Brakes and ignition

Brake calipers - if you made the same mistake I did, I have found the solution.

Remove and split calipers, Put the brake pads back in.
Bolt calipers back onto engine one at a time. When you wind the bolts in, the pistons will be forced against the discs and will have to go back in.

Don't forget the shims!

In theory venturi action will then sort the rest out during bleeding.

Just had a little peek in the ignition compartment and have found what appears to be a brand new set of points and a condensor. That means another step closer.

Had to drill out alternator bracket to get it to fit. Close tolerances are all very well until you add paint. Anyway, now removed all the brake connections and need to take off the rear drum, that's going to be fun!

The reason I have removed the brake pipes is purely to replace the seals. I suspect they have been there some time.

Bits and pieces and brakes

Went to see a nice man in the back streets of Wellingborough. Managed to get hold of about £400 worth of equipment by buying it second hand from a specialist.

I now have alternator, bracket and bolt, regulator, breather and a crank pulley. Not forgetting disptick and tube and a speedo cable. Alternator brushes are okay but needs stripping as it appears to be full of dirt, brushes look okay though.

Hint - Do not split the brake calipers unless you have to, it appears to be a lot easier to remove the pistons with them still attached together.

Need to remove brake pistons now anyway, long story.

Anyway, now that I have worked out how the breather system works and have a breather, it is currently soaking in petrol.

Next stop, Rivnuts and find out the chassis number/what the breather bracket is that I have missing.

Nice little parcels arrived , one from ebay - M7 bolts from a vespa specialist. The other from Ecas. Bump stops, brake shims and alternator belt.

Don't forget the shims when re-assembling calipers!

Various bits of rubber!

Bump stops on the front are Kaput, rear one looks okay, not sure about the mount will have to check with the experts on that one. Top engine mount is dead, not sure what it is, will have to find out.

My Dad got bored today and look what he did while I was at work, more info no the stupid cap soon.

Picture coming as soon as I take it!

so are the brakes working?

Maybe, it seems that with the right components they might well, then it's a case of adjusting, bleeding and testing.

Why won't the wheels turn?

Okay, at first I thought the brakes had seized. After getting the fantastic 2cv restoration manual by Lindsey Porter I had a really close up look with a good friend of mine.

Does the handbrake work, A little. Hang on, car's on axle stands, wheels still won't turn. Caliper doesn't look set right, it's a bit close to the wheel. We drop out the brake pads to have a closer look.

Brake pads pop out (no grease though)!

Hang on, where are the Shims for centering with?

More money

Looking at the car

First of all, this car has three wheels. This is correct, good start. The third wheel on the back is basically a castor with a brake. The current wheel is bald but Chris has supplied 2 others for me.

Steering - there isn't any, waiting for trackrod end bolts to be delivered. They are very french. M7 bolts don't exist generally apart from the 2cv, one side turns after a fashion. This is the first priority after filling the gearbox up with oil.

Gear linkage selector, more on this to come, but basically it needs rebuilding.

Did you say 2cv

Yes, I did say the 2cv as in the tin snail. This car has a tiny 602cc engine and a whole 29 bhp. You have to remember though, that the pembleton is quite a lot lighter than the 2cv, as well as being a better chassis and body design. Phil Gregory, the creator used to build and race motorbikes and was very good at it! He built some machines from scratch including chassis and engines. This machine rivals the Morgan in looks if not quite in performance but that's not the idea

Thanks to who?

This is most definately an unfinished project. Getting a three wheeler across the country is a daunting task, thanks however to www.Shiply.co.uk who put me in touch with Ian who moved it for me. Many thanks also go to Chris for adding other bits needed that he had around.

It might not sound much but a round speedometer is a special thing for a 2cv as a lot of them were square. I am not joking

The story so far

I am a computer technician by trade and, like a huge number of people in my trade, a complete petrolhead.

Anyway, again like a lot of people in this industry I just sort of fell into it by accident.

After studying heavy plant and vehicle engineering at college after leaving school, and shortly after that learning to drive, I have always wanted to have something unusual, some would say mad.

Reading custom car and classics magasines was always fun but I just didn't have the money at the time.

The idea that the pembleton was a possibility came when reading an issue of one of the kitcar magasines. The machine appealed to my eccentric side, was easy to work on, not particularly complicated to build and most of all, could be built quite cheaply.


I went to the Stoneleigh show to have a look around and bumped into Rob A with his and had a really good nose around. Yes, I really like this one.


A few years later I went to Stoneleigh again and man known as Chris D, who was at the time, oddly enough driving a race-spec 2cv (that is not a contradiction in terms) known simply as "the bomb". Chris let slip that he had a Long wheel base SS sitting in his shed that he wanted to sell.

Roll on another 6 months, several events where I could see some pembletons later, including wathing them blast up the hill at Prescottm, this machine appears on the forum on www.pembleton.co.uk

I live a long way from where the car is but was going to a wedding in that general direction so I took a detour on the way home.

Anyway, now after a wodge of cash and some fun with transport companies, it is comfortably ensconced in the garage of a friend who needed some money.