Farewell STF.........

[MASSIVE TYPE IV]

It all started one day early in the Spring of 2000 when I received an email detailing that a new forum had been set up to share Type 4 knowledge…. That forum is what is known as “The Type 4rum” here on the STF…. I decided to pop in on the forum, offer advice and make some friends. Little did any of us know at that time that the site known as the STF would become a plethora of knowledge that would hold some 6,000+ members only 6 years later and would span the globe with membership and information while bringing together a group of dedicated enthusiast in a manner only found in small workshops across the world- no wonder it was deemed “Shoptalk Forums”…

By 2002 the Type 4 was going crazy and information was abundant… A lot of posts on the STF were directed toward me because I was an experienced member that was making a ton of strides with development and some members felt that my presence was too commercial for the site, I agreed and the administrator at that time, Scott Keith decided to create this forum- Aircooled Technology. With this forum I could post anything I wanted about my engine program, what we were doing, what things were being developed and I could also answer those questions that were so often directed toward me.

As time has went on and developments have been made both my business and the STF have grown to proportions that none of us ever believed would occur, at least not in only six years. As this occurred it has caused some issues for both of the related parties and its apparent that a change is not only needed, but will also be appreciated by all involved. Since the conception of this set of forums commercial content has not been the goal, and it has been avoided as much as possible, I have always been allowed to remain here due to my roots and the fact that I help so many people with non commercial posts. Unfortunately when other businesses see me here and decide to post it causes problems for the administrator of the forum as he has to explain why I get the benefits of my own forum and don’t get shunned like other commercial posters do. This is something that just causes him more hassles and BS and it’s not really fair for it to happen…. Two years ago when a bunch of my posts were copied and pasted on another vendors site I started thinking about a better way to control my writings and that was also very difficult with the STF format.

Now, before reading the rest of this please understand that there are NO hard feelings AT ALL between myself/business and the administrator of the STF. It was MY idea to make the decisions I have made concerning the future and when it was proposed to Doc, the STF administrator he concurred with my decision and offered valuable input…

As my business has grown and the Type 4 revolution gets bigger we have a multitude of questions that are asked, having the one forum here serves the purpose pretty well, but it could be better. For this reason and for the “fairness” reasons I outlined above Doc and I have agreed that the closing of the Aircooled Technology forum in favor of a new set of my own forums being opened up to serve my purposes is much better for all of us. The Aircooled Technology forum will remain up for 6 months after being closed down and all of my current posts will be archived in the search features of the site- none of that will change. Doc and I will also interlink our forum sites to share members as much as possible, for instance he’ll run a banner on his forums about mine and vice versa so the readers get the best of both worlds. Most importantly I’ll be welcome here on the STF as a regular old guy without mention of business. I **may** retire my screen name and assume a different identity but that’s still TBD.

I will be removing myself from other forums and after my forums open will only be sharing information there, this means no more samba, 914 club and related visits-

Here are a list of facts about what will happen to this forum/ STF

This forum, Aircooled Technology will close on October 31, 2006 to new posts
The forum will remain open for 6 months for readers to view and print what they like
All of my posts will remain open to the public
The forum will have a announcement post at the top redirecting readers to the new forums on my site
I will remain a member of the STF without any commercial comments, my new forums will field those
This will remove all commercial content from the STF and that is certainly a very good thing

Here are some facts about my new forums that will be hosted on one of my sites which we will determine later.

The new forums will have the following topics and will be 100% geared toward our efforts at Aircooled Technology, below are the Type 4 Store division planned forums
1- A main Type 4 Store set of forums will be used to field all general questions pertaining to Type 4 store products, prices and the like. Non specific questions will no longer be answered via email, only through this forum. This will allow customers to complete thorough searches and read answers that we may have already answered in the past. We answer a lot of the same questions over and over and this forum will help with that issue greatly while providing instant answers to the customers. Under the Type 4 Store heading there will be some specific forums here are a tentative list of those.

- Engine kit support- This forum will be solely for those who have bought engine kits and are assembling them. It will be locked to non kit purchasers

- Product instructions forum- This one will be for customers to share installation experiences of parts and benefit from others experiences. It will also serve as a place I can share writings and instructions in a general location

- DTM cooling system support/information forum- This one is all about DTM products, type 1 and Type 4!

- The Blue light Special forum- Remember the old days at K Mart and the “Blue light special”?? Well that’s what this will be but RAT style! We’ll pop in and make posts about products on special for a limited time. This might be a DTM that’s on special for ½ off for 15 minutes or an engine kits that’s on sale for a month. We’ll have some amazing specials on this forum that won’t be posted anywhere else, not even on the Type 4 Store!

I also plan on having specific forums for Type 4 conversion information separated per vehicle/application so that enthusiast benefit from the most accurate information concerning their car and the Type 4 Engine- here is a breakdown.
- Type 1 conversion forum, this is where all Beetle and Superbeetle as well as Ghia and Thing owners will attain information. These cars all require the same mods so this forum will be broad.

