Building a Pembleton USA

Will It Fit?

2012-01-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

Two days ago I dropped the body on to the chassis. It seems to fit quite well. Plenty of room for a controller, charger and other accessories. A 2CVEV? Still lots to do, especially body work.. Not much more to say.

It's Just a Simple Box - Right?

2011-12-30T05:41:00.000-08:00

The fuel tank of my 2CVEV will be replaced with a battery box for the 24 Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries to power the electric motor. That will give me 72+ volts with a capacity of 100 amp/hours. My feeling is that will be enough power to propel this relatively light car around the streets of South Daytona and over the non-interstate highways of Central Florida. I still don't understand the math to to make a more accurate prediction of the car's performance. There is room for more batteries but I hope they won't be needed. The total battery pack weighs only 120 lbs. so I will easily be able to mount the battery charger in the rear close to the batteries.

Making the battery box and a rack to hold the box presented some challenges. To determine the box dimensions I gathered up the batteries into the configuration in which they will reside in the car. There are six batteries each made up of four cells. Each battery configuration of four cells is strapped together for handling purposes and to contain the swelling of the cells as they produce power and heat when in use. The battery configuration I chose produced outside dimensions of 22 3/4" x 16". So, that will be the minimum inside dimensions of the battery box. To hold the box to the frame I designed a rack which will bolt to the car's frame. The rack is made up of 1/8" steel angle iron and strips which I welded together (my first project using a MIG welder). The rack fits perfectly on the car's frame in the same position where the gas tank used to be. I then made up the battery box using .050" sheet aluminum. I had to rivet the box together instead of welding it as the MIG welder I have will not weld aluminum unless I invest close to $1,000.00 to buy a spool gun that will carry the aluminum wire. The welder is borrowed so I am not going to make that investment. So, I did finish the box and mounted it to the rack.

Next step? Wire up the batteries together to produce 72+ volts.

The 2CVEV Concept Moves Forward

2011-11-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

I have reconfigured the 2CVEV back to the original front wheel drive and have installed a 9" Kostov electric motor. In order to mate the electric motor to the 2CV gearbox I had an adapter plate and coupler made by Charlie Smith of Valdosta, Georgia. You can see his website at: http://www.evcouplerconnection.com/. The coupler is a "clutchless" type so there will be no clutch and clutch pedal. An electric motor does not change RPM's in relation to the speed of the gearbox when you take your foot off the "gas pedal" so with the synchromeshed gears of the gearbox one can change gears without a clutch as you reach the optimum power RPM's of the motor (I hope!)

The Kostov motor weighs about the same as the original 2CV 602 gasoline engine. It's a little longer and will stick out the farther in the front than the original 2CV 602 gas engine. But, I was not pleased with the weak original 2CV suspension springs so I installed some 100% uprated springs, both front and rear, that I purchased from the ECAS 2CV parts supplier in England. The suspension is now a lot more stable and the car rides at the correct height instead of being pushed close to the ground by the weight of the motor and eventually, the batteries. I also installed heavy duty Rancho shock absorbers.

The next step will be to install and set up the batteries, controller, charger and any other needed parts to get electric power to the motor. But, before I can do that I must fit the body to the chassis. That means I must first repair the body which means doing body work to repair or replace rusty and corroded body panels. I will be using the original 2CV body with some modifications to accommodate the electric components. I will also have to learn how to do body repair using a MIG welder. Fortunately, I will be able to borrow a welder from a friend so I won't have to buy a welder just to do this repair job.

A Rear-engine 2CV EV????

2011-11-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

Part of the Pembleton build process is participating in the builder's forum on the Pembleton enthusiasts website. Inevitably, most 2CV Special (Pembleton included) builders wonder, "Can there be a rear-engined 2CV or 2CV Special.....like a Porche or VW Beetle?"

After completing my two Pembletons I wondered, too. I also was scratching my head for a new project and came up with an idea to see if the 2CV engine could be replaced with an electric motor in either an original 2CV or a Pembleton. So, combining both ideas, my goal was to build a rear-engined 2CV powered by an electric motor. I decided to go with an original 2CV at first and if that worked out I would then try to adapt the concept to a Pembleton.

So, I bought a 1986 2CV off of ebay and had it imported from the UK. I used the same shipper, Wallenius Wilhelsen and the same import broker, DJ Powers, that I had used previously. The car was shipped to Brunswick, Georgia where I picked it up and trailered it back to my shop in South Daytona, Florida.

Although the body was quite rusty, I found that the frame had previously been replaced with a galvanized frame that had absolutely no rust or corrosion. Lucky me!

The main frame rails, although pointed up at both ends, are parallel front to back. My rear-engined 2CV would have to have a front axle that would steer but not drive and a rear axle that would drive but not steer. The front axle and the rear axle mounts have the same bolt spacing and width so you can bolt down a front axle at the front mounting holes in the frame which will retain the steering upfront. You can also bolt another front axle to the rear mounting holes of the frame and by rotating the axle 180 degrees you can mount a gearbox to its original bracket. The gearbox drive shaft will be pointing rearward and can then accommodate the engine of your choice, either the original 2CV engine, or, in my case an electric motor with the appropriate adapter and coupler. But, when you rotate the front axle and mount the gearbox pointing backwards you will discover that if the gearbox is turned in the same clock-wise direction as before you will have one forward gear and four reverse gears! So, you will have to reverse the motor's direction of rotation in order to get the car moving in the right direction with four forward gears and one reverse gear. You can't do that with a 2CV or other gas powered engine. With an electric motor it can be done easily.

