Interesting or just plain crazy??
[...]After a request from Russell on our Advice Forum for information on replacing c.v. shafts I’ve decided to finally update the site with a tutorial on the subject. For those of you that have been readers for a while you will probably know that my back has been restricting [...]
Here is a great testament to the do-it-yourself approach. We first ‘met’ Anthony when he was looking for info on re-spraying his Wolseley and through a number of emails back and forth I think we helped him somewhat, although I’m far from an expert on the subject.
For the historians amongst [...]
Today we are looking at what is involved in replacing the Timing Belt and/or Waterpump on the trusty old L series Toyota Diesel engines. Before we start I want to stress that although this information is supplied in good faith and is a step by step breakdown of me actually [...]
I’m a bit behind the times with this update, better late than never I guess. Anyway here is the latest from the ‘official’ Streetwarz site -
I would like to bring you up to date on the progress of Streetwarz. But first I would like to [...]
An oldie but a goodie…
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated -
‘If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon’.
In response [...]
We have some more news on the Streetwarz saga. If you have been wanting to check it out this weekend (May 30th and 31st) is the time to do it. Shane, the event organizer, posted this on Boostcruising.com;
OPERATION OF STREETWARZ
I take this opportunity to provide an update in [...]
What started as a ‘hobby’ site for me while I recovered from a back injury has truly taken on a life of it’s own. We have been averaging around 20,000 visits a month lately, which while far from record breaking is not bad for a part-time gig.
Which brings me to [...]
Today we are going to look at what is required to lower the front end of an ‘X’ series Falcon. The front suspension remained pretty much unchanged from the XW to the XF, in fact some of the real early Falcon’s (XR, XT etc) may be similar in design I [...]
This is the most expensive deer hunt ever…
This is testimony to the durability of GERMAN PARTS.
Driving on the autobahn in Germany at 140mph in his BMW Z4, the driver hit a deer. The deer disappeared…The driver stopped and wondered where did the deer go…….???
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The latest info we have on Streetwarz is that this Sunday, 24th May, from 1pm to 3pm the organisers are opening the gates and they need everyone even remotely interested in the event to come down and show thier support.
Don’t know about Streetwarz? Please read THIS POST first.
Further Streetwarz Updates [...]
If you are in Brisbane and looking for the latest modified car hangout then look no further than ‘Streetwarz’, located at Business Drive in Narangba on Brissie’s northside (see map below). So what is the deal with Streetwarz?
The concept is brilliant and what many car enthusiasts have been wanting for [...]
We recieved this in an email today and my first impressions where that someone had gone to great lengths to set up model cars in a realistic scene. But looking further on it became evident that these are indeed real classic cars and one lucky man, Rick Treworgy, owns the [...]
The Sleep Walking Dog - I feel sorry for this paw mutt (pun intended), I really do. He obviously had something to get away from in a big hurry. Cruel but none the less funny.
[...]Glenn sent through some more pics and info on the build up of his Monaro. If you have no idea what I’m talking about head over to the FIRST POST and take a look.
What’s remarkable about Glenn’s car is that the majority of the ’shiny’ bits are made from scratch in [...]
We have an update onNeville’s Corolla, he has kindly sent us some shots of the car being painted and they are a good example of the shine that can be achieved ’straight off the gun’ with 2-pack paint.
Although acrylic takes a lot more elbow grease to achieve a similar result I still believe [...]
Neville sent over these shots of the work in progress on his 1990 Corolla Seca. Nev wrote, “its not much but by far one of the best cars ive ever had…. i cant fault it…turn the key and go….end of story”. Very typical of Toyota’s of that era, but what is [...]
Thanks to Nev for sending this to us.
Driveline Vibration Issue - Possible Root Cause
This guy ran over a mattress and decided to keep going. The ensuing jumble
finally whipped around enough to put a tear in the gas tank, the subsequent
lack of fuel is what finally brought this vehicle [...]
Boy, have we got a treat for you today. This piece of automotive-perfection-in-the-making is Glenn Finnigan’s HQ Monaro.
Glenn tells me that it is the genuine article and was originally destined for the show circuit but with the value of these cars climbing all the time Glenn [...]
We have recieved a number of emails from readers using the HOW TO REPLACE A HEAD GASKET ON AN E SERIES FALCONÂ tutorial regarding the correct procedure for releasing the timing chain tensioner and up until now I have been unable to get my hands on a Falcon to document [...]
