project (New) New minge-bag motoring - 1983 Citroen LNA 11E (Departs the Fleet)

[Six-cylinder]

Single seater racing LNA!

[Angrydicky]

What a nuisance! Can I just say, all those people telling you to put black and silver plates on it are RONG, it'll look awful and I must say I'm not a fan of the ZV import plates either, mainly because they're up to five numbers now and it makes the plates look cluttered, with the digits shrunk to fit them all in.

[Eddie Honda]

They've raised an anomaly - Now need to wait for a letter from the HQ in Shannon,

That'll be lack of a suitable stat code. It'll end up with a dump code.

 

I've done cars that involved 4 trips back-and-forth, but that was back in the day when the Revenue did them. They occasionally went outside, but usually it was a fleeting glance through the window.

[Largactil]

That'll be lack of a suitable stat code. It'll end up with a dump code.

 

I've done cars that involved 4 trips back-and-forth, but that was back in the day when the Revenue did them. They occasionally went outside, but usually it was a fleeting glance through the window.

 

Bureaucracy is wot keeps the Civil Service in gainful employment here 

 

Now that the LNA is probably going to be garaged till next Spring (I'm working in the UK for the next 3 weeks, then off to the States for when I get back, so won't be able to do much till October), I thought I might tackle some paintwork.

 

Disclaimer: I've never so much as picked up a rattle can in my life. If anything below is completely incorrect, please pipe up, as I have very little clue what I'm doing.

 

The rear panel of the LNA is a sort of matt black finish - It's pretty faded, and at some point, someone has decided to swipe a brush loaded with gloss across it. There's also surface rust breaking out, especially in the fold where the boot rubber seal lives.

 

The rear bumper looks like a galvanised steel beam, and has hardly any paint left on it - There's also some surface corrosion evident.

 

Like most mechanically / artistically inept people, I've delayed and delayed doing anything about this, as I was sure I'd screw it up.

 

But feck it.

 

Shure, it'll be grand. Etc.

 

Before:

 

 

 

I don't think the paint was particularly great from the factory, either:

 

 

Wire wheeled the rusty bits, hit them with rust convertor, rubbed down to key the surface, masked up & panel wiped / tack cloth'ed:

 

 

Etched:

 

 

High build:

 

 

Guided coated & flatted with 800 grit, then matt black top coat:

 

 

x4 double (back & forth) coats later:

 

 

(Number plate hides the spot welds)

 

 

 

(Reasonably straight line...)

 

The bumper was completely bare-metalled, etched and then covered with Zinc primer:

 

 

(I was going to Plastidip this in grey, but have decided to obtain the correct factory shade of paint).

 

The finish doesn't seem that bad for my first ever attempt at painting a car, but I'm sure it looks like a dogs dinner to those who know what they're doing 

 

...which this leads me to ask a couple of stupid questions to any of the painter types reading this:

 

Do I need to flat back the matt paint? There's amazingly no runs  / nozzle splatter. 

 

Do I need to apply lacquer / clear coat over the matt?

 

Rear valance next - 

[Largactil]

Project Boy Racer LNA continues.

 

I managed to beat Eddie Honda's record of x4 back-and-forth trips to the VRT centre, with a total of 5. (Various reasons, mostly the NVDF's inability to get the model designation correct).

 

Got there in the end, and was penalised  rewarded with a registration number so long it barely fits on a plate.

 

I'll need to seriously think about a switch to a 'ZV' next year (it's around "ZV 11156" at the moment), as it looks a bit shit - Punishment for importing a car into state.

 

In other news, a trawl of everyone's favourite French tat site turned up some goodies, and it just so happened some friends were in the south of France last week with their car, and only 5 minutes away from the seller.

 

 

Goodie pile includes an 8 port head/ 'hot' cam (from a Visa Chrono / 104 ZS2) / inlet manifold to suit and Weber twin 40 DCOE's with mounts. 

 

Long term plan is to acquire a 1360cc block from a 205 GT/ XT or Samba Cab, and either build up a 1360 with the above parts; or use the 1360 block & pistons, plus my current 1124 crank & rods, to create a 1219 hybrid (which is what the Group A rally Sambas' did back in the day).

 

The 1360 has more torque - The 1219 revs much better. Both set up's make around 100-110bhp with the twin 40's and a decent exhaust. (Double what it makes now... )

 

I have a Group B front subframe to chuck the above in, so it's relatively easy to remove the whole lot and revert to standard in the future if I wanted to.

 

Obligatory Cibie's bought too - Just resting on the bumper, while I decide how best to mount them.

 

 

Top of bumper or below - What sayeth Autoshite??

[mk2_craig]

Just read the whole thread. Living the dream!