At the rear of the frame power would be applied from the motor to the gearbox, then through the gearbox to the drive shafts and then to the wheel hubs and tires to propel the car in the right direction. The wheel hubs are supported by the front spindles and attached to the normal front suspension arms by the king pins. The steering mechanism could be adjusted for the proper wheel alignment and then locked in a straight position through the tie rods and steering arms. So, I had a rear-engined electric motor powered 2CV frame that would drive at the rear but not steer.

At the front of the frame I had the original front axle, suspension arms, steering rack and pinion, tie rods, steering arms, wheels spindles and wheel hubs held in place by the outside section of the driveshafts So, I had at the front of the frame wheels that would steer but not drive.

In developing this concept of a rear-engined electric motor powered 2CV I tried to stick with 2CV components only and with little or no modifications to the original 2CV parts. If the concept didn't work out I wanted to be able to salvage all the parts for resale or for use in some other project. Up to this point the only modifications of parts was 1. Drill two 5/16" holes in the frame at the rear axle to mount some rubber suspension arm travel stops, and, 2. Disassemble two drive shafts so that I had only the outside splined piece to pass through and secure the wheels hubs and, 3. I had to lengthen the suspension spring pull rods at the rear when I used front suspension arms at the rear. The brackets that hold the knife edges are much shorter on the front suspension arms than the rear arms.

I left out brakes in this discussion till now as the problems that arose with brakes caused me to abandon the rear-engined 2CV concept. There was no brake problem at the rear because the inboard disk brakes were still intact and functioning. The killer brake problem came at the front of the frame. There was no way to mount adequate brakes at the front using 2CV components. I at first thought about mounting a non-functioning gearbox at the front in order to carry the disk brakes and drive shafts to connect to the front wheel hubs for front wheel braking. Since I would be using an electric motor to power the car I needed room for batteries and they would have to be placed at front of the frame where the gearbox used to be. Both would not fit there. So, I would end up with brakes at the rear only. That would not be safe, in my opinion, and caused me to abandon the rear-engine drive concept. I still think the rear-engine 2CV drive concept is viable if using a gas powered engine that would turn in the opposite direction. There is a thread in the Pembleton enthusiasts website builder's forum which says you could reverse the way the gearbox drives by flipping over the crown wheel and differential. At this point I decided the total concept was getting too complicated and that there were no simple, good solutions to the problems I had to resolve. So, I give up on the rear-engine concept.

I have changed the configuration to provide a front-engine electric motor drive 2CV EV that will have four wheel brakes. This looks like a viable concept for a Pembleton, too. I will be picking up my lithium ion batteries this coming week and will see if they can be mounted so that they would fit in the Pembleton body cavities.

More to come.

20th Post

2011-06-26T03:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a new addition to the Supersports. This is a very nice stainless steel luggage rack I bought from a gentleman in France who builds these to order for different types of kit cars. He now has a profile of the back of a Pembleton Supersports. The front two legs of the rack must be angled to fit the profile of the turtleback of the car it's to fit.

19 Post Donor Parts List

2011-03-08T15:34:00.001-08:00

Right now there are so many potential Pembleton Donor 2CVs available on the UK Ebay that I thought it would be a good idea to publish the donor car parts list for those of you thinking aboutbuilding a Pembleton.

Here's the list:

19 Post Donor Parts List

2011-03-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

Right now there are so many potential Pembleton Donor 2CVs available on the UK Ebay that I thought it would be a good idea to publish the donor car parts list if you are thinking about building a Supersports. Here's the list:

I know. It's hard to read. Try this: Right click on each page of the list. Left click on "Save image as". Save jpeg. image in your Documents folder. Open a word processor blank page such as "Word" and insert each jpeg. image as you would a picture. It works.

18th Post Oil Leak Fixed!

2011-02-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

After my last post yesterday I searched the internet for the proper way to replace the dented push rod tubes on the left cylinder head. I found NO help there. I looked at the ECAS website (a British 2CV parts supplier) and saw a warning, "very difficult". So, I posed the question to the Pembleton owners forum. I was fortunate enough to get two immediate replies reiterating the ECAS warning and that fixing the dented push rod tubes was fairly easy and preferred if at all possible. So on the advice of Darren I did the following:

Tap (with a hammer) an 11mm, Crafstman, 1/4" drive, deep socket about 1/3 its length into the push rod tube. Use a planishing hammer to lightly flatten the dent. The inserted socket will maintain the proper shape of the tube. Remove the socket and lightly smooth the outside surface of the tube with fine emery cloth. Reinstall the cylinder head. NO LEAKS.

11mm socket inserted into the push rod tube.

17th Post Oil leak problem

2011-02-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

Today I had to get to the source of a persistent oil leak from the left side of the engine of the Supersports. Using the proper dye in the engine oil I discovered the leak to be coming from the intake push rod shroud tube on the left side. After dismantling the engine enough to pull the cylinder head I could easily see that the end of the tube was dented and that the tube would have to be replaced.

Actually, the question is how is this to be fixed? Stay tuned, as when I find out I'll let you know.

16th Post More shakedown activities

2011-02-06T06:36:00.000-08:00

Today, February 5, 2011 I attended the seminar and car show at Classic Motorsports, Inc. in Holly Hill, Florida with the Supersports. It was a fun drive and I enjoyed seeing what others have squirreled away in their garages and shops in the locale area. They also held a couple of seminars which were very informative. The drive was only about 7 or 8 miles from home. The Supersports was assigned a very prominent parking place and lots of people looked her over and were very impressed with the design and the 2CV power and suspension. After the show I drove back to my shop and had a tonneau cover and spare tire cover fitted by "Ruthie", a lady that lives just across the street from the shop, and does auto upholstery for a living. Here are a couple of pictures of the finished job. She is good!

