Brooklands October

It has been a long time since the last update to this site due to working abroad and family
commitments. That is not to say that there hasn't been any progress though. Most of the components
that need to be refurbished have been, all that is left to do now is flatten off the rough welds on
the suspension arms and paint them. The front arms need to be modified on an exchange basis, so I
won't do any more on those.

A lot of time has been spent thinking about the gearbox. In response to the last update I had an e-
mail that cast doubt upon the ability of the 2CV gearbox to survive the increase in power. In a 2CV,
the gearbox has to cope with about 30bhp, but I will be putting between 60 and 70bhp through it.
Obviously this made me sit back and think. The e-mail went on to say that the gearbox to use was the
GSA gearbox (an you'll probably have to think hard to remember what one of those was) and that
Pembleton themselves were recommending this as the gearbox to use.

Despite being abroad, my next call was to Phil Gregory, who didn't sound surprised at my question.
He made it very clear that there was no problem with the 2CV box in this application due to the
reduced weight and different tyres putting less stress on the box to counter the increased
power/torque, something that would not have been considered. He also stated that he has no
intentions or plans to move to the GSA box, indeed that gearbox won't fit the chassis as it is jigged
and that there is no "off the shelf" conversion from GSA box to BMW block . The Brooklands
demonstrator has 105bhp and the 'box has survived that although how many miles it has done may
make this slightly irrelevant.

My next e-mail was to a recognised 2CV gearbox guru. He pointed out that 2CV racers are running
around 60bhp through the standard 'box and expect them to last several seasons with that kind of
hammer, but that it would be wise to limit wheel spin etc. and to use a very high quality gear oil.
Basically it should be OK, but it is at the upper edge of what it will take. Obviously the 2CV racers
are heavier than the Brooklands will be which adds extra leeway.

I was also able to speak to a specialist Citroen workshop. They concurred with the "guru's"
comments, and also added that finding a GSA box would not be easy, any that I did find would need
lots of work and parts are also hard to source.

So, my decision comes down to:

a) stick with the 2CV box that I have as an easier option despite a nagging worry that it might not
take the strain

b) hunt for a GSA box, refurb it (if possible), create a conversion bellhousing and then alter the
chassis and bodywork so that it fits. The outcome would be more peace of mind.

After a couple of weeks of indecision I decided that I would stick with the 2CV box on the basis
that this won't be a high mileage machine, I'm not running a top power BMW unit, I really don't want
to be at the "bleeding edge" of development and I also have to trust Phil's judgement until such time
as it is proved to be wrong.

While I was on the phone to Phil, he mentioned that my chassis is now made and is off to the powder
coaters - it should be available in another two weeks from now so that has spurred me on to put
together the list of Citroen parts/consumables I need and to clean up/rebuild the engine and carbs.

I've decided to spare you from more photo's of a garage full of bits - it looks exactly as it did but
with more Hammerite and less primer/rust.

Had a good night last night. First off I half dressed the welds on the rear suspension arms - I say
half dressed as I didn't take them back flush as I wasn't too confident about the strength if I did
that. So I flattened the peaks and made sure nothing was more than 2mm proud. These welds
shouldn't be immune to radius testing at SVA as they won't be accessible by the spheres, but taking
them to 2mm plays it safe. And it looks better to boot! Gave them two coats of paint.

And so to the engine. This has been sat in the garage since I broke the bike. The heads have had
some repairs, and the panels have been bead blasted, but the engine itself was filthy. I spent a
good two hours with Gunk, Jizer, toothbrushes and nylon scouring pads to get it to the state you
see here. It needs a lot more yet. I didn't really want to remove the barrels because of the hassle
of re-fitting them, but I have come to the conclusion that they need to be hot dipped or blasted to
get them clean enough to be painted. In the centre photo below you can see how clean the insides
are and how oil oated the finned barrel is and corroded the pushrod tubes are (I have stainless
replacements). The block in this photo has been cleaned up somewhat from when I started.

What you can't see is how coated the sump pan is - not only oil and grease, but tar as well. All this
because two timimg chain cover bolts were not tightened :-( The observant amongst you will have
noticed that the engine is upside down - this is the value of a proper engine stand without which
this job would be a real nightmare.

Obviously I have been careful not to get any solvents into the engine internals.

Made some further progress this weekend. The target was to have the engine block and carbs cleaned
up and ready for painting this weekend, a target achieved.

I removed the cylinder barrels on Friday evening and boxed them up. along with the cylinder heads,
sump pan and timing chain cover. These were all taken to Lyndale Engines in Peterborough on Saturday
morning - should be ready by the end of the week.

Cleaning the block was sheer hard graft, coat a few square inches with solvent, scrub with toothbrush,
wipe off. more solvent, wire wool, wipe etc etc. At the end of the day it isn't perfect, but it is ready to
be painted. In anticipation I had bought a can of engine paint which I used on the top and front panels
- if yoiu campare them with the bead blasted rocker covers in the photo below you can see how much
better they look. Unfortunately, I can't spray paint the block as it will get into the working bits, so
I'be bought a can of paint - we'll just have to be careful.

