Arnott has recently expanded their offering of air suspension parts to include Air Struts for Porsche Cayenne and Tesla Model S, as well as Ride Height Sensors for Audi Q5, Land Rover Ranger Rover and a variety of Mercedes-Benz models. Find Arnott parts for specific vehicles under the "Suspension" category at RockAuto.com.

Arnott suspension products are designed, engineered, and assembled in the U.S. or Europe, and are quality-built to help you restore your air suspension to the OE ride, for a fraction of the dealership price.

Arnott makes Air Compressors, Air Springs, Air Suspension Solenoids and other parts to restore both late-model and older vehicle air suspension systems. RockAuto also has Arnott Coil Springs and Strut / Coil Spring / Mount assemblies that convert an OE air suspension to a more economical and easier-to-maintain coil-over suspension.

Erase Memories of a Mishap
Gift a Tail Lamp Assembly or an Outside Mirror & Glass Assembly (found in “Body”) to easily repair the result of that accidental mishap in the parking lot.

Replace Slowly Failing Parts
Give Trunk/Hood Lift Supports (found in “Body”), Wiper Blades (found in “Wiper/Washer”), Struts/Shock Absorbers (found in “Suspension”) or other new parts to replace the old parts on your loved one’s vehicle that are gradually failing and are becoming increasingly annoying!

Protect Your Vehicle
Provide vehicle protection and help keep rain, snow, UV sunlight and other debris off vehicles being stored or being left unused for some time with a Car Cover (found under the “Tools & Universal Parts” tab in the "Accessories" category as "Protective Covering"; also listed under "Accessories" as "Car Cover" for some specific vehicles).

Inexpensive Gifts & Stocking Stuffers

Literature
Gift a reproduction Sales Brochure or Owner’s Manual (found under “Literature”) for your auto enthusiast. Or, help make any repair a success, from simple maintenance to basic repairs, with a model specific (2014 F150, 2006 Impala...) Repair Manual (also found under “Literature”). Does a loved one have a big project ahead? Find non-model specific (suspension, electrical, brakes, A/C...) Repair Manuals under the "Literature" category of the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab.

Fuel System Cleaner
Gift better starts, smoother idling and maximize fuel economy with a Fuel System Cleaner. Find Fuel System Cleaners under "Fluid/Chemical" in the "Fuel & Air" category of the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab.

Battery Charger
For small engines to boats to big rigs, gift a battery charger/maintainer to ensure your loved one’s battery is always fully charged and ready for use. Find "Battery Chargers" under "Tools" in the "Electrical" category of the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab.

Let Them Choose the Part, Repair Manual or Tool They Need Most:
Make your gift giving easy this year with a RockAuto Gift Certificate! A Gift Certificate will let the recipient get the parts or tools he/she most needs! They are available for any amount, are easy to purchase and even easier to use!

CadillacForums.com is a great website where you can talk about your favorite Caddys including the ATS, CTS, SRX and Escalade. Although the primary focus of this forum is "modern" Cadillacs, you will find active discussions on past models like the STS, Eldorado, Allante, etc. There is also a section for antique and classic cars! Every Cadillac enthusiast will find something of interest in this friendly and active forum.

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 marketing@rockauto.com.

My second car was a beautiful white 1993 Ford Thunderbird with the 5.0 liter V8. That car still makes me smile just thinking about it. A great daily driver and cruiser. When it came time for my first oil change, I pulled the drain plug and started to drain the oil as usual.

After I pulled the filter and drain pan out, I thought "That's not a lot of oil. I must have been really low." Being happy I saved my engine from certain doom, I I filled it up and gave it a test drive, and immediately knew something was wrong; there was a steady stream of blue smoke coming out of the dual exhaust, and the car felt sluggish. After getting back to the garage and asking my brother what he thought, he said, "Oh, those have two drain plugs, you didn't know?" Uh, no...!

I got back under the car and sure enough, there is a front and rear drain plug due to the oil pan straddling the subframe. I must have had at least eight quarts of oil in there! Preparing for the worst, and hating all the oil and money I had wasted, I drained the oil pan (now through both drain plugs) and refilled it with new oil. After carefully checking and rechecking the oil level, all was well. Who knew some cars have two oil drain plugs?

Ben in New York

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 RockAuto 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!

Subaru's only manufacturing plant outside Asia is in Lafayette, Indiana. The plant has produced more than six million vehicles since opening in 1989, but more than a million of those were not Subarus. What other manufacturer's model was built by Subaru?

