Category Archives: Servicing Cars

Automotive Shops–Torque

Posted on June 26, 2015 by jimsgarage

Automotive service shops are a tough game to play in.  The dealerships do everything they can to hold their customers captive to their own service department.  Obtaining factory diagnostic tools and information can be difficult and is always very expensive. … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Servicing Cars | 5 Comments

Be Careful What You Wish For…

Posted on June 11, 2015 by jimsgarage

You may remember an oft told tale of a genie that immerged from a magic lamp and would grant three wishes to a mortal human.  You may also remember how, in the story, that the human struggled to deal with … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Engines, Life and Cars, Servicing Cars | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Bouncing Speedo

Posted on July 8, 2014 by jimsgarage

As you may know my daily driver is a 1992 Toyota Pickup truck.  Pickup is capitalized because that was the model name that Toyota gave its mini-truck.  This red truck started its life as the most basic (cheap) truck that … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Life and Cars, Modifying Cars, Servicing Cars | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Another Bullitt Mustang Project Car

Posted on March 24, 2014 by jimsgarage

Ford produced the Mustang back in 1964 and it kicked off the era of the pony car.  Soon Chevy had the Camaro and Pontiac had a Firebird, followed by Mopar’s Barracuda. Carol Shelby was tapped to produce a performance version … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Movies, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Life and Cars, Modifying Cars, Servicing Cars, Suspensions | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Robotic Gas Pump–Coming Soon?

Posted on March 21, 2014 by jimsgarage

In the old days, prior to 1972, you would pull into a filling station and a person would come out and greet you.  They would ask how much and what type of gasoline you wished to purchase.  They would pump … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Life and Cars, Servicing Cars | Leave a comment

Ate BLUE–we’ll miss you old buddy

Posted on October 11, 2013 by jimsgarage

Ate has been a favorite brake fluid manufacturer for those of us that are higher performance car floggers, or at least think we are.  It has a nice high (dry) boiling point 536 F and wet at 392 F.  It … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Life and Cars, Modifying Cars, Servicing Cars | Tagged | 2 Comments

Building a Track Car – Thoughts on the Miata

Posted on January 5, 2012 by jimsgarage

As I wait for more parts to arrive I am continually reviewing what needs to be done to the car to make it track worthy. There will no longer be a need for Air conditioning so I will remove all … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Engines, Life and Cars, Modifying Cars, Racing, Road Racing, Servicing Cars, Sports Cars, Suspensions | 1 Comment

Vintage Racing Service and Support – Raleigh

Posted on December 1, 2011 by jimsgarage

This morning I took a short road trip to Raleigh where I came across the kind of car shop to die for.  It is named Apex Vintage and don’t go looking for it in Apex either. Do you own a … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Garages, Life and Cars, Modifying Cars, Racing, Rally Cars, Servicing Cars, Sports Cars, Suspensions | 3 Comments

The Toyota Leaf is Too Cool and the Chevy Volt is Too Hot

Posted on November 29, 2011 by jimsgarage

Meanwhile three crash test have confirmed that the Chevy Volt is one hot car.  Reminiscent of the laptop fires of a couple of years ago, it appears that the Lithium Ion batteries require careful handling after an impact.  Chevrolet is … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Cars, Servicing Cars | 2 Comments

When Electric Power Steering Goes Bad

Posted on August 24, 2011 by jimsgarage

Design News is a publication that I get and occasionally they have some pretty interesting writeups on design problems on their website.  This one concerns the change from hydraulic power steering to electric.  Government mandated Electronic Stability Control will be in … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Car Stuff, Care and Feeding, Cars, Life and Cars, Servicing Cars | Tagged | Leave a comment