In this episode of Drive Radio, we delve deep into the evolving costs and technologies in the automobile repair industry. Beginning with a trip down memory lane with a tricky question about a 1955 Bel Air Chevrolet, we transition into pertinent discussions around the sharp rise in costs for auto body work. Expert speakers unveil hidden truths behind today’s automotive expenses, including the overhead of modern materials and why technicians now need to be computer whizzes. Listeners call in with unique insights, debating whether to repair or replace a high-mileage engine and the perennial dilemma between OEM and aftermarket
SPEAKER 07 :
Being an expert on general automotive knowledge, what would the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bel Air Chevrolet with a 327 cubic inch engine and a four-barrel carburetor?
SPEAKER 16 :
It is a trick question. Watch this. Because Chevy didn’t make a 327 in 55. The 327 didn’t come out until 62. And it wasn’t offered in the Bel Air with a four-barrel carb until 64. However, in 1964, the correct ignition timing would be four degrees before top dead center.
SPEAKER 03 :
Get ready for another hour of Drive Radio brought to you by Colorado Select Auto Care Centers. Got a question for the experts? Then give them a call. 303-477-5600. Now it’s time to pop the hood and get our hands dirty. Drive Radio on KLZ 560 The Source.
SPEAKER 20 :
And it’s Hour 2, Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Thanks for joining us today. We appreciate it. It’s Dietze from ProTech Auto Shield with me today. Larry Unger, of course, answering phones. Charlie Grimes, your engineer. And I’m your host, as I am almost all the time. I appreciate Josh and Justin from Legacy and Ridgeline filling in last weekend, by the way. I appreciate that while I was out. And they did a great job, so thank you guys for doing so if you’re listening. And I’m your host today. So, Mike and Littleton, you are next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hey, John, another interesting show with some great topics.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you, Mike.
SPEAKER 10 :
The auto body front fascia, I was just talking to Larry about it. I just said I had to laugh, and I couldn’t second your opinions more. There are no $1,000 scratches anymore. Nope.
SPEAKER 20 :
Not a one.
SPEAKER 10 :
There are no scratches. $2,000 facias anymore. Body work now, nobody uses mud anymore. I get that. I understand that. The materials that are used are not inexpensive and it’s amazing what everybody thinks a fender bender will cost. I’ve gone through that with a couple of daily drivers and And people said, oh, it’s no big deal. Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, Mike, I think a lot of that is, and you tell me if I’m wrong, but there’s still so many people living in yesteryear where they feel like auto body rates and or mechanical rates are $50, $60 an hour, which they’re three, four times that dollar amount today. They’re not that any longer. The parts prices have gone up astronomically. To your point, the product of the paint and the material it takes to even fix vehicles, whether that be masking tape and all of the things that are involved in that to the actual primers, to the paint, to all. I mean, I don’t think, Mike, most people have any idea what the actual costs are. I mean, even at home, a gallon of exterior paint anymore, Mike, is like seventy five bucks. Talk about buying paint for your car now, and it’s way bigger than that. I don’t think most people have any concept of the cost anymore.
SPEAKER 10 :
I couldn’t agree with you more, and I think that your point about what it costs for technicians to work, body shop. These people aren’t mechanics anymore, and you’re doing them a disservice by calling them that. Correct. What they have to be is computer technicians saying, it’s a whole different ballgame. It is.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, and to Dietz’s point earlier, Mike, even on the fascias, front, rear, depending upon what the car comes equipped with on the ADAS end of things, that all then has to be recalibrated as well. And, oh, on top of that, let’s say, for example, that there was PPF put on either front or rear. Well, now all that has to be redone. I mean, it just, you know, that old ticker tape machine just keeps spitting out tape the farther down the road you go.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, and it occurs to me, and I may be wrong, tell me, that it’s probably cheaper for the manufacturer to put it all together at the plant and do it than trying to piece it back together because you don’t have the volume, the way the assembly lines work, etc. Correct. It’s a piece-by-piece thing in an auto body shop or any place like that. It’s It’s going to be more expensive. You’re not putting in a whole fender or front-end module and bolting it on like you would in a factory.
SPEAKER 20 :
That’s right. Any of you have watched video of assembly lines and how things work? Mike, for example, even the way the… The engine transaxle, things like that are installed, which as it’s going down the line, the body’s coming in on top of all of that. Yeah, you don’t get that ability to do things in the real world after the car is out in service. It doesn’t work that way any longer. So to your point, that whole process and even the painting process is different here than it is at the factory. So, yeah, to your point, there’s just no way that that can be duplicated and cost goes up accordingly.
SPEAKER 10 :
That’s right. And your point about, um, body technicians, mechanic technicians, uh, they deserve all the money they get. Uh, and it’s, you know, you’re going to spend 190 bucks depending on what you’re an hour and, and rightfully so the training, the equipment, the computer skills, the whole shoot and match, this isn’t your $20 an hour.
