Winter Driving Guide

A Publication of The Livingston Enterprise and the Big Timber Pioneer

Recreation
Shields Valley man restores cars on his terms ... Page 3
INSIDE:

Restoration

Local lube shops talk oil ... Page 5

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

Restoration recreation
cars no doubt dates to his street rodhen it comes to rebuildder days as a teenager in Michigan, ing old cars, you can be where creativity with cars was the a purist, replacing only norm. absolutely Story by If he puts the work into genuine DwIGHT HARRImAN it to bring it back to his own parts and making the car expression of what he feels look exactly like when it Photos by (the car) ought to be, thats rolled off the assembly SHAwN RAECKE fine with me, Mackinder, a floor way back when or, of The Enterprise gregarious retiree from the you can be creative and engineering department at General have a little fun. Motors Hydramatic Engineering Shields Valley resident David Mackfacility, said of car rebuilders. inder, 73, a rebuild enthusiast, prefers People that build cars can be very the latter. creative and enjoy their work as an Im a street rodder. Im not a cosartistic expression, he said. metic restoration guy, Mackinder said during a tour of a spacious, heated barn he built just to work on his projects. What a lineup His having-fun philosophy about Mackinders philosophy is evident in

Above: David Mackinder talks last week about the work hes doing on the various older cars he has in his spacious, heated barn in Shields Valley. On the cover: Mackinder leans against his newest project, a 1954 Studebaker Starlight coupe he just acquired.

You can be a purist or, you can have a car full of fun

the projects hes working on now. Take his newest project, a 1954 Studebaker Starlight coupe, which he acquired, typically, in fun fashion, when he spotted the car in Colorado a couple weeks ago. I just went by it and it waved at me, he laughed, as if to say he had no choice in the matter. The car was manufactured with a V-8 Studebaker engine. But Mackinder might put an early Cadillac engine in it. Yes, a Cadillac engine. Mackinder said in his youth there was a company in California that even back in the 50s would put Cadillac engines in Studebakers. The re-done cars were known as Studillacs. He thinks it would be fun to recapture that.

Im going to bring back that car that I remember (in) early high school, he said. Then theres a 1946 International pickup parked next to the Studebaker. Mackinder put a Chevy six-cylinder engine into it, equipped it with a fourbarrel carburetor intake and a dual exhaust. For an extra touch, the 46 International has tail lights from a 1939 Hudson. And its gas tank is situated in the trucks bed. Why? It looks cool! Mackinder laughed. Its a rat rodder thing, he said.

See Restoration, Page 9

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

This is not your fathers oil change

Newer-model cars have brought about a change in the oil we put in them, and when we put it in
Brad Bobowiec, left, owner of Special-Lube, at 819 W. Park St. in Livingston, checks the oil level on a car that came in for an oil change, as Special-Lube manager Kahen Reinhardt works behind him, Tuesday.
Enterprise photo by Shawn Raecke

Enterprise Staff Writer

By Justin Post

inter is almost here, but drivers might want to check their odometer and not the Farmers Almanac before deciding whether to change their oil with the new season. Once a common practice with older-model engines, motorists no longer need to switch to a motor oil with a lighter viscosity when the temperature drops, said Brad Bobowiec, owner of Special-Lube, located at 819 W. Park St., in Livingston. Switching to a lighter oil helped engines turn over on cold winter mornings, but technological advances in both engines and oil have all but eliminated that tradition, Bobowiec said. He estimates that engines have significantly improved in the past 15 years, but says some drivers still switch oil with the seasons. Thats one of the questions I get all the time, especially from the older generation, Bobowiec said. They say, Put that winter oil in my car. He politely explains to them that switching oil is no longer necessary. While you may need to dig out a winter coat for the upcoming season, your cars engine is just fine, Bobowiec said. Cars are very specific on the weight of oil they can take these days, he said. Modern cars are pretty much going to one straight oil all year around. Bobowiec said a wide variety of lubricants are available and that modern engines are designed

to operate with a specific motor oil viscosity. Every vehicle is going to be different, he said. Bobowiec encouraged drivers to check their owners manual for specifics about which oil to use to maximize engine performance.

It costs a little bit more, but you get double the miles.
Joe Betley, manager of Pony Express Lube Center, located at 1100 W. Park St. Livingston, on the advantage of synthetic oils
While many modern Fords call for 5W20 and Chevrolet models 5W30 oil, he said some models may call for other weights or grades. The owners manual is going to be specific as to the best way to go, Bobowiec said. The owners manual is going to be the bible of your car. He said todays engines are engineered to work under less pressure, which means drivers no longer need high-viscosity oils to protect the engines moving parts. That translates to a lighter grade of oil and increased gas mileage.

