Ordered from www.boxwrench.net
After seeing some videos on YouTube about this video, I decided I could spare a few bucks from my freshly direct-deposited tax return to order this video.
First, the packaging: very professional. Boxwrench really went out of their way to package the product well. Put the DVD into your PC and you'll discover the menus are all very well thought out. Its obvious they paid as much attention to the aesthetics of the presentation as they did to content. Kudos to Boxwrench on this.
The goal of the video is to take you step by step on an engine rebuild. The motors that are used in question are pushrod v8's, but it apears many of the techniques, especially the part discussing the rotating assembly's pre-assembly, are applicable to just about any piston-based internal combustion engine.
I found the 3 hour video quite an enjoyable watch. One of the things I really liked about it was the number of tips and tricks they gave along the way. There was far more to the video than a "do this, okay now do this, ok now do this..." presentation style. The DVD is also very interactive because at virtually every step of the way you could click on a menu at the top to learn more about anything presented. For example, I had never seen a camshaft bearing press tool and wanted to learn more about it and how it worked, so I clicked on the menu at the top during that part of the video. It directed me to a subvideo all about it. Then I just hit "resume" and it picked up where it left off in the video.
It also had what I would call a "machine shop interlude" that was included after the teardown process was complete in the video. A snippet of this is found here on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAfdq217CJI
If you ever wondered what goes into machining a block or your parts to bring them back to tip-top shape, this video explains it. It discussed line honing, decking and squaring the block, piston and rod reconditioning, valve jobs, and many other machining topics. IMO the explanations of machining and what to look for in a machine shop make this video worth owning in and of itself. It was really cool to see everything come together in the machine shop.
In a related vein, I also liked what I will call "gentle product placement". A video presentation of this quality couldn't be done without sponsors, and the machine shop as well as some tool makers got plugs, but they didn't "shove" the plugs in your face. Rather, the machine shop and the tools they were using in other parts of the DVD were such high quality that they sold themselves. The machine shop really looked first rate (it made me wish I was local to them, heh) and some of the products they chose to use such as the valvetrain organization tray were just too cool not to make you want to click to find out more information about the maker of the tray.
Like I said, gentle product placement. Again, kudos to Boxwrench.
Throughout the video the example engines they use are all mechanical distributor pushrod v8's, making it a virtual textbook for anyone out there with a fox body v8 mustang. As I was watching the video there were many times where I thought "wow, this would be great for SCS members".
This video is comprehensive enough that the only things you would need out of your service manual are particulars for your hoses and electrical system, and the torque specs of your bolts. If you have never rebuit a motor before and have the itch to try, or even if you just want to learn more about what goes into making a top-notch successful rebuild, this DVD is an absolute must have for your automotive video collection.
Straight up no chaser two thumbs up.
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nice find.
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