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Yugoslavian Ami.., continuing on from 'now-autoshites-flimsy-bodied Shitroen'


Bfg

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Isn't it amazing how long it takes to do so little.!?

 

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^ The recess and holes just forward of the fuel-tank-sender's access panel are for the rear seat-belt mounts and the rear bench-seat's latch.  However without any seat-belt bolt being fitted into these (which go into a support brace spanning over the fuel tank) the body of the car lacks two usefully strong mountings, the rear seat is latched to the very thin sheet metal, and the darn floor reverberates against said support brace. :mad:

 

The above photo shows the two seat belt bolts I found in my stash of useful-one-day pots, cut to an appropriate length, and a piece of anti drumming pad to go between the boot floor and the support brace.  Needless to say this made a profound improvement in the lessening panel vibration / noise. 8)

 

Continuing on, with addressing the so easily resonated noise of very flimsy-bodied panel issue ..

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with most of the off-cuts being used up here . .

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^ although it may look somewhat Frankenstein - it proved surprising effective in dampening the fuel tank's hollow sound. That presently has around about five gallons of fuel within but before this anti-drum patchwork was added - it still made a din when tapped.. 

 

I the used the last of the rolls (two @ 4m x 150mm wide) on the underside of the fuel tank, which now has a dull bong when thumped as opposed to a resonating 'boing' sound. 

 

Bfg. ;)

 

I'll have to buy some more of that stuff, as I'm pleased with how well it works.

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Tyres ordered today..

 

I've never bought a complete set of new car tyres before so a first for Bfg  :shock:

 

Following recommendation of others - THANK YOU -  ..and otherwise assessing best I could - I chose to go with the Maxxis AP2 in 135/80R-15 ..not least because I as a rule I'd prefer all-season, and should I pop back to Slovenia (out of summer months) then I might well need them (if only to comply with legalities through various countries en-route). 

 

The best price I could find was via < Boss Tyres > @ £39 each.  So, the five tyres cost £195 inc delivery & tax.    Had I gone for the Nankang then I might have saved £45, but they are summer rated tyres only, the reviews I found were just a tad less favourable, they are regarded as economy rather than medium quality (which the Maxxis are), and the noise rating a single decibel more. 

 

Fitting will add another £55 - 60 (for the five) whichever tyre I went with.
 

I decided not to go with 145 section tyres as the Ami Super was designed for 135x15 tyres and I found no good reason to go even slightly bigger. 

 

In short ; I really don't need to limit the steering lock any more than it is,  and according to the gear ratio figures I've seen - the Ami Super already has a slightly tall gearing anyway. And larger tyres = larger rolling radius would simply mean dropping down a gear more often - which of course immediately negates any advantage of being long-legged on bigger tyres.  Furthermore, bigger tyres detract from braking performance, have more road scrub and so poorer fuel economy, and are slightly heavier. 

 

The decision has now been made.. so, for good or for bad - I'll live with it. :)

 

Bfg.

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..during the latter part of this week ;  I made a pizza box template . .

 

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..for the front mud flaps ..

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^ This (when made in 3mm reinforced rubber) is to keep road crud off the bulkhead and jacking points, thus alleviating the mud traps designed in.  It might also help lessen road noise into the car.

 

I'm thinking that there should have been some sort of flap anyway ..if only just between the sides of the bulkhead and the front wings - as there's a flange with fastening holes. But I don't know what they were originally made of ..as this car's were missing. :huh:

 

I did this job now ..while access (without the outer front wings on) was good, and because I needed to order-in the rubber sheet - so needed to know what size, and also whether a flat sheet would conform well enough around this awkward shape yet still clear the tyre on full lock.

 

I've also measured the car's interior floor, and ordered sound deadening material. 5 sq2  was not cheap but clearly I believe it's worth it  :P 

 

Thereafter the next task was to finish de-tangling the under dashboard wiring and start to put things back together again. . 

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^ hand crafted Fuse-box wedgies  ..with velcro (..oowh !)   :rolleyes:

 

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^ Fuse boxes now relocated inside and attached on Velcro, just inside the driver's door. 

In both fuse boxes :  Green & Red @ 10amp, with Blue & Yellow @ 16amp.

 

NB. on 20th April.,  I wrote :

"..different sizes and colour".   Yes.. yellow wires are thicker than the grey, and green wires are of a smaller size.  Perhaps in French - the wire's colour simply represent its electrical load capacity. 

Surely any grey & green wire going into the fuse box, which is then rated with the 16amp fuse, negates this argument ?  :wacko:

 

Anyway, the wedgie blocks give space for the wires to run behind, and also offers a better angle for fuse inspection. Self adhesive Velcro tape attaches the fuse box to its wedgie, and also the wedgie to the anti-drumming pad on the bulkhead. The holes through the steering column's steelwork use a wrap of inner-tube to avoid chafe.

 

The regulator was also moved inside . .

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^ regulator remounted to behind the heater controls, with its bracket screwed onto the plastic screen vent.  Originally the regulator was clipped onto the end of the battery, but that of course necessitated a specific type of battery (always more expensive than a generic one), and its wires dangling across the engine bay.  When I bought this car the regulator was just laying loose on the bulkhead.  :roll:

 

The two wires laying on the RH parcel shelf are for the heater blower and the screen wash. Simply for tidiness - I'm running the wires across inside the car, before going through the bulkhead, rather than through the engine bay.

 

And so reassembly could continue.

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Bfg B)

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Hello again,

 

..here I go ..about to replace another lost post.  At least I'd backed its text up in Microsoft-Word., and so just needed to copy that back here, reformat it and reload the photos.  I do wonder though if this and other threads will also get lost when Auoshite is transferred to another server / webmasters.? 

 

As you might gather I'm not very clever when it comes to computer stuff.  I gather Dave had done it before, and had back-ups (to within a couple of days prior to any of the crashes) ..but each time I lost stuff.   :?

 

NB. No criticism intended. I am in awe of  anyone who could keep a website like this together (it is really HUGE ! .. and very busy 24/7) ..in the face of technical as well as malicious happenings. 

 

BIG, BIG Thanks to Dave for his sterling work  ..and to anyone who takes it over  :-D 

 

Anyhow. I've now copied this whole thread onto a new website - because I've personally spent a huge amount of time in photographing & resizing those, writing posts, as best I can to try & explain what, why & how I'm doing whatever.  As a dyslexic - this has been no quick or easy task, but I've enjoyed sharing the ups n' downs, as well as the more technical aspects. It's often been a good conversation between contributors.. And I didn't want to risk loosing it forever ..in outer cyberspace.  

 

The link to the copy is within my signature at the bottom of each of my posts. 

 

While copying it across - I reduced the number of scrolls-down per page. So instead of there being 14 Autoshite pages (to date) to this thread  ..they cover 48 (!) webpages in that copy. 

 

The index in its LHS border made it easier for me to find what was written at any particular time, and then of course is the search facility.  (for example :  if you wanted to find the tool that Louise2cv suggested to adjust the handbrakes.. just search 'adjuster' ).

 

NB. I'm only using Google websites because, although formatting and photo uploading aspects of it are a sod to live with, it is at least something I am familiar with how to use. 

