22 July 2012
Simple Solutions
22/07/12 05:14
On Monday in the front parking lot at work was a 1971 Citroen touring car. John, one of my coworkers, had completely restored it. He redid the interior, overhauled the engine, even repainted it himself. It may just be a ’71 Citroen but it looks very nice. He had owned a couple of them when they were new and always loved the car. He picked this one up a few years ago in Seattle, trailered it back and after a lot of work has it running better than it did out of the factory. Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera with me so as a result, I don’t have a picture of John’s car, but here’s an example of what this car looks like.
Photo Credit: Flickr, ProgRocker77
Though John’s looks MUCH nicer. Green metal-flake lacquer. The finish looks almost liquid. The interior is beautiful. The engine purrs like a kitten. John did a very good job.
Notice though, the rear wheel on this car. There’s no wheel arch, the tire is mostly covered with bodywork. I asked John how you change the tire and here’s what he said:
“It’s simple”
I love when they start with ‘it’s simple’. It signals that ‘simple’ will have nothing to do with the process.
“First you adjust the suspension to the highest”
This Citroen has a hydraulic suspension that was adjustable by the driver. You could make the car tall with more suspension travel for comfort and a smooth ride, short with very little travel for a firmer ride for better handling, (though I can’t imagine thrashing this car through a twisty Alpine road) or anywhere in between. For its day it was an amazing feature.
“Then you take out the stand.”
No jack, that would be too simple. It has its own custom stand.
“Halfway between the front and rear tires is a bolt sticking out of the frame. This is the jacking point. You put the stand under this bolt on the side where you have the flat tire. Then you get back in the car and adjust the suspension to its lowest. The car will settle down onto the ground but the two tires on the side with the stand will be off of the ground.”
OK I thought this is interesting but you still haven’t told me how you get to the rear tire. The front tire is no problem, it has a proper wheel arch but the rear still has the fender in the way.
“Then you go to the back of the car. At very back of the fender just above the bumper is a bolt.”
You unbolt the rear of the car?
“You remove the bolt. They were very smart. It’s the same size as the bolts that hold the wheels on so you only need to carry the one wrench.”
Unlike, I thought, all other cars that don’t need a bolt or a wrench because they have a proper wheel arch.
“You remove the bolt, and then the fender swings out. The fender is held in place by the bolt and two pins from the back of the door jam. Swing the fender out and lift it off the car. Then you can set the fender to one side while you work.”
Mental note: Only get a flat in this car near grass. Otherwise you will a fender full of paint scratches. I mean seriously, if you get a flat at midnight in the rain on the driver's side on the highway, where are you going to set the fender while you work? I suspect that keeping the fender looking good might not be a priority. More to the point though, to fix a flat you have to take off the rear fender? Seriously?
“Now you have full access to the wheel or the brakes or the suspension. Isn’t that clever.”
Yes, it isn’t.
No, I’m being a bit too sarcastic. It is clever. Sometimes though, and I see engineers do this all the time, there are clever solutions, but there are also simple solutions that work better. Wheel arches are simple and they work. Get a flat, jack the car, replace the tire and you’re on your way. Being able to replace my shocks or brake pads on the side of the road by removing the rear fender with the tire iron just isn’t something that’s ever come up.
But all that aside it is a pretty car and I’ll try to get a good picture of it in coming weeks.
And now a couple of fishing stories.
First, for those of you that like to fish, BC is a great place. There’s salmon, there’s flounder and halibut, and there’s cod. Inland you can reel in trout, and there’s even monsters. No I’m not exaggerating. This week a couple from Salisbury, England were fishing on the Fraser River and hooked into a sturgeon. An 1100 pound, 12 foot long sturgeon. (OK up here it was a four meter, 500kg sturgeon). Best of all for anyone that might be thinking of trying their luck out here, that stretch of the Fraser is Catch And Release only. They took some pictures and then let it go. It’s still out there if you want to try for it.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/07/20/bc-massive-fish.html
If you’d like to dry some deep water fishing there’s this story from Ucluelet, on the other side of the Island. This couple was fishing offshore in their little boat. They had done well the day before. This day was going well too when they saw some whales playing around. Then one of the grey whales started playing with their boat. Very spooky. But no harm was done and they got some good footage. My favourite part though was when they decided to get out of there and the guy turns to his wife and says “Here, hold my rod”. Dude, the ROD should be the last of your worries. And note - no lifejackets!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/07/20/bc-video-whale-boat.html
Doug & Marsha.
