Any 2cv owners out there? what are your opinions Please?

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Hi,

having just bought a 1987 2cv to restore I was wondering if anyone on this site owns one and has any opinion please on the front suspension arm king pin to ball joint conversion available?

having now removed the drive shafts to re-CV-boot them it is apparent that the king pins are in need of replacement and although a little expensive the ball joint conversion Here http://www.gardnercars.co.uk/ does seem to be a good idea to me making future maintenance a lot easier.

it would be good to find someone else who has actually done this but I suppose that might be a lot to ask.

any constructive comments welcome.

many thanks in advance Nigel.

[davewithington]

It's a very nice kit, but you can buy a lot of kingpins for £500

Never really had a problem with kingpins myself, they're dead easy to fit with the right tools (which I have) and so long as they're properly greased they last a few years.

We ran 2CVs as our only cars from 1996 to 2002, doing around 12000 a year in each of our cars. We've still got one, but it doesn't get used much really now, but we won't ever be without one, and I still want an early car.

Great fun, everyone shoud drive a 2Cv at least once.

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Thanks for the feedback what do you mean by lasting a few years is a few 10 years or maybe even five years? I appreciate that ball joints may not even last that long but the roads are not getting any better are they?

[myglaren]

I don't know if this applies to the 2CV but the Imps I had gobbled up kingpins like they were going out of fashion until the guy at the local car spares place advised me to oil them on fitting, rather than grease them.
They lasted ages after that.

[davewithington]

4 or 5 years is pretty normal. Biggest problem with a 2Cv is stopping the body rotting.

Our car was fairly comprehensively rebuilt in 2000, OK that's 11 years ago, but she's been in the garage since 2008 (broken suspension arm and subsequent problems with the curly rear brake pipes), and the back end is dissolving, none of which is MOTable due to the separate chassis but I'm going to have to have new sills again next year.

Stick with the kingpins and grease regularly, like once a month or every 1000 miles like we used to do to most cars back in the sixties, and buy a good kit of drifts.

2CVs are very easy to work on really, once you've got your head round them.

[spider]

My (late) father could of answered most of your questions, he had two. An 'R' plate one and then a 'V' plate one, around the mid 80's, if I remember correctly the V plate one (I can remember its reg to this day) got sold around 88 / 89.

I also remember we went to Devon (from Derby) in it with an unwell clutch too, took about seven maybe eight hours.

I do recall it being rolled onto its side in a barn for some welding , and someone said they thought (from a distance) he was carrying a suitcase (it was the engine!)

[falling-out-with-my-car]

davewithington,

do you jack the front end up to grease the pins off the road or grease them wheels down?

also the Haynes manual although better than the modern issues with proper page numbers does seem to explain the job of replacing the pins in a very complex way I just can't get my head round it.

this is one reason why I thought replacing ball joints would be an easier option for me in the future.

can you please advise where best to find a drift kit and maybe a little about the process of replacing the pins from your own experience?

as for the body rotting I have the usual issues with the front A-box section rotting, fortunately it is only rotting inside the extra packing of CV grease into a drive shaft has resulted in the lower bulkhead being coated in a liberal amount of grease saving the lower skin from rotting out.
a couple of holes in the boot and the o/s center post and sills.
most of which is on the drivers side the passenger side seems to have survived better, it will be liberally sprayed with wax oil in the future.


regards Nigel.

[citronut]

yes you do jack the front wheels off the ground to grease the king pins,

as others have said the king pins arent that bad realy as long as you look after them,

just be carefull which king pin kits you but as there are some real crap ones out there,

ECAS or the 2CV SHOP are quite good source's for parts,

and it wont be very likely the grease sprayed on the out side of the bulkhead has stopped it rusting, as 2CV's like most cars rust from inside the box sections outwards,

it is also an art to weld 2CV's as the good metal is 0.7 of a mm thinn/thick,


regards malcolm

[ecohouse1]

I own 2 2CVs an 81 drum brake and 87 disc. Had 2CVs since the mid 80's. Kings pins are no real hassle if you grease them every 600-1000 miles with the front end jacked up. I wouldn't fit the conversion and you get good spares from ECAS. I use the drift kit and its done a few sets.

