[Paul Burridge]

So now you know! That’s half the battle won!

1) yes – that is a standard part. Just a dust seal I think. it’s usually found glued inside the bell housing. It’s worth fitting another. the usual parts suppliers will have them.

2). If it’s already leaking – don’t leave the old crankshaft seal. Replace it. The crankshaft oil seal is pressed into the tower that hold the drive for the distributor above it. It’s on the front face so, in theory, can be replaced without removing the tower and with the crank still in situ. I say ‘in theory’ only because when i replaced my seal the tower was off. i would advise against removing the tower if you can avoid it. It needs to be fitted back to the camshaft in a very particular way and, if got wrong, will mess up your timing. Again, the usual suppliers will sell you the correct oil seal.

3. A DY2 engine would be 1985cc, not 2175cc – though the liners and pistons can be swapped with those of a Ds21 to give you a 2175cc engine. No matter, that tube is standard to engines. It has a large rubber O ring at both ends if its the one I’m thinking off. (Presumably to seal the input shaft in the tube/ tunnel and keep muck out?). Yes …..I’d recommend a new flywheel bearing. if the plate is down to it’s rivets, then the bearing might only have been changed many years ago – if at all. they are very cheap. You want an SKF 6302 – 2RSH. The usual technique is to remove the flywheel and tap the bearing out from the back, but to avoid doing that, you might be able to rig something up to pull or wind it out from the front. Dating the gearbox. I don’t think you can infer a year code into the number. the ’65’ code might be useful as that relates to the gear ratios. A 1968 Ds21 (i.e a car made between september 67 and July 68) would have an engine with a red ‘DX’ tag.From what we know, a 4 speed bvh car from that time would have had a gearbox number beginning ’65’. (My 1968 bvh DS21 has a ’65’.)

4). I’m confused about what engine you have. ‘late 1968 if post august is technically a 1969 model year car. After september 68, DS21s had a DX2 engine. It that what you have – a DX2 engine not a DY2?? (A 68 or 69 bvh DS20 (1985cc) would have a ‘DY2 engine).A DX2 4 speed bvh would still have had a ’65’ gearbox as would (i think) a 1985cc DS20.

Hope the above helps.

[Paul Burridge]

Hi
My car is also Gris Palladium (from 1968) and I’ve been looking for someone to paint it. Without luck!!!!! I haven’t managed to get a single reliable lead for someone that is familiar with Ds. If you are willing to wait more than a year, contact someone like Darrin at Citroen Classics and ask to be added to the list. No – I don’t know who he uses 🙂

I think you can expect to pay at least £4k for a decent paint job – and probably more.

[Paul Burridge]

Seats. Like the seat belts, the nuts for the seat runners are welded into the underside of the box that the seats sit in and I can’t see how you could add others further back. Even if you removed the exhaust you wouldn’t be able to access the nuts as the box is double-skinned. Also, the rear nut is close to the back of the box. Even if you could access the area, you could only re-locate any nut by about an inch or so.

It might be easier (and safer) to use the existing nuts and instead to drill new bolt holes through the runners. Unfortunately you would only be able to re-locate the front hole by about an inch further forward as it’s already close to the front end of the runner.

Citroen fitted a wedge (made of wood!) under the runners (part 2 in the diagram, from the 1974 parts book). The photo shows the wedges fitted to a mid 1960s car (ignore the red arrow!). I’m not exactly sure why or in what circumstances, but the upshot is that by tipping the seat runner up, the wedges take the front edge of the seat base (and your legs) slightly further away from the pedals. Maybe a combination of re-drilled runners and wedges might give you what you want?

[Paul Burridge]

By chance I was in the middle of buying a seatbelt for my DS and it came with original fixing kit. I tested the rings and nuts with my other ring (known to fit my car) and the parts are all the same size – so what seems to be 11mm x 1.25 pitch.

[Paul Burridge]

I should add that the two holes up on each ‘B’pillar are NOT 11 x 1.25. they are a smaller thread and pitch. As the photo in my earlier post shows, they take a bracket, not a ring. I think later cars just had one hole seatbelt hole on the ‘B’ pillars. No idea what thread that might be.

[Paul Burridge]

The holes are designed to take metal ring (looking like a babies dummy) that the belts then clip to. I’ve just measured one of those rings. The pitch is 1.25mm. The diameter of the threaded part is about 11mm. So the holes in my car are 11mm, 1.25 pitch thread….And that’s the same as you discovered for the 2CV.

[Paul Burridge]

Hi
Yes, as you are a member of thew Citroen car Club, you can get an evaluation for insurance purposes. If you are UK based, you have just missed two ideal opportunities! Lots of D owners take their Ds along to the annual DS rally in early June and the Clubs officials can be asked to carry out evaluations. i think the same service is available the UKs national rally/ festival – that took place in July.

Do you get the Citroenian magazine? if so, in the back is a list of Club officials and functions. The Club’s Chairman – Brian Drummond – carries out inspections (01273 833745 or email ‘chairman@citroencarclub.org.uk’) Alternatively contact Nigel Wild – chair of the DS section of the Club (01132 737007 or email ‘d-info@citroencarclub.org.uk). call them and see if you can arrange to get an inspection carried out.