A. Isuzu Rodeo
B. Honda Passport
C. Toyota Camry
D. All the above

Answer below

I finally fixed the bleary-eyed headlights on my wife's '93 Ford Tempo using a Headlamp Restoration Kit! The headlights now shine much brighter and the car looks fifteen years younger (at least from the front).

I was skeptical the kit would work on such old, scratched, peeling, discolored lenses. I figured I would give the kit a try but would not be surprised if the Headlamp Assemblies still needed to be replaced. I was wrong to be so pessimistic!

The kit I ordered, 3M part number 39008, included a padded sanding wheel that fits onto an electric drill. A series of decreasingly abrasive sanding discs are used to remove the damaged surface of the lens; finishing up with wet sanding and polishing compound.

It feels a little presumptuous to offer advice after restoring only two headlamps, but I was so happy with the results; I will go ahead and be presumptuous! Here are my tips and answers to some questions I had before I started.

The sanding discs and sanding pad attach to the sanding wheel with velcro-like material, making it possible to switch discs in seconds. It took about an hour to finish both headlamps, including time spent reading the instructions, finding an extension cord for my drill, etc.

As the instructions suggested, I used masking tape to protect neighboring surfaces. I recommend also taping heavy paper or cloth over the bumper cover or any surfaces you might inadvertently touch with the sanding wheel. The most abrasive sanding disc hardly felt abrasive at all, but the edge of the spinning wheel could scuff something. The drill does not have to be spinning fast. I kept my drill going as slowly as possible to better maintain control.

I was worried the headlight alignment nubs on the lenses would tear up the discs. I carefully sanded around the nubs, but the discs were not at all fragile; none of them ever ripped or came off.

I considered finishing one headlamp completely before starting on the second one, but I am glad I chose to do both headlamps simultaneously. Several times the appearance of one headlamp told me I needed to do more sanding on the other headlamp.

There were enough discs left over to polish at least two more Ford Tempo-sized headlights. Larger lenses with more damage would use up more discs.

I half expected the sanding wheel to punch holes through the old headlamp lenses, but that did not happen. The sanding discs are just taking a film off the surface. The finished, beautifully polished lenses actually felt much more substantial, like heavy glass headlamps.

The last question I had was how could the headlamps become so terribly weathered while the Ford's plastic front turn signal lenses and tail lamp lenses still looked like new. I called my dad, a retired plastics engineer, who started out at Guide Lamp way back in the early '60s, not too long after GM had switched from glass to plastic tail lamps. Dad said the tail lamps and turn signals are usually made out of extremely durable acrylic. Unfortunately, at least into the '90s, acrylic could not be molded thin enough for headlamp lenses. Thicker acrylic lenses would have blocked too much of a headlight's light.

Find Headlamp Restoration Kits under the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab, in the "Body" category listed under "Headlamp." Find new Headlamp Assemblies under "Body" for specific vehicles in the RockAuto catalog.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Toms articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

Here is my 2003 Volkswagen Beetle I purchased for $200 and saved from the scrap yard. This Beetle was neglected and in need of much TLC. The Volkswagen was barely running, had no brakes, and was overall in bad shape. After cleaning it up, getting parts from RockAuto (brakes, hoses, springs, seals etc.), and much labor with my brother, we were able to bring the Beetle back to life. This little guy only has 74K miles and now has a new home and is such fun to drive.

Thanks for the continuing supply of great parts at great prices for this and all my other cars (Jeep, Honda, Ford). I no longer have to wait for the counter guy to figure out what part I need. I go to RockAuto and find it.

Denny in Ohio

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to give you the opportunity to have your car or truck possibly featured in one (or occasionally more) of our publications such as the monthly newsletter, collector magnets, RockAuto social media or other commercial use. New, old, import, domestic, daily driver, trailer queen, classic, antique, we want to see them all! Please email flamur@RockAuto.com with the vehicle history, interesting details, your favorite images (tips for taking pictures of your car) and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

Subaru's only manufacturing plant outside Asia is in Lafayette, Indiana. The plant has produced more than six million vehicles since opening in 1989, but more than a million of those were not Subarus. What other manufacturer's model was built by Subaru?

A. Isuzu Rodeo
B. Honda Passport
C. Toyota Camry
Answer D. All the above (Since June 2016, the Subaru plant has only built Subarus.)

Back up to trivia question