Things that make life just a little bit easier....

A few months ago, I received an Amazon gift card that has been languishing unused. Kind of on a whim, I bought a Morrflate 4-wheel inflation/deflation system. Besides sports cars, I'm also a 4x4 enthusiast (2022 Turbo-Diesel Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, in case you're wondering). The off-road guys are always airing down for off-road trails, and then airing back up for the trip home. Getting all the tires to the correct and equal pressures is a pain point for this crowd, and one of the common solutions is a 4-wheel inflate/deflate system.

To use a system like Morrflate, you close the fill valve on the gauge/splitter assembly (via a big green slider valve), and then connect each tire to one of the interconnected hoses. Doing nothing else, you instantly already have each tire equalized in pressure. Want to air down? Open the valve, bleed off some air, and close it when the gauge says you're at the correct pressure. Want to air up? Attach a compressor to the inlet port, open the valve, and adjust the tire pressures to the exact amount you want. Then close the valve, disconnect the tires, and... voilá! Each tire is exactly the same pressure as the others.

Today, I used the system for the first time on the Bugeye. One thing I'm learning about the car as I drive it is how sensitive it is to even modest changes in tire pressure. A few psi too much, and the car feels unstable and "floaty". A few psi too little and the crispness and nimbleness disappear, with the car "wallowing" in corners. Further, the small tires (because of their small air volumes) gain and lose pressure really easily when I'm trying to fill them. Just a brief, inadvertent 1-second bleed when disconnecting the compressor and applying my tire pressure gauge can net/lose 1-2 psi or more. The result is I'm never fully certain what my pressures are, or if I have equal pressures, left-to-right or front-to-rear (And yes, I've found that equal pressures all the way round are currently the best setup for me; typically between 30-31psig).

Is a system like this needed? No, of course not; I've been filling tires for more than half a century the old way. Is it nice to have? Yes, definitely! Is it worth the money? If I had only one car, I'd probably balk at spending this amount of money (~$200 on sale) for something I could keep doing the old-fashioned way, one tire at a time. But given I have two Jeeps, the Bugeye, and a finicky trailer, this little tool seems to be something I wish I'd had years ago. 

All in this morning, it took me about five minutes to connect and use (and that included the brief learning curve of unboxing and setting it up). In that span of time, I had four tires all equally set at 30.5 psig. (Of course, I had to check the gauge accuracy with my high-end Longacre gauge; the Morrflate unit is dead nuts correct). Putting it away took just a couple of minutes, too, using the velcro straps to wrangle the coiled air hoses.

It's always fun to discover a new tool that makes a chore like setting tire pressures a little easier.

Some Updates, Some Not

 We got quite a bit done on the car over the past 3 weeks. Plus one area that we're back to square 1. Let me explain. First, the good news:

First up is a fuel leak issue I was experiencing. The wife was complaining of a faint gasoline smell coming from the garage. Turned out to be a cracked fitting that was seeping gas. Relatively easy fix:

Next was a balky bonnet. More specifically, I was having trouble opening and closing the bonnet consistently, plus we kept shearing off these little rubber bumpers we'd installed to keep the hood from vibrating. Joe had a cool idea of using rollers and machined ramps to help guide the bonnet close, which seems to work really well thus far. The rollers are old skateboard wheels that got turned down on a lathe. They're a little rough, and I'm thinking of upgrading to something made from urethane, but otherwise, this works great:

Another big upgrade we did was install a parking brake. Yes, this is a big deal for me. There have been a half-dozen instances where the car almost rolled away on me, or that it felt really unsecure in a parking lot, or on the trailer, etc., just held in place by keeping it in gear. It was a lot of work, but the results were really worth the money and time. The unit works great and looks even better. The brake lever assembly came from Speedway Motors, whilst the actual brakes are the stock Miata bits. It's almost an OEM result, but cooler. Someone recently remarked that it's got a definite Cobra vibe going on:

Finally, the one thing that didn't get done: the windshield. Had a friend ride in the car a month ago, and despite my warning them not to put weight on the windshield frame, they did. Result: a cracked windshield. Sigh. So, I ordered what I thought was the correct windshield from Moss Motors. Part arrived and.... did not fit. Long story short: my windshield frame is from a Mk2 Spridget, despite the car being a first-gen (1959). Dunno what happened or when, but somewhere in the car's past, someone swapped out the frame. I think. Dunno? Really weird... and a very costly mistake. I've got a lot of money into buying and then returning the wrong part. Worse, the new/correct part is on a month-long back-order from Moss. In Arizona, we can't drive cars without windshields, even if we wear helmets, so I was basically looking at a month or more of non-drive time. But once again, Joe came to the rescue, creating this ridiculous/hilarious/completely-functional windscreen out of plexiglass and a fabricated aluminum mount:

Finally, in related news, I'm considering upgrading my little 1-axle trailer to a heavier duty 2-axle so I can more securely/sanely transport the car when needed, plus a few non-car uses, too (e.g., toting water to our remote family cabin.