Citroen C15 Van

[Reckless Rat]

Well, here's a bit of an update on the water ingress issue. As in Hingerland, here in southern France we've had the wettest January since time mint imperial and when I popped to the post office this morning in the C15 I noticed that the driver's side (nearside) carpet was soaking wet again. The passenger side was OK. I took off the bulkhead drain access cover to find everything dry and no blockages, so that wasn't the problem. I had however driven the van through some very heavy downpours on its way to the testing centre last Friday and I had another Eureka moment. The plug on the forward face of the nearside sill was perforated, allowing all the spray from the n/s wheel to go straight into the sill, and then into the car via the inner sill where the wiring loom goes to the back of the vehicle.

Another day mopping out but I think we've cracked it.

I shall do some remedials tomorrow when I have a moment. I have plenty of caulking mastic that will sort it.

[CitroJim]

Good you found that! Xantias suffer similar with a plug in the rear of the sill that perforates... Eventually it can kill the car...

[Reckless Rat]

The van is now fully registered as historic and the next MOT is due in 2031. It's now sporting a brand new pair of silver on black number plates.





The "sanglier" (wild boar) on the back door has been there since before I bought it in 2012. The previous owner was a hunter.

I also have a factory roof rack for the van, but I take it off when I don't need it - it's very noisy over about 40mph, and not surprisingly it makes a right dent in the fuel economy. Without it, the van averages between 45 and 50mpg.

[CitroJim]

Looking good!

[Reckless Rat]

Van is now properly re-registered as "Véhicule de Collection" with a new registration document and some shiny new silver on black number plates. This isn't the original registration. It appears that the van was bought new by a painter & decorator in Marseille (so it would have had a number that would have been ****AB 13) and then at some time it came across the Rhone into the Gard and had a number plate ending in 30, and then when an old guy gave it to his grandson in 2012 it was issued with the new style number (as seen) - the new ones do away with the departmental code and remain with the vehicle for the rest of its life. There's no way the older numbers are recoverable, not in France anyway. Whatever.





All good now for the next 5 years. Rock on!

[mickthemaverick]

Looking good, especially the banner sticker!!