RockAuto.com RockAuto October Newsletter :: Early Edition

RockAuto Home

Parts Catalog

Customer Service

Privacy Policy

Newsletter Archive

Email Subscription

RSS Feed

 

Another Happy Customer!

I was able to get all the parts for the front end of my truck, including ball joints, brake pads, seals, and ABS sensor for less than the hub alone would have cost me from the dealer or a local parts store!

I will be a regular customer from now on.

Karl in Utah

 

Upcoming Events
If you would like your event featured here, email us with details.

Fast Cars & Freedom 2011
10/8/2011
Annandale, VA
website

Campbellton Baptist Church-Annual Car, Truck &Motorcycle Show
10/8/2011
Douglasville, GA
e-mail

17th Annual POW-WOW at the Beach
10/8/2011
Laurens, SC
e-mail

Steves Auto Service Customer Appreciation Day Car Show
10/8/2011
Kansas City, MO
e-mail

American Heroes Rod Run
10/8/2011
Bryan, TX
e-mail

3rd Annual Cruisin for a Cure
10/8/2011
Durant, OK
e-mail

Brits at the Village
10/9/2011
Norristown, PA
e-mail

26th Annual Madison County Car Show
10/9/2011
Winterset, IA
e-mail

Lake Mirror Classic Auto Festival
10/14/2011
Lakeland, FL
e-mail

Urbana Halloween Car & Truck Show
10/15/2011
Urbana, IN
e-mail

2011 Fall Fest Car Show
10/15/2011
Clifton, TX
e-mail

La Cruizers 9th Annual Open Car & Truck Show
10/15/2011
La Follette, TN
e-mail

9th Annual Car Show for Charity
10/15/2011
Villa Rica, GA
e-mail

Project Grad Extreme
10/15/2011
Tucson, AZ
website

22nd Annual Charity Houston British Motor Expo
10/15/2011
Brookshire, TX
website

Car Show 2011
10/15/2011
Joppa, AL
e-mail

2nd Annual Troop 309 Chino Car Bike Show
10/15/2011
Chino, CA
e-mail

12th Annual Ride to Rosenberg Car Show
10/15/2011
Rosenberg, TX
e-mail

Olar Fire Department 4th Annual Car & Bike Show
10/15/2011
Olar, SC
e-mail

Asphalt Angels-Fall Show
10/15/2011
Gambrills, MD
e-mail

The 4th Annual Deer Park Falcons-Fall Custom Show
10/16/2011
Bay Shore, NY
e-mail

Studebakers Drivers Club Zone Meet
10/21/2011
Ramona, CA
e-mail

Monster Mash Car Bash
10/22/2011
Las Vegas, NV
e-mail

Harmony Car Show
10/22/2011
Monterey Park, CA
e-mail

Dixie Olds Chapter "The Gathering"
10/22/2011
Cartersville, GA
e-mail

Cub Scout Pack 18 Car Show
10/22/2011
Grand Bay, AL
e-mail

3rd Annual Open Car Show
10/22/2011
Buda, TX
e-mail

56th Annual Florida Forest Festival Car Show
10/22/2011
Perry, FL
e-mail

2011 King of the Road All Wheels Car Show
10/22/2011
Erick, OK
e-mail

Shirley Looney Memorial Car Show
10/22/2011
Mobile, AL
e-mail

Young Farmers A&M Consolidated Car Show
10/22/2011
College Station, TX
e-mail

Wagonfest
10/22/2011
Bentonville, VA
e-mail

14th Annual BACC Dimmitt Corvette Show
10/22/2011
St. Petersburg, FL
e-mail

Classics on the Green Lumberton Historical Society's 5th Annual Car Show
10/22/2011
Lumberton, NJ
e-mail

5th Annual Tucson Classics Car Show
10/22/2011
Tucson, AZ
e-mail

First State Mustang & Ford Cruise
10/22/2011
Wilmington, DE
e-mail

Annual Chili Cruise Day
10/22/2011
Hughes Springs, TX
e-mail

4th Annual Halloween Classic Car Show
10/22/2011
Humble, TX
e-mail

Berkeley College 7th Annual Charity Car Show
10/23/2011
Paramus, NJ
e-mail

22nd Annual American Legends at Long's Park Corvette & GM Show
10/23/2011
Lancaster, PA
e-mail

