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Hi,
I do all
the automotive work for my family
my self. All
together I have two trucks and
four cars. One of them is a 1965
Mustang Fastback show car. I buy
everything
from
RockAuto. You can't beat the
prices and the service!
Thanks for your
time,
Rick in Washington |
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Yesterday's
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10/25/2008
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Prepaid
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RockAuto
is now offering our
European and Canadian
customers the same convenience our
U.S. customers enjoy.
If a tax line (identified
as GST in Canada, VAT in the UK,
etc.) appears on your order, this
allows you to pre-pay tax (and any
import duties which may apply) for
that shipment.
The carrier will deliver with no
additional charges due.
Prepayment of tax is limited to certain
countries, warehouses and ship methods.
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Forum of the month |
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Cuda-Challenger.com has
members from around the globe who
own cars
that range from stock
daily drivers, perfectly restored
show winners, purpose built drag
cars, and everything in between.
Whether you are an expert or just
an admirer
of the Barracuda, Challenger or any
Mopar muscle car, you are welcomed
to join and contribute to the
message
board.
Cuda-Challenger.com also
has pictures covering
all years,
information,
and the history of each car.
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 |
|
Make
sure when putting a car up on a lift
to balance the weight properly!
This was back in
1989 or so. There were tandem lifts
in this shop,
and I was using the lift in the front.
Suddenly the kid using the lift
behind me (who
had the car up in the air for an
oil change) starts
yelling, "Phil, HELP, HELP!!!".
I look out from
under the hood of the car I was working
on and see
the kid's car starting to nose
dive from it being positioned
to far forward on the legs of the
lift. The car was about one foot
off the two rear legs of the
lift and the
kid doing the oil change was trying
to hold up the car by holding the
bottom of the front tire...and it
was turning on him! Meanwhile the
nose
of the car was still dropping.
I ran around and
grabbed the front bumper and shoulder
pressed the car
back into position while he lowered
the lift. Had I ignored his calls
for help, his car would have nose
dived off of the lift, hitting my
car and pinned me against the wall
right
behind
me.
Philip in Massachusetts |
Hats off to hose and belt engineers! |
| I was worried about my wife commuting
in her high mileage ’87
Mazda 323 through another winter
so I recently bought her a new
car. It is a ’93 Ford Tempo,
my family’s first automotive
foray into the ‘90s.
Our new Tempo has the original
Motorcraft cooling system hoses.
The amazing thing is I was not
surprised. That is why I want
to take a moment and congratulate
all the hose and belt manufacturers
that have quietly made vast improvements
to belts and hoses over the last
twenty years.
I remember
standing on the side of the
road in the late ‘80s
in a cloud of steam lamenting
that I had forgotten to change
the five or six year old water
pump bypass hose on my ’77
Dodge. I remember a friend’s
quick U-turn in my ’68
Chrysler 300 blowing a hole in
a power steering hose and starting
a fire.
When
did fifteen-year-old hoses
and belts stop being mushy,
cracked disasters waiting to
happen? I looked through the
product data sheets of RockAuto.com suppliers:
ACDelco, Dayco, Gates, Motorcraft,
etc. I read
about the Gates “electrochemically-resistant
coolant hose using a new EPDM
(ethylene propylene rubber)
formulation and special wrapped
reinforcement”. I read
about the “high modulus
glass fiber non-stretch cord” in
Dayco timing belts. I read
about synthetic nitrile rubbers
in high performance power steering
hoses.
“Special wrapped” and “high
modulus” sounds impressive,
but why aren’t the belt
and hose manufacturers trumpeting
in the streets that their products
now last three or four times
longer than they used to? Why
does Gates literature still have
warnings like, “The incidence
of hose failure increases sharply
after four years for most vehicles.”
One reason may be the manufacturers
do not want their engineering
success to hurt their sales.
If everybody ran hoses and belts
for fifteen years, then there
would be a lot less demand for
belts and hoses! Manufacturers
and RockAuto would suffer!
Another reason is the wide variety
of vehicle operating environments.
The Tempo only has done 56K miles
of elderly-lady-outings. Chemical
degradation over time was the
main challenge to its belts and
hoses. If it had worked as a
Phoenix taxi, lots of use in
extreme temperatures would probably
have wiped out the original hoses
long ago. Deciding when to change
belts and hoses is similar to
deciding to go 7500 miles or
3000 miles between oil changes.
7500 miles might now be possible,
but what is best for a particular
car all depends on the driving
conditions.
Another
consideration is few people
ever regretted replacing
a $20 radiator hose or belt,
but lots of people have regretted
not replacing them. Seeing how
long a hose or belt will last
is a real bad idea if it means
risking a damaged engine. The
Tempo’s light-duty days
are over now that my wife is
behind the wheel. I won’t
be waiting fifteen years to do
its next hose and belt change,
but I also won’t start
worrying and fretting at five
years. Thanks again to the unsung
heroes, hose and belt engineers,
for increased peace of mind!
Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com
|
Wayne's 1980 Triumph TR7 |
|
This
is my
1980 Triumph TR7. I bought it
last year with only 7600 original
miles on the odometer. Quite
the find!
Overall, the
car was (and is) in excellent condition,
but a lot of
rubber components were perished and
needed replacement. "The Colonel" as
we call him (named after the "Colonel
Mustard" character in the board
game "Clue" for obvious
reasons) is wearing the following
parts from RockAuto: KYB rear gas
shocks, KYB gas front strut inserts,
thermostat, distributor cap and rotor,
spark plugs, belts, and an exhaust
manifold warm air duct.
Wayne in New Jersey |
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Hard Work
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would like to feature you and your
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details.
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LLC - Madison, Wisconsin USA. RockAuto
name and logo are registered trademarks
of RockAuto, LLC. Manufacturer names
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are trademarks of their respective
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