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1953 Citroen Traction
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the info. I will be using 20/50 I think. I realised today, that when I joined TOC last year, they included a sheet in the welcome pack which gave some modern equivalent oil grades. Surprised that they didn't recommend a 'soft' EP90 for the gearbox.
The TOC website is very good, the tech sections are particularly useful and having access to all the back issues of the magazine online is also a good feature.
However the forum doesn't seem to get much use, only a couple of people have bothered to put restoration projects up and there is limited general chat., although responses to queries seem to be good and constructive.
I have been involved with a few single marque clubs that who have put up member only forums, and they do seem to take an inordinate amount of time to get any momentum, presumably due to the limited numbers of people with access. One some, you can go for days on end, sometimes weeks, with nothing new posted at all.
By contrast the VOC forum is open to all comers, members or not, and is quite lively and well used.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



And we have indicators!
The car has its standard semaphores in full working order but I am not confident that these are adequate for modern road conditions, so I have installed a suitably low key set of flashers using Rubbolites, which are LED and quite bright, but when switched off are reasonably unobtrusive.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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D4B



Joined: 28 Dec 2010
Posts: 2083
Location: Hampshire UK

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Neat Cool
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traction39



Joined: 19 May 2009
Posts: 399
Location: South Wales

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are the two white discs on the front of the wings also indicators? (LED's too?) Or, do you have dual bulbs in the wing-top Lucas indicators?
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Alistair

Citroen Light 15 1953, "12" 1939,
Riley 9 Special 1932
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The white discs on the front wings are actually reflectors and are, I would suspect, something to do with South African traffic regulations.
For the moment the front indicators are the small LED units as per the rear mounted under the bumper. I may eventually do what I did with my Austin and convert the Lucas sidelights with an extra orange bulb
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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traction39



Joined: 19 May 2009
Posts: 399
Location: South Wales

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is a picture of my rear lights for interest:



These are flush fit L594 indicator lights similar to those used in the fifties.

Also added a Lucas reversing light below the bumper. This operates off the gear change rods in the engine compartment using a mechanical break-light switch.
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Alistair

Citroen Light 15 1953, "12" 1939,
Riley 9 Special 1932
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like the reversing light idea. I may copy that.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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emmerson



Joined: 30 Sep 2008
Posts: 1268
Location: South East Wales

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really must admit to a touch of nostalgia here. (wipes tears from eyes!)
I had a 1955 Light Fifteen which Herself and I went on honeymoon in, in 1964. It was silver (or maybe very light grey?),with red interior, and IIRC, had a one-piece backrest, but separate squabs? It was a long time ago.
Lovely car which had to go when Herself found herself pregnant rather sooner than planned!
By coincidence, some five or six years later I bought a 1955 DS19, so I have owned one of the last 15s and first DSs.
That traction was the start of a love affair with Citroen which lasted until 1980, when my local Citroen mender/enthusiast retired.
Just last year though, I bought a Citroen Berlingo. Does that count?
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traction39



Joined: 19 May 2009
Posts: 399
Location: South Wales

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

norustplease wrote:
I like the reversing light idea. I may copy that.


I bought an original Lucas one on the usual on-line auction site... Rolling Eyes
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Alistair

Citroen Light 15 1953, "12" 1939,
Riley 9 Special 1932
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traction39



Joined: 19 May 2009
Posts: 399
Location: South Wales

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

emmerson wrote:
I really must admit to a touch of nostalgia here. (wipes tears from eyes!)
I had a 1955 Light Fifteen.....



Do you remember the registration number? May still be around...slim chance!
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Alistair

Citroen Light 15 1953, "12" 1939,
Riley 9 Special 1932
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emmerson



Joined: 30 Sep 2008
Posts: 1268
Location: South East Wales

PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

traction39 wrote:
emmerson wrote:
I really must admit to a touch of nostalgia here. (wipes tears from eyes!)
I had a 1955 Light Fifteen.....



Do you remember the registration number? May still be around...slim chance!

Yes I do! It was RLL 955
The DS was NBO 35, but I broke that for parts for my second one.
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had hoped to take the Traction out for DID, but was thwarted by the exhaust. I had noticed a few weeks ago that the front exhaust stay was missing, and the absence of this can cause the main manifold to crack as it them takes the stress from the rest of the exhaust. On closer investigation I realised that the bracket on the front pipe was absent also and so I ordered the relevant parts and set out last weekend to fit them. Sod's law of course kicked in and on closer inspection, after fitting the new front pipe, I realised that the middle pipe had been bodged into place, was welded at its back end (where there should be a flange fitting), and had had some welding on the front end which had left the flange at an odd angle and prevented it pulling tightly against the front pipe flange. Avoiding the temptation of a bodge, I downed tools and ordered the necessary bits again, and on last estimate from TNT, these should arrive tomorrow!!!

