[Jeroen]

I havent posted anything for a while. We are very busy getting our new home in order. We need to move out of our current home before end of November, so we are quite busy doing a lot of DIY work on our new home as well as packing up our old, current home. Not much time for fiddling with cars.

Our new home has a fantastic 70m2 garage. And it’s all mine, although my wife has already claimed the loft for her Barbie doll collection.

One of the first things I have done is put a special epoxy paint on the floor. This epoxy paint is hard wearing and oil/water resistant, so ideal for a garage. I am busy getting a bunch of new tools for my garage too (Work benches, shelves, compressor, pneumatic tools, grinders etc etc.)

My two classic cars need to be off the public road from 1st of December till end of February. If not, I have to pay a lot of road tax. But with my new garage that is not a problem.

I have been making a long list of stuff I will be doing on all three cars over the winter months. Lots of little jobs, endless fiddling

Alfa Spider:
- interior fan electric motor probably needs new brushes. Big job to get it out
- window washer reservoir still leaking, I need to do a better job of “plastic soldering"
- various bits need re-chroming (this is the first job as it could take up to 10 weeks to get my parts back from the place that does the re-chroming)
- Should I fit new springs/shocks at the rear? (if I do, I will replace various rubber bushing in the various suspension components too.
- clean and tidy engine bay
- Glove box lid is warped, not sure how to straighten it yet? Difficult part to source, no new parts only second hand and they are all warped!
- Wash, clay, polish, wax

Mercedes W123:
- Check valve clearance and fix adjustment screw. Last time I did this one of the adjustment screws in the rocker was pardon the pun, stuck solid. If I can’t get it loosened up I have to take (parts) of the camshaft out.
- Check and adjust steering wheel play (not sure what it is. the steering box has been overhauled a few years back, but I think there is a bit of play again. I need to check what’s happening here. Is it the steering box (can be adjusted) is it something else (slave steering box bushes worn out), a rod wit a problem?
- The door card on the driver’s side needs fixing. One of the plastic clips broke off and I need to figure out how to get it back in place properly
- Overhaul the carburettor? (It runs perfect, but the damper oil reservoir leaks.)
- clean engine bay
- Wash, clay, polish, wax

Jaguar XJR:
- Engine, occasionally, has been going into restricted mode, throws a P1121 code. Lets start with cleaning the throttle body connectors
- Fuel tank will only fill up to about 75%. Needs investigation, probably something wrong with the emission kit, carbon scrubbers, vapour return line / valves whatever. Part of the car I have never (yet) worked on. So I’m digging up drawings and putting a lot of questions on Jaguar forums the world around.
- Some of the leather, especially the driver seat is pretty tatty. I had it repainted a few years ago in Kansas City. Looked great for several years. A lot cheaper and simpler then renewing the leather. So I’ll probably do the repainting again.
- Wash, clay, polish, wax

So I have my work cut out for me!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

At long last I’m working on my cars again. These days in much better conditions as before. Read all about it here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...my-garage.html

With my very own garage now more or less operational I have started working on the list of issues I published earlier. A lot of people seem to think that owning old and or classic car involves endless complex jobs on the engine, transmission suspension, body work etc.

I find that once you have your classic in reasonable good nick a lot of the jobs are like this one. Nothing particularly spectacular. Just little things that could do with some improving.

First job I did was the lid of the Glove Box compartment on the Alfa Romeo Spider. Problem is, over time it has started to bend/warp. It doesn’t look nice and it is warped to the extend that when I close the lid, the corner won’t even depress the glove compartment light switch anymore.



You can’t buy these parts new anymore. You might find them second hand, but all lids are likely to have the same problem.

The lid is some sort of moulded piece with a hard plastic plate screwed onto it’s rear. It has a very simple hinge that screws into the glove compartment base. Easy to get at but you will need something other than your usual screwdriver to work inside the glove compartment.



Here you can see again how warped this little lid/door is. You can also see the locking/catch mechanicm, all very simple



First thing is to take the plastic back plate off and to undo the locking mechanism. Held in place by this very big nut. Which needed a good clean!





This is what the plastic back plate looks like once removed. A bit tatty.



