RockAuto.com RockAuto July Newsletter :: Early Edition

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Another Happy Customer!

I have ordered several times from RockAuto. Thrilled with the prices and fast shipping!

I have seven auto parts stores here in my town, they can only give me excuses, while RockAuto gives me parts!

Paul in West Virginia



Upcoming Events
If you would like your event featured here e-mail with details.

Cool Cities Car Show & Cruise
7/11/2014
Bay City, MI
e-mail

2nd Annual CarWalk & HOT Abilene Nights
7/11/2014
Abilene, TX
e-mail

3rd Annual Cinnaminson Girls Softball Car Show
7/12/2014
Cinnaminson, NJ
e-mail

Cool Bayview Night Car Show
7/12/2014
Langley, WA
e-mail

Limitl3ss Car Show
7/12/2014
Kernersville, NC
e-mail

Classics on Main Car Show
7/12/2014
Bowling Green, OH
e-mail

Oakridge Oregon Car Show
7/12/2014
Oakridge, OR
e-mail

Z Owners of Northern California Annual Car Show
7/12/2014
Brisbane, CA
e-mail

Kustom Karz Club 2014 Show
7/13/2014
St. Davids, ON, Canada
e-mail

Marinette Logging & Heritage Festival
7/13/2014
Marinette, WI
e-mail

Crestview Hills Town Center Car Show 2014
7/13/2014
Fort Mitchell, KY
e-mail

Watermelon Festival 2014
7/13/2014
Saline, LA
e-mail

Mopars At the Fort
7/18/2014
Missoula, MT
e-mail

El Camino Event
7/18/2014
Lee, NH
e-mail

1st Annual Car, Truck & Bike Show
7/19/2014
Panama City, FL
e-mail

7th Annual Car Bike Truck Show
7/19/2014
Marysville, OH
e-mail

3rd Annual Midwest PT's at the Happening
7/19/2014
Belvidere, IL
e-mail

Hot Town Summer in the City
7/19/2014
Ridgecrest, CA
e-mail

American Legion Glenn Marker post 1160 3rd Annual Veterans Benefit Car Show
7/20/2014
Chicago Ridge, IL
e-mail

PA Jeeps 17th Annual All Breeds Jeep Show
7/20/2014
York, PA
e-mail

The Schoharie Valley Region of the AACA Car Show
7/20/2014
North Blenheim, NY
e-mail

Station 343 Car Show
7/20/2014
Dwight, IL
e-mail

Enginetech Parts

See what we have from Enginetech

RockAuto is now offering the full line of engine parts by Enginetech, Inc. – “The Engine Builder’s Source.” Enginetech has been supplying the engine rebuilding industry with high quality parts since 1982. Rather than simply duplicating OE designs, Enginetech parts are designed for the rebuilder. Professional engine builders and their feedback have led Enginetech to develop solutions to specific problems that your engine might face such as:

Gaskets
Designs that accommodate the kinds of real-world surfaces you have to work with, and really do the job, without leaks. For example:

  • Enginetech head gaskets feature compensated fire ring diameters for over bore protection
  • The right material to seal the right fluid – fuel, oil, and coolant all have different properties
  • No missing small parts - complete kits, logically packaged, ensure you have all you need

Bearings

  • The right material for specific engines - Silicone Aluminum or Tri-Metal are far superior to the early aluminum OE bearing technology
  • Controlled parting line chamfers to ensure consistent oil pressure readings over all bearing surfaces
  • The best alloys available to prevent premature wear from corrosion, load pound out or oil contamination

Piston Rings

  • The ideal materials and face coatings for specific engines and operating environments (cast, steel, plasma moly, chrome, etc.)
  • Barrel face, taper face, positive twist, reverse twist, Napier face and other designs are used where required for best performance
  • Oil ring expanders - designed for ease of installation and the optimum radial wall tension to help control oil consumption
Enginetech Parts

These are but a few of the parts Enginetech offers to make work easier for engine rebuilders. RockAuto also carries Enginetech valves, pistons, head bolt kits, camshafts, cam bearings, oil pumps, timing components, expansion plug kits, new cylinder head castings, reconditioned connecting rods and more! You can find Enginetech products available for Import, Domestic, Light Duty Truck (gas & diesel) and Classics in the “Engine” category of the RockAuto catalog.






Forum of the Month

Oil Burners

Oil Burners is an online diesel community for diesel trucks and their owners! Here you will find discussions relating to the Ford Diesel, Chevrolet Duramax and Dodge Cummins powered trucks. Join our free community! It's a great place to learn new things about your truck, ask or answer questions, and it's also a great place to meet like-minded individuals. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free.




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!

Back in July of 2000, I was putting together my '78 Camaro project. As I put the torque converter into the transmission, I failed to spin it until the familiar "clunk" would have told me it was fully seated onto the pump.

I proceeded to bolt the engine and transmission together again, still oblivious to my screw up. I was in a hurry and more focused on getting this baby put together and fired up. Yes, the bolts seemed like they were harder to tighten up than usual, but my enthusiasm to finish was still unhampered.

As I continued to tighten the bell housing bolts, I heard a loud "POP" and thought, "Ah, there it goes." I proceeded to tighten the bolts until everything was buttoned up, thinking the sound I had just heard was the torque converter seating itself.

A few hours later, with much sweat and colorful language, it was ready to fire up! As I turned the key to the "on" position, I could hear the fuel pump kick in. Within seconds, I cranked it over and the motor responded with a roar...and so did the transmission. I had cracked the pump, sending shards of metal into the internals of the transmission, and it protested with a screeching sound unlike anything I had ever heard. Needless to say, I had to have my freshly rebuilt transmission, rebuilt again.

