Restoration of a 1967 Citroën DS21 Cabriolet Usine Export…

2009-10-23T07:11:00.005-04:00

Although the car has been delivered, I had to finish and go install the last piece on the dash. As a reminder, the chrome part closing the pod was in very poor condition and cracked. One day it just broke completely.

After two months of waiting, I have received the part. This part is rare to find and I was amazed that they could fix it.

The center was chromed. Basically it is supposed to be sand blasted first then chromed. After I've sand blasted the center, two indentations appeared under the chrome.

I used body filler to correct the problem.

I've used this paint to simulate the original look.

The owner and I have installed the part a few days ago. The car is now finished!

2009-10-09T06:46:00.002-04:00

The car has been delivered. I have received the chrome piece that goes on the pod. They did a good job except that is is a little narrower... I hope it is going to fit. I will go to the owner's home to install it.

2009-09-23T07:28:00.005-04:00

We are just waiting for a side glass and the car will be ready to be delivered!

Yesterday, I have put new plugs and wires; it was great to take the car for a ride after so many months of work.

2009-08-21T09:57:00.004-04:00

The left door panel is finished.

The window came yesterday. It is in as of this morning and the door is finished.
The alternator stopped working. A new alternator is close to $400, it doesn't look original and we had to wait a week to get it, so I purchased a GM 7127 which is much cheaper (A little over $50) and closer to an original look. Also, this alternator is available at any part store in the US of A.

I cut out some metal to get 19.5 mm thickness.

There is on the Citroen bracket.

I had to change the bracket and used a standard bracket used in American custom cars.

This alternator has an internal regulator. I kept the external regulator and connected the big wire going to the battery at the same connector. Regarding the EX wire, it went to the F (Top yellow wire) and the small wire that goes to the back of the Ducelier is going to the second connector (Blue and yellow on the pic). I just changed the connector to fit the new alternator.

The trunk is finished (Just need to secure the logos with new clips).

New fresh air ducts.

2009-08-19T06:55:00.004-04:00

Now installing the new leather on the top of the doors...

First feeling the gap up with some high density foam...

Then covered by a thin layer of low density foam.

The top of the driver door is finished

The dash is finished. I have check everything before closing it up, but last night the alternator light did not go off... So, more on the pile; I'll be checking that today.

The hood is repaired and close to be painted.

The bottom is better than the original. The bottom of the hood will reflect on the bumper and this will look good.

This car is cursed; I put the steering wheel back together and this part broke. So, I had to put it apart again, drilled, grind and weld a new screw.

2009-08-17T09:13:00.004-04:00

One worker, who is no longer working for Final Finish, cut the wires going to the rear of the car without labeling them. Ken and I traced the wires back to the dash and I used a schematic and a tester to reconnect the wires from the dash.

I still have an issue with the front turn signal and horn.

This car got hit in the past and we had a hard time to align the front. I brought my DS to compare and measure everything. Now we have the same dimensions and this car is more straight than my own DS! But somehow, the shape of the hood at the front is different. Ken pushed down to have the hood follow the bumper and since the reinforcement underneath was cracked from a previous accident, the hood developed a crack...

So, now Ken has to fixed the crack and repaint the hood.

He riveted a reinforcement, so this will not happen again in the future.

I am getting close to finish the dash, once all electrical issues are addressed. The chrome piece around the pod will be able to get fixed and re-chromed. The bad news is that it might take 8 weeks to get it back. We will return the car to the owner without the part and I will go to the owner's house install the part at a later date.

The upholstery shop stitched together a piece of leather and piece of cloth together. Now we have to cut to dimension, fold, glue and stained the leather to match the door panels.

I found stencils with 3" letters. unfortunately the French fonts are narrower, but it will be pretty close though. Due to the compound curves on the plate, I could not use the stencils directly to the plate (The paint would have bled underneath), so I used a stick on paper and traced the fonts...

I use my laptop with pictures I took when I've sanded the plate to help me as far as the placement.

A very laborious job: Cut out the letters with an Exacto knife.

I used a piece of Scotch pad to scuff the paint.

Done! I used satin white to match the satin red. This is the number she left France with. You can look it up, this number was assigned in 1967.

