The Car I Wish I Kept

You can say I've always had a fascination with cars. I remember being five or six years old at a local Dodge dealership with my father and seeing a Viper for the first time. It was sitting in the middle of the showroom, it was red, and it was awesome. That was the car that got me hooked. To this...

You know the drill: All you have to do is grab the bulb with the two fingers of your left hand, twist your arm a certain way and reach into that dark tight space that you can't quite see into. Have you ever noticed that in your car's owners manual they never tell you these kinds of details?...

When the weather hits extremes, your car’s climate control plays a larger role than ever. We often have high expectations of our HVAC units, hoping they can freeze a bag of peas in the summer with the A/C on and boil a pot of water in the winter with the heat on full blast. In reality, all we...

Gremlins... I've never come across a project that did not have at least one lurking somewhere. Be it someone’s hidden mistake, a snafu that failed to get reported, or simply something over looked. I feel as if they all have a particular way of really driving car guys (even the most experienced)...

It's a beautiful summer's morning and you're getting ready to head to work. You walk outside to your freshly washed Mazda Miata, get in, pop the roof down and start the car. You head out and take the twisty road to the parkway. You get on the parkway and everything seems fine at first, then...

I've done many interference timing jobs, from Japanese to European vehicles. I've also been working on cars since I was five, trying to "help" my father. When I say "help" I mean I was beating a hammer on a rotor face. Eventually, I started tearing down and rebuilding cars as a hobby and it...

Did I just hear you say, “I don’t need to wait for the car to warm up, just give it a big rev!?” Some years ago I used to be awoken early in the mornings by my neighbor revving his car very loudly in his garage.  It wasn't pleasant to hear, especially at 5 am!  It was a new car that he...

If you have a phantom rattle in the front or rear of your P2 Volvo (V/XC70, S60, S80) that you can't pin down, it's possible that your sway bar bushings are on their way out. While most manufacturers typically use a sway bar setup comprised of separate components, Volvo designed a single...

Replacing a car's clutch is never a menial task. When done at home, it often involves a few days, a few 6-packs of your favorite beverage, and a few friends. Despite all of the grunt work, it's important to focus on the small steps that will make your clutch replacement a success and save you...