Just so you know, this was not my first time doing this type of installation. I had previously completed several that went off without a hitch. Put me on the wall of shame!

Moral of the story: never get in a hurry, keep your emotions in check and do it right the first time. When installing that torque converter and giving it a spin to seat, it should fall into place about an inch or so below the bell housing flange.

Leonard,
Somewhere in Heartland




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 e-mail 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

Cars built for Japan were easily recognizable by the mirrors mounted on top of the fenders. Why in 1983 did the Japanese change their laws to allow door mounted mirrors?

A. Foreign car companies had complained that Japan's ban on door mounted mirrors was a non-tariff trade barrier.  
B. Most Japanese preferred the Western look of door mounted mirrors.
C. Costs were lower for Japanese car manufacturers once they could use the same mirrors on both domestic and export vehicles.
D. All of the above.

Cars built for Japan were easily recognizable by the mirrors mounted on top of the fenders
Answer below





Unpleasant Noises

RockAuto

My wife’s ’93 Ford Tempo recently started making unpleasant noises when the transmission was shifted into reverse. Her backup car was sitting in the garage partially disassembled. As the manager of the family fleet, it was my job to find a solution to this crisis.

Major transmission repairs are difficult and costly so I tried to think of anything cheaper and easier to fix. Just looking at the Ford, there was no clear sign that the motor and transmission mounts were bad. The engine moved a bit when the transmission was shifted into gear or revved up, but the movement did not seem extreme. The strange noise was intermittent and would not happen when I was under the hood listening for it. I had never replaced the Ford’s motor and transmission mounts. If I was going to start throwing parts at the car, then I would start with inexpensive parts that probably needed replacing anyway.

All the mount bolts were very tight and required me to use a breaker bar (in the catalog under the Tools & Universal parts tab). But overall, replacing the two motor mounts and one transmission mount on this car was surprisingly easy. The power steering fluid reservoir was the only additional part I had to take off to gain access to bolts. The right motor mount could be taken off from above. The left motor mount was just behind the bumper. The transmission mount required crawling under the car, but all its bolts were out in the open.

The service manual said to support the engine using a jack under the oil pan. The oil pan was not close enough to the left motor and transmission mounts. The engine sagged a bit too far to allow the new mounts to be bolted in place. For the left mounts, I moved the jack from the oil pan to sturdy spots on the engine block and the transmission mount bracket. There was never any major movement of the drivetrain and a small jack easily supported and shifted it as necessary.

The rubber in these front wheel drive motor mounts is a complex disk carefully designed to distribute energy. Comparing the old (right one in photo) and new motor mounts, it was clear that the rubber support structure had collapsed and the hole through the center of the motor mount was in a far different location then it was originally. The soles of running shoes do not last forever and neither do these motor mounts.

Comparing new (left) and old (right) motor mounts
Comparing new (left) and old (right) motor mounts

Our Ford is over twenty years old, but the motor mounts on many newer front wheel drive cars, such as the mid-2000s Toyota Corolla and Nissan Sentra, are still the same design. I do not know what the exact replacement interval should be, but I would not leave this type of motor mount untouched for a decade. An engine that is moving around too much can cause damage (and/or strange sounds).

The transmission mount was broken in two (right side of photo). The upper chunk of rubber still fit into the lower chunk so the weight of the engine held it together and made it appear whole until it was unbolted from the car. This transmission mount is hydraulic with oil inside, but the mount split above the oil reservoir so there was no oil leakage.

New (left) and broken (right) transmission mounts
New (left) and broken (right) transmission mounts

While I was under the car with the evidence inches from my face, I finally saw shiny scuff marks on an exhaust fitting that explained the odd noise. When the transmission was shifted into reverse, the transmission mount separated and the engine moved enough to slightly open the spring loaded fitting that connects the engine side of the exhaust system to the exhaust pipe running underneath the car. The reverse gear noise was the sound of escaping exhaust. Thankfully, the new mounts fixed it.

See what type of motor and transmission mounts your vehicle has by looking under the Engine and Transmission categories in the RockAuto catalog.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com


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






Keith's 1973 AMC Javelin

Keith's 1973 AMC Javelin

I've had my 1973 AMC Javelin now for nine years and I have to admit it's been one fun car to own. Since there are not many of them around, it attracts quite of bit of attention wherever we take it. We're Route 66 fans and have driven almost half of it in the Javelin. If things work out, we'll drive the rest of the route next year.

The Javelin is far from stock with a custom interior, A/C, cruise control, four wheel disc brakes, quick ratio steering, wheels and tires to name a few. I've rebuilt the entire front suspension, the front brakes and more with parts from RockAuto. Thank goodness for a place that has parts for older, not so popular cars!

Keith 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 or RockAuto social media. 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 an e-mail to marketing@rockauto.com with information about your show.






Automotive Trivia Answer

Automotive Trivia

Cars built for Japan were easily recognizable by the mirrors mounted on top of the fenders. Why in 1983 did the Japanese change their laws to allow door mounted mirrors?

A. Foreign car companies had complained that Japan's ban on door mounted mirrors was a non-tariff trade barrier.  
B. Most Japanese preferred the Western look of door mounted mirrors.
C. Costs were lower for Japanese car manufacturers once they could use the same mirrors on both domestic and export vehicles.
Answer: D. All of the above. (source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/11/18/reference/fender-mirrors/#.U6hmrUBLuaJ)

Cars built for Japan were easily recognizable by the mirrors mounted on top of the fenders
Back up to trivia question




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