Road trip in GiSelle

pottsy

Citroen Loony & BMC Nutter.
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Well we made it to Cit-In this time! After last year's false start when the driveshaft came adrift south of Eden resulting in a ride home on a tilt tray, it was with some trepidation, and a few misgivings, when we decided to take the GS to Murray Bridge.

After the events described above, I had to rebuild the gearbox in another casing as the mounting points for the calipers had decided to go their own way and left the building. I thought I'd done it all correctly, checked all the bearings, adjusted end floats and diff backlash, but it seems I must have missed a few things as the gearbox is less than quiet now. Never mind, the stereo is loud enough to overcome it!

I suppose it's possible that something is amiss, or maybe I did wrong or overlooked something, but either way, the Old Girl made it without a hitch.

We had some gift vouchers to redeem so we started with a magnificent lunch in Warrnambool (gift voucher), went via Portland and Robe, before spending a couple of nights on Kangaroo Island (gift voucher) prior to fetching up at Murray Bridge for the annual "Talk about Citroens & eat & drink too much festival". After the gathering we stayed at Ouyen before Swanking It Up at Craigs Royal Hotel in Ballarat (gift voucher).

A very pleasant trip and a great gathering of like-minded loonies from all over Oz. A big well done to the SA Citroen Club for a job well done. Stand in a circle and pat each other on the back. It was great to catch up with The Gang, especially the West Oz contingent.

Not having previously cruised any great distance in a GS before, I'm surprised at just how well she purrs along. 4000 rpm in top seems to be her happy place. The ride is fine, not floaty like the DS but quite acceptably comfortable. We have a few rattles still in the front end, I suspect the drop links, and had one loud one in the back which was concerning, until I had the bright thought of moving the rear speaker away from the C pillar which stopped it!

The engine seems harsh under acceleration, but it could just be me, or possibly a wrong mixture. I gave her a new filter and a sump full of HPR30 before leaving and she seems to have used up a half litre or so over the 2500km we covered.

Oil temperature at cruising speed seems to stabilise at between 100 and 120 deg Celsius, at least by the gauge I fitted. Even when it was really hot outside she never went over this so it seems to be optimum. Oil pressure was steady at 50 to 60psi at cruise, dropping to 10-15 at idle. I haven't checked calibration of either of these gauges, but I guess they're in the ball park so to speak. (And yes, I know I've mixed up units, but that's how my mind works!)

So there you have it. A completed road trip and a few things I need to address before the next one. I intend to fit a fuel/air mixture meter and oxy sensor soon, but probably not before biting the bullet and stripping the gearbox again to see what I got wrong last time.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!

Cheers, Pottsy.
 
Good to hear Pottsy, and very good to catch up with you albeit briefly. Celeste my 2CV consumed virtually no HPR30 but would run a little warm at speed, up to abt 110 degC
 
Glad to hear your trip was more successful.
Were the photos I saw representative - just Giselle and the white wagon as exemplars of the GS?

In my youth I spent 2 years working in central west QLD, a 9 hour trip to the capital for the weekend every couple of months - the GS would sit at (cough) something over 4000revs for most that 9 hours. The radio cassette player came in very handy to change the consistent noise of the motor.
 
Glad to hear your trip was more successful.
Were the photos I saw representative - just Giselle and the white wagon as exemplars of the GS?

In my youth I spent 2 years working in central west QLD, a 9 hour trip to the capital for the weekend every couple of months - the GS would sit at (cough) something over 4000revs for most that 9 hours. The radio cassette player came in very handy to change the consistent noise of the motor.

its only idling at 4000rpm .... er, I've heard :whistle: they are quite happy spinning along close to there redline in top gear :)
 
Good to hear Pottsy, and very good to catch up with you albeit briefly. Celeste my 2CV consumed virtually no HPR30 but would run a little warm at speed, up to abt 110 qqqqq
Glad to hear your trip was more successful.
Were the photos I saw representative - just Giselle and the white wagon as exemplars of the GS?

In my youth I spent 2 years working in central west QLD, a 9 hour trip to the capital for the weekend every couple of months - the GS would sit at (cough) something over 4000revs for most that 9 hours. The radio cassette player came in very handy to change the consistent noise of the motor.