The plate under the gearbox and brakes was rusted. I used Chipgard paint to protect it and make it presentable.

The valence was treated the same way than the top of the body. I have painted the grill with a silver gray paint.

We tried to fix the brackets that hold the hood down near the windshield. Of course, everything broke, even the tap! We will address this this week.

2009-08-11T20:29:00.003-04:00

The car is back in Branford with a new top. CZ Upholstery did a great job.

Great job inside too.

Now we are in the last phase. We made a list of the remaining work in order to estimate a time frame and cost for the owner. The car seems to be finished but we still have a lot of work to do.
A suivre... (To be continued...)

2009-07-02T16:58:00.004-04:00

Great news! As of today, the car is at the upholster, in Southington, CT, to received her new top (Black).

I will drive up to their shop either tomorrow or Monday to meet with the owner and explain the way the top was originally made and installed (I am lending them a blue print from Henri Chapron). This (white) top was redone but it was wrong and we could not open the doors if the widows were up.

Here are the first pictures outside:

Final installation of the hardware on the seats.

Buttoning up the front with the spare wheel tray...

The air duct is not there yet, but here is a pic with the spare wheel in place.

We are in the process of aligning the front fenders, hood and bumpers. We are almost done there. When the car comes back, we'll finish it. I've tried to loosen the brackets for the hood near the windshield. One screw out of two broke on both sides due to rust. So now we will have to open the hood really wide or remove it in order to drill and replace the welded nut with a self-crimped nut.

This is the story of this project. It is an exciting project but this car is fighting us to the end! Everything that could go wrong went wrong. For instance, Ken had a new window made for the passenger side and we discovered that it cracked inside the door. So, now we have to get a new widow made which will not be charged to the client, of course.

The chromed piece around the wheel was cracked and holding by a thread. Unfortunately, it finally broke. This is a rare piece and I cannot find another one. I have called a chromer in Massachusetts who said that he might be able to repair this (I am kind of sceptical but I hope I am wrong).

2009-06-27T07:15:00.004-04:00

The air filter was rusted and looked really bad when we open the hood. So, I bead blasted it...

... and Kevin painted it.

Once the engine cleaned, it is going to be fairly consistent with the rest of the car.

The wheels are painted.

The original spare wheel.

New tire of the right dimension.

She is starting to look good.

Now working on the front...

I am putting the bumper together. You might be asking yourself why we did the front plate red. I found the red under the black paint when I worked on the front plate. I have also found the original French number. The car was registered in order to be exported. I don't know if Citroen or Henri Chapron has painted the plate red, but this is the was the car left France in 1967. We are going to reproduce the TTA number (Transite Temporaire) with the same font that I have traced before sand blasting the plate.

The lights are in place.

The passenger window was chipped on the top and scratched. Ken ordered a new glass and installed the new weather strips coming from Ivanoff in France.

The front is almost aligned; we just have to tight up the driver side and install the hood latches. This is the way the car is as of 6/26/09. The glass is supposed to be delivered on Saturday 6/27/09 and once installed, the car is going to be shipped to get the new custom convertible top made and installed.

2009-06-19T10:52:00.002-04:00

The leather interior is ready to be installed. Looks new again.

I removed the wheels and they are gone to the tire place to put the black walls out on the front and installed new tires on the back (They were the wrong dimension and hard to remove due to the non removable fenders).

I bead blasted the lug nuts. The tires will mounted but not inflated; Ken will be able to paint the wheels "Gris AC141" with ease. Then the tires will be inflated.

I took advantage of the wheel being out to loosen the fuel hose and install correctly the new grommet.

The pod is ready.

The fenders are finished and ready to be installed.

2009-06-18T06:18:00.002-04:00

June 16th 2009...

Ken stained the interior leather to make it uniform. The front seat were reupholstered at some point and the rest is original as well as stained. With new carpets, dash, repainted top frame and a new convertible top, the leather would have looked old and would also stand out. This car will look new all around.

The door panels ready to be stained.

The hood is finished! Notice the new insulation felt coming from Ivanoff in France.

The doors are ready to be installed.

