NEWS/ADVICE:
Summer 2007

Late Model Daily Drivers:
The shop was been busy the early part of the summer with coolant related & transmission failure issues. What has lead to this? We believe several factors…as for the transmission failures, most of the time it’s been because of neglect. That is the owner’s lack of effort to maintain the vehicle fluid’s properties with changing of the fluids regularly as needed. Just as with oil, the transmission fluid breaks down after so many miles & so much wear & tear. . We have seen vehicles in our shop with 80,000 miles that have never changed the transmission fluid. Same with coolant, over time it too breaks down & looses its molecular properties and the result is catastrophic damage & failures to vital components. It’s all in the owner’s manual …it gives what & how often everything should be checked, changed, & serviced. The car is not going to talk over a speaker inside the car & say “the transmission fluid needs changed in XX miles” or your timing belt is due to be changed. We all live busy lifestyles.  But every time the engine starts, wear & tear is occurring within that vehicle & if preventative maintenance is not performed regularly, then there will come a day when your counting on that vehicle so you can live your busy lifestyle and you’ll turn the key & realize it need to be looked at right away. Then your plans are interrupted and you’ll have the expense of being without the vehicle but also for fixing it.  Like the old worn out saying goes that holds a lot of truth, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” or “you can pay a little now or a lot more later”.

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Roland & Stacey Law- mentors for tomorrow’s potential auto repair staff.
In May, Roland & Stacey Law went to Pleasant Plains High School for Career Day to talk about a career in the automotive repair industry. They talked to the youngsters about opening their minds about a rewarding & fulfilling career in the field. They listed the opportunities & advantages auto repair roles have over other career choices & the promising future ahead for those who take that as a career path. They also outlined places the kids can go for more information regarding trade schools, scholarships, when the time comes to make a decision. It as a great opportunity for both Roland & Stacey to give some insight into their careers and they were honored to be asked to participate.

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The classics & muscle cars keep rollin’ in:
With the great weather & car show season in full swing we’ve been seeing a constant flow of them coming in. Some have been for minor work, tweaking, or others have needed major work. The Hot Rod Power Tour rolled into town for a day and we had two motorists with it who had become stranded while trying to leave town. The 1^st was a Corvette from Michigan that had a terrible situation, their right rear wheel bearing went bad & the wheel flew off severely damaging the quarter panel & passenger door. Of coarse we tried to keep them on schedule with the tour, but most of the parts they needed had to be shipped in overnight from out of state. So we got everything ordered, our friends at Enterprise came & got them and set them up with a rental car, we fixed it by 1:00 the next day & they were able to catch up with the tour. Then we had some gentleman with a 1965 Mustang from New Jersey who was loosing all power. We found it was a wiring issue within the ignition switch, so we fixed that & had them going within two hours. We were proud to help out and even prouder of the fact they found us by “asking the locals” where to go.

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1940 Pickup Project is DONE!
We finished this past winter’s in house  project of Tom Luka’s 40 Ford Pickup restoration in the late spring in time for all the big area shows. He first took it to Central Illinois Corvette Clubs annual car show held in Friendly Chevrolet & it took home some hardware for Best Truck, Best of Show. Then he took it to the Hot Rod Power tour where he got the attention of Vic Edlebrock & a small picture & mention on the Hot Rod Power Tour Website. The latest place Tom has taken it to is the Good Guys show in IRP in Indianapolis IN where he was judged & picked at one of the 30 Pro’s Picks.

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Law Automotive Racing team 1A & 1K
Our UMP dirt late model racing team is having a good year & the 1a Rocket with pilot Justin Allgaier has already rolled into victory lane with a sweep of wins at I-55 in Pevely Missouri with a heat, dash & feature win there. Rookie driver Kelly Kovski has also given us some impressive runs in the 1K Rayburn. In 6 races, we have had 3 top 5 finishes & 5 top 10 finishes at Jacksonville & Lincoln.  We’ve got to thank our crew members for their help & dedication too: Joe Taft, Chris Usherwood, Roy Kovski, Rick Putnam, Jimmy Winterbauer, & Shane Baker.  We also have to send out a big thanks to their families who allow them to be a member of our team that needs help not only at the races, but for the time needed at the race shop to keep the cars maintained & ready. We hope to see you at the races!