Mind Over Throttle - Interview with EricTheCarGuy

Welcome to Mind Over Throttle, an interview series where we reach out to our favorite automotive content creators from all over the internet to pick their brains about what they do and why they do it.

About EricTheCarGuy

If you're looking for real, nuts and bolts automotive repair content, interesting project builds, and thorough guides on just about everything that can go wrong on a car, then ETCG is the channel for you. Eric is a wealth of information and has a knack for making what could otherwise be mundane tasks entertaining.

EricTheCarGuy: I am EricTheCarGuy, an ASE certified Master Technician who makes 'how to' auto repair videos as well as 'build' videos on YouTube.

Learnings from the Dad’s Truck Build

The one thing I would have done differently on the #ETCGDadsTruck build would be to Dyno and tune the engine before installing it in the truck. I wish I would have had the time for that. I feel I could have avoided whatever issue is going on with cylinders 7 & 3, which have low compression, I suspect due to broken rings, possibly from a timing problem. In addition to the low compression, there's too much pressure in the crankcase causing an annoying oil leak. I need to pull the engine to find out what the problem is. I think from now on I'll strive to have all of my engines dynoed and tuned before installation. This way I can address any leaks or problems before I put the engine in. Also, it would be tuned before installation, ensuring peak performance from the first turn of the key. Both of my engine builds suffered from a lack of tuning before installation.

Longer, More Technical Videos

In my experience, people only have the attention span for what concerns them directly. If it does concern them directly, they watch all the way through, and possibly become avid followers. Providing detailed information is great for people that are looking for it. If they're not looking for it, then you might not get 'found'. I haven't really set out to produce videos for maximum views. I've focused more on detailed information for the topic I'm covering. I'm fine with being known for that. Also, I've always enjoyed the craft of conveying information through video. I think it's an amazing tool.

Purists and Car Modifications

No matter what you do, if you work in the public eye, someone will have an issue with what you're doing. They want it their way, not your way, but that's part of the job. You have to deal with people that disagree with you constantly. In my experience, it's always been that way in the automotive world. People have always had strong opinions about automotive-related things.

Bucket List Build

A lot of people have asked me to build a Honda of some kind. Given that Honda was my bread and butter for many years, I think that would make for interesting content and an interesting build. I'd like to find a way to make it unique though, do something a little different. Not sure what that is yet, but it's not my GSR. That car is perfect the way it is, stock. You just don't find any stock GSRs anymore.

A Close Call

One time I was cleaning head gasket material from a V6 engine. I only had one cylinder head removed. I tried to remove a stubborn guide pin with a flame, and the brake clean in the oil pan ignited. It shot flames out of the oil returns and singed my eyebrows. It also blew up the valve cover on the remaining cylinder head. The shop got very quiet after the explosion. Once they saw I was OK, we all started laughing. I never did that again.

YouTube Content Consumption

Honestly, I don't watch much YouTube at all. I have lots of YouTube friends that I support, I just don't watch their content. At least not regularly. Producing videos is very time-consuming.

Shoutouts to Brands

I've had help from a ton of brands over the years. It's hard to just name a few. In fact, I'd rather not write out a long list if I don't have to.

Connect with EricTheCarGuy

All of my profiles are under EricTheCarGuy. I'm that on FB, Twitter, and Instagram. The best place to go is EricTheCarGuy.com, where people can get help with their automotive issues and have access to all of my latest content which is searchable there.

Conclusion

Eric, thank you for taking the time for this little interview and for the thoughtful answers! Have a favorite content creator that you'd like to see us interview? Drop a comment below!