Light colors don't shine very well, but this one does.

The fuel door is installed. Once the wheel is off, I have to center the hose to fit the new grommet better.

The dash should be done today...

Trunk lid lock and new Citroen logo.

The front fenders have been painted with "Chipguard" and the inside part will be painted with sating black.

2009-06-16T06:51:00.004-04:00

It was a hole at the end of the left front bumper. We had to send it out to get a stainless steel weld.

After filing.

This bumper was really bad with deep scratches and a lot of bends and nicks.

After straighten the metal.

Prepping the metal by wet sanding with 100, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grid.

After hours of polishing...

That is the part that was all banged up:

Where the hole was:

2009-06-12T07:34:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I have restored the second auxiliary light...

The rust has to be removed as well as the brown varnish under the chrome. Then get a nice bare metal finish with a 400 grid wet sand paper.
Using the Eastwood zinc plating kit, I filled the optical lens up to the rim and gave it 20 to 30 mn process.

After plating...

I used steel wool and Autosol to get the final finish.

Much improved...

Some rust inhibitor to treat and protect the back side.

2009-06-11T07:50:00.009-04:00

Replacement of the (American) headlights with new Halogen bulbs. Way less expensive than the auxiliary lights ($14 each)

The interior is coming along beautifully...

The hood is almost done. I have never seen a DS hood as beautiful as this.

The driver door is about to be done also.

The passenger door has been corrected and is ready to be painted.

The right fender is in the polishing process.

The left fender is sanded and ready to be polished.

Under the back seat and the interior of the panel are painted with "Chip Gard".

The electrical is finished (Tail lights).

The alignment of the rear plate and bumper was a true nightmare. The rear chassis plate was repaired long time ago (Rust and the car might have been hit), but for what ever reason, the rear part of the chassis is not straight and we had to fabricate multiple spacers and modify the rear plate in order to align the rear plate and bumper to the body

A new weather strip is glued under the trunk lid. The rear is about to be done; I just have to put the lock and logos back on.

2009-06-09T07:24:00.002-04:00

The rear bumper brackets were for a 4 door DS and were too short to accommodate the convertible. I have added a longer threaded rod...

I made spacers (2 cm) out of heating pipes.

Ready to be installed.

2009-06-09T07:08:00.004-04:00

The auxiliary lights where in real bad shape; rusted and the chrome was peeling off. A set of USED lights are about $1600 and no new lights are available. I've tried to open then up with a Dremel but I gave up before doing something I would regret later. So, I had the idea to plate them...

Removed as much as possible inside using one finger (And some blood)...

The plating process: I filled up the lens with the product and held the anode in the middle.

After the plating process. It is a mat layer of metal. Unfortunately it doesn't take on the remaining rust, which is very difficult to remove.

After some steel wool (And more blood)...

Not perfect, but way better than before and for a fraction of the price of a used set :o)

The back was also rusted. After the rust inhibitor...

Much improved!

2009-06-08T06:40:00.004-04:00

Last stretch... The body is painted except one door which has to be corrected.

The interior of the trunk...

Part of the process is to sand the clear coat up to 2000 grid and then polish it.

The rear chassis was badly repaired some time ago and it is crooked. Now we have to use spacers and shims to align the bumper and back plate to the body (Not the chassis).

The bumper brackets are for a 4 door DS. I have to modify them to accommodate the 2cm longer body. The back plate has to come out 2cm as well.

I have removed the seats, carpets and insulation. I left the Dynamat insulation that I installed last year.

The seat belts were also removed except the center one.

Ken and I glued the new insulation from Ivanoff.

The carpets are done (Except behind the convertible top). The carpets are from Ivanoff also. Looking great!

2009-06-02T10:02:00.004-04:00

There are a lot of stainless steel parts, which means a lot of polishing...

Around the convertible top.

Inside door jam, door sill, bottom door etc...

Oops, forgot to take a picture after I was done...

These are for the trunk; I removed the paint; they will look cleaner and more original.

Yep, it keeps going...

For the optional rear heater; below the vinyl rear window.

Center of the molding around the convertible top.

2009-06-01T06:06:00.001-04:00

Preparing and polishing some interior parts for the final assembly.

