Dölüggs - how it all began

[Dölüggs]

once upon a time there was a small boy of 6 years who took a ride in his aunts Deux chevaux.... No, I'm not going to bore you with that old stuff (although it really happened that way)

I am riding 2CV's since 1978, my 2 kids were - if not born - at least concepted in a 2CV and I will probably die in a 2CV (or at least nearby).

First thoughts about my project start as early as 1982 - but it took until 1989 until it became so real as to make some first drawings. And then again it took until 1996 until I said to myself "I's now or never". And I would have been endlessly sorry to say "never".


NEVER SAY NEVER !!!!


so, here is how it starts:

The Citroën Deux Chevaux (or 2CV as I will call it from now on) was Citroën's project of "a small car that can carry two farmers an a bag of potatoes to the market at a maximum speed of 60 km/h". The first prototypes (aluminium chassis and magnesium suspension) were built in 1936. My project starts *much* later using the chassis of an Acadyane - the strongest and longest wheelbase for this type of car:

April 1996:

as you can see, first I had to get rid of a rusted body to get to a more or less good chassis.

-- to be continued --

 

[Draenor]

Neat.

Those wheels are three lugs?

 

[Shaggy]

Nice, keep us posted on this!

 

[Dölüggs]

Hi again

@Draenor: Yes, these wheels are 3 lugs. Enough is enough.

so.... where was I? Ah, yes - Chassis: So this is how it looks like once you have screwed off all parts that screw (can I say that in english??) - including the suspension. As a matter of fact, the A-chassis is some sort of "X-body" with flat panels on top and below, but as the motor is fairly small and passes over the chassis and suspension, it has the same width all along.

The nice guy on the first photo is Eugene Weber, inventor of the fifth gear in the four gear box of the Citroën 2CV (and it doesn't show at all!). Geni (short for Eugene) was my mentor for all mechanical adaptions on Dölüggs. His nickname was "Archimedes" because he really was a genius with levers. In 1997 he died in the Champagne, France, by heart failure - Dölüggs was the last project he laid hands on - I still miss him.

The nice guy below with the white t-shirt is 6 feet 3 of me. Alas: in 1996 with more hair on my head but less on my teeth .

Once the chassis cleaned, we fixed the rust:

At the same time, I prepped the motor I put aside for the project. It's a 652ccm air cooled flat twin from a Citroën Visa. All aluminium (housing, cylinders, heads and pistons), except for valves, crank and camshaft almost no steel, but really tough stuff. In the meantime it has made some 260'000km's (about 80'000 on Dölüggs) - and is still going strong. And consumes only half a litre of oil on 2000km.

I just cleaned it up a bit, changed oil and some of the fittings, checked and grinded the valves and mounted a new clutch. Watch out for the flywheel: lots of mass there. No tuning on the motor thou, because with 36 hp it is by large strong enough to pull the 1665kg max. total weight of the toy hauler. (Swiss laws demand 15 hp per metric ton).

ah yes: the geared rim on the flywheel is 100% 2CV - not Visa - so that I can use a normal 2CV starter. And of course, I had to adapt the clutch housing to fit in the sensors for the Visa's electronic ignition (you will see that in one of the follow-ups to this post).

--to be continued--

 

[Bigredmariner]

Pretty cool seeing the differences in construction between your vehicle and our US made monsters. Keep updating, I enjoy the pics and story.

 

[Dölüggs]

here we go again...

It has to be 4WD to pull the trailer -- the 2CV being only front wheel drive, this means "some minor adaptions"...

As a matter of fact, the rear propulsion is in the same housing as the front. And this means also that I can get disk brakes all around . A speciality of Citroën: the disks are mounted on the gear box, to minimize undamped weight on the suspension.