Here is a short video of the Arrival at Classic Motorsports this morning. Shortly after arrival someone looking at the pointed out that I had a loose gaiter on the left side cv joint. The holding strap had loosened up enough allow the gaiter to slip off the joint. Lots of grease mess but not any real damage that I couldn't fix when I got back to the shop. I have had a number of people point out things such as this at car shows. These onlookers are an important "second set of eyes" at car shows. It pays to go to the shows. Here's the video. The Supersports is a BLAST!

15th post -Supersports titled and licensed in Florida

2011-01-19T15:46:00.000-08:00

What a past couple of weeks! For the past month I had been attempting to get a license plate for the completed Supersports. The Florida DMV website tells you to gather and submit the required information to a local tax collector's office for processing. The local tax collector's office says that registration can only be done by submitting the required paperwork to a Florida Department of Motor Vehicle regional office, in my case, 30 miles away in DeLand, Florida. So, after three or four telephone calls the that office I finally was able to drive to DeLand to submit the paperwork and be told there would be further contact to advise me of an inspection date. Of course, I chose to do this during the Christmas/New Year holidays so there was an appreciable delay but I finally got a scheduled inspection day, January 19, 2011. Armed with the inspection date I was able to get a temporary license plate so I could drive the car to the inspection office. Of course I had to show proof of insurance before issuance of the temporary plate. The insurance was very easy to get. I contacted the company that carries the insurance on the Brooklands and they added the Supersports at no extra charge!

So, today I drove the Supersports to DeLand, a 45 minute drive, and within 20 minutes I had my Florida Title and license plate. The car drove really well. I took it easy, not driving more than 55 mph. The weather was beautiful and I had a blast. Here are some pictures and, I hope, a video of the return drive. On the way back driving in a rural part of the trip I encountered a wild pig that came out of the woods and sat down in the middle of the lane I was driving in. I tooted the horn and the pig really jumped, fell on its ass, but managed to scoot out of the way as I blasted by. I think you can see it in the video.

I also learned that with two people on board the rear wheel will bottom out against the mudguard. So, I think the rear wheel spring will have to be be replaced with a stiffer one to carry the load that formerly two springs carried on the donor 2CV. That uprated spring is available but only from the UK so it will be a couple of weeks till I get it. There is also something called a spring assister which will keep the wheel from bottoming out. I will look into that also.

Here are the pictures.

The temproary tag.

The new license plate - Belongs to the Supersports!

The new VIN number.

More fun than a person should be allowed to have!

14th Post- A New Year's Glance

2011-01-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all who follow my blog. I have skipped the number 13th post for obvious reasons (superstition). Today is the first day of the new year and you all deserve to see the latest pictures of the Supersports. I sent in my paperwork to the Florida DMV about two weeks ago and I hope hear back from them soon with an inspection date. I'll bug them on Monday to make sure they got the paperwork. Once I get the inspection date I can apply for a temporary license tag so I can get out on the road to work out the bugs. Today I installed the bonnet strap which I had made at Bulldog Leathers on Main Street in Daytona Beach. It's one of the final touches. Looks great I'm sure you will agree. Well, here's the last pictures.

Happy New Year! I know I'm happy.

12th Post Some action!

2010-12-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

I made some short videos with my new camera a few days ago. They are in HD and are in a format that will not download to this blog. So, I have installed a video conversion program and will try to attach the converted files to this post. The conversion program is on trial here so please excuse the watermark in the middle of the picture. If I like the program I will have to buy it in order to remove the watermark. We'll see.

11th Post - Gettin' there!

2010-12-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

Today I cleaned out a lot of things that were cluttering up the shop that I will no longer need for the Supersports build. I have one 12' x4' sheet of .050 5052 t3 aluminum left over! It has been taking up a lot of room in the shop as I had it sitting on a bench in the middle of everything. Now it is resting vertically on a pallet against a wall in the shop. I have tried to sell it but have had no luck. I also have moved a frame from the original Brooklands donor car to the outside. It could be used to build up some kind of 2CV special but there are no "takers". Anyway, there is much more room in the shop.

The Supersports is very close to completion. Since my last post I have installed the front mudguards, fabricated and installed a mudguard for the rear wheel, installed the seat, wrapped the steering wheel with a nylon cord for better grip (and looks), installed a carpet on the cockpit floor, installed rear view mirrors and installed an electronic tachometer.

The mudguards are installed. The stays are much "beefier" than they are on the Brooklands. I guess this is a result of all the problems earlier builders had with mudguard failures. The bonnet is now shaped and fitted. I will use a leather belt to hold down the back part of the bonnet. I ordered a custom-made belt from a motorcycle leather craftsman in Daytona Beach. He won't have it ready till December 20th. I can't fit a belt to hold down the front of the bonnet because the exhaust pipes are too close to the bonnet so I have ordered some toggle clip fasteners.

This is a picture of the mudguard I fabricated and installed over the rear wheel.

This is a good picture of the carpet in the cockpit. It's held down with velcro coins. You can also see the rear view mirrors and the newly-wrapped steering wheel.

A very unique picture. The Pembleton Daytona stable. You won't find this anywhere in the US. After the Christmas and New Year's holidays I hope to get a Florida title and license plate.

10th Post - PROGRESS!

2010-11-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

Since my last post I have completed a number of items. I ran into some issues that needed correcting. One thing I changed was the tires. I went from 135R15's to 155R15's. The spare tire then fit much better than it did with the smaller tires.

New 155R15 spare tire fits much better.

You can still see the stop/tail and turn signals.

