Axles, Celina and the web site...

[Craig]

Gord, Thanks for the feed back on the axles.

Axles:

I know there are a few people out there rebuilding them but with the
shipping to Alaska I'm hopping to do it myself with a few parts. I
know Gord sells a boot for the splined shaft. I'm looking for some
info on the u-joints. I know this has come up before but I couldn't
find much in the archives. My driver's side inner u-joint is shot. I
was shocked when I saw it. I was driving it that way... I'd like to
get the parts to do both sides with the newer grease fittings. I
pulled the entire axle assembly in one piece. Are there any special
tools needed to get things apart? I'm not sure if I need to take
apart the axle tubes, the part that bolts into the hull. I don't
expect to have any play in it but I would at least like to pull the
shaft out and inspect it for my own piece of mind. What do I need
tool wise to get this stuff apart and back together? Anything
special?

Celina:

I know Celena is the center of our Amphi world and change is not
always easy but it is near impossible for us first timers from along
way off to get a room there. I didn't make it last year in part
because I couldn't find a confirmed place to stay. I tried to get a
room for 05 just a week after the o4 swim in and was told they were
all booked up. Maybe the club could arrange for blocks of rooms
ahead of time...

Web site:

My only input for the website would be a tech type forum. It is near
imposable to sarch through the list archives now just from the shear
size of them. This list is a great resource for info but it would be
nice to have a place to search all the tech articles and post tech
articles up to. Most good forum based web sites seem to have evolved
from an email list like this one. The list is the best way to stay
in contact with Amphi owners and notify people about coming events.
A forum is a good way to store tech info and have it easily
accessable. I think we can do both and they would compliment each
other very well.

Well that's all for now. I gotta get back to work.

Craig in Alaska

 

[Mike Israel]

Craig,

Note that you can search the archives at
yahoogroupsor, more easily in my opinion, at the
escribe archive
http://www.escribe.com/automotive/amphicar/index.html

The escribe archive includes most of the original
posts going back to the days when the list was hosted
on listbox. Unfortunately the earliest messages,
mostly Bilgey, myself, and a handful of others, were
lost.

I do think a technical library on the web site makes
sense with a number of informative articles that go
into more depth than what might be found in a list
post. For example, an in-depth article with pictures
on axle replacement.

This seemed like a good time to post this item from
the Humor List. I wonder if we have reached stage 5!
...

THE NATURAL LIFE CYCLE OF MAILING LISTS

Every list seems to go through the same cycle:

1. Initial enthusiasm (people introduce themselves,
and gush a lot about how wonderful it is to find
kindred souls).

2. Evangelism (people moan about how few folks are
posting to the list, and brainstorm recruitment
strategies).

3. Growth (more and more people join, more and more
lengthy threads develop, occasional off-topic threads
pop up)

4. Community (lots of threads, some more relevant than
others; lots of information and advice is exchanged;
experts help other
experts as well as less experienced colleagues;
friendships develop; people tease each other;
newcomers are welcomed with
generosity and patience; everyone---newbie and expert
alike---feels comfortable asking questions, suggesting
answers, and
sharing opinions)

5. Discomfort with diversity (the number of messages
increases dramatically; not every thread is
fascinating to every
reader; people start complaining about the
signal-to-noise ratio; person 1 threatens to quit if
*other* people don't
limit discussion to person 1's pet topic; person 2
agrees with person 1; person 3 tells 1 & 2 to lighten
up; more
bandwidth is wasted complaining about off-topic
threads than is used for the threads themselves;
everyone gets
annoyed)

6a. Smug complacency and stagnation (the purists flame
everyone who asks an 'old' question or responds with
humor to a serious post; newbies are rebuffed; traffic
drops to a doze-producing level of a few minor issues;
all interesting discussions happen by private email
and are limited to a few participants; the purists
spend lots of time self-righteously congratulating
each other on keeping off-topic threads off the list)

OR

6b. Maturity (a few people quit in a huff; the rest of
the participants stay near stage 4, with stage 5
popping up briefly
every few weeks; many people wear out their second or
third 'delete' key, but the list lives contentedly
ever after)

 

[Craig]

--- In amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com, Mike Israel
>
> This seemed like a good time to post this item from
> the Humor List. I wonder if we have reached stage 5!
> ...
>

I'd say we are will into 6b. I have never witnessed any flaming wars
on this list and don't want to see it chang or get replaced with
something elas.

I like your idea for the tech section. I'd like to see something
that people could post tech info into. Might be easyer for the web
master that way...