Russ, do NOT 602 your car...

you got there just before me neil. personally it dont matter what you do with your property if you want original fine if you want to fuck it up fine. the cars that will be worth the money are the non fucked ones. we have both in our family i just put rear seats and seat belts in the acad that not original does it matter no cause its what i need to be able to use the van. likewise dads 56 slough that cost shit loads to restore i think we should put rear windows in it, paint it red and white, put in 602 engine and gear box and make it left hand drive. then we see how much its worth............

Oh err - stirred it up a bit then. I do agree that there is a place for museum pieces and I suppose those that want to keep their vehicles totally original will make sure that their cars/vans are always tucked away warm and dry, never used in winter, Never painted in non original colours etc etc.

Back to swap out - CATS say need to cut up exhaust box and turn it all round the other way to miss clutch/brake pedals. Do UK exhaust boxes exit on the RHS ? French ones exit on the LHS which would foul the pedals.

All cross boxes that I'm aware of exit the same side, if you try that then I think you'll want to modify the swan neck pipe and fit exhaust mounts on the other side, although I'm guessing you'll need to fit exhaust mounts on whichever side it comes out, as I assume the van has the short exhaust which terminates nder the gearbox. I'm speaking from memory now but I think the crossbox exit is only half the problem as I don't *think* the heat exchangers and entry pipes into the crossbox will miss the pedal box. I've not done this swap so a lot of what I'm guessing at is just that, guesswork. Certainly though, re-routing the exhaust will be the biggest challenge. Don't forget you're also going to have to change between dynamo and alternator wiring. The fuel pump will be on the other side of the engine but that's little more troublesome than running the fuel pipe across the front of the chassis.

Personally, I can't see why folk are getting worked up about this. I can see both sides, but ultimately, it's nothing that can't be reversed with a few spanners and a couple of weekends' work. And as others have already said, it's bobh's property and he can do as he pleases with it. If it was me, I'd keep the original engine and 'box and any other bits I had to change in the back of the shed, ready to put back in again if I ever felt it or sold the car on. But if I wanted to use the thing (which is what it was made for), I'd probably 602 it. After all, Citroen themselves could hardly wait to start fitting the M28 engine into 2cvs once it had been developed ... you can bet your bottom dollar it'd have been in bobh's car from new if it'd been available then.

If 425s and m4s are so much better than m28 602s I'm suprised D*lly owners aren't clamering to fit them to their cars. I don't think anybody should be treated as the automotive equivalent of Fred west just because he or she wants their car to do 60mph reliably.

I can see both sides to the coin.

But it's his property he can do what he wants. A bit like of you wanted to paint your bathroom neon orange. Your house your choice

Do what you want to it, and enjoy YOUR car!!

(keep the original though )

* keep the original as in, in the garage of you do change !

This is another reason for changing the gearbox / drive shafts. This UJ (Cardan) joint failed after about 1000km when we did an emergency stop. Replacement UJs are poor quality and have quite a short life before they go lumpy.

"re arrange to make a well known phrase or saying"