2. The work has begun

We took the water pump off and I brought it back with me to East London to have it checked out for defects. On advice from Noel Wium here in EL, I took it to Mr. Pringle who has restored a few Citroen's in his lifetime, and he is of the opinion that it is in good condition, but one would only really know if it doesn't leak oil and if the fan turns once the engine is up and running again.

1. The work has begun

Meet Stephen who is doing the restoration. Here he is with the mudflaps.

Dating the Citroen

Robin Dyke has fed the information derived from the various places in the Citroen's engine (see blog entry dated Monday, February 12) into his database and sent me the following information:

• The 11CL means a Light 15 from Slough and the 6 indicates something like a minor change, e.g. the position of a brake pedal.
• The chassis number 9/532120 gives a probable build date of Friday 23rd April 1954. He said that he can not name the exact day, but there is a margin of about 10 working days. I think that is pretty close!!
• The BPVS mean Berline (Saloon), Petite Voiture, Sport (ie Light 15). Unfortunately it was not possible for us to read the coque number that follows on this, but as soon as the plaque has been cleaned up, I will send him the number.
• He thinks that from the photo, that the engine number is probably AN 18862,
  and it looks like a French "1" and he agrees that the 6 looks a bit indistinct.
• The 4MPVB78 (it's a B not an 8 as i initially thought) means the car is a 4 cylinder Moteur, Petite Voiture, Bore 78 mm.

Another photo of trip to Bloem

The trip to Bloemfontein

The Citroen is now in Bloemfontein and in the process of being restored. As mentioned in earlier postings, I needed to get to the farm to check on the numbers that Robin Dyke advised me on. The following numbers refer: - 11CL6 9 532120 (As I understand, that means it is not a ’48, ’49, but rather a 50's model.) - BPVS (This also show that it is a Light 15?) - AN48862 (# on the engine) and the number, - 4MPV878. I have e-mailed Robin the #'s and look forward to hearing back from him about my car's model. I will write more about the trip up later on - work calls, but I post some photo's so long.

Reg Taylor’s Citroen Light 15

See pictures of Reg Taylor’s (KZN) Citroen Light 15. He wrote that it has a pre-war body (1939), but was registered in 1946; being the 5th car to be released by Citroen on Monday the 6th May 1946 when Citroen resumed production after the war. The car was stored during the war in underground tunnels that linked the Citroen factory with a power station. He further said that his car is 100% original and has been restored with no cost spared, everything has been done to perfection, also that the engine, gearbox and under the car is immaculate.