Smart Sighting

I parked next to a smart fortwo today at Staples. It's certainly a shorter car (shortest currently in production), but it's amazing how it towers over my car in terms of height.

Despite the screwy transmission, I still really like these cars. If I came across one for under ten grand, I'd seriously (and foolishly) consider it.

Condenser Conundrum Conclusion

Once in awhile, if I'm stuck on a problem, I'll ask for help over at britishcarforum.com. I had done this throughout my condenser failings. One fellow on there kept inviting anyone with a failed condenser to mail it to him for analysis. Well, I had two, so I figured why not.

Today, he posted his findings and they proved to be pretty shocking. If you have some time, and are interested, feel free to read it here. He was very thorough with his approach, and his findings have convinced me to more actively pursue an electronic ignition. The one I'd like to buy (which replaces the whole dizzy) is $250. Which is quite a lot of money for me right now.

Quakertown Community Day 2009

It just occurred to me that I didn't make a post about this. This is the third year I had the Midget at Quakertown Community Day. Dad also entered his Benz. Fantastic weather...great time with friends and family...and I would've bought a VW Bus if it'd been for sale. Oh, and Greg sourced a possible transmission candidate with whom I need to follow up.

Triumphant Twos

A few days ago I removed the heater in the Mini. I connected the inlet hose with the outlet hose, topped off the radiator with coolant, and I'm back in business. As you can see from the photos, it slims down the dash quite a bit.

I haven't opened the heater up yet to take a look as I've been quite busy with other things. I figure that will be a good fall project if I even decide to keep it in there.

Then this afternoon I replaced the condenser in the Midget yet again. When I went to start it up, it wouldn't. I was quite disheartened until I opened the dizzy back up and realized I forgot to pop the rotor back on. Woops. Put it all back together, started it up, took it for a spin, and problem solved.

I'm going to ask around for suggestions on an electronic ignition setup. There are a couple different kinds out there, and I'd rather speak to some folks with experience before purchasing one. Though it's comforting to know that a new condenser fixes the problem, it's getting annoying to have to replace it all the time. It's only a $3 part, but it's tricky getting to the one mounting screw. It usually takes me at least an hour to swap a new one in.

Terrible Twos

When things go wrong, they all go wrong at once.

The Midget has been "missing" lately. It's more noticeable at high speed/high acceleration. And though it's not as severe, it feels similar to the symptoms I experienced with the condenser fiasco a few months back (see Smooth Runnings I and II). Since they're cheap enough, I ordered another condenser and rotor and I'm preparing myself to perform the tricky condenser swap once again (without removing the distributor). However, the procedure may be moot...because I think I'm strongly considering converting to an electronic ignition system. Dad kept bringing this up and I always thought it was much more involved than it is. But basically it seems like you just remove the distributor and swap in the new unit. I won't have to deal with points or condensers again...which would be great.

Next, the Mini's heater box has just recently started to leak coolant on the interior floor. (Thanks to Greg for noticing the leak.) My dad informs me it's most likely the heater core (which I think is also called the heater matrix). This makes sense looking at where it's dripping from the casing. This is a $100+ item so I might hold off on purchasing it till the fall. In the meantime, I plan on removing the whole heater box and joining the "in" hose with the "out" hose. This will be the quickest fix so I can continue to enjoy the car throughout the summer. Hopefully I can get this done tomorrow. And hopefully I'm able to do it without draining the whole cooling system.

Always Open

Not much to report, but I thought I'd post an update. The Midget recently had some problems retaining a charge due to my negligence of not keeping the battery terminals clean. So today I went and replaced both terminals of the battery. That should do the trick. It was an easy job, and it was nice spending the evening in the garage instead of the kitchen for once.

Other than that, the Midget has been getting increasingly difficult to shift. Most apparent are first and reverse (the non-synchronized gears) and once in awhile third gives me some trouble. I'm keeping a lookout on where to get a replacement tranny. Though I'm hoping this one lasts till Fall so I'm not without the convertible during Summer.

Speaking of which, about a month ago, I started an "always open" goal with the Midget...possibly inspired by the new MINI Cabrio campaign. (Though I've had this mentality ever since I got the car.) Basically, I'm not going to put the top up for the remainder of Summer. There has really only been one day in which I encountered a substantial amount of rain. But boy was it fun!

The Mini continues to run strong. It's leaking a bit more oil than it probably should, but I haven't had the ambition to look into it any further.

All in all, I'm just trying to enjoy the summer. I definitely enjoy driving the Midget over the Mini. Much more power and much fewer stares and parking lot conversations.

Hellertown Car Show

Today was the 16th Annual British Motorcar Gathering in Hellertown. I ended up taking both of my cars...which I don't think I'll do in the future. Dad came up with David and they drove the Mini down as I followed in the Midget. It was neat seeing and hearing the Mini at a distance. I love the exhaust sound and the car looks really slick driving down the road.

The show itself was fun. The weather was perfect (though the ground was a bit soggy) and the food (hot dogs) were fantastic. We spent most of our time around the Mini group. There were probably about 8 classic Minis and 4 Binis (2 Ss, 1 Cabrio, and 1 Clubman). The guy who sold me my car was there with another one for sale. Also, the owner of the first Mini I ever drove (the right-hand driver I "test drove" to gauge the power of a 998 engine) was there. I also ran into my high school astronomy teacher who remembered me and asked about my car.

I didn't win anything, though I certainly feel that my car was in the top three of the bunch in terms of overall quality (bodywork, paint job, absence of rust) and originality (I'm not sure if there was another car there with an all-original interior).

A couple people pointed out an indentation on my passenger side door and a smaller dent on my boot lid. I never noticed either. It seemed to bother these people a lot more than it bothers me.

All in all, it was a fun day.