Zobeid

I'm looking at having the gas struts refurbished, they're the ones that lift the rear lid over the trunk and engine compartment. I can see where a nut holds the lower end of the strut, but I'm not sure about the upper. Can I just put a wrench on them and start turning, or do I need to get into the lid to find another nut in there?

You have a glove box? Mine has a passenger-side airbag. I would check the manual, but it's with the car, and the car is currently in the shop for maintenance. I'll have to wait until next week when I pick it up.

This morning I left my Esprit at Autostrada (in Austin Texas) for some maintenance work. While I was at it, I asked them to get me a spare key made. . . Not a problem, their mechanic said. Then he asked, do I need a spare remote for the alarm system? Um. . . Remote? Alarm system? I'd never yet seen anything to indicate that my car had an alarm system installed. He told me it should have an alarm-and-immobilizer built into it from the factory. Without the remote, there is no code to program a spare remote -- which means the only recourse is to replace the whole alarm system for about $2,000! At that price I could happily live without an alarm. The only catch is, if the alarm ever becomes activated, my car could be left dead and impossible to start. This could conceivably happen if the battery is ever drained or disconnected. I've sent a note to the car's previous owner, trying to track down the remote. I guess what I'm really looking for here is a bit of confirmation that what Autostrada told me makes sense. Did the 1997 Esprit really come with an alarm as described? Does anybody else here have any experience working with it, or with losing a remote?

Here's one. . . http://users.htcomp.net/tbelding/img/blue_lotus.jpg And by the way, I did get the plates attached with that old standby, baling wire. Tomorrow I'll go see if I can scrounge up something better for it.

I noticed the bass seems kind of weak in my car, and I was just thinking about whether there was any way, or any place, to fit a subwoofer into it. I'll be interested to see whatever you can figure out.

I've been going over my car, picking out its quirks. The rear lid has a couple of struts to hold it up, but they don't hold it all the way up. The lid tends to droop about half open. I'm assuming that's not normal, right? Is there a way to recharge the struts with gas, or adjust them in some way -- or do they simply need to be replaced? On a similar topic. . . Inside the front lid there's a sort of oval-shaped foam gasket, and about half of it is rotted out. I'm not sure what the gasket is good for, I guess just to keep dust out. Should I be looking to replace this piece with more foam?

Hamilton, Texas. It's west from Waco, about halfway between Waco and Brownwood. Or, just up the road a piece from Sports Car World. I got my red tape squared away this morning (including sales tax, ouch!). Got my plates. . . Now I just got to figure out how I'm going to affix them to the car. It didn't come with any front bracket, or any screws for the back! I need to find some screws that will fit without buggering up the threads. I noticed the road today is thick with people running from the storm. It's a sad thing to see.

The rear-view mirror on my car is mounted on a kind of plastic stalk, it doesn't actually touch the windshield. It's got a little rubber bumper in case it touched the windshield, but it doesn't. Whenever the motor is running, the mirror is jittering up and down on the end of its stalk -- surely that's not how it's supposed to work? The view through the narrow back glass -- with the spoiler right there -- is bad enough already, without even considering the mirror jitters.

I just took delivery of my "Azure Blue" 1997 model V8 today. Haven't had a chance to drive it much yet. . . or take photos either. I've got to get the paperwork out of the way in the morning. But it looks great!