Citroen GS shenanigans

[forddeliveryboy]

Fine car, mrcitroen, but not intended for pottering round English lanes. Chances are, once the tyres and cambelts are checked it'll go better and better for lots of foot to the floor journeys on fast open roads. I can probably find a carb if needs be, though it sounds as if yours is basically ok.

 

Check the NGKs are all within resistance tolerances - I started getting loads which weren't (and which developed almost infinite resistance after a few hundred miles) a few years ago and having spoken to an NGK tech man, swapped to Denso. You need decent quality leads, too - not your local motorist discount store's finest, unless they're Bougicord or NGK.

[mrcitroen]

I tracked down a set of Bougicord leads as they are OE. It's the more modern ones with radio suppression so I no longer have any crackling on my MW/LW Blaupunkt Hamburg. I fitted NGK BP6ES plugs as that is what is in their catalogue for G's. I have always found NGK plugs better than the likes of Bosch so that is the primary reason why I got them.

 

Carb is OK just needs a wee bit of further adjustment. It is way better than what it was. I'll get round to that.

 

I need to sort the ignition switch next. The parcel arrived, but I was out so need to wait for the re delivery. Weather is wild here this weekend, so I would not have done it anyway. The car still starts & drives but I have no indicators, stop lights and warning lights.

 

Rear tyres are Michelin ZX and believed original. Fronts are the newer XZX but of unknown age. I intend to replace. New XZX tyres are around £100. Cambelts were done around 2 years ago.

[jonathan_dyane]

For tyres I always favoured Vredestein sprint classics in 155 15. I found them far cheaper and better quality than the 'new' classic Michelin XZX which as with other Michelins classic range tyres has a I think experienced a dive in quality.

[mrcitroen]

I wondered about them. I'm not really sure what other owners fit to their G's. I know that you can get Nankang tyres in that size, but reconed they would be the usual Chinese ditchfinders, and ruin the ride / handling of the car.

[Asimo]

I once saw a GS on crossplies, looked really strange, goodness knows what it drove like.

 

No idea how these Toyo tyres would suit a GS but I have bought a lot of Toyo tyres for various cars and they have all been very good.

£39 delivered from Blackcircles too.

 

[jonathan_dyane]

I've driven a 2cv with those toyos and I have to say I wasn't impressed; it felt like the sidewalls were two stiff and they scuffed dreadfully. I doubt they would be any better on a G.

 

With the Nankangs I think they're probably great for hangings off the side of a trawler...

[dollywobbler]

Toyos definitely divide opinion. I like them. Not as much as Michelin 135s, but they're half the price. I tend to run them at a slightly higher pressure though - 22-24psi typically. The 2CV racers now use Toyos too, though I suspect that has more to do with keeping cost down than performance. They're not too brilliant in the wet once they've worn down, but I don't often find myself short of grip.

[HillmanImp]

Mrs Imp spotted this GSA in Bingley the other week

 

 

Mrs Imp is watching rubbish on telly so I decided to have a look through my photos on my phone and found this:

 

 

Seems that we have met this car before. 

[Sudsprint]

Can we have some more photos of that gorgeous GS.

 

I went to the (ludicrously overpriced) London Classic Car show at Excel on Thursday and saw E Types for £500k.

 

But I tell you what, that GS is just as lovely to look at as most things there that night.

[Skizzer]

Rear tyres are Michelin ZX and believed original. Fronts are the newer XZX but of unknown age. I intend to replace. New XZX tyres are around £100.

 

Being a GS, surely it'll just carry on happily if the tyres explode?

 

 

WCPGW?

[mrcitroen]

Being a GS, surely it'll just carry on happily if the tyres explode?

 

 

WCPGW?

Not quite sure I would partake in that, or the other party trick of driving on 3 wheels thingy.

 

One way to stir up a hornets nest on Citroen forums is to ask whether to fit Michelin or a n other brand. In this case it looks like it is either Michelin or the Vredestein as the others are non contenders.

There is not much info (none) out there on what people fit to G's these days. One of the things I read, and don't know how true it is, the Michelin XZX tyres have rounded shoulders so that tyre and that tyre only suit the unique steering geometry of the GS.

 

The weather was so shit at the weekend I got no more recommissioning done. I had planned to replace the fuel lines to try and cure the fuel smell. The ignition switch arrived today. That looks fun.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I would say if you have ancient ZX's and XZX's on now, i think you can be sure that anything will be a massive improvement so don't get too hung up on it! £100 a corner is just too much - they'll perish and crack long before they wear out on a car like this (you're not doing 25k a year in it right?). Just give the WanKing Ditchfinders a miss and you can't go far wrong.

