January 2011
1 post
Anonymous asked: I have a leaking head gasket on my 2000 subaru outback (225,000 miles) I am considering using a Bar's product to repair. The "Fix" product can be used without draining the coolant, the Bar's "Repair" requires a drain and flush. The question is, is there any difference in the efficacy or reliability of the repair in the two products? I don't want to have to...
December 2010
20 posts
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Ward's 10 Best Engines, 2010 Edition
WardsAuto.com has published their annual roundup of the best engines in the industry, and this year’s trend is clearly one of efficiency and power from smaller mills. In fact, only one V8 makes the grade this year.
VW and Audi, in particular, have a good showing here, claiming three of the 10 awards. The 2.0L TSFI engine is a dream — so good that Audi stakes its performance name on...
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Follow Friday!
dreamgarage:
Since there’s simply so many fantastic Automotive blogs out there, here’s a list of just a few you should be following if you aren’t already!
Loxlee Loves Engines
Automotive Heart
Hell For Motors
Motoriginal
Good Old Valves
Firepower
Autostream
Gearheads And Monkeywrenches
Carpr0n
Pacepirate
Photo Finish
Function&Form
Also, don’t forget to request what you want to...
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AutoZone Authorizes Additional Stock Repurchase
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — AutoZone’s board of directors has authorized the repurchase of an additional $500 million of the company’s common stock in connection with its ongoing share repurchase program. Since the inception of the repurchase program in 1998, and including the above amount, AutoZone’s board has authorized $9.9 billion in stock repurchases. ...
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Testimonial: Bar's Liquid Aluminum Stop Leak
Sam from Santa Barbara, CA writes:
Dear Bar’s,
I decided to write to commend you for an outstanding product. I have a 2004 Pontiac Grand AM, V6 and with about 100,000 miles. About 6 months ago I had the Pontiac dealer flush the cooling system. I later noticed my car was slowly loosing coolant fluid with no evidence of a leak. At about the same time, my car developed an engine problem where...
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“I feel safe when I’m on the racetrack, I really do. I know that I’m surrounded...”
– Sterling Marlin (via tractioninc)
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In Which We Get an Email From a BMW Onwer About...
We received the following testimonial about our Bar’s Leaks Head Gasket Fix from Curtis Ding, who used it on his 2002 BMW 530i with 127K miles:
I would normally not contact a company to comment about a product, but much to my surprise, I am pleased to say that I have had a successful outcome after using the Bar’s Leaks Head Gasket Fix. I have a 2002 BMW 530i with 127K miles, which...
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“‘Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to...”
– Victor Frankl
Anonymous asked: Are you hiring? I need a job. I've been unemployed for over a year...
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Here is an audio clip from a recent episode of The...
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Bar's Products Adds $20,000 to URC Sprint Series...
This past weekend was a huge one for the URC Sprint Series and Bar’s Products.
URC, celebrating its 63rd anniversary, surprised our company President Bob Mermuys with an induction into the inaugural class of the URC Hall of Fame. After sponsoring URC for over 15 years, this was a tremendous honor.
After surprising Bob with the induction, Bob decided to add more money to the sponsorship...
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Pep Boys Reports Strong Third Quarter Results
Pep Boys continues the strong 3Q earnings reports from big-box auto parts stores by announcing a more than doubling of net earnings year-over-year:
Sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 increased by $23.7 million, or 5 percent, to $496.4 million from $472.6 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Comparable store sales increased 3.5 percent, consisting of a 1.9 percent comparable...
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AutoZone profit jumps 20%
Excellent results from AutoZone as it continues its outstanding quarterly run:
It was the 17th straight quarter of double-digit growth for the Memphis, Tenn., company, and the eighth-straight quarter of 20 percent growth in earnings per share, AutoZone said in a statement. The company has performed well in the economic downturn as consumers keep their cars longer and longer for fear of...
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Is energy quality one of the causes of the...
Smart and interesting analysis by Carey King at the University of Texas at Austin. King’s data shows that Energy Return on Investment (EROI) is a metric that illustrates energy as a limiting factor on economic growth:
In economic terms, the quality of the nation’s energy supply is referred to as Energy Return on Energy Investment (EROI). For example, if an oil company uses a 10th...
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“I for one welcome our arsenic-based interplanetary overlords.”
– William Gibson (via emmanuelnegro)
(If you don’t know what this is all about, see here.)
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How Germany got it right on the economy
Harold Meyerson, writing a terrific — and educational (at least for me) — op-ed piece about Germany’s economy in The Washington Post:
Germany’s economy is the strongest in the world. Its trade balance - the value of its exports over its imports - is second only to China’s, which is all the more remarkable since Germany is home to just 82 million people. Its 7.5...
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Bar's Leaks & Rislone Driver Bill Reichert...
Bill Reichert, the driver of the Bar’s Leaks/Rislone-sponsored top alcohol dragster, captured his fifth consecutive NHRA title. This is an unprecedented feat in what is considered to be an extremely competitive NHRA division.
Despite a somewhat rocky finish to the season that included a twelfth place qualifying effort and an uncharacteristic departure in the second round of eliminations...
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November 2010
28 posts
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With gas prices at nearly $3 a gallon, holiday...
