Just for entertainment I did a web search on "Citroenj 2cv bmw engine swap" and came up with the Sparrow Engineering site.
I won't spoil the fun - you'll just have to go and look for yourselves.
I'll just say that a sleeper 2CV would really give the boy racers around here something to think about.
Though God only knows how you'd go about getting insurance for such a machine.
Blundering about trying not to make too much of a hash of things.
I'll take some pictures of the callipers when I get time to do the investigation, you won't believe it. Because they're inboard there are no flexihoses and all the play in the engine mounts are taken up by loops in the copper piping. It's a crazy setup. When it's working it's very good though from memory. It's only got 600kg plus me to bring to a stop.
I found out what the problem was with the brakes. New discs had been fitted but I guess new pads weren’t available so the old ones were refitted. To be fair they looked virtually new but they were no longer flat due to the worn old discs I guess. Anyway, I set of new pads have sorted the problem and I also adjusted the rear shoes so the brakes are excellent now. There was no sign that the pistons in the callipers were sticking and it all looks virtually new. You can see from the pads that the third from top wasn’t touching the disc in the centre of the pad.
IMG_4346.jpeg (439.92 KiB) Viewed 1643 times
The whole thing looks incredibly clean. You can see how the brakes are placed inboard bolted to the gearbox and are therefore sprung weight…
IMG_4347.jpeg (352.88 KiB) Viewed 1643 times
It also means you can change the pads In a couple of minutes, tops.
Old Jags are similar. I always wondered if there was a clever way to change the discs until someone told me (think it was on here) "nope, just gotta take it all apart!".
Mr. Dazzle wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 8:30 pm
Old Jags are similar. I always wondered if there was a clever way to change the discs until someone told me (think it was on here) "nope, just gotta take it all apart!".
I haven't done it yet on this but I understand there's enough flex in the hoses to move the callipers up, the driveshafts unbolts from the discs and then the discs come off. So not too bad I guess.
cheb wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 6:46 am
@dern, is there a good specialist forum for 2CVs?
Not that I've found, certainly not like rttl. There is a forum on the 2cvgb website but it's not very active. There are a few 2cv groups on facebook that are a little busier and very helpful when you ask them a question.
Mr. Dazzle wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 7:14 am
I'm guessing those two big springs are something to do with the handbrake? So the parking brake also grips on those discs.
Yes, they return the handbrake from the disc. The handbrake pads are small discs that fit in the arms that the cable and those springs attach to.
cheb wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 6:46 am
@dern, is there a good specialist forum for 2CVs?
Not that I've found, certainly not like rttl. There is a forum on the 2cvgb website but it's not very active. There are a few 2cv groups on facebook that are a little busier and very helpful when you ask them a question.
Ok thanks. I'm have a recurrence of a desire to buy one and convert it to diesel and running it on veg oil. I may have mentioned this before.
cheb wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 6:46 am
@dern, is there a good specialist forum for 2CVs?
Not that I've found, certainly not like rttl. There is a forum on the 2cvgb website but it's not very active. There are a few 2cv groups on facebook that are a little busier and very helpful when you ask them a question.
FB groups seem to be where a lot of "forum" stuff is now - but it's shit - you can't search for previous threads easily, and the ratio of useful to useless posts is about 1:1000.
cheb wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 6:46 am
@dern, is there a good specialist forum for 2CVs?
Not that I've found, certainly not like rttl. There is a forum on the 2cvgb website but it's not very active. There are a few 2cv groups on facebook that are a little busier and very helpful when you ask them a question.
Ok thanks. I'm have a recurrence of a desire to buy one and convert it to diesel and running it on veg oil. I may have mentioned this before.
You have. I think it might be tricky to be honest. If you took a fwd engine and used the gearbox I don't think that it would fit transversely in the engine bay and I don't think you'd have long enough driveshafts to allow the suspension to fully articulate if you were to use the current forward 'trailing' arm arrangement. If you were to change the suspension I'm not sure where you'd hang it off as there's no monocoque to attach uprights to.
This is the way the chassis and engine look without the bodywork...
2cv chassis.jpeg (1.27 MiB) Viewed 1542 times
There's no structure in the bodywork as such that would help with engine/suspension mounting.
You could install the engine lengthways but the engine isn't very long and it would probably stick out the front. It would also put an awful lot of weight out the front that would make it really badly understeer.
Seriously, I vaguely remember being told years ago one of the diesels from a slightly newer Citroen would fit, a GS maybe. Didn't Citroen do a flat four diesel.