- Type II conversion forum, this is where we’ll chat about early bus conversions and bay window bus conversions up to 1972 specifically

- Type II conversion forum, this is for all Type 3 converts to gain information

- Porsche 356/912 conversion forum, this one groups two of the fastest growing conversion platforms together for information specific only to these vehicles concerning the Type 4

- Replicar specific forum- This one is for the Speedster, Spyder and other replicar converts to share and gain their information specifically


These are the general forums that we plan
-Engine Performance forum- This one is all about those general questions that we see pop up all the time as well as general chats on makin’ power

-4th Dimension Radio forum- This one is where we’ll share show notes as well as communicate with listeners about the show

-you design it, I build it- The forum where amateurs provide the input and we build and test their ideas!


These forums are particular to my Engine Shop and our efforts

-Research and development /new product forum- This one mixes new developments with our research specifics to answer questions and clarify our findings

- Owners Lounge (RAT complete engine owners only)- A place for owners of my pedigreed engines to chill out and talk to each other, ask questions, get support or compare notes



These are what I currently plan to offer for heading/sub headings… I am sure they will change as we actually operate the forums.

The new forums will be open on November 1 and we’ll be giving more specifics as the become available as well as providing links and a closing post when this forum finaly does close its doors on October 31, 2006

I feel certain that this new endeavor will make both the STF and the Aircooled Technology forums better places with more specific content that’s more in line with why each has been developed.I appreciate each and every reader more than can be imagined and like all good things must come to an end, this forum is no different.

As my Dad always says “Nothing ever stays the same”…….Look for more info pertaining to the new forums in the coming weeks, I plan on making it a beneficial place to be a member of while basing it on a similar foundation as the STF…

I would like to reiterate that my new forums are not meant to conflict with the STF in any way, the two sites will remain partners with the same overall set of parameters, just a different set of goals.

In closing I would like to Thank each and every member of the STF that has sent me everything from positive emails to Christmas and Birthday gifts and offered prayer when my dad was in the Hospital over the course of my membership here. I would also like to thank Doc for allowing this set of forums to remain open and filled with good content and also for allowing me to house my forum here for so many years.

Thank you and I look forward to seeing you at our new forums on November 1, 2006!

[Plastermaster]

Sound well thought out! You have my approval.

Ron

[helowrench]

I had a nice long post, but my comp locked up.


I cannot wait to see the new forum, I am extremely excited about the prospect of type specific conversion forums. The ability to converse with users weho have faced the same issues IN THE SAME VEHICLES really peaks my interest.
Kudos to you and Doc for making the transition smooth and peaceful, all the while keeping the readers informed well in advance.
only two problems.............
1) now I have to get all of my preliminary research done by 31OCT
2) now I will have an entire new forum to read (lurk) on a daily basis
Have you thought of a FI forum to encompass stock EFI, aftermarket EFI and CIS conversions?

Hats of to you two, showing how adults run things in the VW world.

Anything you need , just ask, ( and I know I am not in the minority for feeling that way)

Thanks
Rob

[BigOlJohnson]

DAMN! I've learned SO MUCH from ya, Jake!


Don

[HAM Inc]

Cool!

[MASSIVE TYPE IV]

Thanks guys....

It really will be better for all of us because the STF will go back to its intended format and I'll be able to do whatever I want without reservation..

I'll miss the STF for sure and Doc has welcomed me to continue being a member- thats really cool!

[Can Drive Soon]

Like you said it will be good and bad. Sad that your leaving and good to expand on your buiness. Let's see howmany members we get on the 1st day!

[champagne superbeetle]

DAMN! I've learned SO MUCH from ya, Jake!

x2

It will be interesting to see how all of this shakes out.

[914fan]

What will the address be for your new forum? Gota register so I can continue to learn...
Nick

Thank you for all you have done, and thank you for what you are about to do.

[MASSIVE TYPE IV]

Its still "To be determined"

[66 deluxe]

Thats going to be awesome Jake, well done man and the layout you intend is going to be very cool, i was just looking at your post count last night almost 22000, how long till you reach that on your own forum. I also think you should have a gallery forum titled " the Shotgun" with pictures of exhausts and squirrels and the like , that you have blown away over the years.

[kepko]

jake
are you doing this to legally copyright your material ??
will it limit our access??
will we need to be a certified member of your new forumn to get access??
are you becoming more custom turnkey engine builder and less main stream america vw mechanic??
good luck
kevin

[blue77bay]

very well thought out Jake ,you have certainly (as usual)put a lot of thought into the move i look foward to the new site and its content and doing business with you
When do we register?

[Can Drive Soon]

" the Shotgun" :

That reminds me of Jake's old avatar.



Wish I had that in original size.xx

[sideshow]

Wish I had that in original size.xx

You could ask him about radiators & fitting them to an old ACVW. Need a map to the shop?