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

[lesapandre]

Go on. I drove my air-cooled Visa from Normandy to London...and back.

[Largactil]

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!

 

They weigh nothing, and apparently the twin pot will thrum along at 65-70mph (or more) on the flat - Read here for some inspiration:

 

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/sunday-storytime-how-i-bought-an-old-citroen-in-france-1820153733

 

[cort1977]

 

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 

 

So you've passed my in-laws place

 

Steering wheel looks great, can I ask where you got that refurbished?

[Largactil]

So you've passed my in-laws place

 

Steering wheel looks great, can I ask where you got that refurbished?

 

This lad in Navan - https://www.adverts.ie/member/540437 (but he travels around Co. Dub a lot).

Happy the results for around €100  

[purplebargeken]

It's looking like a cracking little car. Much fun planned for it! Excellent.

[Largactil]

Y THO?

 

 

While it's backside came apart quite easily, it's been a fight tackling the front end - Every bolt seized.

 

Fun, fun, fun on the floor of a freezing cold garage    

[Largactil]

2 months later, and not much of an update...

 

I'm slowly learning that life sometimes gets in the way when you want to tinker, and that when you do earmark a day to undertake some painting / spannering work, you awake to 4 degree temperatures / dizzily rain which scuppers your plans (my garage isn't really big enough to tackle some jobs easily inside).

 

First up, the interior - It did get a coat of cellulose (rollered on), which has smartened it up no end. Currently building the motivation to apply a second coat, before spraying some cavity wax in the access grommets (the car was Dynatroled when new, which is why it's still around!)

 

I have some Junkman approved Ultimat to fit, then the new interior can go back in (once I've spray-dyed it, using a blue version of the stuff Volksangyl used for his Princess' carpets).

 

Got some more of the front apart, and after attacking with a wire brush, slapped on some Vactan.

 

 

With the airbox and battery out, I could clean up / Vactan the areas underneath - The battery tray is adjacent to the washer reservoir, with predictable results from over-filling.

 

 

 

More cleaning up, and some Smoothrite later (colour not a match, but shall be hidden when the parts are re-fitted).

 

 

 

Almost all of the side trim clips cracked on removal, so I cleaned Rob Moss at Chevronics out of most of his stock.

 

 

(Did contemplate leaving them off, but would've had to grind down the locator pins - Plus they're a fundamental part of the 1980's LNA facelift).

 

'Better' number plates acquired and fitted:

 

 

The front end / engine bay was cleaned up a bit, ready for primer

 

 

 

And that's kinda where we are now (the valance panels are also straightened / primed - and the front bumper's been painted) - Ready for topcoating, as soon as this rain decides to give it a rest for a few hours.

 

I've found it's so easy to get drawn in to "I'll just tidy up this bit..." before booking an NCT (Irish MOT) - But the reality is, the LNA's been off the road since last August, and time's ticking by.

 

My new philosophy is to finish painting the front end, re-fit the interior, change the fuel filler joint /suspension bushes, give it an oil service and stick it in for a test - All the other 'nice to have' stuff can be tweaked over the summer / wait till this winter.

 

[binhoker668]

Loving this thread fella.  First car I drove on the roads after passing my test was an LNA.  I say that I'd passed my test like, but still had no insurance or tax etc.  Was great fun using all the back alleys round South Belfast to avoid all the checkpoints (both RUC and UDR).  Was always a case of see-how-far-we-can-get-without-getting-a-pull.  Great wee car like.  Still trying to find an old photie of it to see if it might still be alive somewhere.

It was a righteous punk-mobile.

[Largactil]

Ah, I believe the done thing in the ROI was to apply for your provisional licence, and drive around without actually bothering about the driving test bit 

 

Old photo of your one would be cool - How Many Left shows a rapid deterioration in LNA numbers from 1995 -> 2001, from ~2000 to under 100 - They were built down to a price, lacking many of the 'luxuries' its twin brother the 104 had (cheaper trim, lack of a clock etc), with the added bonus of thin French tin and numerous rust traps.

 

The latest HML figures reckon on 20 left in the UK, of which 2 are currently taxed - Apparently Citroen ROI didn't bother importing any back in the day (preferring the Visa instead), so there's only mine and a minty 11RE (the posh model) which was imported from the UK a couple of years ago, and now lives in Tipperary.

