Mercedes Benz 300E 2.6

When I was a kid I had a collection of matchbox cars. When I got too old I had to give it away but I kept a few of my favorites. One of these was a Mercedes-Benz 300E. So when looking on Craigslist for a winter beater I came across a "300s" with photos of a 300E and a low price, I had to check it out. A day later a nice older gentleman who didn't know what he had sold me this 300E for $1600. It's not perfect; The ABS doesn't work, the Air Conditioning is dry, it has a penchant for leaking oil, when I first got it it refused to shift into 4th gear, and it drinks premium gas like it's 1990 gas costs only 49 cents per liter and I can actually afford a Mercedes. But I love it. Every inch of this car exudes quality, it doesn't squeak, doesn't rattle, it barely makes any sounds at all, the cabin is toomb quiet at any speed. Everything in it was engineered to be the best that it can be. Mercedes-Benzes at that time were made to a standard, price didn't matter, if you couldn't afford it, you couldn't have it and there was no better car you could have. It feels like a fine antique; real wood, with real varnish, everything has that well oiled (oil leak), heavy feel, and that chrome emblem sits at the front slowly rising and sinking as the car gradually changes speed. Unlike the Japanese luxury cars I've owned, which were nothing more than re-badged Accords and Altimas with some leather seats and a sunroof, this car feels substantial; like I could drive it through a brick wall and it wouldn't get a scratch. Incidentally this car was the original basis for the Euro NCAP five star rating, i.e. every car was benchmarked against how this car performed in a crash and it wasn't till very recently that they upped the standard. I don't know if it's right or wrong but driving this fine automobile really makes me feel better about myself, like I'm a better person and not just some out of work actor in a tinny econobox. One of the other Matchbox cars I kept was a Spaceshuttle car, I wonder if I'll ever get to own one of those.

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Daily Driver?

The Miata has been my daily driver since May, what was it like?

My work schedule is all over the place so I don't have a regular daily commute but during the month or so here and there when I did have to commute every day across town the Miata always put a smile on my face. It starts from clicking open the little door via that one finger door handle. You just know it's special - it's not some generic plastic parts bin door handle found on lesser cars.

Put the top down on sunny days and get that morning fresh air blowing through your hair you arrive at work beaming. The Miata's responsiveness and sharp steering make it great for zipping through traffic. With the top down you can see all around you and can easily fit into small spaces. And if you cut someone off it's okay; you're driving a big blue Pokemon. And it gets great mileage: My overall mileage which includes freeway and city driving was 8.7litres/100km (27mpg), in the city I averaged 10.6litres/100km (22mpg) and on the highway 8.4litres/100km (28mpg). Sure a Prius gets 5l/100km (46mpg) but driving a Prius is punishment and driving a Miata is joy.

Because the Miata is small and low to the ground people sometimes don't see you (oddly these people are usually driving a Camry or Corolla, the automotive antithesis of the Miata) and will change lanes as if you're not there. The Miata's horn is no help since in Japan the horn isn't meant to say "Hey fucker go fuck yourself and your family!" but something more a kin to "Hello friend nice to see you, let's have coffee sometime." So it's pretty much useless. You've got to be vigilant when driving.

Parallel parking is a cinch since the Miata is so small you can always find a spot, but again it's so low to the ground that people in larger cars reverse into it. I've got a nice scratch on the top of the nose where some body's bumper rubbed up on to it and the front license plate is nicely deformed. As a result I avoid parallel parking or I try to park so I'm the first car in a line.

You can't furniture shop in the Miata. This summer I bought furniture twice, once it was some patio chairs and serendipitously a friend of mine (who owns a pick-up) happened to be also shopping in the store at the same time and was able to take the chairs and drop them off right onto my patio. The second time I bought a used bed, and a set of drawers that no matter what size of car I had would not have fit into it. I had to steal a cargo van from work to do the move. Also Costco shopping is kind of out for the Miata as well. Only a few boxes will fit into the trunk. But weekly grocery shopping fits perfectly, and the whole trunk size problem only came up once or twice.