Well we made it to Cit-In this time! After last year's false start when the driveshaft came adrift south of Eden resulting in a ride home on a tilt tray, it was with some trepidation, and a few misgivings, when we decided to take the GS to Murray Bridge.

After the events described above, I had to rebuild the gearbox in another casing as the mounting points for the calipers had decided to go their own way and left the building. I thought I'd done it all correctly, checked all the bearings, adjusted end floats and diff backlash, but it seems I must have missed a few things as the gearbox is less than quiet now. Never mind, the stereo is loud enough to overcome it!

I suppose it's possible that something is amiss, or maybe I did wrong or overlooked something, but either way, the Old Girl made it without a hitch.

We had some gift vouchers to redeem so we started with a magnificent lunch in Warrnambool (gift voucher), went via Portland and Robe, before spending a couple of nights on Kangaroo Island (gift voucher) prior to fetching up at Murray Bridge for the annual "Talk about Citroens & eat & drink too much festival". After the gathering we stayed at Ouyen before Swanking It Up at Craigs Royal Hotel in Ballarat (gift voucher).

A very pleasant trip and a great gathering of like-minded loonies from all over Oz. A big well done to the SA Citroen Club for a job well done. Stand in a circle and pat each other on the back. It was great to catch up with The Gang, especially the West Oz contingent.

Not having previously cruised any great distance in a GS before, I'm surprised at just how well she purrs along. 4000 rpm in top seems to be her happy place. The ride is fine, not floaty like the DS but quite acceptably comfortable. We have a few rattles still in the front end, I suspect the drop links, and had one loud one in the back which was concerning, until I had the bright thought of moving the rear speaker away from the C pillar which stopped it!

The engine seems harsh under acceleration, but it could just be me, or possibly a wrong mixture. I gave her a new filter and a sump full of HPR30 before leaving and she seems to have used up a half litre or so over the 2500km we covered.

Oil temperature at cruising speed seems to stabilise at between 100 and 120 deg Celsius, at least by the gauge I fitted. Even when it was really hot outside she never went over this so it seems to be optimum. Oil pressure was steady at 50 to 60psi at cruise, dropping to 10-15 at idle. I haven't checked calibration of either of these gauges, but I guess they're in the ball park so to speak. (And yes, I know I've mixed up units, but that's how my mind works!)

So there you have it. A completed road trip and a few things I need to address before the next one. I intend to fit a fuel/air mixture meter and oxy sensor soon, but probably not before biting the bullet and stripping the gearbox again to see what I got wrong last time.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!

Cheers, Pottsy.
Come on Pottsy, Giselle could not have been sort of "idling" at 4000 revs, poor thing must have screaming it's head off.
You were living / "driving" in the past; radio was far too loud that you were did hear poor Giselle suffering.

On the other end of the spectrum of the modern motor vehicle, at 1750 + or - RPM we were travelling at 110 KPH. No way could I, was I allowed to get anywhere near 4000 revs but maybe I did in 3rd or 4th gear of the 8 speed gearbox.
Regretfully the XM was a no goer and the Peugeot 508 GT Wagon came to the rescue. Magic machine.

Yes, 2023 Cit-in was a great event.
John
 
Come on Pottsy, Giselle could not have been sort of "idling" at 4000 revs, poor thing must have screaming it's head off.
You were living / "driving" in the past; radio was far too loud that you were did hear poor Giselle suffering.

On the other end of the spectrum of the modern motor vehicle, at 1750 + or - RPM we were travelling at 110 KPH. No way could I, was I allowed to get anywhere near 4000 revs but maybe I did in 3rd or 4th gear of the 8 speed gearbox.
Regretfully the XM was a no goer and the Peugeot 508 GT Wagon came to the rescue. Magic machine.

Yes, 2023 Cit-in was a great event.
John

There designed to do it ... that little motor spins easily out to 7500rpm. It would be happy turning all day at close to its redline :)
 
Yeah from vague memory 100 km/h is about 4000 rpm in a GS 1220.
In my 20s when I had a GS, now approaching 60, so it was a while ago.
It liked being kept above 3000 rpm. Below that, it was sluggish - keep it spinning over 3000 and it was a pocket rocket.
Gosh I miss that car - well, when it was working properly.
 
Well chaps, 4000rpm seems to be around 95 to 100kmh. A very relaxed (and legal) cruise. The buzz from the engine room is not unpleasant, but louder than (say) the Picasso or other modern cars. The days of being able to gallop along the highway at insane revs are long gone, sadly.

