I think I mentioned the purchase in my van thread somewhere, but since I'm going to be doing some work on this car over the next few days I thought I'd make a thread for it.

We picked up this beauty... probably about 6 months ago now. It's... not brilliant, and maybe a bit expensive, but it did have a year MOT and Tax, and the seller delivered it to our door so can't complain really! Besides, since passing my test it's meant I can drive a 2cv instead of waiting for my van to be done, and it's been great fun!

Since I'm on holiday now though, and for monetary reasons described in my van thread, I'm going to do a little bit of work now on it, just to keep on top of the rust.

Here's what it looked like when we first picked it up;





When we got it we gave it a basic service, took off the silly bumper, then just enjoyed driving it really.



It still consisted of a frighteningly high percentage of duct-tape though.


So yesterday I drove it up in place of my van, and started pulling it apart. There's a strange sense of satisfaction doing that bit, I don't know why.

I was playing around with time lapse films as well, and took one of a couple of hours work on it, it's finally uploaded to youtube so if you're really bored you can watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyjNKI49W70

(It still says it's processing, so I don't know if anyone else can see it yet...)



That's what it looked like by the end of the day anyway. I'm trying to do one bit at a time, and not get carried away like I did with the van, so I'm concentrating on the battery tray and top right corner of the bulkhead at the moment. After that I'll do the bits that need the engine / gearbox out to get at, then start looking at all the other problems.





I pulled all the loose rust (And pop riveted plates) off the areas to see how bad it is.







I er... don't think the wiper spindles are the main reason why it's leaking...

The battery tray too -







Still, it's not as bad as my 400's bulkhead, definitely a case of repairing rather than replacing!

The top right corner I've cut out a piece of metal for, with the ends of the ripples in it. I'm going to cut out the old bit, and try and weld it in flush with the original metal, which should be interesting at that thickness. As for the battery tray, stuff it. I'm going to cut out all the rust, then weld plates over the top. It's easier, quicker, no one cares what it looks like under the bonnet, and in any case it would probably benifit from having slightly thicker material there, given the ease with which cracks form around the bottom corners of the tray.





I was going to try fitting those bits this afternoon, but rain has stopped play. Hopefully tomorrow.

A few other pictures of areas needing attention;



Erm... Given it's location, and the same corrosion all over the N/S suspension arm, I suspect the battery was at fault, I don't know if they can leak acid everywhere but I think something along those lines must have happened. Shouldn't be too bad to repair though.



Bugger... I can repair the hinge side, and the rest of the bonnet is fine. It seems stupid to scrap a bonnet for a few cm's of hinge panel, so I'll try and do something about it. I don't know if make that tight a radius curve with my equipment (Vice + lump hammer) but I'll give it a go.



Clutch release bearing needs replacing, tappets, timing and oil, but otherwise the mechanics seem to be fine.



I had to bump start it myself the other day, presumably because the mechano had come adrift on the starter motor wiring. The wiring definitely wants some attention.



Spot the odd one out?

you're a total legend. How did you learn to weld?

George,
if the hinge isn't too far gone, it's possible to reattach it to the bonnet by using some 4mm? diameter fence wire as a backing for your weld.
Not very pretty, but it does work.

While you've got the gearbox on the deck, maybe worth sorting out those known weaknesses, which include the security of the nuts at the rear of the mainshaft and pinion shaft and also peening the 2nd/3rd selector ring.
Maybe even replace the rear bearing on the mainshaft, depending on the mileage/frequency of gearbox oil changes in the past...



Closer view, peening selector ring to prevent 'unwinding'. by slcchassis, on Flickr


Peening g'box & replacing mainshaft bearing by slcchassis, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30132857@N ... hotostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30132857@N ... hotostream

shame the bulkhead didnt have

"battery boiled due to FUBAR regulator 67982"

" bodged starter wiring 679943"

etc

Sam - I first welded when my DT teacher handed me a torch and pointed me to an engine mounting bracket on a go kart, after that I decided it was fun and went halves with my dad on a welder for my 14th birthday. Then just taught myself from there - the mig welding website is really useful!

I'll have a look at the hinge and see what I can do, thanks for the tip! I think the last 30cm is so rusted it'll just disintegrate as soon as I touch it with a welder, but the rest might well be salvageable.

I'm building up to investigating a gearbox, I've got an unwound one (I think a dyane?) I want to rebuild, but you're right, it might be worth performing some 'preventative maintenance' on dad's box. I'll see how the time goes, currently it's bucketing down with rain, preventing me from doing anything much.



I know Sean! There's a strange absence of 'duct tape applied to bonnet hinge, 23/05/07' and the like.

To be fair the seller told us everything about it, we just wanted a 2cv to drive and didn't care much as long as it was road legal.