Actually, tatty usually means good news as it just takes elbow grease to smarten it up. And some bottles of cleaners, wax, etc etc.



I had been doing a bit of research on the internet and I ran into a report of a guy who claimed you could just bend these things back into shape. He claimed there is a steel plate inside the moulded lid. I wasn’t quite sure but I carefully started applying pressure and sure enough it was fairly easy to get it back into it’s original shape. For good measure I clamped it into my workmate for several days!



Put everything back together. I must admit I’m very pleased with the result! This is a relative simple job, requiring a few hours of work, spread over several days. No problem these days as my Spider sits very happily, safely, in my own garage!



Next job; the door card on the Mercedes!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Onto the next job: The Mercedes door card. Actually it wasn’t the door card itself, but the pocket attached to it. I typically store a few things in there. Maps, cloths/sponge for wiping of condens, windows scraper for when it freezes. Nothing heavy, still one of the connecting points had snapped. So it was flopping about a bit.

This is the thing with ageing cars. A lot of the plastics will go brittle over time and simply snap/break off. The Mercedes by and large is a very high quality car. Many enthousiast see the W123 as the last proper Mercedes Quality. And it shows with these sort of problems. Fewer then on other cars.



Here a close up of the problem:



I have worked on countless cars and I can tell you, removing door cards can be a huge PITA. Sometimes you just don’t know where to start and very often you end up snapping and damaging the various clips that hold everything together. On the Mercedes it is very easy and also putting the panel back is dead easy and everything fits back together as if new. Not many cars can claim this.

So of come the door card. First time I could use my new “mechanics stool”. Very convenient!



I have proper workshop manuals for all my cars and I always check with them how to remove stuff. So I know exactly where the various clips and retainers are located and I can put my fancy trim remover pliers in the exact correct spot!



All the bolts and metal bits go on one of the magnetic trays. All bigger parts and bits into one of these convenient containers.



This is how the inside of a Mercedes W123 door looks like once the door card is removed. You can see I never had this particular panel of before or at least I had not been inside the door. The plastic is still 100% intact. The factory puts it up to protect the inside of the door from moisture and dust. Personally I don’t think it’s very effective at all. Doors are know water traps on the W123 and often rust very badly on the bottom.



Here we have the little offender! Clean break by the looks of it.



A quick rummage through my various boxes with bolts and nuts brought the solution!



Putting everything back again is easy. A small tip when working on door on car with manual window winders. When mounting the winder make sure the handle is in such a position that with the window fully up the handle is weighing down towards the up position. On my W123 you turn the handle anti clock wise to wind up the window. If I had mounted the handle so it ended at say the three o’clock position the weight of the handles starts pulling it down and the window will open ever so slightly over time. Of course, the handle is light, but you would be surprised what happens when the car is being driven and bumps and shakes. So this way I never have windows slightly ajar by accident/chance.



Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Over the weekend I tackled another little job on the Alfa Spider. I have written about this little problem before; the window wiper fluid reservoir leaks.

Here is how the reservoir is mounted in the engine bay



This is a bit of close up. The reservoir has a special ‘trapezium’ type of shape that slots into two metal brackets. These reservoirs, after many years, often start to leak right on the corners where they are wedged into these metal brackets.





The problem with these reservoirs is the material. Not quite sure what it is, but it’s one of these soft kind of plastics, which usually means it is some sort of PTFE (Teflon) type of material. Whereas that tend to be very inert materials, they are also notoriously difficult to glue or fix otherwise. I tried many different kind of glues/two component glues, tried to plastic solder it, but nothing lasted.

Here another view from the bottom, showing the little pump and e-motor. All quite dirty as you can see as well.



During my almost daily visits to our local DIY whilst working on our new home and garage ( http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...my-garage.html ) I came across quite a few different kind of glues.

This one caught my eye. Because it’s a two component and had these very long applicators/nozzles. And as soon as I saw them, I thought that might work because with those nozzles I can get the glue all the way into the ribs inside the reservoir. As with all other glues, this one mentioned specifically it is not suitable for PTF type of materials. But I figure, I’ll try it anyway. There is no pressure, as long as stays in place and just seals all is good!



