320Touring's Citroen GSA. Boom, back in the room (unit) 11/07/2021

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I don’t think I’ve ever read a comparison between love-making and trying to fire up a beige Citroen GSA. ....

You have now.

[dollywobbler]

How long since it had last run?

[mrcitroen]

Had silly issues like that with mine when I first got it. One if the starting / running issues was the amount of silt in the carb float bowl. Caused idle jet to block so car would not start or run cleanly when it did start. This was intermittent though.

 

Condenser failed too and the cassette points in the SEV Marchal dizzys are evil. (I'm all electronic noo)

 

Keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

[Skut]

Spotted...Proceeding in a northerly direction on the A90 with a purple Citroen H van not far behind.    Unless there's another beige GS in the neighbourhood.

[Junkman]

My proper French car does need a jigger of petrol down the carby if it has been parked up for a week or so.

[chaseracer]

Your tail light is currently in a Saab in Handsworth, but will soon be in a Volvo heading for SCTLND...

 

STATUS AMENDED

[320touring]

Spotted...Proceeding in a northerly direction on the A90 with a purple Citroen H van not far behind. Unless there's another beige GS in the neighbourhood.

What time was that at? I was north east bound and G(L)SAF

[320touring]

Time for a brief update on this old tub...

 

To date, not one of the "task list" has been done.

 

The "FTP" appears to have been user error due to my incompetency with the choke.

 

What it has done, however is CAR. It cars so well sometimes you forget it's a car at all. Instead it seems to turn into a pavement cafe where you sit idly smoking and sipping a decent Merlot.

 

Since Friday morning, 580km have been covered. Friday was south to Dumfries and back in great comfort. Saturday was north to Forfar fully laden for welding.

 

The last tank was a creditable 36.81mpg keeping it at 110-120kph.

 

I do like this thing!

[Junkman]

You must have owned a Rover to realise how good that French chod really is.

[320touring]

You must have owned a Rover to realise how good that French chod really is.

One thing I never have done..

[Skut]

What time was that at? I was north east bound and G(L)SAF

About 10 We were on our way to see the car show in Perth. G(L)SAF? Im guessing that translates as 'slightly' fast. You were in the outside lane.

[320touring]

About 10 We were on our way to see the car show in Perth. G(L)SAF? Im guessing that translates as 'slightly' fast. You were in the outside lane.

That'd be about right:) next time gimme a toot and a wave!

 

GLF = Gaun Like Fuck.. I just shoved GSA in there.

[BavarianRetro]

About 10 We were on our way to see the car show in Perth. G(L)SAF?....

Disappointing wasn't it?

[Junkman]

One thing I never have done..

 

 

Good man.

[Skut]

Disappointing wasn't it?

Quite pebble beachy. Very few bread and butter cars and those that were mostly plastered in spotlights. Didnt see FOADs Riva.

[BavarianRetro]

I've not been to a classic car show in ten years or more.

 

Good to see it's still the same. Rows of gleaming over restored Bentleys, Healeys, E-types, XKs, Mk2s etc.

 

They are lovely, but just so boring.

 

Highlights from yesterday were the Fraser Nash era BMW - 326?, the MkV1 Bentley "woody" and a lovely Mk1 Jag.

 

Today at Blairgowrie was better.

 

More interesting stuff.

 

Capri RS3100

Mercedes Slc

A lovely SL

A beautifully care worn 1922 Morris Bull Nose

Fiat 126

Mini rally car liveried for the 1967 Monte

Some modern guff

Oh, and a 325i convertible.

 

And some Bentleys, E-types, XKs, Mk2s etc., but they all did 220 miles or so.

 

Great day out.

[forddeliveryboy]

This wouldn't start this morning.

 

Cranking over well, choke/accelerator made it cough but no dice.

 

It did it last time I started it (Friday) but eventually caught and ran normally.

 

It has a half tank of fuel, battery has plenty life.

 

Initial thoughts are

Fuel run back to the tank

A spark issue

Possibly spark plugs sooted up?

If starting probs recur then NGK plugs seem to give up the ghost fast in these engines, whether the Japanese or French-made ones. Denso plugs appear ever-lasting in comparison. Worth checking their resistance and compare with new.

 

Worth putting a NRV in the fuel line, pumps eventually allow petrol back down overnight but will continue to pump fine, plus new ones unless NOS are probably shit.

 

Plugs are easy to change with the NS headlamp unit out, which takes a couple of minutes or less.

 

PS what's with the metric units, has the land of the brave already begun preps for the next indy vote?

 

Good stuff that you're using one of these plenty, I rarely used to travel at less than 85, once had a gf pulled over (and let off) by a decent rto who was concerned she was doing "very nearly three figures and still accelerating".

[320touring]

Tonight, this got a short bimble along to the Citroen car club monthly meet..

 

Upon arrival, I got the chance to park next to MrCitroen of this parish.

 

 

His is an absolutely stunning GS Pallas with the 1222cc lump.

 

It's clean enough to eat your dinner off.

 

He was good enough to take my GSA out for a drive, and to give it a quick perusal.

 

Overall he was most complementary - identifying only the need for new spheres/LHM and curing the exhaust blow as priorities.

 

This chimes with my initial impressions, and after a shot of the GS, I am accutely aware of how badly the new spheres are needed.

 

The only thing that confused me re the GS was the very conventional dash

 

[dollywobbler]

Yes, it's why I hanker for a GSA rather than a GS. Boring dials to appease terrified Brits. LHD GSs have marvellous dials.

[Eddie Honda]

Easy and instantaneously read dials to allow drivers' to get on with the job of looking at the road

 

FTFY. What dash did they use in the GS Birotor? Ah yes, that's right: not the gash dash.

