Picasso restoration.......a tale of idiocy and citroen fun

[maxxo]

7 minutes ago, Out Run said:

I was just talking to my mate yesterday, when we were driving down the Metro Centre multi-storey and mentioned when we had cars that used to scrape the splitters etc on the ramps lol.

i still can't believe i actually lowered a picasso, does look good mind

yes i tend to get a fair amount of scraping now which is fine as the ride height looks about the same front to back now

but a splitter though......hmmmmmm must say it's quite ridiculous and i am tempted

[Out Run]

38 minutes ago, maxxo said:

i still can't believe i actually lowered a picasso, does look good mind

yes i tend to get a fair amount of scraping now which is fine as the ride height looks about the same front to back now

but a splitter though......hmmmmmm must say it's quite ridiculous and i am tempted

Every car suits a subtle drop, and any improved handling is always a welcome bonus.

Get the splitter on. A touring car style plywood one, like the Top Gear Avantime.

I’ll lay down a ground clearance challenge for you with my Toyota. Lol.

[maxxo]

1 hour ago, Out Run said:

Every car suits a subtle drop, and any improved handling is always a welcome bonus.

Get the splitter on. A touring car style plywood one, like the Top Gear Avantime.

I’ll lay down a ground clearance challenge for you with my Toyota. Lol.

yes that is lower than mine

i have a feeling you're not an idiot who forgot his car was lowered and tore off his undertray

[Out Run]

Just now, maxxo said:

yes that is lower than mine

i have a feeling you're not an idiot who forgot his car was lowered and tore off his undertray

It currently has no undertrays fitted - but then, it is also SORN.

[maxxo]

2 minutes ago, Out Run said:

It currently has no undertrays fitted - but then, it is also SORN.

mine also has no undertrays, and a loose wheel arch liner for exciting* sounds

but it's fine i wiggled it and it didn't fall off

[Out Run]

I saw a Picasso today. No front grille.

[maxxo]

don't see many up here anymore

hardly any good examples around either, most of them are heaps with zero maintenance and less than a year from a scrapyard

[Out Run]

14 minutes ago, maxxo said:

don't see many up here anymore

hardly any good examples around either, most of them are heaps with zero maintenance and less than a year from a scrapyard

I clock a few. I’m not far from you, really. But yeah, most are just seen as white goods transport for sure.

[maxxo]

6 minutes ago, Out Run said:

I clock a few. I’m not far from you, really. But yeah, most are just seen as white goods transport for sure.

I've found Middlesbrough to be extremely poor now for picasso's......there are some but only one really nice one left

hartlepool isn't bad usually spot a few when i go

[Out Run]

Just now, maxxo said:

I've found Middlesbrough to be extremely poor now for picasso's......there are some but only one really nice one left

hartlepool isn't bad usually spot a few when i go

Keep heading North lol. The Sunderland area isn’t shy on them.

You could host a mini meet.

[maxxo]

Keep heading North lol. The Sunderland area isn’t shy on them.
You could host a mini meet.

Sunderland isnt bad at all! Parked next to a very clean one in seaburn the other day

Considering a picasso owners meet when restrictions allow

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[maxxo]

200ish miles since the lowering springs fitted

it's completely transformed the car, it seems to ride smoother

doesn't get hit so badly by crosswinds

and the handling is actually really quite good!

oh and it just looks absolutely fantastic

must admit i am really happy with it

[maxxo]

bit of advice needed

so the wheel arch liners are rattling and have been for a while now (both sides of course)

so it looks as though the front part is in 2 pieces, held together with little plastic rivet type things

of course, being 15 year old french plastic.......they are all broken and it's held together with cable ties

so.......how would be the best way of going about fixing this? i can see no way to attach cable ties to the part which is rattling due to it being quite an awkward design

i have a temporary solution in mind and that's to cut the undertray in half so the back end doesn't scrape and attach it that way and have it under strain which should keep it still

of course the undertray attaches to the arch liner, which seems a superb design*

[Mudster]