 

I did ask forddeliveryboy if it were OK to reproduce his contributions (to which he very kindly agreed) and also suggested an alternative to google.   I tried that but got lost.. and at this time I just wanted to back things up.  Perhaps later on I might learn how to use that website's program.

 

I now ask - any of you who have made contributions or comment - if it's OK for me to have copied your words of encouragement and suggestions.???

 

I have consciously NOT copied any link to contributors though. Instead I hand typed each of those names ..so as to (best I might) protect each of your identities. Only the photos and any links you provided are linked back via this website.  

 

IF HOWEVER YOU WANT ME TO REMOVE (from my copy) YOUR AUTOSHITE NAME or ANYTHING YOU'VE POSTED IN THIS THREAD THEN PLEASE  P.M. ME.  

 

..I certainly do not wish to upset any of you.  I have been, and am, so very glad of each and every bit of your support. B)

 

Anyway,  I've just copied this ' Yugoslavian Ami '  and my old Sunbeam motorcycle restoration threads.  Please let me know if you have a problem with it. 

 

Thank you and my Best regards,

 

Bfg.

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08 May .. Back to mechanical work today.

 

Again another job which I needed to address while access was good. .

 

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..mind you the other side where I have the inner wing fitted was less than convenient. .

 
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^ ..so to get to this side it was a matter of laying down and reaching around the back of the wheel. 

At least I don't yet have the outer front wing on, nor the rubber mud flaps I'm proposing to fit.!

 

Yes tracking.. adjustment of track rod ends.. It's a job I don't recall ever doing before myself.  It's just something a running car gets done in the garage.  I now know why ! Needless to say when I suggest to friends that I've spent hours in the gymnasium (aka the garage) they have a good idea of what I mean..  I couldn't hazard a guess how many times I got up & down and otherwise bent arse over tit to do this job..  Result never seems to be fitness though, only aches !

 

Anyways up, having never done the job before (on a four wheeled vehicle) - I had to read the manual   ..and of course found discrepancies. .

 

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^ Peter Russek's handbook -v- Revue Technique (in French), showing d2 being measured from different places.  Peter Russek's I thought was illogical so I double checked and yes the French book makes much more sense.   Never mind eh !?

 

So, the result of my investigation was that the tracking in both books says : Toe-in of 1 - 3mm.  I understand the Shitreon 2cv, Dyane, etc have their steering set with Toe-out.  But when I drove to the MOT station (way back when) this car's steering was terrible (and I'm using a very polite word here) !  The car would go in one direction until corrected then head off in another ..somewhat like tacking a sailing boat up-wind.. but at 50mph with oncoming cars on country roads ..with a white knuckled MOT inspector in the RHS passenger seat

 

It was fun but really not at all safe in an unknown car.

 

So how does one check and adjust the tracking ?   On motorcycles with rear chain adjusters on either side of the swinging arm it's common practice to use a straight edge or string between the front and rear wheels.   Not knowing better I used that technique here, 'cept I didn't have a straight edge long enough, and I needed to do both sides of the car at once.

 

..discarded in the marina's skip /dumpster were off-cuts of cord, which I happened to pick out a couple of months ago . .

 
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^ tied to the front, around the tyre, and block to clear the dished centre of the wheel, and then off to the back of the car . .

 

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^ around another block, around the tyre to an bundy elastic .. Thereafter to another piece of cord around the other back wheel, block and forward. And again tied to the front of the car.  The elastic tensioning it all ..to hold blocks in place and to keep the cord straight.

 

You might have noted the front tyres parked on pieces of card. These were my lower friction swivels so that I might more easily turn the steering.   And the keen observer might also have noted the blocks holding the cord clear of the front and rear wheels were of different thicknesses.  Yep., the Ami 8 and Ami super, and most likely the Ami 6 and one or two of the A-series vans have a narrower track at the rear than at the front (presumably to get the tyres under the mudguards) ..I know but that's Shitreon for you.  The difference for the Ami is is 40mm ..so I found 18mm thick blocks for the front wheels and 38mm thick for the rear.

 

Then all I needed to do was to measure very carefully the distance between the cord and the wheel leading and trailing rim (of the front wheels). Turning the steering to get both wheels straight ahead ..and then adjust the tie rods until the difference was between 1 & 3mm.  Btw., Toe-in is overall ie., for both wheels, so that means just 1/2  to 1-1/2 mm difference on either side of the car.  ..hence measurements needing to be accurate, and the cord(s) nicely tensioned.

 

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^ checking the distance between the cord and the wheel's leading rim with the depth pin of a vernier gauge, so that dimension could be compared with the same wheel's string to trailing rim.

 

For a Toe-in of 2mm - I needed the dimension at the trialing rim to be 1mm less than that measured at the leading rim.

 

Of course me being me I wanted to first check what Janez had set it up to. ?  That measured 16mm Toe-out.  Perhaps in future the car will hold its line on the road now. 

 

Anyway, another job ticked off.. 

 

..And now I have to remove at least one suspension damper and to check all the others. Because when under the car, measuring up for the front mud flap, I noticed the front-right damper's rubber-bush mounting was very loose..

 

Isn't life a joy when you pay others to do a job for you. :roll:

 

Bfg. 

 

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^ No I tried to use the photos directly off the goggle website but that didn't work, so I've had to reload each manually again..

 

hey ho I'm tired of computershite.

 

Otherwise thanks for your encouragement..  I noticed while rewriting ' dollywobbler '  so many times in the copy.. just how many times you've been here to support and offer useful advice..  Thank you.  

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Thank you both / all  ;)  I appreciate your support.

 

in furtherance of..

 

08 May ..    " ..when under the car, measuring for the mud flap, I noticed the front-right damper's rubber-bush mounting was very loose..  "

 

so . .

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^ The offending damper where the front-end rubber bush was clearly shot..  Unfortunately to get the damper off  - its mounting plate on the suspension arm had also to be released, which in turn meant that the anti-roll bar also had to be removed. 

 

Upon dismantling I noted the care and attention of copper slip inbetween the rubber and the spacer tube, and again between the rubber and the damper's end tube.!  Checking the ends of others, if found them to be loose too. .

 

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^ after being recommissioned, one of the four was still intact.  NB. The torn-out rubbers were in just one end of each damper.

 

This was very likely because the damper mountings were at some time done up tight while the arms were hanging down.  ie. when the car was jacked up / raised off its tyres, and so easier to reach.

 

With these Citroens, when the car is jacked up - their suspension arms rotate / swing down through 30 or more degrees. If / when the dampers' rubber-mounting-bush's are then bolted-up tight - then their middle tubes are clamped to the -30 deg angle of the arm (even though the damper itself lays almost horizontal).  As the car is lowered - the suspension arms rotate to near horizontal. 

 

The dampers have remained horizontal, but the clamped-tight middle tubes have rotated + 30 degrees, so the rubber bushes within the (swing arm end) mountings are now in rotational shear.  The situation is worsened as the car and its suspension is used ..because the arms swing / their mounts are rotated even further upwards. This shears the rubber bushes until they can stand it no more ..and they tear out. 

 

The book (as well as 'common sense') clearly states to do them up - only when the car is sitting normally / resting on it's suspension  ..but what man ever reads the instructions !?   Instructions are for idiots.. "I'm not a ijiot" he proudly proclaims to himself  "so I'll not read it"  ..instead I'll bollocks-up whatever I work on.

