truemouse

Some folks call 'em rotors, some call 'em discs. Anyway, what is the minimum width for front rotors on a 1.6 HDi Picasso?

Louis Barbour is a clever chap who studied the 'A' series. He read up on prototypes and now includes some of the original design features in his cars. I've understood that the French army had ordered some Mehari's in a four wheel drive format. Louis Barbour has takent his idea to the standard 2cv. http://www.2cv4x4.com/images/buggy2.jpg Rear chassis had to be notched to allow room for the rear diff. The Mehari bodyshell could easily accommodate this since it resembles a huge cat litter tray. http://www.2cv4x4.com/images/dayout33.jpg http://www.citroen-ca.com/IMAGES/2CV%20Sahara%202.jpg The only production 4x4 2cvs were called 'Sahara' and had two engines. One for the front wheels and one for the back. It actually sold suprisingly well considering the trunk was of no use at all. I guess I should give Barbour props and post his website http://www.2cv4x4.com/ http://www.geocities.com/godvandenbergh/citroen/rups-mehari.jpg off-roading taken too far?

The VW bug was not copied off the duck simply because Citroen had enough fore-sight to dismantle and hide or destroy the prototypes. (Somewhere in the region of 300 cars were destroyed before WW2) The Beetle was inspired, however, by rumour of France's TPV. Failing to get their hands on a 2cv, they plaigarised the Tatra. Okay, so I should really have included the word 'inspired'. The GSA engine is different, mainly because of the two extra cylinders. It needed OHC because of the extra cylinders, but it still took inspiration from the duck engine. Anyway, here's some more 2cv varieties. http://citcity.citroen1.info/2CV/waterrace2cv2.jpg Taking to speed-boat racing like a duck to water. http://homepages.compuserve.de/jwjnijman/CitroMobiel_2000/Images/pic00017.jpg This Mud-Duck is a Lohr Fardier FL500. Again based on a 2cv. Over 200 were made for the French Army. The engine was transversly mounted in the centre so the diff at the back of the gearbox could power front and rear wheels. http://www.oldtimer-club.ru/files/photo/2cv/p4.jpg Made for the Africans but mainly sold in spain.

So use, for instance, the plastic hubcap from a commercial Citroen (Such as a Berlingo Enterprise) mounts a central retaining nut for the chromed 2cv hubcap http://www.ecas2cvparts.co.uk/assets/product_images/21500.jpg Then get something like this http://www.ecas2cvparts.co.uk/assets/product_images/21600.jpg to dress the rim? Lot of measuring shall ensue. Thanks. BTW, was kinda looking at a cream color for the wheel recently. Give it a kinda pseudo 'light 15' look. Works well with a dark grey, no? PS Little bits of useless information. Both Henry Ford and Andre' Citroen held the belief that you could have any shade you wanted, so long as it was black. This was not for any style reason, but because black paint (at that time) would dry faster than any other color due to that particular shade's ability to absorb more heat. White cars at the time were considered really expensive prestige cars. A lot of Rolls Royces and Cadillacs of the roaring 20's were white. Whitewall tyres were introduced for a similar reason. Natural rubbers of the time would degrade with daily exposure to the heat from sunlight more readily than rubbers today. Black rubber would absorb more heat so would degrade faster. You may find some vintage cars with completely white (albeit faded white) tyres. While these lasted longer the costs of manufacture soon made them impractical. A white tyre trim could be inserted between the steel rim and the black rubber tyre. Tyres could also be made with a white-wall molded into them. These were the perfect solutions until black rubber could be made more resistant to sunlight. In America codes were introduced for a brief time using different coloured walls. A white band meant more load-strength (how much weight could be applied to the tyre) the bigger the band the stronger the tyre, the heavier the vehicle on top could be. Red band noted torque-strength - again the bigger the band the higher the rating. Prestige took over again and those with heavy luxury cars would want to tell the world by showing off their big-band white-walls. Muscle cars would show off their torque by putting the red-band to the outside. Low-riders would require a high load-strength and so you would see low-rider cars with white-bands or white-walls as well. http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/177091/2/istockphoto_177091_wheel.jpg

Odd how the Panhard PL17 was designed shortly after the takeover by Citroen. I will admit, though, the suspension in the PL17 is vastly different and the plumbing seems to have gone awry, but it's pretty much the same engine. It's also odd how it's the GSA engine that's bolted onto a 2cv super Ami frame, that the only difference is a front spar to take two more cylinders. Indeed, that's a popular 2cv mod. I'm not saying they're identical, but the duck has inspired a lot of cars so much so that most parts are interchangeable.

