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Old 16th June 2019, 00:51   #286
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

My quest for a mini-mill has come to a successful end! About a week ago I got in touch, through the internet, with a gentleman who did not live toofar away from me. He invited me to come over to his workshop. This guy is what I would call a true master modeller. He makes all kinds of models from mostly metal. Eg. steam engines, trains, locomotives, that sort of thing. All from drawings, he machines just about everything himself and as you can imagine he had a very impressive array of various machines in his shop. He is a retired investment banker, who after retirement, wanted to work with his hands. And boy does he! All self taught.

He talked me through various brands and models of mini mills. After talking through my thoughts and requirements he suggested to have a serious look at the Proxxon range. He had several of their little machines. He gave me a couple of addresses and of I went. Long story short; I got myself a Proxxon FF230.

Good as new. I really like it. It is a relative small machine. But it is very well made. Looks and feels really nice. Heavy, tight but smooth action! We had a go at it and did a few different cuts in various materials. It is not very fast, (can not cut too deep, or move to quickly) but that is no problem for me.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150001.jpg

Got all the bits and pieces to go with it, regular clamp

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150002.jpg

Box full of drills and various other bits and clamps

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150003.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150004.jpg

Bolted it onto my worktop and made a similar power lead arrangement as on the grinder. Just a bit of heat shrink for some extra protection.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150013.jpg

Next I went to my local machine shop that helped out of machining my bicycle part some months ago. I explained to the owner I had just got myself a mini mill and would he have some offcuts for me to start practicing. So he gave me some metal, aluminium, nylon and delris chunks. All for free, very kind. Good enough to get me started.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150005.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150020.jpg

So now I am out on the web looking for some tutorials and some "easy to get going" projects. There is tonnes of this stuff out there.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150015.jpg

So I have my work “cut out” (pardon the pun) for me. But still, I have some other jobs to be done. We visited some friends of ours last weekend. Everybody knows about my garage. Quite some friends have started collecting rags for me. Got two bags full of them this time:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150014.jpg

Earlier this week the Adaptive Cruise Control on the Ford Focus went on the blink. Stopped by at my local Ford dealer. This is a leased car and I have no particular attachment to it, so I’m happy to let somebody else fix it, especially as it is included in the monthly lease fee. They gave me some crap story about how the sensor needs to be replaced and the software updated. I told them, if that is the case, Ford design competence when it comes to IT and software is in even worse shape than I thought. And I know first hand, with deep insight, Ford is absolutely totally out of their depth when it comes to software on their cars.

Told them I could fix this in probably 5 -10 minutes top. Went home, plugged in my OBD scanner.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5041.jpg

Actually, the biggest challenge on modern cars these days is to figure out where the Ford idiots hid the OBD port. Luckily the internet knew. Run a full diagnostics, reset the codes.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5042.jpg

This ACC radar is hidden behind this stupid grill. Not so easy to get at, but I managed. The problem was just some water ingress on the connector. It was very, very foul wet weather that day.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5043.jpg

Really, Ford dealerships and their mechanics the world over are a complete utter useless bunch of incompetent nitwits. Last time I left this car with them, it took them 9 hours ( that is nine hours) to install a new software version on the multimedia system. And it is still not working properly!

So they might make reasonable nice cars, but when it comes to servicing, Ford is still stuck in the hillbilly mechanical tractor era.

Onto the next job today. People who drove behind my Spider had been telling me that the handbrake cable was hanging low. That is an interesting one, because in all those years I have never ever touched the handbrake cable. The way it shows is primarily due to how the outer cable hangs and there is no wear on that. Still it was sagging. One of life’s mysteries I guess. So jacked up the Spider and dived underneath

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150016.jpg

Not a whole lot I could do without having to take a bunch of stuff apart. Re-set the little bracket on the trailing arm. Let’s see how that does

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150018.jpg

I got some parts arriving this week for a few jobs:

Oil and oil filter for the Mercedes W123. I am still waiting for the window seal for the W123 to arrive. The plastic bag has 20 pieces of the little clips that hold the seal in place. Mercedes charges Euro 16.50 per clip. I got these aftermarket at Euro 0.57 a piece. I do not mind Mercedes making money, but this is ridiculous!