Roadtripping is possible but you need to take your time. My girlfriend and I were able to drive to Las Vegas and back this summer in the Miata. We packed 5 days worth of clothing, a video camera and photo camera, and still had room to bring back some knick nacs. Actually we ended up saving money because we made the mistake of stopping at an American Super Walmart where the prices begged us to buy everything but since we couldn't fit it into the car, we didn't buy anymore than some beef jerky. The big problem is noise. On American freeways at 120kph the Miata is LOUD; wind noise, tire noise, engine noise, exhaust noise, for hours on end gets tiring fast. Even with the headrest speakers the radio was drowned out. If you are going to road trip, stay off the freeways and take secondary roads. This is where the Miata really shines. The only problem is if your girlfriend gets car sick easily since the curves beckon you to go faster and faster.

Everything is great as long as the weather is mild. When things turn cold and wet the Miata stops being so much fun. To begin with when the top is up the interior becomes dark and stuffy and not very pleasant at least nowhere near as pleasant as when the top is down. The Miata's short wheelbase and rear wheel drive platform are awesome fun for spirited driving on twisty dry roads but in wet slippery conditions the car becomes nervous and twitchy. Here's a true story: I'm driving along on a straight road at 60km/h, there's a mild hump that runs across the road on an angle. As the rear of the Miata crests the hump it breaks loose and the Miata spins out sending me into the median skidding on grass narrowly avoiding a tree. Thankfully the median had no curb cause it would have been a repeat of the crash earlier this year. I was just driving straight minding my own business. And it's not like my tires are super worn. Going around any turn in wet conditions with the slightest press on the gas the rear will step out. When it's expected, it can be controlled and can be a great source of fun for the driver and terror for the passenger but it becomes terror for both when it's unexpected. That's why in the winter it's best to park the Miata and drive something else. Something bigger and more stately (more on that later).

Fixed!

I bet you thought the Blue Miata was dead, considering I haven't posted for so long. But no it's not dead and the reason I haven't posted for so long (amongst work, family, laziness etc.) is that I've been driving and driving. But more on that later. First here's the process of getting the thing back on the road.

As you may remember the right front suspension of the Miata was all mangled after an unfortunate judgment lapse on my part. After ringing around the local parts shops I learned that buying new parts was cost prohibitive which meant taking a stroll down to my local junk yard and digging out the necessary parts from some wreck. No problem; and it being around fathers day at the time I thought I'd make a family outing out of it. First we had to find a donor car. After asking the attendants at the junkyard they brought over this high mileage rear ended red Miata.


My Pa and I got right to work taking out the pieces we needed.
Look at that team work. My mom was there too, she took these shots and helped out. That's what the Miata does: brings families together.

Finally we pulled out all these bits and then some (which may or may not have been smuggled out in my mom's sweater like a family of gypsies but come on the junk yard is a royal ripoff).
I then got the parts home and compared.You can see how the messed up the angle of the lower control arm is on the old bit. Ouch.

I noticed a neat thing about the the control arms. They're hollow. Every other car I've seen they're a solid piece of metal. I realize they're hollow to be light. Being light saves fuel and improves handling and performance. Just like a race car. I thought that was pretty cool. It also makes it that they fold like origami when hit.

This is what a Miata looks like with no right front suspension.
And there are the new pieces in place.
After a quick visit to a wheel alignment and frame shop, the Miata was good as new. Thankfully the shop reported that the Miata's frame was not bent so all it needed was the allignment. I will never get an alignment anywhere else. In a frame shop all they do is allignments and the technicians and equipment are specially suited for this task, plus it's generally cheaper.

Finally the Miata is on the road for the summer ready for more adventures. I'll hopefully be able to control my urge to crash. Overall this actually was kind of fun; going with my folks to the junk yard, taking apart stuff, putting it back together, and it didn't really cost that much money. The Miata: fun even in tragedy.

