Engine Punk

It looks so innocent I bought this car with the intention of robbing its engine but during the drive home its fat torque curve endeared it to me and I couldn't kill it. I was looking for a replacement engine for Mighty Whitey (VT No.44) and through suddenly not having a van anymore buying a running car gave me the means of getting  said engine to the Boogie Wundaland workshop as well as the opportunity to see how it went. I did not expect this little diesel Peugeot to go quite so well. I changed my plans forthwith and bought a 1.9 turbo diesel Citroen Xantia to sacrifice instead to get my dear old van going again but that is another story. 1.7 litres of blown dieseasel The engine in Michael Morpeugeot is very similar to the 1769cc unit in my Citroen C15D but comes with a turbo and a five speed box. The character is thus transformed. Instead of a frugal slogger, this powertrain takes this little car on a romp to the top of any hill and then wants another challenge an...

This could only be a French car This is a car that I don't fit. I sat in a Mehari years ago one and was struck by the lack of foot and legroom. Why this was so I don't know. I've never had this trouble with 2CVs. Look at those little corrugations The Mehari is a sub-culture car within 2CV circles and is made of unrusting Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene panels (or ABS to you) that unfortunately are supported by a metal frame and a standard 2CV chassis. Replace the rotting chassis with a galvanised one (as so many 2CVs sport these days) and galvanise the body frame as well and you have sustainable fun motoring. To look at, the Mehari couldn't be anything other than French. That either puts you off or makes it highly desirable. It's not a world car designed by committee even though it's a fast running dromedary (a kind of camel designed by just one person) that gives the Mehari its name. This car has national identity. It's so redolent of the s...

My C15D - Mighty Whitey - looks like a Friesian cow at the moment, thanks to flaking paint on (or rather off) the new bonnet. It doesn't look like I'd keyed the black primer coat sufficiently when I applied the grey primer and white paint. I used the remains of the cellulose paint with which I'd sprayed the van several years previously (well, have you seen the cost of it nowadays?) and reckon the paint had passed its shelf life. Anyway, what's flaked off has flaked off and I'm encouraging the rest of it to come off with a small knife. It's laborious but doesn't harm what's underneath as much as sanding. It also gives the sort of surface the "shabby chic" VW boys and girls like to have on their old vans. Personally I'd like my van to be painted properly. I recently fell into conversation with someone while I was turning up at a campsite in the old fun bus. "That's an old van," he said. "Have you had any trouble with t...

This the pre-facelift C15D and is now quite rare If you want a truly recreational vehicle, you could do a lot worse than one of these. This is my 1986 Citroen C15D van, known to other members of my family as Mighty Whitey. It's old enough now to qualify for classic insurance but for the last 14 years has been my principal vehicle. During that time I've had engines, motorbikes, a lathe, a coal bunker and a Shetland pony in the back but not all at the same time. I’ve camped in it, too, visiting various parts of the UK but also France, Holland and Belgium. If I put the passenger seat fully forward, there’s just enough space for me lie diagonally across the load space. On an inflatable mattress, I sleep incredibly well in it. It’s just an ordinary panel van really but, whereas all those designer SUVs are too specialised to be useful only as fashion statements, for versatility nothing can touch Mighty Whitey. My van has acquired many names over the years. It was fleeting kno...