Red Pxl Thread

[niteshooter 30]

On 2018-06-22 at 6:05 PM, stickman007 said:

I was definitely not very rational when I bought my 1st Smart....didn't think the Canada1 was either! Hahahaha

 

I thought it was cool...and I needed a hobby.

 

@Willys the plan was to have a dash cam all along...just didn't think I'll need it that quickly. I have 1 on my GLI and man, I can easily have my own youtube channel on "the brave and skilled drivers of AB"

 

Think there are bad drivers everywhere, try driving in Toronto where everyone seems to be lost in a fog. Down here when something major happens involving police they now are asking if anyone has dash cam footage, have one in my daily driver because you never know when you might need it.

[niteshooter 30]

Heh heh, tell me about over doing it and then paying the price the next day! I've been on my hands and knees in a crawl space clearing it out and am still paying for that a couple of weeks later. I suspect I would be even worse had I not worn knee pads. In my head I don't consider myself as that old, granted my body will suddenly start screaming in protest.

 

Have to admit I really like the looks of the 450 cabriolets so a Canada 1 would be interesting......

[Willys 747]

11 hours ago, niteshooter said:

In my head I don't consider myself as that old, granted my body will suddenly start screaming in protest.

LOL....I always wondered why when you saw all these old farts sitting in chairs peering out their windows in the old age homs, why the hell didn't they get up and do something......NOW...I know why!!!!

 

 

I wonder what I did wrong to get this sore after simple chores etc......I used to be a bull in a china shop, could do anything  just did whatever I wanted when I wanted, strong as an ox.....Hmmmm...? Maybe...?   Seriously i know why i hurt now, whiplash from a rear-end accident in 2001.......I will say this to anyone, protect your spine because without that in good working condition, you are done, stick a fork in you, done!   I'm done!   4 herniated discs, and a plate and screws I'm done.   Just protect your spine at all costs!

 

[stickman007 309]

Red Pxl got registered today! Too bad I don't have the money for the custom plate "RED PXL"...yet.

 

Out of Province was a breeze, this is the 4th car I had this mechanic do...he knew I was anal about car maintenance, so he essentially passed it without much fuss. Insurance on the other hand was PITA...they wanted pictures of the car, a separate inspection...blab blab blab...I hate them.

 

Anyways, I'll share a few pics for the car that they wanted (and my GLI)

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by stickman007

[Willys 747]

Very nice.....but if you park there you'll get two tickets.....lol.

You have to drive the Smart out east.....it's a given....just saying...

[stickman007 309]

Pull the EGR cartridge out today...it was relatively clean, with a few alarmingly big chunks of carbon dropping out (hope not hard enough to harm the engine). Did the 180 degree turn when installing everything back together.

 

Oil seepage hasn't come back yet for the upper EGR hose, so hurray, it was just a loose clamp.

 

I'm really tempted to pull the steering rack apart and check for the cause of the slight grinding noise when the motor is assisting...

[smartzuuk 167]

So no turbo leak?

[MikeT 744]

She's a good looker!  At one point, the original owner, William E. Williamson had a rectangular exhaust tip by Michalak on the car. 

 

I had one like that on my car and it cracked the exhaust pipe near the manifold!  Now it's BRABUS dual exhaust so not a problem with tips.  My original exhaust, now welded, with 35K km, is sitting in the garage.

[smartzuuk 167]

I took off that dreadful fake exhaust tip which was corroding and doing no one any good.... if Izzy would like it, I think I know where it is!

 

Or maybe I should throw it on my offroad edition!!! lol, vroom vroom

[stickman007 309]

This is a bit ambitious, but I would like something similar to the Brabus dual exhaust like MikeT...but since they're almost in the same category was a rainbow unicorn, its unlikely I'll find or be able to afford one. I was actually thinking of making my own stainless exhaust...but this will be in the long distant future. I have a friend that co-owns a custom tune shop...they built custom headers or exhausts for show cars - maybe I can get him to help me or at make me something.

 

@smartzuum No external leak at least...but this may explain why the intake manifold is covered in crud inside. I do a lot of highway driving...I can compare to see if the crud level will go down by the end of the summer. I'll be using some intake cleaners while I'm at it. With the EGR cartridge blocked off, I'll find out soon enough. At any rate, I think it'll hold until the winter months when I can yank the engine out and do some proper work on it...

[MikeT 744]

Dual exhaust is great looking, and make sure you get the perforated SS valence like mine (Eddy probably has some still) to keep that Canada 1 look!

[stickman007 309]

So ran into my 1st major issue today..the clutch actuator kicked. I was at the drive thru at McDs when it happened and initially I thought somebody hit me from behind! It drove okay for the rest of the day until I got home when I tried to drive it on to the ramps. It kicked so badly that I couldn't drive on  

Inspected the harness and traced it back to the ECU...everything looks clean and good. Took the actuator off, carefully lubed it, and re-teach the position and drag point. Hope it doesn't do this again. The clutch fork looked a bit worn...I'll need to make a brass sleeve for it this summer (something similar to the "nut-mod." 

 

While I was under, I also changed the alternator belt...start up squeaking is now gone. Upon closer inspection, the belt was worn.

[MikeT 744]

I hope it's not really a major problem, but actuators aren't all that expensive anyway.

[stickman007 309]

Changed fuel filter and wow, what a differences in power!