SPEAKER 20 :
mechanic that you and I took our well you didn’t I took my cars to back in 1966 right right now you might come in I first started in the industry granted I’m a little bit younger than you but the first time I started in in the shops working as a kid you know labor rates were I believe 2399 an hour when I first started in the dealership telling you how long ago it was and it was more money even though you’re talking about Guys back then, technicians were making $9, $10, $12 an hour and thought they were making really good money because most of the jobs were paying a couple dollars an hour. So they were still highly paid at the time, comparatively speaking. But in today’s world, for all of you listening, the majority of technicians out there working, if you’ve got any kind of skill set and you can do some billable hours, the majority of those guys, Mike, are making $50 an hour plus.
SPEAKER 10 :
Oh, I agree. I agree. Plus, I mean, depending on some of the cars that I’ve had to have worked on because I can’t.
SPEAKER 20 :
The exotic guys are even in the $70, $80 an hour range, as you know.
SPEAKER 10 :
Oh, yeah. It’s just, you know. But the old saying is. If you have to ask the price, you shouldn’t have bought it.
SPEAKER 20 :
That’s right. That’s right.
SPEAKER 10 :
Anyway, I’ll let you go.
SPEAKER 20 :
No, good stuff, Mike. I always enjoy talking to you. I appreciate it very much. Ted in Castle Rock, you’re next. Go ahead, Ted.
SPEAKER 11 :
Hey, good morning. Hey, I got a question. I got a 2010 Tundra. It’s got a couple hundred thousand miles on it. Good running truck. Yeah. The other day, though, I was driving it and started missing a little bit, and now it’s the number four cylinder has sucked the valve in or the valve’s not opening and closing properly. So I wanted to get your opinion. Should I just get a valve job on it? Should I replace it? What do you think, John?
SPEAKER 20 :
$200,000, I think, personally, I’d do a long block. I wouldn’t even mess with doing heads on a 200,000-mile engine. Granted, it’s a Toyota, and they’ve got good bottom ends, but I think that’s pretty standard across the board for me, Ted. I would be doing a complete—if you’re going to keep the truck long-term, I’d do an engine. Okay. I wouldn’t. And the only reason I say that is you’ll get heads done, get all that done, get all that handled, and let’s say that that’s all great, but all of a sudden it starts using oil a year from now. Well, you’re going to wish then you’d have just done an engine.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I hear you. I was thinking the same thing. Higher compression just puts stress on the lower end.
SPEAKER 20 :
Exactly. Exactly. So I would do an engine if it were me.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, well, thanks for the advice, John.
SPEAKER 20 :
You’re very welcome, Ted. I appreciate it. Great question, by the way. And, yeah, really quick, going back to Mike’s comments earlier, and this is where the days of yesteryear, on all levels, folks, it’s gone. And you can’t do things at the same price you once did. Even calling out the plumber or the HVAC guy or the electrician. I mean, none of those prices are what they used to be. Everything has gone up. That includes getting your car fixed and or getting body work done. Or for that matter, even getting your car detailed, handled, the PPF end of things, window tinting. I mean, it used to be back in the day you could get a complete window tint job done. It wasn’t anything to spend money on. $7,500 to get a window tint job done back in the day. Those days are long gone. The product is more money than that today. You can’t do it for the same price as what you used to be able to. So Buck and Cheyenne, you’re next. Go ahead, Buck.
SPEAKER 09 :
Good morning, John. Larry asked me what kind of a day it was up here, and I told him it was horrible and the wind was blowing like heck. It was about 10 degrees and snowing, and we didn’t need any more Colorado people.
SPEAKER 19 :
There you go. There you go, Buck.
SPEAKER 09 :
No, it’s a beautiful day up here. About 75.
SPEAKER 20 :
Nice.