 

(Not sure about the North?)

 

There was one in Wicklow which appeared 5 years ago on DoneDeal, but looked a bit kippered, so has likely been reincarnated as a washing machine now.

 

 

They're quite fun to punt along - Independent rear suspension is a surprise on a cheapy little car. Peugeot rallied them as the 104, and Talbot had some success with the Samba, so the fundamentals are there 

[egg]

Regards the air cooled ones, I found out from the Visa forum that there are 5 in the UK imported from France.

 

Love the thread.

[binhoker668]

Repeating myself here for sure, and defo off-topic, but is your username anything to do with Amebix?  You probably answered that before like, but got lost deep in a thread somewhere.

Yeah, will have to ask around at home for photies.  I'd definitely hanker after buying it back if it existed anywhere still.  Stranger things have happened....

[Largactil]

Amebix, the band?

 

Nah - It's a brand name for Chlorpromazine, an anti-psychotic medication.

 

It'd be great if you did manage to track your old car down, but the LNA definitely falls into the 'unloved' category, so the vast majority have been fragged without a second thought. (The whole lack of LHM, and "It's a Peugeot cast-off design, and is a totem for the loss of independence for Citroen" thing puts most of the CCC mob off).

 

Better weather yesterday, meant I could topcoat the front - Colour-match rattle cans from the local automotive paint supplier - Not perfect, but decent enough and better than what was there previously.

 

 

 

Re-assembly is imminent - Now where did I put all the bolts...? 

[Largactil]

Progress - Nice to finally get the face back on 

 

 

 

Had a play with the spray dye, too - Bought a couple of different colours, so experimented on some of the trim panels first (think I'll use the left colour for the seats, and the right-side colour for the carpets).

 

 

Amazing the difference having a few days of decent weather makes, in terms of being able to tackle some stuff outside - and actually being motivated to do it! 

[Largactil]

MOAR work complete - Putting the front end back together has been much more of a faff than the back - Getting everything lined up has been a challenge, and as I had to cut off many of the OEM bolts, new fixings have been required. Took about 7-8 hours of messing around yesterday to get to where I am.

 

 

 

When I stood back to admire my handiwork, the penny dropped that the bumper was an inch too low - Turns out the mounting brackets are handed, and although it bolted up okay, it's pushed everything slightly out of position - Gah.

 

Where the bumper is now:

 

 

Where the bumper should be (pic from last October):

 

 

C'est la vie - It'll get sorted 

[binhoker668]

Wow - bumper height withstanding, that's a cracking job.  A proper brilliant looking wee car now.  Gonna be some very satisfying summer drives this year huh?

[egg]

Great work, so glad to see one of these getting some love.

[320touring]

Bumper off looks faster;)

[Six-cylinder]

Give me your address and I will drop my LNA round for the treatment!

[hairnet]

hnng

 

bumper off x10

[Largactil]

Give me your address and I will drop my LNA round for the treatment!

 

You wouldn't like my rates   

 

hnng

 

bumper off x10

 

I need all the protection I can get on the road in Ireland, even a flimsy bumper 

 

Dyed the interior - Came out okay, but could really have done with another couple of spray cans. (Will re-visit this winter, when I pull interior again to fit my un-cracked dashboard).  

 

 

(I'm sure my neighbours think I'm radio rental   )

 

 

 

 

 

Whipped the front bumper off, and swapped the brackets around - Still slightly skew-whiff, but it's had a parking knock in a previous life, so I think it was like this before.

 

 

My panel beating worked out okay on the front valance, but was decidedly shoite on the bumper. Meh.

 

Painted the sill panels below the doors, and removed and re-fitted the rear bumper (was missing some fittings, and only on loosely - Now fixed properly).

 

 

 

Underseal and re-attaching side strips and mirrors next!

 

(Plus the important stuff that'll get it through an NCT, like ARB bushes / track rod ends, lower arms and fixing the leaky fuel tank  )

[cort1977]

That's an even more bonny looking thing now, well done.

[Aston Martin]

That interior is fabulous.

[Largactil]

Last post for a while (have to go back to work in the UK for a few weeks).

 

After the 'dramatic' changes of a freshly painted nose / dyed interior, it was on to the equally time consuming fun of attacking the underside.

