RockAuto.com RockAuto June Newsletter :: Early Edition

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Another Happy Customer!

You guys are Rock - solid. I refer all of my friends to RockAuto. Your products have arrived before the date expected on each order I have placed. I have nothing but positive feedback for your company.

If I could find a woman as reliable as your company I would get married again. Keep up the great work!

Marshall in Georgia

 

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

Hi-Line Cruzn Rod Run
6/8/2012
Havre, MT
e-mail

Cruise Into Fall Car Show
6/8/2012
Glasgow, KY
e-mail

Mopar Nation Event 2012
6/8/2012
Jacksonville, FL
e-mail

Speeddays - Erfurt European Championship
6/8/2012
Oerel, Germany
e-mail

59th Annual Rallye
6/8/2012
Glenwood Springs, CO
e-mail

June Super Cruise
6/8/2012
Niagara Falls, NY
e-mail

2nd (and a half) Annual Four Star Baseball Car Show
6/9/2012
Battle Creek, MI
e-mail

23rd Annual Mopars on Review
6/9/2012
Des Moines, IA
e-mail

Chrysler Product Owners Club Car Show
6/9/2012
Annandale, VA
e-mail

28th Annual HPAC Mopar Family Reunion Show Swap
6/9/2012
Topeka, KS
e-mail

The Cars are the Stars Gene Pitney Scholarship Car Show
6/9/2012
Ellington, CT
e-mail

Buffalo Community Daze Car Show/Festival
6/9/2012
Buffalo, IN
e-mail

Corvette Cruise In
6/9/2012
Amsterdam, NY
e-mail

Vine Grove United Methodist Chruch WWJD Car Show
6/9/2012
Radcliff, KY
e-mail

Antique Truck Show-ATHS Columbia Basin Chapter
6/9/2012
Ephrata, WA
e-mail

A Gathering of Classic British Motorcars
6/9/2012
Ramsey, NJ
e-mail

Buford Pusser Festival Car Show
6/9/2012
Hornsby, TN
e-mail

Pawnee Prairie Days Car Show
6/9/2012
Pawnee, IL
e-mail

Country Cruizn 2012
6/10/2012
Taneytown, MD
e-mail

Cameron Car Shows
6/10/2012
Cameron, MO
e-mail

Badger Wheels Car Club
6/10/2012
Strum, WI
e-mail

Sunhouse 3rd Annual Autorama
6/10/2012
Riverside, CA
e-mail

PBA 2nd Annual Car Truck & Motorcylce Show
6/10/2012
Closter, NJ
e-mail

Third Annual Corridor Car Show & Carnival
6/10/2012
Springfield, OR
e-mail

GMCCA Car Show
6/10/2012
St. Paul, MN
e-mail

Tulley Buick-Pontiac-GMC Show "20th Anniversary"
6/10/2012
Hollis, NH
e-mail

11th Annual Benefit Car Show
6/10/2012
Colorado Springs, CO
e-mail

Big Bumpers Meet - Oldenburg
6/12/2012
Oldenburg, Germany
website

Joe Cool Racing 2012 Events
6/12/2012
Colgate, WI
e-mail

The Cadillac-LeSalle Club Annual Grand National Meet
6/13/2012
Sarasota, FL
e-mail

Full Size Jeep ECI Event
6/14/2012
Florence, SC
e-mail

Eurocar 2012
6/17/2012
Phoenix, NY
e-mail

Citroen Car Club Annual Rendezvous
6/21/2012
San Diego, CA
e-mail

Troy Town Cruisers Cruise Nights
6/16/2012
Troy, PA
e-mail

25th Helper City Outlaw Car Show & Cruise
6/15/2012
Helper, UT
e-mail

Full Throttle Cruise In
6/15/2012
Augusta, WV
e-mail

30th Anniversary Club Show/Yanks Weekend
6/15/2012
Sale, UK
e-mail

Car dLane
6/15/2012
Coeur d'Alene, ID
e-mail

Twenty Second Annual Buick Race Day
6/15/2012
Flint, MI
e-mail

Beaulieu Custom Motorcycle Show
6/16/2012
Ringwood, UK
e-mail

3rd Annual Car & Bike Show for Breast Cancer
6/16/2012
Ontario, ON
e-mail

TRAUN 500 US CAR DAYS - 1. Österr. US-Car Club
6/16/2012
Ried im Innkreis, Austria
website

Soco Car Show/Spring Spree.org
6/16/2012
Peyton, CO
e-mail

Swing into Summer Festival & Car Show
6/16/2012
Stockton, KS
e-mail

Steamboat Days Car Show
6/16/2012
Winona, MN
e-mail

Bootleggers Boy Scout Benefit
6/16/2012
Fort Wayne, IN
e-mail

KCI Cruise Car Event
6/16/2012
Kansas City, MO
e-mail

Camaros for Heroes
6/16/2012
Fayetteville, AR
e-mail

Greenville Auto Show
6/16/2012
Hockessin, DE
e-mail

Schohaire Valley Performance Street Machines
6/17/2012
Florsheim, NY
amc4me@midtel.net

