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La Petite Voiture Orange 2/7 - à vendre


JohnDeere

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AN is a Reading number. Back then each dealer was allocated a block of contiguous numbers rather than playing lucky dip on the DVLA computer. I guess the Reading Austin Rover dealer got the next block after the Citroen dealer.

bmw was the same as their uk hg is in reading

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Visa update:  garage got hold of two NOS rear wheel cylinders which is handy.  Nearside front brake caliper freed off nicely, but offside proving tricky. A couple of quick calls to Ecas and Chevronics confirms that (a) it's a Citroen-made part, (B) like rocking horse s**t, © best to get refurbished. 

 

The garage was nervous about using too much hydraulic pressure to free the corroded piston in case it blows the seals - but on the basis that I'll have to replace/refurb in any case, I told them to give it some welly and see what happens.

 

If anyone does know of any NOS / compatible calipers hanging around, do let me know!

 

This could go very well... or I could be coming to Shitefest in the Prelude...

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:-D  :-D  :-D  :-D

 

Yay!  Just had a call from the garage - brakes all sorted on the Visa and ready to collect.  Looks like the stuck caliper did eventually free off after they gave it some welly.

 

So now the only thing between the little Visa and a clean MOT is the CO emissions.  I've ordered oil, plugs and filters so will do those too (at Shitefest, if I don't get time before!!) -- hopefully that plus a good long run will get the CO levels back on track, if not a quick tweak to the carb before a clean-sheet test.  Plus the new tyres will go on next week.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had 20 mins spare between work calls, so thought I'd pop out and fit the new plugs on the Visa while the engine is cold.  Why does every bloody car I acquire have a different size and shape plug spanner needed?  Why does my two million piece Halfrauds tool kit have everything except a 16mm long socket?  Why does the Visa engine bay have the battery and air filter exactly above each plug?

 

Anyway I'll pick up a suitable tool when I pop out to get the new tyres on later. Oil and filters to follow when engine hot.

 

I did replace the air filter ... looks like it was needed...

 

post-5450-0-58622200-1466779255_thumb.jpg

 

But did spot a bit of insulating tape bodgery where the air filter meets the carb. Need to try to sort this a but neater as there are gaps...

 

post-5450-0-94172800-1466778503_thumb.jpg

 

And finally a Brucie bonus ... I noticed the spare still has an unused Michelin original-spec tyre. Possibly even the very original. These are now totally unobtainable, so I'll see about flogging it on eBay to someone more worried about concours than safety.

 

post-5450-0-17712100-1466779537_thumb.jpg

 

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Oh yeah, forgot to tell you, I don't think France got the memo that 16mm isn't a spanner size. Welcome to Citroen :D

 

My socket set happens to have a single 16mm socket but only in the shorter size. I've never used it until my Ami except for hammering it onto locking wheel nuts.

 

Fun and games.

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As it turns out, I had it all along. Went to Halfrauds and the genuinely helpful and knowledgeable guy pointed me to the long socket helpfully labelled 10mm in the pro toolkit. I bought one anyway just in case, but will return it now.

 

In other news, tyres on, oil, filters and plugs all done. Autoshite here we come*

 

*Does anyone going have a bit of spare flexible fuel pipe? Mine is split either side of the fuel filter and the new one is held in with cable ties.

 

Turns out all of the old tyres had tubes. No idea why. The new tyres seem to be working just fine without.

 

post-5450-0-28324000-1466803932_thumb.jpeg

 

post-5450-0-24506000-1466804011_thumb.jpeg

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After getting back from my Shitefest day trip, I had a look at the non-working fuel gauge. Couldn't get the sender out to check (rusted) so had a look at the dash - mainly to try to fix the sticking speedo.

 

Taking it to pieces and putting it back together again - and we haz working petrolometer...

 

post-5450-0-89309400-1466881599_thumb.jpegh

 

Bloody speedo still gets stuck at 40mph though. However it did get past the sticky part at one stage on the way to Shitefest and recorded this tremendous warp speed...

 

post-5450-0-84199600-1466881831_thumb.jpeg

 

And just worked out : 43mpg

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Could oil have worked its way up to the speedo head?

Seemed OK when I had the cable off. Experts at Shitefest reckoned needle jamming on clear plastic front due to warping - though it all looks straight to me. Need to investigate further....

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My Renault has got tubes all round as well, even though I've been told that's wrong and it shouldn't have because nobody fitted them.  Well somebody fitted them.  My assumption is that it's an old fashioned belt and braces approach.

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Class. What tyres did you go for in the end?

Threre is a huge amount of choice in budget and mid-market in this size (but no Michelins!). In the end went for Falken Sincera 135/80 R13 70T for £31 each from tyreleader... on the basis of being a decent brand and a fairly low rolling resistance (simple tread pattern). Bit of a random choice in the end, but they seem good, and stopping is much improved.

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My Renault has got tubes all round as well, even though I've been told that's wrong and it shouldn't have because nobody fitted them. Well somebody fitted them. My assumption is that it's an old fashioned belt and braces approach.

