Minor rant ahead
Why do car guys talk so much shit? Not you guys, actually. But most “in the wild” car guys talk about stuff they have little to no actual idea about, including people in the industry. Stuff that doesnt even affect them, as if its some dick measuring contest.
Was at a party last night. Guy I spoke with apparantly owns a 4wd shop. Does custom work and the like. Small party, I have no reason to doubt him. Got talking about projects. Mentioned that he previously owned a 2nd gen that he abandonded due to the p.o basically glassing or somesuch the whole bottom of the car. Bad enough for the whole front subframe to rip off. Bad enough for him... Not to notice? Ok I guess. He then procedes to tell me how it would be cheaper to get a dynacorn body, even if it was for a camaro, to fix my car. (It definitely wouldn’t) I proceeded to tell him that I likely would, however they are not made for 70s camaros nor firebirds. He insisted that they were. I mentioned that there were none available when I looked. He then insisted that they made them at some point. They have not.
Am I being nitpicky? No! He somehow insisted it would be less work to cut the thick support around my body bolt, to install a nut from the side, than to simply cut a hole in my paper thin sheetmetal floor from above and braze the floor back on. I did explain that I expect to have to remove the subframe again and welding the bolt was not an option. This kind of talk continued for awhile and I came to the realization that despite my lack of formal education on the subject I was somehow the competent one here.
I understand that he can probably do all kinds of stuff I cannot or have not learned. But a lot of car stuff is very specific knowledge, so claiming to be correct when you have little grasp of the situation and talking down on someone who does, instead of just asking me to explain WHY I’m doing what I am, is infuriating. This has been echoed across multiple interactions I’ve had but this situation seems particularly egregious. I have never encounterd such a density of know-it-alls in my life.