 Just get some new clips for the arch liner. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-Bumper-Inner-Wheel-Arch-Splashguard-Clips-For-CITROEN-C2-C3-C4-C6-C8-Xsara/323026687678?hash=item4b35e416be:g:TMYAAOSwealaaJtf

[maxxo]

ah but it's not those which are completely broken

they're only slightly broken

it looks almost like a platic weld rivet type thing which is no doubt an absolute pain to fix

of course the aux belt is directly behind it so if i put a metal rivet in it would no doubt lead to all kinds of excitement

[maxxo]

Ah yes, some interesting reading, to see what mine could look like if someone went for an exclusive haha

well, as i love my brochures it's always an interesting read

but in all seriousness, i currently have some rather nice wheel trims (centre)

however, i rather like the "estoril" wheels (right)

sure i know they are a pain to balance, but if i can find a set going cheap then i may well have to purchase some

[maxxo]

Did some good cleaning this evening, always surprising how well it cleans up

new bonnet should be here soon to get rid of that nasty dent

also not all that far away from new tyre time

surprised just how poor the life of the front tyres have been and the grip seems to have reduced a fair bit in the dry weirdly recently

mmmmmmm nicely worn edges

being honest though these tyres have been pretty decent, wet grip always surprises me too as well as the resistance to aquaplaining

[maxxo]

Just having a quick poke around underneath today, of course, it never ends well

apologies for some terrible quality pics

well firstly lets take the spare tyre out and have a proper look

well good start, tons of mostly surfact corrosion on the bolt, very nice

salt traps, so many salt traps!

carrier doesn't look too healthy either

only a quick first coat of hammerite, going to continue doing a bit each day this week

bit of towbar painting, the tow bar seems fairly knackered

wire brushed and painted the rear towing eye, wasn't that terrible but prevention is the best way to do this

done the hard to access with the wheel in place areas of the wheel carrier, going to let it dry and see how it looks tomorrow before i give it another coat

as well as the easier to access parts of the tow bar mount, well my dinner was going cold so didn't want to spend too long

of course, as i am a doofus this happened

the salt trap protected, of course i had to go poking a bit more at the tow bar mount........and i wish i hadn't! so of course had to do a bit of protection on there

i know i've done a terrible job and probably used the wrong stuff, but i'm trying as hard as i can to keep this car alive

it's a survivor and i want to keep it that way

ideally i need to put it on a ramp so i can easily blitz it with waxoyl and hammerite

 

[maxxo]

Due to me being very worried about the aux belt and pipework becoming damaged from debris

i've modified the undertray

terribly of course

Behold the minutare undertray!

protects the items which need protecting, whilst being short enough not to catch on everything in existance

basically this is just a shield to try and bounce foreign objects away from hitting important components

as well as some weatherproofing

oh yes it's actually bolted on too! professional install yo!

oh and it's fixed the rattling arch liner

[Matty]

On 8/2/2020 at 2:08 PM, maxxo said:

ah but it's not those which are completely broken

they're only slightly broken

it looks almost like a platic weld rivet type thing which is no doubt an absolute pain to fix

of course the aux belt is directly behind it so if i put a metal rivet in it would no doubt lead to all kinds of excitement

Plastic rivet? Most stuffs arch liners are held in by a combination of m8 bolts/screws and plastic blind rivets. Push the centre in with a small screwdriver then the clip comes out. Then dig in all the shit and silt in the sill to find then so you can reuse the clips ?