Finally! A break in the rain! Even a bit of sun in the afternoon.

All bulkhead related stuff today, firstly fitting the re-enforcement plates I made for the battery;









That's a bit better!

It's quite nice working on this one, I'm not trying to make it all perfect, but neither am I deliberately going for 'rat-look' or anything. Just repairing bits as and when they fall off / fail MOT, and generally keeping it going as a daily driven 2cv.

Now for the large rusty hole, that was a rather saddening sight every time you opened the bonnet...



Checking it fits



Cutting out the... I was going to say 'old metal' but that's pushing it a bit.



Tacked!



Welded (Horrible bit to weld)





Grinded / flapdiscded





Yellow!

That's just the primer, I'll do a couple of coats of something else on top, then some supposedly 'bleu celeste' paint on top of that. It's just halfords rubbishy rattle cans, but they'll do for now. With a bit of luck that'll all get finished off tomorrow. I think I'll just do the couple of other bits which need the engine / box out for access, then start servicing them and fitting them back in again, so as I can drive it - I'm getting impatient, it's all ready been a week!

Holes in doors need attention, the missing bit of front N/S floor, that acid-eaten wing and stuff all needs doing, but I can do them whenever really, without having to take loads of things apart to get at them.

(Moving the van to a barn on Tuesday, then I'll be able to work on it all through winter without any weather related excuses...)

A bit more done today, and I'm going up again this afternoon to reattach / bleed the brakes and so on.

I had a peep inside the gearbox, it's filthy on the outside, but the oil I drained from it was surprisingly clear, and not much stuff had built up on the drain plug. It might have just had a recent oil change, but either way the box looks fine inside to me. In fact, it's beautiful, opening a box for the first time! I just had to sit there and admire it for a bit.





Hopefully I've peened the right bit!

I also took of the back plate and checked the two nuts (I assume they're the ones you were referring to Ken? ) The top one I managed to tighten up a smidgen, and the bottom one wouldn't budge, so I assume they're all right. I'm not going to do the rear bearing now, mainly because I don't currently have one, and I'm impatient to drive it again!

This is how it looks now;



New gearbox mount, new drive shaft gaiters. The gaiters were horrible to put on, I must have spent an hour wrestling with them! The bodywork repairs don't look to bad to me though. The paint doesn't quite match, and you can still see a line where the old meets the new, but as dad said, it really doesn't matter on this car, it'll protect it and keep it going for another few years.

Going up again now to replace the clutch release bearing, sort out brakes, and maybe have a look at the rather dodgy wiring...

George,
excellent work...


...another feather in your cap!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... Mandan.JPG


ken

Thank you very much ken!

It's almost almost there now;





I've moved the van up to a barn now, so I want to finish this quickly and get back to work on Albert.

Engine back in place, tappets done, timing done (Dynamically! ) erm... new engine / gearbox oil, engine oil filter, engine mounts, all that sort of thing.

This is the first time I've actually put a 2cv back together.



I got a rather peculiar look from the local neighbourhood watch policeman, riding up the road with that on the back, but fortunately he didn't say anything.



The wiring had me baffled for a bit, but as soon as I stopped looking at the Haynes manual it all made sense. The only bit still to do on the electrics front is the mechano on the starter motor, and the dim dip relay. Ken - I watched you ripping it out of someone's car at Winchester, but I can't remember which connection needs bridging to which on the little connector block things. I'll have a peer later and see if I can figure it out, but otherwise anyone please feel free to tell me which it is

Oh, and I did the bonnet as well, although not attached the hinge wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, the whole length just about reusable. Your trick worked a treat, although I got bored of repairing every single hole...









I've cleaned that all up and painted it now... The only problem is I may have got it stuck!





Well, it's close enough isn't it? Maybe I'll just leave it like that...

Anyway, I'll be orf up there now, hopefully everything will be finished by lunchtime

Thanks for your help everyone!

Done!

To all intents and purposes.



Need to generally clean up the paintwork a bit, and feather the new / old paint on the bonnet slightly. Still haven't taken out the dim/dip relay yet, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything bad yet, so it can wait. The exhaust was blowing quite a bit, but I found a lovely stainless exhaust clamp under my bed (As you do) and it seems fine now.

The bonnet put up a real fight, I managed to get two wheels off the ground, that's how hard I was shoving it!

Eventually got it within a couple of cm's and tapped it in the rest of the way with a large hammer - no damage ensued

Oh, and only one nut and washer left over! I'm getting better at this. It seems to work fine without it...



Right, back to my van! I can just about keep up with the rate at which 2 2cvs rust, I'm hoping to build a racer as well, but I think that might have to wait until the van is done.