Ridin the Bus or Van City Blue Miata Gets Political

Before I could transfer the insurance from the wounded Miata back to the non wounded Infiniti I had to go to work, so with no car I had to take the bus. Not having ridden the bus for a long time I made a few observations:

1 - It takes too long. Normally by car in the morning it takes about five to fifteen minutes to get to work, twenty minutes in the afternoon with traffic. It took an hour by bus. And I had to wait in the rain. Ouch. Even with right of way and bus specific lanes the thing is slow.

2 - The bus company has a weird sense of humour. On the bus stop sign there's a number and if you call it and give the stop number, a robot will tell you when the next bus will be coming. This must of cost a fortune to set up. The funny thing is, that it tells you this is an estimate only, so it actually tells you that it's useless. And it was; my bus came nowhere near the time it estimated. At least it was way earlier rather than later. If you didn't ride the bus and if you weren't charged transit taxes on your gas (the highest in Canada) to pay for these "services", this would be kind of funny. Oh another kind of funny thing, a robot on the bus calls out the next stop in case you don't like looking out the window; I hope that cost like a million dollars.

3 - You have time to think on the bus. This was the nice thing. While the bus droned its way from stop to stop I had time to reflect on what I had done. Basically I'm a very lucky bastard. I could have spun out and hit another car or lamp post or human, and that would have been end of story. After all suspension pieces are relatively cheap compared to body damage and insurance premiums. So I should count my blessings and stop being such an idiot.

4 - There are no really hot girls on the bus. If you look at photos from a few posts ago about my trip to White Rock you'll notice that in the one passenger seat of the Miata was a really hot girl. I noticed that in not one of the twenty or so seats in the four buses I rode today, was the same. The bus just doesn't attract hot girls, the Miata does. What the bus does attract is lots of people that looked sickly and downtrodden. Not a judgement but an observation.

I guess I've learnt two things from my brief brush with public transit: 1. I love my cars, I really really love everything about them. 2. As a society money spent on talking robobusses, traffic calming, and shiny bus stops so tourists say Vancouver is pretty, would be better spent helping people who ride the bus by necessity, be able to ride that bus by choice.

Oh wait I learnt three things: Slow down, a bit. Well actually: Don't power slide in traffic.

Tragedy

This is supposed to be the happy blog post where I get to tell you that the Miata is back, successfully insured for daily summer service. It won't be.

Another grey and dreary day in this June that seems to be determined to break the record for being the coldest and with the least days of sun finally broke my will. If the weather wasn't going to cooperate I was at least going to pretend like it was. The offers on the Infiniti were few and far between and too low to make selling it a reasonable idea. So I decided to keep it as the winter car and this meant that I could transfer the registration to the Miata and park the Infiniti for the summer. A quick trip to the Aircare money grab, a stop at the insurance broker to transfer the plates, and the Miata was ready to go. I was so happy and the sun even came out. Unfortunately my happiness whipped me into a joy filled idiot frenzy. With a huge grin on my face I zipped off in the Miata and promptly crashed it.

Trying to power-slide while making a yellow light left turn (does it get any dumber than this?) I lost control of the rear-end and spectacularly spun out into the curb bending the front suspension. My Miata summer, over in all of five minutes of adrenaline fuelled driving.

The Miata is back home in the garage. I'll asses the damage and hopefully it can be fixed. The sun might shine again.

Update

Here's some photos I took in my garage:

You can see the wheel is not where it's supposed to be in the wheel well
There's not a lot of damage to the wheel and the tire might be okay
This is a nice view of the front suspension and all the damage. I've labelled it appropriately. The lower control arm got the worst of it.
Here's a view from above. The strut is supposed to be in the centre of that opening.
Now I've got to take all that bent stuff out and get new stuff to put in....