2009-05-31T19:52:00.005-04:00

The rear plate was very rusted and bent.

As well as the light holders.

After sand blasting most of the rust and using a rust encapsulator...

After a nice coat of satin black.

The new plate coming from France. Restoring the US export plate would have been too expensive. The owner preferred to have a brand new European plate.

After soldering new connectors.

I had to cut the plate to fit the European back plate.

Finally, everything is put together.

2009-05-31T19:15:00.001-04:00

The left air vent was badly rusted and holding with only one screw (Shown upside down).

New fabricated piece before drilling and welding nut.

Done!

2009-05-31T17:42:00.004-04:00

More work on the dash. The heater plate was bent with a big hole for a radio.

I found a used one in very good shape and installed the vanity light.

The glove box was destroyed.

I found a used one but with a hole on the side.

Fixed the hole with bondo.

The glove box is painted with primer to allow the glue to stick.

I used some diluted carpenter glue and sprinkled some flocking with a fine tea strainer...

Finished.

Close up of the flocking:

The Michelin road map holder was also in poor condition.

Same punition:

With the chrome piece (A Pallas trim on the cabriolet)

The defog vents were rusty.

After some wrinkle paint. Just like the original...

2009-05-29T08:31:00.002-04:00

The rear clip is painted and cleared...

... as well as the door jams.

The valence.

Dash and some other accessories.

Inside of the doors are done also.

Next are the trunk (Inside is done already).

2009-05-26T09:46:00.003-04:00

The rear bumper had many bents and nicks.

... And also deeply and heavily scratched.

Removing the dings...

Getting there...

The finished lower part...

Finished!

Ready to be mounted on the car...

2009-05-20T20:48:00.003-04:00

The rear bumper in finished. Here are the brackets...

Previous repair. Someone brazed a nut inside the tube. They were pretty rusted on the top of it.

I am using a 3/4" threaded rod to fix the brackets. They are pretty expensive so it is cheaper to fix them.

They were bent also.

I used a rust encapsulator followed by a primer, followed by a satin finish.

2009-05-18T08:16:00.002-04:00

The color has been mixed. This is a shot under day light. The color matches the original color (In the square; upper right corner of the part). The paint is supposed to come as a single stage paint, but Ken managed to have the color mixed as a base to make it a dual stage system (Base coat + clear coat). A basic white will be applied, followed by two base coats. After de-knobbing, 2 or 3 clear coats will be applied.

This is in the painting booth. The color has a hint of green. The French color name is Blanc Carrare (White from Carrara) but it is actually a light green.

The auxiliary lights, dash, air intakes and fuel door have been painted and clear coated.

2009-05-08T05:53:00.004-04:00

The car is about to be ready for paint. They might start painting this weekend (5/9 and 5/10/09). I might be able to shoot a video of the painting process.

Note the valence on the right >>

2009-05-03T11:10:00.003-04:00

Working on the rear lights...

2009-05-01T09:19:00.008-04:00

Tuesday 4/29/09, we drilled all the holes before applying the final primer.

First, moving the car (Video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY3v8LQMjJI&feature=channel_page

Kevin from Final Finish (Usually, he stands up straight :oD )

The car is nice and straight

Got the moldings out

After carefully aligning everything, it's time to drill. Ken used a clip to make a template before drilling.

Yep, I can drill too...

Half of the door skin was fabricated

I made a print of a photo to make sure we place things correctly

Problem! The stainless steel cover is supposed to meet the molding flush. Ken will have to modify it.

Ken mixing some paint to get a sample of the "Blanc Carrare" according to a formula. Looks like it is not quite matching. The paint will be matched later before painting.

2009-05-01T08:07:00.003-04:00

Working on the rear bumper. Pretty much all the nuts and bolts broke.

Restoring the rear bumper.

Taking a brake on the bumper and worked on the door handles.

2009-04-15T19:21:00.003-04:00

The car is starting to look like a car...

The door might not look good to you, but , believe me, it is looking great next to what it was!

The clip is looking great.

Can't wait to see it painted.

The front aligns nicely...

Still working on the left door.

