Snail shell shock
Experienced restorer Peter Hermite’s first 2CV revival turned into a spectacular festival of welding
Ifound this 2CV in a damp barn. It was sitting on its rims and the resident pony used to poo in it! I knew nothing about Citroëns but have always liked the 2CV… although this one was rotten! To maintain stability at first, I left the body bolted to the chassis. In addition to bracing, several datum points were marked on sound areas of the body so when fitting replacement panels, recorded dimensions could be used. This was key in fitting parts such as pillars and sills.
I replaced the bottoms of the pillars, as well as the floor pans and sills. The original panels were very thin – mainly 0.8mm that, unless you are a very experienced welder, is a bit of a problem, especially with the butt welding required. To add more strength, I made panels to fit inside the pillars to join old and new and to butt up with the sills. I also reinforced the front and rear of the sills internally. I had similar concerns over puddle welding old and new flanges together – the use of 4mm thick copper strip as backup resulted in good welds.
Now integrity was restored to the body shell, it could be removed and raised above the chassis. This gave me access to the lower bulkhead and inner toe board. It is a side-to-side triangular box section that had been repaired several times before with patches and pop rivets! The bonnet hinge had rotted away, and this extended to the lower part of the windscreen panel. A lot of care was taken fitting this as I was concerned about the eventual glass fit!
The spare wheel well/rear floor panel was bolted to the chassis to provide a platform for the rest of the new panels. Once the rear floors were welded the inner wheelarch and the lower rear quarter panels could be fitted – they went together at the same time to ensure all the curves and flanges matched.
Three doors were beyond economic repair so I obtained new ones, while I managed to repair the right-hand front door using similar sections cut out of the scrapped rear doors. As I will not touch two-pack paint, a friend agreed to apply the main primer and topcoat but I did all the sealing and polishing.
The car had done 59,000 miles. I was told that this was not a lot for a 2CV. I stripped the engine and found the crank shaft, oil pump and camshaft perfect. The bores and pistons showed very little sign of wear! The rear brake pipes are a coil to allow for the 2CV’S lengthy suspension movement and fit inside the rear axle. I found fitting these to be very awkward and time consuming!
The central suspension units were so rusty they had to be cut from the chassis and the only salvageable items were the tubes, springs and push/pull rods. The four suspension arms all pivot on the axles using large diameter cone bearings, all of which were either rusty or broken, hence all eight were replaced together with the grease seals. All the wheel bearings were shot and replacing them wasn’t easy! They are held in place with a large castellated screw ring and require a very high torque. As someone had used chisels before the rings were badly damaged and had to be cut out with a lot of care. Re-assembly required a very expensive tool, but I managed to make one, plus another to hold the rear brake drums. The high torque required a four-foot bar and the first go ripped the vice out of the bench!
The electrics aren’t complicated, but Citroën liked to use 90 per cent green cables with coloured terminals, which over time had lost their colour! I added extra circuits for the reversing light, indicator tell-tale lamp, electric screen wash, radio, earth cables and a power socket. There was a lot more to sort, from the alternator and starter to the new seat covers, door cards and roof, but it all came together in the end. Not bad considering I knew nothing about 2CVS!