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Dollywobbler's Dreadful Dyane - Back on the road


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Posted

Ugh. Not sure I am. Got the Dyane into my garage and had a good mooch around it. One of the bolts for the inlet manifold has snapped off! No wonder it was behaving quite badly. The poor thing must have been running seriously lean on one cylinder.

CMwwBYEWsAA5mOJ.jpg

 

There's also oil all over the place, so I'm going to have to remove the front end and strip the engine cowling off to try and find where the oil is leaking from. That said, I suspect the breather valve is kaput, so that won't be helping - too much crankcase pressure just forces even more oil out.

Classic scenario of "new beater" becoming "project #3" ftw!

 

sure you'll have her saved and fully functioning quickly.

Posted

Yeah, true enough. Just annoying that I won't be heading to Anglesey in it now. S'pose the XM isn't a bad second place, though I probably won't bother taking that on the track. Mind you, after the exhausting of being pit crew for an entire day, I'll probably be glad to waft home in the XM!

Posted

Those breather valves, do they fail regularly? I ask this because my Ami came with quite a few of them.

 

In fact, I'm going to use this thread as a proxy to how my Ami collection is going to pan out:

-Convoluted train journey - check.

-Old Citroen that hasn't been run for some time - check.

-Previous owner overlooked mechanical issues - check.

-100 mile drive home involving 50% of the M25 - check.

 

I've already dealt with the exhaust and inlet manifold.

 

The only key differences will be six volts and around 30% size difference.

  • Like 1
Posted

Good news! It wasn't a snapped bolt, just an entirely missing one. Engine now looks like this.

CMxM2lRWUAA3hWo.jpg

 

Found the offside cooling fins full of grass seed though, so I'll clear all that out while I'm at it. I may retorque the cylinder head bolts now I'm this far in. I can then check the valve clearances too. Incredibly, all of the nuts and bolts came undone perfectly. Bar one exhaust manifold nut, which needed a smaller socket etc. I'm finding LOADS of small problems while I'm at it though - like the alternator main wire lacking a ring connector, the gearshift rubber being destroyed and lots of oil.

 

Jonny - not sure about M4 engines, but the later M28 breathers tend to last about five years. £65 new though. I'm going to have to wait for another pay day. 

  • Like 2
Posted

Bristol Parkway. Actual 4G and amazing invading hair.

CMsQA0eW8AAyLgX.jpg

Is that pubic hair???

  • Like 3
Posted

I love it when an engine is ripped apart as soon as a collection with contretemps has happened.

There have been way too many uneneventful collection threads lately.

Posted

I've started ripping the bodywork apart now. Gosh 2CVs are a LOT easier to work on.

CMyjtV4W8AAjoog.jpg

 

That's just after I downed tools for the day. Had to remove the front panel to access the fan, as it took a right battering to get it off. I then discovered bits of carrier bag all over the oil cooler (plus lots of muck) and cooling fins. How on earth this little car hurled me up mountains and along motorways yesterday without exploding I have no idea.

 

The inlet manifold was an entire waste of time really. It was just a missing bolt and despite my fears, a replacement bolt torqued up nicely. I need to get the exhaust sealed again properly, but that doesn't matter for the moment (five clamps just in the engine bay!). Before refitting the manifold, I checked the cylinder head bolts and then the valve clearances. The exhausts were spot on, but both inlets were a little tight for unleaded fuel. Rocker covers back on, manifold back on. Sorted.

 

Cleaning out the oil cooler was a tricky one. The oil cooler is seriously delicate, so no scrubbing. I gently scraped off the worst filth then soaked it all in degreaser. Usually, you'd blow out from the rear of the oil cooler with an airline and stand well back. I pulled the car out of the garage and used a water hose instead, as it is all I had. This seemed to work well. 

 

I then put the fan back on and started the engine. This amazed me given I'd just soaked the engine with a hose (I did prevent water going into the carb at least). A good rev had mucky water shooting all over the place. I could once more feel airflow through the oil cooler. Success. 

 

I thought I'd check the static ignition timing while I'd got the fan off and made my own test light using an old fog lamp unit. The timing proved to be four teeth too advanced. No wonder she was pinking! Ideally, I need to get this set with a strobe for maximum accuracy, but I've left it statically timed for now. I also distracted myself with adjusting the striker on the driver's door. You know how you sometimes get distracted by pointless jobs?

 

And that'll be it for another week or so. Anglesey tomorrow for five days of 2CV tinkering. The front bodywork on the race cars all comes off in seconds! Bliss!

  • Like 2
Posted

Those breather valves, do they fail regularly? I ask this because my Ami came with quite a few of them.

