What's your thoughts on rebuilding the site again?

[Gold member]

Just curious seems like the activity on the site is slower than usual . The lose of information  will take years to replace for sure are you willing to do it again ? For future car owners the information we share is a huge tool i know it was for me even though i lived in that era of cars .

[b_hill_86]

Yes. Obviously there may be some permanent losses. Contributions from members no longer active. And yea, that sucks. I used a lot of that info more times than I can count. But this site still is and can continue to be a valuable resource. The reduced activity may be partially to wait and see what happens. I personally have refrained from posting anything other than some replies here and there because of the uncertainty right now. We’ve been told MAYBE some old posts are recoverable. Maybe they’re not. I’m also not sure what  will happen to the posts created AFTER the crash. Will they be blended with recovered old posts? Deleted? I think a few people probably noted after the most recent crash some, but not all, posts were lost again.

I think once a definitive answer is provided  as to the status and future of the site, people will begin to rebuild it and activity will resume. Just my .02.

[NOT A TA]

I for one am waiting on confirmation one way or the other from our fearless leader as to whether the old content can be saved. 

[olds403]

Most of us are now much older and tricks/tips were years of time and effort. 

[EscapeRacing]

Totally agree that much of the pre-crash content is basically irreplaceable. Yes, questions can be posted again and answers can be provided, but it was not the final answer that provided so much value as it was the thread of commentary that created the journey of arriving at that answer (or in most cases answers).

Whether the old content comes back or not, I do hope this forum continues. I have been adding content as much as I can - going back though my google photo drives to recreate things I posted in the past but it does take time and patience. And I just dont have that many projects that I documented in photos (shame on me).

Perhaps a question we might seriously ask ourselves is what are the alternatives to rebuilding TAC (over time)? Do we commit to spending as much time adding to one of the other forums as possible?

[FormTA]

I get the older part. I still have 3 project cars i need to do but rolling around on the concrete 5 years later doesn't excit me.... But once I start one again, I will be posting.

Yes I miss the tips and tricks part like the dash repair and interior dying. I hope other folks will post there projects and we can help answer their questions, which will start to build the forum back up.

[Jack]

I'm still thinking that some of the old content can be saved. but if that's not the case I'll repost the gauge upgrade post and others.

[roadking77]

Im not sure of the intent of the original question. As for me, Im along for the ride. I dont plan on going anywhere. I have stated my case  before but I do not do FB which seems to be the go to place now a days. 

As far as lost content, its a shame its gone, but I believe most of the knowledge is still here. If someone has questions, ask and they shall receive ( i just asked for a couple of answers myself).

If anything, we wont have to hear from people saying, 'search is broken I cant find...'
or ' do a search, that question has already been answered a hundred times......'

I know I cant add back everything that I have contributed in the past, not that any of it had any importance anyway,  but I will add what ever I can that may be relevant to any question I can answer. 

I think the forum was def a bit sparse right after the rebuild, but it is starting to fill in nicely, dont dwell on the past and move full speed ahead.

Lost content or not, its still THE BEST PLACE ON THE INTERNET FOR THE SECOND GEN.

[EscapeRacing]

If anything, we wont have to hear from people saying, 'search is broken I cant find...'
or ' do a search, that question has already been answered a hundred times......'

This!!! Love it. So true. Let’s get some more posts going!!!

[Gold member]

Im not sure of the intent of the original question. As for me, Im along for the ride. I dont plan on going anywhere. I have stated my case  before but I do not do FB which seems to be the go to place now a days. 

As far as lost content, its a shame its gone, but I believe most of the knowledge is still here. If someone has questions, ask and they shall receive ( i just asked for a couple of answers myself).

If anything, we wont have to hear from people saying, 'search is broken I cant find...'
or ' do a search, that question has already been answered a hundred times......'

I know I cant add back everything that I have contributed in the past, not that any of it had any importance anyway,  but I will add what ever I can that may be relevant to any question I can answer. 

I think the forum was def a bit sparse right after the rebuild, but it is starting to fill in nicely, dont dwell on the past and move full speed ahead.

Lost content or not, its still THE BEST PLACE ON THE INTERNET FOR THE SECOND GEN.

It is what it is  a question no intent suggested.  I hope thing move forward or i wouldn't be here asking.

[nas t eh]

It will take time and effort from those willing to do it. Unfortunately some who contributed a great deal in the past may not be able put the effort back in, so others are going to need to step up.

[72projectbird]

It sucks. I've been here for a good while, and the information and documentation that was available here was awesome.

For me, I really don't have the desire to redo the build threads I had going. A lot of the info and pics I had are stored all over the place or long gone.

I hope this site can recover. I remember joining here back when I first picked up a rotted to death 72, and have been here ever since.

