Firstly, a few words on all the health and safety bollocks-if you can’t work safely, don’t do the job! Disconnect the battery, use axle stands, engine crane, trolley jack etc but above all else, use common sense!

STEP ONE

Disconnect battery and remove bonnet-don’t forget to disconnect the washer pipe from the jet! The bonnet pins came out easily on my Dyane but I know from experience that’s not usually the case so spray them liberally with WD40 or similar for a few days before you plan to remove them.



STEP TWO

Removing the front end. I always remove the front wings, front panel , “goalposts” etc as one assembly. It’s a bit heavy and awkward but saves a load of time in the long run.

Disconnect the bonnet release cable on the front N/S inner wing



Undo the phillips headed M7 bolts holding the door checkstrap rubbers and lift the doors off the hinges. Originally there would be split pins through the hinges, mine are missing but check before you try lifting your doors off-it’ll save a lot of swearing!



With doors out of the way, disconnect the headlamp adjuster cables from the adjuster mechanism inside the car and pull the cables through the bulkhead.



Also, with the doors removed, you’ll notice 3 phillips screws holding the back edge of the A panels to the A post, remove the screws.



Disconnect the wiring harness from the alternator and lights and tuck up out of the way.





Now, remove the 10mm headed bolts in the front wheel arches holding the inner wings to the lower bulkhead.



And the four M7 bolts either side of the “goalposts” at the front of the car.



And finally, loosen the M7 nut either side on the inner wings where they are fastened to the bulkhead just beneath the “scuttle” drains.



Once you’ve double checked that everything is disconnected, lift the whole front end off.



So your car will look something like this




STEP THREE

Removing the engine itself.

How exciting, we’re already at the best bit! With the front end removed, there’s plenty of access to the rest of it.

Firstly, I would recommend removing the air filter assembly, it’s not really necessary but can make life a little easier.

Disconnect the choke cable and throttle cable



Be especially careful not to lose the pin and R clip for the throttle cable



Disconnect the exhaust clamps from the rear of the heat exchangers where they meet the “cross box”



Disconnect the fuel pipe on the front of the chassis-be sure to block the pipe to save spillage, fuel spills are very harmful to the environment but more importantly are even worse for your bank account!



Remove the M10 bolts securing the engine mountings to the chassis front cross member.



Lift the engine and support the gearbox to enable the engine to clear the front chassis cross member when removing.

Remove the M10 nuts from all four of the bell housing studs




Lift the engine from the vehicle obviously adhering to the aforementioned health and safety precautions!






That’s it, the engine is out. Easy isn’t it?

Refitting really is ALMOST the reversal of the removal but a few things to note-when reconnecting the wiring to the vehicle, DO NOT use the sharp bits of metal that Citroen gave us to clip the wiring loom into, use cable ties. Those sharp bits of tin are a fire hazard-I speak from experience!!


These are BAD!


Finally, it really helps if you can plan these jobs properly and choose a day when you can be fairly confident of fine weather-I NEVER do this!

However, if it pisses down with rain while you’re doing it, I fin that a golf umbrella wedges just nicely between the oil filler and carburettor!!



I hope this guide will be useful to somebody, it’s been a right pain in the arse to do as I’ve been timed out of the forum twice and had to start again from scratch both times so fingers crossed………………..

Cheers, Spanners

Good post spanners If you haven't got a garage a cheap gazebo is handy instead of the brolly you can pick em up for £20 now

Cheers Mr D. I've got a garage but the race 2CV is in it. My gazebo is still unopened in its box. Just out of reach behind the aforementioned race car under the work bench!

So did the practice run on Wednesday help then?!

Holy crap Jon,

You must get some sorta award for having the forethought to take pics all the way through, always meant to do a few 'how to' things like this, but realise half way through that i havent taken enouh pics

That's not Sarah's Duckface is it, Spanners?

BTW - very useful tutorial!

It's Brain Damaged's old one.

Funny you should mention engine fitting/removing as I've got a bit of that going on myself at the moment - I'll explain in the bedouin thread

Cheers Neil!

I'm sure Jon will look after it well

Jon hasnt got in Becks. It not belongs to 'Tri' On here and hes also on Retro rides. He lives in Devon now. I helped locate a gearbox for him a while back, not sure if its been repaired yet and back on road though yet.