SPL311 17277

[Ralph]

No more work done on the car lately. However. I am on my sixth trip to our vacation property. One way it’s about 145 miles on quite interesting roads.
The route is from Kelowna to Christina Lake, so if you look at the map you’ll see there’s lots of up and down in a fair number of curves. As I’ve posted in the quick small stupid question area, the main issue I’ve been having is with really wet brakes. Another issue is an oil leak that we can’t seem to track down...hopefully it’s not the rear main seal. For now I’ll make sure I have an extra litre or two of oil.
I make the drive in about 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending on stops and traffic, and it gives me plenty of time to think about what to do next with the car. Better headlights is pretty high on the list, but a drive with someone who has owned the a Roadster for longer than me would be good. What I’m wondering about is how the Roadster should handle in and out of corners at various speeds. The best way I can describe what I feel sometimes is the rear end feels like it has shifted over to the outside and settled down. No bounce at all ...it feels more like the body moves a bit over onto the suspension then settles onto it.
I’ll continue doing more reading about the handling of the Roadster, but I’ve got a couple of friends who are former racers, so maybe we will get our masks on and put the top down and go for a little drive.
Here in BC our travel is restricted to within our own health region. Fortunately our recreational property is. Sure cuts down on the traffic out there!!! But. On my route there are a fair number of deer. This last trip five bounced across the road about 600 m in front. A little voice in the back of my head said “you know what, there’s gonna be another one.” Sure enough when I was 25 m away from where the other ones it crossed, the last one came sprinting across the road. I didn’t have to brake... I was already going slow enough that he passed in front of me by about 5 m. Gotta love those little voices in your head.
Looks like it will be a dry drive home today....Maybe even warm enough to have the top down.
Wherever you are, stay healthy and stay safe. Enjoy the drive ... I sure am.

[rwmann]

Rear end shift… Watts link and rear spring bushings? Axle bearing retainers?

[iloveredmeat]

I really enjoy reading your posts Ralph.

Your Kelowna to Christina drive looks beautiful... and of course I had to Google if there's any fishing on the Kettle River and Christina Lake. Yup on both.

I was 15 or so when we took the train from Northern CA, through Vancouver and ended up in Banff. The scenery is etched in my memory, and I am committed to making it back up there some day. My kinda place.

Sorry I can't help with the Roadster stuff, so good luck with that.

Stay safe,
Peter

[Daryl Smith]

Ralph,
just reading that it sounds like something is 'loose'. Have you gone over all the rear suspension bits and checked that nothing is loose or broken?
Barring that, and the 'no bounce' comment, I would check the shocks and rear springs.
What shocks are you running, how old are they? How do they react when you push down on the corner of the car and release?
How's the ride height? Do the leafs still have some curve to them or are they pretty much flat?
Don't discount the possibility of the front suspension having issues iether.
I know there has been some different things done to your car, have you checked the body/frame mounts to make sure they are tight? All there?

Wet Brakes? as in driving in wet conditions? I have never had a problem there with stock brakes, not been out in the wet with the Volvo setup.
Are the backing plates there?

I am currently running stock front springs, composite leafs (stock curve/height), competition front sway bar, and Bilstien shocks from JT.
The ride is solid without being jarring, sits flat in the corners, and when the rear does come loose/slide (often) it feels very predictable. I do think the shocks/ride could be a bit 'softer', but, overall I am very happy with the handling and how solid and predictable the car feels. My tires are pretty old now, so, when I get new tires soon, the car may not slide sideways so easily...

I've just recently got my car back on the road and itching for a long mountain drive to visit family and freinds....will have to wait for things to open up again, still trying to figure out where I can drive, some good twisties to hit?

[Ralph]

Thanks for the comments
rwmann: Sorry I don’t know what the watts link is. The bearing retainers were replaced in the fall. The mechanic has worked on many roadsters over the last 30 years so I trust that his work is sound.
Peter: I have really enjoyed reading other peoples posts about their drives and their experiences. Especially when I was not able to have my car on the road. Living vicariously through the posts really helped me work on the car. And keep motivated.
Daryl: Ross has had the car on the hoist. Mike, Ross‘s old mechanic, has been under the car as well. And two other general mechanics have been under the car, plus the BC I safety inspection. None of them have said anything about body mounts being missing or loose. The issue might be the rear leaf springs. They seem to be pretty flat. The shocks are what came with the car....so who knows what they are. I can see if there are any identifying markings. I will do the bounce test again and post the result.
Thanks again!!

[iloveredmeat]

Thanks for the comments

Peter: I have really enjoyed reading other peoples posts about their drives and their experiences. Especially when I was not able to have my car on the road. Living vicariously through the posts really helped me work on the car. And keep motivated.

Thanks again!!

Motivation! That's what reading your posts (and others) gives me... I'm daydreaming about a road trip to Banff when I eventually get my car running.

