RockAuto Repair Index

Before buying a car or truck or recommending vehicles to family or friends, it is always a good idea to check the cost of replacement parts. Every car is eventually going to need new filters, hoses, struts, brakes, water pump, etc. An accident might necessitate a new fender, tail lamp assembly, radiator and other parts.

Choose two vehicles and the new RockAuto Repair Index tool (http://www.rockauto.com/repairindex) automatically queries the millions of parts applications in the RockAuto.com catalog, compares the minimum cost of the most commonly replaced parts and summarizes the results. Comparing the cost of hundreds of parts could not be faster or easier.

The tool can also be a lot of fun. Use the tool to back yourself up if you and a friend have an ongoing Ford vs. Chevy or Toyota vs. Volkswagen argument. Hunt around long enough and you can usually even find a vehicle comparison to justify past purchases. “Look darling, parts for my Camaro Z28 only cost 67% of what parts for a Chevy Metro cost. I told you I bought the Z28 because it was a practical car!”

We hope you find the RockAuto Repair Index Tool useful and enjoyable.

Forum Of The Month

If you talk about the famous Buick Grand National and the Internet in the same sentence; it's tough to leave TurboBuicks.com out of your conversation. TurboBuicks.com is the web's authority for non biased, technical discussions pertaining to anything Buick Grand National, GNX, Turbo-T, T-Type, Regal and 1989 Turbo Trans Am. The community is over 12,000 members strong with over a half of a million posts on their message board and they have been in operation since September 2000!

Get answers to your technical discussions from the experts and also find out the latest news on upcoming Buick Grand National racing events across the country. If you are looking for a Grand National to add to your garage check out their cars for sale section that covers the entire USA. Stop in and say hello even if you don't own a Buick...Yet!

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

When I was relatively young I didn't have a lot of extra money to get my car fixed, so I often did it myself, even when I didn't exactly know what I was doing. My '79 Buick Electra needed some rear shocks and, once again, I didn't have the money for installation, so I bought a set of shocks and borrowed my father in law's garage and tools. I backed the car in, jacked it up, and put jack stands under the frame. I took off the old shocks, then took the new ones out of the box--boy were they short! I was too proud to ask for help, so I decided to jack up the axle till I could install the short shocks. I kept raising the axle more and more, but the shocks were still too short to fit.

Exasperated, I got out from under the car to look at the new shocks a little more closely. Seconds later the car teetered and came off of the jack I was using to lift the axle. On the way down, one of the jack stands tipped over. If I hadn't moved when I did, I would have been crushed!

I then read the directions and found I could extend the shocks. Boy...are they a lot easier to install that way!

Phil in Colorado

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!

The Great Lakes Belt

In a national election year I hear “Rust Belt” a lot. I am not overly sensitive, but “Rust Belt” has always grated a bit.

The TV newscasters are referring to Michigan and Ohio but also might be tossing in portions of Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and even western New York. Yes, corrosion is a problem in those areas, but why name a vast region after a problem? How about something positive like the “Great Lakes Belt” or the “20% of the Earth’s Fresh Water, Are You Feeling Thirsty Yet? Belt”.

When I hear “Rust Belt” from people living outside the Great Lakes Belt, I can tell they are smugly thinking corrosion is a choice. “If only those Rust Belt people took care of their cars then they would not have that nasty rust.”

I remember an engineering school classmate from Syria taking a look at a spot of rust on the massive chrome bumper of my Dodge Monaco. He sagely told me to put clear nail polish on that rust to prevent it from spreading. The classmate was looking at one of the rustiest cars in Detroit. I probably should have been pleased that the days I spent in high school grinding, painting and Bondoing had at least concealed the rust from the inexperienced eyes of a Syrian. The rust spots on the chrome were the first signs of rust coming through from the back side of the bumper. A dab of nail polish would have worked as well as planting sod on the side of Mt. Saint Helens.

So newscaster people, Great Lakes Belters work hard to take care of their cars. Detroit sits on top of a salt mine and salt melts ice and snow at Great Lakes Belt winter temperatures. Unfortunately, salt is also an unstoppable catalyst for corrosion.

In the 1960s, Ford started dipping Lincoln bodies into a primer bath. The primer and car had opposite electrical charges and the primer was tightly attached to the body. Tiny bits of steel were also drawn out of the body and into the paint. Switching the polarities of the body and paint solved that problem. Primer baths, zinc phosphate dips, powder paints, and other effective rust prevention methods were used on most cars by the early 1980s.

Newer cars driven in the winter still eventually rust. But Great Lakers are not defined by their cars’ rust and they still enjoy their cars. One of my favorite cars was a 1968 Chrysler 300 I bought in Flint Michigan. It looked good from the waist up. The trunk floor and much of the lower body was gone. But I did not care because it had a 440 under the hood and as each bit of rust fell off it got lighter and faster. I drove that car well into the ‘90s and finally sold it to a man in Maryland who had a rust free convertible body in the same color. He was ecstatic to get a nice interior, motor, etc. and with a body transplant that Great Lakes Belt car lives on!

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

Check out our 1974 Ford Maverick 302, C-4 transmission with shift kit, and a 3.45 rear-end ratio. We have been working on it since February of 2007. It has been in many shows, and is really a blast to drive.

The parts I bought from RockAuto are as follows: Fuel, air, and oil filters, carburetor parts, electric choke fuel lines, front end parts and all hardware, rear leaf springs and all hardware. Along with lots of miscellaneous parts and electrical components, as well as belts, hoses, clamps, etc...

Sincerely,
Jack & Karen in Colorado

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