Changes of the Season

It's now been several months using the Midget as my daily driver. It hasn't let me down yet. And even though it's "unreliable, unpractical and slow" compared to modern standards, I feel very spoiled that I get to drive it all the time. Unfortunately, it's been running even more sluggish lately. I think it might have to do with the timing. I don't think we ever fully adjusted that after the carburetor fiasco of early summer. I'm planning on setting up an appointment to get it tuned up, and if my new house duties don't monopolize my time, I really want to remove all the smog equipment this winter. It's supposed to be a relatively easy process, and I'm still convinced this has been a source of some of it's performance trouble. I should also replace the bushings on the right side of the suspension. If you remember, my Dad and I completed the left side over the summer in order for it to "pass inspection."

Nonetheless, I think I've come to the realization that I don't NEED speed. I miss the MINI greatly and it was a fantastic car, but I'd take the Midget over it any day (except perhaps in a snow storm:) And it beats paying over a grand for a new set of tires.

I'm expecting to get my new Mini mid-to-late November. And although it's a smaller engine than the Midget, I'm looking forward to the high-revving, go-cart handling fun.

New Home

Well. The MG has a new home! It just needs some company. I could probably fit two more :)

During my transition from new MINI to classic Mini, I've been driving the Midget exclusively. And I love it! The car has been really reliable with no major issues. I guess the last few years of fixing it up is paying off. I just hate to be putting so many miles on it. I'll be happy once I get another car to share driving duties.

But for now, we've been having decent weather and I'm enjoying the Mighty Midget!

More Midget

Okay. So I haven't posted in awhile. A lot of things have been going on in my life, and unfortunately, the Midget hasn't been a huge part of these things. I'm in the process of selling my Mini Cooper S in hopes of purchasing a classic Mini. So this means I'll be driving the Midget a lot until I get all this sorted out. I try not to get anxious about putting a lot of miles on the car because I just love driving it so much.

In two weeks I'll be living much closer to my place of employment, so I'll have a much shorter (4 miles round trip!) commute.  I'm looking forward to using the Midget more often.

Recently, the car has been running pretty good. The only incident occurred last week when I drove Greg down to North Penn VW to drop off his GTI. On our way home, I heard the exhaust start to putter, and the car slowly lost power. As it came to a stop, I pulled over to the side of 309 at a very inconvenient location. This happened once before, over a year ago, and I remember the problem ended up being a loose wire coming from the fuel pump. I tried to see if the carbs were getting fuel by checking the in-line fuel filter for gas, but it was pretty dark. After eating our tacos and making some phone calls, I was about to call AAA to tow the thing. I figured before doing so, I'd try and get under the car and feel around for these wires. Luckily, I was able to reach the troubled spot, and I completed the connection with one hand. It wasn't real secure, but it was enough to get home.

We made the drive home without any problems, except when the wire came loose within yards of my driveway. We gracefully coasted in.

Since then, I've secured the connection with electrical tape and I don't expect it to impede any more of my trips. Luckily I have an understanding friend and a willingness to tolerate these little quirks. Surprisingly, this has been one of the ONLY electrical faults I've had with this car. And Lucas gets a pretty bad rap. The only other thing was a faulty reverse light switch.

That's it for now.

70,000 Miles

The Midget turned over it's 70,000th mile today. I was on my way up to work when it happened. I was so worried I'd miss it, I pulled over and took a shot with my phone.

What's the odometer read this evening? About 70,050. I got pretty lost today. But that's another story.

So as of September 2005, I've only managed to clock 5,000 miles. I'll try to do better for the next three years.

Having a Gas...Line

As mentioned earlier, I've been wanting to replace my fuel hose connecting the two carburetors (or as the English say, "carburettors") with a steel braided fuel hose. Easier said than done.

After Victoria British Ltd. sent me the wrong length hose. After looking around locally, I found a Street Rod shop in Coopersburg who had some hose. After three different visits, I was finally able to talk to the "parts guy." He had 4 feet of the 1/4" hose that I needed, so I bought it.

