Today we had a Jasper Engine salesman stop in the store. While his main priority for calling was to drum up business he had some good information to share on the Dex Cool class action law suit. I felt this was good information to share with our customers as well. So here we go with whats going on.

Engines involved within 7 years of initial vehicle delivery or 150,000 miles:

1. 1995-2003 3.1 and 3.4 liter engines

2. 1995-2004 3.8 liter engines.

3. 1995-2000 4.3 liter engines

Payout:

1. Covered repair made within 5 years after initial vehicle delivery-up to $400, or up to $800, if repair bill was more than $1500.

2. Covered repair made in the 6th year afteer initial vehicle delivery-up to $100.

3. For a covered repair in the 7th year after initial delivery-up to $50.

To file a claim , visit this website: www.dexcoolsettlement.com

Print off the settlement claim form from this website, fill it out and submit the following information:

1. Proof of ownership (copy of vehicle registration card,proof of insurance coverage, title certificate, bill of sale or lease agreement).

2. Proof of repair (repair shop invoice or receipt).

Mail to: Dex Cool Litigation

c/o The Garden City Group, Inc.   

P.O. Box 9239

Dublin, OH 43017-4639

I know this doesn’t cover all the problems but it does help.

The guys here at Hawkins Speed Shop want to share some tips for you gearheads to help you keep your cool. Cooling seems to be a big issue during the hot summer months hopefully some of these tips will help you out.

-Where do you locate your temperature sensor? Never run your sensor in the block or head! The ideal location is in the intake manifold at the water neck prior to the radiator return.

-If you are having a overheating problem ask yourself is it on the highway or in traffic?

    If your problem is in traffic chances are it is not a radiator problem.If you are overheating on the highway you may possibly be running too small of radiator.   Ask yourself if you have changed pulleys…if yes see if it is under-driven. Pulley systems need to be ideally over-driven by 30%. I.E. if the crank pulley is 10″ you need a 7″ water pump pulley.

-Fans

    Mechanical fans must have a shroud! Also, the fan needs to be halfway into the fan shroud for optimum cooling performance.

    Push vs. Pull-Simply put…is it easier to push a rope or pull a rope? A puller fan is always better when you can fit it, if you have no choice and have to run a pusher style fan you must use a fan shroud.

-DexCool (the “pink stuff”)-Do not use! Dexcool eats up manifold gaskets and deposits get stuck and jammed clogging the radiator. The ideal fluid is ethylene glycol and  distilled water. Remember tap water has minerals and conducts electricity.

-As a guideline use 1 square inch of radiator core per horsepower.

Hopefully these tips will help you have a cooler summer. Have a safe and fun filled summer.

The Hawkins Speed Shop website continues to grow and generate interest among racers and rodders alike. Our great customer base is what makes us grow. We can not thank our loyal customers enough. We are a small business and do not have the tens of thousands of part numbers on our site like many of the big boys do. To serve our customers better we would like to hear from you. We would like our customers to let us know what parts they would like to see added to the Hawkins Speed Shop site.

Wilwood is a compnay that is always developing their product line. We constantly get information on new or changing products several times a year from them. Recently Wilwood has announced the release of their New Superlite 13 and 14 Inch Rear Disc Kits with Drum Parking Brakes. These kits feature an internal shoe parking brake system that is cleanly hidden. You have your choice of HP smooth faced rotors or the new SRP Black Electro Coat rotors. The calipers are available black, red polished or other custom Wilwood color by special order. For the open wheelers Wilwood has a new asphalt midget front brake. The system uses a new compact 4 piston billet caliper, corrosion free 1.25″ piston that reduce heat transfer to the pads, quick clip pad retainers allow for fast replacement of top mounted pads and a 3.50″ centered mounts that adapt to many brackets for common spindles.

Cam break in procedures are changing. The EPA has changed the motor oil of today. In order to eliminate catalytic converter damage the EPA has made the oil companies lower the amount of ZDDP(zinc diakyl dithio phosphate) in engine oils. The ZDDP levels in the 60’s were 0.07% to todays 0.09%. While this has been good for converter life it has made problems for hot rodders installing new flat tappet cams. ZDDP works to prevent corrosion and features excellent anti-scuff and anti-wear properties needed for camshaft break in.

So what’s a gear head to do? First follow all the cam companies procedures for installing your new cam. Most cam companies request that you install low-rate valve springs and use their cam assembly lube. Crane Cams tech department list Shell Rotella T, Chevron Delo, and Mobil DELVAC as suitable oils that contain 1400 ppm of zinc. I haven’t confirmed it yet but rumor is Rotella T’s zinc level has been reduced. Gear heads  have another choice. Joe Gibbs BR is an excellent break in oil with a zinc level of 2800ppm. Lake Speed of Joe Gibbs Racing Oil will tell you this oil can be used for break-in and complete dyno sessions. Lucas TB Zinc Plus is an excellent additive that can be use in combination with non synthetic motor oils with low zinc levels.

 Other important rules to follow are:

1 Don not use any synthetic oil sense it may be to slippery to assure ring seating and flat tappet lifter rotation.

2 Always apply an approved moly paste to the cam lobes and lifter faces.

3 Do not pump up the hydraulic lifters. This can cause lifters to hold a valve open during cranking, which can cause low compression and delay engine start-up.

4 Always prime the oil system.

5 Lubricate lifter walls and push-rods with engine oil.

6 Fire the engine, bring it to a fast idle of 1500  and 3000 rpm. Vary The idle speed from slow to moderate for 20 to 30 minutes. This varying speed helps to ensure proper lifter rotation.

So Gear Heads keep this in mind when you put in your new cam. These guidlines will ensure miles of pleasure in your hot rods.

At this time the staff of Hawkins Speed Shop would like to thank all of its loyal customers for their continued support over the years. As technology continues to grow Hawkins Speed Shop has to grow with it. Years ago we started shipping parts to people all over the country as time went by we incorporated traveling to many performance auto related events over the mid-west. A toll free number was implemented to further assist our customers. As time went by  Jim Ray began  putting the pieces in place for the Hawkins Speed Shop Race team. A team the that started in the amateur bracket class, moving through IHRA’S top sportsman class finally reaching the pro level in both IHRA and NHRA in the Pro Stock categories. Now Hawkins Speed Shop has stepped up again with www.hawkinsspeedshop.com. Along with the website and online store we have created this online blog.

 The goal of this blog is to  keep our customers up to date with cuurent projects, new products, technical information and editorials all about the performance industry. I believe this blog will benefit our customers as well as making it an enjoyable place to visit. I also think it provides us with another medium to help connect with our customers. We will continue to update our site and add more product. Not so long ago we made the addition of our LS1 Performance Parts page. This section is one of the most viewed on our site and will continue to grow. In the future you will also see the addition of a 4.6 Ford section and others in the future.

As racing season starts to creep it’s way in we have started to increase our inventory. The arrival of parts from B&M, Autometer, Milodon, RHS, Earls and Dart have our store stocked and ready for action in the upcoming months. Once again Welcome to the Hawkins Speed Shop Blog sit back and enjoy and lets all have a fun and safe racing season.