 

The car runs like a champ now...if only I can get an oil change I'll be happy. I lend my buddy my Pela pump, and he lost the rubber check valve

 

 

[smartzuuk 167]

The car was not entirely city driven - but unlike cars that I own exclusively being 70/30 hwy/city, I reckon this one was 70/30 city/hwy or even 75/25.... 

Clutch actuator lubed last spring and I know David did it too... but it is a wear item...

Seems a bit early for that though....

I estimate 2700 running hours on the car using 75/25 city/hwy at 33/90 kmh for each and 108,000 kms on the ODO

 

Meanwhile, I've not opened up the back of the passion cab, but the AC is charged and holding so far, $40 cash, so not a big loss if it turns out to be needing more service (which I may not even do, not in a cab anyway....)

[smartzuuk 167]

Really? A fuel filter change made that big of a difference??

 

Always something to go sideways on a simple oil change! Would be nice to drop it all out early after all the servicing you've done.

My oil cleaned up quite nicely with the second change after 400 or so kms…. I plan on doing the next one at 2,000 to 2,500 kms, and then will relax a little bit.

[stickman007 309]

Smartzuum took care of this car really well...but I think the perfectionist in me is going to get me institutionalized some day.

 

Did an oil change with Quartz Total 9000 with MANN filter this afternoon. I've had good luck running Quartz with my last smart car - out of LiquiMoly, Mobil1 European Formula, and Castrol Edge Syntech that I've tried...Quartz Total was the most quiet.

 

Wiped rubber reconditioner on all the door and hatch seals.

 

While I was looking for that "ticking/clicking" door sound, I removed the driver's door panel. Found the culprit! It was the door switch connector that was hitting the frame - put a zip tie on it around the hole and the noise didn't return during my test drive on the highway. I also adjusted the window stopper as I noticed that the driver side was slightly too high causing the support rubber to crack. Lube the window cable with graphite while the door panel was out. Anyways, more pics just for kicks.

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by stickman007

[smartzuuk 167]

OK... interesting!

 

It's better that you get every nuance of the car figured out now, because at some point, the adage that 'mechanics don't like working on their own cars' will kick in, so best do all these things in the 'honeymoon phase'…

 

 

[Willys 747]

That's why you buy another when you get bored of the first one and do silly things to it instead of the first one......or drive it during the crappy weather only.....strip off all un-necessay items and let loose with it...lol.  But you'll find you still go after every little issue with a fine toothed comb.....that's what I am finding anyway...lol.
I do not want to mess with the good car, so i'm attacking the spare one......or is that destroying it...? Time will tell...lol

 

[MikeT 744]

On 6/28/2018 at 7:35 AM, stickman007 said:

This is a bit ambitious, but I would like something similar to the Brabus dual exhaust like MikeT...but since they're almost in the same category was a rainbow unicorn...

 

I don't think they're THAT rare.  There are probably a few around maybe still on cars; contact Glenn in Ontario and see if he knows of anyone with one.  For the right price, they might part with it. 

 

Back in 2010 when we bought Snowball, there was a member in London who had one on his black cdi.  There surely are some old takeoffs around too.  Ask Eddy too.

 

Be prepared to invest some money in restoring the exhaust.  Mine was given to me in 2012 by Ian Burns but the canister had to be cut open to re-weld the SS baffles inside, which had broken loose.  This happened because the vibration damper had fallen off long before.  The canister was cut open, baffles re-welded and then the bit that was cut out was welded shut again using stainless steel.  The perforated (bigger holes than the C-1 normal one, to enhance heat dissipation) valence was about $200.  IIRC the stainless steel welder who did the restoration charged me about $350, so it was well worth it.  The diesel catalyst was intact.  5 years and 100K km later, the repair is still good.

[stickman007 309]

Red Pxl is parked until I can do a fully restoration on her. She is sitting in a friend's indoor garage along with 5 other collector's car (ironically old Mopar muscle cars).

 

Maybe the car gods were not pleased that I removed a Canada1 from BC....The clutch actuator "kicked" again in dry condition a few days ago. No codes, nothing visibly wrong that I can see from the harness. It passed all the function test on STAR. No play on the shaft to the clutch fork. There's a slight knocking sound under hard acceleration, especially when turning left. Smartzuum mentioned that there has been A/C line knocking the firewall issues in the past. In the coming months, the plan now is to drop the engine for: 1) cleaning, 2) install to tolsen's restricter mod - I think faster warm up time helps with reducing engine wear, 3) check/repair if necessary all the harnesses, 4) check all the rockers, tappets, oil pump sprocket/chain, 5) remove the power steering rack to inspect and most likely rebuilt, 6) install my spare Webasto heater, 7) remove the rear quarter panels to redo the seals, and 8) take all the panels off for reconditioning and 3M coating. Red Pxl is going to be a show car by the time I'm finished with it.

 

Its sad, but Red Pxl will not be going with me to Ontario this year

[MikeT 744]

Good job, I think all cars "of a certain age" would benefit from a nice refit.  Mine is a DD at the moment for my son.

[stickman007 309]

Just found out that my new employer (Peterbilt dealership) has a bodyshop division...got'ta start building good relationship with those guys and who knows, they'll teach me how to do body work? or maybe even do it for me? hahaha...

[stickman007 309]

@smart142 Where do you source your hydraulic lifters, timing chain, oil pump sprocket...etc? Just in case. Would it be "smarter" to find an used engine to recondition, then swap?

[MikeT 744]

The car needs its original engine block to be "matching numbers" 😅