SPEAKER 09 :
And most of the people that have come up here are escaping Colorado. Yes, they are. They’re not bringing too much of the crap with them. Your question of the day is kind of interesting to me, because… Most of the time, I grew up on a ranch, and so I was working for the family, basically, until I went to the university. And a guy that owned a conical filling station, that’s what we used to call them back then, gas station. I knew I was pretty mechanical, so he hired me to work at the station, do tune-ups, overhauls, what have you. And he told me, he said, now, if you sell anything, you get a percentage off of that. Well, that was the first time I learned about the employees getting a commission. And I grew up on a, we’re not exactly in poverty, but we were flourishingly rich. So we were, I grew up in an area where I was kind of, try to be frugal. So instead of me selling a new fan belt and making a couple bucks, I’d look at it, well, it looks to me like, sir, this will go another 5,000, 10,000 miles. And my boss wasn’t real happy with me because I wasn’t selling enough other stuff. So now if I got that job, I probably would attack it a little different. I can imagine. One of the things that I have a question about, I was visiting with a person who I respect a lot who’s in the industry, and he told me that all of the aftermarket parts, nearly all of them, are built by Dorman, and Dorman owns all of the other standards Whatever is it, O’Reilly or AutoZone, those aftermarket sensors and electronics are built under that same umbrella. Do you know anything about that?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, like I say all the time here, Buck, there are a lot of parts made that are made by just a handful of vendors. On those specifically, I can’t answer that exactly to know whether Dorman is the prime builder of a lot of those. But I do know that there’s not as many manufacturers for individual parts as some might think. There’s been a ton of consolidation over the past couple of decades, whereby in most cases you might find one or two suppliers that are actually out there literally supplying the majority of parts for all manufacturers, by the way, and very, very common. So that would not surprise you. I need to do some research on that buck, but that would not shock me.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. This particular guy was saying that we were looking for parts for an older Buick, 3800. And in that case, it definitely would be the case.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, he would be 100% correct in that case for sure.
SPEAKER 09 :
He said there was still… Elko still made certain stuff, but everything else was aftermarket. And they weren’t of the quality that the OEM manufacturer… No. Well, I’m going to guess, you can tell me if I’m wrong, the manufacturers have them, whoever builds them has to build them to their spec.
SPEAKER 21 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 09 :
And it may be that the aftermarket, where you’re building for somebody else, the specs and quality control are not as good.
SPEAKER 20 :
You know, it’s funny. That one is really a case-by-case situation. There are situations for everybody listening whereby you get to the aftermarket and they’ve learned enough from what was done wrong by even the manufacturer and their specs that, hey, we can build this better than what was done before. on the original side on the same token buck I think the reverse can be true I think there’s some parts whereby the aftermarket will say you know we can combine a few things here probably cut a few costs shave a little bit of this shave a little bit of that still have the part work at the end of the day and it’s not going to be exactly as oem but it’ll still work I think both happens and I’ve got examples I can even read off of that so I think both is true and that’s where you have to really know your part and your own vehicle as to which one is best
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, now I’ve always had pretty good luck with that. I had a failure. The local store has been pretty good about taking care of your business.
SPEAKER 20 :
I agree with that. Yes, you’re right.
SPEAKER 09 :
The store may break you apart, but you have to eat the labor on that. And that’s… I think what people in the business are looking at.
SPEAKER 20 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 09 :
And like I say, I’ve always had pretty good luck with NASA, but I also found out that don’t buy supposedly OEM parts from eBay.
SPEAKER 20 :
No, because they’re usually not. They’re usually counterfeit.
SPEAKER 09 :
I ended up with a bunch of coils that were supposedly OEM parts. And they were no good. Half of them were no good.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yep. Yep. Yep, I have heard that from others. I personally haven’t done anything along those lines because I know that is some of the trend there. And you have to be really careful on eBay and Amazon. Surprisingly enough, even the Amazon sides of things, there’s a lot of counterfeit parts that make their way through. As much as eBay and Amazon and some of those resellers try to keep that out of the marketplace, there’s so much of it, Buck, that they almost can’t control it. Well, they can’t control all of it. They just can’t.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, these came packaged exactly like Ford would package them. They were an exact copy and exactly how OEM would have it. And I found out the hard way. But it’s too bad if I wasn’t so jazzy, I’d have went to the dealer and bought.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, and you know what, depending upon the age of the car, that might not always be best either, because as I said earlier, it depends on the vehicle, the age, the part. In a lot of cases, that part’s not even being made by the OEM or even to those original OEM specs it once was, depending upon the age of the vehicle and the part that you’re looking for.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, this one at OEM was still available.
SPEAKER 20 :
Very well. In that case, you’re usually better off, yes.
SPEAKER 09 :
And I did, well, then on the same vehicle while I was messing with it, I did need to buy some other stuff. I went directly to Ford and went to the Ford dealership down in your area because I like their service better. And, uh, The parts lady told me, she says, you’re lucky. She says you’re at the end of just about to the end of your 10 years.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yep.
SPEAKER 09 :
And Ford will quit supporting you at the end of 10 years.
SPEAKER 20 :
That’s fact. You’re right, Buck. Well said. She’s 100% correct.
SPEAKER 09 :
So I enjoy your show as always. Thanks, Buck. Appreciate you.
SPEAKER 20 :
We’ll do it.
SPEAKER 09 :
We’ll do it.
SPEAKER 20 :
You have a great afternoon. Enjoy that beautiful weather up in Wyoming. We’ll be back in a moment. We’ve got lines open, 303-477-5600. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 20 :
And we are back. Drive Radio KLZ 560. Myself, Dietze from ProTech Auto Shield with me today. Chris and Centennial, you’re next. Go ahead, Chris.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hi, Dietze. John.
