Pet Peaves in Mechanic's Lingo

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/6 Matt

/6 Matt

30 Degrees Crooked
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What word(s)/term(s) do you guys constantly hear in the world of cars that just ruffles your feathers?

Mine is Valve Cover(s). They don't cover the valves, they cover the rockerarms! They're Rockerarm Covers! :banghead:
 
"My car is making a weird noise"
I know it's not quite what you were asking, but my wife say's it ALL the time.
And yes, it ruffles my feathers. :)
I just tell her "When it falls off I'll fix it" since she always thinks something is wrong with it.
 
In no particular order:
Posi
Rear Main Seal
Built (insert engine size here) With a Cam
Prolly instead of probably
Dizzy
Stall converter

I'll think of more later
 
/6 Matt said:
What word(s)/term(s) do you guys constantly hear in the world of cars that just ruffles your feathers?

Mine is Valve Cover(s). They don't cover the valves, they cover the rockerarms! They're Rockerarm Covers! :banghead:
Click to expand...

I sometimes call them tappet covers.
 
N.O.S., or Nitrous Oxide Systems, is a company... and personally, I like NX (Nitrous Xpress)... The purple bottles are cooler looking than the blue bottles... Honestly, I also hate when someone says "It has NOS!" Does it really have a NOS-manufactured kit, or does it have NITROUS? :\

Also, what about NOS as in, New Old Stock? ;)
 
i always cringe when i see "NOS emblems NOS parts" which are double triple quadruple what you can pay for them down at NAPA.

then i see "numbers matching blah blah blah"

heck if you lived in the 70's you would know people didnt want "factory original"

everyone wanted cragars and 50's on the back and headers. as far as trucks they wanted mud bogger tires. nobody gave a flip that gramma's slant /6 demon had checkered seats and trunk liner. (like MINE DID lol, she loved that car and i enjoyed riding in it)

but we USED the cars we didnt try to make sure the number on the fan belt didnt rub off for some museum head nerd in the future.

we drove them enjoyed them used them.

"numbers matching" pfft
 
My 68 Dart is numbers matching. All the parts I put on match the invoice where I bought them!! That works for me.
 
I work full time at PST but on weekends I still work at a local repair shop.

The one that gets to me the most .............. That is from customers is

"ever since you worked on my car ............." (fill in the blank.) and 99% of the time what they are now complaining about has nothing to do with the last repair that was done.

Just my 2 cents
 
1968dartman said:
3/4 race cam!!! What the hell is a 3/4 race cam????
Click to expand...

What's a 3/4 Race Cam?

In the early 1950's the most popular original camshaft designers were the legendary Ed Winfield, the father of hotrodding, and Cliff Collins of Harman-Collins. If you look a Huntington's 1951 book you will find the specs for their cams listed. We've also listed some of their cams on our Flathead Performance Cams page. There were lots of cam grinders that copied Winfield and Harman-Collins cams, but these two were the designers and innovators in the early days. It was popular to refer to cams as a 1/2 Race or Semi grind and a Full Race grind. Later, there was a call for an intermediate grind between these two. To fill this demand, Ed Winfield took the intake lobe from his full race cam and the exhaust lobe from his semi cam and called it a 3/4 Race cam (see Flathead Performance Cams). It was literally half way between a full race and 1/2 race cam. Since that time, 3/4 Race has become a generic term for a high performance street cam, i.e. something less than a race cam.
Click to expand...



:)
 
How about a Mopar muscle car frame off restoration ? And its an ENGINE , not a motor .
 
TrailBeast said:
PVC valve.
Click to expand...

73AbodEE said:
LOL ive made that mistake...
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ramenth said:
Welcome the Department of Redundancy Department.
Kinda goes along with "ATM Machine."
Click to expand...

Actually, THIS is a "PVC valve."

pvc-ball-valve.jpg
 
PST said:
I work full time at PST but on weekends I still work at a local repair shop.

The one that gets to me the most .............. That is from customers is

"ever since you worked on my car ............." (fill in the blank.) and 99% of the time what they are now complaining about has nothing to do with the last repair that was done.

Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...

Yep. You replaced the tail light bulb and now the engine developed a miss. "It wasn't that way till you guys worked on it" LOL
 
73AbodEE said:
the term POSI for every chrysler SURE GRIP

mani's
dizzy
Click to expand...

X2 on the sure grip/posi error.

A 'frame off restoration' on an A body.

How everyone's small block makes 'over 500 HP'.

When people try to convince you their 318 is a Hemi.

When people try to tell you their 73 Swinger has its numbers matching 340.
 
/6 Matt said:
Mine is Valve Cover(s). They don't cover the valves, they cover the rockerarms! They're Rockerarm Covers! :banghead:
Click to expand...

Ma says different........................
 

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/6 Matt said:
What word(s)/term(s) do you guys constantly hear in the world of cars that just ruffles your feathers?

Mine is Valve Cover(s). They don't cover the valves, they cover the rockerarms! They're Rockerarm Covers! :banghead:
Click to expand...

gdrill said:
I sometimes call them tappet covers.
Click to expand...

Some (typically inline) engines actually HAVE tappet covers:

TappetCovers01.jpg
 
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