So, I went out for a rural ramble in the Volvo instead. Beautiful day, lots of other classics about.

Picture is of the Traction at this month's Corner House meet.


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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2015 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the Citroen front, I have been off the road for a few weeks, initially due to a misadventure with the exhaust of my Light 15.
To avoid cracking the exhaust manifold, it is inadvisable to run without the diagonal stay from the front pipe to one of the bell housing bolts. The stays often go missing when engines are removed and mine had gone AWOL, presumably in the refurb back in RSA.
I set out therefore to see what could be done. First handicap is a downpipe with no bracket for a stay. I considered fabricating something, and welding it on, but the pipe looked a little rusty and so I decided to buy a new front pipe and stay. These were ordered and duly showed up a week or so later. All the nuts unscrewed nicely and the old item came off quite easily without resorting to any brutality, but fitting the new left me with a centre pipe about 15mm too long and with a strange offset which tilted the mounting flange oddly. I had a good look at the system then, compared it with the exploded view on the Jose Franssen website, and realised that the rest of the system was a completely welded up solid entity, made up of standard parts and that short of bodging some kind of further adaptation with a sleeve and a re- welded flange at the engine end, it was unusable in its current form.
I decided to replace the rest of the system. When this turned up and was trial fitted, the silencer box fouled the noisy Facet electric fuel pump, which was on a plate bolted rigidly to the rear axle beam. No wonder it made such a racket.
This had been on my hit list ever since buying the car, I had a 12 volt SU ‘pusher’ on the shelf, but of course this now had to be fitted aft of the fuel tank and this involved re-plumbing the fuel lines, but most time consuming, also involved getting almost 40 litres of petrol out of the tank.
All good and complete, tipped in 5 litres of unleaded, turning on the ignition resulted in a smooth purr from the SU as opposed to the sound reminiscent of a frantic rodent trying to jackhammer its way out from under the back seat, but no fuel at the carb!
I had removed the rear filter, having read up on the likelihood of the SU stalling and burning out if an upstream filter blocked and apparently the SU is quite capable of passing a certain amount of debris without ill effect. However the top filter by the carb would not pass anything and was removed and replaced with a new disposable. Presumably when drained down, the sediment had dried into a solid mass that had sealed the insides of the filter.
This seemed to do the trick, the car started and ran, but would not idle, even when warm. I fiddled with idle mixture and tickover screw, but could not produce anything other than a fast uneven idle that still stalled at every junction.
So I took the carburettor to pieces. The float chamber was like the Mersey at low tide, and the idling jet full of sediment that, like the filter, had dried out into something akin to concrete, and half blocked it. Fortunately I had an overhaul kit, and set to, to strip it down and give the thing a good clean out.
I managed to get it back on, on Sunday and started up again, and the car ran loads better, however by then it was late evening and Bank Holiday Monday was full of family, so I have yet to brave a proving run, to see how she goes.
Factoring in the wait for spares delivery, it has taken me about five weeks to sort out. Funny also, how, as you get older, things seem to take longer and require the consumption of more tea!
I’ll let you know how the test drive goes when we get a decent evening.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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norustplease



Joined: 11 Apr 2011
Posts: 779
Location: Lancashire

PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 10:13 am    Post subject: At last...... Reply with quote

Tightened everything up again early Sunday afternoon and put back in the foam air filter material that replaces the old Brillo pad that was originally lurking in there. After an unpromisingly damp start to the day, the sun came out, so I went off for a drive. Cold starting was vastly improved, with a smooth transition from full choke to fast idle, which is something that the car has rarely ever managed before, and once on the road, the flat and sometimes jerky pick up after deceleration, seemed to have been eliminated, so all in all, a worthwhile exercise.
The general rule seems to be that it takes at least 10 miles to fully warm one of these up, and so after an initially cautious test circuit to make sure that everything was reasonably okay ( and from which I can quickly walk home) , I branched out and went further afield. I suspect that the main problem was twofold, a partially blocked idling jet and some air leaks into the mounting flange which I eliminated with new gaskets. It still feels as if it might be a little rich on idle, but I will let things settle down for a while before I fiddle again.
Oil change next.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV
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62rebel



Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 343
Location: Charleston, South Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

count me as another quite envious fellow... these are quite possibly the most beautiful cars ever built. I have seen two in the steel, so to speak; one was near Great Lakes NTC in Illinois, idled at a repair shop, in 1987; the other was here in Charleston SC, about fifteen years ago.. it was horribly mangled and rusted beyond recognition by any but true enthusiasts... but it WAS a Traction. I should have saved at least the engine and transmission, but it was a complete unknown quantity.....
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