DS19 1957 restoration

[lhs2.1]

I've posted snippets about this car previously but now that I'm fully committed to it's restoration I thought that it deserved a new thread.
It's a 1957 Slough-built DS19 that was originally delivered to a farmer in New Zealand. After a lurid road incident he parked it at around 50K miles. It went through a number of NZ "gunnas", until John Paas rescued it and imported it to Brisbane in 1997.
I bought it from Gilbert Henry in 2003 and got it to a mobile state (not registered and largely in primer) for the 50th anniversary of the DS at Federation Square Melbourne in 2005. Where, in front of thousands of onlookers it dropped onto 2 cylinders as I attempted to drive up into the square. #%@k, I'd just driven down Flinders St., and into Swanston St. in a unregistered, uninsured almost 50 year old Citroen. Clap, cheer people, cheer.
After the Fed Square event the car went into limbo in the farm shed while I concentrated on other projects. However last year I started to get back to into it. Much has been done, although not a lot to show. The whole dash area has been restored, the wiring sorted out and some work on the hydraulics. It now starts, runs and pumps up with no leaks and the next step is to sort out the gear changing. After that, we'll get some paint on it.
The first image is the DS19 being disinterred from it's first period of storage in NZ.
The second is at Fed Square in 2005.
A recent shot of the restored dash.
Today, checking the pressure of the low pressure pump.

roger

 

[DoubleChevron]

Brilliant, everyone is obviously so "gobsmacked" you have found a nice DS19 to restore that they have nothing to add. What an amazing old car. The low pressure pumps built into the water pump isn't it I'm guessing you replaced the chromed bumpers with stainless. Did the indicator trumpets have rust holes in them too I remember buttercup bob trying to sort out what to do about that with his car.

There seems to be countless minor differences to the slightly later cars even in those few piccies. I can see a sort budging air dam below the body coloured trim behind the rear bumper for starters. The firewall even looks to have a more square shape.

seeya,
Shane L.

 

[lhs2.1]

Brilliant, everyone is obviously so "gobsmacked" you have found a nice DS19 to restore that they have nothing to add. What an amazing old car. The low pressure pumps built into the water pump isn't it I'm guessing you replaced the chromed bumpers with stainless. Did the indicator trumpets have rust holes in them too I remember buttercup bob trying to sort out what to do about that with his car.

There seems to be countless minor differences to the slightly later cars even in those few piccies. I can see a sort budging air dam below the body coloured trim behind the rear bumper for starters. The firewall even looks to have a more square shape.

seeya,
Shane L.

Thanks for the comments, Shane.
Yes, the low pressure hydraulic pump is co-axial with the water pump and sits between the WP and the fan. It serves the same function as the centrifugal regulator fitted to later cars.
I suspect that the original bumpers were chromed steel. As you can see from the first photo the rear bumper suffered terminal rust in storage. This was replaced in NZ with a correct chromed item. These are deeper at the bottom than later ones and that is what you can see in the photo.
The indicator trumpets (trompettes de Jericho) are chromed steel which were pressed by Slough on cast iron formers supplied by Paris. Being steel they are apt to rust. On this car they have some surface corrosion but not as bad as those on Bob Dircks' Buttercup.
You're right about the countless differences in these early cars. They were very much works in progress and possibly no two cars were identical. I started to document the differences but gave up. Just an example - my car is still fitted with the first design of accelerated idle control. There are service bulletins of the time that advise changing to a redesigned control. Obviously this advice didn't reach the depths of NZ.
roger

 

[GreenBlood]

Brilliant, everyone is obviously so "gobsmacked" you have found a nice DS19 to restore that they have nothing to add.

seeya,
Shane L.

Not so Shane, I'd be way out of my comfort zone making comment but will surely follow this thread with great interest. I will chime in occasionally with what you guys may see as dumb questions but I know you will be kind

That dash is just a joy to behold, surely nothing automotive compares, whilst I'm a big fan of the later slopey dash it is aggressively masculine in comparison. Roger do you have before and after shots, what was required to bring it back to that condition, I know they were a very fragile plastic?

Cheers
Chris

 

[David S]

... a very fragile plastic ...

I was very surprised how thin and flimsy the plastic used for the column/selector housing when I first picked one up as a loose part. It makes an ice-cream container look quite well made in comparison. It's really no wonder the dash parts were not very durable.

Is the number marked on the inside of the door significant? From the factory? Is the dark grey the original body colour?

 

[lhs2.1]

I'll try to answer the questions about the dashboard.
Apart from being a mirror image of the French LHD dashboards, the Slough RHD ones are made differently. As I understand, the main part of the French dash was made in two pieces - an injection molded nylon top part and a vac-formed ABS bottom. The Slough dash is a one piece vac-form. I cut a sliver from a spare dash and did a burn test that indicated it was ABS. The ABS is 1.6mm thick and has a black core covered on both sides with thin yellow-green layer. The outer is painted, in my case black on the upper surfaces and cream on the bottom. The rest of the plastic parts (glove box liner, glove box lid, speedo surround, cover over gearchange) appear to be ABS, and the ventilation grilles are two-piece aluminium castings. This is at odds with the literature which claim that most of these parts in LHD form are nylon moldings.
I have to dis-agree that the Slough plastic parts are fragile and not durable. The main vac-form is quite strong and the one on my car has only minor warping in a couple of places. I did replace the glove box lid with another in better condition. The cast aluminium ventilator grilles are bullet-proof unlike the fragile plastic ones fitted to early ID19s.
The main vac-form required only careful cleaning and polishing. The paint is not perfect but I didn't want to lose the patina. The remaining parts were repainted.
David, the number chalked on the door (275) is the Slough chassis number, 9-570275. It is also chalked onto the other doors.
The dark grey is the original body colour, Thundercloud Grey. The original order on Citroen Motors Napier dated 30th November 1956 specified Hilux Thundercloud Grey and Regal Red.
Chris, the attached image is the dash when I bought the car.

roger

 

[richo]

roger, I won't pi$$ in your pocket.
The work you've done on the dash is nothing short of top grade curatorial calibre.

As a slopey dash owner, I admire this earlier, original creation even more, especially the colours.

cheers,
r

 

[lhs2.1]

roger, I won't pi$$ in your pocket.
The work you've done on the dash is nothing short of top grade curatorial calibre.

As a slopey dash owner, I admire this earlier, original creation even more, especially the colours.

cheers,
r

Thanks for the kind words Richo. I must admit to a liking for slopey dash cars, too.
roger