 

NB. The above photo also shows a big thick washer between the end plate and the damper mounting (rubber). This should not be there..  No washer was specified for this location, and unless the axle or chassis mounting are out of true (necessitating a spacer to straighten the damper) ..then it ought not be there.  

 

..in any case it was also fitted inside-out, insomuch as those washers have a recess in one face, which is specifically to clear any weld on the damper's chassis mounting stud.  Because this one was fitted inside-out - that recess was where the middle tube is ..and so the rubber in the mount was clamped rather than the steel tube..  How then can the rubber flex, as it should when the suspension swings ?  No, the flat side of those washers must always face the damper mounting.

 

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^  oow look it's see through ..but not in a sexy sort of way.

 

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^ all cleaned up and degreased.

 

Why ?  shirley you not going to ?

 

Didn't I tell you not to call me Shirley ..even after last weekend.. ! ?

 

Yes, I did look into buying new ones ..and they are available pretty much off the shelf. The same part number is in fact (most oddly !) used on Shitroen's A-series Mahari (a mucho lighter-weight corrugated plastic bodied 'thing'), and also on a Peugeot..  But this is Autoshite ..and I've already blown my budget.  I also have, I suspect, something that will do the job of re-bonding these together again.  

 

NB. The dampers themselves are working fine ..although a weak one was put on the rear on whereas the front is rated as a lighter damping action. So the car had the lighter dampers on opposite corners rather than both to the rear.  ..Just another job that's easy enough to correct.

 

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^ this is a job you might want to wear disposable gloves for !

 

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^ Plastic sheet held tight behind to stop the goo from just pushing through.

 

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^ all nicely smoothed off.  and left in the car (parked in the sun) to cure.  NB. the goo doesn't stick to a wet finger (or the finger of a wetted rubber glove) ..so a bit of saliva is necessary to do this. 

 

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^ As it happens, I also don't like rusty nuts and bent-to-buggery washers ..so they were cleaned up, washers flattened and their edges deburred ..ready for a coat of zinc paint.  When well cured the rubber bush holes were cleaned out, and the rubber mastic trimmed level with the end of the tubes ..tapered to the outside ..so that the rubber doesn't contact when fitted (only the middle tube is clamped). 

 

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^ after just 25 miles and otherwise being in the garage ..it doesn't look new under there. 

 

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^ underside of the floors given a coat of two pack..  though disappointingly I'll need to revisit yet again to seam seal panel / outrigger gaps.  The dampers also received another coat of paint before refitting  (as you can see - the mastic rebonding is now near invisible) ..Likewise components of the anti-roll bar's end plate were tidied up before being correctly adjusted and spaced, during reassembly.

 

Note : At this conjuncture - the dampers are not bolted tight because I'll need to refit the front of the car, the battery, spare wheel, etc., and then set the ride height correctly - before I can do that. 

 

There are other bits I've done, but I'm sure that's a lengthy enough post for today.

 

(very nearly) another job ticked off ..

 

Bfg  B) 

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part of yesterday's reassembly of the front dampers and anti-roll bar task was to correct this . .

 

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^ on the LHS, the front suspension arm was rubbing on the new bulkhead panel. 

 

Obviously needed correcting, which was a task much easier said than done with such limited access, but with an old wood chisel, blocks of wood and an old tyre lever, oh and did I mention the mechanic's mate !? (a hammer)  ..job was done and the paint reapplied. . .

 

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 ^ ..the shadow next to the swinging arm's bolt hole gives you an idea. It was 1mm closing to -1 as the suspension swang. Now its 6mm or more and clear.  So.., another little job ticked off. :)

 

Tip :  I needed a very narrow, but not necessarily a tiny brush, to reach into tight space between the suspension arm and bulkhead..  I found that a (kitchen's) pastry brush (long natural hair bristles) did an excellent job.. 

 

I'll need to do similar adjustments* with the exhaust cross-box, under the gearbox, sometime soon. Presently it is in communicado with the chassis.

 

Another little correction was to make these . .

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^ the two spacer-plates are for between the anti-roll bar and the axle end-plate. The anti-roll bar is simply a torsional spring, and as such should not be under very much longitudinal compression.  As specified (in the manual) ..before tightening up - there should be 0.5mm between the flat of the P-clamp and the end-plate. On this car it was closer to 4mm, so I cut these 'spacers' to correct it.  

 

Sod.. I just remembered.. I haven't checked the rear anti-roll bar yet.

 

 

Moving on.. For today, I enjoyed the hot sunny weather to work outside and get on with the front left wing (the one I'd previously panel beaten).. Unfortunately I had a little problem getting it and the front (grille) panel to fit well together ..nothing to do with my panel beating, it was just that its top mounting hole needed a little filing . .

 

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^ this top hole misalignment prevented the wing from fitting where its outline suggested it should be. I filed it out (about 4mm) which gave the result I was after. .

 

post-20151-0-00044800-1494961426_thumb.jpg

 

Thereafter the panel was treated to a little more prep, before declaring  " enough ! " and giving it a first coat of the  paint.  NB. the inside of this panel had been painted some time ago - but this was the first coat of two-pack on its outside. .

 

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^ I'm not overly worried about the paint's finish at the moment, but I was keen to see this panel move closer to being ready to refit ..and into one colour and with the metal sealed.  And while I had the paint out - I applied a quick coat (using the mixed paint up) to one of the grp rear wings. 

 

It's been a day when nothing seems to have gone smoothly., but as of this evening it's satisfying to know the first panels are in paint  :)

 

Bfg 

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I'm a little confused by the text. It seemed to suggest that dampers were being swapped (or had been) between front and rear. That's not a good idea, as there is more suspension travel on the rear, so the damper is longer. Oh, and put copper grease on the pins before refitting the dampers. Those metal bushes nearly always seize themselves to the pins otherwise...

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I'm a little confused by the text. It seemed to suggest that dampers were being swapped (or had been) between front and rear. That's not a good idea, as there is more suspension travel on the rear, so the damper is longer. Oh, and put copper grease on the pins before refitting the dampers. Those metal bushes nearly always seize themselves to the pins otherwise...

 

Not so confused.. that is what I said, Unfortunately one of the rear dampers had been fitted to the front-left of the car, and the other rear damper was on the rear-right hand side.  As previously stated they do have different rates of damping.

 

It hadn't registered with me that the dampers were of different lengths. Now that you mention it I did know that the front suspension link arms are shorter than the back ones, on the A-series, but somewhere over the past 30 years I seem to have forgotten that. So, thank you..  

 

I just popped out to the garage and checked the static length between damper mounts (with the car on the level).  The distance is approximately (tape measured) 385mm for the front damper and 425mm for the rear.  This is without the front body panels on the car, so that 385mm front measurement will probably settle to around about 390mm between studs. Which gives a difference of about 35mm between static lengths front and back. 

 

I had said before that I was a little confused that the same (after-market part number) dampers was used with the light-weight Mahari .  In fact it's only the rear dampers that are common between these vehicles (also the Ami Super Break + the Acadiane) .. which makes a whole lot more sense as the back end of the Ami is not at all heavy  (..I can slide it sideways in the garage on my own), and of course they are each four seaters. 

