Tagged: 1970 DS21

DS sill trim – replacement part 3 1

DS sill trim – replacement part 3

The installation of the new sill trim in the DS progresses.    Today I was able to glue down the passengers side of the car after doing some final trimming to size (mostly done in part 2).    I ended up using an entire can of spray adhesive, as the underside of the trim absorbs a lot of the glue.     Unfortunately, I...

DS sill trim – replacement part 2 2

DS sill trim – replacement part 2

The DS has large box sections that run down both sides.  On the DS comfort, there are various bits of vinyl trim that cover these sections.   In part 1, I had replaced the outer trim and door sealing strips.  Next was the inner trim.  The inner trim comes mostly pre-cut to size, but it needs to be trimmed and also adapted for a...

DS sill trim – replacement part 1 1

DS sill trim – replacement part 1

The other day I had removed all the sill trim from the DS.  I also re-routed the speaker wires so new trim can be fitted.   Next step was to fit the silver trim that faces the outside of the car, but is only visible when the doors are open, and the inner weather strip. The trim is glued on, but needs to be...

Re-routing the DS rear speaker wires 1

Re-routing the DS rear speaker wires

I had originally tucked the wiring for the rear speakers in the DS under the marine carpet that was on the inside of the sills.   However, I am now replacing that and gluing down the correct vinyl, so wanted a better solution. The DS wiring harness actually goes between the inner and outer sill, along with some hydraulic lines.   This is not...

Citroen DS sill trim – removal 1

Citroen DS sill trim – removal

The sill trim on my DS was in poor condition – the rubbers were perished, the outer sill trim was cracking, and the trim on the inside sills had been replaced with Marine carpet.   Most of the information I could find on the Internet referred to a DS Pallas, and I wanted to keep my car as a DS Comfort. The photo above...

Replacement accumulator fixed heavy steering while parking 1

Replacement accumulator fixed heavy steering while parking

Last year I replaced my accumulator sphere on the DS.   The main driver for this was that I was getting short ‘cycle’ times.  (i.e. the hydraulic pump would kick in very regularly to maintain system pressure, which puts stress on the system).   At the time, I did get an improvement in cycle time.   Secondarily I was hoping to cure a problem where the power...

Retrosound radio in the DS almost complete for the second time 0

Retrosound radio in the DS almost complete for the second time

Previously, I had been working on a nicer faceplate solution for the Retrosound Model 2 radio in the Citroen DS. I am happy to say that this is now almost complete and back in the car.    There are a few more adjustments to do, but overall it is a much better solution to the one I had before. With the rear knobs cut...

Citroen DS wouldn’t idle 0

Citroen DS wouldn’t idle

I came to start the DS the other day, and it started fine, but would not idle properly.  Once the revs dropped below 1200 or so the engine died.   The car had been running fine before so it was quite perplexing.   I had some advice from the forum to try a few things, one was to check the float in the carburettor...

Retrosound model 2 knob adjustment 1

Retrosound model 2 knob adjustment

Previously I had started re-looking at the faceplate of the Retrosound Model 2 I have installed in the DS.    The biggest issue is fitment of the secondary knobs.   In my first attempt, I had tried to file away small holes in the side of the cubby housing for them to fit, but I found that they jammed easily and interfered with the...

Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS – Revisited 5

Retrosound Model 2 in a Citroen DS – Revisited

Last year I installed a Retrosound Model 2 radio in my Citroen DS.   Overall, I was happy with the result, but there were one or two small things that were not working as I expected.   This was mostly down to so little space for the unit in the DS, as it is hard to get the radio face and knobs to fit inside...

New DS Air Cleaner Hose 2

New DS Air Cleaner Hose

The Citroen DS has a rubber hose that connects the air cleaner assembly with the top of the carburettor.   This DS air cleaner hose had become so hard and perished that it tore when I tried to remove the air cleaner to take off the spheres. The condition of the hose is fairly evident from the picture.   The new one was much more pliant.  ...

DS Carpet Replacement 0

DS Carpet Replacement

When I got it, the DS had threadbare blue carpets.   The previous owner also had a blue DS, so I suspect at some point he upgraded the carpets in that car and the blue ones were in better condition than the carpets in the red car.    In addition it had marine carpet on the box sills which for a DS Comfort should...

Changing the DS Accumulator Sphere 3

Changing the DS Accumulator Sphere

Previously, I had removed all my suspension spheres to check their pressure.   Their pressure was checked at the Citroen Club tech day, and found to be acceptable.     Given I had the system de-pressurized, I also wanted to change the DS accumulator sphere.     The accumulator acts as a store of system pressure.   This means that the pump does not...

Citroen DS Sphere removal 3

Citroen DS Sphere removal

Central to the Citroen DS hydraulic system is a set of ‘spheres’ that hold hydraulic pressure.  The spheres have an internal diaphragm so they can contain gas on one side and hydraulic fluid on the other.    One is used for each wheel to provide the suspension, as the gas forms the ‘spring’ and the amount of fluid in the sphere controls the ride...

Citroen DS interior rear roof trim – attempt 4 0

Citroen DS interior rear roof trim – attempt 4

I have tried a few times to get the rear trim that sits between the C pillars to not fall down on to the parcel shelf. My first attempt was to use the correct clips, however the trim would fall down over bumps.      My second attempt, was a 3M product, which is sort of like Velcro and sold in little squares at...

DS Oil Service 0

DS Oil Service

It was time again for another service for the DS.   Last time, the gear oil in the transmission was quite dirty so even though it didn’t need to be done again, I thought it would make sense to change the oil in there too.   I also had a tip from the forum that using Castrol VMX with the Nulon gearbox additive makes...

DS door contact switch and shift gate 1

DS door contact switch and shift gate

The DS door contact switch that controls the interior lights based on the doors being open or shut had disintegrated, which meant that the interior lights were always on.   Not the most helpful feature if you want to be able to restart the car after leaving it parked.  The actual switches are easy to remove and install, but the problem is that since...

Final DS door card installed 1

Final DS door card installed

The fourth and final door card for the DS is now installed.   The reason for the long delay was that the rear drivers side door would not lock.  If the door was unlocked, the mechanism would not hold the door closed, if locked, it would behave as if it were unlocked. Therefore, before I fitted the door card, I wanted to fix the...

Classic Jalopy