Driving Spirit

04/09/2026

Returning from ‘the cut’ (canal system), I find that Steve has waded in to the next phase of DS renovation. And so a new consignment of repair sections has arrived for this new challenge.

04/09/2026

This is not entirely unexpected. I have never driven Bernard far enough to test the gearbox. A little drive up and down the yard, curtailed by a leaking fuel tank, ten years ago, seemed to indicate it was more or less okay. However, I knew this was very much up for further discovery once I’d had the chance of an uninterrupted test.
It’s far from terrible but it’s not perfect - there’s some bearing noise. And so I have taken a couple of semi-predictable steps backwards today in order to take a confident leap forward again.
It’s a bit like that at the moment. I’m sure we all experience times where moving forward meets with resistance on several fronts. But push, push, push and breakthrough finally comes!

31/08/2026

DS21 Video now available on Driving Spirit TV

https://youtu.be/dk0T8IuGp3s?is=I9URCzHYDbdIsKCK

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30/08/2026

Chasing down the little areas of rot…

30/08/2026

Edging forwards towards the line…

26/08/2026

This lovely DS21 Pallas had an incidental problem for us to investigate, while we had the dashboard apart. Every time the odometer rolled to the next ten, it would clock up scores or even hundreds of miles for a few moments before rolling the single units once more.
We discovered that the carriage spindle had worn the alloy housing around it into an oval and was being pulled backwards by the action of the worm-drive. This misalignment was allowing multiple columns of figures to roll at specific moments.
After some pausing for thought and dwelling on the issue overnight, Steve and I decided on the simpler of our two potential solutions and wired the carriage spindle forwards into its proper position, lubricating the wire and the aperture with a small amount of carefully applied grease.

26/08/2026

Windscreen panel and A panels spot welded, brazed and panel bonded, as appropriate, meaning the front end metalwork is complete. On to the rear now before we go into the paint room.

22/08/2026

Giving this old faithful its own album, our challenge is to go through the structure and make it sound again. As we do so we are finding a lot of bright red, causing us to wonder whether or not it was originally a Charleston. Still a very convincing job if not!

20/08/2026

This elegant representative of a time when Mercedes-Benz made brilliant cars has been Dynax rustproofed today.
Do you know someone whose car would appreciate this service?

19/08/2026

Reflective moments as we say farewell to Sally and an emotional reunion takes place.