 

Yes thank you, I cleaned out the the holes and pre-checked the dampers slid freely onto their studs, and then applied copper-slip both in the holes (using a screwdriver to wipe it all around) and a smear on each stud. 

 

 

Disbelief, disappointment (again)., and my job list is further extended as I bent down to checked those dimensions.  The car's steering happened to be on lock and I saw this . .

 

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^ It's particularly galling because I had supplied Janez with three new gaiters. I had bought these of Chevtronics, but they didn't have the fourth one, which I thought was OK  because on the one they didn't have - was the same as for the 2cv.  2cvKeza are A-series specialists so surely something would hold in stock.  On the Ami super, only the inner gaiter are different ..to suit the GS gearbox and f.brakes. Janez was asked to change these while the engine was out and the driveshafts were removed.  None have been changed but they have been re-greased. 

 

It's mid-May and I'm really trying to get this car together.. I'm not looking to find yet another job which needs doing..  I'm so annoyed ..even that I cannot express profanities.  It's very upsetting  :( 

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part of yesterday's reassembly of the front dampers and anti-roll bar task was to correct this . .  on the LHS, the front suspension arm was rubbing on the new bulkhead panel. 

 

I'll need to do similar adjustments with the exhaust cross-box, under the gearbox, sometime soon. Presently it is in communicado with the chassis.

 

I tackled this 'it'll just take five minutes' job this afternoon. 

 

post-20151-0-17606200-1495133984_thumb.jpg

^ The yellow piece of card wouldn't go inbetween the exhaust first silencer box and the steering rack / axle.

 

The exhaust silencer is bolted to the back / underside of the gearbox, which with the engine is rubber mounted ..so moves ..whereby a little tolerance is called for.   I'd also noted when down under the car that the exhaust pipes leading to this silencer box were also darn close to the underside of a chassis cross member.  I hadn't realised just how close. .

 

post-20151-0-93776100-1495134309_thumb.jpg

^ The shiny patch seen on each of the two forward pipes are where they have been (recently) vibrating / rubbing against the cross member. 

 

This was the silencer's mounting before being removed . .

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^ I don't have a parts book, nor exploded diagram of how this should have been assembled - but certainly the squidgy piece of rubber, under this mount, wasn't doing anything useful.  If at all - the rubber should be between the gearbox bracket and the silencer bracket.  So this is what I did . .

 

post-20151-0-19292300-1495134797_thumb.jpg

 ^ I cut and drilled a square of reinforced rubber, 8mm thick, which will sandwich between the gearbox and the silencer.  This spacer lowers the silencer. The bracket on the gearbox is a fork, so the fastening can be pre-assembled before being slid on its bracket.

 

Yes, I cleaned the surface rust off and gave it a quick clean with hydrochloric acid, before giving it a coat of zinc (cold galvanizing) paint.  It doesn't take long to do, the paint dries while I'm busy with something else, and in the long term it ought to be cheaper than letting this (unique to the 1970's Ami-super) silencer rot away.  I can't help it rotting internally but anyway ..

p.s. I've not used this brand before but I've just bought 2x 400ml cans @ £5.33 = free delivery < toolstation >

 

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^ so I end up with a clearance under the cross beam, where there wasn't even enough gap to get a piece of paper, let alone a piece of card inbetween (..it's the same gap on each side).  And . .

 

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^ This now has loose clearance for a piece of 6mm wood (only placed there to illustrate the gap). 

 

That ought to tick another job off the list. B)

 

Oh BTW.. unlike the lack of washers fitted to these ; the exhaust clamps should have a rectangular (not square section) lock washer under each nut, with none under the bolt head. The shape of these clamps will tend to lock the bolt head, whereas the lock washer will raise the nut clear of the clamp ..so it may be tightened.  

 

NB. Rusted fastenings : Are a sod to get undone, sometimes they break (so you're missing it when putting thing back together) or it stress weakens.  Rust erodes nut / bolt head's size.. so they're a little looser on your spanner, which then tend to slip = rounded off nut &/or busted knuckle.!   Rusty fastenings are not part of the fun.  Prevention  is a lifestyle choice which costs almost nuffink all !   ..which if you are keeping a vehicle for any length of time - makes working on it more enjoyable (..or less of a hassle dependent on how you see things). 

 

So, on these exhaust clamps, and their nut n' bolts I cleaned them up on the wire wheel (cleans out the threads very nicely), laid them out on a piece of card and gave them a coat of zinc (cold galvanising). when dry and for refitting, I then smear copper-slip along the whole length of these (and many other) bolt's thread & shank (wherever used on my cars or motorcycles, even when they go into a hole) as a barrier against corrosion. 

 

On the 1950's Sunbeam motorcycles I also live with, many of their nuts & bolts were painted over to prevent rust.. after assembly.  This not only looked much nicer on a quality machine, but also made life easier in the longer term.  This after-assembly painting-over included the cylinder head bolts, which on these air cooled engines show between the cooling fins.

 

 

Back to the Shitroen ...   And the clamps should not hang down below the chassis, for fear of snagging and tearing at the exhaust system.

 

And, and.., the pipes mating flanges are best cleaned back to bare metal and given a liberal coating of copper-slip, so that when clamped - they slide into one another and seal tightly ..rather than biding and leaving gaps.  No exhaust goo is required. These clamps had been put together dry and didn't seal very well at all.

 

That's all for tonight.. So it's a good night from me ..and ..

. .

.

 

600full-the-morecambe--wise-show-photo_4

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Thank you both.. I'm doing my best, although sometimes I seem to have as many thumbs as fingers ! :-D

 

In the meantime I've had a couple of days off.. you know grocery shopping and gardening. 10 years ago I planted flowering bushes against the front of the house, and have let them nicely over grow in cottage style. But the house is very old and now its plaster rendering is crumbling, so that is scheduled and my lovely bushes had to be dug out  :-( (..which totally knackered this old giffer but at least my tennis elbow didn't give me gip 8) ).

 

I also decided that I really need to tidy up my tent-come-overflow garage / store.   A few years ago, when I put it up - it looked like this..

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^ which was a good idea at the time.  A family sized tent with sewn in groundsheet, being sold at a hefty discount because it had been used once (second hand) and then was a two years previous model. 

 

However, I couldn't afford to own an old Jag  ..neither could I afford the time needed to bring it back to a condition that I could keep on top of.  So reality dictated - that it had to go.  And the tent (God bless Kampa.co.uk) seriously UV disintegrated and ripped apart after just 7 months of all weather. So I put a white tarp over the top and the (now) polytunnel became a store for all the bits previously in the garage, which needed to be moved when I put the Ami in there to work on it. And then bits of Ami as it was dismantled.

 

Disgracefully, over the passed few months it came to look like . .

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So to cut a long (..and heavy rain showery when everything was outside) story short, it now looks like . .

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Again a massive expenditure of energy, but it needed to be done.   So for today tasks, I took it relatively easy..

 

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^ swapping my attentions now to the LHS front wing ; I first needed to address the sexy* fit between it and the front (grille) panel.

 

..And then set-to sanding (electric d.a) off the top coat of paint. And where the paint had cracked, chipped or flaked off.. to remove / feather it down to bare metal. .

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Using the newly appointed < . . . extra wide . . . > workbench  (aka.. my trailer / ex-caravan chassis) . .

