Eunos Chump

It's the 30 year anniversary of the MX5 so I've decided to put it back on the road.  I think it's been resting for almost 3 years now so I expect it'll need some work. I've been maintaining the battery, so as ever it started first time once connected.  Tappets clacked like that skeleton in his biscuit tin for a few seconds, mind. Up in the air for some corrosion inspection; it's definitely deteriorated around the rear of the sills, I should have properly rust-proofed this years ago...  Ugh... have ordered some Vactan. Rear suspension looks OK.  I remember when this was all shiny.  Boot floor has survived well where I treated it, at least.  Just surface rust, honest. Similar story on the other side. It needs all new disks and pads, a clutch slave and/or master cylinder, a new steering wheel (horribly tatty), and most annoyingly a rain rail - that's the 'drain' section that the hood fits into, a new one is £174...

Getting cold feet on the Z1000SX.  Even an early one is still £5K and I've not been able to convince my joyless internal accountant that it's worth that much more than the VFR.  I've had the Honda for 7 years now and have become very attached to it, so selling it is out of the question. So I'm back looking at Monkey bikes again... a new one is £2K less than the Kawasaki, for a start.  This could be me!  Except I'm fatter.  And I'll be laying on the tarmac, wondering where the bike went (possibly up my bum crack).

Not posted anything recently because nothing motoring-wise has been happening.  All vehicles continue to function without issue, which is quite unusual.  Gives me more time to play Red Dead Redemption 2 though. I've decided what bike to get next year; Kwak Z1000SX.  Was hoping prices might drop now we're in December but not seeing any movement so far.

My R53 Cooper S has the unexpected bonus of the Harman Kardon premium audio system.  While it has impressive power and sound quality (once you discover the hidden settings ), it's firmly stuck in the past with just CD and analogue radio.  You can't change the head unit as the speakers are all wired to the 10-channel amp that lives in the boot, so new cables would need to be run from the head unit to each speaker, which would be an almighty faff. I wanted to add bluetooth so I could play my cheesy '80s music from Spotify, so bought a Grom BT3  which is a small module that plugs into the CD-changer port on the rear of the standard-fit Boost head unit.  It allows you to stream music from your mobile, and make/receive calls via the supplied microphone.  You can also buy another module that plugs into the Grom to provide DAB radio, USB, or iPod wired connections, I didn't bother with any of those, I just wanted Bananarama, loud. There are 2 versions of the Grom...

I replaced the snapped tailgate hinge on t'old MINI today, and it wasn't too bad a job.  The design is a bit crap and they tend to seize, and then break and attempt to bonk you on the head with the tailgate.  Didn't like that. The hinge is held on by a single nut but you need to partially drop the headlining to reach it.  To do this you need to: remove the tailgate seal remove the rear seats remove the rear side panel trim on the affected side This is all covered by some helpful folks in this YouTube video.  After this, you need to remove the white C-pillar trim; it's held in by 4 plastic tabs (2 top, 2 bottom), which fit into metal clips in the body.  It needs a sharp tug but there is a fair risk of breaking the tabs, but I got away with it. Now you should be able to gently pull down the headlining, to release the clip in the centre: That should give just enough clearance to get a 13mm socket onto the nut securing the hinge.  There is...

I've been procrastinating for some months about buying another bike - either PCP'ing something, buying a used Z1000SX, or getting a damned monkey bike.  In the end I've bought another MINI instead, only this time the supercharged version, in the best colour combo with all the options - premium audio, 'leccy sunroof, A/C, xenon headlights and leather.  We had to go to Bristol for it but it's in superb condition and it's flipping PENG!  Yeah, I used that word.  I am MINI PEOPLE, this is how we talk.