[Peter Bremner]

Not much happening at present, some celebration or other going on.

I did treat myself to a Cleco temporary rivet kit from Amazon.
I used them today to hold the inner door skin in place. Simple to use, 1/8″ drill through both panels, use the Cleco pliers to insert the rivet, release and it pulls the sheets together.
Inner skin now plug welded in place.

https://amzn.eu/d/0VYHGfL

[Peter Bremner]

Welcome to DS wiring!
Mostly the same colour wires with coloured sleeves at the ends. Except now they are all beige.
If you are really unlucky, the insulation disintegrates leaving a mass of discoloured copper.

Looms are available. Paul has bought and fitted one.

On the Safari I dumped all of it.

I wanted to include other circuits so I made my own. It is pretty straightforward. No Canbus or other modern gizmos to catch you out.
Vehicle Wiring Products supplied the cable and fittings.
I used British Standard wire colours where possible.
I also used Japanese connectors, these are almost the same size at Citroen.

It’s an ideal time to change the alternator to one with an internal regulator.

A multimeter and or a simple continuity tester are your friends.

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Have fun.

[Peter Bremner]

Hello, a ballast resistor is used to drop the voltage down to about 9 volts so a 9 volt coil can be used.
The clever part is that when cranking the engine, there is a wire from the starter solenoid, the same terminal as the one going to the starter windings. This gives the 9 volt coil 12 volts whilst cranking, increasing the spark by 25%.
Once cranking stops and the engine is running, the coil gets 9 volts via the ballast.

It was just a way to boost coil output when starting.
Ford used a special wire to the coil which slowly heated up increasing its resistance thus reducing voltage to the coil once started.

They are not needed in modern cars, planetary gear starter motors, thinner oil and a coil per cylinder with no dizzy has made them obsolete.

[Peter Bremner]

Hello, next thing to try.
Remove the ballast resistor from the circuit. The wire that used to go to the bottom of the ballast now goes straight to the coil.
It should now run. If it is a ballasted coil it will overheat, so don’t run for long.
If it doesn’t start and run, the ballast resistor may be faulty.
Check you are getting 13.2 volts or more at the coil (2.2 volts per cell x 6).
How healthy is the battery?

“It seems a bit daft to fit a relay from the solenoid lead to the coil but that’s next along with the heater lead. Seems a convpluted approach to increasing voltage..”

I don’t understand that paragraph.

The starter solenoid is a relay, a normal switch would burn out under the load.
I fitted a 40 amp relay to the ignition switch so that the switch energised the 40 amp relay which in turn energised the starter solenoid.

Where does the heater come into the equation?

All things to think about whilst waiting in a traffic jam.

Peter

[Peter Bremner]

I’m hoping several coats of Jotun, Lechler and Nisocoat 2 will seal in any rust and prevent further decay.

[Peter Bremner]

Right front door. A cursory glance and you would think just a bit of surface rust.
The spot weld drill bit worked a treat but the door skin underneath was rotten.
I ground the edge if the door skin, which looked all right. Peeled back, rotten.
The door has been prepared for multiple plug welds, I went to 8mm with a stepped drill.

As an experiment, I used a profile gauge on the door skin in four places and cut the profiles in thick plywood. The plan is to fix them inside the door and to curve the repair panel to them.

[Peter Bremner]

Hello, removing the starter motor is a real pain. On my DSuper5 the starter motor had a strap at the rear with an extra two impossible to reach bolts.
Exhaust manifolds off, if you’re lucky no bolts will shear.
If you rebuild the starter, one of the bolts is left hand thread.
I rebuilt mine but instead I fitted a Wosp starter motor. Smaller, faster, less current and heat proof.
If you take the manifold off, I’d change the M7s to M8s.

I like spending other people’s money, 123 dizzy, Wosp starter and while you’re at it, a Wosp alternator.

[Peter Bremner]

Sucking eggs time!
You should have an ignition controlled 12 volt supply to the ballast resistor which then drops the voltage to the coil to about 9 volts.
From the starter motor solenoid (switched side, which goes into the starter motor) there should be a wire to the coil bypassing the resistor.
In normal operation, coil gets about 9 volts.
When cranking, the coil gets 12 volts, increasing the spark by about 25%.
Once the engine is running, the coil gets 9 volts.
A constant 12 bolts would burn out the coil.