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^ this side's panel was in pretty good shape. I'd already panel-beaten out its minor dents, and reworked all but the front flange, before I painted it inside. So today's task was to cut the old outside paint back to a sound base before applying fresh paint.  Here I've used very coarse sanding 240 grit paper on the da., to ensure a good key for the new paint. 

 

But rather than apply the epoxy primer, which needs a day to harden and then a fair amount of wet n' dry flattening back again ..I wanted to try a different 'primer'..  I've never done this before, but in the third photo (above) as in the one below ..this is how, at close of play today, it looks. . 

 

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The grey is zinc, or if you prefer cold galvanizing. Commonly used by garages - where welding or scratches have exposed otherwise protected steelwork.  After 2 - 3 hours it can be painted over, so I thought I'd try it.  Cold galvanize any place I'm down to bare steel, and around the edges where the paint is cracked / been chipped off over the years. And then tomorrow see how well it has stuck and whether the two-pack will go straight over the top of it and likewise adhere well.  

 

If it does then I can use the technique on each of the doors (chipped and scratched along their bottom edges & all around their shuts, and again inside the door skins. I can also use it inside the front grille panel etc.    

. . . . . IF  it works. ! ?   . . it could save me many hours..  

 

Tomorrow we will see ;)   

 

Bfg.

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I'm glad to report ; the cold galvanizing paint appears to be sticking fine to the bare metal and the different layers of paint already on these panels.. And there's no sign of adverse chemical reaction. :rolleyes:

 

And the test of whether the 2-pack reacts or does stick well to the zinc . .

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^ also seems to be fine. Certainly no reaction. In 48 hours time I'll see if it scrapes / peels off too easily.

 

In the meantime.. a tribute to dollywobbler's sadly missed Dyane . . B)

 

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^ The white over the grey is stopper (fine filler). There looks to be quite a thickness on there - but it's unusually opaque, and much of it is simply refilling where the top coat of paint had to be feathered back to bare metal.  The stopper appears to be sticking well too, and the gap between the front panel and the wing is shaping up nicely :)

 

Bfg

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Like the autoshite-priced storage/prep/spray bay, I wonder if 7 months continuous exposure to UV is about where many cheaper quality tents would start falling apart? 

 

I'll use an etch primer whererever possible, but zinc ones seem less reactive with existing paint layers. Single biggest thing with old Cits isn't to apply layers too generously, given the sharp edges and thin panels, for both longevity and appearance. 

 

Great to see more progress, this Ami will be unlike any other when finished!

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Like the autoshite-priced storage/prep/spray bay, I wonder if 7 months continuous exposure to UV is about where many cheaper quality tents would start falling apart? 

 

I'll use an etch primer whererever possible, but zinc ones seem less reactive with existing paint layers. Single biggest thing with old Cits isn't to apply layers too generously, given the sharp edges and thin panels, for both longevity and appearance. 

 

Great to see more progress, this Ami will be unlike any other when finished!

 

7 months before it literally disintegrated was something I hadn't expected from a brand like Kampa.  These tents are a whole lot of money when new.  Nevertheless, in most people's typical holiday use, of a month camping a year..  then 7 years would, I guess, be quite reasonable lifespan for something modern.

 

Interestingly it wasn't just the top panels which fell apart, but equally the north-facing end / door panel which was always in the shade. It was as if exposure to the air itself caused its failure, rather than direct UV. 

 

Yes.. very much so.. the chipping of paint off the very thin edges is a great problem ..as are the numerous spire clips, and also the doubled up panels, giving ever more sharp edges where the paint just loves to chip off.    Unless you can suggest better, the best I can do is to clean up the scabby edges and apply the cold galvanizing directly to the edges and in between the doubled parts. .

 

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" Great to see more progress, this Ami will be unlike any other when finished! "

Thanks to the first part of the sentence, not sure how to take the latter half though. :unsure:

 

Unfortunately I can't get the finish I want to achieve on the paint work.  The paint I'm using is supposedly the same as worked well for me when I repainted the boat, but Hemple reformulated the paint 2 years ago and I'm now having difficulties with it.  I've also learnt am learning (the hard way) that painting the soft curves of a boat's deck and coachroof is very different to all the hard edges found in car panels. 

 

And only in re-working the front wings did I realise their numerous surfaces - most convex but one or two are almost flat, and then the top-side as it approaches the top of the doors - makes a transition from convex to concave. Of course with every change in plane there's another edge to try and get right. And some of these fade out and two or more surfaces blend together become one.  It's remarkably subtle yet complicated..   

 

 

I must confess to getting sidetracked into a detail which bugged me, but if commons sense had prevailed I should probably have ignored, as when fitted it would hardly be seen . .

 

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^ work in progress..  an interesting twist in the flange to create (which Citroen hadn't bothered with). 

 

Anyway.. a day of my life lost to achieving something that, in retrospect, really didn't warrant half that amount of time..   Have to move on..

 

. . . well I would do  ..if I could get the sodding lid off the (brand new) paint . .

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Hand painting (with roller and tipping brush) car panels as convoluted a shape as this is..  not recommended. Next time I'll know better and take it to a paint shop to get it sprayed.. In fact I'll probably end up doing that with this car anyways, as I honestly don't think I can afford the time to do this to the standard I'd be happy with . .

 

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So there we are, the front left wing and the front panel now have their first coat of 2-pack.  I need to do the inside of the front panel yet, which has been cleaned and prepped, and has the rear right (grp) wing, which has been until now in epoxy primer.

 

Unfortunately the front right wing needs rubbing back down again as the paint bubbled. Not blisters but tiny bubbles within the paint, which seems to be related to the hardener ..the last of which I threw away because it was full of bubbles when stirred in the tin.

 

That's all for tonight. Very slowly making progress in these high temperatures. . 

 

Bfg ;)

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Also posted in : Stupid question amnesty 

 

 

HELP Please ..  Drive shaft Citroen GS dismantling ???? 

 

The books says "place drift on claw to remove joint" and "drive the UJ from the end of the shaft."

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soft jaws on vice. . sturdy piece of aluminium angle duly placed..

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..but it will not budge despite big hammer action.  So I wonder if  "the joint needs to be straight ?" . .

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^ as the vice is on the end of the bench (so I don't keep walking into it !) the clearance of adjoining shelf unit had to be relieved*..  But still the UJ will not come off..

 

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Do I just need a bigger hammer and a more sturdy (steel) drift to get this off its circlip ?   Better to ask the question than to try that and bust it.. only to find out that I needed to do something else. 

 

Thanks. Bfg ;)

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" Great to see more progress, this Ami will be unlike any other when finished! "

 

Thanks to the first part of the sentence, not sure how to take the latter half though.  :unsure:

 

Hadn't considered this could be taken negatively - was meant to be a compliment! 

Regarding the Rzeppa, I'd just keep tapping away, rotating it as I went. Then transfer the grease to the mug handle of my cuppa while pondering the inaction.

