Citroen 2cv van restoration

[Wedg1e]

[Seems 'the man' (and his car) lives down by the Gironde, I guess not far from KemppiFrog and... the other forum member who lives on an island down there? I forget, sorry ]

Just saw this. Gemozac is not far and I have some friends there. I will ask if they know him. Quite like a chat about the car.
KF

Aha, I was mixing up two forums (fora?) - the Sea Kayak forum I used to visit has a Brit member who lives on one of the Gironde estuary islands (think it was where the Cockleshell raid chaps laid up)... I blame the rum for the mixup

 

[KemppiFrog]

That might be 'forae'

This might be a good moment to delve into history and put up a photo of an early prototype from 1936. As a result of German holiday trips, it did not hit the public until '48.

Blondie Haslar has always been a favourite of mine, not just for operation Franckton, but also for his sailing activities. He started the transatlantic race by betting Francis Chichester a half crown (2/6 pence for youngsters like George) on who could get across first.
While house-hunting here, I stayed a night at the hotel where he asked for help while escaping after the raid. It is full of momentos from visits by members of the SBS.

 

[Wedg1e]

Blondie Haslar has always been a favourite of mine, not just for operation Franckton, but also for his sailing activities. He started the transatlantic race by betting Francis Chichester a half crown (2/6 pence for youngsters like George) on who could get across first.

Speaking of sailing bods, we're currently engaged on a pipeline refit in sunniest Gosport.
When we got there last Tuesday I went to sign in at the security cabin and the guy who'd signed in above me was one R. Knox-Johnson
I checked with the security guy, it was indeed the man himself; there are a couple of racing yachts in the secure area next to Clarence marina, I guess he was checking the Plimsoll line or splicing the mainbrace or whatever...

I read somewhere that some Citroen (or was it Renault?) prototypes were walled-up when the Germans lobbed their beach towels about the place, and only rediscovered a few decades later during some reconstruction work.

 

[Gas mark 5]

Nothing to do with the somewhat bigger news currently, but I was wondering if there is anyone in Didcot at the moment with a welder I could borrow for half an hour? I've found myself in a bit of a bind, doing some work on the 2CV van, and found that the play in the wheel wasn't due to worn kingpin bushes, but the actual interference fit between the swing arm and the pin. For now I can run a hot bead of weld around the outside to shrink it, although I'm on the look out for a new arm anyway. But my welder is in Somerset, I'm in Didcot and my car looks like this:

So I can't really go anywhere... Is there anyone within walking (or cycling if it's a small welder) with a mig, stick, anything I could borrow for a few minutes? A grinder too would be ace, to V-out a groove for the weld, but I can stick at it with a dremel otherwise. Happy to reimburse with beer tokens or whatever your preferred currency!

 

[Gas mark 5]

Well Keegan from work came up trumps and lent me a stick welder. My trusty Dawes galaxy (older than the car!) stood me in good stead.

A few days ago however, I decided it was time to give the van a little bit of attention. The throttle had been sticking on, and it was starting to burn oil.

I found this in the carb float chamber

and this on the opposite side

The innards of the float valve - surprisingly this seemed to have very little noticeable effect, but I replaced it of course. The spindle on the second choke butterfly was slightly warped, which I rectified by hand as best I could, this seems to have cured the sticking.

While working on the van, I noticed why it leaks quite as much as it does

Which has been temporarily resolved with the judicious application of some aptly named tape

I have a new seal to go on there, just trying to find a vent flap in my pile of bits to fit it too.

The oil burning was of slightly more concern. I decided to strip the engine down a little, and I think it's time for a new barrel / piston kit. The originals must be on around 230,000, depending on the history of the engine, and carbon is now starting to build up actually in the wear ridge above the top ring. The only kits I can find immediately available are the 9.0:1 compression ratio ones, as fitted to Dyanes (and some later 2CVs? I'm not sure) instead of the original 8.5:1. I know they are more prone to pinking under load, but I believe this is only if the timing is not set correctly. Aside from this is a higher CR set likely to cause any issues?

 

[KemppiFrog]

I presume you know the german outfit that sell spares (up to a completly new car)? If a piston/ barrel set is needed I would be tempted to go for the later 650cc kit used in the Citröen Visa. No substitute for cubic inches (err cc) The 2CV engine is suprisingly complicated for a what one would think, in a peoples car. Piston wear is quite a problem, leading to seal leakage and other ills.

Like the tape..

 

[Animox]

That's my old van !

 

[KemppiFrog]

Hallo Animox and welcome. You must have been doing a bit of guggling to pop this up. Any more detail? Did you buy it off 'Gas Mark' or have it previously?
KF

 

[Sean]

Citroen themselves de tuned the Dyane engines in the Acad with standard 2cv pistons bringing comp ratio down from 9:1 to 8.5:1
9:1 kits usually cheaper as they are stocked as an upgrade. However your old pistons will probably give better compression than the new pattern ones as the casting is >ahem< variable! Think ECAS still open but usually closed mondays speak to Roy about your best option. Id fitted cheap kit to the Dyane and it was terrible the rings are really basic and think the bores are too tight.

if the barrels arent too worn at the tops and havn't gone triangular best bet is to hone the barrels and fit some decent rings.