So I emptied out the complete tube into the two sides of the reservoir. It might not be that easy to see, but this stuff really flowed nicely in all the cracks. Let it dry and so far so good. Looks sorted!



So another job done! At least I hope so, let’s see how it holds out. Other then the obvious why you don’t want the reservoir to leak there is a more formal/legal reason as well. It’s a so called APK afkeurpunt. The English equivalent: MOT failure. This car needs a formal road worthy inspection every other year and one of the items they check is working window wipers and washer system. So this leak might get your car a MOT failure, which means you can’t drive it anymore until it’s fixed!

Jeroen

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

The problem with these reservoirs is the material. Not quite sure what it is, but it’s one of these soft kind of plastics, which usually means it is some sort of PTFE (Teflon) type of material. Whereas that tend to be very inert materials, they are also notoriously difficult to glue or fix otherwise. I tried many different kind of glues/two component glues, tried to plastic solder it, but nothing lasted.

Very very unlikely. My guess - polythene. For the same reasons.

Regards
Sutripta

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Very very unlikely. My guess - polythene. For the same reasons.

You are probably correct. A couple of months ago I visited the company of a friend of mine. He deals in all sorts of “plastic” materials. He had various ‘teflon’ products, including tubing. But you can’t really tell from looking/feeling it.

Anyway, as you say. Whatever it is, none of these materials is easily gzueable/fixable.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Not sure what went wrong, but the images don’t show and I can’t seem to find them on the photo pages either. So I quick repost, lets see if this works:

My Alfa Spider has quite a few “shiny” bits. Quite a few of it is polished stainless steel. Which is great as it requires very little maintenance and keeps it shine. There are however a few chrome bits on the car as well. For instance the door handles and the chrome rings on the head lights. Over the years chrome tends to loose it’s shine. I am no expert on chrome by any means, it’s almost a science in itself. But the base material and how the chrome was applied has a lot to do with how long it lasts.

I have replaced the door handles some 15 years ago. The old one were really tatty and I found a pair of brand new ones on Ebay for a reasonable price. They still look good. Around the same time I had the light covers/rings re-chromed. At the time I looked into it what would be best. Part of the problem was that new chrome rings were available, but word had it, they weren’t a particular good fit and started pitting very quickly. So not worth the money.

I found a little Chroming company nearby where we lived in Rotterdam. About 80% of their work is on classic car parts. It is situated right smack in the centre of Rotterdam. Which I thought was a bit odd. If you have ever been to Chroming place you will know why. Lots of “steaming” baths full of parts about, chemicals about etc.

The door handles are still fine, but the Chrome head light cover rings needed attention. The same company was still around, so I took them>

This is what such a place looks like. Actually, it looks quite ok on these pictures. I have been there and you couldn’t see you own feet due to damp and vapours!





When you take the main Chrome cover off this is how it looks. The actual headlight unit is still kept in place with another smaller chrome ring. That one is attached with three little bolts to a little frame. This from holds the head light and can also be adjusted with screws to adjust the bean of the lights.





Always interesting to see what you might find when you start taking bits apart. Found this wasp stuck to the inside of the headlight arrangement.



I just happened to have two more of these smaller chrome rings in “stock”. No idea when or why I bought them, but as I have all my parts easily available to me in my new garage, I keep finding pleasant surprises.





The large Chrome head light cover ring is kept in place with a clip at the top and just one small stainless steel bolt at the bottom. There is a little steel support with a threaded hole. I had some difficulties getting the original bolts out. So I used my set of taps to clean and fix the thread. If you are really completely anal about your chrome you would make sure all the chrome bits get mounted with non-metal washers to ensure no electrical corrosion can take place. I haven’t seen any major evidence of this, so I just bolt everything together, metal to chrome!







The large Chrome head light cover ring comes equipped with a rubber seal. Fitting it all back is a royal PIA. The ring has an odd shape so once mounted it follows the contour of the chassis. It’s difficult to get the seal to stick to the chrome ring and then mount it. When I was doing this job it was around 0oC too. So everything was cold. Took the chrome ring and seal into our house and put them on the radiator for some 15 minutes. At least the seal became a little easier to handle. In the end it took me about an hour and a half and multiple tries to get the ring and seal back in place. Took even longer on the left one! I had to superglue it in place. That actually worked quite well. I might redo the right one as it still isn’t perfect.







