Classic Jalopy Blog

450SLC gets a new blower 1

450SLC gets a new blower

I’ve had issues with the blower on the 450SLC for a few years now.   I would get all sorts of noise and irregular operation from it.     Unlike in some models, the blower is actually pretty easy to get to in the 450SLC, but the problem was new blowers were very expensive (I was seeing them for over $1,200) and used units...

Citroen DS rear interior lights 2

Citroen DS rear interior lights

The Citroen DS Comfort (non Pallas) has four interior lights.  Two on the inside of the B pillar and two on the inside of the C pillar.   The DS Pallas has two lights on the B pillar, but upgraded ones from the regular DS.  The ID Models (and D Special, D Super) have the same B pillar lights but not the rear ones....

Autoworld Brussels 0

Autoworld Brussels

The last museum I visited while in Europe was Autoworld Brussels.    It is a large museum right in the middle of Brussels and has a large collection of interesting cars, including former royal cars of the Belgian royal family. It was a very nice museum, although not as good as the Louwman Museum.  If you’re in Brussels it is worth a visit.   ...

The Louwman Museum 2

The Louwman Museum

During my recent trip to Europe, I went to the Louwman Museum, in The Hague, Netherlands.     I cannot recommend this museum highly enough.   It is superb.     The collection is excellent, it is well laid out, and has good descriptions in English.  I’ve included the descriptions in the photo gallery below. Some highlights: Rare and interesting cars from before 1900...

The E-Type gets a new set of balls 0

The E-Type gets a new set of balls

The E-Type went in for a service this week, and came out with a new set of ball joints for the front suspension.   It will also need new front wishbones at some point as a number of shims were needed to get it all put together right, so I’ll keep an eye out for a good deal on those.    Next time I’ll...

2013 Volvo V40 D2 Review 0

2013 Volvo V40 D2 Review

After spending two weeks with a Volvo V40 and covering over 3,100 km, I felt like I well and truly knew what this car would be like to own. The Volvo V40 was owned by Hertz, and I rented it from Oslo, Norway to Brussels, Belgium.   Hertz were the only company I could find willing to do this rental. Overall the car is...

Troubleshooting the Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS 3

Troubleshooting the Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS

The Retrosound Model 2 is finally working in the Citroen DS, and working well! The issue if you recall was that the unit would reboot any time I turned up the volume, used the bluetooth, etc.     I had wired up the radio to the accessory point behind the dashboard, however on closer examination of the DS manuals, this is rated 10A and...

2013 ACT German car show 2

2013 ACT German car show

I was in Canberra this weekend, so I went along to see the annual German car show (organized by the various ACT clubs including the Mercedes Benz Club ACT), which was held in the carpark near the treasury building.   it is normally held on the lawn in front of the lake but poor weather forced the change.   Poor weather was also most...

The Volvo Museum 1

The Volvo Museum

While I was in Sweden, I stopped by the Volvo Museum in Gothenberg.   Seemed fitting since I was driving a rental Volvo! I’ve always been a fan of the P1800 Coupe, which was good to see one in there with some interesting extras we don’t see here including headrests, a fan for the rear passengers etc.   There was also a prototype of...

A visit to Citro Classique / Citro Toon 1

A visit to Citro Classique / Citro Toon

While I was in Europe, I stopped off at Citro Classique (also known as Citro Toon) in Borculo, about an hour outside Amsterdam.   My idea was to make good use of the 60kg of luggage space I had available to me for my return flight to Australia and the use of a rental car to pick up a few things and save the...

Ribe classic 0

Ribe classic

I visited Ribe, yesterday, the oldest city in Denmark.     It just so happened that Ribe is the home of a weekly grassroots car show (each Tuesday night, 6-9pm).    While my main purpose in Ribe was to see the old town and some of the tourist attractions, it was a lucky coincidence that this show was on, I decided to stop buy...

Rebooting Retrosound 0

Rebooting Retrosound

While I had completed the Retrosound Model 2 install in the Citroen DS a while ago, the radio was rebooting, at times when it appeared that it was trying to draw a lot of power.   (e.g. higher volumes). I had connected it to the accessory point behind the dash, however I don’t think it was getting enough current. Therefore, I have now removed...

SLC Heater trims 0

SLC Heater trims

The plastic trims around the heater controls in the SLC have been broken since I got the car.   I noticed when buying another part that new trims were available and they were a reasonable price.   So I purchased them – although it turns out the right hand one was out of stock so I got a refund on it. Still, replacing only...

Shannons Eastern Creek car show 2013 2

Shannons Eastern Creek car show 2013

Today was the annual car show at eastern creek, organized by the car clubs and sponsored by Shannons.  It is one of the better shows of he year to go to as you see a great range of cars, and entrants get a parade lap around eastern creek raceway.   It’s worth taking your own food as you wouldn’t serve the overpriced crap they...

The DS can now take its own temperature 1

The DS can now take its own temperature

Ever since I bought the DS I had wanted to have a working temperature gauge.  DS Temperature gauges are quite rare – only sold as standard in cold climates and on some high end models.   My car had received a replacement instrument cluster some time in the past, but since the car was not sold with the gauge, the wiring was not present....

Polishing day 1

Polishing day

Today spend more time working on the paintwork of the DS.   I finished wet-sanding the car, and the lower panels have all been polished with both stage 1 and stage 2 of the Auto Glym Paint Pro I have been using. Overall the car is looking much better.  Despite going through the paint in a few places where it was very bubbly, there...

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