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Some long-trip answers (longish)
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Posted by spiv (more from spiv) on Mon, 27 Jun 2005 10:40:36 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: COOL another question, smokin, Mon, 27 Jun 2005 00:15:17
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Well, with that long a trip in a Sonett, some people might say you should be making a sanity check!

But I've done surprisingly long trips in mine, although not usually on purpose -- normally what happens is that I'll be out dinking around, thinking "Maybe I'll turn this way" or "I've never been down that road before" or "This looks like a fun place to stop for lunch" and first thing you know I've run up 200 miles on the odo. One of my favorite ways to piddle away a day, actually!

Anyway, let's assume that you already know the car is in basically good shape, so we don't need to remind you to check the oil, the transaxle fluid, the brake fluid, etc. If all that's OK, then here are a few quirkier tips to think about for a long trip:

-- One thing that can happen to a Sonett on a long drive is that it will run hotter, and that's aggravated by the fact that it's sorta hard to tell exactly how much coolant you've got in it! That crossways header tank makes it difficult to judge. I think it's supposed to be 1/3 to 1/2 full, but how do you tell? What I've done is that I bought a plastic overflow tank at an auto-parts store, and hooked it up to the overflow drain (I attached the tank to the hood-latch support using a coupla zip ties.) Then I just fill up the tank all the way. If it gets too hot, some will flow out into the "puke tank." If that leaves me running low, I wait for it to cool off, then remove the radiator cap and transfer some back into the header tank. (How do I do that when the puke tank is below the level of the filler? Easy -- I've got a piece of plastic tubing that fits over the vent hole in the puke tank. I put this on and blow into it; the air pressure forces the coolant back up through the overflow tube.)

I see Jack Ashcraft has a nice-looking new kit that replaces the crossways header tank with a vertical plastic one that would make it a lot easier to see your coolant level. But it's kinda pricey, so until I get up that much money I'll just stick with my system and keep blowing into the tube occasionally!

-- On a long trip, it's really nice if your odometer works, and sometimes a Sonett's doesn't. Apparently there's a little plastic tab inside the odo gears that often breaks off, and once that happens your odometer will stop working, or slip, or stick. Mine works OK until it gets up to a reading that ends with "55" -- then it sticks and stays stuck until I nudge the trip-meter knob a bit to get it past the problem spot.

I kept forgetting to do that, so I went to a bicycle shop and spent about $30 for a "cycling computer" (mine is a VDO Cytec C-10, but there are lots of other brands.) This is a tiny plastic gizmo that runs off a battery and uses a little magnet and sensor to count the wheel revolutions. I stuck the sensor on the side of the transaxle case with epoxy, and attached the magnet to the inner driver cup with a zip-tie. Once you program the gizmo with your wheel size, it will show speed (very accurately), mileage (cumulative and trip), maximum speed, average speed, and various other stuff that's fun to know on a long trip.

-- The seats in a Sonett aren't adjustable, but can be surprisingly comfortable if you get that little sliding lumbar pillow in exactly the right place. Make sure that pillow isn't MIA!

-- Installing a cruise control can make a long trip more pleasant. Chris Moberg and Jim Williams have installed Audiovox CCS-100 units (about $100) in their Sonnets and have put up pages on their websites about it.

-- Sonetts are kinda loud! You might want to think about protecting your hearing. For long trips I wear a noise-cancelling headset made for airline travelers -- it has an electronic filter that neutralizes continuous sounds such as road and engine noise, but still lets you hear horns, sirens, etc. It's illegal to wear a headset while driving in a lot of states, though, so regular earplugs -- the kind that still let you hear normal sounds -- might be a better bet.

Top tip: Don't forget that a trip in a Sonett is supposed to be a fun adventure! Take breaks when you're tired, leave yourself plenty of time for stops, and generally focus on having a great time.

posted by 204.76.113...
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