PIX: It’s been raining and we’ve been harvesting, one cucumber, a quart of peas, and a couple of gallons of raspberries, and there’s several construction projects going around here, and we moved the freezer to the laundry room, and...and...
Well, whatever the reason, no pix this week. Sorry.
Photo Credit: Flickr, ProgRocker77
Though John’s looks MUCH nicer. Green metal-flake lacquer. The finish looks almost liquid. The interior is beautiful. The engine purrs like a kitten. John did a very good job.
Notice though, the rear wheel on this car. There’s no wheel arch, the tire is mostly covered with bodywork. I asked John how you change the tire and here’s what he said:
“It’s simple”
I love when they start with ‘it’s simple’. It signals that ‘simple’ will have nothing to do with the process.
“First you adjust the suspension to the highest”
This Citroen has a hydraulic suspension that was adjustable by the driver. You could make the car tall with more suspension travel for comfort and a smooth ride, short with very little travel for a firmer ride for better handling, (though I can’t imagine thrashing this car through a twisty Alpine road) or anywhere in between. For its day it was an amazing feature.
“Then you take out the stand.”
No jack, that would be too simple. It has its own custom stand.
“Halfway between the front and rear tires is a bolt sticking out of the frame. This is the jacking point. You put the stand under this bolt on the side where you have the flat tire. Then you get back in the car and adjust the suspension to its lowest. The car will settle down onto the ground but the two tires on the side with the stand will be off of the ground.”
OK I thought this is interesting but you still haven’t told me how you get to the rear tire. The front tire is no problem, it has a proper wheel arch but the rear still has the fender in the way.
“Then you go to the back of the car. At very back of the fender just above the bumper is a bolt.”
You unbolt the rear of the car?
“You remove the bolt. They were very smart. It’s the same size as the bolts that hold the wheels on so you only need to carry the one wrench.”
Unlike, I thought, all other cars that don’t need a bolt or a wrench because they have a proper wheel arch.
“You remove the bolt, and then the fender swings out. The fender is held in place by the bolt and two pins from the back of the door jam. Swing the fender out and lift it off the car. Then you can set the fender to one side while you work.”
Mental note: Only get a flat in this car near grass. Otherwise you will a fender full of paint scratches. I mean seriously, if you get a flat at midnight in the rain on the driver's side on the highway, where are you going to set the fender while you work? I suspect that keeping the fender looking good might not be a priority. More to the point though, to fix a flat you have to take off the rear fender? Seriously?
“Now you have full access to the wheel or the brakes or the suspension. Isn’t that clever.”
Yes, it isn’t.
No, I’m being a bit too sarcastic. It is clever. Sometimes though, and I see engineers do this all the time, there are clever solutions, but there are also simple solutions that work better. Wheel arches are simple and they work. Get a flat, jack the car, replace the tire and you’re on your way. Being able to replace my shocks or brake pads on the side of the road by removing the rear fender with the tire iron just isn’t something that’s ever come up.
But all that aside it is a pretty car and I’ll try to get a good picture of it in coming weeks.
And now a couple of fishing stories.
First, for those of you that like to fish, BC is a great place. There’s salmon, there’s flounder and halibut, and there’s cod. Inland you can reel in trout, and there’s even monsters. No I’m not exaggerating. This week a couple from Salisbury, England were fishing on the Fraser River and hooked into a sturgeon. An 1100 pound, 12 foot long sturgeon. (OK up here it was a four meter, 500kg sturgeon). Best of all for anyone that might be thinking of trying their luck out here, that stretch of the Fraser is Catch And Release only. They took some pictures and then let it go. It’s still out there if you want to try for it.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/07/20/bc-massive-fish.html
If you’d like to dry some deep water fishing there’s this story from Ucluelet, on the other side of the Island. This couple was fishing offshore in their little boat. They had done well the day before. This day was going well too when they saw some whales playing around. Then one of the grey whales started playing with their boat. Very spooky. But no harm was done and they got some good footage. My favourite part though was when they decided to get out of there and the guy turns to his wife and says “Here, hold my rod”. Dude, the ROD should be the last of your worries. And note - no lifejackets!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/07/20/bc-video-whale-boat.html
Doug & Marsha.
PIX: It’s been raining and we’ve been harvesting, one cucumber, a quart of peas, and a couple of gallons of raspberries, and there’s several construction projects going around here, and we moved the freezer to the laundry room, and...and...
Well, whatever the reason, no pix this week. Sorry.