After seeing that the spare tire with the new 155R15 tires fit I mounted the rest of the new tires. Remember the Citroen 2CV wheels cannot be balanced at the tire store because the wheels don't have a large enough hole in the middle to allow use of their balancing machines. I tried to find a tire repair shop that might have an "on the car" balancing machine. Not in this part of the world. So, after getting the tires mounted I filled the tires with the ceramic beads I mentioned in an earlier post. It's a very tedious job. We'll see how they work when I finally get to drive the car. Another issue popped up. When I lowered the car on to the rear wheel I saw that the new larger tire would not fit the spare tire bulkhead. I had to remove the bulkhead (it's a good thing I made it removable) and remake it to fit. It's OK now.

Next I fitted the seats. This is not an easy job. I made a platform for the seat bottom on two removable brackets and a 1/2 " plywood board cut to fit the shape of the seat bottom. The seat bottom is fixed to the platform with two 2" wide velcro strips. The platform also allows the seat bottom to sit at a slight angle to the floor. This gives a more comfortable seating position than if the bottom sits directly on the floor. There is more support for the back of your legs. When I tried to fit the seat back I found it was about 1 1/2" too high. The top of the seat back projected well above the top of the turtle deck. So, I had to open up the bottom of the seat back, cut off 1 1/2" and then close it back up. Although the Pembleton build manual show how to mount the seat back so you can pull it forward and have access to the boot it took three days to figure out how to make it work. I finally finished that chore and was pleased with the results. I also mounted the 3-point inertial-reel shoulder belts. I used the same type of belts that I had installed on the Brooklands.

The seat back was about 1 1/2" too high so I had to cut it down.

The seats and shoulder belts are installed after cutting down the height of the seat back.

I found new silencers on the internet and after installing them the exhaust noise is much quieter.

Today I cut and fitted the bonnet. It will be held fast with two thick leather straps and buckles.

In the next few days I hope to get the front mudguards mounted. Also, I have to get to the bottom of the oil leaks. Next Friday night is the Ormond Beach, Florida Gaslight Parade. I hope to drive the Brooklands in that parade with Dianne at my side. We did it last year in the Brooklands and were a big hit with the crowd. I'm sorry we will miss this year's parade with the Supersports by about two weeks. There's a few bugs to work out and I still have to insure, register and license the Supersports.

Yesterday, I got a call from Dave Burgess of Yankeetown, Florida (just north of Tampa). He is in the process of building a Pembleton Brooklands. His will be the third one in the US when he gets it finished. Dave is a specialty motorcycle builder so I'm looking forward to joining up with him and seeing his car. The Pembleton USA Club will have three cars soon!

9th Post- Things turned out pretty good(Except for the windscreen)

2010-10-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

Since my last post I have accomplished quite a bit except for reinstalling the windscreen. It just doesn't fit well as I would like. Oh well, it's back on and looks better but will require more clean-up. I redesigned and fabricated a new trim strip on which the windscreen mounts. I made it completely removable because in order to work on the instrument panel a removable trim strip makes it easier.

Here's a couple of pictures of the re-installed windscreen. It looks good but will require some clean-up down the road.

After I did the windscreen I took a look at the open rear of the body and decided that there must be a way to brace the the two rear panels and provide a way to shield the spare tire from dirt and other debris thrown up by the rear tire. I used the Pembleton builder's forum to solicit ideas from other builders and got some solutions from them. I had to design my solution and then fabricate.

Here is the panel which will keep most of the road debris from messing up the rear tire. I may add another fender over the rear wheel to do a better job. The panel I fabricated is completely removable for access to the the rear wheel fuel filler hose and rear lighting wiring.

I bought some new larger tires, 155R15's, to replace the 135R15's that were on the rims. These are the same tires I have on the Brooklands wire wheels. This is mostly for looks. I had one new larger tire mounted and used it to test the fit the spare tire. It worked out really well. I'll mount the other tires later.

My next step will be to install the seat and seat belts. The missing seat bottom finally showed up this week. I took the car off the jacks as you can see it's sitting on its wheels. The suspension is quite loose so I will have to draw up the tension on the suspension springs to get it tighter. I have run the engine and it seems that the present mufflers are really loud. They sound very authoritative but will be uncomfortable when driving without earplugs. So, I am looking for some reasonably effective silencers.

All in all, this was a good week.

8 th Post- more details

2010-10-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

In this 8th post I will again show the progress of my Pembleton Supersports build with pictures and comments.

Here she be! Since my last post I have added a number of prominent items. The headlights, front and rear turn signals, the exhaust pipes and rear tail/stop lights. I decided to remove the windscreen as it did not fit very well and I am going to try to reinstall it again. I found that if I position it more straight up the curved frame of the windscreen will fit the contours of the scuttle better. The build manual says to position at 140 degrees off of the bonnet but it seems to fit my car better at about 130 degrees. Anyway, it will have to drill more holes, re-rivet the piece of aluminum on which the windscreen fits up to and re-position the plate that holds the center support rod. I designed and fabricated the exhaust pipes to drop down to the bottom edge of the chassis. I did this on my Brooklands and have been well pleased with this configuration. I am using the OEM Citroen 2CV intake/exhaust manifold which does not point the exhaust pipes outboard of the body so I have used a flexible exhaust duct to connect the manifold with the pipe. Each pipe is supported with three hangers instead of the one as originally designed. I am currently using a motorcycle slip-on exhaust muffler that has only baffles so it's pretty loud. I am thinking of using some sort of silencer that will cut down on the noise. Both the turn signals and the tail/stop lights are led lights. In order to get the turn signals to flash properly I had to install special resistors. The led tail/stop lights are really bright.

The headlights certainly are prominent. But are they bright! I made a u-shaped bracket and mounted the headlights vertically on top with the turn signals mounted to the outside. Then I made a cover for the bracket to hide all the wiring. Using the original intake exhaust manifold also allows me to mount the alternator in the original 2CV place.

You can really see the tail/stop lights. This picture also shows the flexible fuel supply pipe and the wiring loom for the rear lights. I may have to re-route the fuel pipe when I put her on her wheels if the rear wheel hits the pipe. I hope not.

