May 2014
FEATURES
Citroen Cabriolet
(Continued from Page 1)
he recalls, “but I was retiring and
needed a large project to take up a
lot of my time and thought.“
“From some psychology reading
of years ago, I learned you can get
a lot of satisfaction from undertak-
ing a creative project and that time
can fly,” Weisman explained.
“Years ago, I rebuilt a couple of
engines and even longer ago up-
graded very early home dialysis
machines for the University Hos-
pital in Denver. I figured those
activities would certainly help.”
They helped alright. Still, what
Weisman calls his “magnum opus
of mechanics” figuratively threw
wrenches into his project many,
many times, to the point where he
nearly gave up.
Unlike most cars, for instance,
Lazarus and his Type C kin have
wooden bodies. This body, not
large, but more the size of a small
rowboat with a pointed rear, put
on the brakes of progress because
it was dry-rotted out.
He’d have to completely create
one. “Rebuilding a wooden chas-
sis without specifications was ex-
tremely difficult.” However exas-
perated he found himself mid-task,
Another of the project’s many
cliffhangers involved a missing
drive shaft gear. They are no longer
made, you see.
Yet again Weisman was not pre-
pared to throw in the towel. So he
contacted a local foundry to make
the gear. “Yes,” said the maker of
many things metal, “I can do it for
you. It will cost you $25,000. But
once I have created the die, I can
sell you a second one for $50.”
As many people would, Weis-
man found this too much to pay, in
fact, way too much. So after all of
his meticulous work, our vintage
car mechanic gave up. Lazarus
could not rise again.
Weisman, adopted a philosophi-
cally rueful stance on having had
learned many things, including,
for what it was worth, that a local
hardware store situated a stone’s
throw from his house is the best
place to buy metric fasteners.
One stalled year slipped by
before serendipity crossed Weis-
man’s path like a white cat: In
France with his wife, artist and
photographer Ruth Ross, Weisman
located a man in Bordeaux whose
father had owned a Type C. The
son was parting out that ancient
rig, and amazingly, Weisman was
able to buy an old differential with
that requisite gear still in it—and
for fraction of the cost of a found-
ry-made one.
Hallelujah! The game was again
afoot and posing myriad addi-
tional challenges, things like a
dashboard covered with green
house paint which, when removed,
revealed beautifully preserved
The Southwest Portland Post • 5
The initial assembly process resulted in a restored Citroen C3 Cabriolet structure, slightly
smaller than other Citroen C3's of its day. (Photo courtesy of Ruth Ross)
mahogany.
Then, of course, there was the
cloth top hanging in “rags of time”
status; it needed fashioning from
scratch. Weisman still raves about
the small miracle a local automo-
tive upholsterer did to create a
water-tight, detailed, dark green,
nearly black top.
Now, seven years later, Lazarus
has almost risen from obscurity
and decay, donning beautiful dark
green wheels and a key-lime-pie-
colored body. Soon, we will see
that miraculous French treasure
thread its way through the com-
Breakfast Special!
munity, running on regular, pull-
ing 40 miles per gallon. There is
one more glitch, though, just one:
a logy gas pedal. Oh, the labors of
love! Then, voila!
When asked if he would like to
sell the car, the answer was “no.”
Then would he like to raise another
Citroen spirit from the dead, create
“Magnum Opus Mechanical II?”
Weisman minced no words: “No.”
If we’re lucky, Lazarus will rise
completely, just in time for the
Multnomah Days Parade in Au-
gust. So much depends on that
sleepy gas pedal.
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Water Main Construction Scheduled in
SW Hillsdale Neighborhood
The Portland Water Bureau will
begin construction on two Capital
Improvement Program projects in
the Hillsdale neighborhood in early
summer 2014.
Phase 2 of the SW Carolina Mains Project is scheduled to start in June-
July 2014. Contractors will install 3,400 feet of new 24-inch diameter pipe
from the intersection of SW Burlingame Avenue and SW Chestnut Street,
north along SW Burlingame Avenue, then turn east on SW Burlingame
Terrace down to SW Terwilliger Boulevard. Once on SW Terwilliger
Boulevard, the construction will continue north until the traffic island at SW
Capitol Highway where new underground vaults will be installed. The project
will take approximately 8-9 months to complete.
Construction starts early this month on the Newbury and Vermont
Street Bridges on Barbur Boulevard, near the Hillsdale exit. The
project is expected to take four months.
Traffic will be reduced to one lane in one direction on one bridge at a
time, around-the-clock, seven days a week. When a lane is closed on
one bridge, the other will have all lanes open.
For more information on traffic impacts, visit the project website at:
www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION1/Pages/newbury_vermont/index.aspx
The Bertha Service Area Improvement project is scheduled to start in
June-July 2014. Contractors will install approximately 2230 feet of 8” main
and 375 feet of 4” main from the intersection of SW 14th Avenue and SW
Westwood Drive down to SW Martha Street, across Martha Street, and up
SW 18th Drive until just past the intersection with SW 18th Place.
Typical work hours for both projects will be 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday
– Friday, with the option of working on Saturdays. The project will take
approximately 4-6 months to complete.
Please contact Terry Black, Public Outreach, at 503-823-1168 or terry.
black@portlandoregon.gov with any questions. For updates and maps visit:
www.portlandoregon.gov/water/swcarolina or www.portlandoregon.
gov/water/berthaarea