Aftermarket News:
“After surviving $4-a-gallon gasoline in 2008, consumers have gradually begun to return to normal driving behaviors, but any sustained price increase over $3 a gallon would likely cause these numbers to start trending back in the other direction,” says David Portalatin, a motor fuels analyst with The NPD Group. “Sustained gas price increases over the next month could cause...
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His Name is Marvin, and Trust Us, the World Needs...
There is a man in Orangeburg, South Carolina named Marvin who goes out of his way — way out of his way — to help people he’s never met.
In times where people are in need, you generally hear the horrific tales of people being taken advantage of. We were safe at the truck stop and could have laid the seats back and slept in the van until Monday and started the whole process then,...
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Testimonial: Bar's Leaks Automatic Transmission...
Just got the following testimonial in via the magic of the Internet. Many thanks to Stephen M. in KY for contacting us.
I drive a 1998 Ford Taurus SE. It has 136,000 miles. A few months back, I started to experience severe transmission problems. The tranny was slipping, the gears were laggy when shifting, and shifting back down through speeds was rough. I expected the worst for my car as I...
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We’re thrilled to have been featured as a...
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'A Waste of Money and Time'
Influential security expert Bruce Schneier on the effectiveness of the TSA’s measures:
Exactly two things have made airplane travel safer since 9/11: reinforcing the cockpit door, and convincing passengers they need to fight back. Everything else has been a waste of money. Add screening of checked bags and airport workers and we’re done. Take all the rest of the money and spend it on...
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It’s not everyday we get a voicemail from a...
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New product announcement: Rislone Compression...
A quick bit of press news before we get on with our regularly-scheduled programming.
We just issued the following to the US trade media today:
Holly, Mich. (Nov. 23, 2010) — Decreased or uneven compression can cause loss of power, poor fuel mileage, oil consumption and other issues in high-mileage vehicles. When poor compression is the problem, Rislone® Compression Repair with Ring Seal®...
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Hilton DeFreitas owns Red Love Auto Mobile Service...
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Can you recommend us?
We’re relatively new to Tumblr, but we love what we see. Problem is, we’re not listed in the Automotive section of Tumblr’s directory. And that is major bummage.
Can you help us get listed? It’s super easy and doesn’t cost anything except for a fraction of a calorie your finger will burn by clicking right here.
That’s it. That’s all there is to it. ...
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Curry's Auto Service Named 2010 Motor Age Top Shop
From the PR:
One of the largest and most successful independent automotive service and repair companies in the Washington, DC, area Curry’s Auto Service has locations in Arlington, Chantilly, Falls Church, Gainesville and Great Falls/Reston, VA. A new location is scheduled to open in Dulles Town Center on November 1.
“Our performance is due in large part to a successful business model that...
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Nanotechnology in the automotive industry
Want a glipse of the future of automotive?
From Nanowerk:
The Nanospyder would be formed out of a latticework of billions of tiny programmable nano devices measuring less than half a millimeter in diameter. Each of these tiny devices can be programmed to be as strong or weak as required meaning active crumple zones can be created. Clothing the nano-lattice are panels formed out of a mix...
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Bar's Leaks on TV this weekend
Hey, we’re going to be a star!
Well, maybe not, but we will be on TV this weekend.
Well, “we” won’t be, but we will have a billboard for our one-step head gasket fix product (p/n HG1), which just won a PTEN Innovation Award for 2010. It’s been one of our hottest and most widely-acclaimed products over the past five years. If you’re into video, here’s...
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The Bar's Leaks Eliminator monster truck races...
The 1st Annual Monster Truck Fall Shootout debuts this weekend at the Pontiac Silverdome. 11 trucks are scheduled to compete in racing and freestyle events, including our hometown favorite Eliminator, which is sponsored by Bar’s Leaks/Rislone and piloted by Greg Adams.
The Monster Blog (TMB) has a great little Q&A session with Greg:
TMB: We’re another day closer to this weekend’s big...
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GM to phase out 'Goodwrench' brand in favor of new...
Aftermarket News:
DETROIT, Mich. – As part of an initiative to better connect General Motors’ brands with customers, the automaker has announced that Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac will each receive its own Certified Service brand. Chevrolet Certified Service, Buick Certified Service, GMC Certified Service and Cadillac Certified Service are being launched as part of a larger strategy...
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WatchClay Parks, our VP of Product Development, accepts our Innovation Award from PTEN for our HG1 Carbon Fiber Block Seal and Head Gasket Repair.
Shot with an iPhone after too little sleep and too much coffee, so please pardon the lousy production value.
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At AAPEX this week. Here's what to expect.
In a word, chaos if you don’t have some context.
So, here’s what’s going on.
This week we’re at the AAPEX show in Las Vegas, arguably the biggest automotive aftermarket show in the world right along with Germany’s AutoMechanica. The show promises a big social/digital footprint, so we’ll be posting a bunch of stuff that we run across here. Thoughts,...
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October 2010
10 posts
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Friday linkdump: Oct 29, 2010
Some fine links for you today. Check them out:
Joe Wilcox on Microsoft’s Q1 2011 numbers. Good news, but there are a few things to look at. Their Xbox division, always lauded by MS brass, has income that’s a drop in the bucket compared to Windows and Office. What’s more, their online services posted a $560M loss.
Neven Mrgan’s week as seen through his Wikipedia browsing history....