16th Annual Dream Cars for Kids Dreams
6/17/2012
Windsor, CT
e-mail

Jacatu Treffen
6/17/2012
Speyer, Germany
website

Mid Atlantic Early Broncos 14th Annual East Coast Bronco Round Up
6/21/2012
West Gate, VA
e-mail

Vintage Street Rodders of America
6/22/2012
Painesville, OH
e-mail

4th Annual Ride-In Motorcycle Show
6/23/2012
Mayetta, KS
e-mail

5th Annual Queen City Mustangers-Mustang & All Ford Show
6/23/2012
Loveland, OH
e-mail

Bethany Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary Car Truck & Bike Show
6/23/2012
Bristol, CT
e-mail

Kamrar Free Car Show
6/23/2012
Kamrar, IA
e-mail

4th Annual Fathersfest Classic Car Show
6/23/2012
Fort Collins, CO
e-mail

Cruise In Event
6/23/2012
Dunnellon, FL
e-mail

JDRF 5th Annual Charity Car Show
6/23/2012
Riverside, CA
e-mail

Show & Shine
6/23/2012
Alberta, AB
e-mail

Gasoline Gang
6/23/2012
Weilheim, Germany
website

Hamblen County Car Club Spring Swap Meet
6/23/2012
Morristown, TN
e-mail

Oldtimer Messe Uster
6/23/2012
Ruti, Switzerland
website

 

New Payment Methods for our Canadian Customers

New Payment Methods for our Canadian Customers

RockAuto has added a pair of new payment methods to better serve our Canadian customers. One new payment option allows our Canadian customers to send checks written in Canadian dollars (CAD) directly to the Bank of Montreal (BMO). With this new option, there will be no need to pay international postage to send checks, payments will process faster which means parts can ship sooner and there will be no exchange rate fees.

This payment option will appear in the shopping cart as "Check or Money Order (CAD)" whenever the billing address is located in Canada. If you choose this new option, your order confirmation page will include any instructions necessary to process your payment. If a refund is ever due for an order paid with a CAD check, we will now issue the refund check in CAD.

Check or Money Order (CAD) & BMO Bill Pay (online/phone/branch) payment methods on checkout screen

The second new payment method allows customers holding accounts at the Bank of Montreal (BMO) to make payments using BMO's "Bill Pay" service. This payment option will appear as "BMO Bill Pay (online/phone/branch)" whenever a Canadian billing address is entered in the shopping cart. Bill Pay payments can be made from the convenience of your own home without the need to pay foreign exchange fees. If you hold an account at BMO, you may add "RockAuto, LLC" to your BMO Bill Pay payee list right now or whenever it is convenient!

We hope these new payment methods will complement the other unique benefits available to our Canadian customers. Canadian customers enjoy the same level of service that RockAuto customers in the U.S. receive on most shipments, including prepaid GST/HST, no surprise broker fees, and rapid delivery from nearby warehouses when possible.

 

 

Father’s Day Wish List

K TOOL Mobile Service CartsPadded Fender CoversMagnetic Pick-up Tool or Telescoping Mirror

Are you unsure of what to get your "Do-It-Yourselfer" dad for Father’s Day? There is still time to get your dad a gift from the typical Do-It-Yourselfer’s wish list:

K TOOL Mobile Service Carts
Let dad conveniently roll his tools and parts right up to the car. Tools are less likely to get lost!

Padded Fender Covers
Protect fenders from scratches when dad is hard at work.

Magnetic Pick-up Tool or Telescoping Mirror
Help dad see and retrieve parts from tight nooks and crannies.

See the RockAuto.com catalog for more helpful gift ideas. Browse the “Tools & Universal Parts” for tools that help with many repairs or specific repairs like brake jobs or electrical work! If you are still not sure what to get him, RockAuto Gift Certificates are the perfect gift for the car enthusiast in your life. They are available for any amount, are easy to purchase, and even easier to use.

 

 

Forum of the Month

The Brisbane Jeep Club

The Brisbane Jeep Club is a group of Jeep enthusiasts from Queensland Australia. We meet on the first Tuesday of the month (see the forum for details). Sign up to our forum and check out our trips and our Jeeping tips. We like getting out on the trail and using our Jeeps for what they were designed for. We also have tool box days where you can come along and just talk Jeeps and get help on mods and maintenance. Our members’ Jeeps range from new JK Wranglers to the historic Willys trucks.

 

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!

When I was in High School I had a 1967 Chevelle. I wanted to learn all I could about how a car worked. I would actually look for things to take apart. One day I decided that I wanted to know how a distributor worked. So I took out my handy wrench, removed the bolt holding the distributor down and slowly pulled it out. All of a sudden there was a spark and huge explosion that knocked me to the curb! As my ears rang I crawled up the fender to see what had happened. I noticed that the valve covers had ballooned outward with such force that they sheered the heads off of the valve cover bolts. Long story short... I forgot to turn off the ignition key and discovered (the hard way) that the fuel pump had been leaking fumes into the crank case. The next day I learned how to drill out damaged bolts...

