The Good Old Days of Points, Condensers, and SU Fuel Pumps

This "how to" highlights a great way to keep your brake calipers looking new and clean. It's always a shame when you have a nice set of 18" wheels on your freshly detailed car and you see that old, rusted, dirty brake caliper behind it. But within minutes, you can make that old caliper look like...

Back in the near Stone Age when I was in high school and owned British cars, the junkyard was my and my buddies' local car parts store. As long as you didn't need an engine, gearbox, or rear axle, nearly everything else was $5.00 total.  We would take in nearly empty toolboxes, load them up with...

I was driving home one evening when a car overtook me with what appeared to be showers of sparks emanating from the rear tire. The driver appeared to be unaware of anything being wrong. Fortunately he had to stop just up the road for a set of red traffic lights. I pulled up alongside and informed...

Most Volvo owners agree it’s not uncommon to want a bit more power out of their reliable old Swede. Having a turbocharger fitted from the factory means you have flexibility in how you increase your engine's power over stock levels. Or, you may have a turbo that is struggling to deliver your...

When your car needs repairs buying car parts online can save you a lot of time and money. Buying car parts online has significant advantages over traditional brick and mortar stores like Napa and Auto Zone, with the largest advantages being a much larger selection and much lower prices....

Today’s how to will help the novice DIYers with one of the most overlooked maintenance items: flushing your Volvo’s cooling system. This is not a hard thing to do and should be done every two years.  This is what you will need to get the job done: • 8 bottles of distilled water • 1 gallon of...

One of the interesting aspects of owning an older Volvo, Mercedes, or BMW, is that you can routinely exceed the expected lifespan of some parts that “normal” ownership never sees. In addition, if you live in an area like I do, with constant sea air and frequent use of road salt in the winter,...

Before I dive into this potentially sensitive subject, I’m going to state that this article may not sit well with people. I’m not writing it to make anyone angry or to be controversial. I’m just sharing some of the knowledge that I've learned through my own research and from friends who work in...

In our industry, there are hundreds of manufacturers for the automotive spark plug, with dozens available for a single application. There are standard copper spark plugs (for some older applications), platinum plugs and iridium spark plugs, and performance orientated plugs, with special electrode...