Zut alors it’s brownnova’s Deux Chevaux!! I am not a number I am a free snail!! Portmerion pictures

[Richard]

If there are going to be multiple 2CVs at Cholmondeley we need to swap panels around in the ring.

[Fumbler]

Or take them all off and parade around the grounds. Excuse be like "nudist 2CV community".

[jonathan_dyane]

Probably worth checking the choke pull off device functions, this is the odd capsule on the top of the carb which backs off the choke when it’s fully out and the engine is revved. If it doesn’t work not only do you have to push the choke it half way pretty much as soon as it starts you also have a vacuum leak which will cause running issues not dissimilar to those you describe.

[brownnova]

How much choke are you using? I tend to use only about half, maybe a little more when it's cold. Could be that the idle jet is a bit gunked up.

Yeah around half. I’ll add idle jet to the checklist. Sounds likely.

[brownnova]

If there are going to be multiple 2CVs at Cholmondeley we need to swap panels around in the ring.

Hahaha I do like this idea!!!

[forddeliveryboy]

There's some great advice above, all I'd add is check plug resistances (esp if NGK) and don't completely rule out a 'Harley' coil if problems reappear.

[anonymous user]

Or take them all off and parade around the grounds. Excuse be like "nudist 2CV community".

Totally unrelated, but reminds me that a colleague recently had a meeting at a nature reserve, he was a little concerned as someone else head booked it in as the naturist reserve

[Fumbler]

Ah.... oh. That might have been a sight to (not) see.

[brownnova]

Update time!!!

 

So the 2CV is seeing reasonably regular use, but not perhaps as regular as I might like. When the darkness improves maybe I’ll try commuting in it regularly. Although it did come to my rescue one time whilst the Mazda was getting its water pump done, the Saab had brake issues and the Camper was on Sorn...

 

No real issues.... starts fine these days, I think it was mainly user error, if she’s not been used for a few weeks she takes a few goes... no surprises there! I still tend to leave the choke a marginal touch out in town simply for piece of mind. The idle is a bit low, it’s generally fine, unless the lights are on. Then you need the choke out a centimetre or so...

 

However, it has posed no issues. I haven’t looked st the carb yet... it’s been Christmas!

 

With all the “raids” in the 2CV community recently to various high hostelries in Scotland and England,, I thought it only fitting to take Daisy-Vera to a high cafe on the same day. Sadly this year no Welsh Raid, so up to the Pondarosa cafe on the Horseshoe pass we went!!

 

 

The old girl performed marvellously!

 

 

We parked on a field bit ready to tear out the whole drive across a ploughed field thing... and you know what... you can!!

 

 

Few little tidying jobs to do, and then to enjoy her even more. I am gaining more and more confidence in her each journey, and loving 2CV ownership!!

[brownnova]

There's some great advice above, all I'd add is check plug resistances (esp if NGK) and don't completely rule out a 'Harley' coil if problems reappear.

We already have a Harley coil... how spoilt are we...

[dollywobbler]

How is the Harley coil held in? They came with metal clips, and I saw a video recently of some impressive sparking between HT lead and clip...

 

I've got one of the newer resin coils of the traditional style on Elly and it's been absolutely faultless.

 

May also be worth checking the idle jet. It's really simple, as it's right on the front of the carb, looking like a bolt head. 8mm I think? Only danger is the potential for dropping it...

[brownnova]

How is the Harley coil held in? They came with metal clips, and I saw a video recently of some impressive sparking between HT lead and clip...

 

I've got one of the newer resin coils of the traditional style on Elly and it's been absolutely faultless.

 

May also be worth checking the idle jet. It's really simple, as it's right on the front of the carb, looking like a bolt head. 8mm I think? Only danger is the potential for dropping it...

Pretty sure it’s a metal clip, I’ll check tomorrow. But no sparking that I’ve seen, all seems well. I do need to do the idle jet, just seems to be too far down my priority list.... I’ll bump it up!! I get scared of carbs as I have no experience of fiddling with them. Guess I just need to bite the bullet!

[brownnova]

The 2CV continues to potter along nicely. Now the majority of Salt is disappearing from the roads and it’s not quite so cold I’m starting to get her out a little more.

 

Yesterday a simple shopping trip turned into a little outing up into the hills.

 

Reminds me of the beautiful countryside we have here in North Wales! (Calendar shots surely!)

 

This was in preparation for a potential run out today. Since we’ve had Daisy-Vera we’ve stayed fairly local. But it was a 2CVGB get-together at RAF Cosford today. And that seemed like the perfect mother’s day outing for my lovely fiancée!