Since I only needed about 15 inches, I had to cut it to the appropriate length. After my Dad and I struggled with it a bit (everything we used frayed the braids), we took it over to my Uncle who had a small circular motor saw. From there things went pretty smooth.

Here's a picture of the new hose in place.

Good Day

After experiencing some overheating and poor acceleration problems, I had a great day today with the Midget.

First, let me preface the story with a note about my extreme stupidity. I realized the other night whilst driving home from Greg's house, that hot air was blowing on my legs. I usually get warm air coming in from the engine, but this seemed more substantial. Turns out, I have the freakin' heater on. I thought I had the heater valve turned off under the hood, but apparently that was open as well. I closed the valve and I was anxious to take a trip and see if it fixed my overheating problem.

I headed out to the Lehigh Valley Mall and right away noticed the car had more pep to it. So that was good. But after about 20 minutes it started idling real rough and almost shutting down. I pulled over and decided to experiment more with the idle adjustment screws on the carbs. Ultimately, I ended up pulling them out about a half turn. Although it now idles high (1500 rpm with the clutch out), I can now stop at a stop sign with the clutch in and not have to worry about the car dying. With the clutch in, the car idles perfectly. I still think something else is at play, but this will let me enjoy the car for the time being.

I plan to replace the rubber fuel hose between the carb with a steel braided hose to help with any overheating. Victoria British sent me one that was too short so I'm still looking for a seller.

But anyway. Back to my day.

I arrived at the mall (in a great parking space!), did what I needed to do, and sat on a bench near my car to relax and make a phone call. During this time, a group of four or five guys starting looking at my car. Naturally, they were not speaking English so I couldn't understand anything. And at one point one guy took another guy's picture by my car. I guess they don't have Midgets wherever they're from. I like how no one ever thinks the car is mine.

When they left, I left, and I headed over to Wendy's for dinner.  I ate inside and made up my mind to go to a drive-in movie theater. I called my awesome friend Greg to look up some directions for me and as soon as I hung up it started raining pretty good. I was convinced it would pass, so I put the top up and took off on 22 west. The theater wasn't very full. The rain was down to a light drizzle and it fizzled to a stop as the movie started (Wall•E). So I put the top down and was able to enjoy the movie in the cool evening air. Audio for the movie was broadcasted through FM 90.7. My stereo worked great for this. This is the only time I was happy enough with the quality of my speakers.

I left after the first movie at about 10:30 and headed home. As if it knew I was leaving, it started drizzling again. It didn't warrant putting the top back up, but it got progressively worse as I got closer to home. It was still raining when I pulled into the driveway, but surprisingly the interior was hardly wet.

All in all I probably spent close to 5 hours in my car today. I often dream of selling the Mini and using the Midget as my daily driver. I honestly think this could work if I lived closer to my job. Car payments would just be replaced with buying car parts and getting bodywork done. Ideally, I'd have a garage at my house and I have covered parking at work, so rust wouldn't be as much of an issue. Of course, everybody would tell me this is a horrible idea. And it might be. But I can dream.

Quakertown Community Day

Today I entered my Midget into the Quakertown Community Day car show at Memorial Park. Overall, it was a good time and I got to talk with a lot of different people. I spoke with Dave from Ragtops and Roadsters who admitted that his boss was making a conscious effort to cater more towards high end clients. Jaguar and Rolls-Royce owners and the like. He was a nice guy though, and invited me to America's British Reliability Run (abrr.org).

Upon registering my car, I received a raffle ticket. There were 17 winners, and I was one of them, receiving a $25 gift certificate to rockauto.com. They have Midget and Mini stuff there, so I should be able to find something to buy.

There weren't many other British cars there. Just two Lotuses. Mainly American stuff.

I had a good time and I plan to attend next year. Possibly with a Mini?!