I've got three out of four manifold nuts out without issue. The last one feels a bit breaky. I've decided to whip the fan off it and let it run for ten minutes while I put the coffee machine on. I'm hoping the heat will make things expand and contract and it'll be enough for me to get the last one out. If that doesn't work I'll chisel the bastard off.

I love the thrill of the jeopardy!

On the other hand, if I break it like a ham-fisted clot then I'm a bit fucked as I don't have any means of getting the remains of the stud out of the head here at home.

Get a cheap gas powered blowtorch and blast the little Fecker until red hot then quench with cold water - repeat as required until loose....

How about grinding the side of the nut away? that gets the strength is out and it should come off.

Got the nut off no problem. I'm still getting the train to work Monday though.

So, I ground through one side of the nut and chiselled the remains off, thought I was doing ok and then I remembered the car had odd spark plugs so I thought to myself 'I'll change them now while the knackered rubber cowlings are off'. Well that was where my little victory with the exhaust stud became overshadowed. When I removed the plug from the N/S head it came out with quite a lot of ally swarf and thread still attached to it. So, off I toddle to work to pick up another head anyways. This one is fine but it's one I did earlier and tapped out for M8 exhaust studs, which naturally I haven't got and never bothered ordering when I did the head. So somehow despite getting the original nut off I'm still unable to reassemble it until I've recified the exhaust manifold studs. FFS.

On the positives, the car's now fitted with a set of metal engine cowlings as the rubber ones had become utterly destroyed over the years.



Also, it's now got matching spark plugs both sides, like it's meant to.

I had a brief look at the front suspension and there's an assload of play in both trackrod ends, much more than I noticed the first time I looked. They're flapping around like a prick in a top hat. Hopefully they're simply maladjusted but I will take them apart once the engines back together and see what I'm in for there.

I've changed the front brake calipers, as the originals were kind of half siezed but importantly coated in loads of C.V. grease which was all over the discs and pads. I'm hoping that's what's caused the demise of the braking efficiency and now it's back together with new pads. If I'm wrong, and it has had the wrong fluid in it then I'm going to have to do what I initially planned and fit new seals to all the brake components, but fingers crossed I won't. The fluid looks quite clean, and uncontaminated. This mght be wishful thinking.

I also put a new driveshaft on it with a decent unsplit C.V. boot.




I refinished another dashboard too.



I'm hoping I can get the M8 exhaust studs sent to me by Tuesday and get it back together then.

damn. It's all about the custom dash, ignition switch and starter button these days!

Good work sir.

Down to B&Q for some M8 threaded rod - instant studs!

I'm not paying their bloody prices for metal/nuts and bolts! I made some speaker stands for my house and I bought some 12mm round tube for them from B&Q (or was it Wickes?) and it was £5 a meter! I could have bought a 6m length for that if I'd ordered it from our normal steel stockholder! I know I sound like a tightarse but I'm not paying 6x the normal price for it. I don't know how they get away with it?



Not when I can pinch it from work anyway. I want the M7/M8 repair studs anyways, I bought a big bag of M7 brass nuts so I want my money's worth out of them. (Sounds like the logic my Mrs uses)

Re B&Q 'Spose its a "Convenience premium" not everyone needs or would be able to pick up 6m lengths of M8 studding and what a waste throwing 5.95m of studding up in the roof of the garage for it to sit waiting till you need another 50mm to fix the patio furniture or whatever people use 4.5 grade(AKA chocolate) threaded studding for

This has just sold on Ebay for £1370.
Have a peep at the exhaust manifold 'studs'; all of them look to be bolt and nut affairs...

p.s. Any ideas which carburettor has been thrown into that mix?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-2-CV-Rolling-Galvanized-Chassis-Engine-amp-Gearbox-/261788055292?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=b816BRueqayEwGUmolhh2lSuLbk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc