Last night’s drive was a variation of one we did a few months ago. Originally it was to start from the eastern side of Galston Gorge, and then follow the previous route. That took us along Cattai ridge road, Halcrows road, Wisemans Ferry road and the Old Northern Road. I always enjoy this drive, as it’s a nice cruisy route and there are almost...
Yesterday was the 2022 ACT German car show. It was the first since 2019, with the 2020 and 2021 events unfortunately cancelled due to COVID. The ACT show always punches above its weight in that it attracts not only the large base of cars from the Canberra region, but normally has cars drive in from southern NSW, northern Victoria and often a few...
This weekend I drove to Canberra to attend the ACT German car show. I will cover the show itself in a separate article. I chose to drive down Saturday afternoon to properly attend the show. Canberra is about 320km from where I live in Sydney, and about a 3:30 drive. If I was just going to view the display, it would be possible...
I am currently in the process of installing a period correct Becker Radio in my 560SEC. In part 2, I had the system up and running. The final task was to tidy up the installation and re-install all the trim. The first step was to properly organize and tidy up the wiring. I wanted a neat install, and to hide all the wires out...
In part 1 of this series, I had begun installing a Becker Mexico 1402 in my 560SEC. I had planned out my install and done the core wiring for the Becker itself. Today, my goal was to complete the wiring of the ancillary components and test the system. I decided to use two X30 harneses for the install. I had four available plugs on...
Today I attended the September 2022 Machines and Macchiatos event. This is my second time to this event, I managed to attend the December 2021 event last year. Since my last time at the event, they have a new location at Northern Beaches Christian School in Terrey Hills. I was supposed to be at the All French Day today, but it was cancelled...
My 1987 UK Market 560SEC was originally sold with Becker Mexico Cassette player (option 251). I’ve been planning for a while to re-install a period Becker radio, with a few of my own upgrades. My first task was to research the radios and purchase a suitable unit. I ended up purchasing two radios, Becker 1402 and Becker 1480. As the skills and parts to...
I’m currently planning to re-install the Becker Radio in my 1987 560SEC. At the same time I will be installing a small amplifier, a bluetooth FM Injector and a couple of unobtrusive USB charging ports. The second generation W126 wiring harness provides a factory way of adding additional accessories. This is the X30 power block. Up to 8 accessories can be connected using factory...
Today I was supposed to be attending the All British Day at the Kings School. Unfortunately the event was cancelled after the weeks of torrential rain here in Sydney. The grounds keepers judged that the fields would be too wet for the cars and spectators. In lieu of this event, the JDCA organized a replacement event at short notice. The last All...
The Becker 374 Mexico Cassette Vollstereo Reverse was the standard radio installed in the S-Class from 1979-1981 models in Australia. It was seen on the last of the W116s and I believe the early W126 too. This radio replaced the 485, the last of the pinstripe models in the W116s. It was the last of the older style radios with knobs to be found...
I’ve ben grappling with a stuck ignition key on my 280SE W116 for some time. In part 1 I finally managed to move the key to position 1, but could not unscrew the collar to remove the tumbler. In part 2, I tried a special tool, and then attempted to remove the whole steering lock. As the collar and tumbler was still on the...
When I purchased my 560SEC, the A/C was not working. It hadn’t even been converted to R134A. I suspect it had never worked while in Australia. The car came out of Queensland, and I’m not sure I would want to drive a car without a car up there. The long time owner was in the Army, I guess tougher than me! When I...
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