Shop Press

Shop Press is the news and idea hub for everything related to working on cars and trucks, focusing on repair, technology, and wrenching lifestyle.

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FEATURE STORY

Hot Off the Press

Catalytic converters are the coolest car parts that get no respect

The air in Detroit during the 1960s was so polluted that mothers were scared for their children to play outside. In certain places, you couldn’t see the sun at noon, and buildings had to be cleaned or repainted every six months. Some people wrote letters to...

Is perseverance in the service bay a feature or a bug?

I am a proficient mechanic. I have long said my proficiency comes partially from skill, but mostly I’ve achieved good results due to my perseverance. I am generally unwilling to toss in the towel on something until it works correctly. “Too stupid to know when to quit”...

May Automotive Horoscopes

Aries: Your service writer will be keeping you busy this month, and you’ll need to keep your focus to avoid burnout. Pay special attention to the effects of distractions around you. Some coworkers have a way of keeping you from your work for a little longer than you...

Right to Repair gains momentum in Maine

The state motto of Maine, “Dirigo,” Latin for “I lead,” is being embraced by the members of the Maine Right to Repair Coalition who find themselves at the vanguard of a movement to ratify legislation that protects independent repair shops. Last February, a referendum...

Tool review: ICON 3/8” ratchet

About a year ago, I was reefing on some fastener, and my trusty old Armstrong ratchet let go and spun free. It did it again a few bolts later, and at that point I set the tool down before I got hurt. I had purchased a few 3/8” ratchets years earlier after some junkers...

Our Contributors

Lemmy

Lemmy is our jack-of-all-trades and master of none. A former tech, service writer, salvage dismantler, and parts counterman, his résumé is as checkered as his hodgepodge garage. The guy spends a fair amount of time under a lift working with cars, but loves wrenching on all sorts of stuff—motorcycles, tractors, and severely hot-rodded minibikes appear regularly. The junk he drags home is usually antique, and always about two steps away from being scrap.

Jonathan Roth

Jonathan has been a technical writer for Dorman for over a decade. If you’ve read any Dorman instructions instead of chucking ’em, he’s the guy who wrote them. He has also worked on the Dorman Helps benefit car show since 2013. Prior to writing for Shop Press, he was a freelance entertainment writer for the Allentown Morning Call, The Aquarian Weekly and two.one.five magazine. His dream car is a Tri-Five Chevy.

Mike Principato

Mike has been writing for and about the auto and heavy truck industries long enough to remember when Pontiac actually believed that the Aztek would save their brand and no self-respecting truck stop had a salad bar. He’s lost count of the number of vehicles he’s owned, fixed, reviewed, or conned an unsuspecting manufacturer into letting him drive. His work has appeared internationally everywhere but on your coffee table, and invariably reflects his irrepressibly nerdy fascination with highly engineered machinery of every kind. In Shop Press, his sworn mission is to help readers discover that same magic behind the seemingly mundane.

Mike Apice

Mike has been a long time photojournialist based out of Philadelphia. One day he walked into Dorman Products. They gave him a camera and said, “Shoot this part,” and almost 22 years later he’s still shooting. He’s seen a lot of changes in and around the automotive world, but is still a devoted manual transmission driver. He appreciates the stories each car and each driver has, and enjoys showing those stories in his photography.

Nick D’Alessio

Before coming to Dorman, Nick ran his own shop specializing in high-performance Japanese vehicles which he still owns and operates today. He holds a degree in electrical engineering, and holds certification as a Master Technician through the ASE. He began his career as a field service engineer for Bombardier Transportation working on projects like the SEPTA M4 train and AMTRAK Acela High speed train. Well-versed in fabrication and welding, you can find him performing complex try-ons, building on-vehicle test fixtures or test harnesses, or hosting Dorman product and original content videos.

Miriam Maltese

Miriam is the newest technician in the Proving Ground Garage, having recently graduated with training focused on hybrid electric vehicles. She serves as a regular video host in addition to her varied mechanical duties.

Lee Procida

Before writing for Shop Press, Lee was a staff writer for The Press of Atlantic City daily newspaper. Now he writes about the stories behind auto parts, and the issues affecting the people who work on cars and trucks. His favorite automotive-themed songs are “Daddy’s Cup” by Drive-By Truckers and “Gear Jammer” by George Thorogood. He thinks if the world were fair then Mazda would have Lincoln’s marketing budget. He proudly takes his cars to Grove Auto in Haddonfield, New Jersey.