As I read somewhere the biggest limitation in using a 2CV as a main car is the driver! They are noisy & slow on main roads and long journeys get tiring. I also find them cold and damp in the winter and in heavy rain they can steam up badly in side to the point of being a pain. On saying that when it gets deep & crisp & even there is nothing bar a landrover to beat them. I live done a half mile country track and the snow was over a foot deep. The 2CV with snow chains ploughed straight through the lot! I was well impressed. It also impresses people driving down a rutted track at speed without being bruised!

Watch the body - it rusts if you so much as sneeze on it, change the oil every 3k and filter at 5 or 6k. slap loads of waxoil on it regularly.

On a sunny day in a country road - its great fun

[falling-out-with-my-car]

I have found a local mobile mechanic that will willingly replace the king pins for me, he's booked for next week and reckons it'll cost about 50 quid a side
plus the ecas price on the pin kits that'll save me £300 to start with, ball joints what was I thinking?

will just have to remember to jack the car up and grease those new pins every 600 miles at the very least.

Thanks everyone for the advice. at least now I can keep the car to its original specification.

regards Nigel.

[Richard_C]

Coming late to this thread - sounds like the right choice. We kept our Dyanes for 78000 miles and 54000 miles respectively, and had a 2CV for 30000+ miles, and with regular greasing I never had a problem with king pins. There is a certain calm satisfaction in having a car you can maintain rather than simply replacing sealed unit parts. It was years ago but I must admit to being tempted to get another one soon.

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Richard,
I am 6ft 6ins tall and I have been tempted to change the front seats but it takes the whole resoration point away if I try to make it something else so in the summer with roof down I put up with being a little cramped in the 2cv and still find it great fun even if only used for short journeys, ideally I would love to do a long trip in it but it isnt really practical in the cramped conditions.
I am glad I stayed with the king pins which are being greased about every 250 to 300 miles and I have only managed 300 this year as this is a second car, I calculated roughly that it woulod atke me 40 years at 3000 miles a year to reach 200,00 miles on the clock of the 2cv so hopefully great care of the king pins will ensure that they last a very very long time indeed.
regards Nigel.

[ayjayy]

it must be difficult to see out of the windscreen if your 6ft 6 nigel especially with the sun visor fitted, i removed mine , they just pull off
andy

[falling-out-with-my-car]

Andy,
The bigest problem is my 36inch inside leg lifting my size 12 left foot off the clutch smacking my left knee into the steering wheel or the face of my passenger. it conjours up a picture of Jaws in the James Bond films tearing out the front seat and driving his car from the back seat, I think he was about 7ft 2ins tall.
The top of my windscreen is my sun visor, fortunately my head still doesnt touch the roof, my eyeline is level with the roof catches, maybe I should have had the floor lowered when it was all welded up. I now regret rebuilding the seats as the extra firmness lifts you even higher.
I have thought about buying a second hand seat and cutting it down to see if it would be strong enough and keep the orriginal seat in the loft incase I ever sell it on one day, my offspring is not interested in learnning the gearshift pattern at all and he is 6ft 3ins tall with very long legs. the problem with this is that the seating not only needs to be lower but it needs to go back further and the seat belt mounting points on the floor obstruct the rear of the seat frame from going back further, I have pulled my sliding seat alluminium pin out and put it in a safe place for MOT time.as the removal of it alows the seat to go back about another inch on the centre plate adjuster. all this mucking about to try not to modifiy the car to much putting off any future prospective buyer and not change the orriginal spec of the car hopefully increasing its value over time.

regards Nigel.

[ayjayy]

crickey nigel it must be a right pickle, ill have a look at my dolly tomorrow and see if i can make any suggestions
andy