That allows your oil pump to not work as hard, which equals savings at the pump, Bobowiec said. They dont heat up as much and dont need the heavy oil to cool the motor there is less friction on the engine walls. One recent fall afternoon, someone drove a Chevrolet Silverado with more than 250,000 miles into Bobowiecs business for an oil change. That fact wasnt necessarily a surprise Bobowiec said the advances to engines are prolonging vehicle life. Hes also a proponent of synthetic oils, which he described as absolutely fantastic. While synthetics are slightly more expensive, he said they have numerous advantages, including requiring fewer oil changes and greater lubrication inside the engine. In the long run, its a way better savings, Bobowiec said. I think it has benefits all year-round. Joe Betley, manager of Pony Express Lube Center at 1100 W. Park St. in Livingston, agreed. It costs a little bit more, but you get double the miles, Betley said. During winter months, Bobowiec said synthetic oils might better help your engine turn over despite Mother Natures freezing grip. Whether you use synthetic or conventional oil this winter, Bobowiec encouraged all drivers to check their levels. As long as your car has oil, that is the most important thing, he said. Its very fast and its very hot, so just keep oil in it. Bobowiec also encourages motorists to make sure their radiator is filled with coolant and their tires are properly inflated.

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

SIX sTEPs ...

(BPT) Winter is quickly approaching and now is the perfect time to prepare your vehicle for the upcoming harsh driving conditions. Taking the time to prepare and protect your vehicles now will save you significant time, money and hassle later. Here are a few tips for vehicle winterization and cold weather driving to ensure safe travels this season: Get a grip: One of the most important aspects of winterization is ensuring you have a safe grip on the road. Like the soles of shoes that prevent us from slipping, quality tires help keep your vehicle securely on the road, especially in slippery rain or snowy conditions. Checking tire tread and pressure is important to ensure you have optimal traction. If you live in a particularly snow-prone or rural area, you might also consider buying snow tires and/or chains. Prevent battery blunders: Just as hard as it is for you to get moving on a cold day, frigid temperatures can have the same effect on your vehicle. It might take more battery power to get

to protect your vehicle and yourself this upcoming winter

a car started, so make sure your battery is up for the cold-weather challenge by having a mechanic check your battery for sufficient voltage. Consider keeping a booster pack or jumper cables in your car just in case of an emergency. These will come in handy should you find yourself stuck due to an unexpected battery failure. Protect your paint: Did you know that within 30 days a small scratch, chip or nick in a vehicles paint finish can rust? Add freezing temperatures and precipitation and these small problems can escalate to a larger, more expensive problem. Luckily, fixing scratches is quick, easy and affordable thanks to products such as Dupli-Colors new Scratch Fix All-in-1 touch-up paint. Available in hundreds of colors that perfectly match any vehicles body paint, Scratch Fix Allin-1 features two patented applicators, a pin-point pen tip for fine scratches and a taper-tip brush for larger chips. These tools provide precision and control, as well as a clear coat finish so you can achieve professional looking results that will repair and protect your vehicles appearance and avoid an ugly problem next spring. Practice safe driving: According to the Federal Highway Administration, crashes on snowy and icy pavement result in more than 1,300 deaths and 116,000 injuries each year. Winter driving can be tricky and requires a drivers full attention, so protect yourself and your family this year by altering your driving techniques. When a road is slick, avoid using cruise control to ensure you have full control over the vehicles speed at all times. Its also important to never slam on the brakes, as this will cause a vehicle to skid and lose control. Instead, brake gently. Additionally, give yourself extra travel time and patience this season. By doing so, youll be sure to keep you and your family safer during harsh driving conditions. Get a good view: Having full view of whats ahead and behind your vehicle, at all times, is vital, so be sure to check your windshield wiper blades and washer fluid before winter precipitation hits. On a snowy or low-visibility day, you can easily go through half a gallon or more of windshield washer fluid trying to keep your view clear. For that reason, its also a good idea to keep some extra fluid in the trunk in case you run out. In colder climates that experience ice or frost, you may want to keep a bottle of de-icing windshield spray handy. Simply spray your icy windshield with the fluid, turn on your vehicle defroster and your windows will clear quickly and easily. Prepare for the unexpected: In case something does happen to your vehicle this winter and you are stranded for an extended period of time, its important to keep a few essential items on board. Assemble an emergency kit containing a blanket, gloves, ice scraper, flares, flashlight, water and basic first aid items. Make sure to also carry a cell phone when you travel, particularly if bad weather is expected. By following these few simple tips, you can feel safe and prepared for the cooler temperatures ahead. For more information on Dupli-Color products, visit www.duplicolor.com.

