Back in 2005 I had sold the lovely light blue Ami 8 that I called “Lemaire”. I sold it to a good friend who was asked by a filmmaker to participate in a fun movie project. It was about a car that could only drive in reverse gear. They filmed a whole day on several […]
New interior upholstery for my Ami 8
It is not often that you see a Ami 8 with a renovated interior, because it’s a quiet costly affair to do it like original. Because Ami 8’s are not worth that much on the market, and these cars have the reputation of being a cheap classic car, it doesn’t pay off for most owners. […]
Running in the Ami 8 engine, a fix and improvement
After the deception of the gearbox not working properly, I fitted the old one again. A lot of work, especially when everything is clean an freshly painted and you don’t want to damage the new paint. With the “old” replacement gearbox back in the car, I could finally drive DeKeijzer again and get some kilometers […]
Faulty gearbox, everything out again
Trouble in paradise: the gearbox turned out to make a very awful noise when changing gears. It was revised some years ago by a “gearbox specialist”. When i contacted him, he just told me he had stopped doing this work and offered no compensation or help. Too bad. So I decided to take the engine […]
Front renovation finished – video!
I finished the front renovation of my Ami 8 and made a small video while walking around the after I fitted all the bodywork back on it. The sound you hear is the lens trying to keep a steady image. Besides all stuff I fitted earlier, I now also fitted new air ducts and the […]
Building up the area around the engine
After i connected the engine back to the transmission, it was time to fit and connect all kinds of other stuff; the alternator, airfilter housing, cables and exhaust, cooling fan etc etc. I had painted and cleaned lots of those parts, so it was very nice and rewarding to build the engine bay back up […]
Ami 8 engine renovation finished – video!
Here you can see the result of the engine put back together after the revision of the heads, fitting the Big Bore Kit and the filler neck and the exhaust and inlet manifold fitted with the correct torque applied. My Ami 8 engine renovation is now finished. And a picture of the engine with the […]
Revision of the Ami 8 oil filler and engine breather
Because the pressure in the engine when the pistons move inwards and outwards changes, Citroen fitted the oil filler tube with an ingenious mechanism to maintain a certain under pressure (is this an English word?) to keep the engine oil inside the engine, instead of the pressure build up by the movement of the pistons […]
Mounting the 2CV Big Bore kit to the Ami engine
I wrote in an earlier update that the main goal of the front area renovation was to fit the car with its original engine and gearbox. Back in 2007, I replaced the engine because sometimes— not always— it was making a weird noise. I went to a few specialists, but no-one knew what could cause […]
The magical brown color of seventies Citroën parts
When I removed the engine from the engine bay, I noticed the fan case of the engine needed some love and attention too; the paint was faded and the metal rusty in certain areas. Because I’m a sucker for nicely painted stuff, I decided to paint this part as well. But then began the mighty […]
Ami 8 engine renovation; dismantling, and cleaning
The old AM2-engine was removed from the car and replaced by an overhauled one (picture of that process will be in a future post) about 10 years ago. Now with the renovation of the front area going, I wanted to put the original engine back in the car. But not before some proper renovation and […]
Start with the front bodywork renovation
It is time to start a front bodywork renovation on my Ami 8. In the past I had already noticed some nasty spots when the Ami8 was on the lift. Especially the area under the front bumper. Its not visible when you see the car on road level. But wen it’s elevated, the bottom area […]
Maintenance on steering and driveshafts
While a big part of the front of the Ami 8 dismantled, I wanted to check the steering box. It had not seen grease in more than 40 years. So I decided to remove it, clean it and put fresh grease in it. While at it, I also cleaned and greased the front suspension arm […]
Inner fender stripped, cleaned and primerered
While I was waiting on some parts for the engine upgrade, I painted the inner fender that I bought from the Dutch Ami Club. I removed all the factory transportation paint with a 3M Scotch Brite strip disc. Then I removed all dust and dirt with a mild thinner and then spray painted it with 2k […]
Removal of the Ami 8 engine for renovation
It started out with inspecting the front area of my Ami 8 for rust and maybe replacing the gearbox for it’s original one, but know I’m heading to a much bigger project. Now turns out it is not only cleaning the whole engine bay and repainting all kinds of visible parts and the inner fenders. My Ami8 […]
An Ami 8 from Paris called Lemaire
Back in 2004 the internet was not that populair to find vintage cars. I found a nice Ami 8 berline in the color bleu petrel in Paris on Anciennes.net. It belonged to madame Lemaire. So got the car as a present from her late husband. Her daughter found her mother to old to drive the […]
Sandblast, prime and paint the small parts
Brake master cylinder replacement
A few years ago, I changed the brake master cylinder of my Ami 8, but I was not satisfied with the result; spongy, a bit indirect feel of the pedal when pressed. So I searched the internet and found a new old stock one that I fitted during the front area restauration. I have to […]
Ami 8 front area renovation
After I repaired and repainted large parts on the rear of the car, I decided to renovate the front area of my Citroen Ami8. This is a project alongside the restoration of the interior seats and rear bench. I started with dismantling the front. It turned out to be a bit rusty on the bottom […]
Upholstery renovation
In the Ami8, the material of the seats was either fake leather (skai) or cloth. Mine was fitted with cloth. But unfortunately, it deteriorates over time, even if you are careful with it. After 40 years it is time to renovate it. This will be done by a professional upholsterer. Luckily I have found the […]
New Michelin tires on the Ami 8
There’s only one brand of tires that should be fitted on a Ami 8 in my modest opinion, and that’s a Michelin tire. Not only because of the handling on dry and wet roads (perfect), the quality of the ride (perfect) but also because they look really good on a Citroën. An Ami 8 just looks better […]
More rust at the tail
Ami 8 rear renovation
On all Ami8’s this is a pretty sensitive area. Also on my Ami8. The left side was ok, but the right side seemed more like crisps. I replaced the damaged areas with excellent repair parts from 2CVKeza run by Janez Kesmah which are distributed by the Amivereniging Nederland (Dutch Citroen Ami club).
Start over
I decided to give the website some attention, but accidentally erased the database. Oh well…. might as well start over again!