SPEAKER 20 :
Hey, Chris. How are you?
SPEAKER 08 :
Great. Hey, I’m checking in. I’ve got my black plate ordered for my new truck. And can I put PPF on my front plate? Will that help it?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, you could. Keep it from getting all dinged up. Yeah, you could.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, because the one I took off after 15 years is pretty beat up.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, and as you know, they make you get new plates, so you will have a nice, new, fresh plate. Yeah, you could PPF that. Sure, why not? Good idea. Actually, I never thought about that. Not a bad idea. I’m going to steal that.
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t know how legal that is, though.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, thank you. I’m glad Dietze said that. As long as it’s not the type of film where you can’t read it going through the tolls and so on, as long as it’s readable, you would have no issues doing that. And I think regular PPF, you’d be fine. I can’t see any issues with that. You’re not allowed, and a lot of people do this, they’ll put the screens over the top of license plates front and rear where if you’re looking from the side, you can’t read the number. That’s illegal.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. Right, no, no, just regular PPF.
SPEAKER 20 :
Just regular PPF, you’d be fine with. Yeah, I see no issues with that. It’s a great idea.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, and then I think I want to do the door sills, getting into the truck.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, in fact, there’s been a few vehicles in the past where I wish I would have went ahead and had them do that, and it’s an afterthought, and I’m going to start just making that a standard thing, Chris, because no matter how well you are and try to not ever run your boot across them, it happens.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yep. Yep, I understand. Yeah, and I’d like to do it while it’s still new.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yep, I agree with you on that one. And again, for all of you listening, you can PPF anything you want.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes. All right. Well, once I get my plate, I’ll be giving you your call.
SPEAKER 20 :
All right. Chris, good job, man. Appreciate you.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, thanks.
SPEAKER 20 :
You bet. Have a good one. And Chris just bought, I know because I met him at a remote here not long ago, bought a new Duramax half-ton Chevy. So congratulations, by the way, and took it in and got you guys to get all your – Yeah, we did the full front. Did the full front and everything on it. Yep. And I saw pictures of it, so it came out really well. It looked great. So, yeah. And, again, those of you that need any of that done, if you’ve got a new vehicle, old vehicle, it can be either or, by the way. They can take and get an old vehicle nice and detailed out – I’ve had them do that for me. You can take a brand-new vehicle. You can take one in between. It doesn’t matter. Now, here’s the key on PPF, as we were talking a little bit earlier in the show during the first hour. The only exceptions to doing PPF is on a used car, for example, would be did it have any previous paint work done to it? In other words, was it ever involved in an accident, and what was the quality of the work done? Because, again, PPF has an adhesive to it. And it’s a heavy adhesive. So for those of you listening, it’s a heavy adhesive because you don’t want it coming back off. And it’s got to go through all of the extreme temperatures that we have across the board. So, you know, all the way down into Arizona where it can be the paint surface can be 150 degrees or more, or you can be in 30 or 40 degree below zero weather. That PPF has to stick there. Through all of that temperature range and the metal. Keep in mind, it’s moving, it’s stretching. Things are doing things that PPF has to have the right adhesive to be able to still stick through all of that. So it’s it’s a heavy adhesive. I don’t know how else to say that. It’s made to stay on. Yeah. The car, meaning that when you go to take that off at some point because of damage or whatever the case, and there may be that point in time where you have to, depending upon the surface underneath, you could pull paint with you is my point. Pull it with the PPF. Am I right in saying it that way?
SPEAKER 06 :
So if anybody’s thinking about removing it, take it to a professional. Because even as professionals, it’s a chore. Yeah. And it’s always a risk.
SPEAKER 20 :
Just especially if it’s not factory paint, right?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. Like factory paint has a super low risk of coming with it.