I have had a visitor in my shop for the past two days. It seems quite content on the Supersports. Looks like the Geico Insurance lizard. No doubt casing the situation in order to make an insurance proposal.

Here's more detail of the headlight mounts and the exhaust set up. I had to polish the body aluminum under the exhaust pipes before I hung the pipes. Eventually the whole body will be polished. I have ordered some Vredestein 155R15 tires which should arrive next week. They fit well and look good on the car. That's the same tires I mounted on the Brooklands. For right now I will use the original 2CV wheels. I may switch to wire wheels later on but that will take a major modification of the rear suspension arm. One of the problems I haven't yet resolved is balancing the wheels. I haven't yet found a tire mounting business that can accommodate the 2CV three bolt mount and not having a hole in the center of the rim. I ordered something I found on line to balance the wheels - ceramic beads inserted into the tire through the valve stem which, I guess, seek out the imbalance automatically. Well, we'll see... they only cost about $60.00 for all four wheels. Tomorrow, back to fitting the windscreen.

7th Post Moving Right Along

2010-09-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Let's not get bogged down in a lot of detail. In this post I am just going to publish a bunch of pictures starting with today's and working back to some earlier ones. The body panels are all in place, the instrument panel is completed and in place and the windshield is mounted. The brakes are functional including the hand brake. Tomorrow's job will be to install the exhaust system. I've had the motor running. There are a couple of oil leaks on the underside of the cylinder rocker arm covers so I'm hoping it's only a matter of re-tightening the cylinder head hold down nuts. So, here's the pictures with some captions.

The Supersports cockpit-windshield, Pembleton steering wheel, instrument panel in place. The instrument panel includes oil temperature, oil pressure, volt meter, speedometer and fuel gauge. Notice the gearshift lever and handbrake handle.

Pembleton V-screen windshield. Engine is installed. I will be using the original 2cv carburetor and exhaust/intake manifold instead of dual motorcycle carburetors. This way I will have only one throttle and one choke cable to deal with. You can see the flexible stainless steel exhaust headers which will connect to the dual exhaust pipes and silencers. I also have retained the original cylinder cooling ducts which really keep the engine cooler here in Florida.

Body panels are temporarily held in place as they are being drilled for rivets that will fasten the panels to the frame. Makes the Supersports look a little like a porcupine.

This is what the frame looks like after the rivet holes are drilled. For structural integrity the rivets are drilled at least 30mm apart over all the frame. There hundreds of holes to drill and each hole must be counter-sunk to accommodate flush rivets. Pretty tedious!

Body panels are sealed prior to riveting. The preferred sealant is polyurethane door and window caulking. Very messy if not done carefully.

That pretty much tells the story up to now. As I stated earlier the next thing I will install will be the exhaust pipes and mufflers. I have a couple of chromed motorcycle mufflers that look good but don't do a lot of silencing. After that I will install the shoulder harnesses. A few weeks ago I discovered that the kit contained two seat backs instead of a back and a seat. Pembleton is sending me the seat. That delivery should be interesting and expensive since it must come from the UK. I hope it doesn't take too long as I could install the seats at any time. So, I'm almost done, just a lot of little nit-picking clean up items. Then comes the registration and licensing and insuring. That should make an interesting story. More to follow.

6th post - Installing the engine and gearbox

2010-09-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

When I left off my last post I had completed cutting and fitting these body parts; the floor pan, the foot wells, the front lower bulkhead, and the front upper bulkhead. Later I cut and fitted the glove box and the instrument panel blank. All of these parts were drilled every 30mm and temporarily fastened to the chassis with clecoes (sheet holders). All those panels were then removed, the rivet holes were deburred, and then countersunk to accept the heads of flush rivets. A layer of polyurethane caulking was then layed down on the floor tubes of the chassis and wherever two body sheets would overlap. All body panels must be sealed to prevent moisture from getting between the sheets to prevent leaks and corrosion and to seal the rivet holes in the chassis to prevent rust from forming there. Then all the body sheets were put back in place and riveted to the chassis and to each other where appropriate. This is a messy job so you must proceed carefully or you will have sealant where you don't want it and clog up your tools, especially the rivet setting tools. And, once you start you must finish everything because after the sealant dries the sheets are as good as permanently attached. The best sealant to use is the polyurethane window caulking you can get at any big box or hardware store. The silicone based sealant is not as long lasting or as tough.

Floor pan, lower front bulkhead and upper front bulkhead temporarily held with clecoes

Body panels have been sealed and riveted in place.

Things were then at a point where I could keep adding body pieces or go in a different direction. There are these points all throughout the Pembleton build. In this case I decided to install the engine and gearbox next rather than do more body work. Actually, the engine and gearbox were getting in the way in the shop so it seemed like a good thing to do to hang them on the chassis. It's a fairly straightforward operation. The rear of the gearbox is supported by two bolts that fit into a slotted shock mount bolted to a bracket welded to the front axle. The engine is hung at the clutch bell housing from two brackets, supplied with the kit, that bolt to the two top studs of the bellhousing and then to two shock mounts welded to the front of the chassis. That is hard to put into words so here are some pictures.

Slotted bracket that supports the rear of the gearbox.

Engine and gearbox have been installed and drive shafts are mated to the front hubs.

It's time to end this post so cheers. Any comments?

