Looking so good. Hard to believe it's that same car. What clips do you mean Faulksy?
I'm going to have one last go at the competition......
I'm going to have one last go at the competition......
Resurrecting a Goddess.......Twice
- Thread starter faulksy
- Start date
Alright, as the Walrus said "the time has come" to reveal what that part is.
It isn't in the parts books that I've been able to find so I have no idea what it's purpose is. The only reason I'd say it's factory is that it has been present on 2 dashboards sourced from opposite ends of the country. It lives just to the left of the driver's side air vent and is housed completely within the steering pod.
It isn't present on the manual cars
It isn't in the parts books that I've been able to find so I have no idea what it's purpose is. The only reason I'd say it's factory is that it has been present on 2 dashboards sourced from opposite ends of the country. It lives just to the left of the driver's side air vent and is housed completely within the steering pod.
It isn't present on the manual cars
It's amazing what a coat of paint and a few hundred hours does hey Budge.
These are the clips I'm referring to. Don't think they are used anywhere else on the cars.
They're part no. ZC 9619 834 U. Not sure how many there should be as the parts book doesn't have a quantity listed.
These are the clips I'm referring to. Don't think they are used anywhere else on the cars.
They're part no. ZC 9619 834 U. Not sure how many there should be as the parts book doesn't have a quantity listed.
Episode 27: Just when you thought it was safe
The last time I was at the workshop fitting seats etc. I discovered that in my absence, the car had had a cute idea. Apparently hanging onto LHM was something it no longer wanted to do. My first thought was one of the front suspension boots had gone out in sympathy with the rear one but closer inspection revealed everything was dry up there.
Climbing under revealed that the a previous patch job on the return lines was no longer holding and LHM was dripping off them everywhere. There wasn't enough slack to just cut the damaged ends off so new hoses it is.
Those two hoses run circles around the engine bay, one to pick up the return from he brakes and the other comes from the clutch re-engagment control on the other side of the engine bay. Some 5mm fuel hose was called into action and is currently holding up just fine.
The last time I was at the workshop fitting seats etc. I discovered that in my absence, the car had had a cute idea. Apparently hanging onto LHM was something it no longer wanted to do. My first thought was one of the front suspension boots had gone out in sympathy with the rear one but closer inspection revealed everything was dry up there.
That part had me stumped. But I've got my excuse ready! My car is a 68: it has the third nose, but the second (1960s) dash. I don't have that part 
I remember those clips now - for the stainless steel edging. Interior lights: Dirk Sasseens in Europe will sell you the light with chrome surround - but for 125 euros EACH. If you just need the plastic lens, they are a more reasonable 30 euros each.
I remember those clips now - for the stainless steel edging. Interior lights: Dirk Sasseens in Europe will sell you the light with chrome surround - but for 125 euros EACH. If you just need the plastic lens, they are a more reasonable 30 euros each.Yeah, that clue was a bit misleading hey. You do have to wonder what the factory were thinking some days when they put random extra parts on the RHD models that aren't in the parts books.
I might see if CitroenClassics or Andre can source the clips.
I'm in need of the chrome surround and the lens. I also noticed the Dirk is now selling the DS and Dspecial B pillar light sense as repro parts. Seems the rang of parts being remade expands every day.
I might see if CitroenClassics or Andre can source the clips.
I'm in need of the chrome surround and the lens. I also noticed the Dirk is now selling the DS and Dspecial B pillar light sense as repro parts. Seems the rang of parts being remade expands every day.
Episode 28:
Yet another small job bites the dust, this one has been many weeks in the planning though. It's taken a few weeks but the steering wheel is ready to go back in. The wheel copped a huge amount of heat being in the epicentre of the blaze totally destroying the binding tape and black finish on the spoke. Even the stainless piece didn't fair so well.
First things first though. A trip to the wire wheel and a lot of metal polish later and things are looking better.
Some may have seen a post I put into the main citroen board ages ago about the black plastic finish on the steering wheel spoke and how to replicate it. For those not familiar here is a closeup
Turns out it's a very difficult finish to replicate as either heat shrunk or cast onto the spoke during production. I considered various crackle effect paints and also the option of going gloss black in the Chapron style. In the end it seemed the best way to go was to source a piece of very thin leather, something in the order of 1mm thick so it could fit in the recess behind the stainless piece. It took a lot of searching to find a piece of leather with exactly the right grain and sheen.