 

 

Many 2 cylinder marvels were gathered together...

 

Hang on I recognise one of these from somewhere...

 

2CVs and Dyanes

 

And if course the birthday girl.. the Ami!

This one being my particular favourite!

 

Inside the shite continued with a Senator and a Trabant nestling among the many many planes!

 

But it was for the Ami-Versary that we gathered and here were many of the attending Amis in a row

 

 

The 2CV fun didn’t stop there as we happened across this ripple bonnet beauty on the way home!

 

Back all safe and sound and our Daisy didn’t miss a beat. It’s the furthest we’ve been since collection day, but it won’t be the last time we venture further afield! She ran perfectly and we kept getting held up my modern guff. In fact the face of an Astra driver as we hooned past her on an a-road was amusing! All in all a super day out for us and gives us ever growing confidence in our French peasant wagon!

[brownnova]

Today I spent 3 hours sat here! 

120 miles covered in total, all the way to Shrewsbury and back. 

The drive today reminded me of just why I love this car! It kept up with the traffic fine (Managed an indicated 72 on the dual carriageway before I chickened out due to the crosswinds) and the A roads were traversed with ease. It was comfortable, the thrum of the 2 cylinders was excellent and most of all it was fun! Now that it has had a new MoT (and a new kingpin) I felt more confident in chucking it round bends and the grin factor was twelvety! The car performed magnificently. 

I even took it through MacDonalds drive through, which with the folding windows was slightly more challenging than in a normal windowed car! Lots of smiles too, especially through Llangollen, waves from other classics, to be honest I really enjoyed the whole drive! 

Few little jobs to do of course, but I have a 2CV run to complete tomorrow first! The low idle which I reported appears to be mostly just that 2CVs idle quite low compared to 4 cylinder cars (listening to others at idle) although every now and again as you come to a stop you do have to blip the throttle to keep the revs up. It dislikes trafficky town driving for this in particular. 

Also noticed it is marking its territory slightly... a couple of drops of oil here and there. One to watch... 

[LightBulbFun]

happy to see the 2CV is running well (and looking very pretty) 

interesting see it has a different speedo then what DWs 2CV has

[hairnet]

that marsden gadge should be taking note..................

[Pillock]

Liked for the fact you stopped on a village green to flex your biceps.

[brownnova]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

happy to see the 2CV is running well (and looking very pretty) 

interesting see it has a different speedo then what DWs 2CV has

IIRC... I believe mine has the Charleston dash, adds a battery readout and maybe an extra warning light... must have been fitted later as a replacement. I’m sure someone who knows more about 2CVs might correct me shortly!

54 minutes ago, Pillock said:

Liked for the fact you stopped on a village green to flex your biceps.

Where else does one stop to flex? I mean doing it in front of the mirror in the gym gets so samey... 

[brownnova]

Organised and led a 2CV run through the Welsh hills today. Not a long run but long enough to take in a Castle and importantly tea and sandwiches! 

Picture tells a thousand words, so I’ll let the pictures speak! 

Rendezvous:

Near Moel Famau

Arrival at Denbigh Castle:

Some ancient ruins... in front of a Castle

Our Daisy takes on a tractor! 

Whole group! 

Sadly we were supposed to be 9 strong today but a breakdown stranded one and two stopped to help. 

However, cracking fun, and our Daisy-Vera behaved herself almost faultlessly. (Smelly brakes down the big hillside pass and a slightly dodgy idle at points due to cold aside) 

[dollywobbler]

Looked fun. Sorry to miss it but as ever, I was somewhere else.

[brownnova]

5 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Looked fun. Sorry to miss it but as ever, I was somewhere else.

Aye you’re a busy man! It was fun, the dragons are a good bunch! 

[brownnova]

Done some sums and about 250 miles covered in the 2CV over the bank holiday weekend! All covered totally trouble free. Even in some pretty heavy traffic yesterday she behaved perfectly. 

Only thing is this: 

Its marking its territory, can’t be much as the oil level is fine, but there’s more drips there now than there was after a drive a couple of weeks ago... 

Better have a poke about under there. 

[Ian_Fearn]

Lovely looking 2cv, the colours and bumpers suit it really well.

 

From my distant memory they leak oil from:

1. push rod tubes where they enter the block

2. Oil cooler seals where the inlet and outlet pipes enter the block behind the fan

3. Main engine casing. The case is split down the middle, so oil seems to weep very slowly through the joint. I guess these days an RTV sealant would be used but in my past it was Hylomar which did nothing!

I miss having a 2cv..... if prices were more reasonable i’d have another without question.

 

[brownnova]

The 2CV has been doing some miles.... 478 this weekend alone!! 

