2CV Chassis Replacement

[gibgib]

Peter arrived here in Brisbane yesterday after his epic journey from Perth in his AK400 2CV Viking van. The distance was about 4200k's
I will take a picture of the van tomorrow actually.

As you can see from all the pictures, a 2CV can certainately hide rust very well :disappr:

Peter first started on the windscreen frame, removal of the old one & reinforcing the boxtubing the screen sits on. There were a few holes in it.
The new windscreen panel incorporates the bonnet hinge & goes half way up the windcreen pillar.

Peter has it pretty much ready to be welded in however we are getting the new firewall panel in correct alignment before proceeding.
Every face of metal is being prepared & painted with POR15 as we go along.
There are lots of faces that are sealed away from view & access on these cars.

With the windscreen panel sitting in comfortably, Peter removed the upper firewall.
The metal in these cars is so thin!!!!

I created all the metal replacement pieces & new upper firewall from a sheet of 1mm using an angle grinder. This is a bit more rigid but also does weigh more.

The new upper firewall does not have all the ridges & bumps like the original but I'll add these later using bog Gotta be perfect.

Using the old upper firewall as a template, we copied all the holes onto the new firewall for cutting or drilling out. Some of the cuts & holes need to be exact!

Peter removed the lower firewall late this afternoon. This is easily replaced with a pre-made panel that Peter stocks. With this gone it was apparent that both sills are rotten & need to be replaced as well. Both floor panels are being renewed because it's easier & cleaner than replacing the front quarters.

Tomorrow we are hoping the windscreen panel, upper firewall, lower firewall/ pedal floor will be all welded in as we need this to support the body when the floors & sills are removed.

Hope my sentences are OK as I am a bit knackered & it's late :crazy:
I changed the picture uploading conditions to suit myself to have all 41 images from today in one post too

 

[GreenBlood]

A Dollasectomy!!!

hubba hubba, poor ol' Dolly

Wish I could be there, all those power tools, sparks, noise, hmmmm
Look forward to the progress pics - Peter dosen't mess around does he?

Cheers
Chris

 

[Alan S]

What a bugger I'm so busy at present or I'd be down there in a flash just to watch him.
There's nothing better to watch than a good tradesman in action and any of them from Europe are usually always fascinating.
Great pics, keep 'em coming and I'll go through them all first chance I get.


Alan S

P.S. How's the neighbours coping????

 

[gibgib]

Lookin' real good today!

Peter is doing a fantastic job & even putting up with my perfectionist ways (with a bit of a snigger at times).
Every surface has POR15 applied & Wurth sealent in all joins so this baby aint gonna rust too quick!

Windscreen frame is complete now as is the top & sides of the firewall as far as welding goes. There's still some tacking to do along the "oddments tray" from the inside & along the seam between the lower & upper firewalls. On this seam we will be welding a drip bracket as per the original.
I'm guessing the old firewall was around 0.6mm, the new one is around 1mm.

Tomorrow will see the new galvanised chassis take some shape as we need to ensure the floor pans & lower firewall line up with the body mount holes. We also need to create a hole in the right spot for the steering which is very crucial too.

 

[gibgib]

Peter created some holes in the firewall for the major components taking most of the day to complete. Placement was crucial.
The master cylinder & clutch mounts are now finished. These needed to be moved as the lower firewall panel was for a left hand drive model 2CV.
The lefthand drive holes have been filled with plate beautifully.

Gear lever hole lines up & works a treat.

The battery tray is sitting in place as per the original & we intend to strengthen this area with a bracket at the front to improve it's weight carrying. Previous welds here were not rusty but breaking from the battery's weight on the firewall.

The firewall & lower firewall are both welded into place now.

 

[DoubleChevron]

Gee's,

what a project !!! Can you send that guy my way when he's finished Looks like bloody good work going by the pictures (the sort of stuff I dream about doing with my projects, but could never pull off in a 1000atttempts !!).

seeya,
Shane L.

 

[gibgib]

I gave Peter the day off today so he headed up to a CCCQ meeting at Narangba to say hello.