Stretching the leather over the compound curves of the spoke without creasing or buckling will go down as one of the hardest and most frustrating things I've had do on this car. Winding on the vinyl tape is a piece of cake by comparison. Before the tape can be wound on you need to identify which way round it goes and the end needs to be prepared.
The side with only 1 grove is wound against the steel and the end needs to be cut so that the first 100mm slopes from the plain edge to the grove edge down to a 3mm wide x 15mm long tail.
The reason for this is that the ends of tape locate into a hole either side of the spoke. To start winding insert the tail into the right hole and stretch the tape down and away from you. assuming you're looking at the back of the wheel that is.
It's important to stretch the tape slightly as you wind it on so that it grips the steel and sits flat. The steel tube is actually and oval that's on an angle. Apply some super glue to the wheel every now and then to hold things in place. I back that up with some sticky tape wound ontop of the vinyl tape every 10 or so turns. This stops the whole lot unwinding if you let go of the tape at any point.
Getting the tape to end and slot into the hole is a bit tricky. It may involve unwinding a few turns to adjust the overlap and get it all sitting neatly. The end of the tape needs to be cut into the same shape as the start.
Yet another small job bites the dust, this one has been many weeks in the planning though. It's taken a few weeks but the steering wheel is ready to go back in. The wheel copped a huge amount of heat being in the epicentre of the blaze totally destroying the binding tape and black finish on the spoke. Even the stainless piece didn't fair so well.
First things first though. A trip to the wire wheel and a lot of metal polish later and things are looking better.
Turns out it's a very difficult finish to replicate as either heat shrunk or cast onto the spoke during production. I considered various crackle effect paints and also the option of going gloss black in the Chapron style. In the end it seemed the best way to go was to source a piece of very thin leather, something in the order of 1mm thick so it could fit in the recess behind the stainless piece. It took a lot of searching to find a piece of leather with exactly the right grain and sheen.
Stretching the leather over the compound curves of the spoke without creasing or buckling will go down as one of the hardest and most frustrating things I've had do on this car. Winding on the vinyl tape is a piece of cake by comparison. Before the tape can be wound on you need to identify which way round it goes and the end needs to be prepared.
The side with only 1 grove is wound against the steel and the end needs to be cut so that the first 100mm slopes from the plain edge to the grove edge down to a 3mm wide x 15mm long tail.
The reason for this is that the ends of tape locate into a hole either side of the spoke. To start winding insert the tail into the right hole and stretch the tape down and away from you. assuming you're looking at the back of the wheel that is.
It's important to stretch the tape slightly as you wind it on so that it grips the steel and sits flat. The steel tube is actually and oval that's on an angle. Apply some super glue to the wheel every now and then to hold things in place. I back that up with some sticky tape wound ontop of the vinyl tape every 10 or so turns. This stops the whole lot unwinding if you let go of the tape at any point.
Getting the tape to end and slot into the hole is a bit tricky. It may involve unwinding a few turns to adjust the overlap and get it all sitting neatly. The end of the tape needs to be cut into the same shape as the start.
Lovely job and great instructs Faulksy. I'm sure others that need to do this are going to find this very helpful. Compared to a modern, plumped foam wheel, I remember the feel of the skinny taped steering wheel as being one of the most enjoyable parts about driving my DS, and I'm looking forward to that again.
Thanks guys, should look pretty good slotted back into the dash. I was surprised to find that the stainless piece is basically part of the spoke. You can just about make out the file marks on either side where the welds were filed flat.
Anyone have any ideas about fixing a faded instrument cluster face? The black plastic has turned an uneven grey.
Anyone have any ideas about fixing a faded instrument cluster face? The black plastic has turned an uneven grey.
Apologies if I asked you before Faulksy, but seeing the attached picture put it in mind: what paint did you use on the chassis please? I'm after something that looks in keeping with a 50 year old car. Modern black paints are too shiny - "wet look". I certainly don't want matt, and want something more that satin. Your chassis leg here looks just right.
