Being a gear-head is great.
No matter what brand you pledge your allegiance to, all gear-heads can unite under a shared banner for the love of all things motorized. We may have different points of view, but can appreciate the hard work that goes into a project with a simple nod of appreciation, a subtle wave, or a thumbs up. It is one of the things I enjoy about the car hobby, complete strangers can become friends over a conversation about car parts.
One of the main goals of my YouTube channel was to be able, in my own way, to give back to the hobby I have enjoyed since I was a teenager. Over the years, I was fortunate to have many mentors and friends who shared their knowledge and love of cars with me, and using the power of technology, I thought it would be a neat way of giving back. I would be able to share my love of cars and things I have learned with complete strangers and hopefully they could continue to share that and keep the chain going. I am always glad to help someone with a problem, if I don’t have the answer, I don’t mind doing the research to find the solution. Since I started my channel over a year ago, I have been able to help a couple of people with problems they were experiencing with their Mazdaspeed 3’s. Working together, we were able to fix the issues and they could enjoy their cars. That is what it is all about right? Being that it is the internet, I never thought that I would meet the people I would be helping in person, I didn’t even consider it a possibility. Silly me, I forgot that car people are EVERYWHERE, the West Coast doesn’t own a monopoly!
I helped Eric (@chi_speed3 on Instagram follow his build!) months earlier with an issue he had installing a Cobb intake on his Mazdaspeed 3. He needed a small part from the stock intake in order to complete his install. Unfortunately, the previous owner of the car had removed said piece and in order for Eric to procure a new one, he was going to have to purchase a complete factory assembly just for the simple part he needed. Thankfully I still had my stock intake lying around (a.k.a cluttering my garage) and happily shipped it to him free of charge. He offered to pay for it, but I wouldn’t accept. It was just sitting there doing nothing in my garage, if it could help him out and get his car running, that was payment enough. I did send him a sweet 55 Garage decal for his window! I was glad he was able to use it and I got the nice reward of helping someone out, good karma and all that.
Well, let it be said. Good deeds pay off.
Fast forward to July of this year. I am doing the research for my Miata build, looking for a set of seats. I decided to check Instagram, where Eric has just posted a story about looking to sell a set of seats. I decided to send him a quick message and he tells me the seats were from the Miata he previously owned, which worked out great for me because that is exactly what they were going to be bolted into. He also threw in the G-Force harnesses (that were new in the box) and the Corbeau mounts for a deal that was too good to pass up. I jumped at the opportunity, because when a deal that good comes along, you don’t pass it up! I agreed to the price and everything was set. Of course, I then realized that I needed to find a way to get the seats because we didn’t live close to each other. At all. It was roughly about an hour and thirty minute drive and I was not going to be able to do it anytime soon. I started looking into shipping costs when Eric did something I didn’t expect and was immediately grateful for.
He offered to bring them to me. I was floored. His reasoning was simple: I helped him with his project and it would only be right to help me with mine. He also wanted to take some shots of our Speeds together. It was one of those moments that really hit me in the feels, because this was someone I never met who wanted to repay me for helping him out. Car people are good people. So we set a day, he came down and bought a friend that he was helping get into the car hobby. Have you ever met someone and it seems like you have been friends all along but this is the first time you have met them? It was that kind of day. Eric is a great guy, really excited about his car and the things he wants to do and his enthusiasm got me jazzed as well! It was a good shot of confidence for me, because sometimes as a content creator, I wonder if anyone is actually watching my videos. But here was someone who did, and I could talk to him about some of the projects I had done, he got to see my Miata project (and some projects I have filmed but not edited yet) and it was just a great experience!
Now that I am a couple of days removed, I have had a chance to sit back and process that afternoon and it reinforced the reasons why I love the car hobby. Strangers can become friends. Sweet deals can be had, and good deeds are rewarded. I got to make some new friends and got to share stories and hear new ones, how cool is that?!
Personally, this also recharged my batteries and got me back on track to getting some of the many projects I have done (my office is FULL of boxes, I can barely move my chair now!) and to start on some other things (TBD) that I want to try this year.
I better get to it!
-Randy