Long shot, but a guy can dream.

Keep up the positive vibes.
PM

[Gregs672000]

As someone who has tried nearly all options for shocks, I can say the Bs are the bees knees. There simply is no comparison.

I hear you on those warning words of wisdom whispered to you... they have saved me as well. After what would have been a horrible disaster last year had things gone a fraction of a second different, I'm calmly listening to them and have notched up my patience level for stupid or unaware drivers. Sometimes it's better to pull over and wait a bit if I want to drive clear roads hard or not sit watching someone else's tail end. 5 minutes of Zen does a person good.

I've considered getting one of those deer whistles for the front of the car. I used to see those advertised all the time... do they work?

[Gregs672000]

I just did my own research and there is no scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of deer whistles... bummer.

[Steve_69]

At Savannah River Site, a 400 square mile wilderness area for nuclear materials, the security force tried them on their security vehicles for a period of time. The deer strikes went up. This was because, in most cases, the deer would just watch cars go by. With the whistles, they were spooked and bolted. The security folks took them off of the vehicles. The Savannah River Ecology Lab wrote a report about this, but it was years ago and I don't know any of those people anymore.

[Ralph]

Short and not so sweet update

I had the Miata seats installed as-is ... no new covers yet. I want to make sure the seats fit me, and are more comfortable for both me and my bride. We think the seats may have come out of a wreck (yes, they were pretty cheap) since the driver's side has a bit of a bend in it. Nothing I can't deal with and when I do the re-cover I'll see if we can't straighten it out.
But.
Yup, always a "but".
When the car is in neutral, and clutch is out, my mechanic noticed a noise he didn't like. Long story short, the engine & tranny are out, and the shop will be going through the tranny...replacing what's needed to be replaced. Hopefully we can have her back on the road in a couple more weeks. I am glad we caught the noise and have an excuse to really look closely at the transmission. I expect it to come back in great shape so I won't need to worry about it for another 100,000 miles. Or so. The engine has an oil leak somewhere ... we think it might be the rear main seal, but while its out, my mechanic will do his best to track it down. Again, hoping it's maybe a simple gasket ... but prepared to do the rear main.
Once we know more, I'll do an update.

[Ralph]

Four steps forward ... half a step back.
The car has been on the road for about three weeks and late yesterday afternoon was my first longer trip from Kelowna to Christina Lake. All went really well...cruising in 5th for much of the final leg...lots of fun curves in the first part...good power for the two passes I needed to do. The weather was great, but I ran with the top up & back window out this time. The Miata seat is more comfortable than the beat-up stock. I only blew two shifts...still getting used to 4th to 5th & back.
One of the bits that got replaced while the car was in the shop was the voltage regulator for the gas and temperature gauges. Unfortunately, half way here both gauges decided to go to sleep again. Hopefully its just a loose connection...I have my road trip tool kit so can do some basic repairs. Hopefully it will be a simple fix ... but maybe its time for the voltage regulator upgrade to the solid state.

Here's a quick summary of the work done on the tranny & engine...from memory for now & I'll edit once I am home & have the bill in front of me
Engine & tranny out
Tranny---to shop in the lower mainland/greater Vancouver area recommended and used for years by Ross Mullen, Sports Imports. Fully inspected and worn bearings & other parts replaced...timing was good because a few of them were very very close to the end of life....OK ... catastrophic failure

Engine --- Rear Main Seal replaced, carbs and intake manifold replaced with un-adulterated stock, many oil leaks tracked down and fixed, timing chain tensioner and other mechanisms corrected, head and vales inspected, alternator bracket and other mounting parts corrected, water pump inspected and gasket replaced...and more from the list to come.

Front end --- forgive me for my lack of part vocabulary ... but you'll get the idea. I was getting a clunk when I backed up after parking, then applied the brakes. Mike my mechanic didn't like it, but needed two people to do the diagnosis. While having the brakes applied, he rotated the front wheel. It shouldn't, right?. It did. Just a bit, reproducing the same clunk. Turns out the 4 bolts holding the wheel with the disk brake onto the hub (I think) weren't quite tight enough. I'll get the right part names later. And while the wheel assembly was apart, Mike noticed the seals were not stock. So he re-greased and replaced both sides. No more clunking.

Mike recommended a few other items...my resonator was rotted out, so I got it replaced. I should have insisted on flex pipe at the same time, but the exhaust shop guy didn't think it is necessary. Those of you with more experience with these litte gems will probably recommend the flex pipe, like Mike did, to save on a damaged header.

I need to replace the aluminum rad and 7 blade fan, and there's more Mike suggested.

I blew the headlight fuse one night...replaced it ... blew it again the next morning ... took more time and attention to what I was replacing with what amperage ...and so far so good. (Man its hard for 60-year old eyes to read what's a 20 and what's a 30 on those tiny glass fuses. In the dark....and in the light). Yes, on the to-do list is new wiring and modern fuse-block. I'm still putting a kid through university & have a mortgage...so I do what I can.

