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Old 26th May 2019, 22:43   #271
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

On Wednesday my friends started heading home. As I had the rest of the week of work, I decided to spend a couple more days touring, just my spider, my camera and me.


I planned a cross country route all the way through the Vosges to Mulhouse. It would take me across some stunning scenery. These little windy roads across mountains are known as Colle or Ballons

The first couple of hundred kilometer mostly rolling hills.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4923.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4924.jpg

But after a while, I reached the Vosges.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4926.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4928.jpg

This images is taken on of the highest points in the Vosges. I have come across the particular “Ballon” about 5-6 times in the last twenty years. Always with spanner mate Peter and in our two Spiders. This time just by myself. The weather up here can be atrocious. It was quite decent this time, but last time Peter and I drove here we had fog so thick you could not even see the front of your car.

I eventually made my way to Mulhouse. I had hoped to find a hotel or B&B still in the Vosges, but everything was still closed. To early in the season I take. So I made my way to Mulhouse, found a B&B, had a nice dinner, walked around the old town a bit and went to bed early. The next day breakfast at 0600am and I hit the road by 06.30. Long route ahead. I went cross country till about 13.00 hours, stopping for an occasional cup of coffee. By 13.00 hours I was about 50 km south of Luxembourg. From there I took the motorway all the way home. I got home around 1800 on the Thursday evening.

Ini the end I drove just over 2000km in 6 days. Most of that in the last two days. Love these road trips. I prefer to have some mates along, but I am perfectly happy doing endless driving by myself on these sort of country roads.

Friday I spend with a very different pursuit. A few month ago I did a course in astro navigation. That was two days of theory. This Friday was for practice. The instructor took us on his yacht on the IJsselmeer.

My first sextant shot got me a position line within 1 mile of our GPS position. Not bad!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4935.jpg

This Sunday first order of the day, sort out the Spider. After 200o kilometre of hard driving on dusty country roads time for some proper cleaning:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4942.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4943.jpg

With the Spider and the Mercedes out of the garage I also mopped the floor with degreaser.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4945.jpg

And of course, (my wife is away abroad), used my wife’s washing machine to clean my rags.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260028.jpg

I also took my W123 to a nearby oldtimer event. About 45 km from our home. Planned a nice scenic route that took almost two hours and took me across three rivers in three pontjes (ferries). Waiting for your ferry is a very Dutch and very relaxing way to spend some time. And there are always people that will come and talk to you about your car.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4952.jpg

This event is promoted as a Youngtimer Event. There is no real formal definition of what makes a car a yountimer. By and large, it tends to be cars between 15-25 years old. But as you will see, there was quite a selection. This place is sort of commercial museum. All the cars inside the building are for sale. And the venue is used for all sorts of car events.

A selection of some images that will show the variety of cars present:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260001.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260002.jpg

Rotary engine bay:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260004.jpg

Remember these Volvo’s? Quite advanced at its time. Plagued with electronic troubles though. Fancy dashboard, but lots of problems

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260005.jpg

We had one of these little VW Polo’s. But for some reason it always misted up terribly.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260009.jpg

Of course, some Italian hardware

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260011.jpg

And the little Japanese were out in force too

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260012.jpg

There are always some market stalls, selling all kinds of automative stuff. This one does not need any introduction on a car forum I guess.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260018.jpg

Couple of images from inside the museum/ shop

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260021.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260025.jpg

I bought some stuff for my leather seats. I always applied Connoly once a year to the seats of the Spider. But that had run out. So this was a good replacement

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260027.jpg

When we bought the Spider, the seats were beige leather. Original, but we did not like it. My wife told me to get them replaced right away. So I took them to a little leather upholstery shop and got the re-upholstered with black leather. So far they still look great!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260029.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260030.jpg

The jacket around the gear shift as well as the one around the handbrake get a good dollip of this stuff too.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260031.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260032.jpg

I had also noticed some of the trim on the W123 coming loose.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260033.jpg

These things are best seen to immediately before it gets worse. Got some of my special little tools out. These will allow me to push the material back in behind the trim.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260035.jpg

I always use this glue for these jobs

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260036.jpg

Apply the glue of both surfaces, let it dry for five minutes and then press the two together.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260037.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p5260040.jpg

Looks good, I am very pleased with it.