5th Post Begin Assembly

2010-08-28T16:56:00.000-07:00

The chassis is up on jack stands. Most of the donor parts have been cleaned and painted. I want to start assembly of my Supersports but where should I begin? Before assembly starts you should have the Pembleton construction manual and the Haynes Citroen 2CV shop manual available. The Pembleton kit chassis is pre-drilled to accept the suspension and other components. Just bolt in place. The body panels will cover all of the suspension so assembly is best started by bolting on the suspension first. I started with the front axle. After the axle is in place the front suspension arms can be put on. The front arms should be fully assembled including the steering rack and pinion, the wheel hub carriers and the front wheel hubs before attaching the arms to the front axle. After the front arms are in place on the front axle the steering rods can be connected.

The rear axle has been welded to the chassis as part of the Supersports kit. The left rear suspension arm (passenger side) is moved over to the right rear side of the rear axle to center the rear wheel. Prior to mounting the rear suspension arm you must cut 13mm off of the out side of the arm so that the arm will fully seat on the axle.

The last components of the suspension to go on are the springs and shock absorbers. Once all the suspension is complete you can start cutting out the body panels. The panels are cut out from aluminum sheets that you must buy in addition to the components supplied with the kit. I bought four (4) 8' x12'sized, .050, 5051 T3 sheets purchased from the Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Company. Their website/catalog is found on the internet. The .050 sheets are the minimum thickness you should use. I started out using .065 sheets when I built my first Pembleton but that thickness is very hard to work with unless you have some professional sheet metal tools to do the cutting and forming necessary. The sheets I purchased from Aircraft Spruce had to be delivered by truck. They put the flat sheets on a 8' x 12' wood pallet and each sheet was protected on both sides by a clear film so there would be no scratches. The package was very heavy but no sheets were damaged.

Each body panel is cut from full-sized paper patterns supplied with the Pembleton kit. Some patterns must first be transfered to stiff paper to make trial fits before laying out the patterns on the aluminum sheet prior to cutting. Some panels are simple and the paper pattern can be laid directly on to the sheet prior to cutting. Some panels require bending. The largest will require a sheet metal brake of at least 60" in width. A number of panels require a one inch (1") flange to be bent along the edges. Some of those flanges are bent 90 degrees along a curved line. Some panels require bending across their entire width and edge flanges. The Pembleton construction manual provides some guidance in how to do the bending. This is one of the most difficult operations of the total build.

The first panel I started with was the front floor panel. Eventually, when the panels are finally fitted they must be riveted to the chassis. Good quality 1/8" pop rivets should be used. The panels are also sealed against moisture and corrosion, as they are riveted, with a polyurethane sealant. Some panels must be bonded to form part of the structure in addition to the rivets used. The maximum spacing of the rivets should not exceed 30mm to meet strength requirements. Also, just prior to fixing the front floor I drilled holes in the chassis for small clamps to fix the fuel, brake and electric pipes and wires to service the rear of the car (tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, fuel level sender and rear brake pipe).

Other panels follow in a sequence dictated by the fact that one panel must overlay another. Lots of holes must be drilled and rivets pulled and they must be located with care as so as to have even spacing along straight lines. I have thousands of flush rivets left over from an aviation project in my past so I am using them to build this car. That means, of course, that I must counter sink all the rivet holes. The results are great but there is a lot of tedious, monotinous work involved.

See you next time

4th Post - Starting construction at last.

2010-08-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

Now that I have both the donor car and the Pembleton LWB Grasshopper kit in my shop in South Daytona, Florida it's time to begin construction. Preliminary to the construction process is the dismantling of the donor car and clean up of the parts to be reused in the kit. Here's a fairly complete list of those parts: engine, gearbox, shift operating lever and shift arm on the gearbox, drive axles, front disk brake calipers, front axle and steering rack, steering track rods, front wheel hubs, steering shaft, ignition lock, speedometer, emergency brake bracket, emergency brake pull rod, emergency brake operating lever, rear axle, fuel tank, suspension springs and pull rods, battery shelf, rear gear box support mount, rear suspension arms, master cylinder, front suspension arms, and the foot pedal assembly. Remember, the front suspension arms must be modified. You either send them to the Pembleton Motor Company or have Phil Gregory purchase used front arms for you. The accelerator pedal and shift arm on the gearbox must also be modified. You may be able reuse the Citroen wheels. More than likely you will replace the tires. Also save the directional signal stalk and the light switch stalk if they are in reusable condition. There is a bunch of indicator lights and function switches that you may want to reuse. I have decided to remount the original Solex carburetor instead of using twin motorcycle carbs. The carburetor probably will need rebuilding. Keep the accelerator, emergency brake, choke and the clutch operating cables. Citroen put the 2CV together with some very hard to find 5mm, 7mm, and 9mm nuts, washers and bolts so keep as many of those as are reuseable. Otherwise you will be buying a lot of expensive new fasteners. Here in Florida where heat is an important consideration for the air-cooled motor you would do well to save the engine cooling fan and shrouds. Now, all that stuff should be cleaned and repainted.

Cleaning is a very messy job. I cleaned the engine and gearbox with a compressed air wand and mineral spirits to blow away the accumulated grease and grime. I washed the grease, oil and dirt off the suspension parts and axles and then bead blasted the old paint off. Then those parts were primed and repainted. I did not paint the engine or gearbox. Below is a sample of the before and after on the suspension arms.

Rear Suspension arm before cleaning.

Suspension arm in bead blaster

Repainted front suspension arms and front axle

Prior to reassembly raise the chassis up on jackstands to get it as high as practicable. The Pembleton is a very low slung car and your back will love you for it. Time to end this post. See you next time.

3rd Post - Importing a Donor Car and the Kit.