The little electrical connectors I picked up for a small modification on the Jaguar XJR.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150006.jpg

This problem on the Jaguar I only noticed recently. When I removed the chairs, obviously I disconnected the battery. As I have shown before, all my cars are equipped with one of these big main power cut out knobs.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150007.jpg

Works a treat, but look closely you will also see that one of the wires of the trickle charger is hooked up to it. Which means if you disconnect, the battery will not charge either! So I had to modify this one wire for it to connect directly to the battery terminal. That’s why I needed the blue electrical connectors. I got boxes full of them, but none of them were big enough.

Easy enough, cut of the old connector, attach the new one. Always try and use a proper crimping tool for these connectors. yes, you can use an ordinary sets of pliers, but no I won’t do as good a job as a very simple and cheap proper one.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150008.jpg

All done, I can now disconnect the battery from the car, whilst still keeping the trickle charger going. I know there are more important things in life, in the world, but I still like this job done!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150010.jpg

Finally, my wife send me over to the local garden centre to get some stuff. Could not get anything she wanted, but I did find and bought this very cool sign. I keep telling my wife, once you have bought the sign, you have to buy the car too! It’s the rule. But she does not believe me!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6150012.jpg

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Old 16th June 2019, 20:28   #287
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Proxxons are better made/ built than the equivalent Dremels. But more expensive too. Guess the build quality extends to the rest of the range too.

Mini mill? I would have called it a micro mill! Wish you hadn't got a model with a rotating head. But guess given its small size (very light duty) it'll do. Now get the lathe to which it can be fitted. You'll need the lathe.

Regards
Sutripta
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Old 17th June 2019, 01:55   #288
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My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sutripta View Post
. Now get the lathe to which it can be fitted. You'll need the lathe.

Yes, in due course. I have left enough space on the work bench. It will fit in between the grinder and the mini drill quite nicely.

Did a couple test cuts tonight. 3mm deep in Delris, aluminum and steel. Nice finish too.

Jeroen
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Old 17th June 2019, 12:47   #289
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

A couple of images of my first test of the mini mill:

Delris

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6170004.jpg

Aluminium

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6170005.jpg

Steel

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6170006.jpg

I also made a little tool to clean out all the shavings from the X-Y table.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6170007.jpg


Jeroen
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Old 20th June 2019, 10:59   #290
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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 started on the window seals of the W123. I had received all the parts earlier. Four seals and 20 clips. Took a bit of research finding the correct parts. Mercedes does not produce the original W123 seals anymore and they charge an exorbitant amount for the clips. So various W123 forums and Facebook groups to the rescue!

I quickly learned that although the original W123 seals are not manufactured anymore, the ones for the W126 are identical other than that the W126 seals are a few centimeter longer and you have to cut them to the correct size. Easy enough. In fact, I have used W126 parts before for the very same reason.

First order of business is to remove the SS strip holding the seal. I had learned this could be real tricky. I pushed one of my plastic levers underneath and it popped right off. I did have to remove the rear view mirror first. Again a very easy job.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190002.jpg

Next, I could pry out the old seal. Came out easily except for where it was stuck in the most rear clip. These seals have an internal steel plate which was heavily corroded and that made it stuck inside the clip.

Here you can see how the old seal was pretty much on its way out. Happens to all rubber over time. These are 37 years old, so that is not that bad for wear I guess. Obviously, it makes a huge difference in what sort of environment you car has lived. (and whether it was parked indoor, outside of sun rays)

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190004.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190005.jpg

Initially I left the clips in place on the door. For no other reason they are notoriously difficult to remove. They have little hooks that keep them firmly in place. I was afraid of scratching the paint whilst pulling them off.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190006.jpg

Here you can see the last bit of seal completely stuck in the most rear clip.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190007.jpg

Basically had to tear it out, with it came the clip. It was corroded badly. Only about 2 inches, but still!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190009.jpg

I compared the old clips with the new ones. The shape was near identical, but the original clips look like they are galvanised and once cleaned do not show any sign of corrosion. So I decided to stick with the old ones.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190011.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190010.jpg

Next a very thorough cleaning of the top of the door. I used some of my special cleaning fluid, a brush to soak it on, then wiped it with a piece of cloth. Washed it down with some soapy water, dried it with a cloth and finally put some wax on it too. I inspected everything very carefully to make sure none of the pain was chipped or pitted. But it looked pretty good!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190012.jpg

