E-Type speedo bezel refitted

A while ago the E-Type speedo bezel and glass that protects the speedometer had fallen off. I had tried to replace it in-situ, but the bezel fell off the next time I drove the car. I later learned the correct way to do this and it is not very hard.

The panel under the dash that protects all the wires is easily removed providing access to the back of the instruments. The speedometer has two thumb screws that hold it secure against the dash board. They are hard to see, but can be felt. They had slowly worked loose, letting […]

Citroen DS wouldn’t idle

I came to start the DS the other day, and it started fine, but would not idle properly. Once the revs dropped below 1200 or so the engine died. The car had been running fine before so it was quite perplexing. I had some advice from the forum to try a few things, one was to check the float in the carburettor which was fine, and the other was to check the idle jet. I wasn’t sure which was the idle jet and I didn’t want to mess with the settings, so when Jason who looks after the car for […]

W123 Idler arm bushing replacement

The 280CE came back to the warehouse to replace the idler arm bushings. The simple description of the idler arm is that it is the part that attaches to the steering linkage from the passengers side to balance the pittman arm which connects the steering box on the drivers side. Bad bushings in the idler arm mean that the steering system is not as ‘tight’ as it should be, can cause vibrations, poor alignment and so on. It is also often the cause of squeaking or groaning sounds coming from the steering.

The 280CE was not aligned properly, and replacing […]

2014 ACT Terribly British Day

I had to be in Canberra today, so I swung by the 2014 ACT Terribly British Day. It was quite a nice little car show with a decent mix of British cars. I was glad to go as the Sydney show was rained out this year and I had not taken the 450SLC on a good road trip for a while.

Some of the cars I liked were a very original looking Bentley S1 Continental, a couple of nice Jaguar XK140 FHCs, and a former vice regal Rolls Royce Phantom V that took Sir William Kerr to make his announcement […]

Retrosound model 2 knob adjustment

Previously I had started re-looking at the faceplate of the Retrosound Model 2 I have installed in the DS. The biggest issue is fitment of the secondary knobs. In my first attempt, I had tried to file away small holes in the side of the cubby housing for them to fit, but I found that they jammed easily and interfered with the primary knobs.

My next attempt was to file down the knobs so only the small handle would be left. This is a design that has been used in many other radios in the past, but Retrosound don’t seem […]