[Paul Burridge]

What size are the bolts in the ‘Securon’ set?

My first guessed answer would be to say that the holes in a DS were metric, but on another thread someone put a post about a bag of Citroen branded Citroen seatbelt bolts (from a BX I think) and they were 7/16″ UNF bolts.

Those are more modern than a DS of course, but I’ve also seen a thread about Swedish Ds (so contemporary to other Ds) that had strange rear seatbelt mounting nuts high up on the C pillars in the back. Those were also 7/16 UNF threads apparently.

With it’s seatbelt mounts in the sills, I suspect your car is a 70s car as, before that, the front seatbelts fixed through the floor. I think you will find that on your car the seatbelt nuts are hidden away inside the sill box section. If you plan to put a thinner bolt and nut through the existing holes, then there are two large oval holes in the inside vertical sections of the sills. One (on the LHS) carries a cardboard tube that takes warm air to the rear of the car. There is a similar hole on the right hand sill. You might be able to get your hand in there to reach the bottom of the welded seatbelt nut and hold another nut there for another bolt. But that implies using thinner, weber bolts.

I think your better bet is to ‘go large’ and tap the existing welded nuts a little bigger.

I don’t know if being an SA car needs to be factored into this? I’m assuming here that SA ended up assembling cars already substantively built in Europe – so any thread would be as per the same parts on European cars.

[Paul Burridge]

Finally got a second top coat on the chassis. I say ‘finally’ as I hope that’s it. I really haven’t got the stamina to rub everything down and prep. it again. As with the front half of the car this is a mix of satin plus a little gloss to bring up some shine – but not too much.

I’ve been lucky that i have managed to fit this in around the weather. After breakfast, a quick inspection to make sure i’ve not missed any bits. All being well, and with high temperatures set for today, I then aim to sit back and watch paint dry.

[Paul Burridge]

Garage lined with plastic sheeting and re-purposed as a spray booth (or ‘kill room’ as my wife calls it….) .

Finally got the primer coat on the chassis.Next job (tomorrow hopefully) will be to apply some seam sealer around the tank corners, rear gutters, ‘elephants ears’ and the crimping strips of the doors. I’m then planning to do a first top coat on Friday and a second coat on Sunday. Weather/ damp permitting.

[Paul Burridge]

I think the light at the end of a tunnel is the next job looming. In the meantime, i feel i am making progress. I’ve painted the tank area and sills with a zinc-rich primer. The first stepson the journey towards repainting the whole back end.

[Paul Burridge]

And another vote for leycroft. Someone on facebook commented “Leycroft Autocare in Worcester look after my DS and quite a few other hydropneumatic citroens that I know of. I would highly recommend Malcolm.”

[Paul Burridge]

James
peter copied your message to the ‘D-Info Speciale’ forum. here are two replies I posted there – the second one with some ideas/ leads for you:

I feel like I’m suffering de ja vu. I recall a request for a Midlands mechanic a few months ago and i suggested Graham Morton (aka ‘GM Services’) further north in Huddersfield. I hope Graham wasn’t the expensive mechanic already tried.
the reality is that owning a DS – especially if fuel-injected – is likely to be an expensive business. It’s probably false economy to find a mechanic who hasn’t worked on ds before – and a mechanic that has worked on Ds before is unlikely to be cheap.
have you asked on facebook? I will – without naming you James.

Okay. I didn’t mention James or warwickshire on facebook – just ‘Midlands’.
One comment was that there was not much locally. Another comment suggested Leycroft Autocare in Worcester – who already have at least one other DS in their care.
The best lead was this: “Have you tried the club’s Recommended Garage list? Exclusively available to current Club members, all you have to do is contact gbu@citroencarclub.org.uk for a GBU listing in your area. In exchange we ask you to tell us how you found any services you use so we can keep our database up to date for the benefit of others.”
So – if you are a paid up CCC member James, you can access this list.

[Paul Burridge]

Okay. I didn’t mention James or warwickshire on facebook – just ‘Midlands’.

One comment was that there was not much locally. Another comment suggested Leycroft Autocare in Worcester – who already have at least one other DS in their care.

The best lead was this: “Have you tried the club’s Recommended Garage list? Exclusively available to current Club members, all you have to do is contact gbu@citroencarclub.org.uk for a GBU listing in your area. In exchange we ask you to tell us how you found any services you use so we can keep our database up to date for the benefit of others.”

So – if you are a paid up CCC member James, you can access this list.

[Paul Burridge]

I feel like I’m suffering de ja vu. I recall a request for a Midlands mechanic a few months ago and i suggested Graham Morton (aka ‘GM Services’) further north in Huddersfield. I hope Graham wasn’t the expensive mechanic already tried.

the reality is that owning a DS – especially if fuel-injected – is likely to be an expensive business. It’s probably false economy to find a mechanic who hasn’t worked on ds before – and a mechanic that has worked on Ds before is unlikely to be cheap.

have you asked on facebook? I will – without naming you James.

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