Citroën made sparewheel-holders for the enginebay as an accessory. I had one on my 2CV, so I desided to make som replicas. It works very well, have a slim, lightweight design and the pice going to the front is hinged, for better access to the engine. I also made it to carry a universal jack to replace to stock 2CV one. This jack I just put under the suspension arm, so no stress on the body, and the wheel comes off the ground in no time.

Citroën sparewheelholder-replica:


And for 2009, even with paint! :


I think there was som odd arangement on some old Belgium 2CV's. With the sparewheel in the boot, a floor over it, like dyane and AMI. The clue was, it was possible to remove it out of the car between the backlights, so it was not nesessary to remove luggage from the boot!
Maybe som home-made thing I did see a picture off?!

My wife’s Raid 2CV has an original spare wheel holder fitted, bought from Citroën. It is so easy to fit on left hand drives. It is a different story for the English right hand drive. The battery is placed in a lightly different position and in the way when you try to fit the left hand holder. RHD have other issues, master cylinder, demister tubes feeding the right hand side of the windscreen and the attachment on the front lamp holder where the adjustment for lamps is fixed.
The air filter housing need to be modified or move it over to the left side like ACA filters. A fiddly job.

Ouch...didnt think of that. Why do they drive on the wrong side of the road there anyway?!

I found the best solution was to make a wheel well on the bonnet. It was easy to get to and became the first choice as a spare. I still had a second spare in the boot. It does collect water as the second photo shows, but hey, thats what ducks thrive on. To empty the water, open the bonnet and tilt right back. With practice, you can tilt it so that all the water splashes onto the air vent and ends up inside the car, so that you don't waste any of the precious stuff!

Points to watch when making the wheel well include placing it back as far as possibl, so that the front clears the aircleaner. It only needs to be 50mm deep. The wheel is held in by a cup bolt going through the hub hole and into a hole drilled in the bottom of the wheel well. Weld a washer on the hole for strength. Choose the diameter carefully AFTER you have procured the wheels and tyres that you intend to use. Add 1cm to the new tyre diameter to get a close fit in the well.

I bought the metal from a sheetmetal shop. They cut the side (75mm wide from memory) and bent a rightangled lip to it. They suggested about a 5mm lip, as once you tack weld one end to the circular well bottom, it will bend as you tack weld it right around the circumference without rippling. The reason for the 75mm height is to give enough metal to play with, given that the bonnet curves both fore and aft and left to right. Plus you have all those ripples to contend with. After welding the well onto the hole in the bonnet, grind off the excess metal and the weld excess before smoothing by filling with bog. Use seam sealer on the bottom of the well, both inside and out.

Lookds appropriate for a Raid vehicle

Daffy Duck

Nice! Any pictures of the making of the wheel-well?

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos when making the wheel well. Once you get the circle for the base the correct size (10mm larger diameter than a new tyre on a wheel pumped to the correct pressure), measure the circumference and add 100mm. This should be the length of the side.

Use the circle base as a template to mark where to cut the hole in the bonnet. The hole should be 100mm from the bonnet hinge (40mm from the windscreen washer jet). This clears all of the under bonnet bits and pieces, including the air cleaner.

Tack weld about every 30mm as the side is bent around the base. Two people are needed, one to bend the metal and the other to weld it. When the side is completely tacked around, then trim the extra 100mm to about 50mm and spot weld (or tack) the double thickness. After tacking, we welded a seam the whole way round.

Position the base with attached side up into the hole in the bonnet. It should be 50mm deep, measured at the centre of the bonnet line (ie near the windscreen washer nozzle on the rear and opposite on the front). The extreme left and right sides will be less than 50mm deep because of the way the bonnet bends. Tack weld from the top in a few places to hold the position. Then flip the bonnet upside down and seam weld all around. Cut off the excess metal above the bonnet line. I am not sure if there was any seam welds done from the top of the bonnet. Otherwise, fill the crack between the bonnet and side of well. There will have been some distortion of the bonnet due to welding, so much of that will need to be filled with body filler. Finally use special seam filler both inside the wheel well and underneath where the base was welded to the side.

It is harder to explain than to do the job. The main thing is to keep it back near the hinge so it doesn't hit the aircleaner.

Daffy Duck

My Viking Van is also fitted with this well, not by me. It works "well" but the drain that was added is leading the water via a pipe straight down to the egde of the bonnet. The egde is now completely rotten so this solution is not recommended. What did you do on Daffy Duck John?

i had one on my purple 2cv. it didnt have any drainage, so eveytime i opened the bonnet water went into the car. Its now on oboes car, with drainage, a pipe down the car.

I didn't put a drainage tube on Daffy Duck. When it fills up, I just open the bonnet slowly so that it drains onto the car, just below the air vent. As I drive along, any remaining water is sucked out. At this stage I see no need to add a drain. For Australian Raids, water problems are (in order of importance):
1. Having none
2. Fording creeks that have water in them
3. Having warm water for a shower (difficult when 120 people attack the showers at once)
4. Having crocodile free water holes to swim in
5. Rain

Viking, you also mentioned that your wheel well is placed too far forward and rubs on the rubber elbow between the air cleaner and carby.

Daffy Duck

Yep, I changed rubber intake hose once a year until the hammer came in to play. My well is a fraction too deep + 10 mm too far forward.
Hey John, what about a drawing of your design for others to copy. Maybe start a new subject " How to make a spare wheel well"
I'm sure folks will appreciate it