The paint is called Blacktop and is made by KBS Coatings. It's an Australian company so not sure if you'll be able to source it in the UK.
https://www.kbs-coatings.com.au/product/blacktop/
Supposedly the guys who make it used to work for the mob who make POR15 and it's an improvement on that formula. Sticks to just about anything and is bloody hard to remove once cured.
The paint on the vertical face of the frame member is the factory paint. Seeing as the engine has stayed in place it's too hard to prep and paint around all the pipes without getting paint all over them. The underside is painted with Blacktop.
https://www.kbs-coatings.com.au/product/blacktop/
Supposedly the guys who make it used to work for the mob who make POR15 and it's an improvement on that formula. Sticks to just about anything and is bloody hard to remove once cured.
The paint on the vertical face of the frame member is the factory paint. Seeing as the engine has stayed in place it's too hard to prep and paint around all the pipes without getting paint all over them. The underside is painted with Blacktop.
Thanks Faulksy. I will do some research
Episode 29:
While mucking around down other things I noticed that the fuel gauge was permanently reading empty. This struck me as odd given he tank has 20L of fuel in it. A check of the wiring showed the sender was present and correct leaving a fault in the instrument panel as the likely suspect.
Removing the gauge and cleaning the circuit board did't help so I decided to bend the contact strips on the gauge to get better contact.
This gave the desired result and now I have a working fuel gauge. Seeing as the cluster was apart I took the opportunity to give it a deep clean and tidy up.
The plastic was so dirty that it looked several different shades of grey. Hot soapy water and a toothbrush later its all nice and black again. Interestingly the lens over the speedo on the earlier clusters is actually glass, on later ones it's plastic. Similarly the chrome rings are metal not plastic. Next job is redoing all the silver trim. A shout out to Greg Frienberg who supplies the dashboard sticker sets, there really is no substitute.
The ring around each instrument is the hardest sticker to apply neatly. I found sticking one section and the peeling the transfer film off and using a thin knife blade to guide the sticker worked best. It's also a good opportunity to do the prep work for fitting a temperature gauge. First step is to remove the blanking plate
The trick is to loop a string under it and pull up without shattering the white plastic shroud. Although the fascia is now being reproduced they do not include the plastic shrouds. I'll be converting a fuel gauge but thats a story for another day. Final check was to make sure all the lamps are working.
It takes a fair bit of spaghetti wiring to light everything up without having it in the car. That said, if your cluster ever looks like this you've got a serious problem or two
While mucking around down other things I noticed that the fuel gauge was permanently reading empty. This struck me as odd given he tank has 20L of fuel in it. A check of the wiring showed the sender was present and correct leaving a fault in the instrument panel as the likely suspect.
Very nice as always. looks like new. AND it has four intact screw holes in the corners.......
Episode 30: Feeling the Heat
Thanks Paul, turns out one corner is cracked so will need reinforcing next time the cluster comes out. Might have to wait for the radio install though.
As I'm sure many of you know, the 3rd dash temperature gauge is somewhat of a rarity. Paradoxically it was mostly fitted by the factory to cars destined for the coldest climates and not the ones destined for hotter climes. Fortunately there are a few options available to us for installing one. The first and easiest is to simply buy one of the temp gauges when they come up for sale, this is also the most expensive way to get one. The other options involve using a fuel gauge. The plot thickens though as there are 3 ways to do convert a fuel gauge. The first 2 are pretty straight forward.
Option 1:
Slice off the two plastic locating pegs on the base of the gauge and mount it upside down. You will need to put a piece of tape over the copper traces to prevent the contacts shorting. The downside is that at rest, the needle will float to the top of the gauge.
Option2:
Drill holes through the circuit board for the locating pegs and proceed to mount the gauge as normal.
Option 3:
This requires some bravery but will bring you the closest to an original gauge this side of paying upwards of $200 AUD for one. The major difference between the fuel gauge and temperature gauge is that they are mirror images of one another. This is why the gauge is turned upside down in option 1. Step one is to take a fuel gauge and drill off the top of the rivets holding the coil assembly in place. Best done in a drill press as any damage to the coils will render the gauge useless. Also be careful not to snag the very fine wires as there is very little extra wire and splicing more on is an exercise in tedium.