[JohnDeere]

This is almost certainly a repost, as I must have originally seen the link here, but this is a fantastic restored French film of the old Citroen GS production line at Aulnay.  This link is for the first part of 5, worth watching all the way through - especially part 4 where a young lad with a cig stuck to his lip "adjusts" the fitment of doors with the help of a big steel mallet!

 

[mrcitroen]

I would say if you have ancient ZX's and XZX's on now, i think you can be sure that anything will be a massive improvement so don't get too hung up on it! £100 a corner is just too much - they'll perish and crack long before they wear out on a car like this (you're not doing 25k a year in it right?). Just give the WanKing Ditchfinders a miss and you can't go far wrong.

 

Indeed. I'll prob get the Vredestein sprint classics.

[mrcitroen]

Never done much with it this weekend. Just fitted new heater tubes. Ignition switch still not done. However, it looks like someone has chopped the bottom bit of the dash at some point. Can anyone confirm?

 

You can sort of see where a cut has been made and re fitted with rivets. Somehow I don't think this is standard.

 

A wee shot of the G beside the Alfa

 

[Sudsprint]

A wee shot of the G beside the Alfa

 

Now that is what I call a dream pairing

[dollywobbler]

Now that is what I call a dream pairing

 

Yup. A GS and some snow!

[MarvinsMom]

an old cit and an alfa,

 

WCPGW....

 

the GS is a thing of beauty though

[mrcitroen]

an old cit and an alfa,

 

WCPGW....

 

the GS is a thing of beauty though

Now where will we start...

[MarvinsMom]

i knew a woman who had a gs years ago, one morning she went out to it, unlocked it, the door swung open and the door lock fell out.,

 

another morning, shortly afterwards, she again unlocked it and the door fell off the car. they changed it for a bx a couple of days later.

 

it is a proper Citroen, so i suppose such things are to be expected.

 

i still would though, given half a chance.

[Six-cylinder]

To own a GS today all it takes is:

 

To have learnt to drive on one

Had a farther who owned sereral

Had two when they were bangers

Have a wife who likes them

And be blind to the cost and aggravation they generate!

[dugong]

And to give them away to a true enthusiast, or some such gibberish. 

[Six-cylinder]

And to give them away to a true enthusiast, or some such gibberish. 

 

See they even broke down my for no money rule and I bought mine on ebay twice fair and square!

[dugong]

See they even broke down my for no money rule and I bought mine on ebay twice fair and square!

Must have been terrible. 

 

Did you offer to buy it five times, drive the seller insane and then cry off? 

 

I'll have another GS some day - but it'll be staying a long way from the various affiliated clubs. 

[Six-cylinder]

Must have been terrible. 

 

Did you offer to buy it five times, drive the seller insane and then cry off?

 

No just bought it in 2007 and sold it because it was too difficult to look after and then bought it back in 2013 in a worse state than before.

[dugong]

No just bought it in 2007 and sold it because it was too difficult to look after and then bought it back in 2013 in a worse state than before.

I think I drove the car you bought before you purchased it the first time. It had a GSA engine and doors. It was way better than the heap I got tucked up with (and later sold at a loss). 

[Six-cylinder]

I think I drove the car you bought before you purchased it the first time. It had a GSA engine and doors. It was way better than the heap I got tucked up with (and later sold at a loss). 

 

Sounds like it, 2007 and now Photos....

 

 

[dugong]

Yeah, that's the one. I got stitched badly on the other one I owned. Paid far too much and got rather done over, all things considered. 

Was also left raw at the suggestion I give it away after being chronically messed around by all and sundry. Selling was a last resort as I had no job at the time and was down to my last £100. 

[mrcitroen]

Now replaced the dodgy ignition switch. Easier than I thought even though a fair bit needs to come out such as steering wheel & column.

 

 

Dizzy is now out to fit new mad mental SEV Marchal Cassette points. With these you don't set a gap but set the dwell angle. Problem is, Marchal forgot to put a access hole in the dizzy to get an Allen key into adjust. Without said hole, much faffing is req for adjustment. I made a hole while it was oot.

 

Stickers on back windae since we like stickers here.

 

Odd Granada sticker. Even odder as this car never lived in Granada land

 

 

Dealer sticker. I would love a new one made. Anyone know where I can get this done?

 

 

Faded TOTAL sticker. A must in any old Cit.

 

 

Just the fuel lines to replace & new tyres then ready to roll. Maybe some road tax too.

[HillmanImp]

You had to remove all that to change the ignition switch?

 

 

Do you work for Haynes? AICMFP

 

Fair play to you. I would have looked at it, thought fuck it and started hotwiring it.