So Spider is all clean and polished. No problems at all. In fact this year none of the Spiders gave us any problem. One of the 916s needed a new bulb in its headlight, but that is all.

W123 still driving really well, although I am not entirely happen with the ignition. Might have a go at it next weekend

Jeroen
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Old 27th May 2019, 13:18   #272
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

I just received an app from Joost, the guy who is restoring the seats of the Jaguar. He has replaced some of the damaged leather. Still some spaying to be done. Hopefully I will get them back this weekend.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-photo201905220933151.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-photo20190522093315.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-photo201905220933161.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-photo20190522093316.jpg

On our trip to France, one thing I forgot to mention. France has replaced all Euro 95 E5 to E10. For most cars not a problem, but for older cars definitely a problem.

These high ethanol contents will ruin your fuel system. Clubs are reporting some serious damage, ranging from fuel tanks, to carburators, fuel injectors, pumps and of course all old tubes/hoses.

Of course, the E5 had already ethanol in it, but that rarely causes any problem. But with E10 it is a real issue. There are some additives that you can add to counter the effect of the high ethanol content.

The easiest is to just put Super (98) in your tank. In France at least that will be no ethanol at all. A little bit more expensive than Euro 95, but a lot of ease of mind!

The higher ethanol content is causing not just the damage as described above. But lately more classic cars have caught fire than in previous years. Most likely due to fuel lines (often overlooked) not being ethanol proof and simply disintegrating with all the problems and possible fire hazards associated with it.

I still need to double check the fuel lines on my Spider and the W123. I know I replaced them many years ago. But even with no or low ethanol it makes sense to renew them every 15-20 years at least.


Jeroen
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Old 27th May 2019, 14:20   #273
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Hi Jeroen,
I believe the Jag has airbags in the seats.
Are there any special precautions to keep in mind, while working with seats with airbags. How do you keep them deactivated without deploying, especially when re-upholstering them?
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Old 27th May 2019, 15:45   #274
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Quote:
Originally Posted by jeeva View Post
I believe the Jag has airbags in the seats.
Are there any special precautions to keep in mind, while working with seats with airbags. How do you keep them deactivated without deploying, especially when re-upholstering them?
Correct. The de-installation procedure of Jaguar mentions this specifically. But it is no more than to disconnect the battery and wait for at least one minute.

I do not know if there are precautions during the re-upholstering. I am no expert on airbags, but I assume without power, they are safe. I will ask Joost when he brings them back.

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Old 29th May 2019, 00:20   #275
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Tonight some proper fiddling in my garage for a few hours.

I had noticed that my Digital Radio receiver I had installed earlier was not receiving all stations anymore. (See some earlier posts)

Fiddled around with my makeshift antenna. After various experiments I found the reception greatly improved by hanging it upside down!

No idea why, I will check with some of our antenna guru’s at work.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4958.jpg

Next I had noticed there was one spanner, size 11 missing from one of my (many) sets of spanners. Extremely annoying. I am very careful with all my tools. I always put everything away very carefully, clean, count etc. But this one is missing

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4959.jpg

So I checked all my cupboards and all three onboard toolsets of my three cars. Here some of it laid out. Nobody can work in my garage as they would not be able to find anything. I have a meticolous system of where I keep every tool, but it is very much in my head. And a lot of my tools are in the toolsets inside the cars. I do not have one central place / board where I keep everything. My system, works for me!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4964.jpg

All to no avail. This one ring/ratchet spanner is missing. I will need to get a replacement.

On the matter of tools/spanners, if you ever come across this type of spanner, pass, completely useless. It is supposed to better grip both metric and imperial, but in practice doesn’t do a particular good job at either.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4960.jpg

As I was checking my various spanner sets I noticed something, I have a very nice set of tools in my Jaguar. Bought them all in the USA. I thought they were all US made too, what with this imprinted on it

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4962.jpg

However, I never noticed the other side:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4963.jpg

Still, it is a good spanner set. Looks good and works well. Which means it fits properly and doesn’t bend or damage the nut/bolts you work on.

Also came across this fuse. Not sure if I had shown this one before? I can’t quite remember where it is from. But I do remember an article in a magazine warning about cheap fuses. They won’t melt, or at least the metal bit does not, only the plastic bit! If you’re lucky the fuse will drop out of the fuse holder, but it is the metal bit that should melt, not the plastic obviously!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4966.jpg

Tonight I also received a nice email from the chief editor of the Dutch version of Octane, one of my favourite car magazines. Every year there is this huge Concours d’elegance. These days well known in international classic car circles. This year for the first time it will be held at Paleis Soestdijk (The former palace of the former Queen Juliana of the Netherlands).