Romantic, Special, and Fun

A few weeks ago the stars aligned themselves, I had a day off, my girlfriend had a day off, I had some money in my bank account, and most importantly the sun was shining and it was hot. A perfect day for a Miata road trip. I insured the car for the day and we drove down to beautiful Crescent beach in White Rock, BC. The whole time in the back of my mind I imagined the crank case pulley popping off and stranding us, but a beer and some fish and chips quickly dissipated any worries. It was a great time; we hung out, watched the sailboats, cruised, and afterwards drove to the Richmond casino to lose some money, finishing off the day with a nice view of the sunset on the Richmond dike. Like the pumpkin in that story the Miata had to go back to it's garage because it's insurance ran out at midnight. Angela put it best when she said that we could have done the trip in our regular cars but going in the Miata made it romantic, special, and fun. She gets it.

I noticed a lot of cowl shake and extremely firm ride on the highway, more than usual. Great, now the body is coming apart too I thought, but it turns out that I forgot to return the tire pressure to normal levels after I had pumped them up for storage. Oops. Gotta remember to do that next time.

Crank(y) Case Pulley

Tim in NC left me a comment regarding the Miata's wobbly crank case pulley. He said "Don't ignore it" so I looked into the matter and it appears the Miata needs a new engine. I kinda wish I didn't kn0w that. According to the Miata specialist mechanic here in Vancouver the only way to fix the problem is to either rebuild the engine or swap in a new one. Since spending $2000 on a new engine is not an option for an out of work actor I have to try something else. I could sell the car but I don't want to saddle someone else with this problem and if I did declare it I wouldn't be able to sell it for as much as I bought it for so I'd be loosing as much as a new engine and the whole Miata itself. For now the Miata runs and it will continue running until the worn out crankcase pulley messes up the timing so bad that it can't pull away from an intersection or the pulley comes off and it's end of story. The only option I'm left with is to attempt the Loctite fix. This basically involves gluing the pulley into the right position. Hopefully it works. Stay tuned.

How many cars out there have an internet community like this one? Or specialist mechanic shops? Not many. The Miata is special.

Bowen Island

Well the Miata had it's brakes done; new pads all around, new rotors on the front, and a new caliper at the right rear, and a new battery, so it was time for a short road trip to Bowen Island where my good friend was having his birthday celebration. I insured the car just for the two day excursion. It ended up costing a lot more than I expected because I had to pay some old traffic violation tickets, (see the busted post a while back). The new brakes worked great. And a good thing because a deer jumped out in front of me twice. I think it was the same deer trying to commit suicide. It would have done more damage to the Miata than to itself tho. It really explained why Bowen has a 40 kilometers per hour speed limit; suicidal deer.


I went by myself because my girlfriend had to work and no one wanted to carpool with me; some crazy rumour that I drive too aggressively (hey I spun out only once on this trip). It's a good thing because I realized just how small the Miata's trunk is. That's a sleeping bag, a pillow, a back pack, a foamy, a camping chair, and some beer and hot dogs in there and the trunk is totally full. If another person came with me they would have to carry their stuff on their lap.

It was really great to have the Miata back in action again. Bowen Island is really beautiful. Life should be lived with a convertible sports car. I hope the Infiniti sells soon so I can drive the Miata more and more.

The Oils They are a Changin

The Miata, the Infiniti, and my Dad's Honda and Mom's Toyota (not pictured) had their oils changed in my garage. It took all of fifteen minutes for all four cars and cost very little compared to doing it a dealer or quick lube type place. Plus who wants some fifteen year old making eight bucks an hour changing your oil. Because there's no labour cost involved I was able to spend a bit more on a better type of oil: Mobil 1 Synthetic. I believe this is the choice of oil for Porsche, Mercedes and BMW so it should be good enough for the Miata. After the change was done I used the Infiniti to jump the Miata and after four months, it started right up and ran fine. That's good.

My dad did all the changes and he's a pro mechanic. It was also the first time he'd had a good look at the Miata. Of course he found some things.