I need to say, though, this is is becoming more fun. Yes...really. I have a reliable car that is fun to drive, gets and gives smiles every time I drive. I'm learning how it behaves in the wet, in the dry...in and out of corners, and up & down curvy hills.

Yes, dad, I have the roll bar. I haven't had the time to get it installed, but I promise I will. Yes, I know there's a check waiting for me once you've done your inspection. And I do remember to turn out the lights when I leave the room.

[Ralph]

The summer is pretty much over and it's time to do some rough math....Since just after Easter, about 15 weekends to and from our cabin at about 240 km each way...so 7200 km. Plus to & from work 4 x a week at about 9 km each way...another 1000 km. That's close to 5100 miles. I did my best to travel during the daylight in case of breakdown & because my lights are still stock. Plus it's easier to deer dodge in the light.
I learned that cold wet brakes in the rain can really wake you up. I had 3 or 4 trips with really rainy spots. After the first trip, I did a much better job planning my wet-breaking & down-shifting.
The car performed beautifully; lots of smiles & thumbs up as I went by all ages. One trip in late July I passed a few MG's going the other way; this last trip I caught up to and passed a red 69 (pretty sure) going to the Beaverdale car show. We both pulled over & introduced ourselves. Rob is from Kelowna, too, so hopefully we can get together & swap more stories. On my way out of town, a guy named Sasha yelled to me from his white VW Golf asking how long I've had my Roadster ... his is in pieces still. He's in Lake Country just north of me and has a 1500 ... with something called a ??327?? I dunno. Some engine from the US, or something.

About 3 weeks ago I got into a train of three of four cars moving along quite nicely ... then the lead guy slowed down & threw on his 4-ways. Awwee.. so cute...smallest black bear cub I've ever seen was confused & didn't know which way to go to get off the highway. So we did the right thing. Them idling in their bland SUV's & sedans. Me in my cute Roadster. Convertible Roadster. With the top down
No.
Wait.
A warm evening ... With. The. Top. Down...lone, panicked bear-cub. 30 yards away
Head on a swivel, I got the car in gear, readied the clutch to make a dash.
Mama bear must have been up the hill, cause that's the way baby headed. Didn't expect to need to bear-dodge.

Knock on wood, the only casualties of the summer were a mis-behaving alternator wire in August, and what happened on the trip today. Near the end of the trip, speedo showed going 110 MPH when I was probably going 55 or 60. I disconnected the cable soon as I could ... and now it thinks I'm still going 40 (was kinda hoping it magically converted MPH to KPH, but no luck)
New-to-me stock rad did great...even the days climbing out of valleys at 38 C or more, it didn't get much over the second hash mark ... above the 125 F ish.
The fan belt squeaked a few times, so tightened that up.
Used about 22 litres of fuel per 1 way trip...just about the same as our 2014 Mazda 5..so why drive it, right?
Time for a bit of a tune-up for just city driving for the next months. Great summer of driving, and can hardly wait to try some new routes next year.
The summer was fun...and I've actually gotten to experience the achievement of a BHAG goal. Driving to & from our cabin in my Roadster.
Nice!!!

[Ralph]

Here's a couple "before" pictures from this week. Apparently, this winter it wasn't only the heater that was keeping me warm. There were few bare wires & loose connections helping out as well.

Dash Nest May 18 2023.jpg

New harness is going in ... and next winter I'll be reliant solely on the heater to keep me warm

and of course ...why not use slot-head wood screws to hold in the instruments?

Dash wood screw.jpg

So easy to remove the speedo without taking the whole dash out. Not. Those 1950's screws will be swapped for studs & wing-nuts.

Hoping for dimmable LED dash lights; but for sure head, signal & brake lights will all go to LED.

Tip of the hat to my mechanic with the patience of a saint to deal with the electrical. Right now he's part way through. On the list is a re-built steering box as well.

Once I have the car back (hopefully next week) I'll get the alignment done .... then over to get the roll bar measured-up. That will pretty much drain the budget for this season. It'll make Dad happy, though .

About a year ago I started in with a CrossFit gym about 5 minutes away from my house. I've done lots of different sports ... but never this one. Just 3 days a week is my speed right now. It is a super community & it's great how you form a bond with a stranger who you just did a really hard thing with. I bring it up now because this weekend the whole gym is invited to do the work out called "MURPH". There's more to it, but its in honour of US soldiers and done around Memorial Day. I'll be doing a "modified" (OK, easier) version. My goal is to keep moving, go as long as I can ... and when I want to stop, think about people like my grand father who fought in WW 1 & 2 ... and I'll keep going 'till I'm done. Cheers & more later.