misinformation on the web.

[thomascoffey1959@gmail.com]

       I've been using this laptop my daughter gave me for Christmas, to do research for more accurate models.   Looking for pics and info on 58 chevys, amazing things are to be found. Like a 55 impala,,,,, or a 58 with a 59 dash, and so on.  So if you don't know, how do you know what's what ? !  Luckily, I have HUNDREDS, of automotive magazines, and books to fall back on.  How does the new gospel of cyberdom get its info ,who puts a porche on a page dedicated to old chevys ?  How?  A computer is only as smart as the people entering the DATA.  BLAH BLAH BLAH YADA YADA WAH WAH WAH WAH WAHHHH

[Snake45]

I believe it was Mark Twain who first said, "Don't believe everything you see on the internet." 

[Force]

If you're into cars you learn over the years, I know I have.
And if you are doing research on a subject you have to look for several sources for pictures and info and don't believe the first best you get until you have seen more to backup what you have seen, good websites are one, car shows and magazines are other places to look.

[thomascoffey1959@gmail.com]

    Yup, I know, I'm just amazed by how much,,,,,, stuff you have to shovel through. It's still  easier than dig'n through boxes of old rags to find pics. and such. Thank you for the web search tips. I'm a (no offense to any cave men ) cave man.

[espo]

I don't recall the names of the web sites but there are some that even have copies of the original sales brochures and the original colors. 

[NOBLNG]

My number one rule for searching anything on the internet is...Do Not believe the first thing you see! Multiple searches are always required. And with photoshop type apps out there, seeing is no longer believing. 

[TransAmMike]

1 hour ago, Force said:

If you're into cars you learn over the years, I know I have.
And if you are doing research on a subject you have to look for several sources for pictures and info and don't believe the first best you get until you have seen more to backup what you have seen, good websites are one, car shows and magazines are other places to look.

I'm with you on this statement Hakan. But I'm up in years and was a member of the entire muscle-car era, and still love 'em. I have literally thousands of magazines and when looking at the internet I can usually spot glaring in-accuracies in most cars (note I said most, not all).  But with that being said, younger people may not have been around cars enough to tell. So, the internet is probably the only resource some have at their disposal.    Best to look at multiple examples of a certain cars. I also find that suposed restorations of cars vary also.

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, thomascoffey1959@gmail.com said:

      ... So if you don't know, how do you know what's what ? 

That's the problem with internet searches.

If you don't know a pretty fair bit about what you're searching, and you're lazy, you're going to believe mostly wrong information.

I've had more than my fill of instant "experts" who read a couple of articles on the web and all of a sudden know vastly more about everything automotive than I do after my 5+ decades of first-hand, hands-on experience.

And that's just the way it is today.

First-hand real-world-derived knowledge has very little value to a certain abysmally ignorant...and just plain stupid...segment of the population who believe the first gibberish Google vomits up.

EDIT: Of course, the upside is that there's a wealth of correct information available on the web like never before in the history of Man. But you need to have some basic knowledge and possess good critical-thinking skills to benefit from it.

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Ace-Garageguy

[Motor City]

I keep my old car magazines to use as reference for painting model cars or if I am considering the purchase of an old car.  Internet searches of particular cars are full of incorrectly identified cars.  Many overly restored cars in magazines or for sale on the Internet have chromed parts that should be painted, a firewall painted body color that should be black (most GM big cars and intermediates), wrong wheels or upholstery.  Finding photos of a less desirable body style of a car such as a four-door will usually give better results since people don't tend to restore or mess them up in the first place.  Obviously this approach doesn't work with cars such as a Corvette or pony car. 

[Exotics_Builder]

4 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I believe it was Mark Twain who first said, "Don't believe everything you see on the internet." 

No, it was George Washington

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by Exotics_Builder

[larman]

It is true. For people like myself, who were not alive or were too small to remember the "good old days", the net is probably all we have. The best sites are ones like "George Klass Remembers", where you have collections of vintage photos and not modern restorations and recreations. Magazines and brochures are helpful, but not always right either because sometimes information was wrong or options changed after the brochure was produced.  I have a lot of them, but they take up SO much room. My biggest source of knowledge was my dad, who was a car guy and a modeler. He also had a tremendous memory for all this stuff, we lost him in 2012, so often I am "flying blind" now. When it comes to the internet, I tend to do what others above have said and find what I am looking for, then several examples to support it. It is also helpful to get on this site and ask questions. With guys like Ace-Garageguy,  Dennis Lacy (and many others!) on here, there is a wealth of real world knowledge, which to me has been invaluable!

[1972coronet]

4 hours ago, espo said:

I don't recall the names of the web sites but there are some that even have copies of the original sales brochures and the original colors. 

The Old Car Manual Project Brochure Collection (oldcarbrochures.org) , is a nice reference . For Chrysler products , Hamtramck Historical is tough to beat . 

The non-seq. images ( e.g. , Porsche appearing in a Chevrolet search... though it's possible that a specific-search like 'small block chevy engine' could algorithm conversion kits for SBC Chevy-to-Porsche 914 ) are frustrating . 

[NOBLNG]

I am amazed at the wealth of information on this site. Correct answers to some pretty obscure questions can be found here. Alternately, I like to search out dedicated forums for a certain model of car for accurate info. Any bad info is usually corrected by the more knowledgeable members. I find that much more fruitful than just plugging my question into a search engine.

[youpey]

78% of all statistics on the internet are made up 86% of the time

[Russell C]

Lady robot voice at the library: "Good morning, I'm Miss Information. How may I direct your inquiry?"

[lordairgtar]

10 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I believe it was Mark Twain who first said, "Don't believe everything you see on the internet." 

No, that was Lincoln

 

[Kromolly]

23 minutes ago, lordairgtar said:

No, that was Lincoln

 

Nope, Al Gore.  Right after he invented it.

[iamsuperdan]

The big thing with internet research, is to make sure you research more than one site.

Too many people, no matter what the subject matter, will find one site that verifies the info they want, and end there searching there.

Real research means you keep going.

It's just like back in school when doing a report on something. You needed to show your sources, and there had to be several.

 

Yes, there is a lot of misinformation out there, but there's a lot of correct information too. The big challenge is determining what is real, and what is not. 

Personally, I think the rabbit hole can be a lot of fun.

[Jack L]

A lot of sites just copy from other sites over and over !

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 hours ago, Jack L said:

A lot of sites just copy from other sites over and over !

Which is why some people believe the most idiotic stuff...mindless rebleating.

Contrary to what some folks apparently believe, saying something 100 times doesn't make it true.

[Tom Geiger]

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Contrary to what some folks apparently believe, saying something 100 times doesn't make it true.

Except in politics!  ?