[gm muscle]

I joined TAC around 11 or 12 years ago. I came here because of a leaky heater core and wanted guidance on how to do the job correctly. Well, that led me down a rabbit hole of projects that resulted in my not driving my car until summer of 2017. Well I found what I sought after...guidance,  experience and a lot of technical know how. I never expected camaraderie and best dang place to visit on line! I've never even met the TAC brethren (although I may have met Scarebird in summer of 2017 while participating in the Bandit Run).

I have only been on TAC only a couple of times since it crashed and have admittedly stayed away in hopes that the next time I visit everything will be restored...

[firebirdforrest]

 I am not much of a talker so I don't really post anything But I was able to find answers to most of my questions just by searching the forum. I guess if the content does not come back I will have to start asking questions I have even completed some projects lately that I might start showing how I did them. I do look at some of the groups on Facebook just because so much is on there. Its really no place to learn something or share how you did something. By some of the questions and comments I see I really don't think some of the people even know what a Pontiac is

Forrest

[b_hill_86]

I really don't think some of the people even know what a Pontiac is

Forrest

That’s the absolute truth. I have access to FB through work but don’t have my own account so I don’t frequent all of the different groups but the ones I do glance at occasionally make me appreciate these forums so much. Heck, one person posted a question and I swear the vast majority of the answers given would’ve gotten the guy seriously hurt if not for a couple of people steering him in the right direction. We’re talking like 70 replies though that we’re mostly dangerous info provided by people who had no clue what they were talking about. Scary.

[Wallington]

Was already confirmed as total loss, unless someone saved actual pages or posts in print form, they are gone. All the saved links are useless.

[Maxthe222]

Idk to be honest, I'm kinda over it, I had all those previous threads and had heaps of info on them, the build thread for my F/A was a lot of info that I don't even really remember now, so I don't feel as motivated to start from scratch again. I used to use so many threads to quote information, and it will be almost impossible to rewrite all that really useful information.

Maybe I'll restart those threads again sometime for each of my T/A's, put some content in the threads of the forum

[Maxthe222]

I really don't think some of the people even know what a Pontiac is

Forrest

We’re talking like 70 replies though that we’re mostly dangerous info provided by people who had no clue what they were talking about. Scary.

You got no idea, every day someone comes up with some completely wrong bit of information and carries it across too many pages, like people who claim they have a genuine '77 455 Trans Am, or how they have a real second gen that came with a 350 Chev factory and people read those comments and take them as gospel

[5th T/A]

With just under a year under my belt as a TAC member, I am still a newbie. I checked out several other Firebird sites before joining TAC, felt this was the best and most active. When I think about all the valuable information that might be lost I get bummed out. But complaining about it isn’t going to bring the lost posts back. There is still a wealth of talent and information in this group. Some of the older posts we miss may not be 100% accurate because newer or better products are available today, old vendors may be out of business, or maybe there is a better way to do something. Staying positive and helping out if you can contribute helps everyone at TAC. On the other hand, complaining about lost information that can’t be retrieved won’t do anything other than  promote negativity.

I don’t do Facebook, so for me this is still the best game in town.

[roadking77]

x2 what Larry said!

[jonathonar89]

With just under a year under my belt as a TAC member, I am still a newbie. I checked out several other Firebird sites before joining TAC, felt this was the best and most active. When I think about all the valuable information that might be lost I get bummed out. But complaining about it isn’t going to bring the lost posts back. There is still a wealth of talent and information in this group. Some of the older posts we miss may not be 100% accurate because newer or better products are available today, old vendors may be out of business, or maybe there is a better way to do something. Staying positive and helping out if you can contribute helps everyone at TAC. On the other hand, complaining about lost information that can’t be retrieved won’t do anything other than  promote negativity.

I don’t do Facebook, so for me this is still the best game in town.

Hey man,

Now that I think about it, the dumb stuff I may have said on this website when I was a teenager might be good to let go 

[JJ 109]

Seems to be dying.

Lot more activity on FB these days.

[firebirdparts]

I don't really look at what we used to call PY, but I am sure there's a lot of similar content there and also at 78ta. 

I will dredge things back myself from the wayback machine but I am kinda waiting on the final analysis from Mike.  I was under the impression that it wasn't nothing coming back, but I guess we'll see.

I can't imagine asking somebody to type up how to rebuild a carburetor on facebook but I know people do it every day.  I have a Mark VII, and that's the most complicated car on earth in 1990, basically, so now it's 30 years old.  The club is getting more active, that's good.  Lots of young guys, that's good, but they don't like the forum.  Every day they're on facebook saying stuff like "x problem - any ideas?"  This on a car with air suspension, teves brakes, digital dash.  They must have 30 pounds of wire in them.

To be fair, though, 25 years ago the modifications crowd somehow inhabited a forum called "FordvsChevy" if anybody remembers that.  They created a subforum called "Hot Rod Lincoln" and it all blossomed there.  One day, whoever ran that forum stopped caring and away it went.