Alan in Virginia

Editor's Note: Apparently that "disconnect the car battery" step that starts off almost every set of instructions in repair manuals occasionally has some merit!


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 a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts 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 a Jake brake?

A. It is the safety latch or mechanism that keeps vehicle lifts from falling if there is a loss of hydraulic or pneumatic pressure.
B. It is the common name for a parking brake foot pedal that automatically releases when the transmission is put in gear. Moonshiners used this parking brake to make sliding J turns when attempting to escape police. Once only found on modified or luxury cars, it is fairly common on newer vehicles.
C. It is the common name for the large diesel engine compression braking system originally manufactured by the Jacobs Manufacturing Company. The system opens the exhaust valves at the opportune time during the piston's compression stroke. The loss of compressed air means the vehicle's momentum is used to return the piston to its bottom position thus slowing the vehicle.

Answer below

 

 

Aftermarket Solutions

RockAuto

Dorman 904229 Fuel Injection Electronic Control Unit for Ford

DORMAN Part # 674869 for 2006-2007 Envoy, Rainier, Trailblazer and Saab 9-7X Exhaust Manifold

A new car shopper might try to pick a reliable car by thinking about and avoiding any repair headaches they experienced with past cars. For example, they might pick the new car with an engine timing chain rather than a timing belt if they had a bad experience with a previous car’s broken belt.

Unfortunately, the quest for the most reliable car is sometimes thwarted even for the most thorough new car shopper. Cars usually steadily improve with each new model year, but there are occasionally a few steps backward. Parts or systems that almost never required repairs or attention are changed for the worse. Car manufacturers might have good intentions but efforts to decrease the number of parts, reduce weight, etc. can cause unforeseen problems down the road.

It might be nice if car manufacturers always followed the if-it-ain’t-broken-then-don’t-fix-it rule and left tried and true parts alone. The good news is that the aftermarket part manufacturers closely watch for any chronic problems that appear as vehicles age. Once a problem is identified, they quickly move to offer solutions that are often better than new.

Looking at manufacturer Dorman’s regular announcements of new parts designed to fix original equipment (OE) problems, it is clear how nearly impossible it was for the new car shopper to avoid every problem. Yes, there are parts with scary, high tech names like “diesel fuel injection control module,” but many of the parts have the same names as the parts on a ’68 Ford. New exhaust manifolds and gaskets to replace cracked OE manifolds on the 2006-2007 Envoy, Rainier, Trailblazer and Saab 9-7X. New intake manifolds to replace warped OE manifolds on 1997-2004 Ford E-series vans and F-series pick-ups. New wheel hubs to replace seized bearings on the 2002-2005 Optima and Sonata. Window regulators, door handles…the lists of previously reliable parts goes on and on.

If only they had used the sturdy door handles from my ’77 Dodge, the easily accessible heater core from my ’67 Lincoln, the problem-free exhaust manifold from my wife’s ’87 Mazda, the thermostat housing from my ’86 Mustang… The quest for the car that is easy to maintain and will last forever may be hopeless, but luckily the aftermarket parts manufacturers compete to make solutions to fix our real world, less than perfect cars. Sometimes there are multiple solutions available for chronic OE problems. That Ford diesel fuel injection electronic control unit mentioned above is remanufactured by A-1 Cardone, GB Remanufacturing and Standard Motor Products. For owners that want to save money by doing more work themselves, Dorman offers a new circuit board to replace just the specific one that most often fails in that control module. There sometimes may actually be more solutions, less expense and less headaches if every other owner of your particular car model is suffering through the same problem.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

 

 

Daniel's 1970 Nissan 240Z
Daniel's 1970 Nissan 240Z

I am only the second owner of this 1970 240Z that has over 515,000 miles. Runs great thanks to RockAuto! It was my daily driver until it was stolen (and recovered) earlier this year. It has a 2.8 liter engine swapped from a 1977 Nissan Fairlady Z. It gets 23 mpg, and goes everywhere I need it to.

I have done loads of custom work including a five speed 280Z transmission swap, and a 280ZX Turbo clutch along with all new suspension bushings and shocks. The car also has a 280ZX alternator, distributor cap and rotor, spark plug wires, and spark plugs from RockAuto.

I think this car deserves some recognition for its faithful service and performance throughout the years.

Thanks,
Daniel in California

 

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, import, domestic, 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, your favorite images, and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

 

 

Let RockAuto Help

Let RockAuto Help

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 a Jake brake?

Answer: C. It is the common name for the large diesel engine compression braking system originally manufactured by the Jacobs Manufacturing Company. The system opens the exhaust valves at the opportune time during the piston's compression stroke. The loss of compressed air means the vehicle's momentum is used to return the piston to its bottom position thus slowing the vehicle.

 

Back up to trivia question

 

 

 

 

© 1999-2012 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.