Cheers....so thats James doing the chassis, Russ doing the painting and you Mr Eastbourne doing the mechanicals......sorted...when you are all done, I will fit the CD player......now will you all hurry up and get on with it !!!

OK, been doing other stuff (MOT time for Van and Mrs Squeeze car….both done).

So on with the project.

Going to have a few dilemmas on this thread as there are some decisions to be made.

Firstly I need to recap….currently I have got five “complete” 2CVs. All late ones and that was a conscious choice after messing about with other A series over the past few years. Basically all the bits swap over !! However I simply cant justify keeping them all especially when I need the space ( and money!!) and time to get them and keep them going, after all they are all essentially the same anyway.

One of the Jade ones was my original 2CV, it will I hope, be fully restored and made as original as I can……subject of another thread, another time. However its my “keep for life” car. The other Jade is a spares/repairs back up for the first one (unless Joe tempts me further!!), hope I don’t need to break it (is this now a criminal offence ?), but its in reserve! The Plums and Cuss will be MOTed and sorted to be sold …probably….not sure, don’t know yet.

I of course use my Bamboo as a daily driver….its rough and tatty, however once I get the engine a bit better, I will be happy with it. Its solid, got all new bits where they matter and is a great working, car that I totally enjoy and don’t worry about. Practical and a daily hack.

BUT….the Red and White D*lly…….

The criteria is a really smart and totally sorted car for Mrs Squeeze.

This doesn’t mean it has to be “original”, just very “sorted”.

Therefore dilemma number 1 – Colour, sorry personal taste and all that, but I just don’t like the D*lly colours…or name…I promise not to go on about it, but dilemma 1 is to re-paint it or keep it Red and White? Mrs Squeeze sadly likes it Red and White….hmm…..pondering this, but amazing how bright it is inside a white body shell !

Dilemma number 2 – Chassis (oh dear ….here we go !)….its on its original. Frankly from what you can see, its looking like a good original chassis. All I can find is a bit or rust about the size of a 50p piece. The seams all good, the arms good….everything looks great from the outside. However I happen to have a brand new, unused Galvi chassis and the outer bulkhead has gone and I want to take off the body shell and make sure all is good underneath. Thing is my original Jade has a rubbish chassis and so my thoughts are to put this Red and White on the new Galvi and check over the chassis I take off to put on the Jade.

ANYWAY…..got the seats out, roof off and started to have a prod and look around. This is actually quite an amazing car. There is rust in the front floors, and where water has sat its gone through the toe board and the outer bulkhead has dropped away. However the rest of it isn’t too bad. Sills are amazingly good, rear seat belt mounts are superb, some very good bits here on this car. All four doors are excellent, bonnet too. Work to be done, but finally having looked over it and got it in the garage I am now feeling pleased….even excited!

Actually I am rather appreciating the fact that this car has never, ever, been molested or touched at all from new. No bodges, nothing to “undo”, just a real true honest car that needs and deserves to be brought back into life. This is a once in a lifetime chance for me to really enjoy bringing this up to a good standard. I hope I can do it justice.

Will keep you posted …….and I am sure you want a pic or two !!...so here we are…

If you put the R/W chassis on the Jade you'd have the hassle of changing vin number with the DVLA. Or would you bother. Either way your Jade would then not be original.

Seems a shame to part a good chassis from essentially, a good body. If twere me I'd try and keep both original, but it's a tough decision. Toss a coin

If I was having my car resprayed tomorrow, I'd certainly look at having it done in one of the early shades(Old-Nail's car has definitely influenced me there). When you remove the shell, give the chassis a good going over and if possible, retain it (an original Citroen chassis is far and away more superior than a galv. chassis, if you're wanting to retain the legendary 2CV ride and handling).

In reference to chassis numbers, only early cars had the chassis plate on the chassis, late cars have it on the bulk head/fire wall.

Well done for taking the plunge squeeze, this thread should be good. Anyone that does Morris dancing and drives a 2cv needs to have a thread!

My thoughts on where you are at. If the chassis is definitely good after checking with the body off then re-use it and save the galvy one for your jade rebuild. I take it this won't be a cheque-book build, which means restoring a lot of old parts to re-use. In which case one or all of the cars are likely to become contributors, if not donors, to get at the best bits.

The more restoration work you do, the less money you spend (but you still spend a lot) conversely the more money you spend the less time it takes.

Make the decision about colour now. The reason being if you have a clear picture of what you want to achieve from the outset it gives you something to work towards. Also, when the car is fully dismantled is the time to start painting gear lever tubes, door hinges, dash panel, bonnet and boot props, all the little things that seem insignificant at the time. If they're not being black you need to know. Store them away ready for refitting, they come together to make a big detail difference later.

Your Mrs likes the red and white because like all D*lly's it's a bit girly (sorry folks) but I'm sure she wouldn't object to something simpler yet more classy. I recommended creamy old English white with a scarlet roof in spanners thread, I reckon that would look good, (and easier to do) but colour is a personal thing so anything goes really. Trawl the net and see what you like the look of.

I liked nothing better than spending the summer doing up my 2cv, bugger outdoor winter rebuilds, so you've just started this thread at the right time. Good luck!

I'm salivating at the prospect of this thread too

Nice OP, Squeezebox - lovely sentiments and a choice Freudian; "...tatty maybe, practical and fun …defiantly!"

Has your missus seen Old-Nail's resto and choice of colour? I was 'allowed' to buy my first 2CV on the 'promise' that I'd paint it ladybird colours as that was the kids' choice. Yep, I still at that one. Hard to believe that things things went downhill from this low point as they've gone through an 80s A-Team phase (wife bought them the boxed set - I can't stand it...) so you can guess what the next colour scheme choice was meant to be... kurryssst. Anyways, thank god I had O-N's car to show them. Taste and good sense has been restored. Gris Etna is current fav...

I agree totally with the comments above - keep the original chassis if at all practicable. Once the body is off, you can clean it up, repair it and then fully protect it from future decay.

Do it! That's a handsome beast. Owning two Jade Verte is greedy anyway
Go on, you can spare one.

As for the colours of your D*lly, well, your life will be much easier if you give the lady what she wants. The red and white D*lly was a best seller for a reason.

john let me know when you want me to come over and i will be over

That's a fair comment from Eastbourne; if you want to keep half an eye on it's future value, then perhaps keeping the obviously popular original colour scheme might well make sense.

Funny how tastes can change; I have a grey Charlie which I used to think was my fav 2CV colour. I can't wait to change it now - I find Charlie schemes just too fussy, trying too hard.

Subtle suits them.