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Further on  : stupid question in Autoshite

 

 

Today, haven spoken to Tony Slade, the gentleman proprietor of Ipswich's older Citroen independent La Garagiste, who tells me that there seem to be two different types of clips used in the GS / Ami super driveshaft's splined CV joint..  one type is reasonable rounded and pushes down and so allows the CV joint to be dismantled, whereas the other is a squarer sectioned sprung circlip ..which will simply not come off. :mad:

 

Hearing of my endeavours to remove said cv joint ..he suspects I have the latter.  However he has a special tool, which by description sounds as if developed from something in gynecology, that he hopes will stretch open the rubber gaiter / boot sufficiently to get it over the tri-axe bearing posts.   We are scheduled to try that tomorrow. 

 

If it doesn't work then I have three further options..

1.) stretch open the existing gaiters, chemically clean and smear them (externally) over with a coat of silicon.  As they are only just cracking and with minor hole in one of them, then this may add a number of years more to their useful working life.

2.) cut the (new) gaiters half way along their length (the narrow end) lengthways to fit them, and then use super-glue or something similar to bond the cut back together again.  As it's usually the large diameter end that crack and fail - then as long as everything is very clean of grease.. it should work.

3.) buy aftermarket generic split type gaiters and use those instead, perhaps fitted over the existing gaiter at the tri-axe end, as that has extra blocks moulded into its shape, so will act like an adapter.     

 

In the meantime I've removed the second driveshaft.. Btw on this one needed a three-foot extension bar to get the end castellated nut off ..whereas that on the LHS of the car was only finger tight.  :shock:     Nice one Janez !

 

The grease in the inside / gearbox end CV joint (both sides) was thin, black and clearly not changed 25 miles ago.  In the outer joints the grease was much cleaner but judging by one side being of a thinner consistency than the other, then again I'd say that these had also not been cleaned out and refreshed in the past 16 years. :roll:  

 

This is an especially sad situation when one considers that the parts (in this case : driveshafts) for these cars are no longer available. To neglect servicing is not only a breach of contract, but facilitates their deterioration very much more quickly - leaving the paying customer to sort the problem out some while after its professional recomissioning.

 

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^ The stainless steel tray (probably originally a food tray from a canteen) has been useful for many a rebuild ..but here it surpassed itself in containing the slimy old black grease.  I tried to scoop that grease out using plastic, but soon realised - the only efficient way to do this was to use fingers..  I scooped the grease into the two pots. One of cleaner grease, which I thought might be useful on the suspension tie rods (where those rubber gaiters always seem to wear through) and the other in a pot ..to be burnt.

 

In doing things this way I had a catch net (pot) in case any tiny part should be missed and slip through with the grease during cleaning.. 

 

As it was - I discovered that 9 of the 168 needle rollers are missing :shock:  I dredged, with a strong magnet, the parts wash (a separate bucket had been used because this grease was so filthy) and the grease pot, but to no avail.  They were not lost here.   :P  but still they are AWOL !  :mad: 

 

I've phoned through to our local bearing supplies to see if they can help, and am awaiting to hear.

 

In the meantime my order for more zinc / cold galvanising spray with Toolstation, placed on Thursday morning has been cancelled.. because they phoned me to ask for proof of age (!), which I sent them within 10 minutes. But that never got processed, so the order timed out.  I wanted that spray on Friday, hoped for it on Saturday, didn't get it on Tuesday after the bank holiday, and now have to order it again :neutral:  

 

This car / my life is just too much fun !

 

Bfg.

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yes, greasy finger prints on the mug handle of my cuppa .. several times over.!

 

The Citroen specialist presently have the driveshafts to change the gaiters, So in the meantime . .

 

post-20151-0-36918800-1496561452_thumb.jpg

^ Inboard brake discs removal meant lifting up, but not disconnecting the calipers.

 

I had seen from when I bought the car that the discs were in really good shape, but had light surface rust with a ground brake pad and dirty engine bay coating.

 

post-20151-0-58919300-1496561466_thumb.jpg

^ output shaft removal was easy enough using a pipe wrench to undo the screw collar. With a block n' lever - the shafts then just pull out (again easily) with the bearing attached.

 

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^ with the output shaft removed - there's a perimeter circlip inside. A hole drilled through the underside of the gearbox case facilitates the use of a screwdriver to push up & so lift the clip out of its grove. It can then be curled out. The output shaft seal is just inside that, so can be hooked out. 

 

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^ The new seal refitted part the way in, and then the clip. I then used this ad-hoc 'drift' (a big washer of a convenient sitting on the shoulder of a 1/2" drive socket & extension). This was tapped in until the circlip sprung into it's grove.  The double inside lips of the seal were given a generous smear of silicon grease

 

NB. there is no inside shoulder to fit the seal against - so if it had been a loose fit (or a clumsy home mechanic) ..the seal could be pushed straight into the differential ! :shock:  Relying only on the production fit / the friction of the rubber around the seal's case to hold it in place is dubious engineering to me :?

 

post-20151-0-55277200-1496561531_thumb.jpg

^ All cleaned up for reassembly.  Aside from where the pads contact the disc.. naked ferrous metal parts were again coated with cold galvanising.     

 

Hey ho.. the Citroen specialist did change the outer gaiters but could not buy the the size of boot required to do the inner tri-axe joint, so didn't..   So back to myself.

 

. .

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Well done.  More steps in the right direction that can be ticked off the list.  I must admit that my approach these days is to get things looking pretty (enough) and working reliably in order to balance it with diminishing mojo.  You are clearly man enough to aim for greater things.  Full marks  :-D .

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Thanks RayMK..  mojo is very often lacking here too.. :-(  ..but I figure preventative action is preferable than having to do these jobs while struggling to reach over / through / under the wings & inner wheel arches.  I've also lost confidence that the car was safe., after 2CVKeza forgot to do the drive-shaft up tightly, put the dampers on back to front, and used the wrong part in the steering rack (to mention just a few). And then didn't do the recommissioning (like greasing these joints) I'd asked and paid for ..so now I feel compelled to check these things myself.

 

But honestly, I'd prefer to be driving the car and getting on with the other tasks I'd hoped to do this year. Nevertheless I'm trapped into the situation (..Never a good feeling ).

 

 

Back to reassembling the driveshafts. .

 

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^ Firstly cleaning and sorting.  28 per set x 6  = 168 rollers, but as previously discovered nine were AWOL (missing). 

 

The local bearing supplier didn't have / couldn't get the size (1.95mm dia) of roller ..but had an odd cage they'd bought in for someone who never collected it. That cage seen on the RHS of the above photo had slightly shorter rollers of the right diameter so I took the nine I needed from that.  In the sorted 'sets' you  might just make out the one or two shorter (rollers) than the others. These are from that race, and will do nicely as spacers to keep the other in line.  

 

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^ first driveshaft tri-axe rollers in place. They are held there with grease (also a little grease on finger tip helps picking them up and placing them).  I prefer to use clear coloured general purpose grease for this, so I can see what I'm doing.  You can see the short rollers in place - They'll do fine. :)

 

post-20151-0-47017000-1496565122_thumb.jpg

^ The grease used inside these CV joints is lithium based of # 2 (medium) consistency, containing Molybdenum disulphide.

 

According to Mobile Oils :

Molybdenum disulfide offers particular advantages under boundary lubrication conditions, especially where sliding or vibration action pushes the grease away from the contacting surfaces. It provides a measure of protection against fretting and is therefore recommended where this phenomenon is a problem, as in splined shafts, pivot pins, fifth wheels, and other parts subjected to oscillating or sliding motion. Also, where relubrication is infrequent, molybdenum disulfide provides extended lubrication protection.

