jdm_b16a
25-11-2009, 01:20 PM
Well I thought I'd post up my impressions of the new "How To" DVD from Art of Speed Productions.Com, a US-based website entitled "Honda & Acura, Vol. K1 - How To For Your Hatch or Integra", better known as "K-Series into EG Hatch".
Firstly, this DVD is selling for $34.95US plus postage, direct from the Art of Speed Productions website (http://www.artofspeedproductions.com/). It runs for 60 minutes* [more on that later]
Here's the packaging (courtesy of the website):
http://www.artofspeedproductions.com/images/buy_pics/DVD-K-Series-Swap.jpg
The contents of the package are:
Prepping engine bay
Prepping interior
Installing K20A motor
Installing wiring harness
Installing A/C Kit
Track Footage
Contact Us
Tools
Products
I'll deal with each one in turn. If you want to get a preview of the package there is a YouTube video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIRNi-VHQkQ) In fact, I could be unkind and suggest that watching that YouTube video just about covers everything you will really learn from the full 60 minute package!
http://www.artofspeedproductions.com/images/buy_pics/DVD-K-Series-Features.jpg
Anyway, here we go ...
1. Prepping engine bay (9:40)
The voiceover simply repeats what is put up on the screen in most cases with a very deadpan delivery. Very little is actually explained. Throughout the video there is a soundtrack of what can only be described as "electronic bleeps". All the atmospheric (workshop) noise has been filtered out.
The person doing the work spends almost 2 mins of the first chapter trying to get the OEM mounts off, almost hitting his own thumb a number of times whilst wielding a hammer. There is drilling, prying, more drilling, more prying, more drilling. This could have been covered quickly but the process is very laboured. OH&S people will shudder when they see the guy grinding away in the engine bay with only a small pair of safety specs on. This is a common problem throughout the DVD - these guys are real amateurs, and by the end of the DVD I thought I certainly wouldn't let them anywhere near any of my projects.
After they have the mounts off, the holes are ground down and filled with body filler, which is then ground down with the same angle grinder! Next the radiator mounts are removed. More drilling and prying. I think if they didn't do this this would be a very short DVD. In fact, that's my point. There is nothing on the DVD that you couldn't learn in about five minutes of careful web surfing. More than half way through the first chapter but all that's been done is removing the OEM engine and radiator mounts.
Then there's footage of the guy holding a metal bracket in one (bare) hand and grinding it with the angle grinder in the other hand! One slip here and it's off to hospital.
The radiator is marked up and the new engine mounts are marked up. I'm sure all this info would come in the instruction sheet you get with the mounts when you buy them.
2. Prepping interior (5:33)
The first thing I noticed was depending on which guy is doing the work, one is in a short sleeved T Shirt, another a long sleeved sloppy joe. One wears rubber gloves; another wears no gloves. They swap between tools without explaining why. Here they are using 1/4 drive ratchets; there they use air tools. Not a torque wrench in sight so forget tightening down to specs! I winced a couple of times thinking the guy was going to snap off a bolt through overtightening.
In this section they install the Karcepts shifter kit. The background soundtrack is now something better suited to a Ministry of Sound CD - extremely annoying bass and drum rubbish! Inappropriate use of tools - its like they just used whatever was at hand. Holding a bracket with a pair of pliers whilst tightening a bolt! Hitting a cable to put it in place with closed pliers!
In this section the producers resorted to speeding up the tasks, probably realising that they took too long in Chaper 1.
A lot of the closeups are obscured by either a pair of hands or poor undercar lighting.
3. Installing K20A motor (33:32)
An aftermarket fuel rail is installed but they don't tell you why. The engine is prepped and as is usual with US websites they choose to lower the car over the engine rather than hoist it up and over. Whatever works best I s'pose.
All the Hybrid Racing mounts are installed. Looms are then run through the firewall, followed by installing new HR axles, and the shifter cables.
Clutch lines are replaced and not without a fair volume of clutch fluid squirting everywhere. Then fuel lines. Again, the force with which some items are tightened has me thinking they must have gone close to breaking some stuff. The radiator is last to be installed.
