Sometimes new parts are not better

My E-Type has had ongoing problems with the brakes holding on. This has been on and off since I bought the car in 2010. Over that time, I have pretty much renewed the entire braking system. Turns out, that might be part of the problem. What I have learned, is that the reproduction E-Type Master Cylinder can be problematic. So much so, that rebuilt units are probably better.

The unit on my car was only around 18 months old, and it was clearly the problem here. When removed and bench tested, the piston was obviously sticking in the bore. The […]

W126 A/C almost blowing cold

My fight with the W126 Air Conditioning system is almost over. When I purchased the car, the A/C worked rather well. After the water pump gave out, it looks like it shorted out the compressor clutch. Changing out the clutch is not much different to changing out the whole compressor, so I sourced a new compressor and receiver/drier. This was rather irritating as working air conditioning was factored into the price I paid for the car.

I went through the entire climate control system of the car as part of my troubleshooting. I found that the car had a missing […]

Citroen DS front end wiring – part 2

My efforts in getting the wiring right at the front of the DS continue to disappoint. This time, I made a harness to test multiple wires at the same time.

This helped somewhat, but I think there may be something not hooked up right at the headlights. As my car has been fitted with relays, the headlights should both come on at the same time from the passengers side wiring. They kind of do, except one side is only on very dimly when the other side is on full. So I also need to check the actual headlight connections. […]

Citroen DS Mirrors

One of the first and easiest jobs after the repaint was to fit the Citroen DS Mirrors. Before the repaint I was continually having the mirrors adjust themselves at speeds above 80km/h. That is, they would slowly fold inwards until they were touching the car. I was also disappointed with the quality of the previous mirrors, so purchased new ones of a higher quality. These are the correct smaller mirror for an 1970 car like mine.

This time, I was determined to have a better solution. Instead of using the fiber washer that came with the mirror, I decided to […]

Citroen DS Window Adjustment

The windows in a Citroen DS are frame-less. This means they need careful adjustment so they seal properly and wind up and down to the correct height. When my car was painted, the panels were refitted much better than before – they now generally line up! A proper panel alignment meant my doors were in slightly different positions than before the paint. Not only that, but the window alignment wasn’t great either. Therefore, my Citroen DS needed a window adjustment before the door cards could be refitted.

There are two adjustment points. The first is the angle of the […]

2017 Rolls Royce Concours

The 2017 Rolls Royce Concours was held at historic Linnwood House, Western Sydney. As usual, they had a number of guest clubs including the Antique and Classic Car Club, Rover, Alvis, Wolseley, Jaguar, Range Rover etc. For some reason the Rover display was very small – perhaps they had another event running at the same time? I attended in 2015 when the Rover club was also a guest and they had a large selection that year.

This is a nice event. It is not well known by the general public and has a relaxed atmosphere. As usual there was […]

E-Type brakes, holding on for dear life

I’ve owned my E-Type for over 5 years now. During my ownership there has been one issue that has consistently plagued the car – brakes that do not release when they should. Over my ownership I have replaced pretty much the entire braking system, and some components twice!

A couple of months ago, I had the master cylinder and booster replaced. At first, I thought this had fixed the problem as the very uneven pedal pressure was gone. However, sure enough after a couple of more sustained uses of the brakes, the non-release problem was back.

This time, I suspect […]