Mystery car collection thread..... It’s a 2CV!!

[dollywobbler]

Ah yes. Reversing a 2CV must always be done with care. The second reason is they can fall over if you wang the steering wheel over...

Hope it can be sorted. Used to be quite a common thing as Citroen just stopped peening the nut on the back of the gearbox at some point.

[Stinkwheel]

Bad luck in the gearbox front, amazed any are still around that haven’t had this sorted out. hope you can get it sorted out. If you should need a recommendation as to someone who can fix, get in touch with Rick Pembro. The old school best practice thing to do to try and avoid anything similar in future is to never brake in reverse without the clutch depressed

[chaseracer]

7 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

If you should need a recommendation as to someone who can fix, get in touch with Rick Pembro...

http://gearbox-guru.co.uk

[forddeliveryboy]

On 14/09/2024 at 12:15, Lankytim said:

We’ve had our first FTP, and potentially it might require a new gearbox!

we were planning on going to a local car show this morning but as I took the 2cv out of the garage and reversed onto the drive there was a buzz from the gearbox area and then a horrible clunk and the engine stalled. It seems I’ve “unwound” reverse gear which is apparently quite common and perhaps even a rite of passage for every 2cv owner. The box might be fixable in situ but the worse case scenario is a replacement box which isn’t the end of the world and gives me the opportunity to clean everything and learn more on this 2CV learning curve I’m on.  
 

 

 

 

First, don't try and select any other gears while it's in the state it is at present, things can lock up completely which then needs the gearbox removing.

Your situation should be capable of being fixed in situ by anyone fairly used to gearboxes, or if you're feeling capable then see  http://www.benboyle.com/unwound.htm and https://citroenclassic.org.au/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2CV-Gearbox-Unwinding-Debacle-Revision-2.pdf

It's not a difficult job for a keen home mechanic who isn't easily scared and proceeds carefully with a good guide.  You don't need specialised tools, just good lighting and a longish punch.

On what looks to be a tidy and original car with lowish miles, it'd be good to try and keep the original box for a whole host of reasons, although it's common to have a less than perfect 3rd gear syncro once a ring has had to be rewound. 

[somewhatfoolish]

Never use engine braking in reverse, even when they're properly staked on it's still not held in place very well.

[Talbot]

On 15/07/2024 at 14:10, Lankytim said:

I took a gamble on the parts cannon and replaced the coil and HT leads. The new coil is a new style resin type rather than the older oil filled variant. When I removed the old coil I found the underside soaked with oil, maybe the oil has leaked out and it’s causing it to overheat and break down in use?

The 2CV racers tend to use a certain Harley Davidson coil, which is designed for wasted spark on a two-cylinder engine.  It works remarkably well, even when baking hot and driving flat-out for 24hrs.  I don't know the details of the exact one, but there are others here that will know.

As for running the engine flat out... again, given that the 24hr race cars are the same 602cc engine you have, with a lumpier cam, a larger carburettor and an increased compression ratio, and they manage to be driven absolutely flat-out for well over 24hrs, I doubt you'll have any issue at all.  Bearing in mind that the racers use everything else absolutely standard.  Bog-standard brakes, gearbox, cooling system, electrical system, etc.etc.  There is actually very little that is upgraded for them to be able to run at full-bore for extended periods of time.

[Lankytim]

Thanks to a 2cv Facebook group and some very patient individual talking me through the procedure the unwound gear selector ring is now back on! The very fine threads were intact and after a lot of head scratching it managed to wind it back together by hand. Now I know the process I think I could do it in an hour or so.

The factory peening which is needed to prevent it unwinding was nonexistent so I’ll peen it on myself. A job for tomorrow and a test drive to confirm all is well. 

[chaseracer]

1 hour ago, Lankytim said:

Thanks to a 2cv Facebook group and some very patient individual talking me through the procedure the unwound gear selector ring is now back on! The very fine threads were intact and after a lot of head scratching it managed to wind it back together by hand. Now I know the process I think I could do it in an hour or so.

