Thanks for the posts, all of you. It does get pretty ridiculous on here from time to time (as it also does at car shows), but internet stuff in general tends to get vicious because people can hide behind their monitors & keyboards and spew their arrogance. Waste of time, and a bring-down to all.
Done the Original thing, do the racecar thing, and lately have been into the "factory 1-of-none" thing. Variety is nice, and I'm fortunate to be deluded enough that I think I can afford all 3.
I've had the priviledge countless times here to learn from others, and I hope I've contributed some value with what I've seen & done. As for the newbie guys, we all start out as newbies, and the best way to move beyond that is to do the research, read the good material out there, collect the brochures & whatever, and post enough info with a question to make it easier for others to provide an accurate answer.
That said, I frequently find really funny stuff here - keep up the joke threads! - as well as a ton of info, great videos, parts, etc.
Occasionally we'll get bashed for a comment, and it's easy to feel anger about it; in my case, what I know is from being involved with these cars since the '60s, but I've seen exceptions to the hard & fast rules, too. It's more constructive to post pics or documentation of "correct" things than to post something that's merely judgemental, so that we can educate each other & discuss differences instead of attacking.