[Peter Bremner]

I’ve spent too many hours using polystrip discs in the angle grinder removing paint from two doors.
Two doors and four wings are going for pyrolytic paint stripping. In an oven and burn the paint and filler off.
Next week’s job is to strip the doors and wings of anything combustible. Then off to Welwyn Garden City.
Or I could just build a bonfire.

Tempting.

[Peter Bremner]

For information. I’ve shown a Cleco pin ready to insert into the hole through two panels. The two prongs are fully extended. Once in the hole, the spring pressure pulls the two prongs back. The stationary central part opens up the prongs and the two pips grip the inner panel, pulling it tight against the outer panel.
Hole size on the inner panel is critical. My pins are 1/8″. I used a 3mm drill as the hole will always be bigger.
The hole on the outer panel can be bigger, this allows for adjustment.
The 8mm holes are for plug welding, I got a bit carried away.

[Peter Bremner]

I’m not going to bother with the token rubber finishing strip. Masking tape and a sealant tool (or a wet finger) seems easier.

For the bolt heads buy yourself an angle grinder or two (Lidl, keep the receipt, 3 year guarantee) and safety glasses. Then use a grinding disc followed by a flap disc.

[Peter Bremner]

Hello, if you look at the doors thread, the first two pictures show my roof channel. It is naked. Once it has the inner finishing rubber strip and the outer trim it will look like Paul’s picture.
Don’t forget that image includes the door trim, the interior rubber and so on.
Can you upload a picture to imgbb.com then copy and paste the bb fully linked shortcut into this thread.
Has your roof channel just disintegrated? It is a habit of the DS.

[Peter Bremner]

More door stuff. Front right this time. I will cut out the bottom corner edges and weld in steel from the old door skin.
The corners are a pain as they spot welded them, plus brazed at the swage line.
Penetration of the plug welds looks good.
The wood formers are an attempt at getting the correct curve without resorting to a load of filler.

[Peter Bremner]

The roof on a Safari is steel. I want to add heat insulation but if headlining is stuck to that, it will look horrible. I have a plan, certainly involving ambition versus ability.

[Peter Bremner]

I haven’t reached fitting the roof yet. As usual I’m going off piste with the headlining, all will be revealed. Unless it goes wrong.
The Safari roof is bolted on. I expect I’ll use black windscreen sealant as it is flexible and doesn’t fade. I’ll 3D print some spacers then fill the gaps with sealant.
The finishing strip in aluminium isn’t available for the Safari. I’m hoping to bend some from 0.2mm strip.
Doors, wings, tailgate and bonnet first.

[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.

https://amzn.eu/d/jeN8MFN

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.

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