9:1s dont give a great deal of advantage and your right the extra windage of the van back can load the engine up till it pinks. Have you upped the primarymain jet to a 107.5 yet? That will help with the mid throttle flatspot.

Sean

 

[KemppiFrog]

Just skimmed the thread and realised that I had put the german parts bunch in a while back..
Got a slight hit of 'Saudades' or nostalga.. so bits of details of my two:
Back in '73, I restored an Alpine 3 and upgraded it with a the bits from a 4 that I aquired, just after I finished, some dumb idiot pulled out in front of me in the dark and totaled both cars.
I had a Ginetta on order but that was a few months off. My insurance guy had mentioned some bloke with an old 2CV in N norfolk. So I chased it up. Seems he had played music in Hambourg and come back with a German wife, baby and a '58 2CV. Not running, but he wanted £10 for the two tyres he had bought.
He also was building a Warram Catamaran to go world cruising (!!) while living in a cararavan on a farm. I helped him out and with some problems on the boat plans and towed off the car. The carb butterfly was fluttering about in loose bearings, so I bushed them with some bronze bits and the engine ran OK. Exhaust was rotted out, so fixed that and for £16, I was on the road. It was the old 425cc motor, so very gentle commuting and with 6 volt lights, slightly braille at night.
Finally the Ginetta was ready and a student bought the 2CV off me for £50. Probably the biggest %profit on a car I have made..
The next one was when I wanted something simple and reliable going down to Portugal in '75 to see if things would work out there. A friend was bringing in Citroens from Belgium, as the MOT was tough and they were cheap, so mine was an ex post van, not that old at three yrs, but they turned them over quickly. The clutch was a bit duff, so changed that and set off. £120 at the time. Used it until the import got tricky after a couple of years, then gifted it to the customs bunch. The process was made deliberately tricky to protect the home sales back then.

Wonder how George is doing?

 

[Barking Mat]

I started reading this thread and then realised it was from 2011!

 

[Sean]

bumped in to him on the A1m or the M6 a couple of years ago as i was dragging the racer up the country...cant remember if he was in the van or not anyway had a nice chat.

and i know him from outside this forum.

 

[HopefullySoon]

@Sean

Does he still have it .

Would be cool if you nudged him to pop his head in

 

[Gas mark 5]

That's my old van !

Really? When did you own it? Are you 'Jolly Jack' himself?

@Sean

Does he still have it .

Would be cool if you nudged him to pop his head in

I do still have it, and I still stick my head in here from time to time
It's SORNed at the moment, as I have been driving ridiculous distances for work. After 5 hours on the M1 in windy conditions it's like you find your sea legs in a 2CV, then when you get out at the other end the ground keeps swaying and your ears ringing

My old Fabia SDI is doing the mile crunching for the time being, but I still give the 2CV a quick run every now and again, still starts first turn of the key.

 

[Beeder]

Just stumbled on this thread after looking for a suitable MIG welder to restore a 2CV , My first car at 17 was at 2cv and I kind of restored it myself but never could weld - fair play to this young man

30 years later and I’ve Just received this as a surprise birthday present ! This time round looks I will need to get dirty and learn

any tips on a welder ?

thank you Beeder

 

[malcolm]

Just stumbled on this thread after looking for a suitable MIG welder to restore a 2CV , My first car at 17 was at 2cv and I kind of restored it myself but never could weld - fair play to this young man

30 years later and I’ve Just received this as a surprise birthday present ! This time round looks I will need to get dirty and learn

any tips on a welder ?

thank you Beeder

I'm a Renault 4 fan. Get one that is really good at thin metal! It's really useful to have something that is stable at about 20 amps and that does remove the cheaper end of the market from the choices. I use a Portamig for mine. Tec Arc are the manufacturers and have many other model names of much the same thing. Tried a Lorch once and it was absolutely fantastic, but going up in budget there. Should imagine most of the other really nice stuffis also good. Avoid anything from Amazon, eBay or the DIY shacks like Machine Mart as they won't be all that useful for thin metal.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Sorry to veer slightly off topic but mention of Renault ^^ coincided with this press report today...... What Renault Clio does that speed?

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...-car-filmed-reaching-150mph-on-highland-road/

and they posted it on Facebook - how dim are they.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1075560556144983

Sorry for the swerve , as you were.

 

[KemppiFrog]

As another R4 fan (think I have had 12 odd of them), I taught myself to mig with a cheepie 110 unit back in '85. The car had big holes in the floor and generally rusty. 2CVs are even thinner in the body, so as Malcolm says, a unit that works at low amps and use the stitching methods. Get lots of practice on scrap before touching the car..

Slim, probably a Cup version? At 2lt and 175bhp.