Citroën Mehari/2CV | front axle rebuild

[@harryharker9564]

yep you got to make a living ,we just love the videos

[@SeasideGarage]

And I love making them! :D

[@topspoke]

I love watching you taking stuff apart. Very therapeutic.

[@DeanofMachines]

Really interesting how that whole knuckle goes together

[@SeasideGarage]

Very!

[@jeffreylunger]

Nice to know that the welding skills of a Citroen worker as about as good as mine

[@jollun4561]

The cap underneath the kingpin is secured by wrapping it around the hub with a hammer, you can see that the part towards the camera is bent. If you knock that back first, you MIGHT be able to undo it without chiseling the upper part. But yes, most likely have to chisel it anyway

[@JLAGAN49]

Hmm! I think it's a 700km swim from Newcastle or I'd pop around to make the coffee. I bought a left leg Belgian 2CV in my younger hippy days, suicide doors and a 425cc engine. The engine wrecked itself when a cooling fan blade sheared off. After that my Datsun 1200 felt like a Rolls Royce. 😂

[@SeasideGarage]

Uh I could use a coffee!

[@MrToxicSkittle]

It’s quite clear that you’ve worked on these before - great job, it’s really looking good! :)

[@bjrneriksen7541]

The painjob It looks very good after sandblasting the parts😊👍

[@SeasideGarage]

Thanks! :D

[@MotorkontoretDK]

Du er for vild, selv har jeg slet ikke tålmodighed til sådan noget rusten noget, fedt at se at du ikke siger nej!

[@chrissmith7655]

Hi, just a tip , the hottest part of the torch flame is at the very tip of the blue part , closer is not better. Many thanks.

[@jonjessen]

This is true, but it's not necessarily on the tip where the most energy is transferred to the work piece. The tip is quite small, and to my experience it's better to use the flame 1/3 to half the way in as it gives a better contact and a faster heating, once it op to the max temp i sometimes continue with the tip to further increase the temp. Like if I need it Glowing hot.

[@chrissmith7655]

@@jonjessen Hi welder for 45years, believe me.

[@mikeymike3240]

Silly not to change the bearings while they’re in your hands.😊

[@olavstrand2491]

Replacing the swing axle bearings (which are quite expensive but hardly ever goes bad), but not the kingpins (which are quite inexpensive and almost always worn) seems like quite an odd choice to me.

[@SeasideGarage]

I have feelable wear in the outer races of the swing axle bearings but no feelable play in the Kingpin. They could have been changed before or well maintained.

[@olavstrand2491]

Well, I've been fixing a-models for 15 years and I think you're going to regret not replacing the kingpins. Did you feel for play top to bottom with the wheel on? There's always some play in the wheel hub, both from the kingpin and the wheel bearings and it needs to be checked with the wheel on. The swing axle bearings should be fine with a good clean, grease and tightened up correctly with new seals. I get that you've already got new bearings for the swing axels, so by all means replace them. My advice is to replace the kingspins aswell. You're gonna need new parts to remount them anyway, so get a full set. It's really not that much of a price difference.

[@SeasideGarage]

@@olavstrand2491 The bearing shells on the swing arms had "waves" on them from wear.. it would be noticeable when the suspension moves up and down for sure.. I could feel it when moving the arm. No movement with wheel on.. (other then what needs to be there) I have changed quite a few kingpins though the years with my 2cv´s and Mehari´s... Its not that bad of a job to do.. But these seems alright. :)

[@twocvbloke]

I remember taking apart that 2CV years back, it was oddly scary with how easy the steering shaft came off after I undid the clamp, this one seemed much more "secure", though probably not meant to be quite **that** secure!!! :P

[@SeasideGarage]

Its always stuck on my experience.. :) last time I had to cut it and get another column... :)

[@twocvbloke]

@@SeasideGarage Well, that 2CV was about 17 or 18 years old at the time (and already rusted to heck with a folded chassis!) so probably still had more loose parts as a result, it was pretty much the same age as me, first registered the day after I was born too, shame I couldn't save it (Money, mainly)... :\

[@SeasideGarage]

@@twocvbloke Yea must likely the reason... this is close to 50 years! :D

[@twocvbloke]

@@SeasideGarage And being a Mehari is more likely to be going topless, exposed to more of the weather, though that said 2CVs in general are as watertight as a politician's promises, so it's not much of a difference!!! :P

[@guyhillman1261]

Luckily my 2cv only has low miles so I wont have to do this before I die. But fun watching.

[@SeasideGarage]

But its fun to take apart! :D

[@Mads_Villebro]

Der skal jo også være tid til at køre knallert! 😊

[@SeasideGarage]

KNALLLLLLØØØØØØØØØRT!