Obelisk's Garage - Daihatsu Midget II, Mazda MX5 (NC2), Suzuki Alto Works (HB11S)

[Obelisk]

July check-in!

Mimi / NC2 MX5
The car received its ARP studs just in time to make a 700+ mile round trip to an Autocross race in Philly, where I ran a 32.2. My codriver, who was at autox for the first time, ran a 32.8. We ended up near the bottom (111th and 114th PAX), but it was still a lot of fun.

I had to throw away the alumimum(!!) open top lugs because, well...

Yeah. Ready to let go on me. I replaced them with Gorilla Automotive steel lugs for durability and for thread engagement - essentially a big upgrade for both safety and functionality.

Plus, they complement the accent on the daily wheels nicely!

The MX5 has gotten an alignment as well (it developed a drift) which I took advantage of. The front camber has been raised from -0.5 to -0.9 to give me more bite on the front tires without compromising the tire wear much.

Daisho / Midget II
Parked for now - something is knocking in the steering, and I decided to be proactive. It's probably the u-joint in the steering starting to go bad, so I already have a replacement part. I just need to find someone who can work on the car...

Hakoga / Alto Works
Engine is at a machine shop pending eval, but both shops are taking way too long to get back to me...

 

[Chris30]

July check-in!

Mimi / NC2 MX5
The car received its ARP studs just in time to make a 700+ mile round trip to an Autocross race in Philly, where I ran a 32.2. My codriver, who was at autox for the first time, ran a 32.8. We ended up near the bottom (111th and 114th PAX), but it was still a lot of fun.

I had to throw away the alumimum(!!) open top lugs because, well...
View attachment 1465773
Yeah. Ready to let go on me. I replaced them with Gorilla Automotive steel lugs for durability and for thread engagement - essentially a big upgrade for both safety and functionality.

Plus, they complement the accent on the daily wheels nicely!
View attachment 1465774

The MX5 has gotten an alignment as well (it developed a drift) which I took advantage of. The front camber has been raised from -0.5 to -0.9 to give me more bite on the front tires without compromising the tire wear much.

Daisho / Midget II
Parked for now - something is knocking in the steering, and I decided to be proactive. It's probably the u-joint in the steering starting to go bad, so I already have a replacement part. I just need to find someone who can work on the car...

Hakoga / Alto Works
Engine is at a machine shop pending eval, but both shops are taking way too long to get back to me...

Glad everything worked out for you mate, great update. Take care and hope your cars keep going for a long time.

 

[TB]

Glad everything worked out for you mate, great update. Take care and hope your cars keep going for a long time.

You need to read a little closer. He said two of his three vehicles aren't running.

 

[Obelisk]

You need to read a little closer. He said two of his three vehicles aren't running.

The Midget technically is running. I'm just holding off on driving it (much) until I can get the new U-joint in.

 

[Obelisk]

Midget update:
(Boothill impersonation) Son of a nice lady, this forking thing is driving me crazy. (/impersonation)

Problem:

• Midge is struggling with ac / accessory load
• Midge is stalling on throttle, idling weirdly
• Midge feels 'tired' on long drives

Root cause:

The Midget's vacuum valve between the intake and ECU was installed backwards the entire time I've had it.

I've flipped the valve to the correct orientation, but it's definitely compromised. New valve coming in this week. Also pending a steering U joint repair and new alignment next week.

 

[Obelisk]

Midget update:
(Boothill impersonation) Son of a nice lady, this forking thing is driving me crazy. (/impersonation)

Problem:

• Midge is struggling with ac / accessory load
• Midge is stalling on throttle, idling weirdly
• Midge feels 'tired' on long drives

Root cause:
View attachment 1468640
View attachment 1468639

The Midget's vacuum valve between the intake and ECU was installed backwards the entire time I've had it.

I've flipped the valve to the correct orientation, but it's definitely compromised. New valve coming in this week. Also pending a steering U joint repair and new alignment next week.

Old lady started buzzing nicely once the valve was in. I had to adjust down the idle because it was set high - I reckon it was set high to get around the behavior I noticed, but the valve failing just brought it back up to the surface.

I have it sitting ~950-975 idle, and it's handling driving as if nothing happened.

 

[Chris30]

That's great news mate. Glad everything worked out for the Midget. Take care.

 

[Obelisk]

Update 2:
Autoshop did diagnostic work on the Midget and found that the thumping I'd been hearing is typical old car noise from the steering rack. The U joints are good and tight.

At least they fixed the alignment. It was toe out of center - to the right side of the car.

 

[Chris30]

I'm glad the Midget is okay, thank you for giving us an update on it. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. It will be fall before you know it. That's good crisp weather to take a ride in it every now and then.

 

[Obelisk]

I got the repair bill for the Alto.

$3,800. The car was $5,700.

 

[Obelisk]

I have it sitting ~950-975 idle, and it's handling driving as if nothing happened.

So I took another pass at the carb tuning, because I wasn't happy with it in its factory spec. It was getting sapped especially bad by the AC, plus idling roughly/unevenly. I now have it dialed in at 1050-1070 (which is really about the maximum you wanna go beyond factory spec of 900 to 1,000 rpm), which puts the AC drop down to about 1,000-1,020 RPM. This has now revealed another gremlin in the Midget's long list of beater-car problems: the idle-up (if it has one) for the electrics is either not responding or not tuned, as it's dropping to about 860 RPM when trying to sustain the running lights or full lights. For the majority of use cases, the Midget is 100% fine. I just need to examine that issue with the idle and find out if it needs to go back to the mechanic or if I just need some curse words and a screwdriver.

I'll be bringing the Midget II to the 44th Annual Spindles Autofest, if any local GTPers want to pop by and say hi!

While I'm at it, might as well quickly check in:

ALTO WORKS/Hakoga

I've been given a semi-concrete estimate of about 2 to 4 weeks for the completion of the engine rebuild! I've already started moving papers along on my side so I can throw its plates on the day it's ready to come back. This time... I'm taking side roads back home instead of I-95.

I discussed it elsewhere, but the verdict is that the plug in #1 is what caused the catastrophic failure. It took out the exhaust valve and the piston, and thankfully only necessitated a minor honing of the cylinder walls. The rest of the car is mechanically in good shape, so I'll be able to take it around to the end-of-season car shows. I do have one action item I'll need to deal with once I get Hakoga registered: replace the lug nuts. Those are pretty rusty, despite the rest of the car being clean...Don't wanna risk one chewing itself up and flying off the car.

MX5/Mimi
Nothing of note here - I still need to get the Tochigi Fuji LSD swapped in, but I need some time to save up before I do that. Other than that, I don't really have any plans right now. I may want to throw down at one or two more Autocross sessions before the season's fully over, and at least promote myself out of Novice class.