Result!

I was only wondering yesterday if there had been any progress with this...

Aye, gonna start stripping down to chassis at the weekend/beginning of next week.

The starter motor does grind like hell on start, but hopefully just needs a clean. On the plus side, after running it for a little bit, the electrics that didn't work previously have started working.

Sweet work, do you have a timeframe in mind for this project?

Currently it's just, work on it when time/funds allow. Would like to get it done, or at least MOT'ed and possibly get it to the ICCCR in August but, don't want to speak too soon.

Ignore this post, moved to technical.

Good luck with car! I am in the area and have driven 2CVs and variants for 26ish years. Have rechassised lots too and many bits laid around. Get in touch if you need!
Trevor

Small update for today. Managed to get everything stripped from the interior and everything disconnected, just ready to get the body off the chassis, but ran out of daylight.

Made a couple of discoveries. The rear areas of the car aren't too rusted, most of the rust is on the floors. The bulkhead has a pretty serious crack in it at the bottom of the battery tray. The brake cylinder seals are completely knackered and fluid is happily leaking out of the reservoir, and the heater tubes have definitely been home to mice at some point.

Oh and the blue seats with recline from the first post say Fiat/Lancia on them, no idea which model they're from.

Feels like we made a good bit of progress today anyway.

Update again for the end of this week.

Shell is off the car, much of the lower bulkhead fell off in a pile of rust. This was followed by the chassis finally failing completely, both front legs sagged forward under the weight of the engine and gearbox til the front was on the ground. So we put that on axle stands and got the engine and gearbox off.

Probably won't make any more progress this week, back to university and exams.

After what seemed like years, exams have finished, so we should get back onto this starting Monday. Just to let you know we haven't given up on it yet.

It is with a fair amount of sadness (I'm gutted) that I say, we're most likely going to give up on this now, unless we have a miracle. After just talking to some people, and having a good go over it in the last couple of days, this might be like banging you head against a brick wall. Just from what we can see, the shell needs:

Windscreen surround panel
Lower bulkhead
Upper bulkhead repairing
Battery Tray repairing
Floors
Sills
A panels
A posts
B posts
Rear light panel
Rear quarter panel between window and wing

Basically, the entire shell, other than the rear inner wings and the bonnet hinge, is made of rust and air. Sometime during last night, the chassis decided to fold the other way. Other list of knackered bits:

Headlight bar
Master cylinder
Hood
Shock Absorbers
2 wheels
2 Doors
Bootlid is on its way
Rear wings

Basically, the only good bits left, is engine/gearbox, and the new panels that came with the car. The shell is in a lot worse state than we first thought, so maybe we were a bit naive there. We intended to have to do some welding and a rechassis, and some mechanicals. I am mostly a mechanicals sort of person, I'm useless with a welder or paint. By the time we get all the panels for the shell, get them all welded in and painted, we're going to be well over the original budget, without even thinking about a new chassis. We are going to put a listing on ebay for any parts, and I will make a thread here in the Flea Market. I'd rather see the parts at least goto decent use. As I say, we're gutted, but we need to be realistic. Once we get rid of most of it, we will be looking for something to replace, currently looking at that yellow slightly rear end damaged Dyane that's right near us on ebay, but it looks like it'll end too soon.

Anyway, thanks for the help and encouragement, it is much appreciated and it's a hell of a lot better than from most other places on the internet. I will still be around, and hopefully it shouldn't be too long before we have a replacement.

Also, if anyone wants any parts from a 1984 Grey/Grey Charleston before I get the thread up, drop me a PM. As I say, engine and box are great, and can be seen running. Also have a brand new bonnet in white.

Thanks everybody.