So it's searchable but nothing is truly permanent, I guess.

[72projectbird]

I don't really look at what we used to call PY, but I am sure there's a lot of similar content there and also at 78ta. 

I will dredge things back myself from the wayback machine but I am kinda waiting on the final analysis from Mike.  I was under the impression that it wasn't nothing coming back, but I guess we'll see.

I can't imagine asking somebody to type up how to rebuild a carburetor on facebook but I know people do it every day.  I have a Mark VII, and that's the most complicated car on earth in 1990, basically, so now it's 30 years old.  The club is getting more active, that's good.  Lots of young guys, that's good, but they don't like the forum.  Every day they're on facebook saying stuff like "x problem - any ideas?"  This on a car with air suspension, teves brakes, digital dash.  They must have 30 pounds of wire in them.

To be fair, though, 25 years ago the modifications crowd somehow inhabited a forum called "FordvsChevy" if anybody remembers that.  They created a subforum called "Hot Rod Lincoln" and it all blossomed there.  One day, whoever ran that forum stopped caring and away it went.

So it's searchable but nothing is truly permanent, I guess.

Was the teves braking system like the weird power master units in the Grand Nationals?

If so I hate those things 

[BAD2000TA]

I don't really look at what we used to call PY, but I am sure there's a lot of similar content there and also at 78ta. 

I will dredge things back myself from the wayback machine but I am kinda waiting on the final analysis from Mike.  I was under the impression that it wasn't nothing coming back, but I guess we'll see.

I can't imagine asking somebody to type up how to rebuild a carburetor on facebook but I know people do it every day.  I have a Mark VII, and that's the most complicated car on earth in 1990, basically, so now it's 30 years old.  The club is getting more active, that's good.  Lots of young guys, that's good, but they don't like the forum.  Every day they're on facebook saying stuff like "x problem - any ideas?"  This on a car with air suspension, teves brakes, digital dash.  They must have 30 pounds of wire in them.

To be fair, though, 25 years ago the modifications crowd somehow inhabited a forum called "FordvsChevy" if anybody remembers that.  They created a subforum called "Hot Rod Lincoln" and it all blossomed there.  One day, whoever ran that forum stopped caring and away it went.

So it's searchable but nothing is truly permanent, I guess.

What's a carburetor? 

[BAD2000TA]

I am very disappointed that the content seems to be missing. I used this site for A LOT of reference information, guidance, suggestions, examples, etc. The restoration pages were/are awesome. I've posted pictures of my progress through the years. The brake section was great, especially understanding what works for the 1LE conversion. Same with exhaust.

I hope the old material can be restored, but if not, I'll still come here. I will try to post more pictures of my project and help out others. The old PY forum is still active and I go there often. I don't do anything on FB other than post pictures of my son playing lacrosse and baseball!

[Vroom_vroom]

I am very disappointed that the content seems to be missing. I used this site for A LOT of reference information, guidance, suggestions, examples, etc. The restoration pages were/are awesome. I've posted pictures of my progress through the years. The brake section was great, especially understanding what works for the 1LE conversion. Same with exhaust.

I hope the old material can be restored, but if not, I'll still come here. I will try to post more pictures of my project and help out others. The old PY forum is still active and I go there often. I don't do anything on FB other than post pictures of my son playing lacrosse and baseball!

tell me about it, havent had a facebook account in years this was one of the best troves for information. sad to see traffic slow so much, however i dont miss the entire page of stickies in the mechanical section 

[rkellerjr]

The best part of a forum is its organization into "rooms" where people can chat about a certain subject and you can come right back to that subject instead of having to attempt to scroll through hundreds of other comments on other topics. Facebook is for simple, broad communications or for connecting to friends and family. It is not organized to actually have hundreds of conversations about different topics. I know they've introduced chat rooms but again, not organized like a forum and much harder to follow conversations. This forum is the largest, most active, family friendly firebird forum in existence. I just saw another one bite the dust and is closing its forum at the end of the month.

[Jack]

The best part of a forum is its organization into "rooms" where people can chat about a certain subject and you can come right back to that subject instead of having to attempt to scroll through hundreds of other comments on other topics. Facebook is for simple, broad communications or for connecting to friends and family. It is not organized to actually have hundreds of conversations about different topics. I know they've introduced chat rooms but again, not organized like a forum and much harder to follow conversations. This forum is the largest, most active, family friendly firebird forum in existence. I just saw another one bite the dust and is closing its forum at the end of the month.

Which one Rich?

[roadking77]

Rich, thats not the main reason but a good reason why I dont like FB.  Its been prob a year since I had my brief encounter with that beast. As soon as I hit one T/A 'group' probably 3 or 4 more popped up for invites. Of course I joined them all I think. But the one thing bad for me not knowing what I was doing, make a post, go back in a day or even a couple of hours and I had no idea where my post even was. Did not like the format at all.