With that done, gently prise the coil assembly off the posts noting which wires are attached to each post. Prise up the 4 tabs that secure the needle and pivot assembly and remove it from the coil assembly. Keep a note of which way up everything is and the position of the counter weights on the pivot as it all needs to be turned 180deg for reassembly. Mixing things up will result in having to start again with much trial and error.
Each of the counter weights needs to be mirrored about the pivot, for instance the rectangular brass one pointing down needs to be moved so that it points up by the same amount.Now rotated the needle assembly by 180deg and replace into the coil assembly. Bend over the tabs to secure.
Rotate the coil assembly by 180deg and mount it back onto the posts. It should be a pretty tight fit but super glue can also be called upon to secure. Solder the wires onto the brass posts and with that the gauge should now work. With the gauge in its mounting orientation, the connections are from top to bottom: sensor, ground, +12V.
To test, connect ground to ground, +12V to +12V and sensor to ground. The needle should rise to the top of the scale and slowly sink when sensor is disconnected.
The final step is to add the scale graphic which I have yet to make. Instead I connected everything up and ran the cluster through a test. Amazingly one of the spare clusters had a blue lens that was still transparent.
Thanks Paul, turns out one corner is cracked so will need reinforcing next time the cluster comes out. Might have to wait for the radio install though.
As I'm sure many of you know, the 3rd dash temperature gauge is somewhat of a rarity. Paradoxically it was mostly fitted by the factory to cars destined for the coldest climates and not the ones destined for hotter climes. Fortunately there are a few options available to us for installing one. The first and easiest is to simply buy one of the temp gauges when they come up for sale, this is also the most expensive way to get one. The other options involve using a fuel gauge. The plot thickens though as there are 3 ways to do convert a fuel gauge. The first 2 are pretty straight forward.
Option 1:
Slice off the two plastic locating pegs on the base of the gauge and mount it upside down. You will need to put a piece of tape over the copper traces to prevent the contacts shorting. The downside is that at rest, the needle will float to the top of the gauge.
Option2:
Drill holes through the circuit board for the locating pegs and proceed to mount the gauge as normal.
Option 3:
This requires some bravery but will bring you the closest to an original gauge this side of paying upwards of $200 AUD for one. The major difference between the fuel gauge and temperature gauge is that they are mirror images of one another. This is why the gauge is turned upside down in option 1. Step one is to take a fuel gauge and drill off the top of the rivets holding the coil assembly in place. Best done in a drill press as any damage to the coils will render the gauge useless. Also be careful not to snag the very fine wires as there is very little extra wire and splicing more on is an exercise in tedium.
With that done, gently prise the coil assembly off the posts noting which wires are attached to each post. Prise up the 4 tabs that secure the needle and pivot assembly and remove it from the coil assembly. Keep a note of which way up everything is and the position of the counter weights on the pivot as it all needs to be turned 180deg for reassembly. Mixing things up will result in having to start again with much trial and error.
Each of the counter weights needs to be mirrored about the pivot, for instance the rectangular brass one pointing down needs to be moved so that it points up by the same amount.Now rotated the needle assembly by 180deg and replace into the coil assembly. Bend over the tabs to secure.
Rotate the coil assembly by 180deg and mount it back onto the posts. It should be a pretty tight fit but super glue can also be called upon to secure. Solder the wires onto the brass posts and with that the gauge should now work. With the gauge in its mounting orientation, the connections are from top to bottom: sensor, ground, +12V.
To test, connect ground to ground, +12V to +12V and sensor to ground. The needle should rise to the top of the scale and slowly sink when sensor is disconnected.
The final step is to add the scale graphic which I have yet to make. Instead I connected everything up and ran the cluster through a test. Amazingly one of the spare clusters had a blue lens that was still transparent.
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Nice work as always Faulksy.
Episode 31:
An update from the panel shop, after weeks of nothing suddenly there has been a flurry of activity. The result is that 2 doors have had brand new skins made, the boot lid as been taken apart and repaired as have the front wings.
next step is rehanging everything for panel alignment before the colour goes on, stay tuned......
An update from the panel shop, after weeks of nothing suddenly there has been a flurry of activity. The result is that 2 doors have had brand new skins made, the boot lid as been taken apart and repaired as have the front wings.
next step is rehanging everything for panel alignment before the colour goes on, stay tuned......
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