This car has inspired so much that many folks don't know. Sometimes it's even appeared under different skins and fooled entire countries. Take for instance the Panhard PL 17 http://www.autohistories.com/panhard-levassor/Panhard_PL17-f.jpg or the Bijou http://homepages.tesco.net/~Christian.Newman/Bijou2.JPG Did you know that after the French did their thing in Asia they left many cars behind, including examples of the GS/ GSA (A car that had evolved from the humble duck, with an air-cooled flat four instead of an air-cooled flat twim) a Company called Subaru had spotted this and re-packaged it as a Subaru GL front engine, front wheel drive flat four with the same layout as the GS/GSA (Before this Subaru were going down the line of micro-cars like the Subaru 360) Now we have a Subaru WRX with a flat six front engined package. Not sure if this counts, but we have even seen flying ducks. http://www.elchineroconcepts.com/UMP%202CV.jpg http://www.airventure.de/centenary2003/wright1.jpg Take a close look at the engine on this scaled Wright Brothers Flyer built and flown at Duxford. http://www.airventure.de/centenary2003/2cv.jpg

There's a race-cage to protect the driver against a worst case scenario (Like that bloody mindless midget Hammond pushing it out behind a 747*.) but to be honest, just tune up the engine. Look into the construction of them. They're pretty damned solid to start with (Not to mention one of the lowest centres of gravity until now) please note the real chassis I was talking about earlier. This makes for one hella strong backbone, something modern cars lack. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA5a3un2wLs If you ever rode in one you might notice the way the body panels have been finished around the edges. They rolled the ends of the sheet steel over making a roll-cage almost by accident. Most other cars of the time would just fold and tack the edges. Many cars today still fold and tack. Probably because of this the yellow 2cv used in the Bond movie 'For Your Eyes Only' still drives around today by Nigel Wild in England, despite being rolled over (real hard stunt, ducks don't roll easy) several times, driven down a mountainside the hard way, jumped over some ugly-pugs and generally taking the kind of beating that'd kill 'solid' stunt cars. (To be fair, Bond's little yellow duck also had a race-cage, but again, that was to protect the driver and fore-mentioned 'solid' stunt cars also would have had the same treatment) (*Weren't no 747's around in 1936 when they were being designed)

Mini don't have a chassis, but it is pretty real.* http://www.2cvracing.org.uk/images/gall-picture-029-500.jpg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbI8yWb4eLU Yes, the C4 is for a completly different market. A market of folks who'll settle for plastic toy cars. *(BMW mini doesn't count.)

Had a conversation with one of my clients as to what makes for a 'real car'. They brought up 'Zonda this' and 'Honda that' as they drooled over a supercar calender. I pointed out that anything with a side-exiting exhaust pulling up alongside could probably melt them. I suggested a Plymouth Barracuda or a 2cv. They asked what the difference was. I admitted there was around 400 horses difference, but they both were real cars. Real cars do not need to be taken to an IT specialist for a service. (IT = Information Technology for those REAL mechanics out there) Real cars do not have to be hooked up to the internet for a tune-up. Real cars do not cost £770 to replace a clutch because of all the gubbins they have to remove first to get AT the clutch. Real cars do not take a week to replace said clutch because some dumb sonuvabitch let 'moisture into the engine bay and fried the ECU' when they start it up. The most high-tech electronic component of a real car should be the stereo. Real cars are made from metal and have steel bumpers. This makes the 2cv one of the realest cars out there. What does this make a C4? :rolleyes: (which incidentally is named after a grade of plastic explosive) :ph34r:

This is going to sound brain-dead, but have you checked all linkages from pedal to carb? Check to see that the pedal moves the butterfly from fully closed to fully open. Sometimes stuff simply slips.

FIRST POST IN TOO LONG! Looking for the firm that can make 2cv prototype replicas from production 2cv's. I've heard there's one in England, just looking for info. http://www.citroen.com/NR/rdonlyres/82E7E36D-EDA3-4F3D-AC29-8E605F8DC435/37758/3_480.jpg

I'd swear by it. Not a single problem. Great on Diesel, bags of high-end torque. Just don't expect to tow anything with it.

Right on! :D

De nada mi chica. Say, you not bein' on recently. Come talk to me girl, drop a line.

Yeah, I was going to say, try the old fashioned way. Use the key in the lock. I've found that out after someone who will remain my son got a hold of the key fob and reported to me 'Lights . . . aaaaww' in a sad grieving manner. Windows '98? Not Windows XP then?