1. The battery is toast
2. There's a very small oil leak from somewhere (probably transmission) that has to be investigated
3. The main accessory belt is loose and glazed and has to be tightened and eventually replaced
4. The crankshaft pulley is vibrating weirdly (if this is a problem, it's so big I'm choosing to ignore it completely; I'm going ostrich on it if you will)
5. Brakes: the front pads are kinda worn and the back is a mysterious mess; The pad on one side isn't worn at all and the pad on the other side is completely worn. This could indicate seized caliper($). I remember in some earlier post I complained about the brakes well...



There is nothing more indignant for a car than to be parked on jacks in someone's garage or worse on someone's drive way or worse worse on someone's lawn. It's one step away from being one of those abandoned project cars that can't move under it's own power and rots away into oblivion. That won't happen to the Miata. It has to stay this way for now until it's properly inspected and diagnosed, which should be today. I did some long days of extra work last week to get the cash to cure these ills.

My own inspection of the brakes found this pupae lodged in the caliper. Did Buffalo Bill work on this car? I wonder. Nearby in an oil stain that emanated from the Miata I found this dead moth. I think this might be some kind of beautiful metaphor about birth, death, transformation and the automobile. It could be the universe reaching out and talking to me but it could be just a dead moth.

Wipers; Wiping

On Wednesday I went and picked up the wiper control arm for my Infiniti. It was right where they said it would be and cost only $22. The fix took about 2 minutes of snapping the joints to the motor and pivots and then voila the wipers work again. I wonder how much this repair would have been if I chose to pay for the labour. Probably over $100 bucks at least. This was really one of those cases where doing it yourself payed off. Since this was such a simple fix (anyone with minimum amount of mechanical skill, a screw driver, and a 14mm box wrench could do it) it took just a few minutes. If I took it in to get fixed I'd probably be without a car for at least a whole day. I did the fix just in time as it's absolutely pouring outside. Summer can't get here soon enough.

Junkyard Dog

I love going to the junkyard. Often there's some really sweet deals to be had. Like the set of alloy wheels with tires I bought for $250 that were in perfect shape or the spare fob I got for free. There's also something really cool about looking at all the smashed cars. What motor head doesn't like a good car crash. But sometimes going to the junkyard can be unpleasant, usually when having to deal with the people that work at the junkyard. For some reason customer relations is not a high a priority at junkyards so you always have to expect a little attitude in your service while there.

Case in point: Today I ventured out to the yard to find a replacement for the broken windshield wiper control arm in the Infiniti. It's a cheap little plastic and aluminum part that takes two minutes to swap out. When I informed the guy behind the counter that I was going into the yard to remove the part he rudely informed that I wasn't and that he doesn't sell just the arm you have to buy the whole wiper assembly for $75. First, $75 is a crazy price for a second hand wiper assembly. Second, removing the whole assembly would take a long time and in the process require first removing the one piece that I need. Third, no one will ever need the whole assembly because it's always just one piece that will fail. I tried to explain this to him but he had a fit and yelled at me that it's his junkyard and I don't tell him how to run it. I called the Infiniti dealer from the junkyard parking lot expecting an egregious price and a two month waiting time while they get the part from Japan but the part was only $20 and it would be there on Wednesday. I went back in and told the guy how much it was at Infiniti and he told me to f@*& off and buy it there. I will. If individual pieces of the assembly are that cheap new at the dealer, that guy will never sell that whole assembly. What a maroon. Lesson learnt: Always check the dealer first.

Another thing I've realized recently is that things like fuel, air, and oil filters should be bought at the dealer as well. The ones I've bought at Napa or Lordco have been of really low quality and these are important items that prevent future serious problems from occurring. Sure the ones at the dealer are a little bit more but they're specifically designed for your particular car and for performance cars like the G20 and the Miata that really matters and can make a big difference. If you drive a Sunfire you can keep buying your filters at Wal-Mart, they're pretty much the same as the ones from GM.