 

The original underseal is flakey as you'd expect 35 year old underseal to be. It's been topped up in places over the years, and the chap who owned it prior to Wuvv seems to have painted the arch lips (and sides... and front valance) with a brush.

 

Underseal is a contentious subject amongst old chod botherers, as it's usually slapped on to hide a multitude of sins. In an ideal world, I'd prefer to strip the old stuff off completely, have a man wave a sparkly stick at the crusty brown bits, and then cover with a hard-wearing paint so I could keep an eye on any other developing crusty brown bits. 

 

This may well happen in the future, but I'm determined to get the car on the road for a least a year or two (it's been declared off-road for almost 9 months so far), so it'll have to wait.

 

White spirit / various scrubbing brushes & scrapers, and 5 hours later I had all the loose stuff off and cleaned up the wheelarch lips. A final wash, and I slapped on the schutz, which took another couple of hours.

 

 

 

Next the top side got some more attention - Popped the wiper arms off, keyed / etched and painted them. Tigersealed the crusty gap at the top of the sill cover plate (had been cleaned back / Vactan'd, but will need TLC at some point in the next few years).

 

Broke out the mop, and ran it over the car with a fairly light compound, as the paint is mega thin in places...

 

 

 

...Then cleaned up the side trims, fitted new clips, and popped them back on.

 

 

 

(Need to lacquer the wing mirror casing before fitting, so will do that when I get home).

 

Cosmetically it's more or less there - Having the OEM wheels back on really changes the look, which isn't a bad thing, but I prefer the wider alloys (they're 6" vs. 4.5" of the standard steels).

 

Autoshite's a broad church, and I know there'll be a faction who think I should have left the car the way it was, dings and all. (Patina?)

 

Another faction won't mind the cosmetic tart-up, but will feel that I should stick with a completely OEM look.

 

And the small remainder will be okay with me fitting wider wheels, and lowering the car a bit.

 

As I said before, nothing I'm doing isn't reversible with a few hours of spannering, so it'll be easy enough to switch back if I decide that's the way to go.

 

To that end, a few weeks ago I acquired a set of OEM steels which have been banded to 6" - These will be powdercoated in OEM silver.

 

 

The front end of the car looks comically high on the wider rims, so I've got my hands on some suspension from an oval track Samba, which will enable me to lower it down 30-50 mm, with the added bonus of some decent condition top mounts.

 

 

The donor:

 

 

(It has massive wheel spacers, hence the arch extensions!)

 

Till next time 

 

 

  

 

 

[500tops]

This is fantastic!

[Largactil]

As we stumble toward mid-August, I wonder - Where does the time go?!

 

The LNA has now been off the road for a year, which irritates me somewhat, but the ‘beast from the East’ slowed progress over the winter, and I’ve been ridiculously busy over the last few months.

 

It looked pretty much complete in the last update, but I had a few jobs to tackle on the oily bits, which took longer than expected.

 

It had a habit of dumping fuel over the forecourt when filling the tank, which I attributed to a perished tank breather hose.

 

 

I acquired a secondhand filler neck from a Samba, but they’re actually rather different (surprisingly)

 

(LNA is the wider one on the right).

 

Chevronics came up with a new old stock tank joint (shared with the Visa), so I fitted that.

 

 

 

Next up was the suspension – All the rubber parts are perished / a bit tired, and I doubt they’d pass an Irish NCT (there’s no ‘advisories ‘over here…It’s pass / fail)

 

 

 

Bit of a pig of a job – The front ARB is under tension (it’s a sort of ‘track control arm’), so you remove this with the car on its wheels / some weight on the slam panel, but it’s an arse to get back in-situ (had to tension it juuuust right with a ratchet strap).

 

To change the lower arms, I had to remove the entire upright / hub carrier on each side to get clearance. The caliper bolts were stuck on the OSF, and took a fair bit of persuasion to free. The hub nut was also megafuckintight (it’s defo seen some garage work on this side in the past). Finally, the lower arm swivel bolt was at one with the rubber bush, and I couldn’t free it up (the sleeve had disintegrated). Had to pull the driveshaft, and carefully use a slitting disc in a grinder (sans-guard) to chop it off.

 

 

 

(Top tip – If you pull the driveshaft out to get clearance, have something to catch the oil which will pour out, as the gearbox shares its oil with the engine).