SPEAKER 20 :
But it goes back to Mike’s conversation we had earlier, because at the factory, they’re able to do things with paint and ovens and so on. That it’s really hard to duplicate that in the aftermarket once it’s out of the factory, meaning that factory paint. I’ve said this for years. If you can ever do anything to keep the factory paint on and not replace it, even if it means living with a small dent or you get PDR, paintless dent removal, and it’s 90% good, you know what? In that case, I’d take the 90% in factory paint over 100% in aftermarket paint. Does that make sense? Yeah. Because the factory paint is that much better than what you… And it’s nothing against the guys in the industry. And anybody in the industry knows what I’m talking about. It’s nothing against the painters in the industry or the collision repair guys in the industry. It’s just simply the fact that it’s hard to duplicate what the factory did. Is that the right way to say that?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
And it just is. And folks, let me tell you, from growing up in the industry, it’s almost always been that way. There was a point in time to where some of the factory paint was just not that good and you could do better in the aftermarket and an aftermarket paint job always looked better than the factory. Although the adhesive side of it and how well the paint stuck, and yes, I know there were some situations throughout history whereby the factory struggled with certain paints and certain vehicles and so on and paint would flake and so on, but in general… that factory paint job is way better than what you can get in the aftermarket. As far as that end of it. Maybe not on the looks and less orange peel and all that kind of stuff, but on the durability side, it’s typically been the case that the factory paint is much better.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
And then you ceramic coat that, and you’re really in good shape. We’ll come back and talk a little bit about ceramic coating, too, because that’s always a question that comes up. We’ll do that. Window tint, whatever you’ve got, by the way, along these lines, please give us a call. Or regular general questions, I can answer those as well for you. Any automotive question, let us know. We’ll come back here in a moment. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
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SPEAKER 20 :
All right, we are back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Somebody asked, and I don’t know how I have an answer to this. In the door sills, they need something more durable than PPF. I dinged a door sill. Still bothers the crap out of me, I can imagine. Is there anything more durable than PPF on a door sill?
SPEAKER 06 :
Um, I mean, you can get a, one of those covers, but they’re not.
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, I forgot about those. Yeah. Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. So there are door sill covers for some of you listening where that might be a bigger deal. They make, I don’t know if they still do, but, but years ago they made either a, you know, plastic that you could stick on a door sill or they made aluminum like tread plate door sill covers as well at one point in time. So I don’t know if I haven’t checked into those for a while. I don’t know how available those still are.
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t know. I mean, that’s not something we do, so I haven’t really checked. But I do know that the clear bra is just aesthetically more pleasing, I guess.
SPEAKER 20 :
But if you’re one of those people that are using your vehicle, truck, whatever, and you’re looking for a little bit more durability, I’ll do a little research on that. One time, back when I had my stores, we used to sell door sill guards, they were called. And they were a lot heavier than what you could do with PPF. But honestly, I haven’t seen any of those for quite some time. So I’ll do some checking on that and see if I can’t figure that out for you. Bob in Colorado Springs, you’re next.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, John, you’ve helped me out before. I’ve got a question for you again, John. Sure, sure. On two things. We’ll start with the blend door, evacuator. This is on my 2000 Chevy Silverado. Now, two years ago, we talked, and you told me about where it was located. Well, I sprayed it with WD-40. I had no problem with it. I couldn’t believe it. And now it’s back to where the only place it’ll come out at is on the dash, you know, in the front. But when I put it on the…
SPEAKER 20 :
defroster that’s the only place it’ll work but it doesn’t come out on a defroster it just comes out in front and you know and I gotta have this ready for this winter so I can defrost my windshield normally the default if something goes wrong is to go to defrost only not the front vent so that blend door must be stuck because typically the default closed position is it’s going to run out of the defroster so either something’s gotten jammed or that motor’s not working correctly or something along those lines Bob is my guess
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, because I do everything. I turn it back. I sprayed it again with WT40.
SPEAKER 20 :
Do you hear the motor? When you go to switch the modes, do you hear the motor running down there on the dash?
SPEAKER 07 :
I don’t hear a motor running, but it sometimes wants to click over, but not all the time.
SPEAKER 20 :
Back in the day especially, those were big for having the motors themselves go bad. That one wouldn’t surprise me that the motor’s finally gotten bad.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, and where is that located, John?
SPEAKER 20 :
Right down there on the front of the airbox. I should say the backside of the airbox, towards the rear of the vehicle.
SPEAKER 07 :
Towards the rear of the vehicle.
SPEAKER 20 :
In other words, if you’re looking at the airbox, it’s going to be in front of you. It’s not towards the engine compartment. In other words, it’s going to be on the backside towards you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, backside towards me.
SPEAKER 20 :
And you’ll see it. If you just crawl underneath there, you can see it up underneath. It’ll be more towards the middle of the dash on that one.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay, and is that the one right below the steering wheel but up on the right-hand side?
SPEAKER 20 :
It’s going to be more towards the middle of the dash.
SPEAKER 07 :
More towards the middle. Yes. Okay.
SPEAKER 20 :
Because all the air box and all that control assembly is coming from the middle to the passenger side. Only thing on the driver’s side is duct work because everything else for the driver, steering wheel, electrical, all of that. So all they run on the driver’s side is the duct work.
