Team Twin-Snail
The Crew:
Luke Light: Storm Automotive’s president, head of the Raceworks Division, and lover of fast and crazy cars. He’s never let being an android keep him down or hold him back.
Amy Storm: Her great-grandfather, John Storm, founded the company. She’s part of the Engine Design Team and also a member of the Raceworks Division, and is addicted to fast cars and big engines.
Scott Regale: Storm Automotive’s head of Interior Design. He’s here because of his help in the Roulette Runner off-road rally. His mechanical expertise stops at changing tires, but he’s a master electrician.
Linda Regale: Scott’s sister and Storm Automotive’s accountant. You’d be forgiven for believing she’s only here because her brother’s here, but she’s a great navigator. Give someone else a GPS unit and give her a map and compass, she’ll find a way to get there first. However, while her navigational skills are exceptional, her driving needs work.
The Car:
A 1998 Minerva Midnight, sadly not as optioned up as they’d like. This one doesn’t have the optional sunroof, but it does have the Longitudinally mounted 3.6L DOHC V6, and it’s FWD.
The car wasn’t purchased with cash, but instead was traded for a 1977 Sinistra Savage that had run out of fuel after running the Roulette Runner. Luke’s thought is that a $500 car makes for a $500 car, even taking into consideration that the Midnight’s a newer car.
With a 5 speed automatic and an open differential, and not very much power, Team Twin-Snail isn’t living up to their team name this time. But… They are going to drive the hell out of this car.
Things Fixed since we got the car:
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Cylinder 5 misfire.
Luke’s Note: I thought it was cylinder 4 when we ‘bought’ it, but turns out it was 5. Turned out to be insufficient spark due to damaged wiring. Simple fix was to replace the spark plug wires, but I went out of my way to replace the coil packs just to be safe. -
Lifter Tick.
Amy’s Note: These old Minerva’s are all the same. Typical cheap DOHC design with oil squirters that clog up the first time someone fails to change the oil on time. Just replaced the squirters with some from the parts bin. They’re not perfect, but they’ll work. Surprisingly uses similar squirters to our old AluStar V6. -
Broken Radio.
Scott’s Note: Had to replace a bunch of exploded capacitors in here. Really hoping they weren’t the same kind used in the ECU or we’re likely to have ‘fun’ and I don’t mean the good kind. Also, there was a mangled tape in the cassette deck, and I had to pull the radio apart again after Luke lost a blank ‘testing’ cassette to it. -
Horn Non-Functional.
Luke’s Note: Air horn installed. Should be a nice ‘surprise’ for anyone we happen to pass. Or when they pass us.
Known Issues:
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Passenger side rear door just doesn’t open.
Scott’s Note: Not anymore! We got it open. -
New problem: Passenger side door won’t close. Latch jammed.
Luke’s Note: Latch oiled. Door closes, and opens, just fine now. -
Car reeks of cigarette smoke.
Linda’s Note: I’ll bring air fresheners! -
Check Engine light is on.
*Occasional hesitation under acceleration.
Annoyances:
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No sunroof.
Scott’s Note: I could put one in, but the team’s forbidden me from playing around with the angle grinder. Something about ‘structural integrity’ and ‘roof leaks’. -
AM/FM/Cassette/CD radio does work. It will, however, eat any cassette that’s played in it.
Linda’s Note: Well, we could just use one of those fancy cassette adapter things again. -
Low power.
Amy’s Note: Yeah, the old V6 isn’t particularly powerful. About 200-ish horsepower. I wanted to turbocharge it, but Luke wouldn’t let me take the turbo off of the Rally Knight.
Luke’s Note: Because 40 PSI of boost is so good for reliability in a car with 152,000 miles on it?