Meanwhile back at AF headquarters I prepared the chassis with the swing arms including grinding back & removing all old paint & grease on both lower sides & painted with POR15.

I've also buffed most of the top on the front arm assembly for completion tomorrow.

Tommorrow is a quiet day but Peter is replacing the kingpins. I already have them but I could get the old ones out when i tried a few months ago.

 

[gibgib]

Kingpins have been replaced & we decided to replace the front wheel bearings which were pretty stuffed. Only had time to do the left side, the right side will be done first thing tomorrow.

Peter made the removal of the old kingpins look very easy, however when dad & I attempted to replace them a few months ago they wouldn't even budge!
5 sharp blows from a small lump hammer from above & they were on their way.

Everything Peter does is to a very high standard. There appears to be a bit of an art to installing the new kingpins correctly & it would be VERY possible to easily mess it up with the wrong technique. It was quite obvious Peter knew exactly what he was doing & although he is not undertaking any real mechanical work on my car, you could be sure he would really look after any 2CV that came into his workshop.

The top side of the swing arms have been wire brushed back to metal & POR15 has been applied. POR15 has also been painted on the underside of the floor panels that are hopefully going in tomorrow or Tuesday.

I am really happy with the way it's all going

 

[gibgib]

Gee's,

what a project !!! Can you send that guy my way when he's finished Looks like bloody good work going by the pictures (the sort of stuff I dream about doing with my projects, but could never pull off in a 1000atttempts !!).

seeya,
Shane L.

Shane, Peter wants to visit you on his way out of Melbourne

 

[DoubleChevron]

When he's heading down to Melbourne ?? I'm heading upto the Cit-in in a few weeks time so might not be home

I'll have to tell Dad to clean the 2CV .... Though I'm kinda scared of it now after seeing yours I'll have to make sure my parents are home so he can have a look at the Traction and 2cv and Dads tired old D's

seeya,
Shane L.

 

[Alan S]

You might come home to a pile of body panels neatly stacked in a heap by the garage wall.
I'd reckon Gerry now is praying Peter doesn't get a phone call to go home at short notice and leaves with the words that strike fear into any owners heart "well you saw how it all came apart, just slip it all back together now and she's all finished"

Tell you what, he sure knows these things inside out by looks of it. Scares me just looking at the pics.

Alan S:joker:

 

[gibgib]

Today was very exciting!

After finishing off the right hand bearing from yesterday we lifted the body onto the chassis to line up the new floors. The lower firewall bolt holes fitted without too much drama as did the rear bridge bolts.
Peter removed the right floor & sill & spent some time cleaning the rear door post & the bottom of the A panel for the new sill. The new floor fitted & bolt holes to the chassis lined up.

With the sill removed Peter discovered some more rust at the rear section of the sill. He cut out the offending piece of metal & welded in a new plate.

To ensure the new sill was in the right place & the rear door post was straight, we had to refit the front & rear doors to check operation & clearances.
Front door first, when right Peter tacked the front of the sill & moved to the rear door post. Rear door on, checked, clamped, rear door off & post tacked.
The rear of the sill needed the jack under it to get it in place. The replacement sill wasn't a perfect fit (they never are apparently) so it had to be modified a little.

Peter spent some time welding the front & around the A panel including welding in a replacement panel at the bottom. All the top of the right floor pan has been welded, & once the left hand side is done we'll turn the body over & weld the under side as well.

The rear of the sill still need a small piece of tubing to fill in that gap tomorrow.

All the welding has been treated with POR15 & is drying as I type.

Peter's wife Lorraine wants more pictures of Peter!
Hello Lorraine

 

[gibgib]

Today pretty well finished the welding. There are still some small items to do on Thursday.

The left hand side floor & sill came out & were replaced. You can see there is a bit of lining up to do putting in the sill using the doors as a guide.

Peter welded the front guard bolt tabs onto the firewall after we lined them up using each of the front guards.

Body off & on it's roof to finish the welding on the underside & treat all metal with POR15.