Anyway, another job done.

I might still have a go at the read shock absorbers and springs. I’m not hundred percent convinced they are still ok. As we have moved I’m a little further away from my trusted friend Rolf and his workshop for advice.

But there is another well known Alfa Specialist nearby our village. I havent been there for at least 20 years. But I sort of know the guy from way back. So I’ll pop over in March when I can take the Spider back on the road and get his opinion first.

Another job has just announced itself over the weekend. It was a gorgeous Sunday and my wife and I had been working in the garden. By 1600 hours it was still very nice, cold, but very sunny. So we took the Jaguar for a little tour around our new stomping grounds. We toured along the river Linge, that passes in front of our new home. Followed it all along the south bank and dikes past endless little villages. Stopped for some drinks and a snack in a restaurant overlooking the river and drove back home on the north bank/dike.

But when I had parked the Jaguar in my garage I noticed some oil leaking. I havent had the time to investigate probably, but it looks as if it might be one of the hydraulic hoses at the front of the car. Need to get it fixed. Mid March we are going to our home in the UK and I have a trip planned to Birmingham to see the Photography 2018 show in the NEC. So I better figure out what is going on!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Over the weekend I managed to do a first inspection on the Jaguar an its oil leak.

When you have an oil leak it’s really important to try and establish as good as possible where the oil is leaking from. That might not always be that easy, but its well worth doing. Without a proper diagnosis you are not very likely to fix the problem.

I had a bit of a practical problem. In the sense that I could not move the Jaguar much due to a bunch of other cars parked just outside our garage. So I had to make do with where I left it. Which meant no access to the car from the right.

I had already established that oil was dripping from one of the hoses at the front of the car. I could also see the oil appeared to be running down the hose on the left side. Which meant the real leak was somewhere else, higher up.

In order to get some access and better view it meant lifting the car on one side. So gear in Park, handbrake on, wooden blocks behind the rear wheels and a jack under the left side. Lifted up and put an axle stand under the front left suspension. Safety first!



As with many modern car the Jaguars has all sort of plastic bolted to its underside. I did not take it all off, as I really could not get at the right hand side anyway.



But with a few bolts and tie-wraps removed I could peak inside and had a good view on the hose. It appeared as if the oil was leaking from underneath the crimped connector on the end of the hose. So cleaned everything thoroughly, started the engine and within 5 seconds I could see oil seeping out between the connector and the hose!



This hose is the feed toward the oil cooler.

Attached a little diagram:



I checked on two of my Jaguar forums to find somebody who had replaced these hoses. Still I havent found anybody. There are two potential problems with these hoses. The first one is that the couplings are steel and the oil cooler is made out of aluminium. The problem thus is corrosion and getting the hose off, might prove impossible. I know people with XJS who had similar problems and had to replace the oil cooler too.

The second problem is I could not see how the hose connects to the engine. It’s buried deep behind pulleys and belts and I just could not get good access. I have a very nifty and cool little tool, that would have helped me out:



But would you believe, I had lend it out to a mate of mine!

These are essentially hydraulic hoses and I could probably get the broken hose repaired. My problem is that I want to drive my Jaguar on our next trip to the UK in two weeks. Which also mean I only have one weekend to fix it. And I just don’t have the time to mess around with these hoses and try and find somebody who got fix them, bring or send them, have them returned.

So this morning I bit the bullet and ordered a new feed and return hose and all the o-rings. I have owned car that cost substantially less then these two hoses!

The return hose looks fine but is just as old as the feed hose. When I do a job I usually try and replace everything that makes sense and is likely to break in the not too distant future.

Hopefully I can pickup my parts by the end of the week. SNG Barrett in the Netherlands is only a 15 minute drive away from my office, so very convenient.

To be continued!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

My set of two new hoses and O-rings arrived the day before yesterday. Picked them up from SNG Barrett warehouse after work.

Today I set about replacing them. I had done quite a bit of research, but I could find very little in all of the official Jaguar Workshop manuals and the various Jaguar forums. Couple guys with XJS’s did warn me that the hoses sometimes get completely stuck on the oil cooler due to corrosion.