It's Getting Absurd...

This was the view from my car today. Today! It's days away from April and it snowed? And it was weird hail/snow­. Notice also how the windshield isn't clear; that's because the weight of the hail/snow broke the windshield wipers on the Infiniti. Yippee! I know I know it's record snow falls in Ontario and stuff but I don't care. I don't live in Ontario I live in Vancouver and this is just plain annoying. I want to be out there in the Miata driving around with the top down. Instead I'm going to be digging around the junk yard looking for parts to fix the windshield wipers on a car I'm trying to sell. (It's a great car by the way you should buy it.) Anyway I still don't believe people are causing global warming. Peace.

In other news; I recently noticed the Miata's battery is starting to loose it's charge. I sometimes sit in the car and pretend I'm driving it (don't judge) and when I would open the door the dome lights were kind of dim. I've had this old trickle charger lying around forever and I've never used it so I thought this would be a good time. I attached it and left it over night and when I came back in the morning the charger was super-duper hot and the Miata's battery was super-duper completely dead. Lesson learned: don't use old trickle chargers that you find lying around. So I attached jumper cables from the Infiniti to the Miata and idled the Infiniti for about 30 minutes. It seems to have put some charge back in the Miata's battery but there's a good chance I'$$ need a new one.

It's Getting Warmer...

That's right the earth is spinning and tilting this hemisphere toward the sun which can only mean one thing; Spring! It's been a long and cold winter but it's time to bring the Miata out of hibernation and out into the sunshine where it belongs. Maybe plop the girlfriend down in the passenger seat and enjoy some well deserved top down driving. I can't wait. There is of course the small matter of selling the Infiniti first, changing the oil, charging the battery etc. etc. I hope I find the time.

Hey anyone wanna buy a 93.5 Infiniti G20 with new tires and a new clutch?

Miata Valentine's

It's still cold and rainy in Vancouver and just a little while ago it snowed. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as we reach mid point of February. This means it's Valentine's day, what do you give the car that has everything; a blow of course, a blow of air that is; into the tires. Air escapes even as the car is sitting still so I had to pump up the tires. I pumped them up to almost the maximum recommended pressure (40psi) as this will ensure a flat spot doesn't develop where the tire meets the road. I also undid the handbrake because I read that it can be bad for the callipers to be engaged for such a long time, my garage floor is flat so the car won't roll away anywhere (I hope).

Air Filter

Todays post is about air filters. Important things: filter the air going into the engine. When a filter gets dirty and clogged a car ends up getting worse fuel economy, reduced power, and can get all stumbly, so it's a good idea to check the air filter often, like when you do an oil change. Now last time I did an oil change on the Infiniti I neglected to do this simple task and as a result I've recently noticed some real poor fuel economy. Usually the Infiniti averages about 12l/100km but lately it's been burning 15 to 20l /100km. That's getting up to SUV territory. So yesterday I took out the filter and sure enough it was covered in road gunk. Now the Infiniti doesn't have a normal paper filter, it's got a fancy FRAM Airhog, it's the type of filter you don't throw away but clean then re oil and it's supposed to be better than a paper one because it lets more air through. However cleaning it and oiling it is a messy chore and it has to be out of the car for at least overnight because it has to dry and then how do you know you've totally cleaned it, I think over time it will get worse and worse. I don't think I would recommend getting one of these, they look fancy but I think it's better to just stick to the cheap throw away paper ones because you know you're getting a clean one out of the box.

I was looking at some old photos from November and I came across this one. It's the Miata shortly before it went off the road watching the sun set. Don't worry, you'll be back soon enough baby.

Cozy

Happy new year and Merry Christmas and all that. The Miata got a present from Santa this year, it's this car cover. As is often with gifts the size is wrong and it's way to big but it does keep the dust off and the Miata is nice and cozy. Just a few more months till all this cold weather nonsense is over and I can go back to creating more greenhouse gases so as to have less of this cold weather and more top down fun.