[maxxo]

5 minutes ago, Matty said:

Plastic rivet? Most stuffs arch liners are held in by a combination of m8 bolts/screws and plastic blind rivets. Push the centre in with a small screwdriver then the clip comes out. Then dig in all the shit and silt in the sill to find then so you can reuse the clips ?

that's a job to do, i really need to clean the sills out and waxoyl the living fuck out of them so they don't rot........again

slightly concerned about the inner sills rotting but they feel rock solid from the other side

[Matty]

you can get wax sprays with long straw applicators that make the wax fan out. Get a bunch of them and get under it, pull all the bungs and get spraying. Brilliant how much you're into this car. Ive no bloody idea why you like Picassos so  much but its great you do

[Mr Laurence]

2 minutes ago, maxxo said:

that's a job to do, i really need to clean the sills out and waxoyl the living fuck out of them so they don't rot........again

slightly concerned about the inner sills rotting but they feel rock solid from the other side

Is this a difficult job to do? I noticed what looked like tiny air bubbles between the metal and rubber underseal stuff on the sills of my dads Picasso last time I saw it. If it’s something I could prevent or at least slow down to extend the life of the car then it might be worth me sorting it.

Nice work with the undertray too. If you hadn’t said that you’d modified it I would have thought that it was always supposed to be like that

[maxxo]

4 minutes ago, Matty said:

you can get wax sprays with long straw applicators that make the wax fan out. Get a bunch of them and get under it, pull all the bungs and get spraying. Brilliant how much you're into this car. Ive no bloody idea why you like Picassos so  much but its great you do

simply put, i'm an absolute fool who has wanted one since they were about 3 and my dad worked for citroen and let me play in one at the showroom

ideally i need to get it up onto a ramp so i can properly sort the underside out and get it completely protected

i dare say it's probably one of the most sorted and best looked after ones out there, bodywork wise it's about average and has a dent in the drivers door but i'm leaving that as i don't want any filler on the car

i'm considering buying some ramps so i can get underneath safely without being crushed to death when my cheap chinese jack fails

[maxxo]

3 minutes ago, Mr Laurence said:

Is this a difficult job to do? I noticed what looked like tiny air bubbles between the metal and rubber underseal stuff on the sills of my dads Picasso last time I saw it. If it’s something I could prevent or at least slow down to extend the life of the car then it might be worth me sorting it.

Nice work with the undertray too. If you hadn’t said that you’d modified it I would have thought that it was always supposed to be like that

i'd imagine it will be a wheel off job and removal/breaking of all the clips

of course many cable ties will be needed to reattach it due to old french plastic that will instantly break

i'd say it could do with being emptied out and then the exterior of the sill being sanded down to make sure it's just surface stuff, as far as i know mine has been welded up twice in the same place due to corrosion

 

thanks! i know it's not completely essential but it makes me more comfortable knowing there is some protection underneath

[Matty]

loads of good axle stands on ebay for decent money. Take up less room than ramps when your trying to work under it. Now that you've lowered it, it'd look belting on silver steelies!!

[maxxo]

5 minutes ago, Matty said:

loads of good axle stands on ebay for decent money. Take up less room than ramps when your trying to work under it. Now that you've lowered it, it'd look belting on silver steelies!!

I will admit i've considered painting the wheels silver behind the trims, not sure how it would look though

most likely going to brush paint them black with hammerite so they look quite sharp

i've considered stands but i prefer the idea of ramps due to the load being more evenly distributed, of course need to do some research first

that will make painting up the subframe so much easier as that has a fair amount of surface rot

[maxxo]

I can say for absolute certain this car really doesn't like hot days, like this week has been

very little power, cooling fan running constantly and the digital dash going an interesting shade of brown when it's been sat in the sun for a while

air con works absolutely beautifully though which is beyond appreciated at the moment

oh and a weird development, started it after it had been sat about 20 minutes.........5 seconds or so worth of cranking and it would not settle to a stable idle

saw the temp guage was at 3 bars still (operating temp) so i just revved the hell out of it and of course that fixed it

oh how i wish it would throw a fault code, then i could find out ideally what causes that slight hesitation/jerking at what i assume is around 2600 rpm on light throttle

also going to wack a new battery in at some point, see if that sorts the winter fun

[paulplom]

Have you a smart charger? They'll revitalise a tired battery.

[maxxo]

I have not, that would be much too sensible

Tbh it's a 10 year old halfords battery, that had apparently been driven unit it was flat when the alternator failed, which is always a nice thing to hear

might be worth looking at getting a smart charger though