There are so many unanswered questions here. Again, I think most of the info would be contained in the installation instructions that come with the mount kit. The chapter finishes with the engine being started.
4. Installing wiring harness (3:40)
The HR "plug & play" harness is installed. They shrink the heatshrink tubing with a butane gas torch, having to blow it out when it gets too hot! You see the guy cut wires but they don't explain why he's doing that and what wires he's connecting. There's a free 'plug' for Hondata too!
5. Installing A/C Kit (17:21)
We still have 'that' soundtrack pumping away in the background, we still have the deadpan voiceover, and now they are removing the radiator installed earlier to fit the HR A/C kit. I really worry when I see the guy wielding a safety razor to trim plastic.
Of all the sections, this is probably the best presented one. They even make some recommendations but that won't help us locals as brands are probably US. You'd have to find an equivalent A/C fan for example.
6. Track Footage (4:32)
A short drag race (but no times shown), a quick run on the dyno (no HP figures shown), and some track work, where the driver bounces the car off the rev limiter a little more than I would think would be healthy for a new engine. All this section shows is that whoever is driving the track can't drive!
7. Contact Us - link to website
8. Tools (1:20)
A selection of tools, none of which were seen being used in the DVD. Timing light, compression tester, feeler gauges, valve adjustment tool, and flare wrench.[Note: they did use a flare wrench!]
9. Products - link to website.
At some point in the DVD the producers decided some atmospheric (workshop, tools) noise was needed but the soundtrack carries on relentlessly.
I ended up hating that voice, I don't ever want to hear that 'music' again, and I came away thinking if I'd paid US$34.95 plus shipping for this DVD I'd really consider asking for my money back. This DVD is an advertisement for Hybrid Racing kits, explains very little, glossing over technical details, shows poor OH&S practices, and instills very little confidence in the job as done by the people in the video. Forget the "right tool for the job" adage - it doesn't happen here.
The DVD runs for just over an hour but the necessary information needed to do a K install runs for less than one third of this time. As I said before there's nothing here you can't find in more detail on the Web.
But I should say that these guys will make a killing because the idea of getting to market with a product first will ensure $$$, even if the product's packaging is its best feature!
I've been pretty hard on this DVD but I keep thinking it could have been done so much better. A very amateur effort leaving more questions than it answers.
Peter
Firstly, this DVD is selling for $34.95US plus postage, direct from the Art of Speed Productions website (http://www.artofspeedproductions.com/). It runs for 60 minutes* [more on that later]
Here's the packaging (courtesy of the website):
http://www.artofspeedproductions.com/images/buy_pics/DVD-K-Series-Swap.jpg
The contents of the package are:
Prepping engine bay
Prepping interior
Installing K20A motor
Installing wiring harness
Installing A/C Kit
Track Footage
Contact Us
Tools
Products
I'll deal with each one in turn. If you want to get a preview of the package there is a YouTube video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIRNi-VHQkQ) In fact, I could be unkind and suggest that watching that YouTube video just about covers everything you will really learn from the full 60 minute package!
http://www.artofspeedproductions.com/images/buy_pics/DVD-K-Series-Features.jpg
Anyway, here we go ...
1. Prepping engine bay (9:40)
The voiceover simply repeats what is put up on the screen in most cases with a very deadpan delivery. Very little is actually explained. Throughout the video there is a soundtrack of what can only be described as "electronic bleeps". All the atmospheric (workshop) noise has been filtered out.
The person doing the work spends almost 2 mins of the first chapter trying to get the OEM mounts off, almost hitting his own thumb a number of times whilst wielding a hammer. There is drilling, prying, more drilling, more prying, more drilling. This could have been covered quickly but the process is very laboured. OH&S people will shudder when they see the guy grinding away in the engine bay with only a small pair of safety specs on. This is a common problem throughout the DVD - these guys are real amateurs, and by the end of the DVD I thought I certainly wouldn't let them anywhere near any of my projects.
After they have the mounts off, the holes are ground down and filled with body filler, which is then ground down with the same angle grinder! Next the radiator mounts are removed. More drilling and prying. I think if they didn't do this this would be a very short DVD. In fact, that's my point. There is nothing on the DVD that you couldn't learn in about five minutes of careful web surfing. More than half way through the first chapter but all that's been done is removing the OEM engine and radiator mounts.
