Extended Life Anti-Freeze Issues
Extended Life Anti-Freeze which utilizes Organic Additive Technology (OAT, H-OAT, or N-OAT) as one of its chemicals should not be used in older cars as it attacks the gaskets and gasket cements causing major leaks.
Antifreeze that can be used safely has the Inorganic Additive Technology (IAT) additive. Also, the antifreeze may be labelled “Safe for Older Cars”-meaning 10 years old at most. Avoid any “extended – life” antifreeze.
Above info was documented by Rolls Royce, “Silver Ghost Association” and by the Auburn Cord Dusenberg auto club.
Our 95 Chevy Blazer experienced this failure using a gold-color antifreeze which was factory installed and caused the engine to fail on our Cruzer trip to Chelan.
Windshield Scratch – How to Remove
Before starting this procedure, check the scratch with your fingernail by dragging it across and if you can feel it - it probably is too deep to be removed.
Obtain some cerium oxide, (can be obtained from Amazon) commonly called jeweler’s or optician’s rouge.
1. Mark the scratch from inside the car with a black felt tip pin.
2. Mask the area carefully as using a rotary cleaning motion will sling the slurpy grinding compound onto painted areas.
3. Clean the windshield good around the scratch.
4. Mix the cerium oxide with water into a slurpy, about the consistence of thick gravy. Add small amounts of water as required.
5. Use a small bowl that you can dip your pad into. Do not submerge the pad if you are using a motorized pad as it will sling the slurpy solution all over.
6. Work in sections, back & forth, up & down, keeping the solution damp and removing material constantly to see what you progress is. Do not use heavy pressure on the scratch and wipe clean often to view progress.
7. Once you have removed the scratch, you may have to lightly polish the rest of the windshield to match the clarity of the cleaned scratch area.
Good Luck!
Ross Stearing Gear Box: These gear boxes require a special semi-fluid grease which is no longer available. Use Castrol Synthetic Gear Lube by drilling a small hole in the filler plug.
Preventing Vapor Lock: Add 1 pint of diesel fuel to 10 gallons of gasoline which will raise the boiling point preventing vapor lock. It will also lubricate the gaskets in your carburetor and also lubricate your electric fuel pump rotary veins as gas with ethanol is very corrosive.
GM HEI Distributor: Before installing a reman distributor in any GM SBC or LBC, you need to examine the lower gear on the distributor to determine that the gear is installed correctly. At the very end of the distributor shaft below the rolled pin which holds the gear on the shaft, there is a small drill dent. This dent has to align up with the rotor point. It can be installed 180 degrees out of alignment which will affect your timing. If you examine the small drill dent, you will notice that it is aligned between two (2) gear teeth. As there are 13 gear teeth, aligning it wrong - it would end up pointing to one (1) gear tooth. I had installed a reman distributor on my truck and was having problems with the ignition firing correctly. This was the problem.
700R4 Transmission Lock Up Torque Converter release switch: Contact R. Teker for a printed diagram listing parts and schematic to build a switch that unlocks your torque converter when depressing the brake switch.
Catalytic Converters
As the catalytic converter is part of the exhaust system on your family car. All cars built after 1975 have a converter.
About 3-4 weeks ago, article in Whidbey Times talked about someone having their catalytic converter stolen from their car parked in front of their house. I talked with the Oak Harbor Police and they said about 6 were stolen last year. Could be more but people don’t realize that this is happening. A further search for 2018, 205 cars had their catalytic converters stolen at the BART parking lot in California while they were at work. 95% of them were Accura’s.
Why would they steal one? Because the converters have those precious metals in them and they sell them to metal scrap dealers for a fraction of the cost of what they are worth. The catalytic converter is a canister filled with a ceramic matrix of tiny air passages the exhaust gases flow through on the way to the muffler and tailpipe. The ceramic surface is coated with a thin layer of precious metals, palladium, platinum, or rhodium. When exhaust gases containing carbon monoxide, unburned fuel and nitrogen oxides contact the metals, a chemical reaction happens turning them into carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water.
Small cars usually average 1 to 2 grams per car of Platinum, Palladium, or Rhodium or a combination of all. Larger trucks can have as much as 12 to 15 grams.
There are 28.5 grams to an ounce. Platinum is $1300 -1400 an ounce. Palladium is $800-900 an ounce. Rhodium is $3500 -4000 an ounce. Therefore a gram =$122 and a 6 gram Rhodium catalytic converter is worth $938.
All catalytic converters have a code number which identifies them to the make and model of cars from which they came. This will determine how much of each of the precious metals are in the converters and how much they are worth on the scrap procedure.
I did a search on ebay for scap scrap converters and saw two Toyota converters where the bidding price was at $355 for the lot. Checking further on the internet, which lists used/scrapped converters with their current prices, I saw truck converters as high as $800.
So if you wake up some morning and your car is very noisey, you might have had your catalytic converter stolen during the night. Thieves are able to steal a converter in 2-3 minutes.