Recently during a night drive I discovered my Citroen DS instrument cluster lighting had failed. In Sydney, where I live, this is a huge problem as the city is bristling with speed cameras. So many that I could lose my entire licence in about 10 minutes driving near my house doing only 10 km/h over the speed limit. I regularly drive...
I went to preview the 2020 Shannons Sydney Summer Auction today. If you had a budget of about $20-$35,000 AUD, there are a lot of interesting cars to choose from. Shannons do a pretty good job of finding a good variety of cars for each of their auctions – both in price range and types of car. They are a bit more...
I attended the monthly Auto Brunch event in St. Ives Showground today. This time I took my DS. It was pretty dusty from all the smoke in Sydney, but still got a lot of attention. Even though I have been four times, there can still be a lot of variety and different cars I have not seen before. This month there was...
It is almost a year since I installed the Hero Hoists side by side parker. overall, I have been very happy with this hoist. It has freed up some space to work in my garage, without having to sacrifice some of the rent paying cars I store in there. I’ve had no problems with it. It is a tight fit in my garage,...
Today I changed the Distributor cap and rotor in my 1986 300SE. I bought the new cap and rotor about two years ago but only just got around to changing it. Unlike on the earlier engines, the M103 distributor cap is a fiddly job. Instead of sticking upwards, it comes out sideways as it attaches to the camshaft. I find that whenever I buy...
Today I did an engine and transmission oil change on the 300SE. I don’t normally post basic maintenance to this website as it really isn’t that interesting. In this case, I used to tips I learned form MercedesSource videos that really sped up the job. MercedesSource are an online parts vendor, who also make some useful special tools. The owner, Kent, runs a...
In part 2, I had been struggling with my new SLC rear Calipers. As outlined in that section, the new calipers I had on hand are for models not equipped with the anti-squat rear suspension. This was because USA models were not so equipped. The hard lines were too short to fit properly and fouled on the suspension bump stops. I dropped the...
My old Rover P5 Coupe parts car is almost completely dismantled. It is being parted out to aid in the restoration of three other coupes. These coupes are in much better condition but needed certain parts to return to the road. Last I saw the car there were still key parts on it, but all that is left is the engine and transmission....
I recently stopped by the workshop where a friend of mine is restoring three Rover P5 Coupes. Over the last couple of months there has been quite a lot of activity, although that is somewhat hard to see from the photos. Rover P5 restoration is quite time consuming – they are not simple cars. The photos from my visit in April are available...
A couple of weeks ago I started investigating the dragging brakes on my SLC. I found both of my rear calipers had been overheated and were in poor condition. I ordered a set of rear calipers, and decided to change the rotors too. Mine were still in spec, but on the lower end. The hoses I had purchased last time were also not...
When purchased, my 560SEC did not have working climate control. Not only did the A/C not work, but the heater had a mind of its own, occasionally bursting in to life and turning on full heat. Curiously for a car that has been in Australia since the early 2000s, the car had not been converted to R134A. My first step was to see if...
Today I attended a Citroen Car club tech day. Since most Citroens are equipped with hydropneumatic suspension, the club has equipment to pressure test spheres. It has been five years since I tested my spheres, so they were well overdue. The sphere pressure check equipment consists of a hand pump and pressure gauge. The club is also equipped with re-gassing facilities, although those were...
I discovered at the MBCNSW Dyno day that my 560SEC was running dangerously lean. Lean enough to cause damage to the engine. While I was in the USA for work, I went to the Mid Florida Auto show. I met Pierre Hedary there (who runs an independent Mercedes workshop), who suggested that I should start by testing my fuel pressures and that he had...
A couple of weeks ago, while I was in the USA I attended the Mid Florida Auto Show and Lake Mirror Concours. This posting is a few weeks old, as I didn’t have the cable for my camera to transfer the photos. I was in Orlando for work, and Lakeland is about an hour or two away. The Mid Florida Auto show...
This weekend I planned to drive down to Canberra for the MB Spares and Service clearance sale. Originally I was going to do a Saturday day trip, but I noticed that the Marques in the park show was running the next day. From what I read this is a fairly large, but still informal show, with normally a few hundred cars in attendance. I...
Today I traveled down to Canberra for the MB Spares and Service used parts clearance sale. I managed to score a few bargains that will hopefully come in handy in years to come. MB Spares and Service closed down the spares side of their business a couple of years back to focus on the service and restoration. The spares business catered for both...
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