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

Tips on making smart tire choices

(BPT) Choices are good, but sometimes they can be annoying. Case in point is the daily onslaught of trivial-like questions, such as: tall or grande, paper or plastic, regular or unleaded, credit or debit? The questions may seem never-ending, but being able to pick and choose is a good thing and really important in getting the right result. A good example is tires: Lots and lots of brands to choose from, but getting the right type of tire is vital because it impacts your vehicles ride, handling, comfort and even fuel efficiency. Tires certainly look simple black and round but they are highly-engineered technical wonders designed to work in concert with a vehicles braking and steering systems. However, knowing which type of tire to get can be kind of tricky. For instance, there are high-performance (HP) tires, as well as ultra high-performance (UHP). How different are they and how can you tell which one will work better for you? Its a good question and one I get all the time, says Andrew Briggs, director of marketing and product planning for Yokohama Tire Corporation, maker of a variety of truck and car tires. Consumers are smart to ask because they want to know whats best for their driving and their vehicle.

When consumers shop for tires, its important that they match the tire speed rating and load index required by their car or truck.
Andrew Briggs, director of marketing and product planning for Yokohama Tire Corporation Briggs says both UHP and HP tires provide excellent traction and control for sporty sedans like Mercedes-Benz and Lexus, as well as sleek sports cars like Porsches. Performance tires can also be categorized into summer and all-season types. Summer tires provide great handling in dry and wet conditions, while all-season tires are

designed to perform in a wide range of weather, including moderate winter conditions and cold temperatures. UHP tires typically give drivers a firmer, sportier, and more responsive feel, aided by their tread designs and compounds, which are designed to provide increased levels of grip. In addition, higher speed ratings distinguish a UHP from an HP tire. When consumers shop for tires, its important that they match the tire speed rating and load index required by their car or truck, says Briggs. Buying lower speed-rated tires could negatively affect the vehicles overall performance and handling. Once a consumer selects the tire that best meets their need, Briggs contends that keeping the tires properly maintained and being a smart driver can make a great choice even better. Here are some of his tips: Keep your tires properly inflated. You can lower your gasoline bill and get additional miles out of your tires by maintaining correct tire inflation pressure. To maintain proper inflation, check your tire pressure regularly and with a reliable tire gauge. Be sure the valve stems have a plastic or metal cap to keep dirt out and

seal against leakage. Be sure to check also when the tires are cold (at least three to four hours after the vehicle has been driven). Tire alignment should be checked once a year. Misaligned tires can reduce tread life and fuel economy. Taking off from a stoplight like a rocket and then slamming on the brakes to stop uses gas at a much faster rate. Accelerating less and slowing moderately can increase fuel efficiency by more than 30 percent. Also, many traffic lights are timed for efficient traffic flow, so youll hit more green lights in a row by maintaining the speed limit. Slow down. All vehicles lose fuel economy at speeds above 55 mph. Driving 55 mph instead of 75 mph can reduce fuel costs by up to 25 percent. Driving 65 mph instead of 75 mph can save up to 13 percent. Turn off your engine if youre stopped for more than a couple of minutes. Fuel efficiency savings of up to 19 percent are possible by not letting your engine idle too long while stationary.

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

Restoration, from Page 3

Oh in keeping with that rat rodder thing, hes not going to paint it. And on it goes, with varying degrees of departure from original components, from the 1955 First Series Chevrolet pickup truck hes restoring as a car for his wife, Pat; to his 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible; to the beat-up 1968 Chevy pickup he termed a basket case that he picked up for

If you finish all your projects, you die, he laughed. It keeps you young and your mind working.
reasons he cant seem to explain; to his 1930 Ford five-window coupe hot rod, which of course, by its very definition of hot rod has many variations from the original vehicle; to the 1957 Chevy two-door station wagon he has in Bozeman right now. Mackinder loves working on his cars, but he doesnt try to do every bit of the work. After he takes apart bodies and engines, he sends parts that require highly technical work to shops with the equipment and expertise to do it. When he gets back the parts sometimes even whole engines he reassembles everything that had not been assembled by the shop.

Keeping busy

Mackinder relishes his hobby and the time his retirement gives him to work on cars. Ive been waiting all my life to work on cars, he said. He loves keeping busy. If you finish all your projects, you die, he laughed. It keeps you young and your mind working. He said that is true regardless of ones hobby. Which of his cars is his favorite? I like them all! Im sick what can I tell you? he laughed again. Like her husband, Pat is also immersed in a hobby for 40 years she has collected, restored and sold antiques. Mackinder fully supports his wifes own endeavor. Mackinder said he spends six or seven hours a day working on the cars in his barn. Asked how Pat feels about him spending that much time at his hobby, Mackinder, always quick with a joke, quipped, Shed rather I spent longer. His hobby keeps him going. Im never bored, Mackinder said. Absolutely never.