A Christmas Story for people having a bad day:
When four of Santa’s elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, [...]
Now for the fun part! As I explained in Part Seven I am not able to go through with the complete respray of our project VN at the moment due to a re-occuring back injury but I am hoping that by showing you the basics that I was taught [...]
Finally! It’s done. My sincere apologies to our readers that have been waiting a LOOOONG time for the continuation of this series. Back in 2005 I suffered a back injury that led to the closing down of our workshop and the start of this site and the old injury has [...]
This video may be old or even fake for that matter, I don’t know, but it absolutely cracked me up. Wait for the end, it’s classic.
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fautofix.com.au%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F617'; addthis_title = 'DUI+Test+-+Funny+As%21'; addthis_pub = ''; [...]Check this out!
No, it’s not a chop. It’s a 1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow built by Joe’s Street Rod Shop. Poking out of the hood behind the Spirit of Ecstasy is a blown 572-ci Chrysler Hemi that is bottle fed to a more-than-adequate 1,350 horsepower.
The [...]
Last week we came across an interesting fact - a number of early 1998 model EL Falcons were fitted with a ‘revised’ I6 engine which would eventually be the engine of choice for the AU Falcon.
The reason that this came to our attention was that we had a reader (Hi Ron!) who was following the [...]
I got stopped for speeding yesterday!!!!
I thought I could talk my way out of it until the officer looked at my dog on the back seat………
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Check out this piece of motoring ingenuity. It is, well half of it anyway is a 1967 Ford Mustang. The custom made front end houses a 289 cubic inch Windsor V8 backed by a C4 auto transmission with a 9 inch diff out the back.
The owner reports [...]
Once again discrimination rears it’s ugly head….
…Will it never end? 
We have just finished uploading more than 100 photo’s on the PHOTO GALLERY from our day out at PowerCruise 14.
Be sure to check out the action shots of some of the better skids done during the day - awesome stuff!!
A big thank you goes out to Aimee Reed and [...]
Replacing the waterpump on VN onwards Commodores is a fairly straight forward job that can be done in an hour or so and without any special tools. One thing to keep in mind though is that being a Buick engine the bolts that secure the waterpump to the block are [...]
This weekend saw the running of Power Cruise 14 at Qld Raceway. If you haven’t heard about Power Cruise, it is basically a huge modified carfest held over four days with everything from a Show ‘n’ Shine to Power Skids to safe Off-Street Drags to Dyno [...]
The Job Interview
A guy goes to the Department of Main Roads to apply for a job.
The interviewer asks him, ‘Are you allergic to anything?’
He says ‘Yes - just caffeine’
Have you ever been in the service?
‘Yes,’ he says. ‘I was in Iraq for two years.’
The interviewer says, ‘That will give [...]
Trolling around the ‘net tonight I came across these three ebooks for sale. What is an ebook you ask? An ebook is simply an instantly downloadable book or report.
All of these ebooks contain good information on subjects that as motorists we face quite often and what impressed me the most [...]
After almost two years of abuse the diff in Jerry’s RA28 Celica has finally taken a holiday. To bring you up to speed, we have been involved in the build-up of Jerry’s car for over three years now, first with the engine transplant at our workshop before my back [...]
Thought this too good not to post.
The Leather Dress
When a woman wears a leather dress,
A man’s heart beats quicker,
his throat gets dry,
he goes weak at the knees,
and he begins to think irrationally.
Ever wondered why?
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Because she smells like a new ute! addthis_url = [...]One of our champion long-term sponsors, American Muscle.com has recently held their annual charity fundraiser day. These guys are serious about giving back to the community which is a bit of a rarity in this business. Please take the time to read about what they have achieved. Good work guys!
[...]Although this step is not absolutely necessary, it is certainly a good idea if you want to achieve a really good result. Also I wouldn’t recommend doing this with ordinary primer/surfacer as it is usually not thick enough to rub back.
The first step is to grab yourself a pressure-pack can [...]
Part Five, in what is steadily becoming the longest diy tutorial in history is all about applying the primer to the repaired panels.
A quick note before we begin. Always check the local rules and regulations regarding the use of automotive paints. Often times it will be illegal to spray these [...]
 Our VN’s panels are in pretty good condition however they have not been immune to the usual shopping trolley dents and with the passengers rear door being the worst we thought we would start there.