 

 

They even had the good sense to do this:

 

 

and this (ok, I'll concede it's a bit shit-built kit car):

 

 

"Terrified Brits" that bought these by the lorry load...

 

 

Unconventional dashes are fine, IF they clearly convey the information - bathroom scales do not.

[dollywobbler]

I guess we'll have to disagree on that one. As the rotating dials are effectively a digital read out, what could be easier than seeing a number, and knowing that's the speed you're doing? I agree the rev counter was a bit daft, as it just rotates too quickly to be meaningful. Interesting* fact is that the Toyota Century has a digital rev counter, as in a row of numbers. It works TERRIBLY.

[Eddie Honda]

I don't mind the first bathroom scales edition too much, but the GSA thing with the big picture of a car? What a lot of bollocks! (Bollocks that was typical of the time though)

 

The 1100 strip is great as small red bar is slow and big red bar is fast, you don't have to interpret numbers, just the glance at length of the bar. Same with dials, it's just a quick look at the angle of the needle. These are just as easy as looking at a number.

 

These are ok and do what they say on the tin, but where are they now?

 

Yaris Dash Board by Doug Beckers, on Flickr

[320touring]

Ooooh!

 

#dashwars;)

 

I wouldn't care what my dad looked like if my car drove like that GS - it was beautiful!

[davehedgehog31]

I wouldn't care what my dad looked like if my car drove like that GS - it was beautiful!

Mine's an ugly bastard.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

 

 

.....The only thing that confused me re the GS was the very conventional dash

 

IMG_20180426_204525.jpg

 

 

Yes, it's why I hanker for a GSA rather than a GS. Boring dials to appease terrified Brits. LHD GSs have marvellous dials.

 

FTFY. What dash did they use in the GS Birotor? Ah yes, that's right: not the gash dash.

 

 

....and this (ok, I'll concede it's a bit shit-built kit car):

 

....

 

Looking at the easy reversibility of the dial dash facia from RHD to LHD and back again, would it not be possible to do something similar to switch the early GS drum speedo arrangement from LHD to RHD GSs?

[somewhatfoolish]

If starting probs recur then NGK plugs seem to give up the ghost fast in these engines, whether the Japanese or French-made ones. Denso plugs appear ever-lasting in comparison. Worth checking their resistance and compare with new.

 

Worth putting a NRV in the fuel line, pumps eventually allow petrol back down overnight but will continue to pump fine, plus new ones unless NOS are probably shit.

 

Plugs are easy to change with the NS headlamp unit out, which takes a couple of minutes or less.

 

PS what's with the metric units, has the land of the brave already begun preps for the next indy vote?

 

Good stuff that you're using one of these plenty, I rarely used to travel at less than 85, once had a gf pulled over (and let off) by a decent rto who was concerned she was doing "very nearly three figures and still accelerating".

Would a GSA benefit from genuine gallic bougies d'allumage like 2CVs are supposed to? I bought a pair of frog sparklers from ECAS when running a Lomax and it seemed to make a difference.

[mrcitroen]

Tonight, this got a short bimble along to the Citroen car club monthly meet..

Upon arrival, I got the chance to park next to MrCitroen of this parish.

IMG_20180426_201120.jpg

His is an absolutely stunning GS Pallas with the 1222cc lump.

It's clean enough to eat your dinner off.

IMG_20180426_205309.jpg

He was good enough to take my GSA out for a drive, and to give it a quick perusal.

Overall he was most complementary - identifying only the need for new spheres/LHM and curing the exhaust blow as priorities.

This chimes with my initial impressions, and after a shot of the GS, I am accutely aware of how badly the new spheres are needed.

The only thing that confused me re the GS was the very conventional dash

IMG_20180426_204525.jpg

Yes, that was good fun last night. Quite a good meeting all in. Paul followed me to old inns in his C15 so it was a wee bit of a mini convoy.

 

Your GSA is fundamentally a really good car. It just really needs the few wee bits and bobs done as we discussed. All fairly easy stuff. It's mechanically sound and drives well.

[320touring]

I may pull together a parts list..

[mrcitroen]

If starting probs recur then NGK plugs seem to give up the ghost fast in these engines, whether the Japanese or French-made ones. Denso plugs appear ever-lasting in comparison. Worth checking their resistance and compare with new.

Worth putting a NRV in the fuel line, pumps eventually allow petrol back down overnight but will continue to pump fine, plus new ones unless NOS are probably shit.

Plugs are easy to change with the NS headlamp unit out, which takes a couple of minutes or less.

PS what's with the metric units, has the land of the brave already begun preps for the next indy vote?

Good stuff that you're using one of these plenty, I rarely used to travel at less than 85, once had a gf pulled over (and let off) by a decent rto who was concerned she was doing "very nearly three figures and still accelerating".

Cant say I have had any issues using NGK. The ones in mine have been in the last few years and no issues.

 

Only issue I have had is when I was working in the car over a prolonged time. I would move the car in and out of the garage, started from cold & on choke. After a while the plugs sooted up and caused a misfire. Apart from that, the NGK's have been as reliable as any plug as I have used in any car, Apart from Bosch super 4's which were shit from day 1.

[320touring]

Something that has ground my gears since I got this car is the windscreen wipers..

 

Measuring a massive* 12" each, I suspect they are incorrect for the car.

 

Essentially, it's like trying to peer through 2 pissholes in the snow.

 

As far as I could ascertain, the shortened wipers were in place to stop the wipers coming off the edge of the screen (they swept right up to the drivers side seal)

 

You can see that this issue is down to poor positioning of the wiper arms in the pic below

 

Application of a spanner to the 10mm retaining nuts allowed for repositioning.

 

Now I can go and buy some aero wipers to piss off Dollywobbler:)