This is the whole transmission: front gear box with 5 gears (not only 4 like the normal 2CV) - transmission is 16mm spring steel (to permit for flexion). The rear gear box is almost empty: only direct transmission from the front via the 3rd gear and the differential. So it looks something like this:

or to get the spirit:



this is a "high speed" 4WD: there is a reduction on the trans-axle: it turns 1/3 the speed of the wheels. I can put it into action ***without the need to clutch*** at any speed (tested myself up to 90 km/h). Like the first Subaru, there is no differential between front and back. I use Dölüggs 99.95 % in front wheel drive - but if ever need arises, there are means!

There are 6 or 7 more or less professional kits to build a four wheel drive 2CV. Only the twin engine 2CV Sahara and the mechanically not so reliable Mehari 4x4 were proposed by the manufacturer.

Dölüggs is one of only 2 constructions made for high speed 4x4 and one of about 30 worldwide equipped with the "Weber 4x4". Dölüggs is the first "roadworthy in Switzerland" with all the necessary stamps.

-- to be continued... and: comment - if you dare --

 

[Draenor]

So that tiny rod connects the front and rear transaxles?

 

[Dölüggs]

So that tiny rod connects the front and rear transaxles?

Jepp. Easy mathematics: if and when the 4x4 is engaged, 36 hp / 2 = 18 hp to transmit to the rear gearbox. With a lot of security margin.

The 16mm diameter is calculated to be sturdy enough, yet flexible, so that the bearing in the middle does by no means bend the axle, but serves only to avoid flutter at high speed. At the same time, the small diameter is less susceptible for unbalances. The 6° angle between front and rear gearbox provides the necessary pre-load. There are no articulated joints on the axle: less parts, less weight. This follows the original 2CV-construction-principle "anything you don't have, can't break".

The material is spring steel. Have a look at the diameter of transmission rods on formula 1 cars: they transmit hundreds of horse-powers with only slightly bigger diameters.

cheers...

 

[Dölüggs]

Just to make matters worse: this is a schematic of the "5-gears-in-a 4-gear-box".

A project Citroën, the original manufacturer, abandoned as being "too complicated". When they proposed a 5th gear on the Citroën GS (whose transmission was derived from the 2CV) in the late seventies, they did it by adding an additional housing just for the 5th gear...

Driving direction is to the right. The upper axe comes from the motor (even further to the right); the lower axe leads to the differential (between motor and gears). Left hand side: the additional casing for engaging the 4x4 with identical pieces on the front an the back gearbox. That is to say: in 2x4 (front wheel drive), the transmission stands still. Which is exactly as it was meant to be. The 5th gear is by no means dependent on the 4x4. Each combination (4 gears without 4x4 - 4 gears with 4x4 - 5 gears without 4x4 - 5 gears with 4x4) works just fine.

-- next stop: body works. (the lot...)

 

[Dölüggs]

one for the road...

rolling chassis:

- air cooled flat twin 552ccm (equals 33.685in³ - so certainly the smallest toy hauler in this forum ). 35 proud horses
- 4 wheels 145x15 - 4 disk brakes - 4 wheel drive - 5 gears.

Motor to the left and completely in front of the front axle: this assures a forward centre of gravity and therefore good traction even in 2x4. The heavy duty support to the right (above the rear gearbox) serves to fix (for the time being) four different bodies. The console in the middle is for the additional rear hand brake: the 2CV manually braking to the front axle. The red lever on the console is for engaging the 4x4: without clutching! at any speed! And under the 2nd hand brake two chromed levers to brake one wheel on the rear at the time: sort of "poor mans differential lock" - old school like they did on tractors. Also in the console is the middle bearing for the transmission. All in all 17cm high, 35 cm long, 6 cm large, so that the console fits between the original 2CV seats without further modification.

You can also see the complete suspension with radial arms, horizontal spring-pot (grey, in the middle) and hydraulic shock absorbers (same colour as the wheels). The only additional fortification compared to the original chassis is 2 u-shaped steel bars in the chassis between the spring-pot and the rear support.