As it’s the summer we have been wielding the 2CV a lot more. I draws compliments and admirers wherever it goes. 

We joined a several hundred strong convoy of Citroens at the UK Centenary.

And have been on a number of other 2CV events. Last week was the Cheshire Dragons annual 2CV camp at Carrog in Denbighshire, and many 2CVs turned up for the occasion from all over the country. 

We did a drive out down some exceptionally steep hills... and ended up at Llangollen motor museum. 

Maybe a return here for Shitefest 2020? 

Camp was fun and we discovered that the 2CV might be slightly quicker off the mark than the van...

This weekend was a belter though! 

478 miles, our house to the FoTU

Where we spotted a Dyane up front which we were convinced was our friend James, so after some Colin MacRae-esque driving to catch them up we realised it was a completely different person... 

On to the field of dreams where fun was had, and more admirers gathered for the Little Daisy. 

After a night in Milton Keynes we had to detour to London to retrieve a lost item, a mere 100 mile round trip, but it means that little Daisy has now driven in her majesty’s capital city! 

Back via the parents in Stratford on Avon for a Sunday roast and then the long drive home. Daisy performed superbly with a small amount of oil usage/leakage (delete as appropriate) but she does appear to have stopped marking her territory... maybe there’s no oil left... The only other issues were no left indicator by the end... (not sure why) and the bolt for the ventilations flap worked loose meaning it got warm in the cabin on the motorway! 

We both continue to love this car more and more... it might be a keeper!!! 

[Six-cylinder]

You passed the Italian Police Land Rover on the Motorway, I hope you have plenty of Lira for the bribe!

[brownnova]

We paid them in wine... seemed to work... 

[brownnova]

As you may have seen elsewhere the 2CV played an important role in our recent wedding, and sat outside the venue looking all pretty all day! 

Unfortunately the day we got married even Noah had phoned work to say it was too wet and he couldn’t get in. The poor car was soaked. We decided against using it the following day for the tractor show, water was being taken on board rapidly.

Fast forward a few days and we ambled our to Conwy for a day out and to visit the UKs smallest house. En route I noticed that our additional voltage meter was reading nothing, a quick check showed the fan was still spinning, so we carried on and got home fine. 

The next day it resolutely sat here: 

No amount of revs increased the voltage. 

Its been s busy few weeks at Chez Brownnova and do today was the first chance I’ve had to have a proper look. 

We still haven’t finished sorting the garage... the car is amongst the boxes. Thankfully I only need access The the front today! 

Off with the belt cover confirms my ‘loose fan belt’ hypothesis. 

Fan belt adjustment is pretty straightforward on these so that good. 

However.... the voltage meter reads exactly the same even with the belt tightened. Well at least it’s not wobbling around any more! 

So best check the alternator using my Lidl alternator checker thingy. But of course house moved means I can’t bloody find it! Eventually at 10.30pm I find it in the spare wheel well of the Saab... 

Mrs brownnova had made a crumble, I was tempted, but I had to check the alternator first... 

It says to turn all the electrical items on (it suggests lights, radio heated screen air con) so I put the lights on... 

Right we’re looking for the two lights above the three already lit to light up, if they do it’s charging well.

BINGO!!! 

 

Hmm so that appears to mean it’s charging. I can only assume that the water has ingressed onto the voltage meter and made it read incorrectly. Unless some bright spark (see what i did there) has any other ideas. 

It has highlighted that the fan belt has seen better days, so replacing that is now on the to do list. But not tonight! 

Oh and the crumble was delicious ? 

[LightBulbFun]

with the engine running poke the battery terminals with another voltmeter/multimeter? 

IIRC if things are charging properly you should see 13.8-14.4V  

[brownnova]

Yes, I believe that is how the battery/alternator tester I have works by testing the appropriate voltage. 

The battery condition has been fine and was showing fully charged despite many starts and restarts in the time the voltage meter has been reading low. 

[LightBulbFun]

9 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Yes, I believe that is how the battery/alternator tester I have works by testing the appropriate voltage. 

The battery condition has been fine and was showing fully charged despite many starts and restarts in the time the voltage meter has been reading low. 

 

I recently got this in to fit to the Invacar, its a neat combo Volt meter and USB charger, so I can keep an eye on the voltage directly, while keeping my USB gadgets charged  

I got this specific one as I think it fits the dash aesthetic in the invacar pretty well, and it looks very 80s with the red digitis and red/green bar graph and i'm a sucker for things like that  ill probably find a suitable location under the dash to zip tie it to

(USB Volt meter 12v is the search term I used, then sort by UK only and price lowest first)