Then there's footage of the guy holding a metal bracket in one (bare) hand and grinding it with the angle grinder in the other hand! One slip here and it's off to hospital.
The radiator is marked up and the new engine mounts are marked up. I'm sure all this info would come in the instruction sheet you get with the mounts when you buy them.
2. Prepping interior (5:33)
The first thing I noticed was depending on which guy is doing the work, one is in a short sleeved T Shirt, another a long sleeved sloppy joe. One wears rubber gloves; another wears no gloves. They swap between tools without explaining why. Here they are using 1/4 drive ratchets; there they use air tools. Not a torque wrench in sight so forget tightening down to specs! I winced a couple of times thinking the guy was going to snap off a bolt through overtightening.
In this section they install the Karcepts shifter kit. The background soundtrack is now something better suited to a Ministry of Sound CD - extremely annoying bass and drum rubbish! Inappropriate use of tools - its like they just used whatever was at hand. Holding a bracket with a pair of pliers whilst tightening a bolt! Hitting a cable to put it in place with closed pliers!
In this section the producers resorted to speeding up the tasks, probably realising that they took too long in Chaper 1.
A lot of the closeups are obscured by either a pair of hands or poor undercar lighting.
3. Installing K20A motor (33:32)
An aftermarket fuel rail is installed but they don't tell you why. The engine is prepped and as is usual with US websites they choose to lower the car over the engine rather than hoist it up and over. Whatever works best I s'pose.
All the Hybrid Racing mounts are installed. Looms are then run through the firewall, followed by installing new HR axles, and the shifter cables.
Clutch lines are replaced and not without a fair volume of clutch fluid squirting everywhere. Then fuel lines. Again, the force with which some items are tightened has me thinking they must have gone close to breaking some stuff. The radiator is last to be installed.
There are so many unanswered questions here. Again, I think most of the info would be contained in the installation instructions that come with the mount kit. The chapter finishes with the engine being started.
4. Installing wiring harness (3:40)
The HR "plug & play" harness is installed. They shrink the heatshrink tubing with a butane gas torch, having to blow it out when it gets too hot! You see the guy cut wires but they don't explain why he's doing that and what wires he's connecting. There's a free 'plug' for Hondata too!
5. Installing A/C Kit (17:21)
We still have 'that' soundtrack pumping away in the background, we still have the deadpan voiceover, and now they are removing the radiator installed earlier to fit the HR A/C kit. I really worry when I see the guy wielding a safety razor to trim plastic.
Of all the sections, this is probably the best presented one. They even make some recommendations but that won't help us locals as brands are probably US. You'd have to find an equivalent A/C fan for example.
6. Track Footage (4:32)
A short drag race (but no times shown), a quick run on the dyno (no HP figures shown), and some track work, where the driver bounces the car off the rev limiter a little more than I would think would be healthy for a new engine. All this section shows is that whoever is driving the track can't drive!
7. Contact Us - link to website
8. Tools (1:20)
A selection of tools, none of which were seen being used in the DVD. Timing light, compression tester, feeler gauges, valve adjustment tool, and flare wrench.[Note: they did use a flare wrench!]
9. Products - link to website.
At some point in the DVD the producers decided some atmospheric (workshop, tools) noise was needed but the soundtrack carries on relentlessly.
I ended up hating that voice, I don't ever want to hear that 'music' again, and I came away thinking if I'd paid US$34.95 plus shipping for this DVD I'd really consider asking for my money back. This DVD is an advertisement for Hybrid Racing kits, explains very little, glossing over technical details, shows poor OH&S practices, and instills very little confidence in the job as done by the people in the video. Forget the "right tool for the job" adage - it doesn't happen here.
The DVD runs for just over an hour but the necessary information needed to do a K install runs for less than one third of this time. As I said before there's nothing here you can't find in more detail on the Web.
But I should say that these guys will make a killing because the idea of getting to market with a product first will ensure $$$, even if the product's packaging is its best feature!
I've been pretty hard on this DVD but I keep thinking it could have been done so much better. A very amateur effort leaving more questions than it answers.
Peter