2010-08-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

I told you in my previous post that I bought a donor car from "Superjetcars" in the UK. That is I bought only the stripped chassis because I didn't wan't to deal with the leftover unneeded body parts. It was also cheaper than buying a complete used Citroen 2CV. Importing the donor car was done by employing a UK shipper that I chose from the internet after finding a company that would pick up the car at its location in the UK, deliver it to their terminal in Southampton, and ship it by ocean freight to a port on the US eastern seaboard near my home, in this case, Brunswick, Georgia. I would then drive to Brunswick and haul it back to my shop in South Daytona on my trailer. I used Wallenius Wilhelmsem Logistics as the shipper. They delivered the donor car to the US Customs office in Brunswick, Georgia for about $1400.00. Importing a car requires a lot of paperwork dealing with US Customs. It's best to employ a US import broker to handle the arrival, Customs clearance, and delivery to the owner in the US. The broker I used was D. J. Powers, Inc. and they charged about $400.00. The US Customs website says that an individual can import a car and do the paperwork themselves but wait until you see the paperwork! And, it better be correctly filled out. The broker costs money but all I had to do is pay them for their services and pick up the car at their terminal in Brunswick. Here is a picture of the chassis in Brunswick on the day we put her on the trailer for the trip home.

During the time I waited for the donor car to arrive I ordered the Pembleton Long Wheelbase Supersports kit from Pembleton Motor Company in Kidderminster, UK. You must deal with Phil Gregory, the owner, when you order the kit. Neither the Pembleton Motor Company nor Phil has an email account. You must deal with him by letter or telephone. Both his address and telephone number are on the Pembleton website, www.pembleton.co.uk/ . The website is maintained by Pembleton users and builders but is not run by or monitored by Phil. He is not very good at answering letters promptly so the best way to contact him is by phone. Remember, there is a six hour difference in time between the east coast of the US and the UK. When it's noon in Florida it's 6pm in Kidderminster, UK. He doesn't always answer the phone so you must be patient and persistent. Phil, in my experience, is very easy to deal with and is very reliable. He puts the kits together on order and the waiting time is usually about two months. He will pack the kit for export but a US buyer must arrange for shipping from Kidderminster, UK to the US. Importing the kit is very much the same as importing the donor car except the kit is shipped as new car parts as a partial container load. The shipper this time was Cargo One and they picked up the kit in Kidderminster and delivered it to a warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida where I picked it up and brought it to my shop in South Daytona. Shipping can be arranged directly to your destination if you want to pay the costs. Cargo One charged me about $800.00. Again, I employed an import broker, T.H. Weiss, Inc. and their charge was about $300.00. Below is a picture of the kit as it was loaded on to my trailer in Jacksonville for the trip to South Daytona.

I must also point out that if you were to buy and take delivery of the kit in the UK you would have to swap certain used parts from the donor car for modified parts that are part of the kit. The two front suspension arms are modified by Phil to accommodate the lowered front geometry of the Pembleton. You must have the arms from your donor car removed, cleaned and have the bearings and races removed. You give the donor arms to Phil and he gives you a pair of modified arms. Same for the accelerator pedal and gear shift lever. I mailed the parts to Phil when I removed them from the donor. It cost about $100.00 and I had to pay the UK import duties of about $60.00 (don't argue). Phil can provide those donor parts but he will charge you what ever it costs him and the used parts are getting expensive. The Supersports kit I ordered cost about $!600.00. That included, in addition to the basic kit, some additional optional items. At this point I stopped adding up the costs just to get the donor car and the kit in my hands in South Daytona. Is it expensive? All things are relative. If you want build and own a Pembleton you must pay these basic costs just get the kit and a donor car in your hands even before you start. I'll start the removal and clean up of the donor parts before assembly of the kit in my next post.

2nd Post - I decide to build a Pembleton Supersports

2010-08-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

After completeing a Pembleton Brooklands in 2009 and driving it for a while I decided, since I enjoyed building the first model, to build another 2CV special. I had a spare 2CV engine and gearbox and a custom frame. All I needed was another donor 2CV car from which I could liberate the suspension, steering, brakes and anything else I needed. I also would need to design and construct some sort of body. After thinking about that effort for a while I decided a more prudent course would be to build and own both models of the Pembleton. My Brooklands needed a companion and the frame and body was available, already designed and proven. Plus my previous experience would prove invaluable.

So I set about finding a donor 2CV. The first donor car had I purchased was already in the US and was registered in Florida. It was an early 1978 model that had front drum brakes. Later 1978 and subsequent models were equipped with front disk brakes. Those are the preferred donor cars. I had to design and construct a special parking brake bracket to accommodate the front drum brakes on my Brooklands build. Another issue with the first donor car is that after stripping the useable parts I had a bunch of leftover parts- fenders, and body shell mainly. I tried to sell them through Ebay with no luck so I ended up taking all that stuff to a scrap yard. I felt that storing that stuff was a hassle. Some others may want to store or try to sell that stuff, not me. There really isn't much of a market for used 2CV parts in the US. 2CV's were never imported to the US market. A few made to the country as oddities or were brought by people who had driven them in Europe and were smitten by there peculiarities. However, they were difficult to get past US import, DOT and EPA regulations.

I decided, as the best course of action, to import a 2CV donor car. The biggest source was Ebay UK. Those for sale in the UK seemed to be the least expensive and there is no language barrier. The Germans have too high a price on everything and, while you can communicate in English in many cases, the language is still a barrier. The French don't want to share their 2CV's with anyone. My criteria for selecting a donor was, first, fairly low mileage - less than 75,000 miles. The 2CV engine, gearbox, suspension, and steering are very robust but there are limits. If you get a donor from the UK you will also have to accept the British right-hand drive. Other European countries use left-hand drive like we have in the US. I found that driving a right-hand drive car presents no problems on US roads.