I find it easier to remove the panel from the vehicle if possible, having a damaged [...]
Our project VN Commodore is finally back in the garage and ready for some straightening and painting.
Repairing Dents
In this part I would like to talk about dent repairs. Our Commodore is reasonably straight with only a few ’shopping trolley’ dents that need to be repaired, however [...]
After our somewhat dissapointing test of the Water 4 Gas product we went on a quest to find more information on what can be done to save gas in these times of record-high prices. There are more Water 4 Gas tests to come regarding non-fuel [...]
After writing the last update on our Water4Gas test it occurred to me that to make any modifications of my own would be stepping outside the guidelines that I had set for this test. The aim was to take the information that we bought and apply it in a [...]
After receiving a number of emails and one comment on the original Run Your Car On Water post asking how it is all going I decided to write this little update.
Nothing real ground breaking to report other than after we had driven 1000km’s or so it became apparent that [...]
 I came across this video while trolling around Youtube and thought it too good not to put up here. Although it will give you a laugh I think the truth behind it is all too real! Check it out.
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addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fautofix.com.au%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F587'; addthis_title = 'A+Bit+Of+Honesty%26%238230%3B..'; addthis_pub = ''; [...]Â We finally have some results!Â
 My aim was to test the Water 4 Gas system in a practical way that would mimic how it would be used by everyday drivers. As a number of people have pointed out the theory behind the system may well be fundamentally flawed however I [...]
 While taking the young fella to school this morning (it’s really just day-care but his big brother goes to school so as far as he’s concerned it is school!) the fuel light came on so we stopped for a wallet lightening.
 I dumped in 55.9 Litres and [...]
  Our “Water 4 Gas” system is finally installed in Belinda’s aging Camry. On start-up and during the first drive I have to say that there certainly was a noticeable difference in the way the car behaved.
The first thing I noticed was an improvement in the idle, the engine felt [...]
 Obviously one hot topic around the country and I’m sure around the rest of the world is the price of fuel. It doesn’t take Einstein to realise that with prices edging upwards of $1.50 a litre owning and driving a car is turning into an expensive hobby! Honestly I think that [...]
 To further extend the free auto repair advice that we have been offering for nearly two years now we have decided to launch the Autofix Advice Forum.
 Previously the advice we have been giving was through a contact form and subsequent emails back and forward, which was working well however [...]
An interesting piece was published in The Courier Mail last week regarding a survey conducted by Choice Magazine. The results of the survey state that nine out of ten car dealer’s service centres missed a planted fault in a car they were servicing. Believe it or not, even the [...]
We have a new sponsor onboard this month that specializes in taking the hassle out of buying a new car. Private Fleet.com.au provides a unique way of negotiating the best price without having to trudge around the caryards all weekend.
Here is the latest news from Private Fleet -
2008 is turning [...]
Ok so I am not a real big Indy car fan, I much prefer our home grown V8 Supercar series however news this big requires a mention.
Danica Patrick has become the first woman in history to win an Indy Car round, the Japan 300.
As reported by [...]
Finally! Part Two is here - The all important preparation. Between the camera taking an early holiday and my good ‘ole back injury flaring up again nothing much has been happening around here, and I apologize for that. Anyhoo, on with the show.
Our ‘ guinea pig’ VN Commodore is for [...]
Finally! Part Two is here - The all important preparation. Between the camera taking an early holiday and my good ‘ole back injury flaring up again nothing much has been happening around here, and I appologise for that. Anyhoo, on with the show.
Our ‘ginea pig’ VN Commodore is for the [...]
 As a follow up to the original post we have information on fitting a transmission cooler to ‘E’ series Falcons. A big thankyou to Paul (Tinter) for these photos and write-up. Paul chooses to fit two coolers and bypass the original radiator cooler due to a common problem with the [...]
 General Motors Holden is celebrating it’s 60th year of local vehicle production by unveiling the ‘Coupe 60′ at the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show. Touted strictly as a concept car, Holden says the Coupe 60 is a “60th anniversary gift to the fans worldwide.”
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One of our champion long-term site sponsors, American Muscle is helping to sponsor an attempt at the ECTA Land Speed Record for a Production Supercharged vehicle with a Stock Bottom End which is currently at 186.853MPH from a standing mile. Attempting this feat will be the car’s 73 year [...]