As an aside, I put a 40 amp relay between the ignition switch and the starter solenoid. The ignition switches are 50 years old and there is quite a splash from the contacts when cranking. The new switches are poor and stupid expensive.

I’m not a fan of Christmas.

[Peter Bremner]

Which make of coil have you fitted?
I fitted a brand new Viper coil, it failed in no time (thanks again to Paul for helping).

Is the ballast wired properly so it gets full 12 volts cranking?

I’ve fitted a solid state fuel pump to my Safari. I fitted the switch in place of the dash lighting rheostat. I only use it to prime the carb. Once the pump stops clicking, I turn it off.

I bought a five speed gearbox from France using Leboncoin. There are two types. One is low ratio and one is high (the one you want). It was low ratio and worn out. It went to Harry Martens for a rebuild to high ratio.

There are other, much cheaper, ignition modules but they all use the old dizzy.

The cam followers are through hardened. Newman Cams refaced mine and polished the cam.

Be careful when you pull out the cam, the bearings are not available. Also when cleaning the block, these bearings don’t like aggressive degreasers.

Peter

[Peter Bremner]

http://www.citroen-ds-id.com/index.html?ds/DS_Manuals.html

I downloaded 648 and both parts of 814

[Peter Bremner]

Hello, just the liners and pistons were all I changed.
Engine and gearbox out, can’t be done in situ.
Full rebuild really, new timing chain and tensioners.
New clutch, three parts.
Camshaft may need a polish. Followers bound to need some work.
New handbrake pads.
Possibly new discs and pads
I’d fit a 123 dizzy.
Rebuild or buy new starter motor.

There is nothing difficult about the engine. Getting the dizzy drive correct is simple, but mess it up and it’s split the engine and gearbox, again.

There is a link to all the manuals. For some reason my Dropbox is playing up.
Paul will be along shortly with the link.

The real snag is when the engine and gearbox are out, how far do you go titivating the engine bay? It will be filthy.

Buy spare 8mm sockets…
And a magnet on a stick (Stalhwille do a good one)

[Peter Bremner]

The panels come pre-joggled. I punched holes every 45mm, enlarged them to 7mm and then plug welded. I used G clamps where I could or wedged with pieces of wood. For belt and braces I tack welded on the outer seam every 15mm or so.
I painted the seams and the door skin edges with Jotun. While still wet, I folded over the door skin edges and painted on even more Jotun.

When I do the next door, I’ll do a lot more plug welds, about every 15mm.

I didn’t need the corner pieces. I repaired the flange on each side by letting in lengths of steel. There didn’t seem any point in hacking off the corners.

I’ll get the hang of it by the fourth door.

[Peter Bremner]

One coat of Jotun along the welded areas plus the door bottom yesterday.
Today another coat of Jotun on the same areas.
As usual, I made far too much so I rollered the insides of the doors, with the final rollerful I did the area covered by the door card. No real reason, just a shame to waste it.

The whole door will get two coats of Lechler epoxy primer, then Nisocoat 2 top coat.

[Peter Bremner]

Nitrile gloves, a Tyvek suit and goggles are recommended.

[Peter Bremner]

Have you a compressor? I use a Sealey SG18 wax injector kit. I did fit a swivel to the air line so it stands up.

For cavities I used Dinitrol ML, that has run out so I’m using Bilt Hamber Dynax.
I used Dinitrol 440 stone chip in grey from a schutz gun

Using the SG18, if there is a hole, I poke in the lance and give it a spray. Usually a mist will appear somewhere else.

I generally thin the ML or Dynax with a splash of white spirit. There are a couple of loose small bolts in the SG18 to help when I shake it.

The underside of the doors will get special attention. Several coats of epoxy primer, epoxy top coat then stone chip then Dynax.

Either park the car on plenty of old sheets or the lawn. It gets everywhere and will drip for some time.

Under the bonnet, I used XCP as it is transparent.

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