What’s your FBBO story?

[Kern Dog]

Like many others, I started out elsewhere but joined this forum not to help but to get help. Over the years as I have learned and gained experience, I like helping others where I can as well as learning better ways to do things.
Years ago, I was slow to accept the internet. I have always been the guy that resisted new things when the current thing is still working.
I learned about cars through magazines, face to face encounters, car shows and parts stores. Before the internet, that is where we all got information for the cars that we owned and worked on. I met the wife through the internet in the late 90s but didn't feel the need to go much beyond buying parts through ebay or craigslist ads. I didn't even know what a car forum was until maybe 2008-2009 or so.
In 2010 I joined Moparts using the name FrankenDuster and was amazed at the freedom to exchange information. The immediate access to help and advice that I usually had to wait for was really great. I would answer tech questions where I could help and really enjoyed that.

The second forum that I joined was DodgeCharger.com. I was getting ready to take my first long distance road trip in my car and wanted to see if any other Charger owners were going to be at the Spring Fling in Van Nuys CA in 2011.

Around 2012 I had a detonation issue with my Charger and put out the feelers to the group at Moparts but didn't get much help, so I branched out. I heard of FABO. From there I heard of this site. Here, I joined under the screen name "Gregory C", my first name and middle initial. I changed to "Kern Dog" a little while later. I decided to use the same screen name on every forum that I am on.
Over the years, I made contact with a few members here including face to face meetings with several members. I never met anyone through Moparts or DC.com. I've sold stuff through the site, given stuff away too. I've had great luck buying from a few members as well as dealing with a few site sponsors. Each time I embark on a new project and post about it on this site, the threads run multiple pages with numerous members chiming in with helpful tips, insults and shared stories far off topic but I love it.
I enjoy the site and appreciate the efforts of the staff and the owner to keep it running right.

 

[moparedtn]

To be honest, I don't remember how or why I wound up here.
Like others, I'd been on other forums a little...and owned Mopars practically my entire adult life.
As far as active participation goes, I never did that sort of thing with Mopar forums like I did in other sorts
of online boards (I've moderated/admin'ed on different topic forums elsewhere, though).

I came here probably as a direct response to what was going on at other online forums (yes, THAT one
in particular) and my joining here directly coincided with the arrival of Fred, my GTX in May 2011.
Wound up staying, aggravating certain types, trying to help when I thought I could be useful, but mostly
just gleaning knowledge off the wise and cutting up otherwise.

This forum has served as a form of refuge for me, tolerant as they are of my "stories" as I navigate several
horrible health situations whilst simultaneously jerry-rigging Fred.
He and I both survived the wars, in no small coincidence thanks to help from many here....
and you're stuck with me until I can't dodge the next one.

 

[Wojo68]

I got banned from all of the other Mopar sites,so I ended up here on the island of misfit toys!

Just spit out my coffee

 

[Fran Blacker]

I got banned from all of the other Mopar sites,so I ended up here on the island of misfit toys!

To much complaining about dog dish hub caps.

 

[Brandy]

I ended up here because I needed parts and this site kept popping up everywhere. After perusing the joint for a day or two I signed up and haven't looked back. It's a great site, great people, mostly, and tons of info and help to be had. We have an active welcome wagon thread and that's what keeps us growing and enjoying the place.

 

[dadsbee]

Some guy with a dirty turbon scared me off of dodge charger dot com, so I came here and became good friends with Richard Cranium!

 

[ckessel]

I can't remember how I got here. Maybe off of Moparts or Moparornocar. I like this forum much better than Moparts. Way more informative, congenial and populated. This place has several newbies signing up every week which is cool. I like to see who's in the general area of the state, plus some others as I like to meet face to face when possible. It's always nice to have fellow gear heads to visit with. Moparts is dying slowly which is a bummer in some aspects but when you don't get a handle on some of the posters with massive negativity, you end up with a ghost town.

