Celia's coming home.....

Well Celia was finally on her way home and in my mind once home she would really feel like mine and reality would sink in. It would provide the proof that this wasn't just a dream, proof that I had not just found any Citroen DS but I had managed to find my DS, one which ticked all my boxes even the ones I thought I'd need to compromise on. Even the colour was to my liking but more to come on this... 

Before she got home my main concern was how to get her here safely. My D had not started in over 20 years and a non starting D isn't easy to move - without the engine driving the hydraulic pump the suspension will not rise and the car will just sit cm's away from the floor. A D that is sitting on the floor is in no condition to be moved anywhere due to the risk of seriously scrapping/denting the underneath.

A plan therefore needed to be put in place, what made things harder was the fact that even though my garage had a nice flat solid surface the driveway was graveled, which would make it impossible to push the car in and out of the garage. I had considered hiring a trailer and bringing her home myself, I had seen how carefully placed planks of wood could be positioned to get the car onto the trailer, providing the trailer was left unhooked so it could tilt back as you loaded it. The trailer would need a winch of course. I quickly went off this route simply due to the risks involved, especially as I wouldn't have a helper that day - not to mention the fact that the car wouldn't be fully insured if anything untoward occurred on the journey or even when loading. Hiring a professional with a slide and tilt recovery truck seemed to be a good and safer option but pricey,  I also knew a recovery man named Chris that had a flat bed style recovery vehicle but this style of truck would have made it impossible to load. 

This was further confirmed when I spoke to Chris -  he wouldn't be able to get her on his truck unless she could lift. One option I considered was the trick  of disconnecting the coil and turning the engine to allow the starter motor to turn the hydraulic pump which will eventually lift the vehicle off the ground. This method works providing you have a fresh battery, LHM in the tank and no hydraulic leaks. It looked like the route I'd be taking for the Monday morning but the weekend had to pass by first, and a better idea was about to come to light.

That weekend was the Citroen Car Club's (CCC) Technical event which was held at Graham Morton Vehicle Services in Holmbridge. The CCC technical weekends are organised around the country and are held at various Citroen specialists across the UK. To me they've become the highlight of my calendar, spending the day or weekend with like minded people who want to learn about their cars in the safety of expert eyes is a great opportunity and the fact that drinks and nibbles are supplied is a bonus. Graham Morton specialises in older Citroen's and a nice crowd of us gathered around Nigel Wild and Graham who provided great insight and were available to answer all of our many questions. We also had the chance to get a D up on the ramps and have a good look underneath. During the course of events Graham showed a group of us a cylindrical plastic object 25mm in diameter and approximately 100cm in length, none of us could guess what it was for. 

When it's role was revealed, it turned out to be the solution I had been looking for and Graham kindly gave me a length he had left over which when home I subsequently cut into 4 equal pieces. These hard plastic rods are inserted into the suspension ram/cylinders and keep the car raised permanently by exerting a downward force on the ram piston. The first step is to depressurise the system, jack each corner up at a time and remove the sphere,  insert the plastic rod into the cylinder/ram, screw the sphere back on and bring that side back down. Great I thought, the car is finally mobile and can be wheeled about with ease, exactly what I needed. I later found out that this is an old tip and traditionaly broom handles have been used, if you are to use wood its important to use wood that doesn't splinter easily, so don't jump to the broom handle too quickly...!

Now that the car was at a respectable height she was winched onto the flat bed with ease. One thing to note when securing a DS on a recovery truck, it's a good idea to take the rear wings off as it makes it easier to secure the wheel straps around the rear wheels and on to the flat bed. For further information I thoroughly recommend reading the CCC forum sticky on Towing a DS.

The  journey home was straight forward with no dramas, I didn't expect any either as I had used Chris before, 07588 561469, he owns his own truck and drives it himself. Using a reputable one man show has its merits, overheads are lower which leads to great rates and since the buck ends with one man there is pride in giving a good service.

I slept well that night knowing that Celia was home, and I looked forward to properly examining her over the coming days and weeks.