Golden Gears Last Chance Fun Run
10/28/2011
Alamogordo, NM
e-mail

Benefit Car Show/Drive In Movie Event
10/29/2011
Mooresville, NC
e-mail

Halloween Cruise-In
10/29/2011
Stevensville, MD
e-mail

Mustang's vs Camaro's
10/29/2011
Spring, TX
e-mail

Moulton Speedway-End of the Year Banquet
10/29/2011
Daniville, AL
e-mail

Roadsters Rock the Islands 2011
11/4/2011
Merritt Island, FL
e-mail

Golden Sands Speedway
11/4/2011
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
e-mail

1st Annual Lovely Ladies Car Show
11/5/2011
Harker Heights, TX
e-mail

Knights of Columbus Council 3150 Car/Bike Show
11/5/2011
Galliano, LA
e-mail

SHPHC 4th Annual Car/Truck Show
11/5/2011
Middlesex, NC
e-mail

Christmas Cruise at the Creek 3
11/5/2011
Murrells Inlet, SC
e-mail

Speedway 95-End of the Year Banquet
11/5/2011
Bangor, ME
e-mail

Orland Chamber of Commerce Annual Car Show
11/5/2011
Orland, CA
e-mail

Celebration of the Automobile & Race Reunion
11/5/2011
Efland, NC
e-mail

Lake Erie Speedway-End of the Year Banquet
11/5/2011
North East, PA
e-mail

Annual All-AMC Car Show
11/5/2011
Boulder City, NV
e-mail

Salute to the Veterans Car Show
11/5/2011
Asheville, NC
e-mail

Stars & Stripes Wheel Show & Cruise
11/5/2011
Cullman, AL
e-mail

Bradford County Relay for Life
11/5/2011
Starke, FL
e-mail

Trip to the Farm Car Show
11/5/2011
Hubert, NC
e-mail

Corvette Owners Club of Houston-Annual Charity Car Show
11/5/2011
Houston, TX
e-mail

Tank Museum 8th Annual Indoor Car & Bike Show
11/5/2011
Danville, VA
e-mail

American Hero's Car Show
11/5/2011
Bakersfield, CA
e-mail

Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex-End of the Year Banquet
11/6/2011
Sweet Springs, MO
e-mail

5th Annual Veterans Appreciation Car Show
11/6/2011
Baltimore, MD
e-mail

4th Annual SoCalROC Show & Shine Toy Drive
11/6/2011
Woodcrest, CA
e-mail

Marshfield Motor Speedway
11/11/2011
Fairchild, WI
e-mail

Big Diamond Speedway-Banquet
11/11/2011
Minersville, PA
e-mail

 

APWI CV Half Shaft Assemblies

See what we have from APWI

RockAuto is now carrying APWI CV Half Shaft Assemblies. APWI has state of the art heat treatment performed on all axles to improve wear characteristics of metal components. The neoprene boots are pre-installed and nuts are included. APW understands the importance of having top quality products at competitive prices.

From Audi to Toyota to Chrysler, you can find the APWI CV Half Shaft Assembly and more under the "Drivetrain" category in the RockAuto catalog.

 

 

Forum of the Month
Cobalt SS Forums

Cobalt SS Forums is a website dedicated to all things Cobalt SS. Our Cobalt SS forum has thousands of discussion topics and Cobalt SS pictures posted by our members. We have many features on this site that are sure to make your experience with Cobalt SS forum enjoyable. The first step would be to register for free so you can take advantage of all the features we have to offer!

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 cynthia@rockauto.com.

 

 

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

Ouch!

Picture this: 1963 Rambler American, automatic, adjusting idle setting on carburetor. Car in the driveway, blocks behind the rear wheels, transmission in R to get the best idle speed "in gear". Do you remember cars with chokes that would idle fast until warmed up, then if you bumped the throttle they'd idle down? It was instinctive to bump the throttle occasionally to make sure no choke action was involved.

Well just out of habit dad tweaked the throttle a little too hard. The car jumped the blocks and rolled down the driveway. Somehow the front wheels got turned so the car began circling the front yard, getting closer and closer to the house with each pass. A crushed house would have been hard to explain to mom. Dad chased the car down, opened the door, and stopped the car before it could run over him or anything else of value. Everybody lived happily ever after, and I don't think we ever mentioned it to mom.

The moral of the story? It's bad luck to leave the transmission in gear while adjusting the carburetor.

John in South Carolina

 

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for awhile!). 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 (see the t-shirts under Extras in the catalog). 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!