David Mackinder is pictured through the passenger window of his 1955 First Series Chevrolet pickup truck that hes restoring as a car for his wife, Pat.

Mackinders cat, Stewart, keeps him company as he works on his car projects in his heated barn. A detail of the front end of the 1954 Studebaker Starlight coupe that Mackinder just acquired to restore.

For more photos, see Page 10

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

Restoration, from Page 9

Left: David Mackinder walks out of the travel trailer in which he has his 1930 Ford five-window coupe hot rod.

A shot of the steering wheel and dash of the 1954 Studebaker Starlight coupe, before work begins. Mackinder points out his 1946 International pickup in which he installed a Chevy six-cylinder engine. After hes done working on it, hes deliberately not going to paint it.

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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

How to keep a ticket out of your driving life

Theres lots of smart things you can do besides just not driving too fast
(BPT) Want to know how to avoid a speeding ticket? Easy dont speed. But even the most law-abiding drivers with flawless records can make mistakes and find themselves pulled over. In fact, 34 million people in the United States receive speeding tickets each year, according to the National Motorists Association. A ticket can raise insurance rates and tarnish your driving record, according to FindLaw.com, the nations leading website for free legal information. If you get arrested or fined for other traffic violations, those tickets can lead to stiffer fines and penalties. The big rule of speeding tickets is that most come at the discretion of the police officers involved, says Don Cosley, a criminal defense attorney of the Cosley Law Office in Chicago. Unless the officers are working a state or federal grant where they are required to issue traffic tickets, how you interact with a police officer will play a considerable role in whether you drive away with a warning or a ticket. Always cooperate with law enforcement officers, Cosley says. Theyve heard every excuse in the book. If you immediately start arguing or making smart comments, your chances of driving away with a ticket increase. Here are some additional tips from FindLaw.com on how to avoid a speeding ticket. Watch for posted speed limit signs. According to a 2013 survey by Insurance.com, the top excuse for speeding is, I didnt see the sign. The safest way to avoid a speeding ticket is to carefully watch posted signs and not exceed the limit. Even five miles per hour over the speed limit can land you a ticket particularly near schools, road construction zones and other hotspots where police try to increase safety. Give yourself plenty of time. If youre running late, youre more likely to speed. One simple trick you can do to build in some travel time is to set your house clocks a few minutes ahead. Remember, youll arrive even later if you get pulled over. Keep a clean driving record. Police cars are often equipped with computer systems that allow law enforcement to instantly look up your driving record. A driver with a clean record is more likely to be let off with a warning than one with several traffic violations. Stay off your cellphone. Cellphone use is legal in some states and illegal in others, but distracted driving should always be avoided. If you are observed speeding and using your phone at the same time, it will dramatically boost your odds of driving away with a ticket, rather than a warning, and it may increase fines associated with the violation. Avoid speed traps. Speed limits typically drop when you approach a small town or city. Thats prime real estate for speed traps. Police often use highway overpasses, bridges or medians with a clear view of oncoming traffic to hunt for speeders. Dont stand out. Drivers who go too fast, swerve or aggressively pass other drivers are more likely to draw the attention of the police. Move over. After using the left lane to pass a car, move back over to the right lane. Cars that continue to pass other cars while in the left lane are easy targets for police. Also keep in mind that in some states, the left lane is only for passing. Cooperate with the police officer. Being cooperative and respectful toward the police officer who pulls you over is one of the best ways to avoid a speeding ticket. It also can help defuse a potentially stressful situation. If you are pulled over, start by turning off your car, put away your cellphone and place your keys on the dashboard and your hands on the wheel in the 10 and 2 oclock position to show the officer that you arent doing anything illicit before he or she arrives. Taking off your sunglasses also can be a show of respect. If its nighttime, turn on the interior lights of your car. Save your arguments for traffic court. If you believe you dont deserve a speeding ticket, take your argument to court. Dont argue it with a police officer at the scene. To learn more about speeding tickets and other traffic laws, visit FindLaw. com.

Don't wait until it's too late. Now's the time to get your vehicle ready for winter driving.
Whether it's snow tires, a tune-up or a thorough check of your car by a mechanic, don't put off having your car winter-ready any longer. Check out the articles and the ads in this special section for tips and then drive worry free this winter.

ENTERPRISE
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WINTER DRIVING GUIDE 2013

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