Myrtle, Tango & Grandma

Wow! What an exhausting couple of weeks I have put in with Myrtle my 65 Bug, Tango my wee Orange Smart car & Grandma my beloved Beetle GSR.

I am actually attempting to write this with ever so painful, skinned fingers, that are down to Tango, I will get to the tale of that soon, but thought I'd start at the beginning with Myrtle.

After having a few practice rides out in Myrtle, with her semi auto clutch adaption fitted, it soon became obvious that her brakes were not working correctly. From time to time she would have a really soft pedal or in some scary instances no pedal at all. We thought the problem might have been an old sticking brake master cylinder, so we ordered a new one, and whilst we waited for it to arrive I set about trying to repair the damaged paint work underneath Myrtles fuel tank were old brake fluid had been leaking from the brake reservoir and the brake master cylinder, man that brake fluid is nasty stuff, it had completely eaten the paint, and caused it to blister and turn to mush.

Nasty stuff that brake fluid

Damage already done by a leaking brake reservoir

I had to order yet another rattle can of Mango Green paint, it's rather expensive stuff at almost £20 a can, with postage, and it doesn't match identically, however the job is done and my main concern having some protection has been achieved. Masking off the area was another mini nightmare, as obviously I had to watch for overspray. Masking off the car was a job in itself, and following this I had a little bit of a trouble spraying the required area as there wasn't much room.

Not much room to get in and apply paint

 

With the front end stripped, by this I mean the petrol tank removed along with the air ride cradle air tank, twin compressors and AirLift manifold, we decided to have one more go at what has been one of our nemesis on this wee car, and that is the wiper motor. Not joking this wiper motor must have been taken off between 10 to 15 times and messed around with. Whilst it works alongside the switch with 2 speeds, slow & fast, it just refuses to park. I had seen this guy on eBay offering to repair them, so sent it away. Apparently there was a terminal missing at 31b.

31b Terminal missing

In order to get the motor out I had to remove the windscreen wipers. I bought brand new wiper arms and even new wiper spindles only last year, Wow! I am not best impressed with the quality of the finish on the wipers, as I went to remove them I noticed they were all rusty, and residue had run down the spindles and just made everything look awful, another job to sort.

These were brand-new spindles along with wiper arms

Terrible quality

 

The motor was only away a few days and came back with a new terminal in place. We eagerly fitted the motor and... Crap! It still refused to park. I got in touch with Nick the friendly gentleman who had replaced the terminal, and he very kindly tried to give me some advice on the potential problem. Nick advised taking the small plastic protective cap off where the parking switch mechanism is and clean the contacts. It looks like an old distributor, with points. My dad removed the plastic cap,  and cleaned the switch contacts, however the motor still would not park. I must add at this point we had it hooked up to a battery on a workbench and properly earthed.

My dad decided to remove the alloy wiper cover, and he discovered that the small rubber seal at the base of the alloy cover was not seated correctly, it was in fact just say catching the small park switch and stopping it from making contact at the closed position. I informed Nick of this, and he advised to send the motor and complete mechanism back to him, and he would do a full inspection of the motor alongside the other parts, you see Nick had discovered my motor was actually from a 1968 Beetle so must have been retro fitted at some point. Problem with this is that it could potentially have the wrong wiper mechanism, and this could also prevent the proper function.

I am now just awaiting its return as I can't get anything built up, as the motor has to be put in place first.

Going back to brakes, they are now all sorted, new rubber brake hosing, brake lines to master cylinder and reservoir and a new brake master cylinder and all bled off.

Moving on to Tango, oh and a mention of my amazing dad, Ern. He just turned 80 in November of last year. When I say "We" work on the cars by that I mean I sometimes get to hold a spanner, or wrench, like when Ern says "Pass me the 10 mm". On rare occasions I have even been let loose with a screwdriver.

Myrtle in her what seems usual position & some maintenance on Tango

A few weeks ago I thought about putting Tango up for sale. No other reason than being bored I think, as the wee car has served me very well. I have owned her coming up to 6 years. I decided to give Tango a much-needed clean and this is one of those times that when we talk about hindsight being a wonderful thing I wish I had never started the job I am about to mention.

So upon cleaning Tango and going to polish her roof I noticed a sort of "bloom" in her roof panel. I polished and polished, but the mark just would not go away. I then went onto YouTube and watched a video of a couple of guys restoring a Smart car roof. It looked pretty straight forward, all I would need was an orbital sander and some discs. I already had an orbital polisher. I asked Ern to pick me up an orbital sander when he was down at Team Valley, and he also ordered me some sanding discs from Amazon as no one had the relevant grits locally. They arrived the next day and I set about completing what I thought would be an easy and straight forward job I mean how hard can sanding be right?

Tango's roof what a nightmare

Just one little patch of clear coat or so I thought

Ow! Ow! Ow!

 

Oh! I should probably mention that Tango has a panoramic roof, it is made from polycarbonate and not metal. The bloom had arisen from the sun and UV light affecting the top clear coat on the roof. The job entailed removing the clear coat and then, so I thought polishing up the polycarbonate underneath. 

