Sherman Body Parts

Do you need a hood for your 1967 Ford Mustang? How about a grille for a 2000 BMW 528I? Maybe a fender for your 1978 Chevrolet Malibu? Well, you’re in luck! RockAuto now has Sherman restoration and collision parts to fulfill your body part needs.

The Sherman parts currently available date back as far as 1961 and stretch forward to 2008 models for domestic and import vehicles. You will find all of Sherman’s parts in the “Body-Exterior” category of the RockAuto Catalog.

Marshall Transmission Assemblies

RockAuto is happy to announce that Automatic Transmission Assemblies are now available in our catalog. We have once again teamed up with Marshall Engines, this time to supply remanufactured transmissions! Transmissions remanufactured by Marshall Engines receive expert technical care coupled with advanced procedures and quality controls that far exceed the industry standard. Find these assemblies and more in the "Transmission-Automatic" category of the RockAuto Catalog.

Forum of the Month

S10 Planet began as a small tight-knit community in December of 2000. Over time the community has grown but it still remains tight-knit, where there is a family-like atmosphere for all members. Currently the forum has 10,000+ members who come from various backgrounds all over the United States and Canada. Each member adds his/her own real life experiences to the site. One member even went as far as getting the S10 Planet logo tattooed on his arm to show his dedication and love for the site.

The forum focuses on Chevrolet S10 trucks and is broken down into various sections. An open forum is used for general chitchat and for everything else that isn’t directly truck related. The mechanical and vehicle specific areas of the forums are two of the most active sections of the forum. These sections provides great support to many S10 planet members. Next there is the How-To section that includes many step by step walkthroughs. Other sections at the member’s disposal are Regional & Club, Classifieds, Member Projects, and a VIP section for the elite members that donate to the site.

If you are the administrator or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact jessa@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

I recently decided to change out the radiator in my daughter's 2003 Nissan Xterra, which was damaged by the previous owner. Knowing that some car security systems relock the doors after a certain time, I dropped the keys in my pocket. Leaning over the front of the car, I was removing the bolts from the engine driven fan when all of a sudden the engine began to crank and then started up! I jerked both hands out of there and avoided injury with my cat like (I am 70 years old) reflexes. It turns out I had pressured the remote start button for the required three seconds, on the fob in my pocket, and the engine just did as it was told.

Most instructions, for jobs under the hood, start out by removing the negative cable from the battery, but I couldn't remotely (pun intended) think why the radiator job would require killing the power.

Safety first y'all!

Jim in Arizona

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes. Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and shirt size (large or extra large) and we will mail you a RockAuto "Do it yourself?" t-shirt if we publish your story. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

Private Label Warranties

I watched as a couple of friends bought a new car. After they negotiated the purchase price they thought it was time to relax. Instead, they were escorted to an office for a high-pressure sales pitch from the dealer’s creative financing and extended warranty man. Part of his warranty pitch included pulling out an engine control module I recognized to be from a late 1980s Chrysler. He used the ECM as a prop to demonstrate how high-tech and potentially expensive to repair their new car was. I could tell the friends were not biting so I never needed to chime in and ask the salesman what that old Chrysler ECM (available at RockAuto.com for less than $100) would be doing in a brand new Dodge.

I hear in the news that Chrysler, Ford, or GM cannot use bankruptcy to reorganize because customers would be too worried about unmet warranty claims to ever buy cars again. Like the Dodge dealer above, many car dealers have already been telling customers the factory warranty is not good enough and hawking other warranties. If factory warranties no longer came with the car then it seems like private label warranties and other insurance type products would be available and eagerly sold or included by the dealers.

Since I have never owned a new car, I also wonder why people would even worry so much about warranties. If it breaks, then buy the parts and fix it. My dad needed to remind me that the risks of buying a $30000 new car might be more nerve-wracking then buying one of my sub $5000 “classics”. I also remembered that affordable replacement parts could sometimes be hard to find for spanking new cars. If a part or system is defective from the start, then there is a chance only the car dealer would have access to replacement parts and they would be expensive.

Chrysler, Ford, and GM might be able to sell more cars now if they went ahead and cleared up the warranty concerns. Some potential customers are probably too worried they will get stuck with something like a $8000 defective engine if they buy from a car company that might go bankrupt. The conjecture about bankruptcy would hurt sales less if new car customers knew they had warranties backed by reliable insurance companies or some other entity (I am not going to suggest the US Government).

Chrysler, Ford, and GM might also allow and encourage OEM parts manufacturers (Motorcraft, ACDelco, Bosch, Federal Mogul, etc.) to give auto parts retailers quicker access to more parts for current model year cars and trucks. If RockAuto provided the auto parts and independent or do-it-yourself mechanics did the work, then fixing brand new cars would not be so expensive.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

This is my 1993 Mazda MX3 V6 which was purchased from a friend who had it in storage since 2004. To put it back in action RockAuto supplied many hard to find miscellaneous parts, as well as the brakes, rear wheel bearings, and suspension parts that needed to be replaced due to it being stored for such a long time. I was happy to find RockAuto was able to supply what was needed.

The RockAuto catalog is a pleasure to use. I check other on-line suppliers, but always find what I need at RockAuto for the best price. Thanks for the excellent customer service.

Regards,
Gustave in Ontario, Canada

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to feature you and your car or truck in our monthly newsletter. Please email flamur@rockauto.com with details.

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