What a great welding job

 

[gibgib]

Peter has started on the other Brisbane 2CV today. I paid him a visit this morning. There'll be a thread the other 2CV's welding project as well so I'll let you know the URL when it is updated.

Today I cleaned the spring pots back to metal & applied the 2 coats of POR15 including the rods & bush caps as well.

Also the bonnet hinge has been wire brushed back to metal so Peter can have a go at re-welding it to give it more strength tomorrow.

I hit the chassis with wax & grease remover to bring it up schmick.

Tomorrow, Peter will return to finish the firewall, set the spring pots correctly on the new chassis & weld on a battery tray support, plus a few other things.
In the arvo I will refit shockies, road wheels, gearbox, engine, fuel tank & exhaust system!

 

[gibgib]

The welding is complete!

Peter Fosselius did a fantastic job & is a damn nice bloke as well
Thanks Peter!!

Heater directors, battery tray reinforcement & bonnet hinge repairs welded & more holes drilled or cut in the firewall this afternoon.

Peter mounted the spring pots to the chassis & connected them to the knife edges. They look great painted with POR15, so I am painting everything that is black with POR15 from bare metal base.
Incidently, customer service at PPC (POR15 people) is first class. Thanks to Rob at PPC.

Just in the middle of replacing the engine mounts before I decided to call it a day, so the engine & gearbox refit will have to wait until tomorrow.

 

[UFO]

Gerry

This is an amazing documentation of the job. Far more interesting than a respray of some weirdo CX

Is this pic

Of the famous 2CV rubber band - you can see it hanging behind the shroud.:roflmao: Would that be the shroud of tourin'

(sorry, must be late on a Friday night)

 

[UFO]

BTW Gerry, when this is all over you should make up a dedicated series of web pages documenting the job. You have done very well on the photographic and written records and it should be somewhere that in later times will be easier to find.

 

[DoubleChevron]

Gerry

This is an amazing documentation of the job. Far more interesting than a respray of some weirdo CX

(sorry, must be late on a Friday night)

Gee's we finally agree on something UFO :roflmao: :roflmao: It's also a hell of a lot scarier than the weirdo's CX paitjob (after all how hard is it to just blow a bit of paint onto a car ).

seeya,
Shane L.

 

[gibgib]

I was beginning to think people weren't reading this thread, although the thread views are up around 2.5k now.
If nothing else, I can look back on it in a few years & laugh (or cry).

The documentation doesn't really show step by step, it just shows & tells what I (or we, when applicable) have successfully undertaken on any day, but it's possible to elaborate on it later with the basic process written out.

 

[gibgib]

Chris & I were back into the sanding/ bogging etc this afternoon & the day was very productive. Although we have not bogged for a week & a half now, everything flowed quite nicely today.

The bonnet is damn near ready for another etch. We grinded back Peter's mig welding & a few taps here & there, then a filling/ keying layer of fibreglass filler over the top. This was smoothed out & normal filler bog over the top. The result is superb. Not done yet however. The underside of the hinge will get a hit of POR15 & before it dries, a layer of fibreglass at 45 deg to really hold it together.

The front of the bonnet where the catch goes & near the top grille bolt hole also saw same fibreglass bog today.

Looks like we have 2 doors ready for etch & possible first coats of primer on the weekend!

The engine & gearbox are in place after replacing the 3 mounts. I am currently trying to remove the crud from the outside of the fuel tank.

I have another litre of POR15 arriving on Monday & I intend to paint all black items with it. I am also going to try POR Patch for the small holes below the number plate panel at the rear next week. As POR15 product is non porous, I also need to apply Tie Coat before any painting (etch, top coat etc) unless I want to wet sand the whole work prior. This would prove impossible in some areas.

I forgot to mention on Thursday & Chris thought it was worthy, while the body was upside down I took the opportunity to spray lanolin down (which is normally up) all the door posts & pillars, under the rear seat box section, & the windscreen frame. This means gravity let the stuff drip towards the roof section & it was able to dry there. I will be doing the same again with the body the right way up to complete the job.