Unfortunately Ashley Cooper has succumbed to his injuries this afternoon. Here is the statement released today from his website, ashleycooper.com.au.
Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series driver Ashley Cooper passed away this afternoon, at 1.00pm Adelaide time.
27 year old Cooper failed to regain consciousness, and succumbed to brain injuries after a high speed [...]
If you saw the lead up races to the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race in Adelaide on Saturday you will know what I am talking about. For our international readers and those that didn’t see the race, Ashley Cooper is a 27 year old driver in the Fujitsu series which is [...]
With nearly one hundred articles on this blog now I thought it high-time I got some organization around here. Under the header you will see a link to our ‘Articles’ page and this page lists all the current categories and articles to make it easier to go straight to the article you [...]
We had an email today from Mick asking if we could do a ‘how to’ on replacing a head gasket on the overhead cam six cylinder engines found in EA to EL Falcons. I did have a Falcon engine here up until a few weeks ago that would have been [...]
With Mechanical Repairs off my list of things to do for a while due to ongoing problems with my back I thought I would do a tutorial on what I know about Re-Painting a car. No, I am not talking about getting a tin of Mission Brown Enamel and the [...]
Europe looks set to be the next country to receive the Tata Nano. Tata’s head of Small Car Projects stated that they won’t be exporting the current model, however in five years the second-generation Nano will have been developed and will be good enough for the European [...]
Finally it’s here, the flat-pack car! Load it up, take it home and spend the next four hours deciphering the instructions, just like everything else from Ikea.
I got this is my inbox today and thought it too good not to share. As a mechanic and car enthusiast the [...]
Mitsubishi Motors announced today at 2:30pm that the Tonsley Park factory will close this year, on March 31st. The announcement confirmed speculation of the closure after the sales of the 380 model failed to reach expectations.
Almost 1000 people will be directly affected by the closure and the [...]
I have a question for you, if you could buy a car that came with all of the safety features that we expect of modern motor cars but did without all the unnecessary ‘bells and whistles’ and was 10 grand cheaper than it’s equivalent with all of the extra features, [...]
With the merits of the Nano car still a hotly debated topic I thought I would go looking for some video that gives everyone a look at the styling and make-up of the little car.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Nano has a place in India, giving the people there an [...]
This month the micro ‘Smart Car’ has gone on sale in the good ‘ol US of A. The Smart car has been available in Europe, Canada and I believe Japan for some time and apparently sell quite well in these countries and I think it will be interesting to [...]
Queensland Police have taken on a TRD Aurion to ply our highways and keep us all in check, and what a car to do it in. Many thanks to the folks at Autoblog.com for the use of the following image.
This is the car that packs a [...]
If you own a Falcon manufactured after Febuary 1996 chances are you have gone looking for the transmission dipstick and come up blank, and for good reason, they don’t have one! Falcons made after this date have a ’sealed’ transmission and have no dipstick, only a filler plug on the [...]
January 10 2008, Tata Motors unveils the worlds most affordable car at India’s main auto show. The ‘Nano’ sells for $2500.00 and is set to change the way the people of India get around.
During India’s main auto show on Thursday January 10, Tata chairman Ratan Tata drove a [...]
Today we are looking at replacing drum brake shoes. The vehicle we are doing this job on is a mid 80’s Toyota Hilux and the brakes are typical of most rear drum brake setups.
Depending on your vehicle, there will be differences from our example and the biggest tip that I [...]
After touching on the subject of what is reasonable when it comes time for your vehicle to be repaired in The Workshop Owner versus The Consumer and recieving heaps of emails from people that felt they were being taken for a ride I decided to [...]
The folks over at Autoblog have been busy using their creative talent (and Photoshop!) to add some spice to a 2009 Camaro Prototype image.
They have taken the bland white prototype and added some colour, well several colours actually, the ones that they expect will be offered when the car hits the showroom [...]
Welcome to the New Year and welcome to the Grand Opening of the Autofix Spare Parts and Accessories Store!
In our store we have a huge range of spare parts and accessories at discounted prices in the following categories;
Now I know this story has done the rounds of the world wide web more times than a certain Paris Hilton home video, however I think it deserves a re-visit for our last blog post of 2007.
There is plenty of fanciful stories attached to these [...]
While we were on the subject of the mighty Blue Oval I thought I would add a link to a story that would bring a grown man to tears.
