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RockAuto June Newsletter :: Early Edition

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Another Happy Customer!

I am a first time RockAuto customer. And I must say I am VERY impressed with the service, price, and availability of parts from RockAuto.com. I ordered a fuel pickup/sender assembly for my 1992 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer. The price was substantially lower than local parts stores or other internet based parts stores...

Thanks to all!

Another Satisfied Customer,
Steve in Florida

 

Carlisle Events
RockAuto is the Official Auto Parts Store of Carlisle Events

Carlisle Events

2010 Schedule of Events:

Carlisle Ford Nationals
June 4-6

Carlisle All-GM Nationals
June 25-27

Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals
July 9-11

Carlisle Bike Fest
July 23-25

Carlisle Truck Nationals
August 6-8

Corvettes at Carlisle
August 27-29

Fall Carlisle & Auction
Sept. 29 - Oct. 3

 

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

Vettes of Coastal Maine Bar Harbor Tour 2010
6/4-/6/6 2010
Bath, ME
website

Weekend Warriors Annual Car Show
6/5/2010
Grimshaw, AB, Canada
e-mail

16th Annual Inland Valley Street Rods Car Show
6/5/2010
Ontario, CA
website

Twentynine Palms Street Fair & Car Show
6/5/2010
Twentynine Palms, CA
e-mail

Make A Wish-Annual Midwest Hot Rod Show
6/5-6/6/2010
St. Louis, MO
e-mail

Mopars in Motion Events - Second Annual Mopar Car & Truck Show at Roberts Chrysler Dodge Jeep
6/6/2010
Meriden, CT
website

17th Annual Corvettes & Jaguars at Linden Hall
6/6/2010
Uniontown, PA
e-mail

3rd Annual Montana Hope Car Show
6/12/2010
Missoula, MT
website

Tri-Lakes Cruisers 9th Annual Benefit Car Show
6/13/2010
Colorado Springs, CO
website

North Country Cruisers Car Club Car Show
6/18/2010
Warroad, MN
e-mail

Mopars in Motion Events- Power Festival Car Show Swap Meet & Drag Racing at New England Dragway
6/19/2010
Epping, NH
website

Mopar Muscle Club of NM 2010 - 15th Annual Mopar Fest
6/19/2010
Rio Rancho, NM
website

4th Annual Dads & Grads Car Show
6/19/2010
Lexington, KY
website

Audi Northshore Relay for Life American Cancer Society Classic Car Show
6/19/2010
Port Washington, WI
e-mail

Classics in Paradise Car Show
6/19/2010
Sparks, NV
e-mail

Good Shepherd School Classic Car & Truck Show
6/19/2010
Perryville, MD
e-mail

Historic Region Vintage Chevrolet Club-Annual Car Shows
6/19/2010
Trenton, NJ
e-mail

The Cars are the Stars Car Show
6/19/2010
Ellington, CT
e-mail

8th Annual Peace Classic Car & Truck Show
6/20/2010
Des Moines, IA
e-mail

Kent Island Cruisers-Fathers Day Car Show
6/20/2010
Stevensville, MD
e-mail

Route 66 Car Club 21st Anniversary Fathers Day Car Show
6/20/2010
St. Clair, MO
e-mail

4th Annual Club Redline Street Show
6/20/2010
Bemidji, MN
e-mail

Corvair Society of America (CORSA) National Convention
6/21-6/25/2010
Cedar Rapids, IA
website

Moose Lodge 147 2nd Annual Car Truck Show
6/26/2010
Mooreland, IN
e-mail

12th Annual East Coast Early Broncos
6/26/2010
Manassas, VA
e-mail

Sweet Ride 2nd Annual Charity Car Show for Kids
6/26/2010
Sweet Home, OR
e-mail

Mopar Day in the Park 17 Car Show & Swap Meet
6/26/2010
Carmichael, CA
e-mail

18th Annual Freedom Festival Car Show
6/26/2010
Linton, IN
website

38th Annual Sloan Museum Auto Fair
6/26-6/27/2010
Flint, MI
website

Victoria Swap Meet, Car Show & Social Gathering
6/27/2010
Victoria, BC Canada
e-mail


19th Annual Cruisin in the Sun Car Show
6/27/2010
Richmond, CA
e-mail


11th Annual Can-Am National Car Show
7/3/2010
Tipp City, OH
e-mail

 

Hot & Stuffy?

Dorman Part 741565 for '96 to '00 Honda Civic

...Or cold & wet? Is it a battle to get your car windows up or down? Does your window work sometimes but not always? Does it go down with a bang? It might be time to replace your power window motor and/or regulator. The regulator is the mechanical linkage that moves the window up and down.

Not sure if the regulator or the motor is bad? There is no need to waste time installing a new motor on a worn out regulator or vice versa. Many of our manufacturers build power window regulators with new motors already attached.

Check out the "Body-Interior" category of the RockAuto catalog to find the window regulator, window motor, or regulator/motor combination that you need to renew your vehicle's windows!

 

 

Let RockAuto Help

Car Show

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.

 

 

Forum of the Month

Ford Forums Online.com is the destination forum for Ford enthusiasts. We have a dedicated team of individuals who are extremely knowledgeable in the automotive industry. Ford Forums Online has a growing content database that includes Ford recalls and service bulletins. Come join the fastest growing Ford message board on the Internet.