 

I'm a rectangular below, round above the bumper kind of auxiliary lamp guy. Either way will block the AA Relay grille badge, did the car come with that already fitted?

[hairnet]

fecker!!!

 

and zv asap ffs

[richardmorris]

Below.

[Angrydicky]

Wow that plate looks dreadful. I had no idea the 'normal' ones were up to so many numbers.

 

And my vote is for foglights below the bumper.

[worldofceri]

That's a stupidly long number. Could they not do what Gibraltar have done? When they got to G99999 they went to G1A through to G9999A, then G1B to G9999B etc...

 

And, below bumper.

[hairnet]

for some reason they picked plates for imports to start at 120000

 

friend has a bike and it came from essex and 120005

 

and even tho bikes dont have min/max size it still looks shit - but its too young for zv

 

larg you need a square plate and a smaller font - only stipulation the rsa have is the dashes between the characters and the county name [/nerd perv langer]

 

font size doesnt matter - you see lots of bummers with german plates

[Largactil]

I read somewhere that there's loads of original numbers from pre-87 kicking around (i.e. the AZG 472 the LNA might have had back in the day), but it's too much hassle to allocate them, so they give imports ridiculously high numbers as it's easier for the civil service. #welcometoireland.

 

To completely barry the LNA up, I also got a rev counter.

 

 

#Autoshitephail

[hairnet]

no clack {/gurrier]

[wuvvum]

Below.

[Eddie Honda]

for some reason they picked plates for imports to start at 120000

Only in Dublin. Because "new computer system" c. 2011.

 

What they did is went back to the highest number of registrations for a single year (c. 115k Dublin in 2000) and added a bit more.

 

So Dublin starts 120001, Cork 40001, etc. (I've a whole list of them) down to Co Leitrim 3001.

 

There are some ZV numbers missed out for the same reason, but instead of being thousands, they jumped around 100 higher.

 

(I'd hate to register one now, as I live in Co Kildare. Might have to get the Dublin-based rellies down as first owner of my next car to get some no 1s in the reg to keep the plate width down.)

[Largactil]

Below seems to be the favoured option - Worth noting that they're not fog lights... They're driving lights (clear lenses).

 

Will look at apeing the 104 style:

 

 

(Oh, and the AA badge was something I found lying around my old man's garage, so I stuck it on the grill).

 

The bloke at Eireplates reckons this might work / is similar to the font on the old French plates:

 

 

Might give it a go.

[Eddie Honda]

The bloke at Eireplates reckons this might work / is similar to the font on the old French plates:

 

 

Might give it a go.

Planning on being part of the Defence Forces now???

 

Reflectives galore here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQOlJItjeZQ

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDWVp3A5b2g

[Largactil]

I'm willing to try anything to improve the look of the plate

 

I saw a '79 Capri on the M1 the other day, and it had a 79 D on a yellow UK style rear plate...Anything goes, I guess

[hairnet]

its a favourite in donegal where its cheaper to go to lifford or derry to buy a replacement

 

lots of yellow eire reg one maily golf and audisz zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Largactil]

Not as much LNA action as I'd have liked since the last post, due to work & holidays getting in the way.

 

Hasn't been all bad - Had this for a few weeks to scoot around in (full-fat 6.2 V8 one).

 

 

Anyhow, picked up a set of Vitaloni's - Shared with the Ferrari 512BB / some sports motorcycles

 

 

..and had a trial fit:

 

 

 

Fitted LED bulbs (warm /'classic' tone) and tidied up the Cibies - Also acquired a Visa GTi steering wheel and had it refurbed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Refurbed and new boots...

 

 

And finished painting its arse - Quite happy with the results, considering I've never painted a car before now:

 

 

 

 

(Trims are off for re-dying, and mopping the body - Managed to secure some new clips to reattach them).

 

Currently the interior's out while I paint the floor, then it's getting some sound-deadening matting fitted before I fit the new (to me, at least) carpets & seats.

 

Fingers crossed it'll be back on the road in Ireland April / May - Also have undersealing and some oily bits to tackle prior to the NCT. 

 

Finally I have a special badge to fit, which allows the bearer to drive in any manner they see fit, without sanctions from An Garda Síochána.

 

 

TTFN   

 

[hairnet]

that steering wheel ooft

 

legal motorcycle plate or jdm spec plate for the front would be better

[Largactil]

that steering wheel ooft

 

legal motorcycle plate or jdm spec plate for the front would be better

 

ZV plate once it's NCT'd 

[Largactil]

More junk arrived yesterday:

 

 

The headlights have de-silvered, which would probably PHAIL an NCT - These generic E marked 5.75" jobs were £7.50 each, so worth a try (plastic bowls too, so no future issues).