 

In fact, I'm going to use this thread as a proxy to how my Ami collection is going to pan out:

-Convoluted train journey - check.

-Old Citroen that hasn't been run for some time - check.

-Previous owner overlooked mechanical issues - check.

-100 mile drive home involving 50% of the M25 - check.

 

I've already dealt with the exhaust and inlet manifold.

 

The only key differences will be six volts and around 30% size difference.

We drove YNF back fromm Bordeaux with a burnt out valve and partially blocked carb. Still sat at 70-75mph all day and never gave us any scares. 100 miles down the motorway will be a doddle.

  • Like 2
Posted

Reality has dawned all damp and horrible this morning.

CMwSDnQW8AArd5I.jpg

 

Which is all the more annoying as the weather forecast reckoned it wouldn't rain for another hour. Oh well. It has allowed me to discover that the wiper spindles are just too worn. The blades barely clear the screen - an advisory on the test but in actual rain, they're just not up to the job. I did get a replacement linkage with the car, but I'm worried that trying to fit it may just result in the bulkhead completely falling apart. 

 

I'll crack on with sorting the ignition timing anyway, as that has to be a priority.

 

would Rainex help until payday?

 

Mate, I'm sorry I'm late to this thread. I live 6 miles from Warminster, I was sat around doing shag all yesterday & I could have at least given you a brew and leant you some electricity for your phone

 

edit to add, I'll bet a shiny penny I know where it came from too. small world

Posted

That's ok. I had both a brew and a bit of phone charge while preparing for the drive back. Thanks though!

Posted

Excellent work!

 

With practice you can get the fan off and into the points by just removing the plastic grille (and metal mesh behind it in the unlikely event it still exists...)

Posted

Indeed. That was my hope. However, the fan had other ideas, and I couldn't 'drift' it off with the front panel in place. 

 

For information, three of the four attachment lugs are broken on the grille, so I'm just pleased it didn't fall off. The mesh is there, but has a huge ruddy great hole in the middle, so not sure it's doing much to stop birds/insects/carrier bags getting sucked in.

 

With my first Dyane, I became an expert at removing the entire front section in one piece. I did this roadside once and quite seriously upset one of my neighbours. Enough for him to call the Police! Who tried to tell me off, but realised they hadn't got a bloody leg to stand on. What a twat. 

Posted

The secret for getting the fan off the taper on the Dyane without removing more than the grille is below

fan_zps2xvr3y3u.jpg​

Strike that area (which is the end of one of the bolts that holds the plastic fan onto the hub) with a hammer and drift then turn fan and drift the next one repeating until the fan falls off.

 

It's never failed me.

 

On the broken grille front I suggest if you're not replacing the grille in the near future you provide some reinforcing for the bonnet catch; it is remarkable how much the catch relies on the plastic grille to steady its workings.

  • Like 2
Posted

All very interesting reading - thanks. I do need a much better grille but will see what I can do about bodging it. Similarly, I suspect I'll be pinching the dampers off the 2CV as I certainly can't afford to replace them with new ones yet. It has just occurred to me that I replaced the engine breather on the 2CV some years ago. That's still on the original engine, which is in my workshop. I'll whip that off, stuff it on the Dyane and see if the oil leaks go away...

 

Have just successfully undone the big nuts holding the wiper mechanism to (what's left of) the bulkhead, so I'll see if I can muster up the energy to strip the dash out (what there is of it) and replace the wiper mechanism.

Posted

The wipers now work properly! Though you can see the bulkhead flex when they're in use... However, rain is now no longer the enemy. 

 

I just need to retard the ignition slightly, put the front end back together and then I can go for a drive. Which is good, as we need carrots.

  • Like 2
Posted

I've started ripping the bodywork apart now. Gosh 2CVs are a LOT easier to work on.

CMyjtV4W8AAjoog.jpg

 

 

 

this does look like you backed in the xm and forgot this was there :D

 

 Which is good, as we need carrots.

 

with bacon?

Posted

Sadly, carrots didn't happen, and the Dyane still looks a lot like that pic above. Turned into a monumental afternoon of tinkering. Finished at gone 7pm in the end. However...

 

https://twitter.com/dollywobbler/status/635923373726547968

 

Having properly working wipers again is good, but I managed to blow a load of fuses by getting connections wrong, even though I took photos to remind me where they went! That's because you have to remove the 'entire' dashboard. All three bulbs and three warning lights too. You also need to remove one of the fresh air vents. I took time to grease up the new linkage in the hope it won't just immediately wear out. 

