I've done something stupid...

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Permalink Reply by Ian Pellant on July 31, 2009 at 4:12am

Go to an auto accesories shop and look ask for a device to recover hard to get bits... I bought one years ago... but can't remember what they called it.

What it is is a cable pull device. It has a press knob on the top which opens a set of claws on the bottom of a semi rigid outer. Stick it down the gap, press the knob, the claws open, place over the object to be retrieved, release knob and pull it out.

A pic is worth a thousand words... see attached.

Attachments:

• IMG_0212.jpg, 68 KB

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Permalink Reply by Lynn on August 1, 2009 at 8:51am

thanks! will go hunt one down, looks handy to keep in the boot of the car

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Permalink Reply by SATO on July 31, 2009 at 9:03am

Your issue here lies in that the pen and chopstick could be resting on the muffler.. When that gets hot, and it will if you go anywhere with the smart, the pen will melt and the chopstick could ignite. Neither of those issues is good for your car. it wont damage anything other than coating your mufflers "can" with stinky melted plastic and a overcooked bamboo stick.

I would have someone drive you in ANOTHER car to a Pep boys or even a SEARS and get the previously mentioned extracting tool.. but I would go further and buy a little mirror, unless you have one, to guide your "claws" to the objects to retrieve.

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Permalink Reply by 451 Kahn on July 31, 2009 at 9:02pm

use water spray in the vents. Might flush out everything.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Forrest on July 31, 2009 at 10:15pm

As long as the engine is cold you could lie down and reach up to see if you can get the pen and chopstick.

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Permalink Reply by Lynn on August 1, 2009 at 8:49am

thanks! we got the pen back! We went under car and found it was stuck between the bumper and the metal scoop under the car. The chopstick is still at large. We put our hand through all the bits that could while under the car but nary a chopstick. However I will go look for the hard to get bits grabby thing. Thanks so much everyone! Yay! Now onto fighting the window tinters for doing a crap job and slicing off bits of my window rubber seal, any other way to repair cuts to the rubber seals of the windows other than replacing the entire strip?

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Permalink Reply by Brabus007 on August 1, 2009 at 11:38am

Your right, they Butched your Car... MAKE THEM REPLACE The Parts...YUP
Oh, and Fire the Moron that did it...YUP

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Permalink Reply by Ian Pellant on August 1, 2009 at 7:28pm

Hate to pun the title of this thread... but doing something stupid would have been paying the Tint Butchers for the hack they did. And to MAKE THEM REPLACE the parts... well... I wouldn't let THEM lay another hand on the car. Get them to pay a competent body shop / smart center for the replacement. Report them to Consumer Affairs if all else fails.

Wish you luck that the tint doesn't bubble and peel too.

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Permalink Reply by Lynn on August 1, 2009 at 7:44pm

oh don't worry about that, I haven't paid them yet and definitely don't intend on paying them, we've documented the photos and sent them off the the tint butchers and said we are going to get an independent workshop (ie. MY workshop of choice) to quote us the cost of replacing the seals and I will be sending them the invoice, I don't know what's going to happen now. We'll go to court if all else fails

My poor baby is only 5 weeks old!!! Thank god the guy that did it somehow didn't damage the cabrio roof or window!! They nicked the plastic frame btw the big window and the triangular window too.....Anyone know the cost of replacing the rubber seals? Anyone ever gotten that fixed?

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Permalink Reply by Lynn on August 3, 2009 at 12:52am

Just went to the workshop today for the mercedes people to look at the cuts, quote just came back at NZ $660!! because they have to replace the whole side light (ie. triangular window) and not just the rubber seals. Is it not possible just to replace the seals alone?

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Permalink Reply by Ian Pellant on August 3, 2009 at 1:41am

It looks as if the seals are bonded to the rear glass... probably appears as an assembly and not individual parts. (?) It also looks as if the door panels need to be removed to do the job, so workshop labour could be at least 2 hours (?).

I hadn't spotted the RHD... Australia is a small smart market; NZ even smaller. Our parts usually have to be imported to customer order. Delivery rates add a lot to small orders brought in by air. Singapore is a common source for smart parts in our region.

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Permalink Reply by Lynn on August 3, 2009 at 7:58am

sounds about right, that's what the people at the workshop said. Wouldn't it be nice to be in the uk where all the parts were readily available!

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