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[Webby the Bear]

Hi guys,

I sorta feel bad about posting this. For the longest time I've watched Eric the Car Guy on Youtube. he's always done A1 repairs and I love watching his videos.

However, I was watching this video thinking....man, that is one hack (bad) repair! Technically the repair has worked but for how long?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQwHNo4gC90

In short the car came in with a big exhaust leak at the manifold. He gets the manifold off and realises that one of the studs has broken off in the cylinder head. So he goes about drilling it out. At the end of part 1 it ends with ''oh f*?@'' so I'm thinking, ah hes probably broke the drill bit off and its stuck. nope, hes drilled in to a coolant passage and coolants pishing out!!!! 

Ok, fair enough things go wrong (ive had loads of things go wrong.... cross threading the 'b' bolt comes to mind  ) but then unbelievably he gets a bunch of JB weld and shoves it in the hole and puts the stud in.

SURELY, the only repair is a new cylinder head? How the heck does he know if that coolant passage is blocked?

I usually love this guy but this one's really poor in my opinion.

What are your thoughts?

[Marks DTM Calib]

Told you before, I don't rate him, he's mechanic grade work rather than A1.... 

JB weld is good stuff and I have seen it hold manifold studs pretty much indefinitely.

[Webby the Bear]

 

In fairness to him I've never seen him do anything overly dodgy. But this just doesn't seem right. Fair enough that JB Weld holds but what are your thoughts on blocking of the coolant passage.

[PhilRich]

No excuses, that is a bodge job! On top of the stud fiasco he removed way too much metal from the manifold holes
Fair play to him for putting it all on the 'Tube', as it could backfire & cost him a lot of paying customers

[Sir Tigger KC]

It's a bodge, but a fine bodge!    As long as it didn't overheat or leak and the stud held what's the problem?    It's a 14 year old car that he obviously didn't think was worth changing the head. 

I did a similar bodge on my old CBR600 when I snapped a stud when changing the downpipes.  When I tried drilling the stud, my drill skidded off and into the head!    Hey ho,  so I drilled a bit more and I was luckier than Eric as I missed the waterways.  I tapped the hole and put a new stud in which was on a bit of a crazy angle!    But it held and it worked! 

[Webby the Bear]

Well, in reality the only real problem is he didn't know if he'd blocked a water passage or not.

I suppose, again trying to think real world, is that if his bodge works then it's saved him having to tear in to a cylinder head. If it doesn't work he'd have to replace a blown hg anyway and thus would have to take the head off anyway.

However, as it's a customers car wouldn't it have been better to explain the options to them and let them decide instead of saying 'it's an old car, doesn't really matter if I fek it up'. For instance if it was eeyore, just cos he's 15 this year doesn't mean I don't love him.

[Sir Tigger KC]

If he'd bodged it like that and then passed it off as a proper repair then that's bad! 

However the fact that he's filmed it and posted on the internet suggests that he's discussed the options with the customer, as I sure that 99% of Eric's customers would watch the video of their car being repaired. 

I feel for you though Webby, finding out that your hero isn't the super-being you thought he was must be like finding out Father Christmas dosn't exist! 

[Webby the Bear]

 

He really was my hero. Until this 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Eric can still be your hero Webby, as he's demonstrated a fine bit of improvisation!    and he hasn't tried to pass it off as any thing but.... 

[TheBoy]

Eric can still be your hero Webby, as he's demonstrated a fine bit of improvisation!    and he hasn't tried to pass it off as any thing but.... 

Indeed. For Omega knowledge/ability, Marks DTM is my hero.  But I've seen him make a few cock-ups .

[pscocoa]

He really was my hero. Until this 

I think you could email him and check the proper context of the repair, point out you are a fan but that you feel the stud issue was not addressed quite as you would expect. Depending on his reply you may still be a fan and not go forward with doubts.

[Webby the Bear]

Nah, I'll still watch him and enjoy his videos. And in all  honesty I wouldn't email and / or comment on the vid because there are so many keyboard warriors and trolls around I'm sure my comments would be seen as trolling. I aim to be in the states this year.... Perhaps a trip to Eric. And Chucke2009 (welding guy)

That make me a bit creepy? Lol 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Nah, I'll still watch him and enjoy his videos. And in all  honesty I wouldn't email and / or comment on the vid because there are so many keyboard warriors and trolls around I'm sure my comments would be seen as trolling. I aim to be in the states this year.... Perhaps a trip to Eric. And Chucke2009 (welding guy)

That make me a bit creepy? Lol 

I'm sure they'd be delighted to see you Webby. 

[Webby the Bear]

If I turn up with full on etcg fan wear