So my nightmare came true.......

I completely agree about where possible trying to keep as much information archived even after resolution. You never know when a useful tidbit will surface via the search function or even google for someone else with a similar issue, would be a shame of lots of people deleted their content, but I don't think it's the norm.

With video you have no control over someone taking down the original, which would then leave a broken link in the post anyway.

The locking a post after a given period of time is a tough balance. It makes the maintenance of guides more difficult as it adds a barrier for them having to go back and edit and refine the OP at a convenient time. They have to report the post, wait for a reply, by then time may have passed and they can't be bothered to edit as they wished.

Likewise if someone has as rant and later cools down and wishes to edit their post, they can do without having to contact a mod. I'm not sure what would be best on here. I usually like to err on the side of giving the user control of their content.

Thoughts from anyone on this topic are welcome. Perhaps I'll trial it with a decent limit like on the Tesla Motors Club forum and see how it goes.

They've got quite a nice site there. Also XenForo. Have you used the groups functionality on that site wiztecy? It's on my to do list to get something similar on here. I believe the one they have is the most popular, but it's still a bit buggy apparently.