Octane, for the first time, will be organising/hosting a national concours along side the main Concour d'eElegance.
The idea is to have fifty cars in five classes, pre-1985, produced in big numbers and still affordable. I had enrolled my W123 earlier and Ton mailed me to confirm my car is admitted to participate. Quite looking forward to this. It gets me into the official Concours d’elegance as well and our cars will be lined up next to the other participants.

So that will require some serious detailing in the months to come. Would be nice to win something!

Last weekend of August, so hopefully good weather. Last year the weather was atrocious, you never know in the Netherlands of course.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4970.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4968.jpg

I think it is a good idea to bring some more “regular, affordable” cars to these high end Classic Cars events. It’s all very well looking at cars worth millions, but lots of people just enjoy seeing car they remember from their youth, their own first car, or the car your dad bought. I know I do enjoy seeing some more regular down to earth cars.

Jeroen

Last edited by Jeroen : 29th May 2019 at 00:27.
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Old 29th May 2019, 00:57   #276
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

In my quest for finding my mini-mill, possible a lath I came across this video:



Feeling extremely amateurish!

Jeroen
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Old 29th May 2019, 01:08   #277
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Just came across this cool video of last year Concours d’elegance. Looking forward to participate in my W123!

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Old 30th May 2019, 17:22   #278
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Today is ascension day and that is in my home country an official holiday. So no work today (well only a few calls scattered through the day)

Whereas this is a religious holiday it is also a day at which loads of various events are held all over the country. Many cities/villages will have what we call jaarmarkt (year-market), antique fairs, classic car rallies, we have a huge vintage tugboat event nearby.

My wife and I went to visit one of the local flea-markets in nearby Gorinchem. We often go and see these sort of events. In this case about 500 market stalls selling anything from antiques, brocante to junk and anything in between. Very pleasant to browse around a bit. I am always on the look out for new signs for my garage, tools and the odd additional for some of my small collections (e.g. miniature cars/planes/slide rules/electrical measuring instruments.

I found this megger for Euro 5, which is only marginal more expensive then a cup of coffee.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4974.jpg

It was made by NIEAF, the Nederlandse Instrumenten en Elekrische Apparaten Fabriek. (Dutch instrument and electrical apparatus Factory) Started early 1900, nowadays part of Mors Smitt and still in the same business

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4975.jpg

I am always on the lookout for these old electrical measuring instruments, but I have never come across one of these. On this flea market I came across three!

As a merchant engineer early on in my career, I made use of these hand cranked Meggers extensively.

A Megger allows you to check the insulation resistance of electrical circuits. All ships suffer from earthing problem. Usually from either electrical wire chaffing and wire touching metal, or from sea (salt) water ingress. Apart from operational problem it can also be a huge safety issue. So you need to be able to quickly and safely trouble shoot these things. That’s where the Megger comes in:

For some more elaborate explanation about Meggers have a look here:

https://www.marineinsight.com/marine...ger-explained/
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Old 31st May 2019, 11:56   #279
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Last night I spend a couple of hours happily fiddling in my garage. First order of business was to do a proper inspection of my Megger: Which means opening it up of course. Not difficult, the casing is made of wood and the top and bottom are held in place with wood screws.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4976.jpg

Cleaned out everything. The gearing of the cranking mechanism was running too heavy, so I paid special attention to that. Properly cleaned, I used a tiny bit of light oil on it. Same oil I used on my modeltrains.

I tried it: Crank it with nothing attached the needle shows infinite. Crank it with the two connectors short circuited and the needles shows zero. Good enough for me!

Looks good on my “electrical measuring instrument shelve”:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4988.jpg

Next I had another go at my Oscilloscope. As you might recall I bought it last year at the big event at Beaulieu, UK. When I got it home it did work. Earlier this year we had friends staying with us. Cees was supposed to give me a course in using it. I havent used an oscilloscope for 4 decades. But when he tried it, the horizontal sweep wasn’t working anymore.

