see if you can get an old dyane one from somewhere the chrome stalk will work better and look better you need to take them apart and put the dyane stalk in the 2cv housing

also its worth taking a couple of turns off the spring with a set of side cutters if you havent already.

sean

With the promise of another 80 plus degree day, I was up early and out to the garage keen tackle one of the last few jobs still left to do. Those of you that have read my posts in the tech' section regarding today's little exploits while tracking up the car will know that I have struggled somewhat, mainly due to my own impetuosity more than anything else.



I started by taking the advice of those on this forum that know much more than I, and placed the front wheels on glossy magazines to aid their spinning, I also circled the wheels with twine, well, the wife's wool actually, to give me a visual on how far to adjust the track rod arms.



I then adjusted each track rod in turn until I had an equal amount of adjustment at each side. The 'string' trick gave a great eye line to allow me to better judge when I was were I needed to be. If you've never tried this then definitely give it a go - it works!



So with the wheels aligned and the adjusters tigtened up I only needed to reset the steering wheel position which was lying to the right, and I was done. That's when things got a little sticky. I removed the steering wheel, undid the clamp at the bottom of the column and proceeded to knock fcuk out of the upper column thinking it was stuck, or awkward, or somehow had a grudge against me. I think the sun must get to me because instead of cooly looking for the problem I just hit it harder!

Thanks go to 2cViking for reminding me of the...er...steering lock that I hadn't undone. Once that trivial matter was resolved (!) I removed the steering column, put it in the right place, and tightened everything back up. I replaced the drivers seat that I'd had to remove again to help me when lying upside down taking the steering lock off, and decided to run up and down the drive to test both the brakes and the steering.



Speaking of seats, the Mrs did a cracking job of recovering them, it's a temporary fix as I don't think the material is going to prove very durable, but they certainly look the part and should last until I can afford a new set. I've tried to get a couple of interior shots this afternoon but I think the bright sunlight has sent my camera into shock, making the seats look more orangey than they are.



By late afternoon I'd had one of those days which drain you both physically and mentally. One of those days were you drop your spanner repeatedly, and for no apparent reason, and each time it falls down somewhere awkward to retrieve it from. It had also been one of those days where previous good work was undone, stuff I thought I'd done and finished with had to be once more undone, (and scratched) for seemingly no gain, in short a ball-acher of a day. Made even more difficult by the wife constantly reminding me of the neighbours as the air turned blue.

Anyway, I was saying about the test run up the drive. The drive is about 70 foot from the garage door to the road so enough to get a good run up and slam on the brakes. I did that a couple of times and the brakes are least least as good as they were before, but still not locking up the wheels. The steering, having been such a pain to set up is now fine, and the wheel looks central when driving.

On my third and final run up the driveway I slammed on and heard something roll across the car's floor, imagine my delight having put everything back together again to see this staring back up at me. AAAGH! "Neighbours? ...F**K THE NEIGHBOURS!"

Old-Nail,
maybe put that lock guard plate in the 'to do' box for now?
Tbh, I don't usually refit them, sometimes even leaving the clamp on the column off as well, especially if the ignition lock is feeling a little tired.

On one chassis change a few years ago, I mentioned to the owner that the lock didn't feel too good, but he requested that all the bits were put back in place.
About 6 months later, there was the telephone call to say that the lock had failed suddenly.
No chance of hot wiring that one to get home, the only choice was on the back of a recovery truck...

ken.

Yes Ken, the cover plate is now in the 'box of many bits' where it will probably stay. When I bought the car the previous owner, or whoever had done the chassis change didn't fit the steering lock either. I'm just of the opinion that if stuff was there originally I should fit it too, but on this occasion it's not worth the hassle.

I'm still amazed at how things go missing. I'm short one of the circular rubber things that fit into the dump tube hole in the inner wing, and some bits for the front flashers. I've not thrown them away, and I've searched the garage from top to bottom but they're gone alright, very strange. I have until weekend to finish this now as after that my modern car is gone.

One of the good things to happen is that the oil/ignition light has decided to work again, but the high beam light has stopped! I think I'll tape over it for the MOT and leave looking into why for when I fit the coloured speedo face. I gave my old front wings away before removing all the relevant parts so I now need to figure out what wires should be there, and where they connect to on the main harness.

main beam possibly due to a worn switch contact on the barrel. you might be able to clean it up for the mot so it works, or maybe just a bit of solder in the hole that is probably on the contact will sort it out. thats where i would look first anyway!

I've no idea with electrics Joe, I just found the two wires that were hiding behind the dash panel and connected them to an aftermarket light in the panel. Same with the flasher light which isn't working yet either. I'm wondering if that will only work once the front indicators are wired in too? If push comes to shove I'll either remove them or tape over them if I can get away with that for the MOT, I'd rather do fault finding at my leisure after I'm on the road rather than have it hold me back now.

Good work Mr Nail, the car is looking GREAT!

Good luck with the final stages and MOT

I'm really, really going to miss this thread when your done, you'll have to build another one

Ta mate! I've got a hankering to do a Panhard PL17 next but that's not a 2cv so wouldn't be much use on here.

If I could find a nice old LHD suicide door, 'barn find' 2cv I could be tempted to knock a few more years off my life with another restoration. And as I'll be moving permanently to France in the next few years that would be the more practical option too.

Anyway, the way that 'shit happens' in my daily life there'll most likely still be lots of stuff to post about. Sailing off into the sunset and living happily ever after has never been an option for me somehow.

I wouldn't say that...