 

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

Ouch!

After owning my 70 Buick GS455 (bought new) for several years, my wife and I detailed the engine compartment. We removed almost every part except the block and heads, cleaned everything thoroughly and applied a fresh coat of paint to everything to match the factory colors. Looked great with those ram air snorkels, Buick red engine, etc.

About a week after everything was back together I was driving to work when suddenly plumes of blue smoke started to come out from under the hood and from under the car. I quickly pulled over, opened the hood and was horrified to see everything under the hood covered with dripping hot engine oil. Cause: I failed to harness the plastic oil line away from anything hot (mechanical oil and water temp gauges had been installed a few years earlier). The oil line slipped down and came in contact with the exhaust manifold and the heat melted a hole in the line and a couple of quarts of oil shot out under pressure, saturating everything under the hood.

A couple of months of work down the drain. I never was able to get all that oil cleaned out of the engine compartment.

Joe in Pennsylvania

 

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

Which was the first car available with a mechanical air conditioning system utilizing a compressor, condenser, receiver drier and evaporator?

A. 1939 Packard, the only way to turn the A/C system off was to open the hood and take the belt off the A/C compressor.
B. 1948 Cadillac, the switches and controls for the A/C were on the rear parcel shelf behind the back seat.
C. 1937 Lincoln Zephyr, the A/C option cost $302 and was installed on only 460 Lincolns between 1937 and 1941
.

Answer: A (source: Automotive Air Conditioning and Climate Control Systems by Steven Daly)

 

 

Blowing Air at Only One Speed

RockAuto

Standard Motor Products RU256

If the blower motor for the heat and A/C system starts blowing air at only one speed or stops blowing altogether, then there is a good chance that the blower motor resistor has failed.

On most cars the blower motor is a simple electrical motor with only two wires coming out of it. The speed of the blower motor and its attached fan is determined by how much electrical current comes through the wire.

The resistor(s) in the blower motor resistor act like a valve to control the flow of current to the motor. When the fan switch on the dash is at its lowest setting, then the current is routed through the highest ohm resistance in the blower motor resistor. The resistor uses up most of the current before it gets to the blower motor and the fan turns relatively slowly.

Move the switch on the dash to the highest fan speed and typically the current is not routed through the resistor, but goes 100% to the blower motor so the motor and fan operate at maximum speed. This is why blower motors will often operate at top speed even if the blower motor resistor has burned up.

The blower motor resistor is usually mounted to the plastic heater case in the dash or under the hood. The blower motor resistor turns the current flowing through it to heat and the air flowing through the heat & A/C system case helps cool it down.

The photo is of the very simple blower motor resistor found in my wife’s ’87 Mazda. The maximum resistance and lowest blower motor speed occur when the current is routed to run the full length of the coiled wire resistor before getting sent out to the blower motor. The resistor wire looks like the filament from an incandescent light bulb and it can burn out similar to a filament. Where the resistor wire breaks determines what if any speeds the blower motor will still operate at.

Find blower motor resistors for your vehicle by ACDelco, Airtex/Wells, Dorman, Four Seasons, Motorcraft, and Standard Motor Products under "Heat & Air Conditioning" in the RockAuto.com catalog.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

 

 

Mario's 1980 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo
Mario's 1980 Pontiac Trans Am Turbo

Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1980s my best friend had a Turbo Trans Am in High School - what a car! It turned heads everywhere we went! Eventually, he graduated college and got a job that supplied him with a vehicle - so the T/A was sold to a neighborhood teenager who subsequently wrecked it. My friend always regretted selling it. One day, while surfing the online auto auctions, I came across this car - an all original and badly neglected 1980 Turbo Trans Am. It had only a single bid from a person who wanted the engine and nothing more. I couldn't let another piece of history be destroyed so I placed my bid and won!

In May of 2007 I traveled out to Gettysburg, PA to pick up the car and bring her home. I immediately began the restoration. Body panels were removed and stripped down to bare metal - three paint jobs in total. The interior was stripped and discarded; all the glass removed. The body panels were repaired where required and the car was reassembled and prepped for painting. The entire interior was replaced with new reproduction upholstery and carpeting; the hard plastic panels were replaced and re-dyed the original color. Finally, reproduction decals were applied along with "Special Edition" styled pinstripes. One year of hard work and the car was back to the way she left the factory in November of 1979.

Then in April of 2009 the unthinkable happened and my beloved car suffered a near-catastrophic engine failure. The fuel pump eccentric had come loose from the camshaft and the retaining bolt backed through the water pump housing, contaminating the engine oil with coolant. I was devastated. I knew what needed to be done to get her back up and running but I had no way of knowing how extensive the damage was. I insisted on "Keeping my GM car all GM" and while other suppliers offered re-manufactured or aftermarket replacement parts, RockAuto was able to supply me exactly what I needed - brand new original GM parts. I installed a new water pump, fuel pump, cam sprockets and chain, gaskets, etc. - all supplied by RockAuto. Thankfully, after everything was buttoned-up and I turned the key, I was rewarded with the satisfying rumble of the engine - everything was back to normal. Thank you, RockAuto!

Mario in New Jersey

 

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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