1925 Citroen 5CV

[Ron McGr]

Hi guys,

The 5CV that I bought, is now safe and sound in Brisbane. It survived the long trip from Renmark to Moss Vale, then Moss Vale to Brisbane in very heavy rain.
Last time I drove a 5CV was when I was 16 tears old.
Now that I'm 72, I have discovered that things are not the same.
I cannot get in the drivers side door like I could as a kid. Have to get in the passenger side and slide across

I'm missing a part that maybe very hard to find, a speedo cable. The speedo is driven by a couple of cogs on the front wheel. I will probably have to get one made for it.
Anyone have any ideas?

Some pictures of the transfer.
First is loading up at Renmark, then me lashing it down on my trailer in Moss Vale, NSW, and the car itself.

Regards,
Ron

 

[Ron McGr]

Although the car looks really nice, I have discovered that the engine dumps oil (lots of it), handbrake needs a rebuild. Being the car is 97 years old, any seal that the engine had, leaks. I guess you would expect that.
I suppose my only option is to take the motor out, find out what type of oil seals it had, and try to replace update, what is there.

The good part is the car is so simple and easy to get the engine out.

 

[David S]

It is likely a scroll and thrower on the crankshaft without an oil seal. Maybe it simply has too much oil in the sump?

 

[56 Fregate]

Ron, congratulations on the find. If you keep a look out there will be information in coming weeks about our premier Fench car show in July, the little taka would draw a lot of attention I'm sure even if it were still on a trailer.

 

[Greenpeace]

Although the car looks really nice, I have discovered that the engine dumps oil (lots of it), handbrake needs a rebuild. Being the car is 97 years old, any seal that the engine had, leaks. I guess you would expect that.
I suppose my only option is to take the motor out, find out what type of oil seals it had, and try to replace update, what is there.

The good part is the car is so simple and easy to get the engine out.

If it only leaks when running maybe check the crankcase ventilation as well. Not sure about your model, but a lot of these older cars have a fine mesh screen that can clog quite easily.

My old 1926 Rover I bought from SA leaked like the Exxon Valdez as well, engine, gearbox and diff.
Most of the oil seals in it were made from either leather or felt.
Mind you the owner's manual said to check the gearbox and diff levels every 300 miles, so it didn't seem that there was much confidence in the oil staying put when it was new either.
It had little swinging doors held in place with wingnuts on these items for ease of lubricant level checking and filling.

 

[Greenpeace]

I'm missing a part that maybe very hard to find, a speedo cable. The speedo is driven by a couple of cogs on the front wheel. I will probably have to get one made for it.
Anyone have any ideas?

Probably check the speedo brand first, the drive on the wheel would most likely have been supplied by the same company. I think the French gauge suppliers used a pulley drive system off the tailshaft? Be interesting to see what make your speedo is, might be Aus market specific?

Maybe General Auto Cables in Sydney?

 

[rmac]

When my speedo 'cable' broke I used a leather sewing machine belt.

 

[Greenpeace]

When my speedo 'cable' broke I used a leather sewing machine belt.

My old Rover's Smiths drive just had a flat leather belt that wrapped around the tailshaft itself.
The geared arrangement on this one sounds a little more US in design, maybe Stewart, Jones or some such?

 

[Ron McGr]

Today I pushed the car out and washed the road grime off it from the trip, Renmark SA to Brisbane QLD, via Moss Vale NSW.
I pulled the floor panel up to remove the hand bake and get it working again.
I noticed that the car has had a complete body off repaint.
The car itself is almost in Concourse condition! A few pics attached

 

[Greenpeace]

Today I pushed the car out and washed the road grime off it from the trip, Renmark SA to Brisbane QLD, via Moss Vale NSW.
I pulled the floor panel up to remove the hand bake and get it working again.
I noticed that the car has had a complete body off repaint.
The car itself is almost in Concourse condition! A few pics attached

It does look nice in the photos, glad your happy with it.
I'm trying to make out your speedo in the photos but it's pretty blurry when I enlarge it.
Is it a Corbin by any chance?

 

[Ron McGr]

It does look nice in the photos, glad your happy with it.
I'm trying to make out your speedo in the photos but it's pretty blurry when I enlarge it.
Is it a Corbin by any chance?

I can do one better than that. Just took a photo of it. The fact that the needle is below the stop, it doesn't give me a warm feeling about it's condition. The guy I bought it from said it had done 48,000miles. Speedo doesn't reflect that.

 

[DoubleChevron]

You didn't drive it home ? Where is your sense of adventure!

what could possibly go wrong .....

 

[Greenpeace]

Duncan and Fraser fitted 60mph Corbin speedos to South Australian Model Ts so the timeline would make sense.
They are a highly regarded instrument, Harleys and Indians used them back in the day.
If yours is crook you could turn it into a "sports" model and fit one of the 80mph ones off a bike.
Someone in the model T club should be able to point you in the right direction for a cable.

 

[Ron McGr]

You didn't drive it home ? Where is your sense of adventure!

what could possibly go wrong .....

Will, seeing it idled very well, but did not like much pressure on the go peddle, it would have taken a long...long.. time

 

[Ron McGr]

Duncan and Fraser fitted 60mph Corbin speedos to South Australian Model Ts so the timeline would make sense.
They are a highly regarded instrument, Harleys and Indians used them back in the day.
If yours is crook you could turn it into a "sports" model and fit one of the 80mph ones off a bike.
Someone in the model T club should be able to point you in the right direction for a cable.

Mate you could be on the ball. TJ Richards made the bodies for a lot of cars in Adelaide and probably used lots of similar parts. I do have a GPS Bicycle speedo that will definitely do the job.

 

[Greenpeace]

You didn't drive it home ? Where is your sense of adventure!

what could possibly go wrong .....

I seriously considered driving from SA to QLD with a 1926 Rover and from WA to QLD with my Reliant. TF I didn't because neither would have made it out of sight on a dark night in spite of both sellers assurances that they drove perfectly. The front of the tailshaft in the Reliant was held in with one loose bolt in lieu of four tight ones and the Rover, let's just say I don't wish to hijack this thread. Buyer beware.

 

[Greenpeace]

Mate you could be on the ball. TJ Richards made the bodies for a lot of cars in Adelaide and probably used lots of similar parts. I do have a GPS Bicycle speedo that will definitely do the job.

Stay away from school zones and you shouldn't get done for speeding.

 

[Greenpeace]

Hey Ron I just had an epiphany in the middle of the night.
I assume being a 1924 model yours is magneto ignition? I believe only some of the 1922 models had points/coil ignition.
If it is magneto just make sure it has solid copper plug wires and plain (or no) spark plug boots. Magnetos do not like any form of resistance on the HT path.
You'd be surprised how old magneto equipped cars and bike's I've seen with modern silicone leads on them.

 

[Ron McGr]

Hey Ron I just had an epiphany in the middle of the night.
I assume being a 1924 model yours is magneto ignition? I believe only some of the 1922 models had points/coil ignition.
If it is magneto just make sure it has solid copper plug wires and plain (or no) spark plug boots. Magnetos do not like any form of resistance on the HT path.
You'd be surprised how old magneto equipped cars and bike's I've seen with modern silicone leads on them.

Thanks for that. I won't change the wires.

 

[DoubleChevron]

Will, seeing it idled very well, but did not like much pressure on the go peddle, it would have taken a long...long.. time

Your Citroen or the car on the youtube link? He does actually pull that carby down and clean it out and shows you how it works. Did you like the big enrichment jet that is adjustable from the cabin ? The Citroen carby is probably more basic as the car is older.