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Best of Shop Press 2024

As 2024 draws to a close, the Shop Press team assembled some of the most notable articles, videos, and more of the year. Our goal all along has been to provide a unique voice on a mix of topics that speaks to mechanics and the mechanically inclined like no other...

Watch how magnetizer/demagnetizer tools work in this excellent video

During some recent work on an older SUV, I was absolutely fed up. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had just finished a fair bit of grinding and filing, and when I reached for my screwdriver to start installing some parts, I saw that the tool’s tip looked like the Wooly...

Tool review: Klein 3255 bull pin

Disclaimer: I purchased this tool at full retail price at my own expense, with no compensation to write about the item. Most mechanics I know value tools that have either of the following characteristics: Useful, but from another industry (because it might be useful...

What does horsepower really mean? (VIDEO)

Horsepower is a strange measurement, isn’t it? Think about it. When was the last time you used a horse for any kind of work or travel? Like candlepower, the original horsepower attempted to express the output of a newer technology in comparison to its predecessor....

Sketching Skodas

Instead of restoring vintage Czech cars made by Laurin & Klement (L&K), Stefan Ivanov sketches them. His desire to raise awareness of the brand in his home country of Bulgaria and abroad drove him to publish an illustrated history of L&K in 2019. Although...

Turbocharger repair and replacement: What you need to know (VIDEO)

Description Not so long ago, forced induction was mostly limited to high-performance sports cars and diesel trucks. Changes in fuel efficiency standards, forced induction technologies, vehicle design, and consumer preferences led to the widespread adoption of...

Better ops with SOPs

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a documented tool designed to provide formal, consistent, and efficient results. Put another way, an SOP can bring order to a process that might otherwise be unpredictable at best and chaotic at worst. And given how dynamic the...

Dash warning lights: feature or bug?

Dash warning lights: feature or bug?

Warning lights are something we’re all familiar with—all too often, they’re the reason a customer steps into your shop. Mechanics of a certain age will remember a time when the phrase “idiot light” was used to describe a dash light. The derisive term referred to the...
Don’t let the grind of fixing cars wear down your love for ‘em

Don’t let the grind of fixing cars wear down your love for ‘em

Fixing automobiles all day is tough. The work’s too hard, the customers get ornery, the money ain’t what it oughta be, working conditions aren’t always the best, and the hours are too long. In spite of that, I have yet to meet a tech, service writer, or counterman who...
Preston Tucker: Visionary or Villain?

Preston Tucker: Visionary or Villain?

It’s possible you have already heard of Preston Tucker. He was the subject of “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” a 1988 Francis Ford Coppola movie starring Jeff Bridges. More recently, he was the subject of the biographical book “Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build...