Overland Park Auto Repair

We just hosted our very first open house at New Concept Auto Service on October 13. The event was a fun success for both our visitors and employees. We invited customers, Overland Park AAA members in the area, folks from my BNI networking group, and our church. My wife Polly did a masterful job of planning this first-time event, with help from our social media right arm, Traci Matt. Newton Graves showed up with his 1988 Mustang GT convertible that we have been servicing since 1997. Dennis Engel brought his high visibility orange 1970 VW Super Beetle. We literally rolled out the red carpet. As people arrived, they saw the new, colorful, full-size shop scenes which filled the front windows. They were greeted by Service Advisor Phil Perez, who gave them nametags and entered them for door prizes. He also gave each person a “Name That Part!” game form to win a prize if they correctly identified a specific car part, along with a New Concept pink pen in honor of National Breast ... read more

This year in Overland Park we have been fortunate to have a warm, dry fall and the ability to stretch out the classic car season. However, freezing precipitation came within a few counties of us this week and it’s time to get those special classics tucked away for a long winter’s nap. How do you make sure your classic is stored properly? Here are my top ten tips: 1. Don’t overlook scheduled maintenance, such as changing the oil and filter. Resist the urge to put it off until spring, when you will have a thousand other things to tend to as you bring her out of hibernation. 2. Give her a thorough wash and wax, as well as vacuuming and cleaning of interior surfaces. Use a good conditioner of your choice to seal and protect leather, vinyl and plastic. 3. Add fuel stabilizer (like Sea Foam or Sta-Bil brand) to protect from rust and other issues, then fill the gas tank to the brim. 4. Take her out for one final spin to get it good and warmed up. This will allow the oil a ... read more

I was in my hometown of WaKeeney, Kansas, recently to visit a friend. He was restoring an early 60’s Chevy station wagon, which brought back some vivid childhood memories of my mother. She was quite the industrious woman, always on the go and always hauling something around. She had three wagons, all with distinct purposes: The Candy Wagon. This was a brown, late 60’s Ford. She drove this to one of several small towns to service laundromats she owned. Every laundry in those days had both a coin operated pop and candy machine. One of my jobs was to service and refill both machines while my uncle Donnie performed repairs on the washers and dryers. I learned how a periodic little drop of oil in just the right spot kept those fascinating mechanisms working. I discovered it’s always the dime that gets stuck because it’s the smallest. The back of this Ford was full of tools and replacement parts for the washers and dryers, PLUS boxes of candy and cases o ... read more

Although I heard the mention of snow in the Overland Park forecast for next week, I’m going out on a limb and guessing you are more than ready to get your classic car prepped for warm weather driving. There is more to it than removing the tarp and checking the oil! First, do a visual inspection. Walk around the car checking for anything amiss, like leaking fluids. Check under the hood for popped connectors or hoses because this may indicate damage caused by frozen water. Look for cracks or even hoses that are too hard. Be sure to remove any rodent blockers you cleverly installed last fall like paper towels stuffed in the exhaust pipe. You don’t want the mice to have the last laugh when you forget to remove that! Take a good look at your tires. Check for wear—it may be time for an alignment. Also look for dry rot and foreign objects which may have lodged in the tire over the course of the winter. Top off to the correct PSI and make sure the spare is ready to use! While you ... read more