 

 

Automotive Trivia

Automotive Trivia

What is this car recently spied in Wallace, Idaho?
A. 1956 Nash Statesman Super
B. 1958 Toyota Toyopet Crown
C. 1959 Fiat 1100 Millecento

What is this car recently spied in Wallace, Idaho?

Answer below

 

 

Plastic Engine Parts

RockAuto

 

Winter is on its way so I used an anti-freeze tester to verify the coolant to water ratio in my car’s radiator was correct. I paused to admire the “new” radiator in my 1979 Chrysler 300. I could swear I installed it a short time ago, but when I logged into my RockAuto customer account, I discovered I have owned that radiator for four years! Time blurs when you fiddle with the same car for over 30 years.

When I installed that radiator I wondered how those newfangled plastic radiator tanks would hold up. The radiator core tubes are an aluminum alloy and the tanks attached to the tubes at the top and bottom are a reinforced composite plastic. Would the tanks melt or leak? Could they handle the heat and power of a classic cast iron V8? Well yes, the new radiator has held up fine. The engine and transmission run noticeably cooler than they did with the old, clogged radiator. The old V8 is actually light duty for a modern radiator like this.

I should have worried more about the composite tanked radiator I installed in my wife’s Mazda 323 close to ten years ago. Its little engine revs much higher and runs hotter in a crowded engine bay. That plastic tanked radiator has held up just fine too.

Radiators with plastic tanks have been installed on new cars for more than 20 years. With an all-metal radiator, the manufacturer has to use the right solders and techniques to join dissimilar metals like brass and aluminum or the radiator will corrode and leak. The “right” materials and techniques are also needed for building plastic tanked radiators that will not warp or leak. Those materials and techniques have steadily advanced and been perfected over two decades by radiator manufacturers like RockAuto’s ACDelco, Spectra Premium, TYC and Vista-Pro. Plastic tanked radiators are lighter, less expensive and can be less prone to deterioration caused by chemical reaction and corrosion.

Car owners still are not likely to brag about the plastics in their beloved cars. I tell my kids they are hearing the four barrel carb in the 300 opening up, but I do not mention the body of that 30+ year old Carter carburetor is plastic.

Maybe we should brag about our plastic radiator tanks and other parts. Plastics just keep improving and handling new, tough jobs well. Late model Mercedes cars, Ford trucks, Jeep Grand Cherokees, etc., have plastic oil pans. The Toyota Camry has a radiator with tanks made from a castor bean oil based bio-composite plastic. The new Chrysler V6 has a complex reinforced plastic housing that holds the crankcase oil filter element. That plastic part sits on the top of a hot engine with hot motor oil and ethylene glycol (coolant) coursing through it. The list of composite plastic engine parts goes on and on.

Disclaimer, my dad is a retired plastics engineer. I should brag more about him too!

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

 

 

Vance's 1971 Opel GT

Vance's Opel GT

This is my 1971 Opel GT (I named her Viole). I bought her in 2005 and spent five years completely dismantling and restoring her.

Parts can be very hard to find. But, RockAuto had the rear exhaust resonator, shock absorbers, engine gasket set, tie-rod ends, clutch kit, and other components critical to the restoration.

Thanks for helping make Viole my daily driver!

Vance in Colorado

 

Share Your Hard Work

Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to feature you & your car or truck in our monthly newsletter. New, old, daily driver, trailer queen, classic, antique, we want to see them all! Please e-mail flamur@rockauto.com with your vehicle's history, interesting details, and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

 

 

Let RockAuto Help

Are you organizing a car show or other auto related event?

Are you organizing a car show or other auto related event? From goody bag stuffers to gift certificates...we can help. We can even publicize your event in our newsletter.

Just send us an email with information about your show.

 

 

Automotive Trivia Answer

Automotive Trivia

What is this car recently spied in Wallace, Idaho?
A. 1956 Nash Statesman Super
B. 1958 Toyota Toyopet Crown
C. 1959 Fiat 1100 Millecento

Answer: A. 1956 Nash Statesman Super

1956 Nash Statesman Super

1956 Nash Statesman Super

1956 Nash Statesman Super

(If you own or spy an unusual post 1945 car, then use your camera to take a photo and email it to flamur@rockauto.com and we might share it with other car enthusiasts in a future trivia question.)

Back up to trivia question

 

 

 

 

© 1999-2011 RockAuto, LLC - Madison, Wisconsin USA. RockAuto name and logo are registered trademarks of RockAuto, LLC. Manufacturer names and logos in the RockAuto catalog are trademarks of their respective companies and are used only to identify their products. All rights reserved.