Guinness

What Did You Do To Your Smart Today?

5,057 posts in this topic

I decided not to do anything to Snowball today other than a wash, because the oil and filter only have 3000 km on them.  I will wait a couple of months to do it in all likelihood.

 

On the other hand, I worked on the 404 Coupé front bumper a bit today - cleaning inside the stainless steel - the outside was de-dented and professionally polished - and painting the mild steel mounts that are welded to the inside with Zinga, so now it's ready to mount.   Pininfarina never makes things simple!  That car's only insured for $55K right now, but I should go up to the $89K that Hagerty says she's worth soon, maybe early in 2018, as she starts to come together.

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I've discovered that the 453 floor mats are not as robust as the 450's were.

In the ten and a half years we owned our cdi we went through one set of floormats

and the second set (which I purchased from Mike T.) were still in fine shape when

it was sold. So, I decided to purchase a set of Cocomats which should stand up

to the abuse of my son's steel toed work shoes!!!

I'll attach a photo when they're installed...;)

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Swapped out the old all-season tires on the Grandstyle for 1 year old winters.

Amazing difference in the ‘feel’ of the rolling resistance.... almost like there is none.

Now watch the average daily temperatures start to soar up near 20C.

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1 minute ago, smartnhappy said:

Swapped out the old all-season tires on the Grandstyle for 1 year old winters.

Amazing difference in the ‘feel’ of the rolling resistance.... almost like there is none.

Now watch the average daily temperatures start to soar up near 20C.

 

If they do I’ll know who to thank.

 

Nigel

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It had to happen sooner or later.  I finally had to replace the turbo on my 05 Pulse smart.  ( 193,600km )

 

As always, the ever-competent Uncle Glenn performed the sanity-tasking job with relative ease. 

 

The job was not without issues.  The turbo was original and was encrusted with rust from our salt-laden roads.  This meant that all the tiny nuts and bolts were nasty bits of work to remove.  Some of the bolts holding the turbo in place were slightly recessed and offered no easy solution should they become striped.  Never the less, Glenn persevered and the whole thing was done in one day. 

 

Colour me a happy camper!

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Drove to Nanaimo and back in the sun and cold weather.  For our trouble, we received a nice rock chip on the upper right windshield, and now I will have to get it filled sometime.

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I swapped our winter tires on, and for the first time in 30 years of driving experienced less road noise on dry pavement with winters than with summers.  Perhaps I should stop cheaping-out on summer rubber...  :lol:

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18 hours ago, dguy said:

I swapped our winter tires on, and for the first time in 30 years of driving experienced less road noise on dry pavement with winters than with summers.  Perhaps I should stop cheaping-out on summer rubber...  :lol:

 

Ya', I switched to my winters 2 weeks ago and it was painful. The ride is rough and loud. I already miss the summers, although the winters have already been put to use this year.

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181k km on the 451, Toyo snows went on today.  Took part in some Black Friday shopping.  A 55" TV can be transported in a 451 but I would not recommend doing it in the rain or cold. 

Edited by Huronlad

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Put a two day permit on the canada1 coupe for today and Saturday and went driving all over Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Will do an oil change before putting it back into the underground garage for the winter months. Really enjoyed my time in it today. 107,000 ish kms. Will head to Vancouver Saturday.

 

On another note, I have two people in Ontario who have expressed interest in the car. I am not sure where this will lead for sure.

 

Coupe is far left in picture. I previously owned the car on the far right as well.

4 canada1 cars.jpg

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Drove the smart to Victoria despite the gimpy alternator, Sandy ordered me some bike upgrade parts for Xmas, then drove home, washed the car and changed the oil and air filter.  IC is still leaking oil of course and the alternator is iffy at best.  I have decided that the dealer will get this job when the time comes - I just don't have the patience for repairing my daily drivers anymore.  Plus I have a major project underway already (404C).  118,8xx km.

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Last weekend I changed the oil, oil filter and air filter.

 

Then today I drive another 100 km.  The alternator is definitely not leaving the battery happy. 

 

I wish this car was easy to work on.  I can change a Peugeot 404 alternator in 5 minutes, and even in my Mercedes B200 it would not take more than 15 minutes.  Anyway a little exercise in the sunny weather is good for the little beastie.

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Ordered a full set of Vredestiens for the Canada 1 strike lines (thanks MikeT) from Fast Eddy.  Also have the fortwo decal and the anti aircirculation bulkhead coming from Europe (thanks Eddy).  Still searching for the brabus triangle stickers.   

I will need to ship the tires down to Palm springs where the Canada 1 sits with a flat tire and minor damage to one of the rear Brabus monoblocks.

It is quite hard to tell you have a flat in one of these cars,  This is the first flat in about 150,000 km's of smarts 80,000 on Henry and 30,000 on the Canada 1.

I hit something on the freeway and by the time I got stopped the tire had side wall damage so I drove very slowly down to date palm to exit the freeway about a quarter mile and tire was totally trashed.

While I was dropping the wheels off with Eddy I noticed he has a very sweet 06 passion with all options but leather, heated seats, rare power sunroof, paddles, silver trident, with about 100k on the clock, for less than 4 grand.  I had to tear myself away before making an unplanned purchase.

Alan

ps sitting at 56,000 km

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23 hours ago, MikeT said:

Air circulation bulkhead = filet anti-remous = wind net

Where does that fit?

Over radiator grill?

 

3_DE4073_E-_A043-4453-_AE9_B-_F65981_ADC

 

PS. Photo shot around noon today. 

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Fits across the roll bar keeps the wind out of the cabin with the top down.  I know I can just put the top up but I like the sun.

Smart named it, not me.

Alan

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1 hour ago, Henry said:

Fits across the roll bar keeps the wind out of the cabin with the top down.  I know I can just put the top up but I like the sun.

Smart named it, not me.

Alan

Wind deflector P/N Q0005847V004

image.jpg

 

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No start in the Canada 1 this AM.  The alternator's voltage regulator is known to be faulty but it all came to tears (not literally) this morning when it wouldn't even turn over.

 

But, I have had a spare smart battery on a charger for a few years so I am mobile again.  The alternator and intercooler need to be changed in early 2018, that will be about $1500 so it'll have to wait a wee bit, maybe until the end of January.

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If you send me the old intercooler, I’ll solder up the leaks and then you’ll have a spare.   Don’t forget that the alternator can likely be repaired for about a hundred dollars. 

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Yeah but I derive no pleasure from the labour, unlike in my old project car.  So it'll be new parts and done by the dealer this time at least.

 

Thanks for the offer on the IC repair, I may well take you up on that!

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Washed and fuelled up the Canada one.  Installed the wheels (from Mike T) and tire package from Flying Tiger.  Vredestiens 175-55R15 front and 195-50R15 rear,  The ride is so much smoother and quieter now.  I have noticed a small decrease in performance with the big rubber but still quite the improvement over all.

On inspection of the original rubber (11 or 12 years old now) I discovered that the steal belt had let go and that caused the vibration good tread still around 80% of the tire but worn right through the belts where the bulge is.  A sigh of relief as there does not appear to be any wheel damage as first thought.

Will post some pictures tomorrow.

Happy new year all.

Alan 

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