Reunited: Part 2


Alternate Post Title: Now He’s Just Trolling Me

Last year, a couple months after I bought the CTBNL, the previous owner, when cruising by the Valve Store, pulled in and snapped a photo of his “old” car with the old car that he was driving that day.

Well a little more than a year later, he did it again, this time with his 1987 911 G50 Carrera.

He is not really trolling me though, he has actually offered me the chance to take that car for a drive. Back when I needed a car from the 80’s for the Motoring Challenge, he said I could come over and snap a photo and then drive a sample of old school P-car magic. The car was having some work done in Charleston, which took longer than anticipated, then Donna and I went on a driving vacation. He’s a caregiver for an ailing father. I stumbled on a mid-eighties Fiero so the need went away. Etc., etc., so we just haven’t had the chance to get it together…yet.

2 Months In

We’ve owned the Mini for two months now and have driven it a little over a thousand miles, bought 2 tanks of gas and a new battery.

I found a local shop here in Aiken that does BMW/Mini work, Newton’s Automotive, to register that new battery to the car instead of a dealer. I called them and the fellow who answered said if I brought it in before 4 PM he could do it in a few minutes and it would be $20. So, today, in the cold and rain, Donna and I dropped in on them. They did the battery registering for free. Probably for a couple of reasons, 1) it took all of three minutes to do and 2) it was a shrewd business move, it created a guarantee that if we ever needed something done on the Mini, they would be our first call.

Afterwards he compounded the good feelings by chatting with us for another 10 minutes or so about the meaning of the cryptic service messages and how they relate to real world experience and wear. I asked about oil changes and doing them myself because that is what I’m used to doing with the Miata. He told me that if that was what I wanted to do, it was certainly doable by me, no special tools. But they only charge $25 plus the cost of the parts, so why would I. Sounds tempting.

Good News/Bad News

Good
Somehow, through no fault of my own, the Angry Ladybugs have slipped into the EZEFFL Playoffs. I won the last game of the season by beating the only team in the conference with a worse record than me1 and was helped out by having the only combination of two teams, who I held the tie-breaker over, losing.

Bad
Another “I Really Am Old” milestone was passed today when I signed up for a Wheel of Fortune Spin ID number. Most nights at 7:00 PM we’ve finished eating and are parked comfortably on the couch, so after watching the network news, watching Pat & Vanna are the perfect mental pallet cleanser and blood pressure lowering tool. If you happen to be tuned in and see the Spin Id Number of BB6861302, let me know, I’ll split it with you.

Shades of Lucas Electric?

Sure these new Minis are a BMW product, but their design was inspired by the original British Motor Company’s icon, but I wonder if it has gone too far with the homage, by leaving just a few random electrical gremlins. For the past couple of weeks we have had the little symbol on the left show up in the center of the tach on start up.

There were no other warning lights, it would go off after a couple of seconds and the car ran fine, so we have been ignoring it. From the owners manual:

Lights up in yellow:
> Control of the brake lamps failed
or
> fuel supply malfunctioning

You can continue your journey, but
moderate your speed and exercise
due caution. Have the system in
question checked without delay.

> Drive malfunctioning
You can continue your journey, but
moderate your speed and exercise
due caution. Transmission limp-home
program active with restricted range
of gears. Have the system checked
immediately.

It took me several times to work my why through the odd procedure to set up my key to unlock both doors with one click without the car stopping me mid key press by shutting off (you have to have the ignition on, but engine not running.) And I never have gotten to the next step after that to activating the daytime running lights. Once or twice since we’ve had it the car seemed slow to crank, but it would always start, so we took it to the local parts store and had them check the battery. It was a little low. We chalked it up Donna only using it to go back and forth to the gym, only about a one mile trip one way, so we’ve been taking it for occasional long drives.

Today, when Donna quickly ran into a store to settle a mis-rung up purchase, I decided to wait in the car with the radio on. After about two minutes I heard a “bong”, the radio shut off and in the place where the car on lift symbol has been showing up a battery one did. This time we took the hint, I read a little on the Mini Forum and headed off to the auto parts store and bought a battery.

Now here is where we stop thinking old Lucas Electric and start thinking new Bosch Electric as the Mini has something called an Intelligent Battery System and you are supposed to register your new battery with your car. If you don’t the car will possibly over-charge the battery because it thinks it is an old and needs more juice, thereby shortening the battery’s life span.