 

[Coelacanth]

I was a member at 1970chargerregistry.com for many years, documenting much of my '70 Charger 500 restoration there. My project went into about a decade hiatus while I focused my work on my 1986 Grand National, which was driveable at least. When I returned to the Registry in the past year or two as I started to become more active with my Charger project, it looked like the Registry was the opposite. Almost completely inactive. Most questions about this or that got little more than the chirping of crickets, as most of the older guys I knew there finished their cars and either moved on to Facebook (ugh) or never bothered with the Registry anymore. What was worse was the decision to force anyone to register on the site even just to view pictures of people's projects. The vast majority of people are random Internet surfers, not 1970 Charger owners who are going to register to a website just to view somebody's pictures. This will be all but the death knell for that site, unfortunately.

I had been lurking here for many years and many of my searches for advice led me to either FBBO or DodgeCharger.com, but this site was more specific to my car and seemed to have a lot more activity, so that was one major reason why I joined. When you need help, it's frustrating to post a topic and have no response a week later.

The other major reason is we all want to show off our work. We want to share our stories and pictures and look at the feedback, good or bad, and get valuable advice. This is precisely what keeps a forum ALIVE. Without that, it becomes a ghost town.

 

[chargervert]

To much complaining about dog dish hub caps.:rof

It's a tough job, but someone needs to stand up for Mopar muscle car decency! Taxicab wheels have no place on muscle cars! They look like a train with square wheels.

 

[Kern Dog]

I was a member at 1970chargerregistry.com for many years, documenting much of my '70 Charger 500 restoration there. Almost completely inactive. Most questions about this or that got little more than the chirping of crickets, as most of the older guys I knew there finished their cars and either moved on to Facebook (ugh) or never bothered with the Registry anymore. What was worse was the decision to force anyone to register on the site even just to view pictures of people's projects. The vast majority of people are random Internet surfers, not 1970 Charger owners who are going to register to a website just to view somebody's pictures. This will be all but the death knell for that site, unfortunately.

No, the death of that site has a few reasons. I'll send you a PM to explain my opinion on why that site sucks.

The other major reason is we all want to show off our work. We want to share our stories and pictures and look at the feedback, good or bad, and get valuable advice. This is precisely what keeps a forum ALIVE. Without that, it becomes a ghost town.

That is part of it but if the site owner has no interest in attracting members and treating existing members with respect, they will quit coming around.

 

[DeltaV]

6: BUY. (fingers crossed officially tomorrow 9/16)

 

[Ron H]

After my first restoration in the mid-80’s I learned quick how others with more experience and knowledge helped me accomplish it, including finding parts. There were a few guys I got to know who were walking encyclopedias and same deal when I got my ’63 mopar…mopar gurus back before the internet was a thing who blew me away with their knowhow having been there. It used to be going to meets in hopes of globing onto parts I needed. It worked and didn’t, as I became more accustomed to web searching. After around 50% of my 2nd restoration was complete, I’d find posts on FBBO for info and parts. The posts were fantastic after head-scratching and finding parts. More was the knowledge of what other model parts would swap to my ride. Joined in 2016 and only wish I’d a done it 2-3-years earlier as NO doubt that would have saved me mega-hours in work and cost savings finding the parts I needed.

It IS a great forum and see tons more people joining. Here and there I can share my experiences as some payback and it is nice to be able to do it to help someone out.

 

[WileE]

I came here to hunt down Richard Cranium, for all the money he owes me. Only to find out, that's not his real name. Will the real Richard Cranium... please, stand up !

 

[Budnicks]

You can blame Budnicks for me being here. It’s all his fault!

 

[Dennis H]

MOPARTS Refugee. Outlawed over there.

 

[RemCharger]

Can't handle moparts old website.

 

[guy gadbois]

I kept getting directed here by 'image searches' whilst looking for good old photos... so I bought a car to fit in.

 

[cosgig]

It's a tough job, but someone needs to stand up for Mopar muscle car decency! Taxicab wheels have no place on muscle cars! They look like a train with square wheels.

Or a squirt gun that shoots jelly! Oh the humanity!

 

[4speed68rt]

Like minded individuals. Learn and show off at the same time. Get real information from real. Mopar veterans, and share what I know...

 

[hemi71x]

I guess back in the "old" days whenever it was that i bought a computer, and learned how to be on the internet, i purchased the 1971 Hemi GTX 4 Speed car, back in 1976, so i must have found this web site whenever it started.