The (unconfirmed) story goes - guy owns original XY GT, a friend of the owners friend is getting married, owner lends Falcon to the friend of his friend [...]
The countdown to the launch of the 2008 Ford Falcon has begun with Ford stating that they will reveal engineering details of the new Falcon in February of next year, ahead of the May launch of the new model, codenamed the Orion.
The complete line-up of new Falcons, including the ute, [...]
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AmericanMuscle.com has the Mustang auto parts to transform a stock car into a high performance street machine. They have Mustang car parts for every system in the vehicle, from the brakes and wheels to the spoilers and everything under the [...] DIY Vehicle Safety Check
Number of comments: 1
With the holiday season fast approaching I thought we should take a look at the basic items on a vehicle safety check. I strongly suggest having a qualified mechanic carry out a full service and tune-up before contemplating any long trips and that combined with these few basic tips should see [...] Merry Christmas Y’all
Please be safe on the roads and if you are driving to your holiday destination remember to take plenty of breaks and please have [...] Mum Caught Racing With Toddler In CarIn the latest round of stupid driver behaviour a woman in her twenty’s was racing another driver, with her toddler of 22 months on the back seat. With brains like that she should have been sterilized at birth. As reported by news.com.au ; A YOUNG mother has shocked police by allegedly drag-racing another woman [...] The BMW 1 SeriesWhen I was a fit, young-ish person and was still on the tools we looked after a car that was one of the most enjoyable cars to drive. Now don’t laugh but it was actually a compact BMW 120i. Yeah I know, two litres two doors not exactly inspiring stuff but [...] Holden to re-establish the Cadillac brand in AustraliaAfter a 20 year absence from our shores Holden has announced plans to import Cadillacs into Australia. The plan involves the importing to start in the fourth quarter of 2008 and initially involves one model, the CTS. Dealers will be appointed next year although GM officials remain non-comittal about the location [...] Roadside Drug Tests for Queensland Drivers - Update No. 2
Number of comments: 5
If you haven’t read any of my previous posts on this subject, my gripe with these drug tests is that as a cronic back pain sufferer I rely heavily on prescribed pain killers, namely Panadeine Forte. I have been taking these for nearly two years and I can say [...] BA Falcon Drivebelt Replacement
Number of comments: 2
Today we are taking a look at what is involved in replacing the serpentine belt on a 4.0 BA Falcon.
These first two steps are not compulsory, I do these to get better access to the belt and tensioner however you can replace the belt without doing them. [...] Roadside Drug Tests for Queensland Drivers - Update No.1 (of many I’m sure)
Number of comments: 2
Ok, now I’m getting worried. Having just read the Queensland Government’s Drug Driving Factsheet it seems that there is no provision at all for people taking prescription drugs. I am a cronic back pain sufferer, hence this blog instead of our beloved workshop, and I take the maximum dose I [...] $1 Million paid for pair of classic Fords
Friends and business associates Leo Khouri and Steve Dellidis this week took delivery of a 1967 XR GT Falcon in original condition with 34,000 genuine miles on the clock and [...] Does it pay to shop around - You betcha!This little snippet of information I find both amusing and in a way bloody annoying. My sister-in-law recently had trouble with her VT Commodore. It has been stalling on the odd occasion and starting again straight away. I checked the computer for fault codes and it gave us a code 49, indicating a fault [...] Balancer locking tool for the Mitsubishi V6If you’re wondering why we are doing a post on this subject please read our post on why it is soooo important to correctly torque the balancer bolt on these engines. The tool I have made suits a ‘99 model Challenger with the 3.0 24 valve engine however with a [...] Changing Spark Plugs - Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 24valveIf your late model Pajero, Challenger or Magna is due for it’s 100 or 200,000km service it is possible to save yourself quite a bit of dough by replacing the spark plugs yourself. It is a reasonably straight forward job to do and can be done with a basic spanner, screwdriver and socket set. [...] The 2009 Chevrolet Camaro
Number of comments: 1
My sincere apologies, the website that I had posted the link to about the 2009 Camaro has now been turned into a parked page so I will do my best to re-create what was there! Ok, basically the 2009 Camaro is GM’s answer to taking a classic motor vehicle and modernizing it [...] Blog Info:
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I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and above all a safe and happy holiday season.
Two Melbourne businessmen have paid a record $1 million for a pair of rare Ford Falcon GT sedans.
