The Bedouin doesn't have a vent flap, and water still gets in! It comes in the gaps around the doors as well!

I guess I'm just lucky it has those big rust holes in the floor to let it out again.

I also used the sticky windscreen fitting mastic to mount the flap so that the rubber is very sealed at the top. Letting it dry a little before tightening all the little nuts.

Ok, a little update from my life of horrors

I spent 6 more hours miksing different flaps with different gaskets, getting huge variations in how well they fit. Different ways of bending them gave me different places where it would let in light from the flashlight. But it was just impossible to get them to seal all the way at once.

GAVE UP. So with the flap mounted and fully open, I lay a bead of black polyurethane based window sealant along the edge of the flaps contact area on the body. Shut the flap carefully, and I had just the right amount of sealant because I didn't have to wipe anything off after closing the flap. Let it dry until today, and I took the car out and tested with water. Dry as a dessert inside. Not especially happy with that for two reasons. One, as a former mechanic, having so much problems with something like this feels so bad it's just impossible to describe with words. And all the money spent on new flaps(even a stainless one!) and new gaskets and what fucking not. Second, I now have nothing to open on a rainy night, sleeping in the car. The windows with those "a little open" accessories are probably the solution, I have them and use them, but it can get wet inside if the weather is bad. I know, because I have slept a lot in the car. So now one problem is gone, but a new one has arrived. Sigh.....

Continuing the work (spending my life in the garage getting nothing done) on the second car I tried the string-suggestion from AZL57. It made things worse. But I'm also gonna try AZL57's suggestion with that strip of soft insulation along the inner parts on the sides and bottom of the opening in the body. But if that fails I will glue the flap shut as the final solution like on the other car. F this shit. Really.

Rant over.

I've been offered an NOS flap from one guy. I'll have to buy it and get it shipped to me. It is a flap and gasket from Citroën. I'm actually tempted to throw even more(insane) money on this problem just to see if I'll get the original one to seal. If it sealed easily, I'd get my theory of bad reproduction parts confirmed.

I thought I was the only one with this feeling..

If you want glue a bead of kit in and shutting the flap on it. Try to put a thin plastic foil (kitchen foil) on the bead, after drying you might pull that off and you can still use the flap now closing on the kit-bead?

After all i read i think the body of the car must be deformed somewhere??

Good luck

You know, I actually had that same thought briefly, before I glued the thing shut. To late on the first car, but I think I will try it on the second one. The idea can't be that stupid since I was not alone thinking it
I'll update how it goes, if I try it.

Because of the vent flap issue I haven't been driving any 2CV's since may. (the other ones are not "taxed") Had a little drive tonight, in the polar night with moonshine(not the liquor) and bright stars. Made me smile again. It's though to be mad on these cars.....

I'm glad I'm not the only one, thx

I have a vent flap to change sometime soon. Apart from the above posts any tips as I've not done one before?
Don

I like the technique of bending it very slightly so the edges always seal. Basically putting it so you are pressing on both ends while it's facing you and has some kind of hump underneath in the middle.
But only very slightly!
I did this and my flap is completely waterproof. However it did crack my spray can paint job on either side.