MiniMike does a burnout in a Smart Fortwo

R

Rolf

Guest
Coisman said:
:pimp:
You know the way GM makes a Smart, dont you???
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They get a C63 amg to backfire, and out pops a Smart! :rollsmile:

GM? you mean MB :idea:
 

FaSTandFurious

Active member
MiniMike19@DefinitiveDetailing said:
So the Smart has been off the road for a few days due to a bad misfire. :fencelook:

The Smart Specialist could not figure it out, he tested everything over and over again. Even took half the motor apart to try figure out what the heck it was doing.

I took it to a Auto Electrician and he couldnt find an issue.

Then last night the JVC Head Unit went into "Protect" mode. So I googled it which led to a possible earth problem.

Today I sent it in to a friends mechanic that solved the problem in minutes. He noticed that the Smart has two earth's, and one was completely loose and shorting.

He tightened it up, started it up and oh my goodness this car is amazing! Goes like hell, changes gear so smoothly and the turbo really kicks in hard now.

Really enjoying the car so much. So, when will the next thing break? :rollsmile:

Mike



Coisman said:
:pimp:
You know the way GM makes a Smart, dont you???
.
.
.
.
.
They get a C63 amg to backfire, and out pops a Smart! :rollsmile:

:rollsmile::rollsmile::rollsmile:
 
M

Mike1

Guest
The Ferret | Project Update | More Effort!

Well, the Smart has officially been named by my better half's father and the name has stuck.

Its now known as "The Ferret". :rollsmile:

Moving on swiftly... A little bit of bragging if I may.

SAM_5023.jpg


Full tank in the Smart is R350.00 and from this tank which only cost R280.00 I got 550km.

With it now running like a beast I should see closer to 700km if I drive it "nicely".

So between bragging and suede and black X5's a little package arrived.

SAM_5016.jpg


Inside is my new key casing which cost R175.00 delivered.

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Best of all is that it is the newer Smart key so looks better too! In total it cost R60 to have it cut and R60 for new button to be soldered onto the old transponder. Bargain!

In the meantime the initial cheeriness with the sound system had worn off. The sound was better, but it was different. The bass was shorter and not as thumpy and it distorted at high volume.

A quick stop at Zakspeed and I collected two new "woofers" for the Smart at R100 each.

A quick comparison:

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I wired them up, reconnected the tweeters (We unplugged them due to the JVC's having tweeters already) and let rip.

I am a happy chappy now. :biglol:

Then finally, I went to Midas and grabbed some 21 inch wipers for the Smart as well as some C-Thru Liquid.

SAM_5319.jpg


Applied and hazing:

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What a huge difference, water runs right off (applied some to the glass roof too) and the wipers glide without hopping or making annoying noises.

So far this is the only exterior mod to the car, coming up I play with some Plasti-Dip and front panels go missing. :joy:

Mike

 
M

Mike1

Guest
The Ferret gets the evil eye | Darkened Headlight Mod | Making a Smart look mean

Lets be honest for a moment.

The Smart isnt exactly the most ferocious looking animal on the road (well it might scare a few pedestrians but thats all really) with its little peanut headlights and cheery smile.

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This wasnt working for me, I demand respect on the road!

So once again things came apart, having done this before when I got the car I knew what to expect and had the front end apart in minutes.

First you unclip the toothy silver smiley grill, followed by unscrewing 4 torx screws. Then you open the doors wide open and loosen a further 4 screws on either side followed by a single large screw at the top of the panel.

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You then call a friend to help you hold the front panel steady whilst you unclip the side lights and unclip the fog lights. You then get this:

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Effortless! With the front end off I took a closer look at the clear light lenses:

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They were quite badly oxidized so out came a soft polishing pad and some Ultimate Compound at low speed.

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Much better, however take a look at the yellow Oxidation on the pad. :thumbdo:

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At this point I undid a further 4 torx screws and removed both headlight housings from the car.

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Inside I took them apart, the front bit in particular was what I was looking for.

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Using a fine sandpaper I slowly sanded the silver down to bare plastic, gave it a thorough wipe with and alcohol swap to remove all oils or excess dust and gave it a good old spray with some matte black spray paint.

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This was repeated on both sides and several coats were added before carefully putting the lights back together before refitting them to the car:

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And with everything back in place and completed!

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I think it looks brilliant, much less cheerful and tad menacing. Now just to get rid of that silver grill. :joy:

Mike

 
M

Mike1

Guest
Yellow LaminX hell yes.

I always drive with the fogs on so it would look great and make the car more noticeable.

Just need to find some. :=):
 
M

Mike1

Guest
The Ferret gets a nose job | Black Grill

Well, with the darkened headlights adding that touch of anger to the front of Smart it was decided by my better half that the grill had to go black.

Now this was a significant moment as not only had I been on the fence about it, tossing and turning at night all undecided but it was the first time that my better half had ever taken part in a "automotive" related decision.

So I couldn't say no but did warn him that the blame would be his if it looked bad. :biglol:

I sanded the original down with light sandpaper, wiped it down and pulled out a can of Plasti-Dip and gave it several coats.

SAM_5493.jpg


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I absolutely love this stuff, its so easy and the finish is exceptional!

Next up I reckon the car will deffo need yellow LaminX on the fogs to just finish it off. :thumbs:

For now I am broke though.... Will explain that in the next update. :thumbdo:

Mike
 

moranor@axis

///Member
Official Advertiser
looking awesome now it just need the yellow :rollsmile:

H&R do lowering kits and wheel spacers for the smart :fencelook:
 
M

Mike1

Guest
Going to do LED Fogs with the Lamin X. :thumbs:

Got a quote this morning for R3000.00 which includes:

- All panels Matte White
- Mag repair & respray in Satin Black

:fencelook:
 
P

Psymon69

Guest
MiniMike19@DefinitiveDetailing said:
Going to do LED Fogs with the Lamin X. :thumbs:

Got a quote this morning for R3000.00 which includes:

- All panels Matte White
- Mag repair & respray in Satin Black

:fencelook:

great little demon spawn smartcar!!:thumbs:

thats not bad at all is it? are you having stickers made as well? or just the matte white?

dont you get yellow hid kits for fogs? maybe thats cheaper? then you cut out the lamin X? shouldnt be more than 500bux
HID_Colors_1-1.JPG

img0976if4.jpg
 

Prev

Administrator
Staff member
Coming along nicely :thumbs: you should consider spraying your rims a darker colour
 
M

Mike1

Guest
The Ferret gets evil | Lamin X Update

I was really happy with the dark grill and dark headlights, but was still not too satisfied.

The silver on the grill used to break the continuous black on the front of the car and now it was just black.

With this in mind and the aspect of safety, I went ahead and purchased some yellow Lamin X to tint the front fog lights on the car.

So a quick before:

SAM_5506.jpg


Foggies out and ready to be darkened:

SAM_5507.jpg


And finally, everything back together again!

SAM_5516.jpg


Much happier now, the car has that little extra aggressiveness. :joy:

Mike
 
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