Importing a car will require that you comply with US Customs, EPA and DOT requirements. US customs will make sure you meet EPA and DOT requirements and will make sure you pay import duties and that the car has a clean title and the importer has a bill of sale from the seller. EPA will make sure you comply with pollution safeguards. For instance, the car must be steamed cleaned to wash off British soil and bugs before it will be released to the importer. And, the engine must meet certain pollution standards. The DOT will make sure the car meets safety standards. Needless to say, no 2CV will meet those standards. But, if the car is over 25 years old it is exempt! So, be sure the donor car that you import is over 25 years old. Otherwise you will have to pay for a prohibitively expensive conversion, or, the car will be put back on the next boat back to where it came from, at the importer's expense. Those are the main issues to deal with when importing a donor car.

Of course, the purchase price is important. You may have to spent 500 to 900 British pounds to win the Ebay bid. That's about $750 to $1350 US dollars. The Brits still cherish their 2CV's, too.

I'm not going to address any requirements you must meet in your state to register, license and insure your completed Pembleton so you can drive it on public roads. I had a pretty easy time licensing and insuring my Brooklands in Florida. Of course, my donor car had already been registered in Florida when I bought it.

Here's my donor car experience. There are a number of "breakers" in the UK who sell used 2CV parts on Ebay. In particular, I noticed "Superjetcars" had a lot of stuff up for auction almost all the time. I contacted the seller and asked him if he would consider selling me a 2CV chassis without the body. Most of what I would need to salvage to build a Pembleton is contained on just the chassis. There are a few parts needed off the body but they can be purchased separately when needed. Anyway, Martyn Wilson, aka "Superjetcars" said he could do that and he agreed to sell me the chassis from a 1984 2CV that he was "breaking" to sell the body to someone else. We made the deal for 500 British pounds (about $750.00 US).

So, I now owned a donor car but it was in the UK and I needed to get it to South Daytona, Florida. The best way to ship a donor car is by ocean freight. There are many ocean freight shippers. Most autos shipped from the UK leave out of Southampton. They can be shipped to any number of ports in the US. Chose a shipper that will work with you to get the job done. You will run into other shippers that expect you to know all about what needs to be done and expects you to do it yourself. First, you must transport the donor car from the it's UK location to the UK port where the transport ship is located. The shipper should be able to arrange for that transport as part of the total cost. Once the donor gets to the port it can be shipped roll on-roll off (RORO) or as as a partial load in a container. RORO is the cheapest. Even though my donor had no body it could be rolled on and rolled off. So that's what I did. I better publish this post. In the next post I'll tell you about the shortfalls of what I did and the cost.

What is a Pembleton?

2010-07-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

Pembleton Brooklands

Yes, it's a car. A very unique car. In fact, there is only one on the road in the US right now. I built this one in 2009 after about 9 months of work. It is licensed and insured and I drive it here in South Daytona, Florida where I built it. And, I can drive it anywhere in the US if I want to.

The car is a kit car made from the components of a donor car and a kit I imported from the UK. The design theme is a 1920-30's British open-wheeled race car. The picture above is not a negative print. It is a true right-hand drive car as the donor car was also right-hand drive. Those of you that recognize the screen and engine at the front know that the donor car is a Citroen 2CV, the little French car that was manufactured by Citroen from about 1950 to 1990.

The story of how I came to build this unique car is interesting (at least to me). I retired in 1996 and was able to pursue my hobby on a full time basis. My hobby was restoring and repairing small aircraft, pipers, cessnas and anything like that. I had built a home-built biplane and restored three Piper Cubs and altogether had owned seven or eight aircraft. Shortly after retiring I also obtained an FAA aircraft mechanic's license. The last aircraft I bought for restoration was a light-sport aircraft that was powered by a Citroen 2CV engine converted for aviation use. The engine was too heavy for safe use in the airplane so I removed the Citroen engine and replaced it with a lighter engine. Then my aviation hobby came to an end because I couldn't renew my medical certificate without a lot of unwanted hassle and the expenses became too much for the rewards. I sold the last aircraft and found myself with a left-over Citroen 2CV engine. While searching the internet for what to do with such an engine I discovered the Pembleton Motor Company at the www.pembleton.co.uk website . It was love at first sight! Here was a car that used the engine that I had and was built much like the "spam cans" that had been my hobby -a space frame and riveted aluminum sheets. Plus, it is one of the best looking cars I have ever seen!

I really wanted to build a Pembleton. But, how do you go about acquiring whatever it takes to build a British kit car using a no longer manufactured French donor car that was never successfully imported to the US? I knew I could buy the kit from the Pembleton Motor Company but there was no point in buying it till I had the Citroen 2CV donor car. The first place to look for something like that is Ebay. I got lucky! Very lucky. If you look for a 2CV in the US on Ebay more than likely you will only find a restored one going for about $12,000.00. No way that will do as a donor car. But, when I first looked on Ebay Motors, US, there it was! A 1978 Citroen 2CV, starting price $1500.00. And, it was located near Tampa, Florida, only about 150 miles away. It was a modified 2CV special. The body had been cut off behind the front seat and another front body had been welded to the rear so you couldn't tell if it was coming or going!

To make a long story short, I bought the push me-pull you car and brought it home to South Daytona. Oddly enough, almost all the parts I needed from the donor car were still there but the car had to be completely disassembled, bead-blasted or cleaned and painted. While the cleaning was being done I ordered the kit from the Pembleton Motor Company in Kidderminster, England. To make a long story short I had completed building the Brooklands model shown at the beginning of this post in about 9 to 10 months. It was so much fun building and driving that 6 months later I ordered another Pembleton kit, the long-wheel-base Supersports. The difference between the two models is that the Brooklands is a four-wheeled car and the Supersports is a three-wheeled model. Two wheels in front and only one in the rear. That's the story I want to tell in this blog. On my next posting I'll bring you up-to-date on that on going effort.

Please let me know what questions you have so I can address them in subsequent postings.

Thanks for your interest.