The factory peening which is needed to prevent it unwinding was nonexistent so I’ll peen it on myself. A job for tomorrow and a test drive to confirm all is well. 

That all looks 100% inside there, Tim... 😎

[Lankytim]

11 hours ago, chaseracer said:

That all looks 100% inside there, Tim... 😎

It’s not full of rust or shrapnel so that’s something at least! 

[Lankytim]

Yesterday I peened over the errant gear selector ring, topped off the oil, reassembled everything and went for a test drive. Everything is now working as it should, amazing!  I must say it seems pretty counterintuitive taking an exquisitely machined gear cluster and belting it with a hammer and chisel - my anxiety levels were through the roof!

To celebrate I went for a spin and cleaned the engine bay and gearbox so I can monitor for leaks more easily (plus it looks nicer) and fitted the replica dealer sticker, which really looks the part. Well recommended! 

[Lankytim]

I wasn’t sure where to post these pics but I thought that as it features a 2CV I might as well stick them here for everyone to enjoy/take the piss out of. 

As many shiters may know I own a slightly crunchy P4 which I love but wish wasn’t as crunchy, after spying a fairly local similar P4 for sale I thought I’d have a look and ended up buying it. It’s a 1961 100 and has been stood approx 4 years on a driveway and should hopefully only need light recommissioning. After doing the deal, freeing off seized brakes and blowing up tyres P4 was extricated from the drive, stuck on the dolly and dragged  home. 
 

Bodywise it’s good but needs a damn good polish. Interior 5/10 but the engine is seized! Hopefully some ATF and diesel down the bores should help to free it off. 
 

It landed on my driveway but other cars needed shuffling around to get it next to the garage so my old P4 was used to drag it up to get the Laguna out then the 2CV was used to drag it up to the garage, a task which the little flat twin engine managed with ease. I can’t see me actually replacing the locked up engine with a 692cc Citroen motor anytime soon though. 
 

 

[Lankytim]

Panic over. ATF and diesel freed off the engine, although I also managed to rust proof the front end of the car, garden, shed etc in the process. 

[Surface Rust]

Matching P4s! You've raised the AS game here...

Also, it is widely acknowledged that Citroen A series vehicles are the best prime movers for broken P4s.

[Lankytim]

16 hours ago, Surface Rust said:

Matching P4s! You've raised the AS game here...

Also, it is widely acknowledged that Citroen A series vehicles are the best prime movers for broken P4s.

These A series Citroens can pretty much do anything can’t they!

I’ve got in touch with a previous owner of my P4, he restored it in the 80s and rust proofed it to the max so that goes some way to explaining its nice bodywork.  There’s lots of photos of it during his ownership which he’s promised to show me, he also has the original plates which he said I can have too. Nice fella.

Here’s a photo I found on the P4 drivers guild Facebook group which was taken in 1983/4 and shows NKN at a national rally being inspected by Gordon Bashford, the designer of the P4. Back then it was dark blue it seems. 

[Stinkwheel]

And thats done it, I've been trying to ignore all the red hot P4 action on here recently, but this thread has done it, now i'm going to have to try a P4 at some point

[Six-cylinder]

21 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

And thats done it, I've been trying to ignore all the red hot P4 action on here recently, but this thread has done it, now i'm going to have to try a P4 at some point

I was lucky enough to be lent a  Rover 110 by @Zelandeth for a few weeks in summer 2023. I drove it as my go to car and really enjoyed having it to use. The only negative was heavy steering with low gearing.

[Stinkwheel]

Just now, Six-cylinder said:

I was lucky enough to be lent a  Rover 110 by @Zelandeth for a few weeks in summer 2023. I drove it as my go to car and really enjoyed having it to use. The only negative was heavy steering with low gearing.

You arent putting me off, in fact, making it worse

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, Stinkwheel said:

You arent putting me off, in fact, making it worse

I am not trying to put you off. It was still good for daily life.

One of the guys in the Milton keynes Classic Car Club added electric power steering to his.