Since the 2CV returned to my garage, I’ve not done a vast amount to it. Partly, that’s as intended – fresh paint is quite soft, and I thought it’d be better to leave it to cure for a bit longer before starting work. Secondly, I’ve just been really busy.

Before today, I’d managed to refit the vent flap and fit the door seals to the, er, doors. I also roped in some willing volunteers to help me lift the body off the chassis, so the proper chassis tape (a foam layer) could be added. Alan at Citwins didn’t have any in stock when I went to collect the body. No bother. With the body still nowhere near built-up again, it was easy to lift off and on again. It also gave an opportunity to soak the rear seat belt ‘saddle’ in anti-corrosion wax.

This morning, I could look forward to an entire day of nothing but working on the 2CV. I donned many jumpers and headed to the garage. Pretty much the first thing that needed to go in was the wiring loom. Even on a 2CV, it’s surprising how many wires there are!

Spaghetti, this morning.

Then it was time to refit the gearlever. This passes through a rubber grommet on the bulkhead. Getting that to go back was a bit of a challenge, and I had to seek advice from friendly 2CV folk. A soak in a pot of boiling water softened it up nicely, and then it went back with only gentle persuasion from a flat-bladed screwdriver.

Doesn’t look like it’ll fit does it? It did in the end!

I’m not sure how it happened, but I found a spare gearlever in the back of the garage. That was handy, as I needed to rob a few parts from it. The end result is that I have my rifle-bolt gearchange back. Happy days.

After refitting loads of minor parts, that took absolutely ages, I decided I needed a larger sign of progress. So, now the wiring loom was in place, I refitted the rear lights.

Looking much more car-like.

I spent quite a lot of time cleaning up the rear lamp units, even taking them apart to wash out any muck. I have a brand new, large-font number plate to fit at some point, but will leave that for now.

Finally, it was in with the wiper motor so I could refit the wipers! It feels like she’s coming back to life now, even if she is still missing her engine and most of the bolt-on body panels. Still, it’s all progress!

Wipers refitted. Looking much less bare!

I’ll keep plodding away, not forgetting to pump cavities full of wax as I go. I’d really like to be able to do Raid Tan Hill on January 8th, but there are some bigger jobs to sort out before then. I need to paint (and possibly decorate) the front wings, work out what I’m going to do about the rear wings (probably fit new ones) and strip and paint the headlamp bar and headlamp shells. Still quite a lot to do then, and that’s before collecting a few parts I forgot from Citwins, and getting the engine back!

Before I depart, do have a nose at my Patreon page. Here’s hoping I can push HubNut a bit harder in the New Year. Once the 2CV is finished, of course!