Author: David Sander

This month’s question comes from Wendell Nobel: Dave, I would love to read a little dissertation on automotive paints. I recall a day when GM cars were all painted with acrylic lacquer and Fords were acrylic enamel. Now we have polyurethane base coat with clear coat, single stage urethane and even some water based stuff.…

Absent any questions this month, I will give a brief Z car update. The car is a 1972 Datsun 240Z receiving a total restoration. The car had significant rust in the lower body panels and floor. The left side was much worse than the right side. Work on the left quarter panel is progressing. The…

One of the headlights recently burned out on one of my Saabs. No big deal, this happens every so often. A set of premium brighter bulbs costs almost fifty bucks, and I have noticed they do not last as long as the regular bulbs. A pair of LED bulbs is only fifteen dollars more, and…

I recently lost the radio in my every day Saab. I went to crutchfield.com to look at a replacement stereo. I wanted something inexpensive that would simply replace the radio in my car. I was surprised to see the many options and reasonable prices. For less than 200 dollars, I can fit a replacement radio,…

The distributer in my 1987 Saab 900 Turbo recently broke. Even though it is a Bosch distributer, it is no longer manufactured and parts are not available. This distributer was only used on model years 1986 and 1987. I was able to find a used one; however, several people suggested I upgrade the engine to…

When doing engine work or restoration work, organization is key to success. I recently overhauled an engine in my shop, and I was greatly aided by a careful and thoughtful organization when I took the engine apart. I carefully catalogued the nuts, bolts, hardware and parts in zip lock bags, carefully labeled with a sharpie…

I recently had a Subaru Outback in the shop for some extensive maintenance. I had to remove the alternator to do this work. The car had 185,000 miles on it, and still had the original alternator. I decided I would utilize the time waiting for parts to do some preventative maintenance, and overhaul the alternator…

From the Editor…. Dave, would you please keep this oil discussion going? Questions….. Should we use synthetic in our old cars? What about the question of single-weight oil vs multi-weight oils in our old cars, which is best and why? You have mentioned the moisture collecting in our car’s oil pans, especially during winter storage,…

Hey Dave’s Garage- What is synthetic motor oil all about? Why is it better than natural oil? How does it differ chemically? I always thought that frequent oil changes were necessary because of the build up of acid and other contaminants. Why don’t they build up in synthetic oil the same way? Wendell Noble Wendell,…