Current Midget Acquisition

It's been a busy weekend.  Last week, I replaced the shocks on the rear of my 2003 Honda Pilot.  I ordered a set of shocks/struts from justsuspension.com.  I got the KYB brand.   Replacing the shocks was easy, and it only took an hour, maybe.  My trusty air ratchet made it that much easier, especially when spinning off/on lug nuts.

This weekend, I tackled the front struts.  This task is not particularly daunting, but it is a hassle.  The struts/springs are heavy and unwieldy, they're dirty, you have to compress the coil spring, blah blah blah.  My sidekick, whom, in deference to his cyber-anonymity I will refer to as 'Sidekick', was there to lend a hand, and this was most fortunate.  After multiple trips to the auto parts store, to return the coil spring compressor I borrowed and to get a 'strut spring compressor', to the hardware store for sockets required that I didn't have, to Sidekick's house for Allen wrenches that I couldn't find, we successfully coupled the new struts with the old springs.  In the course of this process, I dropped the new bearing that came with the strut, and had to clean/grease each of the individual ball bearings, and re-assemble the bearing.  Fun.  It wasn't until today (hey, I had to stop to watch the Hawgs yesterday) that we got it reassembled.  One 'sproing' as we backed out (I assume this was a coil spring 'self-adjusting') and everything was good.  Hope this improves the ride of my 130k-mile daily chariot...

Here's a picture from the day in 2005 when I acquired the 1500 Midget.  My oldest brother  found the car in Cleveland, Tx.  I previously found him a 1959 MGA here in central AR, and he was returning the 'favor'.   See his blog here:  http://www.jimsmgarestoration.blogspot.com/. 

A fellow was divesting himself of his father's estate, and the Midget had been in the garage in the back for 20 years.  Seems his sister was driving it and the engine blew.  It was never re-built.  He was GIVING IT AWAY to whomever would come get it.  I borrowed a trailer and away I went (with wife in tow as well).

Five years hence, here's how I remember it:  the car was dusty, with 4 flat tires, a couple of engines, etc., but it was all there, pretty much.  I would find out later that there were some bits missing, but I've compensated for that over time.  The car was also straight.  It had never been in an accident, and, because it had been in storage for 20+ years, it didn't have much rust.  The floors were solid, the rockers were solid, the fenders were solid.

So, with the help of some muscle and a come-along, the car was dragged up on the trailer and tied down.  We started for home, some 7-8 hours away.  The trip was uneventful.