And guess what? It is not something you can do easily yourself. A Mini Dealer (Charleston – 130 miles away) or a BMW Dealer (Augusta – 30 miles away) could do it, for a fee, and I bet it wouldn’t be a small one either. There is an app you can buy called iCarly for nearly $60, so you can do it yourself, but from what I read on the web it will only work with their version of an OBDII adapter which is another $60 or $70. A third option is something called NCS Expert/INPA software which looks cheap (~$15, unless I’m missing something), but it will only run on 32-bit Windows XP, which means buying an old laptop of some kind and a USB- OBDII cable. Plus the coding doesn’t look easy to understand and I’d hate to totally screw something like that up. Time to see if there is a shop in Aiken that can do it.

New Leather Seating

New Couch


Not for the Miata, but for the living room, our new couch arrived 17 days and a half an hour later after we bought it. The 17 days was because that was the first available day that worked for both them and us. The half hour was because they called and left a message on my phone at work that they were 30 minutes away and it took them a touch over 60 to pull up in front of the house. Technically they were still 15 minutes early though. I was originally given a delivery window of 11:30 to 2:30 and they arrived at quarter after eleven.

It is two shades darker, 10 inches wider and about 2″ higher off the ground, but it is remarkably similar to our old one. The old couch left last night in the back of a pickup truck, to be given to someone who needed one (even one covered in tape.)

Old Couch

Hope Springs Eternal

After our latest two day trip to Hendersonville and back, with a couple of quick trips into the mean streets of Asheville, we have come to the conclusion that the leather seats wouldn’t have helped our comfort level at all. This got me thinking, “What is the big difference between the CTBNL and the Emperor?” The shocks are the same, slightly newer even, but the lowering springs are different. The Emperor had Flyin Miata springs and the CTBNL is sitting on Racing Beat, both trusted long term Miata parts purveyors, but further investigation reveals that the hive knowledge on the forums vastly prefer the Flying Miata units.

The secret is in the spring’s strength numbers. When you shorten the spring length you have to increase its strength to prevent bottoming out. The Miata’s stock springs are rated at 162 lb/in & 118 lb/in (front/rear), the Racing Beat springs that lower the car an inch all around are rated at 195 lb/in & 145 lb/in a slight increase. The Flyin Miata springs, which drop the car about three quarters of an inch, are rated at 318 lb/in & 233 lb/in which is nearly double the stock units.

The Racing Beat springs would probably be just fine if you ran only on race tracks or all smooth roads, but we live in the real world. South Carolina has very cheap gas because we have a very low state tax on it and this translates into plenty of deteriorating roads. Just on my little 6 mile commute there are several places I need to slow way down to cross railroad tracks or traverse drainage dips or edge real close to the center line to avoid burgeoning pot holes or pine tree root bumps. And don’t get me started on the transitions between asphalt roads and concrete bridges…

From my memory the Flyin Miata springs, even though they are stiffer that the stock (and the Racing Beat) shocks didn’t really ride that harsh and they would definitely keep me off the bump stops on the sharp hits of roughness. Today was Suspension Sunday as part of Flyin Miata’s Black Friday sales event with $60 off their springs, so I took the plunge. Not being sure how the Racing Beat bump stops are configured, I went ahead and added the FM bump stops to the order as well. So, in a couple more weeks the CTBNL, with the existing Koni shocks, will be riding on the FM Stage 1 Suspension Package which is the exact same setup as the Emperor had.

This afternoon, both cars got a bath. Didn’t take long to do both, they are small and they were covered only in a bit of road grime.

59,000 Things I’m Thankful For

1. My morning person wife.
We got up on Turkey Day at 5:30, the same time as on a normal work day to drive up to Hendersonville, NC.

2. My patient wife.
To visit my sister and her husband and have our Thanksgiving meal at their community pot luck.

3. My carefree wife.
But before getting to their house we traveled 25 miles past them to the north into Asheville.

4. My curious wife.
To take a picture of an Inspirational Woman’s Monument she found after hours of internet searching.

5. My lovely wife.
Who posed in the near freezing temperatures by a very Large Flat Iron sculpture in downtown for a Motoring point.

6. My flexible wife.
Then when we were stymied in getting the Woman’s statue photo by thousands of runners participating in a Turkey Trot and Gobble Wobble, Donna shrugged and said, “We’ll come back again early tomorrow.”

7. My generous wife.
At the Black Friday sale at Mast General Store she let me buy a $40 hoodie I wanted, but didn’t really need, while she bought a gift to give away at the upcoming MMC Christmas Party.

8. My understanding wife.
She understands that there is no way I can come up with 58,992 more of these.

The CTBNL passed through the 59,000 mile mark a few miles north of Saluda, SC on the way up to North Carolina.