The whole cleaning process took the most time. It often does. They say that a lot of good work on car restorations never shows and it is true. I could have slapped the new seals on straight away and the visual result would not have been different. But making sure everything out of sight is equally well treated and looked after is important to me. It is one of the reasons why proper restoration jobs are hugely expensive in the West. It is not so much the parts, but the labour. A real classic car specials will charge you upwards of Euro 80-90 per hour these days. This was a 4 hour job, 2,5 of it just cleaning! Cleaning of stuff that most likely will never see the light of day for the next 37 years!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190014.jpg

I carefully measured out the correct length of the seal. Put a brand new blade in my little hack saw to make a perfect cut.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190013.jpg

Next I tried to fit the seal and immediately there were two problems. I could not get the seals into the clips. Also, despite my careful measuring the seal was 2mm short. In fact, you even see the window seal with a small gap on the very edge of the window frame. This is the case even today on two of the other windows already. But I want it done properly. Luckily I had ordered four seal for four windows. The rear windows are 5-6 centimeters shorter than the front windows anyway, so I cut a new seal, properly this time. The other one will need some additional shortening and will go in rear window frame.

This image gives you some idea on how it hold together. The clip is attached to the seal, the SS strip will clip onto the clip. So the solution was to prise of the clips, mount them on the seal, mount the seal with clips and then mount the SS strip.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190016.jpg

I managed to get the clips of the door frame quite easily, once I decided to do so. Again, using plastic/nylon tools to avoid any scratches. Some more cleaning, washing, waxing etc.

Next the seal with clips attached was mounted properly

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190019.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190020.jpg

Evidence that the seal was cut to the correct length eventually. Nice tight fit with no gap on the door frame.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190021.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190022.jpg

Beginning to look good!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190023.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190024.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190025.jpg

Finally, mounted the rear view mirror and another job done!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p6190026.jpg

Pretty pleased with this result. One down, three more to go. I am hoping that the other three will go as smoothly as this one. I have learned a few things on this first window, so I will be applying this experience to the next three.

Even so, on these old cars you never know what will happen when you start taking something apart. Rust, something completely stuck, broken. Who knows what I will find underneath those three seals. Ah the joy of owning a classic car. This is fiddling at its best!

Jeroen
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Old 21st June 2019, 09:54   #291
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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 did the right rear window seal. Took about two hours. Practice makes perfect! Two down, two to go.

Jeroen
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Old 23rd June 2019, 11:28   #292
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Micromill - surprisingly good finish in Delrin. On the other hand struggling in steel. Depends on a lot of interrelated things, but for you you'll have to play around with DoC, feed rate, surface speed. Tool selection too. Take help from your neighbours.

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Sutripta
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Old 30th June 2019, 12:19   #293
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Yesterday we participated in a local classic car event. This event used to be known as the Lingewaal Classic Car tour. It ran for twenty years, but then the council Lingewaal, merged with two other towns.

Last year was the 20th and last edition. It also happened to be our first time participating as we had moved to Lingewaal. Somewhere I reported on that tour.

The organiser, Bernd, who also owns and runs the largest model car museum in the Netherlands, (http://www.minidome.nl/home%202.html) decided he would still continue with the tour, but rename it. It also needed a new sponsor and starting location. The former council Lingewaal allowed the tour to start from its gorgeous location in Asperen and provided free coffee and tea to all.

Bernd has become a good friend of mine, so we had to participate of course. Not that easy as we arrived at 03.30 AM in the morning back from a week in Crete. Getting up at 08.00am and getting the Spider ready was not easy.

But it turned out to be a great, very hot (36oC) day.

Just a few images to give an impression:

The absolute star of the day was this 1917 Lefranc from the USA.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5117.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5118.jpg

Note the four (that is 4) spark plugs in each cilinderhead.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5119.jpg

As it drove up the parking place, we noticed petrol spilling from the engine. A quick investigation showed petrol leaking from the carburator. So it was quickly dismantled.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5130.jpg

Only to find the float was leaky and full of petrol. No spare float, but Bernd to the rescue. Bernd has some 9 classic cars and a well equipped workshop. A quick trip to his workshop and a kind of messy, but functional, soldering job of the float.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5134.jpg

Next, job well done:



I took my Spider to this tour. Here you see it lined up with an old Citroen, Rover, VW Fire engine, Willy Jeep. In the back a Triump Spitfire (orange) and TR6 (red).