 

I then set about putting the engine bay back together and adjusting the timing - retarding it a little to hopefully avoid pinking. I also had to fit a new ring connector to the alternator wire, because it was just bare wire squeezed between two washers and I didn't like it. This led to a lengthy search for my electricians' pliers - which were obviously on top of a pile of CDs in the sitting room. Time thief. As was the throttle linkage. This seems to have pulled through a crack in the bulkhead. Bother. I think I've fixed it. For now.

 

I pinched the breather off the old engine and fitted that, and also tried clearing up oily muck as I went. By the time I'd got the alternator hooked back up, the cooling fan refitted and the air filter assembly back in place, I'd had enough. She runs again, but the exhaust is blowing very badly after I removed it all for manifold examination. Unfortunately, I've really knackered up my back, so that job may have to wait. Bother.

  • Like 1
Posted

Finally, I used the Dyane to get those carrots. Hoorah! It was a very noisy journey, as one exhaust clamp is blowing like a bastard. I have a new clamp, but appear to have stolen the bolts for something else. So, I bought bolts as well as carrots. 

 

CNWCpLvWwAEajE6.jpg

 

Still loads to do, but the wipers got a thorough test in some biblical rain. The driver's one still isn't perfect. May need to give the windscreen a very thorough clean and see if that improves matters. Or I may change the arm to see if my spare arms have better springs. 

 

There's a CV joint having a clatter every now and then, the tickover often refuses to do its thing (three-pedal driving FTW) and there are some odd noises coming from the engine. It does appear to go quite nicely still.

  • Like 6
Posted

There's something just 'right' about that car, in that paint scheme, in that landscape.  No idea why.

Posted

Indeed. Had another session in the garage. It went thusly.

 

First, exhaust. I had a go at improving the dodgiest clamp, which is in the trickiest place. Right beneath the chassis-mounted battery tray. Another problem you don't get on 2CVs. I did improve it, but it still sounded as flatulent as the world record bean eating champion. Then I noticed that the joint right at the bottom of the engine bay was entirely loose! Ah, that'll explain why it sounds like a Harley Davidson then - ie utterly shit. 

 

At this point, I located a really rather nice clamp, but one missing bolts. The old clamp's bolts were not long enough so I ended up robbing two 11mm headed bolts from the front panel - I was just about able to replace them with the far more common 13mm headed bolts/nuts. This clamp is a right sod to get at. I discovered it was easiest if I jacked the car up and removed the nearside front wheel. 

 

So, I thought I might as well get some grease in the kingpin while I was at it. Naturally, the grease gun wasn't working so I had to faff about bleeding the sodding thing AGAIN. Then the kingpin wouldn't take any grease. It had been so long since it last felt a grease gun that the nipple had gone rusty, though this wasn't the problem. No, the hard grease encasing the kingpin was the problem here. I got the blowtorch out, removed the nipple and eventually, liquid grease of a very dubious nature began to leak out. Grease sort-of went in. Good enough!

 

Back to the clamp. The lower one is now much better, but still blowing. I have no exhaust paste, nor any of my preferred option - copper grease. Ugh. I started pulling the slightly higher clamp apart but had a sudden attack of "f*ck this for a game of soldiers" and came into the house to do some work instead.

 

So, still lots to do before Chumleigh. At least this is one car where I don't give a shit about greasy finger prints.

  • Like 2
Posted

With my first Dyane, I became an expert at removing the entire front section in one piece. I did this roadside once and quite seriously upset one of my neighbours. Enough for him to call the Police! Who tried to tell me off, but realised they hadn't got a bloody leg to stand on. What a twat. 

 

:lol:

 

1931128_32924243260_9109_n.jpg?oh=e94252

Posted

I've not done it, but I've heard that electrical insulation tape will work as an exhaust gasket sealant. In. An emergency!

Posted

W00t! Sounds like it could attack the tarmac ribbon towards Chumlee.

Worry not, plenty of expert* assistance* available there. If you make it.

Posted

There's still a problem. I'm still losing the tickover out on the road. At very light throttle, it's chugging quite badly. The nearside cylinder seems to be going down. Bit more throttle and she revs up a treat, but it's impossible to hold the revs at 2000rpm, because it either starts chugging, or revs up beyond that as you give it a little more juice.

 

By heck have I just had a nice hoon though! 5pm, on Welsh roads and there's no need for a sodding tickover anyway. Traffic? What's that?

CNggT6GWUAA8fp2.jpg

 

Note subtle modification - both headlamp surrounds now silver. Much better

Posted

Nope. It may need rejetting for modern fuels. Doubt I'll get that done before next weekend though.

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