I find most old car related Youtube channels are more about entertainment than about information. I'll bring up two Youtube channels as examples.
First example is Derek Bieri from Vice Grip Garage is definitely more entertainment than information. He add bits of information into most episodes, but the point of the episode is entertainment. I occasionally enjoy watching Derek screw around with cars I usually don't care about. He does a lot of hack jobs on late model crappy cars. Almost all his episodes are "car revival" stories. Lots of old fuel systems, bad brakes, and marginal radiators. This is typical of lots of old car channels on Youtube.
The hard work of actually making a car reliable isn't particularly entertaining and isn't included in these Youtube channels. That type of work includes replacing wiring harnesses, brake lines, hoses, water pumps, throw out bearings, u-joints, exhaust systems, etc. It is typically slow, grimy, boring work. At the end of all that work you have a reliable car that can go places.
In contrast is Mart. His episodes are primarily about information such as how to repair something or what old car events are going in in England. He occasionally drives his cars across England. They get fixed so they are reliable.
Iron Trap Garage is closer to the entertainment end of the spectrum than to the information end of the spectrum. His information is typically not as good as you get on this forum, and is directed to hot-rodding cars. The big text at the beginning for the video about "driving" the 39 Convertible Sedan states "
BARN FIND TO CRUISIN' IN 2 WEEKS". At the end of the video the car is
not cruising, it is limping. Given the entire lack of gauges and terrible condition of the throw-out bearing there might be irreparable damage done to the drive train. I'm not impressed.
Two things for the record:
1 - I am less than 45 years old, in the same age category as the people on Iron Trap Garage. I am increasingly finding people my age without any previous experience with old cars are turning to sources like his channel for information. Old Fords are getting cut up instead of repaired and enjoyed for what they are based on the advice from channels like Iron Trap Garage.
2 - I have worked on a lot of nasty old cars. Here is a recent example, I helped a friend revive this 54 sedan that sat in a field for years. I had been in a wreck, then converted to mobile welding service, then park against the fence row. We got it to the point it is a reliable car. We vacuumed out several pounds of rat/mouse crap, pulled the engine & transmission, refreshed both, replaced the rear end, installed all new brake parts, installed a new radiator, pieced together a new exhaust system, pushed the driver side pillar out enough to latch the door, and installed a new wiring harness. It was a lot of slow, grimy, tedious work that wasn't entertaining. It took months to do all this. I doubt very few people would watch a Youtube channel about getting that thing going again.