First things first. Car in Park, hand brake on, couple of blocks of wood behind the rear wheels. Next, I use two jacks, one on each side, to lift the front of the car. Axle stands underneath that take the load. I leave the jacks underneath, but I take most of the load off. Rock the car a bit back and forth, left to right, see its stable. I’ll be underneath that engine for hours and if a car likethis falls on you, it is curtains! Happens every year unfortunately, with some DIY mechanics the world around.





The first thing to come off is the cover plate. Piece of plastic held together with 8 bolts and various tie wraps. (the tie wraps are my personal modification to improve on the original Jaguar design which was pathetic)



So far so good! This was the easy bit. Next each hose has to be uncoupled from the cooler and from the engine.

This is the left front connection



And here you can see both hoses going somewhere toward the engine oil sump. A real PITA to get at. You can’t see what you are doing, so it’s all by feel and with the help of mirror and lights.



The left connector came off without too much problem. Also the single bolt holding the two hoses into the engine sump (see the diagram in my previous post) came out real easy. However, the left connector would not budge. So I decided to take the whole oil cooler out with the left hose still attached so I could work on it on my work bench.



I tried every trick in the book to get this connector to come loose. Clearly this was the dreaded corrosion problem some Jaguar Forum Members had warned me about. I used hammers, endless variety of different wrenches, used heat, WD40 but it would not budge. With only 15 minutes to go till the DIY shop would close I decided the only way is to attack it with a grinder. So I jumped in one of my other cars and drove into town to the nearest DIY shop. With five minutes to spare to closing time I ran into the store.

instead of a simple grinder I bought one of these. My son Luc had bought one recently as he too has moved and he got himself a lot of new tools for all the DIY jobs that needed doing.

This little tool is incredibly handy. It saws through anything. It is roughly the principle of an electric razor. Very simple, very effective!





So I started sawing into the nut of the connector. Very carefully, as I did not want to cut too deep as that might damage the thread on the oil cooler. Sure enough after some cuts, with a clearly audible pop, the nut finally gave way!





From there on it was pretty smooth sailing. Cleaned everything very thoroughly before re-assembly. I put white vaseline on all the pipes, o-rings and on the thread of the connectors. Makes for easy re-assembly.

Bit of a fiddle to get the two hoses back into the engine sump as it is strictly by feel alone. Fired up the V-8 and let it run for five minuets. Checked all the connections and all seems to stay dry.

By now it was pitch dark and I did not want to take it for a test drive at night, on a narrow dike, at -2oC. Just in case. So tomorrow I’ll take it for a proper test drive.

The temperature was a bit of a problem. I started at around 1500 hours and the temperature was around 2oC. By the time I was done, around 19.30 the temperature had dropped well below freezing, -2oC.

Not the best of environments to work on a car. On your back on a concrete floor underneath a car.

So tomorrow we will see. But again a valuable lesson, you can never ever have enough tools. Told my wife too as it is my birthday soon, hint, hint!

Jeroen

PS: Just before I started taking all the bits off: Very clearly this hose has had it! Time to replace!

[Jeroen]

Took the Jaguar for a test drive this morning. Everything looks fine.

So I also started up the Mercedes W123 after it had been standing idee for over three months. Started richt away. There is a small crack on one of the flanges of the exhaust. I tightened the bolts but that did not fix it. So next job is to undo the bolts take the exhaust apart and hope it's just a gasket.

Took the W123 on a nice little tour along the river Linge. This is what our new stomping grounds look like. Still lots of ice on the river!

[Jeroen]

Today, after work, a quick look at the Mercedes to try and establish what is wrong with the exhaust.

The usual routine. Handbrake on, in gear, blocks in front of the wheels, Jack it up, rest it on axle stands. Note the spray can. I bought that recently as well. I have always used WD40 to help get stuff unstuck. But WD40, the original version at least, is not necessarily the best. It’s a very general “use it for many different applications”. Earlier this week in a DIY centre I spotted a special WD40 variant, specifically for penetrating rusty bits and pieces. So I sprayed the two bolts holding the flanges together liberally and let it penetrate for 5 minutes.



