Sump stump

Simple problem almost writes off James’ beloved Smart

Months of preparation went down the drain in the spring, when plans for a trip to the Norwegian Arctic in my Roadster were thwarted by a failure that could well have sent it off to the great scrapyard in the sky. This was annoying because, after 13 years of ownership, I was all psyched up for some quality time with a car that I intend to keep forever.

I bought my Roadster in 2006 with 13,000 miles on the clock (when I had a normal job and just one vehicle in the household) and have never felt any inclination to sell it. The little scamp has taken me from Barcelona to Rome, Berlin and anywhere in between, conquering the Stelvio, Furkha and French Riviera along the way. It served as my daily transport when I lived in Manchester and Birmingham, then when I moved to London it tackled the morning grind on Marylebone Road each day. Then I got a job at Practical

Classics and I inevitably ended up accumulating a bunch of other cars to fix up and drive. Although used occasionally, for the past few years the Smart has nevertheless been sitting waiting patiently for me to take it on a new adventure.

The Roadster was intended to be a budget parts-bin second car inspired by the Frogeye and is a generally well-engineered vehicle. However, as with any Mercedes-benz product of the late Nineties/early Noughties, certain elements don’t last all that well. If I really was going to take on the Arctic, I would need to replace the

springs, dampers and bushes, as well as smaller items such as the dust covers for the ABS reluctor rings that, thanks to being made from tin-can quality metal, had almost completely rotted off. The sump is made of a similarly tinny metal, so I ordered a new one made of composite plastic complete with a sump plug (which meant no more need for the fiddly oil extraction pump).

Snow shoes

With the replacement sump on order, I called Ben Field at Vintage Tyres to book the car in for some winter boots. I had already bought a set of 15in steel wheels – a standard fit on ‘lesser’ Smarts – as I had been warned that alloy wheels are all too easily shattered by rocks and stones in the Arctic. The skinny steelies I’d bought would also be handy if I encountered snow – previous experience had shown that, on its standard chunky 16-inchers, the Roadster was pretty much useless in wintry conditions. Vredestein Snowtracs were the pick of the bunch. As Ben said: ‘Snowtracs are designed with a higher silica content, to give better grip in cold conditions and clear the snow more readily – but, unlike many, they won’t wear out quickly in normal conditions.’ This would be handy, given the fact my route to Norway was going to take me on 600 miles of motorway through Holland, Germany and Denmark. The remaining jobs – from the suspension down to a new thermostat – were done and dusted within weeks.

Dumping its load

Then, just days before departure, a puddle formed. It wasn’t just a small one, either. The new sump had dumped its entire contents all

over my driveway. A closer probe revealed that a failed thread on the lowest of the 14 sump bolt holes was allowing all the oil to escape. Worse, when I went to unscrew it, the bolt snapped and half of it stayed inside the narrow ridge at the base of the light alloy block. Extracting it was to be a precision job for steadier hands than mine.

Despite hammering the phone for a day, I was unable to find anyone to carry out the job in time for the Arctic trip so I decided to postpone and instead booked flights for an alternate adventure in New York in the most unexpected of classic cars (more about that in a future issue of PC).

A month or so later, I turned my attention back to the Roadster. My pal Matt Debbage is expert in fiddly jobs and has previously carried out difficult coil thread inserts – the process is known as ‘helicoiling’, although Helicoil is actually a brand name. Matt gently drilled out the broken bolt, scooped out the old thread and tapped it, then screwed the threaded insert into position. In less than 10 minutes, Matt was done and we refitted the sump. The process is simple enough, but I’d recommend you practice a few times so you don’t write off your car! james.walshe@practicalclassics.co.uk

‘Just days before departure to the Arctic circle, a puddle formed’

Matt Debbage working his magic on James’ Smart. New suspension is fitted ready to handle Arctic conditions.

The tinny ABS reluctor ring covers were shot.

Not much space to work but plastic rear panels can be removed to aid access.