[jonathonar89]

Facebook is good for keeping topics fresh and ease-of-use.  You can always search individual pages on Facebook (pretty easy).  I like the Facebook format and I like the standard forum format as well.  Both have their positives and negatives but it sucks seeing most of the old population transfer over to social media.  Instagram is another that many car-people flock to.

[chief poncho]

I hate Facebook as a medium for car information.  Tons of misinformation, difficult to search and just not a very organized structure for finding past information.

I have always felt forums were a good, but not necessarily the best approach, but are much better than facebook.  To me forums are very helpful and offer an opportunity for many opinions to be expressed and information to be easily searched and archived.  But ultimately, a forum as part of a larger web resource that has a "wiki" type setup with tech articles is the best IMO. 

I'm honestly disappointed that all of the information that was here has been wiped out.  If any of the database was salvageable, I'd be happy to help out to try to recover it.  We went through this once before and we can rebuild the site again.  I guess I'll restart my build thread and start populating it.  I suppose if I can't get the information I need form here to finish my build I can at least be a resource for those who come after me. 

[rkellerjr]

The best part of a forum is its organization into "rooms" where people can chat about a certain subject and you can come right back to that subject instead of having to attempt to scroll through hundreds of other comments on other topics. Facebook is for simple, broad communications or for connecting to friends and family. It is not organized to actually have hundreds of conversations about different topics. I know they've introduced chat rooms but again, not organized like a forum and much harder to follow conversations. This forum is the largest, most active, family friendly firebird forum in existence. I just saw another one bite the dust and is closing its forum at the end of the month.

Which one Rich?

Pontiac Street Performance - Will be going down at the end of the month
https://psp.pontiacstreetperformance.com/index.php?sid=3cee9ae81273a2dedc89751e2ba979ec

[mrbandit]

I'm truly sorry for the MIA status of late.  Problems never come at good times, but this was absolutely the worst for me.  The last 14 months threw us all into a tailspin. We were sent home to work last March, which really hurt me from a TAC perspective.  My internet speeds at home were 10mb or less, so I setup backup jobs on my workstation back at the office and went home.  That worked great for some time, but I was not aware that the storage I was using to house my files was migrated while we were away.  During that migration they purged all sql and zip files to reduce disk consumption.  While that was going on in the background, everything in my life was full speed ahead.  We were in the middle of an adoption, when we decided to sell our house to start a homestead of sorts.  We found a nice piece of land with a creek back in April and started to the process of preparing to sell.  We listed our house in October, and it sold in 6 days.  We opted to rent our home for 1 month and move into a large camper on our property.  That is when the database corruption occurred on a grand scale and it couldn't have come at a worse time.  I did not realize that it was there for some time, and my backup to my backups were all incomplete because of the data issue.  When the table finally died I felt overwhelmed to say the least, as camper life doesn't lend itself to late night work sessions.  It doesn't lend itself to much.  I've tried to dedicate as much time as I could to the data I do have, but it has been very hard while we are building.  I am doing some of the work myself, so free time hasn't been there as of late.  I don't want to keep stringing anyone along, so I'm just going to be direct and say "I can't resurrect that data in the foreseeable future"

I understand if anyone is disgusted and doesn't stick around, but I've been running TAC since 2002.  That is a lot of time spent over the years, and I've learned more about the people then the cars.  Each of us has invested in TAC and losing any data is a loss to us all.  There is a value on the data that we all built, but I place a higher value on the community.  The data wasn't what made TAC special, it was all of you.   

[roadking77]

Mr. Bandit, Very well said, and thank you again for all that you do. Does indeed sound like the perfect storm of events.  I have built several homes by myself and yes it is def. stressful living in an unfamiliar environment, while trying to hold down a job, and build a house in the 'spare time'.

[chief poncho]

Thanks for the update.  That does shed some more light on the complexity of the issue.  I guess its just time to rebuild.

[Jack]

Congrats - new home and adoption.
Thanks for the update, TAC can be rebuild.

[b_hill_86]

Congrats - new home and adoption.
Thanks for the update, TAC can be rebuild.

Ditto. Things happen. No worries.

[aussieta]

hopefully there are enough senior citizens (including me) still here that remember how things work
in a couple of years most of the questions should have been asked and answered again

[5th T/A]

Mr Bandit,

Thanks for the update, congratulations on the adoption and building a new home. I think the TAC community realizes your family and career takes priority over running a site that is free to the public. I’ve been a member for less than a year, but have gained much knowledge and enjoyment from TAC.

I am retired now but worked in the IT industry for over 40 years, the last 30 mostly on large disk arrays. I have seen bad things happen, but life goes on.

Best of everything for you and your family and thanks again for everything you have done and continue to do!