Whilst I was in cleaning mode I also did the carbs. These were filthy, but a good dose of Gunk
followed by toothbrush, cotton buds etc. sorted it out. After that thye were stripped and all of the
gaskets and seals were replaced except for the diaphragm, fo which I had the wrong part (40mm
instead of 32mm). The existing diaphragms were good, so that can wait until I place a bigger order at
Motobins.

So, next job is painting the block and carbs.

Not too much physical work done in the last few days, but lots of planning.

First thing to say is that I will be picking up my chassis on 1st November, so now I have a hard target
for completing the prep work. In truth, I'm not far off. Phil also reminded me that he is now adding a
collapsible section into the steering column as SVA is clear about the requirement although with the 2CV
steering rack placement (under the drivers feet effectively) it seems superfluous - in any event Phil is
playing safe so I contact First Call and within 10 minutes was offered just what I wanted at the right
price. It arrived the next day - great service.

I also ordered various bits from Moto-Bins for the engine including the oil filter and stainless steel
bolts for where they are visible. I got the grommets (tubes from carbs to head) from Balderstons BMW
in Peterborough and bolts for the axles and pedal box from Scotty's in Huntingdon. Whilst there I
also ordered 1000 rivets in steel/copper - I've finally decided to go for the gaudy look!

On Friday I also picked up the barrels heads and covers from Lyndale Engines in Peterborough. Whilst
the chemicals have removed the carbon from the heads, the aluminium surface was still filthy and too
make matter worse, the timing chain cover was cover in black bits (like surface oil on water). I can't
say I was happy as I had made it clear what I wanted to achieve.

The plan was to spray the parts last night and then rebuild the engine today. As that plan had failed, I
spent last night manually cleaning all of the outside of the engine parts (how many cooling fins?) Today
I had a bright idea - as the parts were now all clean and oil free, a run in the dishwasher would be a
good idea to rinse them off. This worked like a dream, but if my wife (who is away) ever finds out I'm
a dead man, so lets keep it a secret between you and I, eh?

No progress on Sunday, but I got into the garage on Monday night. I started off by removing the
valves from one of the heads - I had tried to do this last week but got nowhere as I didn't have a
valve spriong compressor, so borrowed one from Dave (thanks Dave). As usual, with the right tools it
was an easy job. Started cleaning up the valves, which had a coat of carbon and also a hard
limestone type substance. Took some time cleaning this off being careful not to scratch the metal or
damage the seating surfaces. I then managed to knock the tin tray with the valve parts onto the floor
and lost one of the collett halves � major bugger! I couldn't find it at all so abandoned working on
the heads. Ordered new ones from Balderstons.

Decided to mask off the heads, barrels and timing chain cover and then sprayed them with lots of thin
coats of engine paint. I have to say that they look like the pooches watsits. I'll just have to be
careful when finishing the head work.

I added the first coat of paint to the pedal assembly (except for the accelerator pedal which has to
be modified).

The one pair of parts I hadn't painted yet was the steering arms. I has derusted them and primed
them, but hadn't stripped them down as they determine the toe in/out of the front wheels and leaving
them seemed sensible. I decided this is cowardice in the face of French engineering (something the
Duke of Wellington would be ashamed of) so decided to tackle them properly. Stripping the assembly
down was easier once I had realised that the ball housing connects to the jointing piece via a left
hand thread. Once apart I cleaned all the threads up and re-assembled with cop-slip � I won't paint
the assembly until I have adjusted the toe as it will only damage the paint again.

On Tuesday night I started re-assembly of the engine. Timing chain cover, alternator, camshafttiming
unit and diode all fitted. Started to fit one barrel but it was awkward to get it seated because of the
pushrod tubes. It appears that the tubes have to be seated in the head first, but then the question is
how far in to get a good seal at the block end. Hmmm, some thought needed here.

Another week gone and I'm about ready for the chassis. I spent the latter part of the week abroad
(again), but had a good day on Saturday and Sunday.

First job was to finish building the engine. I retrieved the old push rod tubes from my scrap bucket
and used then to work out just how far into the barrel end they had to be pushed - it was much
further than I had expected, so I removed the one barrel I had fitted and used an old socket as a
drift to knock them in further (note: do not drift onto the protruding rings, these will slide down the
pushrod tubes). Fitting the barrels was then easy - in the end I didn't use a piston ring compressor, I
just set the gaps in the 3 rings at 120 degrees and compressed them by hand whilst pushing the barrel
with my body.

Having got some more colletts, I was able to re-assemble the heads and then fit them and the rocker
assemblies . All went according to plan as I had labelled the parts carefully when I took them to bits.
Installing the wiring, alternator and diode board was awkward, and sevarla of the wires were badly
chafed or missing the sheathing, so I had to replace or repair, depending upon how badly it was
damaged. I was able to finally fit all the covers except that I didn't have enough stainless cap bolts
for the covers so I'll have to get some more. Immensely satisfying to see the engine now that it is
finished - except that it isn't!

On Sunday, I decided to clear the garage to prepare for the chassis' arrival. I then found a barrel
sealing ring which I had omitted to fit. D'oh d'oh d'oh d'oh! That means the barrel will have to come
right off to fit the ring.

This will be the last entry in the pre-build. As the site is getting a bit large for my authoring
software I have to split the site. That means it will act slightly differently after the next update as I
have split the Brooklands bit into pre-build and the build.