Long Term Maintenance

[Flying Phil]

This forum has been a great resource for me over the years. For those of us who will be holding on to our Atom's for a while, I was wondering if an unofficial long term maintenance schedule could be posted to give the girls and guys an idea for replacement/rebuild intervals. How long do the bearings last? Transaxle? Roller bearings, etc.?, how long do the linkages/seats/steering assembly last?
I realise a lot has to do with how the car is used, but it would certainly give people a heads up to plan for any significant work, based on the experience of those who have gone before.

[hamtt]

Good idea. Would be good to have a "reference book" pooling everyones knowledge and tricks'n'tips and procedures for basic maintenance. There's always something you can learn form others and that's what one of the benefits of a club community should be.

[Bruce Fielding]

[quote="Flying Phil"]
I realise a lot has to do with how the car is used...
[/quote]

There's your issue, right there...

Some people drive aggressively, some don't. Some do track days, some do European tours, some do showing off, some do shopping, some do all of the above.

I'm not sure you could time these things so that's probably a non-starter

However, a how to 'Haynes-style' guide would be useful.

[Flying Phil]

Maybe contributors, when posting a maintenance event, could include a use rating. Five stars for track only (slick tires), four for road use mostly to and from track, three for road use with 2-3 track days per year, two for road use with occasional track day or 'hooning', and one for 'little old lady driven only on sunny Sunday's'.
If I'm a two star driver, it would be nice to have an idea if I should replace the wheel bearings before or after a 2000 Km European tour, relative to my current mileage. The more reliable the car, the more  often the cars will be used. Completely unscientific, granted, but perhaps a start in the right direction compared to what I've found so far.

[FlyingTrotter]

Evening fellow Flying atomchappie - do you have the chocolate wheel bearings or the uprated ? I have been through 6 of the chocolate versions but the uprated ones are still going well

[Flying Phil]

I don't actually know! I'm chassis #3 from TMI Autotech in Virginia...a bit of a hybrid as the chassis is from Somerset, but various other components are from the U.S.. How would I know the difference between the 'chocolate' and uprated? I might need to make a phone call to find where the parts are from. What are the indications of a failing bearing? I have some grease that is working it's way out. Where are you getting the 'uprated' parts from?

[John Scherrer]

Phil - Take a look at this link re: the uprated wheel bearings?

http://www.atomclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,12218.msg228186.html#msg228186