I plugged in the air/fuel meter yesterday and took her for a drive of half an hour or so at 100kmh. Mixture was fairly steady at 11, so running quite rich, surprisingly. I'll look in to that and do some comparisons. Some of the harshness may be the loose and broken bypass pipe I spotted yesterday. I need to address that when I check her over on the hoist.

The gearbox has been running Castrol VMX-80 with Nulon G70 mixed in. This has been efficacious in the past, but won't fix a worn bearing. I'll change the gearbox oil as well once hoisted, and we'll see if there's any lumpy bits in the drainage.

Yes Bruce, there were only GiSelle and Ken's Break at Murray Bridge. Some magnificent examples of lesser ( :) ) models were there though.

Cheers, Pottsy.
 
Graham and Anne Vaughan are driving a Tassie registered GS 1220 Wagon on the post Cit-in Run.

Cheers, Ken
 
Ken, would that wagon happen to be previously from QLD?
 
Hi Bruce,

I think that is the story but I will get more positive id when I can find them. We are in a huge caravan park for the next 2 days and are surrounded by lots of hot rods and young families.

Cheers, Ken
 
I think most of the older 1 to 1.3L or so cars (pre 5 speed) are geared quite similarly. I've have Minis 850 to 1275cc , Morris Minor, 1098cc AH Sprite, 1300 Torana, 1L Vauxhall Viva, Datsun 1200, Mazda 1200, a GS Citroen and others that don't come to mind right now and they all spun somewhere very close to 4K at 60mph.
When I was a kid we drove all over Europe in a new Mini 1000. On the Autobahns and motorways dad would sit on 70 to 75 mph, sometimes for a few hours. That's close to 5000 rpm.
I've got a 998cc Mini at the moment and it is sweet as a nut sitting on 100kph (4100 rpm).
 
I think most of the older 1 to 1.3L or so cars (pre 5 speed) are geared quite similarly. I've have Minis 850 to 1275cc , Morris Minor, 1098cc AH Sprite, 1300 Torana, 1L Vauxhall Viva, Datsun 1200, Mazda 1200, a GS Citroen and others that don't come to mind right now and they all spun somewhere very close to 4K at 60mph.
When I was a kid we drove all over Europe in a new Mini 1000. On the Autobahns and motorways dad would sit on 70 to 75 mph, sometimes for a few hours. That's close to 5000 rpm.
I've got a 998cc Mini at the moment and it is sweet as a nut sitting on 100kph (4100 rpm).
Correct. Same for our Renault R8. It is almost exactly 4000 rpm at 100 kph. The sweetest is 3700 but that is because of low frequency body resonance (heavy lining in the roof might fix that) and it spins sweetly and reliably up to 5000 rpm. I only cruise it as slowly as 95-100 kph because it is more relaxing there.

Our Citroen CX, a 1980 C-matic, had about that gearing too. By contrast, our Renault Scenic IIs do 3000 rpm at 100 kph.

I recall cruising our 1976 16TS at 140 kph in SA back in the day before speed limits spoiled the fun, but that reflect gearing designed in the early 1960s. I can't recall exactly but the 16TS would have been around 5000 rpm at 140 kph, whereas our Subaru 4WD wagon of the 1980s did 4000 rpm at 140 kph in 5th gear. It's quite a change from the 1960s.
 
I just checked out my Suzuki Carry van specs.
I thrash this thing everywhere as, although it is is the smallest van I have, it is the most versatile. You can spear a motorcycle in the back by yourself with ease, no need to remove mirrors or a wheel, or fold handlebars etc.
Anyhoo, I regularly sit the little 1.0L 4 cyl engined van on 110kph, which apparently is 6500 rpm in 5th, however it sounds like it too.🙉🤣
 
I just checked out my Suzuki Carry van specs.
I thrash this thing everywhere as, although it is is the smallest van I have, it is the most versatile. You can spear a motorcycle in the back by yourself with ease, no need to remove mirrors or a wheel, or fold handlebars etc.
Anyhoo, I regularly sit the little 1.0L 4 cyl engined van on 110kph, which apparently is 6500 rpm in 5th, however it sounds like it too.🙉🤣
All fillings still in place?
 
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