 

 

 

Done:

 

 

 

Next up was the rims – Gave them a quick / dirty rattle-can tart up:

 

 

 

 

I do intend running the alloys, but as they’re 1.5” wider than the OEM steels, they run +ve camber on the standard suspension, so I’ll wait till I fit the coilovers (which have been modified to allow additional negative camber to be added).

 

 

The GB sticker has made way for an IRL one…

 

 

The OEM wing mirrors have been refitted, and I’ve filled and painted a NSF door ding – Just need the paint to harden so I can cut it back before fitting the last piece of trim.

 

 

And that’s more or less it, before I book an MOT (NCT here) – It’s due an oil change, but Mister Auto were ambitious in their delivery estimate of Friday for the filters, so it’ll now need to wait till I get back from work in the UK in a few weeks. (I’m sat at the airport as I type this).

 

I did also acquire some goodies from France:

 

 

(Sparking plug wrench for the engine bay, engine fan, rear seatbelts, brake servo from a 104 ZS, window channels, wiper arms and a stalk… Plus a pretty rare Peugeot 104 ZS2 airbox for Twin 40 carbs).

 

 

 

 

Hopefully it’ll be back on the road, come the next update 

[Largactil]

A bit of a milestone today, as the LNA finally secured an NCT pass and is now fully road legal in Ireland for the first time in 22 months (or effectively from when I drove it over from the UK and VRT'd it )

I haven't done much with it of late, as I'd been struggling to find the time due to work commitments - Dropped the oil for the first time in 3-4 years (much needed) and replaced with some Miller Classic Pistoneeze 20w50, which is a mineral oil designed for old Mini's that have the same 'gearbox in engine sump' layout.

It's really quietened things down, and the gearchanges seem a little slicker (may just be in my mind though!)

https://millersoilsireland.ie/classic-mini-oil-20w50/

I'd picked up a set of Gotti Arvor alloys while in France on holiday - Not sure what to do with them, but they were cheap enough that I'm not fussed whether I use them or not.









(I currently have x4 spare sets of wheels )

The plan now is to get out & use the car a bit - It's really bugged me that it's spent so long dormant.

The cooling system needs flushed, and I need to change the radiator fan as the bearing's knackered (I have a spare in my parts pile), but it's only really an issue in heavy traffic.

So what next?

I bought a parts car last September over in the UK, which my brother in law helped me strip (while it seemed a shame to chop it up, it really was terminally rotten and at least the parts will live on in other cars).

In time, I plan on using its 1360 engine / 5 speeder in the LNA - Likely building it up with the Grp A rally parts I've been squirrelling away over the past few years.

I like the absurdity of an LNA running a Grp A-spec Samba Rally engine, and it's all completely reversible at the end of the day.





 

[dozeydustman]

Why am I interested in wanting a roffle and offering many tickets for this beastie? Love a 104-derived car, really good to see another LNA . Top work sir!

[hairnet]

why did i look at that ad and think ritmo before i realised what it was

detail the alloys stat

roffle - fuk da' please take this

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

Good work! Can you get hold of those wheel arch extensions? 

[Largactil]

17 hours ago, Nibblet said:

Good work! Can you get hold of those wheel arch extensions? 

Possibly, but rare even in France and the Arvor kit would mean removing the LNA side mouldings to fit (as would the 104 ZS2 arch extensions), so not too fussed. I have a front spoiler from a ZS2 104 (bit like a Mk1 Golf GTi chin spoiler), so might bodge than on.

No roffles at the moment - Others may disagree, but I bought this from Wuvv 5 years ago, when worthless old rammel like this was a lot more common on AS - Times have changed, and the LNA seems now to have transitioned a bit to 'classic car', and I doubt I'd be able to replace it for what I got it for - Plus it's definitely a conversation starter every time you fuel up (thankfully replacing the perished rubber tank joint has stopped petrol pissing all over the forecourt ?), which is always amusing.

I don't want to go all blue forum, but fitting a heap of Samba competition parts from the early 80's appeals in a weird way - I have the bits to put together a 115bhp Grp A-spec engine on a Grp B subframe, with the wheels, brakes & suspension to match. Hopefully I can do it in a tasteful / reversible manner, but time will tell.