The tyres still seem happily inflated without tubes. Unfortunately the tube valves have allowed water to get into the rims and get trapped causing lots of rust blebs around the valve holes. So better off with tubeless valves I think (and, hopefully, less chance of a puncture).

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MoT this morning.... and a clean-sheet pass, no advisories!   :-D  :-D  :-D    The prep paid off.  Good chatting to the tester too, who has a '71 Toledo and is just putting a '75 Morris 1800 (a.k.a. Princess) back on the road.

 

Had a look underneath when it was on the ramp, and all very clean and solid. Apart from the bits that aren't. Now I can get on with some of the other jobs, like fuel pipes, sticking speedo, and a bit of interim tlc on the sills and back arches to keep them going.

 

post-5450-0-06166700-1467364582_thumb.jpg

 

P.S. Can't work out how to rotate this image when uploading directly to the forum. Any clues?

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  • 2 months later...

A long overdue update on the Visa. To my shame, I've hardly used it in the last six weeks due to work and life and not being at home much.  This evening I took it round to meet Craigtheprincess, who lives ten minutes away, but we'd never actually met.

 

This required several things first...

-- one of the (new) back tyres keeps going down. I need to work out if it's the valve, rusty rim or an actual puncture. In the meantime I keep pumping up. Which is now tricky because I broke my foot pump, and the Visa has no fag lighter for the electric pump. Cue car juggling. 

-- and anyway, the battery on the Visa is completely dead. Won't hold a charge at all.  So jumped it from the Prelude (and from Craig's Rover at his house). The Prelude also won't drive the leccy tyre pump, so that needed the Disco.  Three cars to get one going :-)

-- I fitted a new speedo cable the other day, and was hoping this trip would prove the speedo is now working.  It wasn't. Speedo now removed for me to take it apart.  When I spin it up with my drill on the drive, it's back to its previous tricks of reaching 40mph then getting stuck.

 

Was great to meet Craig - he had a drive in the Visa and I think he liked it!

 

Instrument binnacle now awaiting surgery on dining room table.  Expect a small explosion of white plastic cogs when I try to fix it. Going online to look for a battery...

 

post-5450-0-37232900-1475175986_thumb.jpg

 

post-5450-0-06028400-1475176022_thumb.jpg

 

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Weekend fiddling...

 

New battery (arrived from Tayna on Sat AM after ordering on Thursday night).  Visa now "starts on the button" as the nonsense eBay ads always say.  The old one had a date of 2001, so it hadn't done badly.

 

Speedo is still not working. Fixed the needle-jamming-at-40-mph problem by shoving the needle into the dial a bit so it's not scraping on the perspex. But now looking like it's the lower drive cable that's the problem, as the speedo works when I drive it from the upper cable with a drill. Annoyingly the lower cable is connected to an impossible-to-reach place on the top of the gearbox which is tucked under the car behind the engine bay.  A challenge for another day.

 

And washed it for the first time (in fact, washed the entire fleet today - three out of the four had never been washed in my custody #notvulgalour).  It's now looking like a very shiny orange.

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  • 8 months later...

All is not well in Citroen Visa land.  MoT man has found rather too much flaky stuff (the first one on the list is the main problem)...

 

  • Reason(s) for failure
    Offside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded INNER WHEEL ARCH/SILL (2.4.A.3)
    Offside Rear rear brake binding (3.7.B.1)
    Nearside Front Headlamp not working on dipped beam (1.7.5a)
    Offside Front Front position lamp(s) adversely affected by the operation of another lamp (1.1.A.3f)
  • Advisory notice item(s)
    Nearside Front Body has slight corrosion FLOOR (6.1.B.2)
    Nearside Rear Body has slight corrosion BUMPER MOUNT (6.1.B.2)
    Offside Rear Body has slight corrosion BUMPER MOUNT (6.1.B.2)
    Nearside Front Body has slight corrosion OUTER SILL (6.1.B.2)
     
    post-5450-0-22353000-1498075227_thumb.jpg
     
    post-5450-0-27591600-1498075229_thumb.jpg
     
    post-5450-0-48044900-1498075231_thumb.jpg
     
    post-5450-0-07254400-1498075233_thumb.jpg
     
    It needs the inner and outer sill fixing, along with re-fabbing most of both rear arches. That's on top of needing a replacement clutch, speedo sorting, and rusted brackets not holding on the rear bumper.
     
    Much as I love this car, I'm thinking about the options...
     
    (1) pay for a decent repair. Likely to be £500-1k. No point in bodging just for the MoT, and it's completely beyond my skills.
    (2) find a loving new owner who has the time and skills to do the work
    (3) hide it away somewhere and come back to it another day
     
    So tentatively I'm open to any interest here (and I'll try another couple of forums). Barrett has first refusal (I sent him a PM).
     
    Any other options/ideas/volunteers to do the work welcome too!
     
     
     
     

 

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When I pick it up tomorrow, I'm going to take it to a place in Wisbech that someone (owner of an MG BGT from new!) recommended for bodywork and restos.  We'll see what they say...

 

I don't want to part with it if I can fix it, but don't want to leave it festering if I can't get it sorted for sensible-ish money.

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