Surfing around on Youtube and I opened a video focusing on 440 rocker arms. The guy was probably in his early 30s. He was holding a stock rocker arm assembly from a 440 he is disassembling. He acknowledges the stamped rocker arms were working fine but he doesn't like the "slop." Mind you he's holding a rocker shaft with all the stamped steel rockers arms installed and he is showing the "slop" by clanging them around as he shakes the assembly. States this is not good. Sooooooo he shows a brand-new assembly of adjustable roller arms with shafts he got off an ebay seller for $200. Car mags, then sunday morning cable TV shows and now sponsored YouTubers push the idea that anything from the factory must be replaced with beautiful, anodized billet this and that- especially rocker arms. Problem is when Vice Grip garage or Powernation replace rocker arms they are using a $900 plus set of Harland Shapes or equivalents- NOT the cheapest set the search function presents on Ebay or Amazon. Stamped steel works great WITHIN ITS DESIGNED PARAMETERS. If one needs an adjustable arm- I myself would stay away from too good to be true cheap no name rocker arms. His 440 project was going to be very very mild BTW

Someone forgot to tell him they are supposed to have some slack in them, and once installed the slack goes away. Fancy aluminum rocker arms don't last forever either, but everyone has to have them even when the engine they are building doesn't really need them in many cases. These guys are not so much dumb as they are uninformed. If you don't have anyone to mentor you on mechanical things it's easy to go in the wrong direction. Also it's best to be open minded about what you do know. Once you become the expert on something then when a better way of doing it is invented it's lost on you because you are unable to recognize it, or will be too stubborn to take advantage of it.

That's the issue with Tik Tok, YouTube, and the tv shows. People who don't know any better see them and take them as gospel. Then, when you try to correct them, all you hear is "But So and So has 1000 followers!". I mean, some people think Uncle Baloney walms on water...........

When I was a bit younger I tried to help the youngsters. But now, those who will accept help are few and far between. What I find now is you're asked a question and when you answer it, they tell you that you are wrong because Billy NoZ said something different on YouTube.

So I just say I don't know, smile, and nod my head. Much less stressful.

Facebook groups have overtaken discussion forums. But the groups are all newbies. The search function is not used, and the same questions appear often. If your answer is more than 3 sentences long- or if your answer requires them to do some "Diagnosing" its dismissed. The old discussion forums generally attracted people with knowledge and experience. The FB Groups attracts lookie loos and others who really are not into the hobby but a casual observer. I didn't bother to comment on the guys incorrect description saying the 440s stock rocker arms are sloppy on YouTube because I believe any and all interaction in the comments section actually boosts the creator's clout and even helps them generate $.

Heck, back in the late 70s and early 80s every third ad in the car mags was for fancy roller-tip, needle bearing equipped, adjustable, gold anodized rocker arms.

I'm sure a lot of the "young guys" back then (AKA us guys) fell for the advertising and bought hot rod parts that our build didn't really need. And when we installed them they didn't make any difference--but we felt like they did.

So much bad info and tech on youtube these days. Just because one can make a vid does not mean one should.

I watch guys put main bearings in with the oil hole in the cap and by luck one or two in the block correctly. Ignorance teaching ignorance is way too common as some take the tube vids as gospel and then pass it on.

But if you watch the youngsters into the newer cars and ricers, they seem to be many steps ahead and have a much better teachers then one like Unk Tony who also thinks we never landed on the moon.

I had a young couple drive three hours each way this past Sat. for $250 in parts and I probably gave them 3x that is stuff they could use that I will never use. It was nice to see an enthusiastic younger couple. I did tell them I was not one to tell or lecture but I would explain if they asked.

Probably do some more cleaning and make a pile they can come back and grab for free. Im not really one big on "We must keep the hobby alive" as I really dont care either way as I see too many waste money, although there money. I know one youtuber who has spent over 25k in parts in the last year to keep 2k watchers happy and just shake my head at his foolishness as his credit card limit is higher then his wrenching skills.

There's a perception people will only be entertained and you'll only get views by showing what amounts to marketing, and that ideas and real information is boring.

Yup, and monetizing technical fiction for entertainment welcomes catastrophic results.