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5120.jpg

Another gorgeous car. All DIY restored over a period of 15 years!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5139.jpg

Bernd had done a great job, organisation was flawless, route description perfect. Three different stops, lunch, coffee and drinks. But in all honesty it was too hot for most crews to stop and sit in the blazing sun on a terrace other than the lunch stop The good news, when it so hot, fewer people walking and cycling on the roads too.

All in all, a very pleasant day. Met with lots of people, talked about cars, fiddled with a few as some were difficult to coax back into life after the lunch stop. Old cars and hot temperatures are a bad combination!

Jeroen

Last edited by Jeroen : 30th June 2019 at 12:21.
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Old 1st July 2019, 18:46   #294
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My Mercedes W123 is well over 36 years old. Which means it needs a fair bit of TLC to keep it in good shape. With the National Concour coming up in August I have finally managed to source the one missing piece. A nodding doggie for on the parcel shelve. Not sure if these nodding doggies ever made it to India. They were quite popular for a while in Western Europe during the 70s/80s.

It is supplied by Mercedes Benz Classic store and comes with an original Mercedes Benz collar with dangling MB star. A true piece de resistance, showing the outstanding taste and style of your typical Mercedes Benz owner.

The German for nodding dog is wackletackel. Which is eh, very German!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-imageuploadedbyteambhp1561986930.671459.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-imageuploadedbyteambhp1561986945.956457.jpg
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Old 7th July 2019, 11:14   #295
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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 more jobs on the W123:

I mentioned before one of the seatbelt clamps (driver seat) has been without its plastic cover, since I bought the car. Always meant to fix it, but it was never a real priority. With the National Concours coming up, I want to fix all these little things!

I had been trawling the internet. Lots of confusion on what the exact part number is. I have a part number, written on the original one, but that is unavailable or the few still around, cost the earth. So some W123 forum members were helping out.

I got in touch with a guy I have known for some years on this W123 forum. He used to work for a classic Mercedes garage I knew, but started for himself some years ago. He had just bought a W123 T (estate) from a junkyard for parts. He had the correct part and he offered it to me for free. So last Saturday I drove over to meet him in person, admire his shop/garage, talk W123. Very pleasant.

So here we are:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060007.jpg

One broken, one second hand new one. The problem is the second hand one, the red release button is very faded. So I need to pry of the casing and fix it to the old one. Which means, no matter what I have to take the seat out. Not a huge job I imagine, but for another day.

It was also time to give the W123 an oil change. So when I came back from picking up my parts, engine and oil still warm, I put it in the customary oil change position:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060001.jpg

Drained the oil into my special canister:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060002.jpg

The Mercedes still uses these filter inserts, rather than completely sealed canisters. Comes with new O-ring, copper ring for the sump plug and the steel ring goes underneath the bolt that clamps the filter top to the filter house. All very convenient.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060003.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060004.jpg

Look what I noticed on the old filter!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060005.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060006.jpg

Not quite sure, but most likely sealant I used on the valve cover seal, some months ago when I re-newed the distribution chain.

I drained about 4 litres of oil, which is about right. According to the manual total capacity is 4.5 litres. You never get everything out, even when still warm. Refilled with new Shell 10W40, added 4 litres and that got it filled almost to max.

Checked the air filter too, still looks fine.

So the W123 is good to go for another 7500 km or so.

When we were in Crete about two weeks ago, during one of food shop trip we went into Lidl, one of the huge supermarket chains in Europe. I do not like supermarkets, but I do like Lidl because they also offer a nice range of tools. You never know what they might have on stock, but always worth a look.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-p7060008.jpg

Picked up this nice soldering iron. It’s not I need a soldering iron, I have three already, but I did not have one like this, with a base. 30W so mostly for simple electrical and electronic work. Cost all but Euro 7.99. To put that is some European context. A cappuccino at a Strarbucks, will cost you around Euro 4,50! So really cheap, still well made and looks good!