It was also the first time I got to use my new pneumatic ratchet. Worked really well. These rusty exhaust bolts and nuts can be a PITA to get off, took 20 seconds per bolt/nut. Very satisfying using my new toys/tools.



This is how things looked before I started. The images faces rearwards



This is facing forward with the rear damper removed.



Here you can clearly see the problem. This is the outlet pipe from the forward damper. You can see the flange and if you look closely you can see a large tear. It’s approx 1/3 along the circumference of the pipe. With everything removed, very wobbly. I could have easily snapped it off.



Although I know some guys who would weld/patch this up, I don’t believe in welding these sort of damages to car exhausts. It remains te be seen if you can get it properly welded and shut. And even if you do succeed it’s very likely the same problem will be back, very soon.

Here in the Netherlands a leaky exhaust is an immediate MOT failure. The car isn’t due for its MOT (or APK as we call it here), but I want it fixed properly

So it looks like I need to replace it. So the search for some new parts is on!!

The front damper has two inlet pipes connected to one large flange on the exhaust manifold. Four studs and four nuts hold it in place. So I should be able to get those four nuts off fairly easy (one hopes/prays). The main problems with DIY exhaust replacements is one of access underneath the car. And will you be able to get the old one out from underneath and more importantly, get the new one in, from underneath with the car just on some axle stands. Depends a bit on your car and exhaust system, but sometimes it just won’t go and you need to have the car on a lift to get enough ground clearance. For instance, my Spider!

On the W123 it looks I will have enough room, or rather can create enough room to do it myself.

First step is to find the parts. I’m putting some messages out to the various w123 forums I’m a member of.

To be continued.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

This morning spanner Mate Peter and I visited the British Car and Life Style exhibition. We have been going for many years. Always interesting and there are always people we know so it's a bit of a social thing too. I wrote about a previous visit some years ago. Essentially it is very similar every year, with the same vendors, clubs, merchandise.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/beyond...therlands.html

We meet somewhere half way, have a coffee and continue in one car. This time we took my Jaguar XJR and left Peter’s X350 at the Motel. When we were in the queue at the entrance the car behind me flashed his lights a pulled up along side. He had noticed that my right rear tyre was very low on air pressure. So before we went home we put the spare on. Luckily my car still has a proper spare! I had been a bit suspicious of this tyre before. As this car sits idle for many weeks in between drives, I usually check the tyre pressure before setting off. Over the last months I noticed that this tyre tended to lose a bit more pressure then the other ones. But I guess, something must have given. We checked the tyre for any visual signs, did not see anything obvious. S

Back home I could not find any tyre shop that was open on a Saturday afternoon! The downside of living in rural Holland. I'm off for work to Sweden till Wednesday night. On Thursday evening I'm supposed to take the Jaguar onto the ferry Hook of Holland Harwich. I'm also supposed to work on that day. So I'll probably drop the tyre with some fast fitter in the morning on my way to work and pick it up coming home.

Below Peter undoing the lug nuts.



I have also ordered the new exhaust part and gaskets for the Mercedes. They should arrive in a few days. Not sure when I will get around to mounting it.
I might have a go this weekend in trying to undo the exhaust pipe from the exhaust manifold. Four nuts, could take five minutes or five hours!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

We are making some progress here! Yesterday my exhaust arrived. It was actually my birthday so my wife claimed it as her present to me. Came in a huge box! When I saw the box I got worried because I was expecting something a lot smaller, but it was mostly packing material. Phew!

I must admit I am not overly impressed by the welding quality on this new exhaust. I did check, Mercedes can still deliver an original one, but it would cost more than three times as much as this aftermarket Walker brand. I’m going to install it anyway. Once it’s underneath the car nobody will know, but I can see why this exhaust is likely not to last as long as an original Mercedes exhaust. But then the car only does a few thousand kilometers per year. So I don’t see myself replacing it again any time soon!



Earlier this week I got an email from the webshop where I ordered the various packing/seals. Turns out they did not have them in stock after all! So I called my local Mercedes dealer and sure enough they can still deliver. Take one or two days as they have to come from Germany apparently..

As I explained before, I have a lot of (technical) documentation on all of my cars.
Part catalogues are very handy. To figure out how things look like, how they are held together, parts numbers etc.