I don't know why.... maybe it's because I've been in the hobby for almost 25 years and helped in the creation of several new parts for the hobby.... but it just rubs me the wrong way when some newb flake wastes everybody's time with "Where can I get a new *insert part for an AMC that either isn't reproduced or NOS dried up decades ago* for my AMC car that I just bought and know nothing about?" Like.... these uneducated piles of human excrement think every classic car is a '57 Chevy and can be built from a catalog. So much so, that I edited that Batman meme that was going around for a while to suit my own purposes.

And before you start in with those "Oh, you should be nice to these sorry little balls of fluff.... NO!" they think they're smarter than me! I've only been doing this 25 years - I'm friends with guys that have been messing with AMC's since before I was born.... but these new children think they know better and will continue their search for a NEW headliner for their 1976 Sportabout they just inherited from grandma - because in their limited existence.... everything has appeared before them somehow, possibly magic! These twerps have never heard the word "no".

You try to help somebody, but they just don't listen. So, usually I just post the meme....

my one cousin was the first [and only] guy to buy a Pacer from the local dealer..............

There is so much bad info and advice given out on FB groups it's disturbing. But when you try to offer good advice, you get bombarded by the idiots. No thanks. I'll just go on my way and look through marketplace for something I can use.

You saw one video of a guy on YouTube and "younger people" are being labeled cheap...painting with a broad brush. There are plenty of active threads on here that show plenty of seasoned Mopar loyalists buying proform junk and whatever aluminum heads are available on Temu. Hardly doubt cheap anodized import crap is limited to the 30 somethings.

The YouTube knuckleheads aren't the whole story.
Couple days ago, a buddy came over to work on the current project with me, and his 23-year-old son Eric came over a bit later.
Eric is a whiz at the electronic stuff, like getting my streaming to work, but I hadn't seen him work around cars or with tools.
The kid flat amazed me with an instinctive knowledge of how to work on things - angles, approach, and logic - that a lot of older guys I know don't possess.
He's not really a "car guy", but hung out with his Dad as a kid helping him on his car project.
I've interacted with lots of 20-somethings who were hip to cultural references from well before their time, and could acquit themselves very well in conversation.
I've also seen a lot of really stupid stuff from folks old enough that they should know better.

Well said this is my approach. I no longer bother. I have better things to do than argue with knuckleheads

My observations are similar. I run into a lot of very bright young folks, but none are really into cars. Conversely, I’m regularly surprised at how little some guys know who have been in the hobby a very long time. Just don’t paint with too wide of a brush.

My post was not emphasizing that the man was cheap- Yes, he had some cheap roller rocker arm assemblies he planned to use. My point was that he deemed the OEM stamped steel units bad and the reason he deemed them bad is not valid. Once everything is properly torqued down the "Slop" he proudly and defiantly points out does not exist. I chose not to point out his error in the comments section because I don't feel like getting blasted by others who will call me a mopar fan boy and that stamped steel rocker arms are pure junk.

Lots of cars have gone high tens and low 11's with those junk rockers.

Agree on not pointing out the fallacy and being subjected to nonsense responses

Had someone recently tell me that I was wrong on a suggestion for ignition initial timing, because the "book" said it should be at TDC or close to it... yep, that works great with a 240 @ .050 camshaft. Enjoy that one!

the only time those factory rockers are junk, is when the push rod pokes through the seat cup.
had that happen on a couple of cars years ago, and both were 318's.
don't know why it happened, [no, i wasn't driving them. ] but a couple of off the shelf [my shelf that is] factory replacements and all was well with the world again.

Few years ago I tried to help a local younger guy, he'd built a 350 for his G body Monte and was breaking in the cam.
His first build/his first aftermarket cam and such. A current off the shelf, flat tappet hydraulic (Yeah. Oh no).

He had not asked for any help, but he mentioned he was doing it and I asked if I should be there and he agreed.

I got there and he'd already started, turned out he'd used a standard shelf 10w30 passenger car oil and no additives.
Turned out he'd put a 190 thermostat in it.

So he sat there basically melting the engine, I watched it go over 220 and had him shut it down.

Tried to explain a couple things. Mainly the only thing we're doing over 200F right now is burning it up, hell the oil temp was probably over it's flashpoint.
That's when I found out about the oil and the thermostat. I tried for awhile but didn't get through to him/he didn't want to hear it from the old guy down the street/his friend's stepdad.

He finished the 20 minutes somehow and I found out the cam wiped not long after.

I honestly think his Dad, who sort of knows but mostly doesn't know, told him how to do it and he followed that.

I'll give him credit for trying...I guess he did fix it later.