SPEAKER 07 :
So now if I hear this motor running, then it’s not the motor.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, it’s probably either that or it’s stuck and it’s something stuck and gotten jammed into the door or the door itself is bad. Although those didn’t have, some vehicles have door problems. Some of the early Rams, for example, Dodges had door problems. Yours is more motor problem than door problem.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, boy. Yeah, because this is the 2000 Chevy Silverado. Right. The 1500. Correct. Okay. And when I put it just on the frost, it just comes out on the dash. It doesn’t come out above on the dash. It just comes right out in front where the vents are at. Right. That’s what mine’s doing. Right. Mine will not go up on the dash at all. It won’t go up on a windshield at all. The only place it’ll come out anywhere is if I put it on the defrost, you know, turn the button all the way over to defrost.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yep. Makes sense.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I’m thinking the motor’s bad.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yes, I’m still going to say the same thing, yes.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Okay, thank you very much, John. Now, on the gas, John, when I see on the gas pump there, it says it contains 10% ethanol alcohol. I’ve been noticing my gas model isn’t the same as it used to be. Should I not? I mean, it says 10%.
SPEAKER 20 :
10% is going to be pretty standard across the board. Bob, in our area, you might see occasionally 15%. It’s rare. Most of what we see up and down the front range is 10%. There are a few stations out there that sell ethanol-free, so there’s no ethanol in it whatsoever, although you may see a little bit better fuel economy with the ethanol-free, although it’s probably going to be negligible.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay. Well, I appreciate that very much. Yeah, the only place I could find is two gas stations here in town that’s ethanol-free.
SPEAKER 20 :
There’s only two. Yeah, even here in the Denver market, there’s not a ton of them. It’s not a plethora of them running around. Most of them have ethanol.
SPEAKER 07 :
So this is not hurting my gas mileage at all? Is this just in my mind?
SPEAKER 20 :
You know, what I would do on that, Bob, is actually don’t go off of the computer or whatever. Actually record odometer readings, do the math, and see exactly where it’s at. Run a couple of tanks and see exactly where you’re at. And then run a couple of tanks of ethanol free and see if it changes.
SPEAKER 07 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 20 :
And just give us a report back. That’ll tell us.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and yeah, and thanks for everything you’re doing. Let’s pray for Charlie.
SPEAKER 20 :
You’re very welcome. Well, thank you, Bob. I appreciate it very much. Thank you for those kind words. Somebody asked also, I should explain better what is a door sill. Thank you, by the way, because I guess not everybody knows that terminology. You’re looking inside the vehicle. When you look down in that area where sometimes you can see your feet scuffing, it’s just called the door silt. It’s the very bottom of the door opening. In a lot of vehicles, it’ll be painted, and that’ll even wrap around to the bottom side of the vehicle, and it can get kind of… you know, crummy and they get scratched and your door, you know, your feet can, you know, if you’re a guy that wears boots or whatever, you know, you’ll get, you know, black marks from your boot hitting it and so on. That’s the door sill. Now, I was taught early on, and this is just me, every single time I wash my car because of how I was raised and growing up in a car dealership, the car is not clean unless the door jams are. That’s how I was raised. So door jams meaning the inside of the door, not the outside, but the inside of the door where it seals, the inside of the door jam as we were just talking all the way around, all the way up to where the door hinges and everything are. I was taught that if all of that area and tires and wheels aren’t clean, neither is the car. So every single time I wash my car, even if I go through a car wash, I always carry a chamois with me or an absorber, whatever, a device to dry things with. and or a rag and i will wipe all of those door jams down just because again i was raised where if those aren’t clean the car is not clean on top of that especially for a lot of you ladies that are out there if you have a dress or anything like that and the door jams aren’t clean well that crud is going right onto your clothing because a lot of times that dress will be rubbing across those door jams and such and so if you want to keep your clothes even cleaner keep your door jams clean and and by the way it just makes the vehicle look a lot better and in doing that one last thing you’re usually wiping down all of those moldings those those weather strippings i should say that are that are keeping everything sealed up and by doing so keeping those clean and dust and dirt free they last longer as well you won’t have as many problems with door seals and wind leaks and so on by keeping those clean so keep those clean and you’ll be in a lot better shape so linda you’re next go ahead
SPEAKER 05 :
Hi. Well, this is pretty lengthy, but I’ll try to cut it down as much as I can. You’re fine. I have an issue with a wheel that I now need to have put back on, and I’m not in Denver now.
SPEAKER 14 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m in the Elizabeth area. I go into Elizabeth every now and then, and I just saw a Napa dealer. Are you familiar with them in Elizabeth?
SPEAKER 20 :
I am not familiar with them. I did have somebody the other day recommend that I need to reach out to them. I’ve got a friend of mine that actually uses the Napa Auto Care Center that’s there in Elizabeth, and I need to reach out to them and see if they want to be a part of what we do. So I do have a friend that uses them. I’ve never talked to them personally, but I have a good friend that does.
