used a slap-on-the-hand reminder, I guess.

Having read tons of old threads on this forum as I've been researching various subjects, I came across what I think is a pattern. Let's use Jake Raby as an example.

Guy asks a question.
Jake weighs-in on it.
Someone else says "I don't think so.... that doesn't really fit my experience"
9 other people chime in and say "You're a F*******ing idiot! Don't you know that's Jake Raby talking?"
Guy responds "well I don't really KNOW Jake... so explain it for the rest of us..."
Then ensues 12 replies demonstrating JR's resume, and why nobody should question anything he says.
Then the first poster says "I still don't know the answer to my question"
everyone else says "yes you do, you just didn't like it"
guy says "because it doesn't fit other's experiences, and nobody has explained why"


this goes on and on for days, with many threads.

Same happened with Pedro (though less frequently, and less aggressively)

Next thing you know, you get guys like me who don't drink cool-aid of ANY flavor... and we start disparaging the collective wisdom, because it isn't being "shared" it's being "enforced" by keyboard bullies.


that's what I've seen here.... over-n-over-n-over.

[Starter986]

Great post, and great inquiries. To the best of my ability I'll be the first to chiome in... my responses, below, in Bold (I'm not yelling).

Originally Posted by maytag

I see this recurring theme, where people who are very knowledgeable and experienced leave this forum when they begin to feel "underappreciated". Obviously, the value of this forum to most of us is predicated on knowledgeable and experienced people remaining.

So that begs a couple of questions:

1. At what point does an individual's (or companies') knowledge and experience become "unassailable" and above questioning? WHEN THEY'VE GOT 5,000+ POSTS AND HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A DECADE+. (IN MY BOOK. FEW PAGES.) Or is that EVER the case? Personally, I'm not big on answers that don't come with explanations. "trust me" isn't good enough for most people who like to learn. So I'm not sure there should ever be a time when we can't say "why?" or "show me". But what do y'all think?

I THINK THAT IF YOU'VE BEEN ON THIS FORUM FOR A WHILE YOU COME TO RECOGNIZE WHO ARE THE FEW REAL BRAINS. wHEN I SAY "FEW", I'VE COME TO RECOGNIZE ABOUT, SO FAR, FIVE PERSONALITIES OF WHOSE WORDS OF WISDOM DEARLY I HOLD.

2. Since the forum sponsor doesn't really moderate this forum at all (as far as I can tell), how do we self-monitor it to keep the offensiveness from driving good sources away?

I THOUGHT I WAS THE MONITOR.

I'm talking here like I haven't been guilty of it myself; I know I've offended some people here. I could've used a slap-on-the-hand reminder, I guess.

THOSE PERSONALITIES WHO DEEPLY I RESPECT I TRY TO NOT P ISS OFF BY CERTAIN OF MY COMMENTS FOR, WHEN SHTF ON MY RIDE, I'M HOPING THEY;LL CHIME IN. MY INQUIRIES THE PAST 2+ YEARS HAVE BEEN GENERAL IN NATURE BUT, WHEN I HIT THAT ROADBLOCK, I HOPE THEY CHIME IN.

Having read tons of old threads on this forum as I've been researching various subjects, I came across what I think is a pattern. Let's use Jake Raby as an example.

Guy asks a question.
Jake weighs-in on it.
Someone else says "I don't think so.... that doesn't really fit my experience"
9 other people chime in and say "You're a F*******ing idiot! Don't you know that's Jake Raby talking?"
Guy responds "well I don't really KNOW Jake... so explain it for the rest of us..."
Then ensues 12 replies demonstrating JR's resume, and why nobody should question anything he says.
Then the first poster says "I still don't know the answer to my question"
everyone else says "yes you do, you just didn't like it"
guy says "because it doesn't fit other's experiences, and nobody has explained why"

CHEERS ON THAT.

this goes on and on for days, with many threads.

Same happened with Pedro (though less frequently, and less aggressively)

Next thing you know, you get guys like me who don't drink cool-aid of ANY flavor... and we start disparaging the collective wisdom, because it isn't being "shared" it's being "enforced" by keyboard bullies.

I DRINK THE COOL AID BECAUSE WHEN IT GETS TO THE REAL 'NUTS AND BOLTS' (TEARDOWNS... SOPHISTICATED INTERNAL ENGINE COMPONENTS... ETC) I'M A SMALL-BRAIN. GRAPE FLAVOR, PLEASE.

that's what I've seen here.... over-n-over-n-over.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by Banana S

Your first sentence is true. Your second sentence is nonsense.

I had Jake do my IMS Bearing Retrofit back in 2010. I got on Jake's waiting list for a Stage II 3.8L Track Performer engine upgrade last June, and am scheduled to have the car shipped to his shop in mid-April. Should have it back at the end of July.

OK 3 prospects in the last decade, does not indicate nonsence "Banana"

[Frodo]

Speaking of "nonsensical"...what on earth are you guys talkin' about???

[mikefocke]

My guess ...

The need to earn a living for both became evident eventually.

The two produced competing products based on two sets of "facts" and time spent on the back and forth got to them.

In Jake's case he could possibly see that the prices he had to charge for 986-era whole engine products was going to price him into a very small market segment and he migrated (as he did going from air-cooled to water-cooled) to the newer engines where the value of the chassis made it a semi-rational decision to use someone of Jake's caliber for repairs or replacement or improvement.

In Pedro's case, he is active on Pedros Board (PedrosBoard :: Main Forum) the successor to PPBB.

[paulofto]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

In Pedro's case, he is active on Pedros Board (PedrosBoard :: Main Forum) the successor to PPBB.

He is also active on the PCA sponsored forum 'Boxster Register' since he is the designated technical advisor for the Boxster on the PCA website and in Panorama magazine

https://boxsterregister.org/forums.php

Both Jake and Pedro have close ties to the PCA.

[RandallNeighbour]

You know who I miss? ToolPants. That guy knew everything about Boxsters, especially the first generation boxsters like mine. He left a few years after I got on this forum, back in 2004.

He was super patient with me and answered hundreds of questions from a scared noobie who couldn't afford to own an old, abused, and neglected Boxster.