I got some professional wind screen mastic from my local Norauto (we know the main mechanic there and they use this to fit wind screens- he had one that has a sell by date this month ) So will get on with re-installing the rear window tomorrow.

I have now painted the floors, trim rope grooves and most surfaces with my Restom Rust converter. Even though it is not rusty it turns a nice black. That will be ready tomorrow to put on the joint seal around every joint I can find - then I will go ahead with the smooth Hammerite which I just bought a tin of.

I had to weld the rear seat area where there were small cracks in all 4 corners - too many passengers in the back at one time I think.



I also made a start on the woodwork (wood in a car ) - have made up new side strips between the doors. Just need to sand the edges and varnish for a little more protection.



Enough for today though, it is getting cold now and my space heater is smoking me out - something wrong with it (anyone know how to fix these)

I am really surprised, if you can't find parts from France you live? That because, I can have more than ten of these from my friend*, about 20km from where I live, in Finland. And some more by calling couple of friend...

Finding these parts isn't any problem here, posting anywhere with reasonable price is. After all, it would be quite funny to send parts to French car to France from here, middle of snow and frozen lakes...




*Reason, my friend has a mint condition DS19 -57, couple of ID Break -62 and half a dozen D-models from fifties. Plus spares for these, earliest from 2/56

All the ancient stickers on Gerty's bootlid are gradually falling off, it's not covered in them but they date back to the '60s and some are on top of others, deliberatly covering them so the 'tone' of the car has changed presumably as owners changed. I'm hoping that the outer ones will come off, rather than whole lot coming off the paint, so I can see what's hidden...
Recording it all is a perfectly acceptable historic record! Parking it in a museum so it is 'frozen in time' is when you leave it all as is, but you use yours so it's history will go on accumulating. Which is better than acceptable.

Trypyrenees, Looks fab.

Would you mind a suggestion on rust paint though? A bit late really, but I haven't found Hammerite to be all that good any more. I've had rust coming back through it a year or so later on one of my non Citroen cars, even when treated first with converter before Hammerite was applied. Someone said it may be because the same chemicals are no longer allowed. I cant confirm that, but I since discovered POR15, which I have used since and it seems much better.
The problem is perhaps the price though!

For rust converting I have been loving Bilt Hambers 'Hydrate80' too which has great results.

Cheers for that - I am only going to use the Hammerite on the internal floors which are not really rusty anyway. It is just belts and braces really. I did spray primer and top coat satin black on the front section but the rear and boot is quite an expanse so choosing to brush it on.

I have seen Hydrate80 before but at the moment using Restom which is a French outfit and they seem to be quite good.

Also sealing every groove, edge and seam with weld/seam seal and then painted on top of that. Again, a bit over the top but feel it may as well be done now before the sound proof and carpet go in.

I made up the rear winder inner frame - I can't believe they charge €33 for this.



And more and more wire wheeling and cleaning. I have wire wheeled every single nut and bolt so far. It takes an age - I have decided to start rebuilding the front of the car which means cleaning all the parts and trying to remember where they all go.





Pain in the arse though, I just received the Carburettor heat shield that sits on top of the inlet manifold and the holes are in the wrong orientation. I don't know if there are different models but all the ones I have seen go along the head and not across it.

Yes on a fresh surface I expect Hammerite would be more than fine.

Seam sealer, that stuff is amazing isn't it. I had new floors in my 2cv years ago when it was re-chassis'd. And some other bits done. He seems to have used that stuff everywhere and wow does that stuff last and protect. Hard to get off, as I found out this year when wanting to sort out a couple of little bits. It did its job well though.

Lots of cleaning and painting today while I wait for my oil baffle repair. Plus the paint on the floor of the car is taking a while to dry as it is so cold here at the moment. I have put a heating inside to try and bake it on a little faster. Toasty inside the car but the garage is freezing.

I have bead blasted, primered and top coated the cross brace and supports for the gearbox - this was in a right state (as is everything with this car). I have put it all loosely in place so nothing gets lost or damaged.



My bumper bracket has had better days. The right one had snapped and cracked the left one just had cracks in it. I think the previous owner really did learn to drive in it. The rear of the car has quite a few dents and bumps too.

I have welded this up now and they are in paint drying for tomorrows finish coat.



The next parts on the list are the wing brackets - these seem to be twisting in every direction as well. But other than dirt and surface rust they are in pretty good "structural" shape

Lots going on today. I fitted the front wing supports and the bumper supports, mainly to get them off the bench but I bet I will regret it later on when I have no shins left.
Of course, they were cleaned thoroughly, primered and painted.



And the bumper supports, after being welded back together too.



Back on the car



I sent the wife off to the sandblasters with my inner front wings, front grill, downpipe and long pipe from the exhaust. I wanted to see if I could use these sections of exhaust to save some money.

All came back within the hour for a cost of €60. It would have taken me a couple of days to clean off the rust and paint. I am so glad I found this little Portuguese family tucked away in the back and beyond

The grill is not in bad condition. A little out of shape but no rust at all. Here it is pre blasted.



And afterwards with a coat of primer to protect if from the damp air.



And the inner wings too



The downpipe came back with a small crack and a hole but luckily I had a visit from a couple of guys from our local car club as I am lending them my "specialist" Traction tools for a job. He took the dowenpipe away with him to have another Portuguese guy (seems to be a lot round here) who will braise it back in shape and at least it will last for a year or so when I will have more funds to replace it with a nice shiny stainless steel set.

I started also on the exhaust brackets - at first I was going to throw them and buy new but when I saw the price at nearly €30 a set I decided to spend an hour cleaning and painting them, only renewing the rubber bands.



A little micro sand blasting and wire wheeling later.



And some paint

More painting and feeling today. Finished the 2nd exhaust bracket so both are now ready to put on the car.

Put the first coats of final paint on the front grill - remember this is purely for protection for the next year. The car will have a respray at some point in 2016 but until then I just want to enjoy it.



Placed the inner wings in position and they seem to fit back on OK. Will get these painted up tomorrow and fitted so I can start on the rewiring task.



I also installed the underlay inside - This will protect the floor while I am working in there, but soon after this photo was taken I covered it all again with sheets and rubber mat, just to make sure.



This car is a little longer than a 2CV and the last re-carpet I did was on my 4L, just a tad smaller.