Who wants an engine build course on video?
 

Ok so I am going to start by stating that I am not sure if there is demand for this, but I was tossing around the idea of making an engine building course on Teachable that anyone could purchase and have access to.

Obviously my creds are that I make the 3.6 engine cases and the build would feature one of my cases.

So think of this as Wayne's book except in step by step detailed video format, available as an on demand course on Teachable. Probably charge $399 or somewhere in that ballpark.

What are your guys thoughts....does a product already exist like this, or are people happy to keep using a paper book which is missing lots of vital tips to build engines?

Curious as to your thoughts.

I think it depends. If it covers tear down and evaluating used parts for reuse, that would be really valuable. If it is building a new engine with all new or refurbished parts, that would be less appealing I think.

Mark

I bet there's demand- I have Wayne's book, and this could be a great supplement. I find it nice to actually SEE someone doing a task after I've read about it, before I do it, if it's the sort of thing you don't want to do twice.

Agree with Mark, breakdown, inspection, and rebuild would be best. And make it for dummies :)

What would the price-point be?

Approximate is fine, are talking $100 or $500?

I was thinking somewhere in the $399 range because it will cost a lot to do this right and take a lot of work to make it useful to people. In the grand scheme of a 25K or more build it would probably be worth it, I know I wish I had something like that in my early builds.

Teardown is a good idea, never thought of that.

I’ve used bad shoe production videos for my ford projects. Camera quality wasn’t great 10+ years ago, but that should be easy today.

Bad Shoe Productions How To Video Series - Ford Transmissions & Rears

I would be interested. Books are great but video instruction with good camera angles and a quality mic are the best.

Loom or panapto are good platforms as well.. I use these for welding videos..

Good idea and agree on tear down maybe even include engine removal. I've used yellowcap garage videos and those guys do a great job bringing it down to newbie level. I

I'd pay 300 or so

+1

I think it's been done. I thought Wayne did it. My CD is labeled "How To Build & Modify Porsche 911 Engines." Prolly 10-12-15 years old. Under $100 then. As I recall the subject motor was a 2.0 or 2.2. Might even still be available deep, deep on the website.

Wayne's book and other reference is excellent. That said, existing materials only take procedures so far. IMHO, value exists in pushing the build procedure envelop beyond where existing references go.

Saw your 3.6 case. Work of art.
.

I would be interested in the content.

I support paying for good content, education material, etc. However it may be more lucrative to post the content on YouTube and leverage ads, sponsorships, or another alternative form of monetization. You'd have to do the analysis, or maybe you already have.

I have Wayne's book and used it during the tear down. encountered a couple places where something was needed that was not reference in the book. very good book, but as with many text books there are the occasional places where getting from step X to step X+1 is not explained well.

starting to get engine parts back from the shop. would be interested as I really dont want to 'blow' this build.

PS I attended one of Tony's classes last year. very helpful seeing all the parts but during the build the devil will always be in the details. fortunately I have a few local friends who have rebuilt 911 AC engines for advice.

I would be interested. I’m a visual learner so reading how to do something doesn’t do it for me. Plus I have too many questions along the way.

Here are my thoughts on how to make it maximally useful to everyone.

1) There is a lot more opinion involved than most people realize. Different people swear their way to do something is the “right” way. An example I saw recently was a discussion around case sealant. How is a novice to know who is right? Whenever a task has the potential to be controversial it would be good to point it out, explain the rationale for both sides, explain why you chose the course of action you chose and then encourage people to research further.

2) A tear-down approach also has the potential to encounter common issues like a broken stud. Then the question becomes do you show how to drill it out, helicoil/timesert, etc? or do you do like the math textbooks when you get to a hard part and say “this is an exercise left for the reader”?

3) If you could sub-divide some tasks that might helpful. That way a novice can stop, go learn the detail and come back to continue. That way it won’t interrupt the flow for someone who already knows how to do that. Example: you could have detail for someone who doesn’t know how to mount the engine to an engine stand. People who have done that before can continue on.

Have a look at the BoxWrench how-to videos, its the BEST how-to video I have ever seen, and its a bout 15 years ago :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89o5rLpbCgI&list=PL80ED80E9F73D6E3F

Good notes guys.

So the good thing about putting it on Teachable is that it can be dripped in sections. First of all one giant 3 hour video doesn't do anyone any good, it needs to be bite sized.

Each section in Teachable can have a video and notes, so you could have a sheet with torque values for each step. A video is not very good at conveying facts and figures, but it excels at how to.

If you want proof of that go try timing your cams using Wayne's book then go have someone show you. Big difference.

Lastly each section in Teachable can accommodate user comments, so someone can chime in and leave a note that says something like "on a 2.0 you need to do it like this" which means that OTHER experienced users can leave their feedback.

It's a pretty sweet platform, and nothing like it existed a decade ago.

So yeah, still mulling this over, the initial work required to do it is pretty high but I think it's worth it to people.

if it was exactly my engine/trans I could see spending $300 on it

If it was similar like a 3.0 SC (Wayne's book) where I have a 3.2 Carrera I wouldn't be interested

I’d be interested, esp in the 3.6.