[Peter Bremner]

More fun and games today. Opened out the plug holes to 7mm, turned up the wick on the welder and slowed down the wire feed. Much better.
To make sure the inner skin was firmly in place, I added a few seam welds.

Next is wire brush the existing folded seams. Then some Jotun on the new seams, then fold while wet.
After that, spray the whole door with Lechler primer, then apply filler, then more Lechler, seam sealer then top coat.

[Peter Bremner]

Lower outer skin has been removed by grinding along the edge. The repair panel is temporarily in place. Needs a bit of fettling, a couple of tack welds then cut out the lower inner skin.
The corners look ok, I may let in a bit of steel, but no need to chop out the whole corner.

[Peter Bremner]

Right rear has been stripped of paint. No rust holes, just the mess I made removing the rubber strip holder.
I’ve scored a reference line and taken measurements for the repair panel.
A few dents and scrapes need attention.

The repair panels seem to be pre-joggled. I’m not sure if I’ll use that system or cut it off and butt weld.

[Peter Bremner]

Exactly.
Stainless steel for the rubber channel. I’ll most likely glue that on with CT-1.

I’m still waiting for the panels. In the meantime the rear right door has been stripped.

[Peter Bremner]

Good to know thanks.
I hope they aren’t anything like my sill covers, dozens and dozens of overlapping spot welds,
All will revealed, as the monkey said.

[Peter Bremner]

I’ve ordered repairs panels, five for each door. Also a pack of ten 1mm cutting discs for the angle grinder.
I have a two foot long solid copper bar to act as a heat sink behind the welds. And a pack of polystrip discs to remove the paint.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Peter Bremner]

The reason I fitted dual voice coil speakers was to make connecting the stereo outputs easily.
My radio is a cheapo ebay special with Bluetooth, FM and USB, no CD.

I agree with John, a waste of time.

No audio at all on the Safari, no radio, no speaker, nothing. If I do anything, it will be a Bluetooth speaker running from my phone.

Jamie has a neat Bluetooth setup that fits in the cubby hole plus a fader with the thumb wheel.

[Peter Bremner]

I fitted dual voice coil speakers in the DSuper5 from Retrosound.
I’m not sure if they made much, if any, difference.

[Peter Bremner]

The seals are on, re-shaped, stripped of paint, fresh Jotun primer, fresh Nisocoat 2, excess paint removed from seals with a chisel, all cleaned up with a brass bristle brush. Never again (until the next time!).

[Peter Bremner]

I find my first attempt at machining or 3D printing etc is rubbish. Second attempt not bad. Third attempt, spot on.

I haven’t tried the height corrector linkages yet. The rears I can do from within the car. The fronts. I’m thinking of using my tall ramps with a length of wood between them to mimic the car being on the ground. I can then adjust the ARB linkage without without getting squashed.

Doors next….

[Peter Bremner]

The saga continues. Using a drift and a hammer I was able to reshape the claw to a more rounded shape that matched the seal on the saloon.
I’ve removed the paint completely. A wire brush cleaned it all.
It looks a whole lot better. Now I can repaint in Gris Rose.

[Peter Bremner]

I’ve had another good look at the Safari and compared it my DSuper5.
The saloon has black rubber on a black body so the crimping isn’t so visible. Also on the saloon I have had to pack out the seal with neoprene cord to get a better seal on the door glass.
The Safari has cream rubber on a Gris Rose body and the seal really projects out from the body.
I now feel if I make a tool that will crimp evenly (a brass drift with a semicircular groove), scrape off any damaged paint and then repaint it will look a whole lot better.

The trials and tribulations of restoring a DS.

[Peter Bremner]

I wonder if it might be better to slit the metal strip along the middle giving an inner and outer strip. Glue on the strips with CT1, grind off the strip until it protrudes about 1mm from the door frame.
The strip should go round the chicane more easily and it won’t be such a struggle to push the rubber into the crimp.

I may have a go. Uncrimp the rubber, grind away the edge, put it back together.
It can’t be any worse than it is now.

[Peter Bremner]

The more I look at it, the worse it becomes.
I did make a tool to set the crimp but ultimately a waste of time.
The chicanes are horrible. On one side I coshed them into shape, not the right shape but a shape. On the other side I cut off the chicane completely then cut small strips to build up the curve.
Both sides look shocking.
I live in hope that the rubber seal will flatten and cover the mess.
I don’t think I can face starting again.

[Peter Bremner]

Had another look at the seals today, they are very disappointing.
I had given the metal strips a coat of epoxy primer and once fitted they got two coats of Nisocoat 2 epoxy Gris Rose.
I was under the misapprehension that the rubber seals would stay in place by themselves. But no, they have to be crimped.
Crimping cracked the paint off and they look a right mess.
Today I mixed a little Nisocoat 2 and repainted the crimp.
If I were doing it again, I would grind off the top of the W, splitting it into two. I wouldn’t paint them until fitted.
Either that or pay someone to do them.
I’m hoping that the seals will stay flatter once the doors are on. At present they stick out alarmingly, exposing all the dreadfull crimping.
If only they had used Furflex, tap it on and it’s done.

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