What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

Valve adjustment with shims under the bucket can be painful. Fortunately my Harley has hydraulic lifters and the DR650 has screw adjusters. I checked the DL650 last year and it was still in spec.

That wasn't rotor warp. I know that because it's almost never rotor warp on a street vehicle.

Anyone who says a street rotor warped isn't following their own logic.

It's like people who point out studies that cellphone use is as dangerous as kicking a sleeping rhino, therefore cellphone use while driving causes accidents.

They don't even follow their own logic when they say stuff like that.

Hence, if someone suggests your rotors warped, keep your eye on them, and slowly at first, just like you would with a sleeping rhino, step backward, slowly, slowly, then a bit faster, and faster, and when you think you're far enough away, turn around and run like a banshee!

Look up the spec for grooves. It's enormous. I'm not saying grooves and gouges can't fail a rotor. I'm saying they have to be the size of the Grand Canyon to exceed specs.

What fails rotors the most (by far) is thickness.

Some pads are rated EE for cold/hot friction. Guess what steel on steel friction is? Yup. E.

Nope. Not gonna buy it. You'll have to sell that elixer elsewhere. I have read too much practical stuff to believe in marketing bullshit.

Removing metal is not the best way to dissipate heat in a rotor. I get the surface area stuff. I do. I get the water-runoff stuff. I do. I get the lighter rotor stuff. I do.

Mass is what matters when you want to dissipate heat, all else (e.g., airflow over the rotors).

Why do you think the biggest spec for failing rotors is thickness?

Let's not just talk. If you really think that removing mass is the way to make rotors run cooler, then just show me a valid reference that agrees with your point of view. (Not marketing bullshit please.)

There is one and only one reason the manufacturers put in FWD.

And it's not handling.

You're completely right. There is one and only one reason the manufacturers put in FWD.

And it's not handling.

However, I would have thought the cost saving was a *lot* more than $50. Are you sure it's not closer to $1000?

Coupled with better rings, you get less blow by into the crankcase less oil contamination..

I just blew the dust off my tuneup toolbox (which is built like a vault).

All I needed was the feeler gauges at the top, plus some Suzuki shims:

And this yellow screw-in dial gauge for the #1 cylinder in mm-before-tdc:

Hmmmmm...... better rings? Are you trying to pull a fast one on me?

I am a logical thinker. That doesn't mean I'm always (or even ever) right.

I'm just logical. So the "better rings" has to be better ... somehow ... in some way.

Where a piston ring is a pretty simple thing (in practice).

NOTE: Just as with spark plugs, there is some engineer somewhere who knows everything there is to know about designing piston rings, so I know everything is complex at the design phase.

But a ring is a ring is a ring is a ring. AFAIK.

Pray tell ... what on earth do you think is *better* about a ring of steel today from that same ring of steel of yesteryear?

There is one reason for FWD's predominance, and only one reason. And that reason was *never* handling.

The whole handling thing was a MARKETING red herring so that the hoi polloi would *think* handling is the determining factor.

The only question is how much did the manufacturer save on FWD. Someone mentioned it was only $50 but I would have guessed at $1000.

Anyone know how much cheaper it is for them to build FWD cars?

It may be minor in the scheme of things, but EFI is much better at dosing the fuel. Running rich from the choke you can be dumping in raw fuel and washing lubricant away, blow by into the crankcase. Especially bad if you had a sticking choke. Back in the day of manual choke, people often left them full on way too long.

OMG, painting has drastically change. Part due to better technology, part do to new paint formula as mandated by DEP to eliminate VOCs.

Solvent paint is gone in favor of water based. Now your car is accurately covered by a robot rather than a guy with a hangover. Up to about 1923 cars were painted with a brush.

Most are not coated but have inhibitors added to the plastic compounds.

The trash bin is an investment for the trash company that must maintain and replace them if damaged. They want quality that will last.

Homeowners are looking for price and no matter how good or bad the item is, many will be tossing it out soon anyway. Low price, high profit is the incentive in choosing material.

It's not complex. I don't get what you are saying. I know some specific plastics that are suitable for outdoor use as I have indicated. Picking a single one is like asking which metal is best? If your requirements are complex it's a complex answer. If you just want a plastic table it's not a complex answer. Ask Tonka what plastic they make their outdoor stuff out of. I'm pretty sure they pick a plastic that won't fall apart for many years.

My kayaks are HDPE with UV stabilizers added. I have an HDPE canoe that has been on my dock in the sun for well over a decade.

BTW, what was the question?

My '91 Buick was traded in with the original exhaust at 15 years, but it was starting to go. I honestly do not remember the last time I had to replace a muffler or pipe as most are SS now and last a long time.

You take an adjustible with you when you don't know what size you will need. If you get lucky, 50% of the time it will work but 50% of the time you go back for a box or open end.

Hrm. I thought that was done to lighten them -- bicyclists are sometimes also called gram-shavers. It provides better cooling too?

thumpthumpthumpthump... rather than vibration.

Then what? It never caused problems and either it went away or I just learned to ignore it.

1/4" x 1/4" and several of them? No idea why they started to hog in, but that's what convinced me to get them fixed.

The idea of ceramic brake pads is upsetting. What's GOOD material now?

78 Caddy (yet another POS, but my mom liked them) paint peeled after 8 years in the sun. Go through any large parking lot and look at all the peeling paint of similarly-aged cars. I was told that they used experimental water-based lacquer. Sounded fishy...

Hm. It's actually hard to find cars that old any more in California. The State pays us to junk them if they can't pass the smog test.

Apparently they fixed the problem -- the paint on the 88 Caddy (unlike the throttle [which caused me to get rid of it in 2016 after it tried to kill me way too many times], the brakes, the AC, the plastic, the headliner, the upholstery, the shocks etc. ) just faded a little bit on the horizontal surfaces. "Antelope Firemist" otherwise known as metallic beige.

I got $1K from the state for crushing it -- it had something like 90K miles and the engine was still running fine and not using oil. New tires, complete new brake system, cheap but good radio. The wrecking yard was not supposed to re-use any of the parts, just crush the whole thing. I really want to think that they cheated.

Steel is steel is steel is steel is steel is steel. Pads are the main friction component since E pads suck and since the coefficient of friction for steel is E.

So if you have GG pads, then the pads are the major friction determinant. The steel is there mainly to dissipate heat.

Conductive mass dissipates heat (as does the vane and airflow design, all of which we have to assume are equal when comparing drilled/slotted to solid rotors).

Everyone has read all the marketing bullshit on why drilled/slotted rotors are better than solid, but nobody seems to have any evidence that backs that purely marketing claim up.

I'll believe verified bona-fide facts showing rotor X stops better than rotor Y where the only difference is the drilling/slotting.

I've never seen anyone come up with those facts.

I'll wait....

I've heard that the younger crowd trades in cars because the electronics are outdated, not the mechanical parts.

Lot of us keep a car until repair cost exceeds book value.