Full Metal Jacket (underskirt)
Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2025 4:40 pm
Having not previously had any need to inspect the underside of Lady Lilly, I was totally surprised to find that she has a metal sheet which completely covers the underside !
It extends from the rear of the chassis to the rear of the engine bay and it is welded to the outside of the chassis rails.
Is this a common feature ?
There is also another piece welded under the engine itself with an aperture to allow access to the exhaust cross box.
It has not really been an obstacle to swapping the engine but it does present a slight issue for the intended fitting of a towbar.
Some time ago I was kindly sent a working drawing for a towbar by our German friend Claus. Unfortunately the drawing he provided was for a left handed swinging arm and Lady Lilly sports a right hand swinging arm.
Whilst this in itself isn't a problem, simply requiring the inversion of the drop down portion of the side arm of the towbar, the drawing appears to be intended for the towbar to be fitted to the chassis rails and bolted through them.
So I propose to cut an aperture in the 'underskirt' to facilitate the fitting of bolts but there is an added complication which is the fact that the rear bodywork is below the bottom of the chassis rails.
So it seems to me that it will be necessary to 'modify' the drawing in order to bring the rear of the towbar to below the rear body before it will come clear of the rear of the car and then take the back of the towbar up again to fit a towball at a suitable height.
Has anyone else encountered any of my issues/observations ?
Whilst I am posting this particular query, I would also like to ask if anyone else has had an issue with the alloy rocker covers?
While the engine was on the work stand I thought I would treat it to some nice new alloy rocker covers with stainless fixing nuts.
Up until I fitted them the engine turned over quite freely with the old rather tatty looking covers (I had kept the engine turning over frequently whilst it was on the bench)
After I had fitted the alloy covers I had occaision to turn the engine over again to clean the teeth on the flywheel prior to installing the new engine but when I tried to turn it over it just wouldn't go past a certain point in either direction !
Puzzled by this I concluded that the only explanation was that the new rocker covers were preventing the engine from turning.
This was in fact the actual cause of the problem which was witnessed by the fresh gouges in the underside of the covers in the position of the rocker arm tappet adjustment tops.
Has anyone else ever had this problem and is there sufficient metal in the covers to allow for grinding a shallow 'relief' area ?
Just one other query while I'm at it, when I took the old engine out (thanks to some helpful hints by fellow members) I noticed on the floor under the front of the car, a small 'Dowty' seal which seems to be an exact match for the diameter of the exposed gearbox shaft.
Could this be where it came from?
Is the fitting of such a seal a common thing among 2CV owners?
It would be nice to know if I ought to put it back when the engine goes back in.
I hope that this lengthy diatribe doesn't offend anyone and hopefully someone may be able to answer some of my questions.
It extends from the rear of the chassis to the rear of the engine bay and it is welded to the outside of the chassis rails.
Is this a common feature ?
There is also another piece welded under the engine itself with an aperture to allow access to the exhaust cross box.
It has not really been an obstacle to swapping the engine but it does present a slight issue for the intended fitting of a towbar.
Some time ago I was kindly sent a working drawing for a towbar by our German friend Claus. Unfortunately the drawing he provided was for a left handed swinging arm and Lady Lilly sports a right hand swinging arm.
Whilst this in itself isn't a problem, simply requiring the inversion of the drop down portion of the side arm of the towbar, the drawing appears to be intended for the towbar to be fitted to the chassis rails and bolted through them.
So I propose to cut an aperture in the 'underskirt' to facilitate the fitting of bolts but there is an added complication which is the fact that the rear bodywork is below the bottom of the chassis rails.
So it seems to me that it will be necessary to 'modify' the drawing in order to bring the rear of the towbar to below the rear body before it will come clear of the rear of the car and then take the back of the towbar up again to fit a towball at a suitable height.
Has anyone else encountered any of my issues/observations ?
Whilst I am posting this particular query, I would also like to ask if anyone else has had an issue with the alloy rocker covers?
While the engine was on the work stand I thought I would treat it to some nice new alloy rocker covers with stainless fixing nuts.
Up until I fitted them the engine turned over quite freely with the old rather tatty looking covers (I had kept the engine turning over frequently whilst it was on the bench)
After I had fitted the alloy covers I had occaision to turn the engine over again to clean the teeth on the flywheel prior to installing the new engine but when I tried to turn it over it just wouldn't go past a certain point in either direction !
Puzzled by this I concluded that the only explanation was that the new rocker covers were preventing the engine from turning.
This was in fact the actual cause of the problem which was witnessed by the fresh gouges in the underside of the covers in the position of the rocker arm tappet adjustment tops.
Has anyone else ever had this problem and is there sufficient metal in the covers to allow for grinding a shallow 'relief' area ?
Just one other query while I'm at it, when I took the old engine out (thanks to some helpful hints by fellow members) I noticed on the floor under the front of the car, a small 'Dowty' seal which seems to be an exact match for the diameter of the exposed gearbox shaft.
Could this be where it came from?
Is the fitting of such a seal a common thing among 2CV owners?
It would be nice to know if I ought to put it back when the engine goes back in.
I hope that this lengthy diatribe doesn't offend anyone and hopefully someone may be able to answer some of my questions.