Citroen HY Van

[DomDom]

Hi People, I'm considering buying an HY but I want to be able to make a few changes and it still comply without headaches with the French authorities.
What I'd like is a flatbed therefore getting rid of the rear and I'd like a more powerful engine and brakes etc. ie to make it more every day usable.
Can you Help with advice ?, happy to talk over the phone.
Thanks

[NewcastleFalcon]

Have no idea about French regs, but the conversion as far as upgrading to a more reliable motor perfectly possible.
and done before. There's a firm in North Wales who do all aspects of the conversion to a ford engine, as featured on the Wheeler Dealers TV programme a few years ago now.

There is a very long thread on the Citroen HY van here.
viewtopic.php?t=48298&hilit=citroen+hy

clip from youtube

Wheeler Dealers Series 12 Episode 16 was on a 1956 Citroen HY van purchased from France, the installation of the Ford Transit engine was carried out by this firm in North Wales website http://www.dragonclassics.co.uk/
The entire programme should be accessible on-line on pay for view., or alternatively on DVD.

Work Completed: Standard engine swapped with 2.1L Ford unit, trafficators refurbished by replacing original ones with British ones with LEDs, rusty bodywork treated and resprayed to white, standard transmission swapped with synchromesh unit from later HY Van, inverter charger, auxiliary battery and additional 240 V electronics fitted, additional support braces, insulation and hygienic panels installed, headlight bulbs changed with modern units, interior refurbished, modern seatbelts fitted and wheels refurbished.

Notes: Purchased from a collector in southern France as a barn find that was used as a commercial vehicle. The replacement Ford engine is a bored-out 2.0 litre engine from a Ford Transit. Converted into a modern commercial vehicle. Restored van taken to a garlic farm on the Isle of Wight.

Good luck and feel free to do a blog about your conversion, or put some pics up on the Citroen HY thread.

Neil

[xantia_v6]

If the vehicle is currently french registered (in your name), you may get away with those modifications, but otherwise you may find it impossible to get a new french registration because that requires attestation from the FFVE that the vehicle has not been modified from original. I had to sell my E-type because it left the factory as LHD but had been converted (properly) to RHD.