Jeroen
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Old 7th July 2019, 19:06   #296
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I am still very pleased with my work bench. One thing is that from a light point of view it is not ideal. The window provides natural light, but not enough to have a good clear view of for instance the mini drill. As it so happens I had another complete light fitting with two tubes being redundant in the loft of my garage. Moved it to above my work bench. Let there be light, perfect

!My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-imageuploadedbyteambhp1562506543.510602.jpg
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Old 14th July 2019, 13:15   #297
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My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W...

Here in the Netherlands we have a very strict MOT annual inspection regime. It means the car gets checked for basic safety items and compliance with emission rules.

All cars need a valid MOT certificate. Most cars are under a yearly regime once they pass 3 years of age. Older cars, such as the Spider and W123 every other year.

Trust the Dutch it is all extremely well organised. 4-6 weeks prior to the expiry of your MOT certificate, you will receive a letter and or a digital notification if you signed up for that. Leaves you plenty of time to make an appointment. Most people combine the MOT with their annual service. Most garages won't charge for the MOT if you let them do the regular service. I do all my maintenance and repairs myself so I need to cough up all but Euro 20 for each MOT. Which is still Avery small amount. An average MOT takes 45 minutes.

A few weeks ago I got the sort of expected letter. However, it was a slightly different message this time. The MOT on the Jaguar had expired! So somehow I have must have missed the original notification the MOT was due.

It means you are not allowed to drive the car on the public road anymore! Except to the MOT station. Driving without a valid MOT is an offence and carries a heavy fine. Plenty of cop cars around that have onboard cameras that scan continuously the road and will pick you out!

So I quickly made an appointment.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-imageuploadedbyteambhp1563090246.372576.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-imageuploadedbyteambhp1563090260.456153.jpg

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-imageuploadedbyteambhp1563090278.123429.jpg

Jaguar passed with flying colours as expected. We are good to go for another year!

Jeroen

Last edited by Jeroen : 14th July 2019 at 13:17.
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Old 18th July 2019, 15:51   #298
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Bit of wiring work on the new light above the workbench.

I have literally kilometers of spare pieces of cable, wiring of just about any kind. But I lacked a piece of the required simple three wire cable (Neutral, Earth, Live).

So a quick trip to our local DIY centre where I also bought some plugs.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5183.jpg

Opened up the light fitting, old and new cable dangling from it.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5175.jpg

Used my new Soldering gun to “tin’ the wires.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5182.jpg

Decided I will use the plug with the built in switch. So now it’s easy to switch on the additional light, and I can still use the socket too if the needs arise

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5185.jpg

Last weekend my wife and I threw a big party for all our friends and family. It was a belated house warming and 60th birthday for my wife and me and just a catch up with everyone.

One of our friends brought this great sign for me. She runs the local charity shop back in the UK and she owns and drives a vintage Austin Healey, so she knows her auto mobilia. This is an original Michelin sign. Most of my sign are simple (and thus cheap) replica’s.

Somebody brought this into her charity shop together with a stack of 1980-1982 UK car magazines!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5184.jpg

I read through the car magazines. Interesting and quite the trip down memory lane. I cut out the various pages and advertisements I particularly liked. Added them as a sort of a collage to my Jaguar flag.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5176.jpg

Some of these are just hilarious. Can you imagine a page spread on hose connectors in today’s car magazines?

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5177.jpg

Graham hill endorsing some oil! It is good enough for Graham, it should be good enough for your daily banger.

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5179.jpg

I like this one:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5178.jpg

Some pause for thought here, but different times as they say:

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5181.jpg

And of course, quite a few Jaguar adds!

My Car Hobby: Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123, Alfa Romeo Spider, Jeep Cherokee & Mini One-img_5180.jpg

Coming up this Saturday: Dry-ice blasting of the engine compartments of all cars! Looking forward to it, never had that done before!

Jeroen
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Old 18th July 2019, 16:42   #299
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

That Rover ad is from an era when the Rover's were the BMW's of that time period!
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Old 18th July 2019, 17:13   #300
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Re: My Car Hobby: A lot of fiddling, and some driving too! Jaguar XJR, Mercedes W123 & Alfa Romeo Sp

Not sure... is that the Rover 2000 era?

Damned good-looking. Not sure that they were regarded as highly as a BMW, though.
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