Cheap! If I had space....

Bijou placed in a corner until after Christmas where some work will be done before shipping her down under. I need to replace the floors but don't know with what. Dave would Acadiane floors fit without too much alternations. Will also fit seat rails, seat belts and 2cv seats. I'm taking the body off to do this work. I can see a ''homemade'' frame between the chassis and the floors, do you know what that is good for?
Cheers
Viking

Probably the outriggers and subframe, which are needed to give correct support to the body.

'Bijou Bob' made replicas of these when rebuilding his car, iirc...

1 minute into this set of stills...
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqWIsd1Ygbk >

ken

This frame is nothing like the frame in the video

Like nothing previously seen on a Bijou, either...

Ah well, back to the drawing board?

ken

from dave shove
i was going to point you in the same direction as ken,with that utube from bob johnson,those rebuild pics show what it should look like. you may have to do one off panels.

OK body off. Would like to know what an ''original'' Bijou is built on? This looks like Ami 8 chassis but are the floors original (425 floors). I guess the frame is made to lift the body so it clears the larger spring pots? Can't really make up my mind what to do. Put it back together or rip the floors out and fit floors prepaired for larger pots? Another question, since welding is not needed, will epoxy glue and rivets be enough?
Also need to consider seat belts and seat frames..!!

Viking,
nothing left of the original running gear, as everything in those pictures is from an Ami; chassis, suspension, engine and gearbox.
Looks as though the die is cast, so you may as well make floors to suit what's there.

At least the new owner won't be complaining about it being too slow...

ken

Ya that's what I'm thinking too. Next question. Is the frame really needed as support. The Bijou is around 560 kg, less than 2cv. I wonder if I fit ACA floors without the frame, will the side force crack the fibre glass if frame is not fitted?
Cheers

I did know of a certain Bijou where the floors were made of aluminium sheet, maybe 4mm or 5mm thick without outriggers.
However, if you have a look back at the link to Bijou Bob's replicas of original Bijou outriggers, they were fairly substantial items and I'd have thought that anything weaker might result in the body tending to sag past the chassis.

There'll probably have to be a UJ or two on the steering anyway to accommodate the different angle of the Ami steering pinion, but still best to have something that won't flex supporting the body.
A Bijou's kerb weight might be less than a 2CV, but what would the all-up weight be with driver plus 3 passengers?
Dynamic loading can be 3 or 4 times static loading, so the best way to test the strength of an outrigger is to jump on it...

ken
( Is that frame 40 x 40 x 3mm box section, or is it lighter? )