In theory most parts shops will be able to find any part based on your car registration and or VIN. But in practice, especially with older cars, it tends to be not so straight forward. Also, in particular with Jaguar I have found several mistakes in their databases. So checking images of the parts with numbers and talking it through with someone who knows parts tends to be very useful.

I’m relatively lucky as part availability for all my cars is by and large quite good. For some Classic Car owners tracing and finding parts could be a huge challenge and can be very time consuming and costly. For me it’s just part of fiddling with my cars. I actually enjoy figuring all of this stuff out by myself, talking to lots of folks, checking online stuff against my own documentation etc.

Also, I managed to get the tyre of the Jaguar fixed first thing this morning. Drove over to our local Euromaster. This is an international chain of what we call fast fitters. They do tyres, exhaust, brakes, MOT on all cars. Fixed prices and tariffs. I think I might have mentioned it before. I do not fix tyres myself. It’s just to specialised and you need to invest in very costly equipment. And these fast fitters usually do a good job, very cheap and there are plenty of them around.

Last week they were very helpful in trying to come up with an exhaust for my W123. In the end they couldn’t, but I liked the guy, Vincent, who helped me. And he loved my W123. so when I rocked up in my Jaguar he recognised me, we had a little chat and he set to work on the tyre.

There were no obvious sign of a puncture, so first stop is this huge batch into which the tyre gets pushed underwater by a pneumatic actuator. Nothing at first, we stared for several minutes and all of a sudden we saw three tiny bubbles forming on where the tyre meets the rim. Turned it over and it was the same on the other side. So somehow the tyre did not seal properly against the rim.



So Vincent took the tyre of the rim



Then cleaned the inside of the rim where the tyre sits very carefully and put a special sealant paste on it.



Next onto the balancing machine. Needed a lot of weight!



Next I put my car on the lift and Vincent took the spare tyre off and put the original one back on again. Using a pneumatic impact wrench to tighten up the bolts a bit and then by hand, using a proper torque wrench, the final tightening.



Job well done. Vincent also offered to help if I run into any problems with replacing the exhaust on my Mercedes by myself. Much appreciated, not all fast fitters are like that. Some are just not interested in doing anything other then what they have on their standard fixed price list. I had to pay Euro 26 for this repair. took Vincent in all about 25-30 minutes of work. He also replaced the valve, they always do, just to be safe. That is probably hugely expensive compared to India. But these sort of jobs are reasonably well paid. Hourly rates for these sort of garages is around Euro 45-55 per hour. More specialised workshop can charge considerable more.

I’m off with my wife and daughter for a long weekend in the UK. I will probably drive some 1500 km in the Jaguar during the next 4-5 days. Looking forward to it!

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Back from the long weekend and a lot driving! Love long distance driving. Bit thirsty the Jaguar. This was last night waiting at the Stena ferry terminal in Harwich to board.







Last Sunday we visited my sister in law and her husband in Lincolnshire. The five of us went out to what is supposedly the largest antique centre of Europe. Old Army or RAF base and all the buildings are converted to shops. It was freezing cold and only one of the shops was open, which was a bit of a disappointment. Luckily, it was a huge place and it had lots of interesting stuff. So we loaded up the boot of our car. I found three vintage, but fully functional, hammers! Love these old school hammers with proper wooden handles. Much better then all that rubber and PVC plastic and what have you



Friday, spanner mate and I fly to Birmingham for the classic car and restoration show. Saturday the first drive for this year in the Alfa Spider to a technical event of my Alfa Spider club. Peter will be doing valuations as well on our member cars

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Today my wife and me stopped at our local DIY centre as we needed some paint. Most of these place have display near the cash register where they dump a lot of cheap sale items. Picked up a few. In all honesty I already have quite a few of these sort of sets, but what interested me in these are the very long extensions. You can never ever have too many tools!



I have not started on the exhaust of the Mercedes yet. I have been suffering from sore elbows for a long time. Ever since all the DIY work last year on our new home. Earlier this week I went to see the doctor and she told me I have two tennis elbows. Apparently, only rest will cure them. I really hurt them again doing the oil cooler hoses on the Jaguar, so I better take it easy. So only non strenuous jobs for now!
Jeroen