So again, first order of business: open it up. Real easy on this one. The carrying handle is bolted down with two large bolts. Take those of and both sides can be taken away for closer inspection.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4978.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4979.jpg

At first glance I did not see anything unusual, other than this rubber band, Broken so I pulled it out:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4980.jpg

I am not sure what purpose it served. Obviously, not Factory fitted.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how clean it was inside. Hardly and dust.

Next I went for a meticulously inspection of each and every component and wiring and connection/soldering. Which means looking at it very closely, (using a magnifying glass) and gently tugging at everything. So far so good.

Next, with the side panels removed I powered it up. You need to be a bit careful for the next part, as there are some high voltage bit in this thing. After about 15 minutes carefully check the various components, see if anything is running hot, especially the big capacitors. Again, everything appeared to be fine.

Next, I concentrated on the various mechanical parts, the various switches. There are a lot of them and also some mechanical linkages. Some of these knobs turn multiple switches internally.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4987.jpg

I gave all switches a dose of contact cleaner. Let it dry, turned them multiple times.


Horizontal sweep restored. I am also pretty convinced I know exactly which switch was causing the problem. So good to know for next time if I experience any problems. I checked the vertical read out by measuring a few different voltage of batteries. Seems quite ok. Over the weekend I will hook it up to some AC sources, see if I get a decent reading.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4983.jpg

Very pleased with finding the problem. Again, it just proves that what I have been saying for years is very true. Electronic components break down rarely. Although we often think of electronic problem in modern cars and or appliance, 9 out of 10 time, it is something simple. I.e. a mechanical problem, a bad connection, a broken wire. Simple, but sometimes difficult to trouble shoot. Takes patience, a bit of experience and some luck!

Just as I was revelling in my “two jobs well done”, my wife walked into my garage holding a pair of my cuff links. She has been away for a fortnight which means I look after everything myself. Including some stuff she usually does. Like the laundry. Seems I put one of my shirts through the washing machine with the cuff links still attached. These days few shirts come with cuff link options. But I am an old git and I like cuff links, so I still have a cupboard full of shirts that will do cuff links.

I am particularly attached to this pair. My wife bought them for me, while in India at some fair. They were not at all expensive, but I think they are ever so cool!

So, third fiddly job of the day; fixing the rust on my cuff links. Just sprayed some rustbuster oil on it. Lightly brushed it and then soaked them in light penetrating oil. I will leave them to drain overnight and they should be good to go!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4995.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_4993.jpg

Last edited by Jeroen : 31st May 2019 at 11:58.
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Old 2nd June 2019, 20:21   #280
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Yesterday I discovered some rust on the Jaguar. First rust I have had on this car ever. So very annoyed about it. It’s right in the left and right bottom corner of the rear window. So I scrapped away the paint, polished it a bit with the help of my Dremel and I am in the process of applying three layers of rust proofing. Next I will have to take my touch-up stift to it. Not ideal, but both spots are 90% covered by the window rubber, so it will not show too badly.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5023.jpg

This has been a gorgeous weekend with temperatures of 25-30oC. So my wife and I have been touring around in the Spider. Plenty of Pontjes as we cross the many rivers here in our region

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5016.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5017.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5018.jpg

I have also decided to get the engine bay of all three cars properly cleaned with so called dry-ice blasting. For the last year or so I have been looking into it. Spoke to several companies at car shows. Got o a couple of quotes and agreed a price and a date with one. Not till middle of July, but still well in time before the W123 goes to the Concours!

Jeroen

Last edited by Jeroen : 2nd June 2019 at 20:26.
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Old 8th June 2019, 00:09   #281
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

A few weeks ago I came across a guy on Facebook who was selling interesting posters. So I bought one and it arrived today.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070002.jpg

Really neat. Now, to be totally truthful, my W123 is a later model than the one depicted here. Still, it is a nice poster. I got myself a very simple frame and hung it straight away.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070006.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070014.jpg

During one of my recent drives with my W123 I noticed that the storage compartment on the driver door card had come loose again. If you go back into this thread you will find I fixed this some 1,5 years ago.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070004.jpg

So off comes the doorcard once more. I have raved many times about the incredible level of engineering that went into the W123. And it shows in these doorcards. I know of no other car where it is so easy to take them off and put them back on again. Without breaking anything, or little clips shooting away and piercing you in the eye. True German engineering at its best.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070005.jpg

Here is what the back of the doorcard should look like and how the storage compartment is held in place.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070009.jpg