 

80 gram of grease is recommended for the outer CV joints ..but the manuals I have don't specify a figure for the larger volume within the inner tri-axe joint / gaiter.  The pot of grease I bought was 500g so I used about 20% (100g) in each.  It's very gooey slippery stuff to work with !

 

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^ I really don't like the (wider / perforated-hook type) gaiter ties supplied, so chose to reuse those previously fitted.  The best way I devised to tighten them was to hold their tail in the long-nose vice-grips and then hook n' lever the tab with the tang of a round file. How that file had a burr on its end (had been hammered ?) I have no idea ..but it proved a very useful hook.

 

. . . but, but.. did we miss something  ..about fitting the new gaiters over these tri-axe CV joints ? ..Didn't the specialist say he couldn't do these..?? 

 

yep, :P   so I moved on to option 1. (listed two posts ago).  

 

post-20151-0-29983100-1496565157_thumb.jpg

I had three further options..

" 1.) stretch open the existing gaiters, chemically clean and smear them (externally) over with a coat of silicon.  As they are only just cracking and with minor hole in one of them, then this may add a number of years more to their useful working life."

 

Using a jubilee clip to temporarily hold the gaiter stretched out, I used Loctite 5910 black silicon for the task - applied with a special tool # rh.004  ..my little finger :mrgreen:

 

Clearly, I reckon it is worth a try ..as these gaiters were beginning to crack but are really not in that bad a shape.  They are very much more sheltered (than the outer ones) from the extremes in element and grit found under the wheel arch - so generally last very much longer.  This may account for why the grease in the outer ones was good (changed only 20 years ago !? ) whereas the inner one's grease was thin, black and generally well passed its best-before-date.. It may even have been the original from new grease. 

 

And then the inner gaiters only flex as much as the angle of driveshaft's rise n' fall of the suspension, whereas the outer ones (which was cracked through and have now both been replaced) are required to contort to the rise n' fall, and possibly at the same time .. to an extreme of steering lock. 

 

Of course, I'll retain the new gaiters for future use / for when these eventually give up. 

 

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^ clean, painted, re-greased, and basking / drying in the sunshine.

 

post-20151-0-91417100-1496565192_thumb.jpg

 

Aside from refitting the small straps on the inner gaiters..  another job ticked off  8)

 

Bfg ;)

 

 

For Sale : a brand new pair of 2cv / Dyane / Ami / Ami-Super / Mahari  ? / A-Series Van ?  outer Driveshaft Gaiters (in top quality in Neoprene).   Anyone interested.. please PM me or email : < Bfg here @  G mail . com >  I bought them just last week off Burton.  

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08 June 2017  ..As the China-man might say " Happy Erection Day "

 

Sadly I'm having to take a step in a backwards direction at the moment.  insomuch as while the front wings are still out of the way - I'm having another look at the steering rack. 

 

I noticed as I was doing the driveshafts last week, and turning the wheel hubs by hand, that the steering felt stiff and rough.  I had hoped the second-hand pinion I'd fitted to get the car through an MOT would have fared better but ..

 

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^ I know it wasn't very good beforehand, but when previously photographed I showed you the damaged side. Its other side was hardly marked at all. The above photo shows you what it is like now.. all the way around, after just 25 miles.  In short it's getting seriously chewed up.. which means that the teeth on the rack itself are also damaged.   I had hoped that because they are so much more robust in shape - they would have survived the original pinion  ..But as a man on here once jinxed.. wcpgw ?

 

As am barely managing to keep my motivation going anyway ..this is just demoralising.  Never-the-less.. short of someone coming to buy the car as is ..I'm stuck with it.   Clearly God is trying to teach me something through this saga, but equally as apparent is that I'm just too dumb to recognise what it is.. !? 

 

So, faced with setting fire to the car and hoping the insurance company don't realise how such a thing might happen, or.. pulling the rack out  ..today I reluctantly chose the latter.  Down-beaten I trudge on. 

 

Well firstly, before I delved into all that.. I wanted to see how a rack & pinion came apart, and what exactly was inside of one ?., as I've never been here before.! And I don't have a workshop manual to help me out.  But.. if you recall, at no modest cost,  I'd bought a rhd steering rack off  Pete Sparrow,  just so I might get a decent pinion.. so I dug that out of the back of the shed and started taking it apart.

 

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OK having worked out how to get the rack out of its axle tube, I now needed to achieve the same ..working in the middle of the car, under the bulkhead, behind the gearbox. . .

 

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^ OK :mrgreen:  I'm pleased that it is possible to remove the rack without having to dismantle the front suspension (save the anti-roll bar), nor to have to remove the whole axle. 8)  

..Of course I don't know yet if I can reassemble it in situ..  :shock: 

 

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^ credit to Janez, he did grease it well.   But shame on Citroen for such crap covers which fail to keep grit out of the sliding parts.

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more to follow.. :P

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continuing on ..

 

post-20151-0-81384200-1496943944_thumb.jpg

^ note the chips off the edge of the rack's teeth. In cleaning the grease off there were some notable chucks of metallic debri, but I have no idea why it should be happening.. ?

 

post-20151-0-77627600-1496944110_thumb.jpg

^ Left and r.h-drive racks. The r.h rack show no sign of no damage whatsoever.

 

Next I dropped the Mahari Club shop an email asking them which of their Ami-8 rack and pinions (old seven tooth or later 8 tooth) had the lower ratio (more turns required of the steering wheel), and also if theirs matched the steering column spline and bearings size shown in my drawing.

 

I then proceeded to address the always worrying concern.. Is it possible.. and if so ..how the firk do I get it back together again.?  

 

Again I experimented with the r.h-drive steering rack.. which only proved that it didn't want to go back together again ! :shock:  

 

So I further dismantled it.. 

                                        after removing the link-arms ball-jointed pins, I could removed the toothed-rack from its guide tube, and then feed the wrong end into the axle tube first ..and then pull it back along and poke the toothed rack through the hole where the pinion is housed.  That worked, albeit without the guide tube.!

 

But it also revealed that the tensioner spring and cup (which normally keeps the rack pushed against its pinion) was previously stopping it from going together.  In short the angle was wrong to clear the sprung cup. 

 

However.. I could prise that cup back against its spring, using an 8mm cranked ring spanner, and then poking in from the end with a socket. .

 

post-20151-0-59735600-1496945440_thumb.jpg

^ ..a 13mm socket (approx 19mm outside diameter) on extension bars. This socket so inserted would wedge the cup and spring open, and then the rack-assembly (complete with guide tube) can be reassembled easily. Yippee ! :mrgreen: 

 

post-20151-0-95759600-1496945938_thumb.jpg

 

post-20151-0-68990700-1496948225_thumb.jpg

^ blue arrow points to the socket (inserted from the end of the axle) holding the spring and cup back, while the red arrow indicates the end of the steering rack pushing from the middle of the axle tube. This when pushed further - pushes the socket out of the way.. and the toothed-rack assembly with spring and cup in place is completed..  :-D

 

NB. I have to do it this way because on the car itself.. to undo that spring, which is fitted into the underside of the axle tube, would necessitate removing the axle / front suspension off the car.