 

All rubber bits in the suspension appear to be original = 35 years old, and seen better days...Hence new lower arms (complete with bushes) and TRE's - Also have ARB bushes stashed for changing out.

 

Brakes are Grp N, braided hoses and a Grp N exhaust by OMP to match the go faster wheels.

 

 

(Reasonably subtle, in my defence, as evidenced by the above example).

 

A 1360cc block from a Samba cab has been acquired, along with a strengthened subframe from a Samba Rally car

 

 

 

 

Already have an 8 port head / lumpy camshaft from a Citroen Visa Chrono, so the plan is to build up the 1360 over the next couple of years, and slot it in complete with new subframe. (All easily reversible should I ever want to return to standard).

 

Oh, and picked these up too...

 

 

(Matching pair of Twin 40 Webers from a French market Samba Rallye  )

 

#carbporn

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I'm willing to try anything to improve the look of the plate

 

I saw a '79 Capri on the M1 the other day, and it had a 79 D on a yellow UK style rear plate...Anything goes, I guess

 

I drove my oul 635CSi (OYM 71Y) for over a decade on repro Clare-headed plates - white embossed front (from Ennis Motor Factors), yellow plastic rear (from Fancyplates), all Euro/IRL flagged. Never a problem for the filt' or the MoT.

 

Thinking of doing the same style Clare plates for the CX.

 

.....Finally I have a special badge to fit, which allows the bearer to drive in any manner they see fit, without sanctions from An Garda Síochána.[/size]

 

Will ye not have a crucifix on the dashboard somewhere?

[egg]

Hope you don't mind me posting that I have LN(A) dreams as well, but I haven't got further than a 1985 brochure. Although, I'm looking at air cooled ones!

 

 

[Largactil]

 

I drove my oul 635CSi (OYM 71Y) for over a decade on repro Clare-headed plates - white embossed front (from Ennis Motor Factors), yellow plastic rear (from Fancyplates), all Euro/IRL flagged. Never a problem for the filt' or the MoT.

 

Thinking of doing the same style Clare plates for the CX.

 

 

Will ye not have a crucifix on the dashboard somewhere?

 

The joys of the system here (I'm slowly learning as an ex-pat) - If I'd opted straight for a 'ZV', I couldn't switch to an '83D' later - But you can go '83D' -> 'ZV'...(!)

 

If the 83D they'd allocated had 4 (or maybe even 5) digits at the end, I'd have stuck with it - But 6 digits looks rubbish on an old car!!   

 

On reflection, I think the Padre Pio stickers only work in Kerry / Roscommon, where they have the religious billboards / statues of the Virgin Mary in their front gardens   

[Largactil]

Hope you don't mind me posting that I have LN(A) dreams as well, but I haven't got further than a 1985 brochure. Although, I'm looking at air cooled ones!

 

15180911810941799070435.jpg

 

1518091252754-1389446984.jpg

 

The air cooled ones are proper Citroens - Mine is essentially a Peugeot 104 Z, with a different grill / headlights / front valance / rear window shape - Hence the addition of the 104 ZS go faster bits!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

The joys of the system here (I'm slowly learning as an ex-pat) - If I'd opted straight for a 'ZV', I couldn't switch to an '83D' later - But you can go '83D' -> 'ZV'...(!)

 

If the 83D they'd allocated had 4 (or maybe even 5) digits at the end, I'd have stuck with it - But 6 digits looks rubbish on an old car!!   

 

On reflection, I think the Padre Pio stickers only work in Kerry / Roscommon, where they have the religious billboards / statues of the Virgin Mary in their front gardens 

 

My understanding was that once you'd converted from the old pre-'87 system to the current one, there was no mechanism for going back, so if I went from, say, "635 CIE" to "83-CE-635", I'd not be allowed to revert to the former, but your earlier posting suggests that it might be possible.....unless I've misread it. I'd be interested to discover the actual bureaucratic process for doing this.

 

The Padre Pio sticker might also work in the Knock area of Mayo. I drove through there once on the way to Westport. I'd never seen so much souvenir shite in my life.....until I went to the Vatican. They were even selling the oul neon "glow in the dark" crosses.

[Six-cylinder]

Hope you don't mind me posting that I have LN(A) dreams as well, but I haven't got further than a 1985 brochure. Although, I'm looking at air cooled ones!

 

15180911810941799070435.jpg

 

1518091252754-1389446984.jpg

In the UK only LN was available air cooled, all UK LNAs were 1124cc 4 cylinder water cooled. There is one ex French LNA Twin I know of in the UK.

[egg]

Oh yes, I plan to import one, but it's needs to be near a port as it's not going to be realistic to drive one hundreds of miles!