This was the problem. The makeshift repair had come undone. Looks like the screw I used, just pulled out of the plastic.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070008.jpg

Took my dremel to it, to grind down all the bits properly

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070010.jpg

Found myself a larger screw, larger rings and drilled a slightly larger, but certainly deeper hole

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070011.jpg

Let us see how long this one will last

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070012.jpg

Five minutes later, everything back together again

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070013.jpg


The next job on the W123 has already announced itself. I just noticed that the rubber on the drivers window is in really poor state. So I need to find a new rubber.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6070003.jpg

Tomorrow Joost is bringing the seats of the Jaguar. And he will fix the Spider dashboard. Looking forward to that!

I am not very successful in my quest of finding a nice mini drill. I have spoken to quite a few folks and I have come to the conclusion that what I want/need would still cost quite a lot. So buying new is out of the question, I will keep an eye on the second hand market. Sees what comes up.

I might get myself a nice column drill anyway as those are always handy and do not cost that much either.

Jeroen
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Old 8th June 2019, 21:32   #282
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Early this Saturday morning Joost arrived with my two Jaguar seats!

Easy job, with the two of us putting them back into the Jaguar:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6080001.jpg

These are fully electrical seats. In order to remove them, they have to be put in a very upright position. Which also meant that Joost could not fully paint them. so he finished the job with the seat back into the Jaguar and properly wired up, so we could decline them;

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6080002.jpg

It was interesting to see how Joost did these final touches. First he uses a sponge to rub some paint on the leather. Two very thin layers. And then he uses an airbrush to put another 5-6 very thin layers on. So it takes quite a while, as you need to wait a bit in between the layers.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6080005.jpg

A very familiar brand of compressor!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6080006.jpg

Joost uses this spray gun and a a fohn (heat gun):

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6080014.jpg

He put up some nice images on his Facebook page:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-a87a72c847274246956d487eb20b9cc2.jpg

He also had a go at the top of the Dashboard in the Spider. Did a remarkable job on it too. He uses a special heat gun and then presses ever so gently on it with this special patch. Essentially plying it back into shape and closing up any gaps.

Quite remarkable.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6080009.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6080016.jpg

i will leave the Jaguar to dry/air out overnight. First thing tomorrow morning I still need to bolt the seat properly. We just put them in and hooked up the electrics to get going.

On one of my earlier post the question was raised if you need to take any special precaution whilst working on seat with air bags. The short answer is no; once the power is disconnected and you have waited a minute, it is perfectly safe. Joost did tell me that they use different thread for stitching the parts of the seat that cover up the airbag. As they deploy, the stitches need to accommodate that easily of course.

All in all, very pleased with me newly upholstered seats and also the dashboard of the Spider.

I am already ordering some parts for the W123 I mentioned earlier.

Jeroen
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Old 8th June 2019, 21:56   #283
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

I also managed to get my Oscilloscope going on AC voltages. I used the internal calibration, once I had figured out how!


So the good news is that it is working. But there are some problems too. The voltage reading whilst on DC was OK, it was a little less convincing on AC, but not too bad. The real problem: the frequency readings are way off, on both channels.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-2ddb26deb4bf46efa53011c05b2c6c26.jpeg
Also the triggering on either channel does not really work that well. I can not get a stable image. I have been watching hours of Youtube instructions. There is quite an amazing collection of tutorials on Oscilloscopes!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5004.jpg

So either I find myself a proper function generator and lab power unit, or I find somebody who has them. The manual has a detailled procedure on how to calibrate. But I have this feeling this thing might need a bit more than just calibrating. Oh well, just some more hours of fiddling. Not a bad way to be dealing with electronics.

Jeroen

Last edited by Jeroen : 8th June 2019 at 22:00.
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Old 8th June 2019, 22:05   #284
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

How nice to see Joost's work. Isn't it good, watching someone with specialist skills at work!





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Old 9th June 2019, 11:47   #285
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
Isn't it good, watching someone with specialist skills at work!
.
It is, very professional guy, really nice and he likes to explain, when asked, what he is doing. So I did pick up quite some good points.

It also becomes apparent why the same job might cost differently at two different companies. If you just spray on the paint, or does it the way Joost does it, there is going to be a substantial difference in amount of time spend. He’s quite the find and he knows a lot of people, so always useful to know people who have a good network in the classic car world.

Jeroen
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