SPEAKER 05 :
And so they were happy with them?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yes, they are. Very. In fact, they told me I should reach out to them and see if they want to be a part of what we’re doing here.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, please do. Because I was telling Larry, this is kind of lengthy, but I’ll try to cut it down as much as I can. This goes back to January. And I was getting ready to move out here to Elizabeth from Denver. So we were going back every weekend, the dog and I, with a loaded truck in my truck. And normally my son would have his truck full, but it was just me. And we’re headed on, I left at Parker, and all of a sudden, as I slowed down for the light, I heard a noise. And then it just like was a bumping sound, grinding, and then, oh, God, I got a flat tire. Well, anyway, I pulled over in the next parking lot, and it turned out nothing looked, everything looked fine. So I just started up, and I headed over to, all of a sudden it started bumping. and it was sitting on the rim. So I drove the discount, and I wound up getting it over to Big O, but they took it off, took them all day. They finally figured it was the brake pin. Well, they replaced it. It took all day. We got it done, but they didn’t do it right. And so I had that again. Two months later, I’m hearing this noise. And we were almost to the highway. Like I told Larry, had we gotten out onto… Parker Road at 50 miles an hour when that had happened. All of a sudden, it just dropped. I would have been killed, and we would have knocked off I don’t know how many cars in the way. Good thing you weren’t. Yeah. Finally, my son was able to track down because it’s been costing me a fortune. We finally got the new rim, and he got it. somehow online he’s really good at it okay had it shipped to me so i now have the rim and i had to get all new tires with bigo because he couldn’t replace just one right so it’s cost me about three thousand dollars for all of this so my whole point is can you find out did you take that nap up um because the guy that i have is over on santa fe and orchard or no Oxford, which is a long ways. Yeah, that’s a ways from you.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, and again, my initial reports and the people that I know who are really good friends, they’ve had good luck there in Elizabeth with that particular center. I need to reach out to them and have a conversation. But so far, I have nothing bad to say about them, Linda.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. And then, as you know, we’ve got all that fixed about… Two months ago or three now, I’m driving in Denver, and I hit another damn pothole, huge one, on that same wheel.
SPEAKER 14 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 05 :
So now I have a rattling noise, and everybody’s checked it. Nobody can find anything wrong other than the rattle, but who knows what it did.
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, I mean, something’s not right, or you wouldn’t be hearing that. Somebody’s checked ball joints and all your suspension and everything else.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. So anyway… I’ll go check them out and talk to them, but I just hate to have to spend so much more money.
SPEAKER 20 :
I hear you.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s crazy. Anyway.
SPEAKER 20 :
All right, Linda. No, thank you. Thank you so much for calling. I appreciate it. We’ll take a quick break. We’ll come right back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 20 :
And we are back. Drive Radio, KLZ 560. Dennis, you are next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 17 :
Hello, Dennis. Oh, Dennis.
SPEAKER 20 :
All right, let’s do this. I’m going to put Dennis back on hold. We’ll get him back. Conrad, you’re next. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 12 :
Hey, good morning, John. First of all, God bless Charlie Kirk and his family and all of us who loved and supported him. May he rest in peace and God’s Jesus-loving arms.
SPEAKER 20 :
Absolutely. Absolutely, Conrad.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I had to say that. I’ve been pretty upset, as we all have. Anyway, what I’m calling about is I sent you those pictures this morning. I don’t know if you looked at all of them, but that new oil pan that we’re going to use, If you see down the bottom of it, there’s like a spring-loaded flap down in there. Yeah, I see that. What’s that for? Windage screen, they call that.
SPEAKER 20 :
A what? It’s called a windage screen. It keeps the oil from splashing.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay, so it does have a windage tray. You saw that, but I didn’t know what that was.
SPEAKER 20 :
It’s all just a part of the combo of how they’re doing things. I mean, I see the wire mesh, and I see the one that’s actually at the bottom of the pan both.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 20 :
They’re just working in conjunction with one another. That’s all.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah. He’s got his fingers down in there. He’s lifting it up. It’s spring-loaded. I wonder if it looks like when you launch, if it closes or something. But, you know, on a Ford engine, most of them, the sump is in the front instead of in the back. Correct. Correct.
SPEAKER 20 :
Correct.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, sump with a long tube running.
SPEAKER 20 :
You know, the oil pump’s in the front with a big old long tube going to the back.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right.
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, that was one advantage Chevrolet had was they never had any oiling problems because they drop right down into the bottom of the back of the oil there.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep. I mean, I’m a Ford guy, you know that, but I love Chevys and Mopars, too, but I always wondered why.
SPEAKER 20 :
I love them all, Conrad.
SPEAKER 12 :
I do, too. I do, too.
SPEAKER 20 :
And I don’t know, again, I don’t know what that flap, I’m guessing, just from looking at it, has to be for some of the drain back, depending upon the slosh that’s in the pan. I personally, I mean, unless you’re running that thing super hard, I mean, honestly, is it overkill? Probably, but hey, it’s there. Go with it. Who cares?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I think it’s cool. No, I’m not going to run it real super hard. Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t be. You’re a guy.
