Newbie DS23 Pallas EFI(ish)

Yes, they are not for the faint hearted.
At times there are highly challenging issues, however the rewards (generally) more than compensate.
A DS is never "sorted". There is always something on the "to do" list.
Choosing a colour is probably one of the easy things.
Getting all the panels sound and correct shape is a much bigger job.
You'll have time to change your mind about colour several times before you are ready for top coat.

Yes, I had a DSpecial in beige with green trim.
Not my favourite colour. For me, it's way too boring.

Unfortunately my DS21ie Pallas (Vert Argenté) is also not my favourite colour...... but for now it will remain original. Luckily all the green carpet and original black leather are still intact.
The rear leather is perfect, the front is getting a little tired, with a 2cm tear in the drivers seat.
 
In an EFI car, you lose a few inches in the LH footwell to the EFI ECU. Fitting the under-dash AC unit means the front passenger will have a cramped existence which may be a problem for some taller passengers. Some cars ened up with a centre floor mounted AC unit instead. Keep this in mind if this car still has the EFI ECU fitted or if you want to refit D-Jetronic equipment and also want AC. If you decide to stay with a carby other than that SU, you want to obtain the manifold to take the Weber carby, not a Solex. As the EFI manifold is still fitted, you may still have most of an EFI system still fitted, just disconnected. It may be simplest to delete any AC unit fitted and drive some other car when it's very hot. Think aestivation.
 
Yes, they are not for the faint hearted.
At times there are highly challenging issues, however the rewards (generally) more than compensate.
A DS is never "sorted". There is always something on the "to do" list.
Choosing a colour is probably one of the easy things.
Getting all the panels sound and correct shape is a much bigger job.
You'll have time to change your mind about colour several times before you are ready for top coat.

Yes, I had a DSpecial in beige with green trim.
Not my favourite colour. For me, it's way too boring.

Unfortunately my DS21ie Pallas (Vert Argenté) is also not my favourite colour...... but for now it will remain original. Luckily all the green carpet and original black leather are still intact.
The rear leather is perfect, the front is getting a little tired, with a 2cm tear in the drivers seat.
Tears in the seat are frustrating but taking the cover off is not that hard. Once off it is easily repaired(before it gets worse) by an upholstery shop. Preserving original leather trim is well worth the effort IMO
 
Thanks folks, all helpful. Good to know the original colour, I now know where I can access endless reference material, I’ve been pointed to Just Cits and have a lead on an interstate transporter. Not bad from about 5 days from a group of people I’m yet to meet 😊. My initial plan of attack is to get the car directly from seller to Just Cits. Ian’s inspection and advice will be the basis of the plan from there, which is to make it so I can drive it. My hope is that there will be no substantive (structural) rust and that the basic mechanical elements are at least “sound”. Not my first rodeo, I’ve owned a heap of different cars, so I know enough to prepare myself for the unknown, esp buying off the internet on a whim after a 10 minute conversation (altho I must note seller has been excellent to deal with). AKA “hope for the best and plan for the worst”.
 
Last edited:
it’s arrived, very scruffy but it works (well it starts and moves), nothing alarming on the rust front identified so far. Needs all 4 spheres + collectors + pump attended to. Radiator off for refresh, will get new hoses, water pump and all sorts of things that come up. I love it. I like very scruffy, will just get it on road to start and go from there. Worst paint job in the history of paint jobs, looks like someone has literally spray canned it red without any prep that i can see. interesting.

Door trims (drivers especially, which was hanging off) knackered, fronts retrimmed with completely different cloth and quarter drivers board rotted off. Passengers on its second board.

The replacement door trims look good online and seem reasonably priced - what are peoples experiences? Are they quality? i think I cd muck around with what i have forever without a terribly good result.

Is there a community consensus on which brand to get, where to buy them and how to get them here? Is it standard just to google and find what i want and order, pay, freight and wait?

like this?

https://www.citronpieces.com/en/set-of-4-door-cards-in-ocher-cloth-pallas-citroen.html

Only seem to be able to get in set of 4, I’d just buy front if i cd, i can live with the rears which are tatty but functional, and original cloth.
 
I bought all my interior from Citrotoon in Holland. I think all the suppliers are using the same raw materials and manufacturers… Citrotoon got the carpets made in Poland.

Richard should be able to supply you only the front door cards. I only got the fabric as I wanted to reuse the original door pockets and got a local trimmer to sew up the cards.

he does seat covers as well as all the vinyls, headliners, carpets, etc. Citronpieces, Franzose, Citroën classics in the Uk… they all offer the same. It is as easy as sending them an email with what you need, get a price including shipping, pay and wait for delivery. I got them to break it up into invoices under $1000 to not pay GST. Some do it, some won’t….

Sven
 
Thanks to Gerry Harvey, I thought the GST was supposed to be collected at the point of sale for any order being shipped to Australia regardless of it's value. Does customs still chase after the GST and duty on orders over $1000 upon arrival or are they leaving it to the sellers?

My seat covers and door cards came from Citronpieces and they look great. Fitting the east covers took about a week and was easy enough. The backing board for the door cards is a bit fragile though.
 
Thanks to Gerry Harvey, I thought the GST was supposed to be collected at the point of sale for any order being shipped to Australia regardless of it's value. Does customs still chase after the GST and duty on orders over $1000 upon arrival or are they leaving it to the sellers?

My seat covers and door cards came from Citronpieces and they look great. Fitting the east covers took about a week and was easy enough. The backing board for the door cards is a bit fragile though.
I doubt any European parts supplier is interested in collecting an Australian tax.
If they did, how would they pass it on?
 
No you pay it at this end, “Border Force” hang on to your stuff until you pay it (and any import duties). Pretty hit and miss, the bigger the cost the higher the chance they will do it.
 
The rules around GST on online orders changed a couple of years back to scrap the $1000 threshold. International businesses selling products into Australia are supposed to register with the ATO, collect the GST and then forward it back to the ATO. It's a crazy scheme and as you say Bob, very few if any companies have actually done this. Ebay is about the only one I know of that charges GST on all transactions destined for Australia regardless of which ebay site you purchase through.
 
Oh I didn’t know that, I’ve had a couple of painful exchanges with Aus govt in past Re duties and GST on parts I’ve imported.
 
Yep, paid $450 bucks in gst. Maybe because it came in two large boxes that were picked up by the ‘radar’ - too big to fly under it. Anyway, lesson learnt.
 
Yes, the “search the million codes” thing is fun, isn’t it? Not. You paid GST then as well (I’m Cody with freight and import duty)? That’s what I had to do last time I did it, which I think was last year too (maybe 2019).
 
Back to my car (if anyone is interested), it’s a DS23 Pallas EFI but EFI throttle body gone and replaced with an SU on the EFI manifold. Bosch computer was in the boot. Looks to me like injectors are still in manifold. SU works (ie it starts and runs), be interesting to see how well when I get it on road.
 
Last edited:
Yep, paid $450 bucks in gst. Maybe because it came in two large boxes that were picked up by the ‘radar’ - too big to fly under it. Anyway, lesson learnt.
Always remember when shopping for your next fridge that Gerry Harvey was the main instigator and complainer, for the govt putting GST on all imported goods
 
Top