Citroen Dyane (2CV) Three-wheeler Build

[Paul K]

As the refurbishment continued, the original seats went back in as I didn’t have time to source and fit something else.


Heavy seats

In March 2012, the car was rolling, but had no brakes, MoT, or various other not so minor details.  I had a chat with Neil Bray (of trialling fame) and he transported the car on his low loader up to my house and onto my drive.  The garage would have been the obvious choice, but no room.  At least I no longer felt guilty about using my son’s garden.


Transported home

All the fiddly bits could be sorted out now that is was on my drive; not having to travelling 30 miles round trip to my son’s place saved a load of time.


On the drive, luckily in nice weather

[Stephen Bailey]

Looking good....

[Stephen Bailey]

Could you not remove the head restraints?

[Paul Wheatley]

That wouldn’t be advisable. There’s a sharp edge of the turtle deck behind them and what with the neck snapping acceleration of the mighty power plant.......

[Paul K]

You hit the nail on the head. Many's the time I've pulled the steering wheel off the column as that engine hit the sweet spot in the power band 

[Stephen Bailey]

That wouldn’t be advisable. There’s a sharp edge of the turtle deck behind them and what with the neck snapping acceleration of the mighty power plant.......

 

[Stephen Bailey]

You hit the nail on the head. Many's the time I've pulled the steering wheel off the column as that engine hit the sweet spot in the power band 

Also... 

[Paul K]

The fuel supply pipe from the fuel tank was originally drawn out of the tank filler cap; in addition, the tank didn’t look to be as safe as it could be as it was held in under a leather strap


Fuel tank – original, but on a new base.

so I modified the tank with an integral supply pipe and a breather pipe; a length of tube to the fuel tank meant the fuel tank could now be replenished through the previously redundant filler on the body.


Fuel tank mods

Next was the air filter.  The original was a pancake type that was rattling to pieces and exposed to the elements.  By chance, I found a complete air filter from a Petter diesel engine at the side of the road; no idea how that came to be there, but it was ideal for what was needed.  That and some stainless steel tube and some convoluted tubing.  No dirt getting into those cylinders


Air filter


Air intake with convoluted tubing and an OEM elbow.

[Paul Wheatley]

Nothing satisfies a home mechanic like building a car from pieces found at the side of the road! 

[Stephen Bailey]

Nothing satisfies a home mechanic like building a car from pieces found at the side of the road! 

 

[Paul K]

Nothing satisfies a home mechanic like building a car from pieces found at the side of the road! 

So what pieces have you found 

[Paul K]

Carrying on with the build, the choke operating mechanism on the carburetter was worn, as was the roller on the accelerator pump.  Surprisingly, the butterfly spindles for the choke and throttle weren’t.  A new roller was fitted to the accelerator pump and a new choke cam fabricated, then epoxy-resined to the existing mechanism.  The new roller made a big difference to the engine’s performance; totally lost the flat spot .


Choke lever repair with epoxy resin.

The electrical wiring was a nightmare; wires all over the place, crimp connectors, bits of insulating tape, and Citroen only seemed to use one colour; green!  Must have been a bulk purchase. Tracing the connections to produce a circuit diagram was partially successful.  There were some parts of the loom I never did trace ; I suspect there were soldered joints within the main loom that made point to point tracing difficult.


Wiring nightmare

[Jason Potts]

  Could you do a bit of a write up on your 2cv powered one please. Or just thoughts on three wheels in general.

When I asked you for a few words regards 3 wheelers Paul I didn't expect this level of info. Thanks for doing this I'm really enjoying reading about your up's and down's with this project.

I'm finally moving house next week. When I get settled and have built a shed I owe you a project writeup. Not sure what it will be yet though. 

[Paul K]

…… I owe you a project writeup. Not sure what it will be yet though. 

Just give us all a write-up of them all 

[Stephen Bailey]

…… I owe you a project writeup. Not sure what it will be yet though. 

Just give us all a write-up of them all