 

 

So....  on the car itself.. all I need to do is to remove the driver's side axle-end-plate, to insert the socket ..while at the same time being inside the car with the cranked ring-spanner to prise the spring back..  I can do that !

 

But of course that will have to wait until I can get a new rack and pinion ..off an Ami-8 (..if it fits ? )

 

Bfg ;)

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I am wondering (..thinking out loud as it were)  if the following might be the root cause of the problem I'm facing with these steering rack pinions ? . . .

 

post-20151-0-23392600-1496958727_thumb.jpg

^ The block of rubber over the two link arms /track-rod pins didn't strike me as being correct. So I looked it up in Peter Russek's little handbook. And although there's nothing about the rack and pinion in the text.. the illustration clearly shows and labels a spring under each track-rod..   

 

post-20151-0-74449800-1496960051_thumb.jpg

^  item 26 shows a spring. Now that makes sense to me, and I'll tell you why..  Firstly the block of rubber as fitted spans across the slider and also a little way over the outer guide sleeve / cover. So surely there's friction..  You may recall I commented in the above post  "turning the wheel hubs by hand, that the steering felt stiff and rough".   yep., having a rubber block dragging its way back and forth across the guide sleeve would tend to make things a bit stiffer to slide.

 

And then secondly, and more pertinent to the problem this particular car has.. is that the block of rubber (which is medium firm, rather than very spongy) is clamped between the track rods and the steering rack.. and that might effect the angle of things inside the assembly.?  

 

If for example the track rods were done up tight when the suspension arms were hanging all the way down (ie., the car is supported under the chassis while it is being reassembled) .. then, when the car is back on its wheels and the suspension is back to near horizontal - the steering's track-rods would twist as far as the ball joint in the track-rod-ends would allow, and thereafter apply the twisting to be transmitted to the aforementioned rubber block, and through that to the toothed rack inside the axle tube ?  

 

post-20151-0-17081200-1496963866_thumb.jpg

 

Within the axle tube itself there's very little to stop the toothed rack from twisting a degree or a few.. So then - we get to the rack being out of alignment with the pinion by that amount. Then all the contact interface would be just along one edge of the toothed rack ..and that single point of contact on each tooth of the pinion.  And isn't that what's being reflected as damage - seen in the photos ?

 

 

Which was all well and good as a theory, but there's no mention of it in Russek's book.  So I cross referenced it in the other manual.  I can't understand much of the French text, but the illustration is quite clear (pointed at by my pencil)..  huh hmm :?  ..the rubber block is shown on this drawing..

 

post-20151-0-45489000-1496965838_thumb.jpg

 

..from it I couldn't say how firm the rubber block should be..  nor does it negate my supposition that the final track-rod joint should only be tightened up when the car is sitting normally and carrying its usual weight.  Only then would there be enough rotation in the track-rod-end to avoid twisting of the toothed rack. 

 

It's only a supposition.. so I'd be glad for anyone to interject here ;)  

 

NB. ignore the track-rod being shown behind the slider plate, etc.. .. That's just French artistic_composition for you !  It should be sitting between the rubber block and the lock nut ..but then it wouldn't fit on the printed page :oops:

 

 

Post script.. no the rubber block would make no difference to the suspension twist being transmitted to the toothed rack because (..upon reflection and looking again at the drawing I recall) ..the track-rods are clamped onto tapered pins (solidly) ..and those pins have articulated ball joints to connect with the toothed rack.   

 

So.. I'm still at a loss as to why the rack is twisting / bearing along one edge and crunching the pinion's teeth.   It's late now so I'll sleep on it.

 

Bfg.. -_-

 

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I'm struggling to understand what the problem is here.. so again I'll think out loud and invite you to add a comment / your thoughts ..

 

 

Last night I was exploring the supposition of the steering's link arms / track-rods having been clamped up tight while the suspension's front swinging arms were hanging down.., and then when the car was back on its wheels - the arms would swing back to near horizontal, rotating with them the track-rods.   If there were not enough rotational movement / articulation in the track-rod-end ball joint to accommodate the change in angle ..then that joint would lock up.  Thereafter the change of angle would become twist in the track rods, which might be conveyed to the toothed steering rack. 

 

Looking at it, immediately after I wrote the supposition down.. I realised that this wasn't possible because the steering's tooth rack is also connected via ball joints, on the inside end of the track-rod pins.

 

However.. this morning I looked again to see if at least the first part of my supposition had been correct.. regarding clamping the assembly while the arms were hanging down . .

 

post-20151-0-43375600-1497012682_thumb.jpg

^ here the steering's link arms / track-rods are only connected at the track-rod-ends. The front of the car without battery, or the panels, bonnet, bumper, etc., (ie. lighter / sitting higher than normal) is however resting on blocks under the king pins.

 

With the track-rods manually twisted right-the-way backward (anti-clockwise in this photo), this is the angle of the inboard end where they attach to the steering rack. . 

post-20151-0-43570900-1497013132_thumb.jpg

^ Had the car been supported under the chassis, so the front suspension's swinging arms were free to rotate down (clockwise in this photo), then these rod ends would be square to the steering rack. 

 

Conversely, without touching anything else, but the track-rods having been manually twisted right-the-way forward (clockwise in this photo) we have . .

post-20151-0-81815100-1497012858_thumb.jpg

^ even from this photo.. we can see the furthermost (LHS) rod end is still not square to the steering rack, despite it having been twisted hard against the full movement of its ball joint. 

 

So what does that mean.. with respect to the issues this car is facing ??

 

Well this is what the track-rod to steering rack pins look like ..

post-20151-0-02725400-1497014312_thumb.jpg

^ the red arrow points to one of the two sliding blocks - which keep the track-rod pins horizontal. The blocks and the outer case they slide in are 8.5mm deep.  And, the outer case is bolted to the axle tube, which is of course is bolted to the chassis.    .. and so ??

 

..Well, when the track-rods are connected to these pins, and the car regains its panels, headlamps, spare wheel, battery, bumper, etc., and sits lower ..and then goes over a bump &/or heels around a fast corner, then its suspension swinging arms rotate to an angle above horizontal. 

 

But, when the track-rod-end has no rotational / angle movement left, it locks up (..making the steering stiff), and the twist is then conveyed through the track-rods to those 8mm thick blocks. Those are twisted hard against their casing ..which will then be very difficult to slide ..and so contribute to making the steering impossibly stiff.    :blink: 

 

Going back to the previous little sketch . .

post-20151-0-22337600-1497017711_thumb.jpg

 

Add to this the mass of the Ami-Super's four cylinder engine being swung around a fast bend ..and that poor little steering pinion is barely able to cope. The angles of its cut teeth push against the geared steering rack, and the spring which holds the rack tightly-interlocked backs off.  ..So then we have just the very tip of the pinion's teeth clinging-on, trying to correct the car's direction.    Something has to give and it is the pinion's steel which tears off in small chunks..  :shock:

 

And all because the track rods were tightened when the car was jacked up under its chassis. !

 

To correct it.. is simple.. Just undo the track-rod adjuster and manually rotate one end of the track rod relative to the other.

 

What do you guys think.. ?  Would those joints locking up / the excessive tightness of the steering, be enough to damage these pinions.?

 

Bfg.

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