Sanding disc fitted to orbital sander, 400 grit I set about sanding the first part of the roof. Within about 30 to 60 seconds it soon became clear that the discs would not last long, they clogged practically immediately. After going through all the 400 discs and realising I wasn't actually getting anywhere other than making a huge mess I decided to try using wet & dry and doing the roof by hand. Again had to go out and buy various grits of wet & dry. This time I appeared have more success in removing the top clear coat, but man was it hard work. Long story slightly shorter I actually spent over 7 days sanding the roof of Tango and some of those days were 10 or 11 hours at a time I kid you not. At the end of which I had an extremely sore hand, still have my fingertips are killing me, Oh and end result you may ask? Tango's roof although smoother than a babies' arse looks absolutely terrible. No matter what I put on it and I have tried a lot of products I just cannot get a shine and there are swirl marks. I have gone all the way from 400 grit right up to 1500 in stages, and I am now at a point where I can't possibly do any more I have conceded defeat.

I did a spot more research online and discovered that the roof issues are a common fault that Smart/Mercedes are aware of. At one time you used to be able to claim under warranty and even from your insurance, under glass replacement, not sure if this is just the US market. It's like I say the heat and UV rays destroy the polycarbonate roof, they either get crazing/cracks or like mine bloom in the clear coat.

To have a new roof fitted is extortionate, so tomorrow I may shop around for some quotes at a body shop and try and find out if anyone can pop a clear coat on my roof, as this should in theory bring back a glossy finish.

And finally on to Grandma my VW Beetle GSR. Grandma has been hibernating over the winter. I bought some new 20" wheels for her about 6 months ago and on Wednesday popped down to D&R Tyres at Shield Row to see Dougie about getting some new Michelin Pilot Sports fitted. I explained to Dougie my biggest concern was that my new rims may get scratched or scuffed during fitting. Dougie was spot on and assured me this shouldn't and wouldn't happen, he  then sorted out a quote for 4 tyres and also informed me of a deal where you get £100 back from Michelin on a pre-paid Mastercard, so when that arrives I can use that money towards a service on Grandma. Dougie said he would call me the following day when the tyres came in stock, and he could get them fitted when I dropped the wheels off.

Concaver CRV4 wheels

 

Good to his word the tyres arrived the following day and I dropped the rims off for fitting. I then went back home to continue messing around with Tango and Dougie rang me not long after to say the wheels were already to be picked up. I went down and the lads gave me a hand to pop the wheels in the back of my dad's car. Job sorted, the wheels look awesome, even the lads in the garage commented on them. Fitted balanced, with new valves and not a mark on them. A Top quality service by a local friendly firm, who offered a good deal and some great advice, can't ask for any more than that. Plus you can tell they care about their customers as they maintained social distancing and even-handed out masks to customers if they had forgotten their own. It's just the little touches.

Having got the wheels back I didn't fit them immediately as I wanted to give Grandma a good clean, as like I say she has been in the garage for months and upon going down to get her she was very dusty. As I got in her to start her up I soon discovered that her battery was flat...Again.

I don't have electric in our garage otherwise I would leave her on a trickle charger. A walk back up the street to see the chief mechanic, Ern. My dad drove back down in his car along with his battery boost charger and we soon had Grandma fired up, along with a dash full of various warning lights, oh and a soft tyre.

Could do with detailing under her bonnet

Once she had time to warm up I took her around the block and to our house, thankfully all the lights had gone out, well apart from the tyre sensor one. I then set about giving her a thorough clean, inside and out starting with hoovering her out. Her carpets were manky, you see there is a pot hole right near our garage and it fills with water on the drivers side. I can't step over it, due to my gimpy leg, so on the last occassion it was full of water and mud I must have stepped in it and transfered all the crap on the inside of Grandma. I had to actually wash her mats, put them outside to dry and later on in the afternoon discovered wor Baxter had pulled them off the garden bench/seat and had been lying on them. The little sod, now they need hoovering again as they have white dog hairs all over.

 
I gave Grandma a proper good wash then used a combination of my orbital polisher and by hand to apply and then polish my car. I used some new polish which I had purchased from another local business, one I didn't even know exsisted until my mate John mentioned them. The business is called Juicey Detailing and they are over at  Tanfield Lea North Industrial Estate Unit 11C. Again more great customer service from a very friendly chap. I bought some Bilt Hammer alloy wheel cleaner for Tango which is the best alloy wheel cleaner I have used so far, it stinks, but does a great job, oh and the polish was  by Chemical Guys, called V4 Extreme All-In-One Polish, which again is an amzing product, easy to apply and remove and it works great on minor scratches and swirl marks, polishing  up to a high gloss finish.

All polished and with new wheels fitted

Grandma

Wasn't sure if I liked the new look at first

May even be able to get Grandma a tad lower

 

Following all this hardwork, Ern and I removed my old winter wheels and fitted the new wheels to Grandma. I wasn't sure I liked them at first, but they are growing on me, plus they don't scrub or catch, which is such a relief. I got changed, grabbed my camera and went for a most enjoyable tootle up to Waskerley in Grandma, it felt great to go for a spin, she is just such a lovely car to drive. She has power on tap and I love the sound as she burbles away, or if when you put your foot down she roars and the turbo whilstles.

VW Beetle GSR

Love this car

VW Beetle GSR

 

Oh I also had my birthday this month, after all this graft yes I am feeling my age, it's hard work maintianing a car never mind three, not only on your pocket, but physically too LoL. Not complaining mind I feel very fortunate.