SPEAKER 20 :
It’ll never get used, but that’s all right. It’s all good. Burnouts are fun. You know that.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s right. All the parts look great, Conrad.
SPEAKER 20 :
They really do. They look fabulous.
SPEAKER 12 :
I tell you what, if you ever get it done, if it doesn’t run like a… Scalded dog?
SPEAKER 20 :
I agree. If it doesn’t run like a scalded dog, I’ll be surprised.
SPEAKER 12 :
I’d love that.
SPEAKER 20 :
I would love that.
SPEAKER 12 :
You too, man. I appreciate you, Conrad.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you, thank you, thank you. And for those of you listening, so you’re not in the dark, Conrad’s building an engine for his Torino, so he sent me a bunch of pictures on it. And it’s going to be all the pictures he sent is going to be a really fantastic build. So excited, excited to see how it all turns out. And and a lot of you guys will send me different pictures and your projects and different things. And I by the way, I appreciate that. I feel like I’m involved in things that I wouldn’t be involved in otherwise. So thank you. I appreciate that very, very much. Okay, but we’ve got a few minutes left of this hour. I’ve got a couple of questions for Dietze on a few things. We went through sort of the PPF and just what you can do. And what I would just close out with on that, Dietze, is the sky’s the limit. If you’ve got an area on your car that you’re really trying to get some extra protection. So one more thing, for example. A lot of you that have SUVs or you’ve even got a sedan with a trunk, the other area that you could really PPF, and I see it a ton on rental cars, is that area where you open the sill, where you open the hatch or you open the trunk, and you’ll slide luggage or different things in and out, groceries, and that back area that’s on top of the bumper can get all scratched up. PPF that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it’s very popular to do the stop pad.
SPEAKER 20 :
Because that area can get, again, pretty damaged just because of the things that naturally getting loaded, unloaded and so on. Those are the types of things that you can use PPF on. And a lot of people don’t think about that. Because you think about only protecting the front or I’m only going to protect that area that I’m, you know, door sills, the area I’m climbing in and out of. Well, that area gets used about as much.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. There’s just a lot.
SPEAKER 20 :
So something to think of. Those of you that have pickup trucks, you can PPF tailgates. You can PPF the top of the tailgate. I see a lot of these guys where, you know, they throw the bike on and they put the decine or whatever that, you know, kind of that almost like what you used to do as bras on the front of cars. They’ll drape that over the tailgate. Then they hang their bike back over, which… Truthfully, I would never do. I look at that and I just squirm because no matter what you’re doing, if that thing has a rough edge or something on it, you’re still going to damage the tailgate potentially.
SPEAKER 06 :
But one of the reasons we don’t recommend it is because you can still get dirt in between and now you’re rubbing that all over the tailgate.
SPEAKER 20 :
So… PPF all that first if you’re even going to drape that thing over it PPF that first so even if you do get some dirt and stuff on it you’re not damaging the paint you’re at least damaging the PPF at that point so at least PPF that before you drape that curtain thing I call it you know whatever you want to call that thing and again I would never do that just because I’m super particular and that kind of stuff would drive me crazy because no matter how no matter how you try to drape that bicycle over the back of that tailgate your chances of still scratching or denting something is still there, and personally, I just would not do it. I get why people do it, and some people look at their cars differently than I do. They’re tools. That’s fine. No judgment. I mean, you do whatever you want to with it, but I would PPF that before putting that particular thing on there for that reason you’re talking about because you still have a potential of having stuff underneath that because you’re never going to have the tailgate completely clean when you put that thing on.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER 20 :
Meaning whatever’s on the surface of the paint, you’re now grinding in with that cover you just slipped over. The same problem, by the way, same problem bras had way back, you know, the car bras had back in the day. They were the same way and they would get stuff underneath. You’d go pull a bra off. It was being on a car for two or three years that nobody had ever removed. and a lot of that paint was actually damaged, not from rocks, but from the bra rubbing and the stuff that would get underneath there. You’d have to do your best to try to get things back up to speed because the bra had damaged the paint, and they thought they were doing a really good job keeping the paint intact. And that’s where the clear bra, quote-unquote, came along, and it’s so much better than what those were. All right, we’ve got another full hour coming your way. Questions for us, by all means, let us know. The lines are open, 303-477-5600. This is Drive Radio, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 02 :
Still haven’t had enough? Go to drive-radio.com. Email your questions and comments. Download previous programs and find lots of useful information, including your nearest Colorado Select Auto Care Center. That’s drive-radio.com. Thanks for listening to Drive Radio, sponsored by the member shops of Colorado Select Auto Care Centers. On KLZ 560.