This is Ken sanding the right door. That's how you get a straight car! Won't be any waves on this car!

This also gives you an idea on how long the proper restoration of car can take.

2009-03-25T10:01:00.004-04:00

The left side is almost done, but some work remaining on the fender.

The right fender was also very badly rusted...

Be careful, the sound level is very high on the first video; make sure to lower the level.

2009-03-06T23:27:00.000-05:00

Getting serious on the rear clip...

The door looks good...

Work in progress on the jack point...

But, again, more rust...

Looking good...

2009-02-26T23:18:00.000-05:00

Things are progressing but more rust is discovered.

To close to hydraulic lines next to chassis.

Work done on the A pillar

But, more rust discovered under a plate that was riveted over it:

Rust under driver door.

2009-02-18T19:08:00.000-05:00

The lower left corner of the trunk is done.

More bad surprises on the right door. The bottom was badly rusted.

Lower rear corner.

Inside the door

The new lower skin.

Bad corner there...

Front lower corner was badly repaired.

The door jam is looking pristine now.

2009-02-18T19:00:00.001-05:00

The hydraulic block started to piss some brake fluid on the top.

Rust on one line was the problem

Prepped to receive new line

My benders could not fit. I used a piece of wood to form the line.

Ready to silver braze.

2009-02-13T19:29:00.000-05:00

New piece was fabricated to correct the missing 1.5"

More work done on the door jam.

Found some rust on the door. A new piece will be made and welded.

To correct rust on the corner of the trunk. This requires a machine to stretch and shrink metal.

I painted a sample to be able to scan and mix the AC140 gray for the wheels.

2009-02-05T20:51:00.001-05:00

The fender is looking better.

We've presented the moldings and turned out that the distance between the door and the wheel well is shorter of an inch or two compared to the other side. So the molding doesn't fit. The guy who did the job earlier did not bother measuring the other side. Unreal!

Ken will cut out the panel up to the wheel well and fabricate a piece matching the other side

The new piece which will close the hydraulic lines.

The "shrinking" machine.

2009-01-31T21:56:00.000-05:00

The project is moving along very nicely...

The old panel was shrunk and the new fabricated piece installed.

These panels will be screwed on to give access to the fuel line and hydraulic return.

Ken did a great job shrinking the panel.

The front fenders don't look too good. They will be next after the rear clip.

The work started on the hood.

2009-01-28T19:41:00.000-05:00

Continuing on the bumper...

US specs center piece:

2009-01-27T20:52:00.000-05:00

The project is moving along... Under the removed panel, things were not that bad. It is now treated against rust. The metal was folded over the steel rod you can see on the picture; the new panel will be welded to it to add rigidity.

The trunk lid is ready to be primed.

2009-01-23T17:12:00.002-05:00

Worked on the front bumper today.

I used a file and sand paper (and of course a hammer) to remove the dings.

2009-01-22T19:53:00.000-05:00

I am starting the restoration of the front bumper. It was bent with a lot of deep scratches.

After sanding with an 80 grid paper and getting the dings out, I spot all the issues.

Deep scratches require using a file.

Back to sanding

I have sanded from 80 to 2000 (80, 220, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 2000)

This is before polishing.

Done.

Now protected with plastic food wrap to avoid anymore scratches.

2009-01-21T19:12:00.001-05:00

Here's what we found under the bondo...
On some spot there was about 2 inches of bondo. Who ever did this job never bothered to shape the metal and just covered everything with close to 100 Lbs of bondo. Ken and I have never seeing this kind of work!
Ken is thinking to take the most cost effective route... shrinking the metal or fabricate new panels?

The right side

2009-01-13T14:06:00.006-05:00

After prepping, fabricating and welding the necessary parts on the chassis and front fenders, I have sent the car to Final Finish; Ken, the owner, is ready to do his magic.

The car was soda blasted, but turned out that there is an impressive coat on bondo which now has to be removed chemically; A set back for us. Hopefully Ken won't find any bad surprises under it.

We can see here the thinkness of the bondo.

This is a great place, located in Branford, Connecticut, where many trophy winning cars have been restored.

http://www.the-final-finish.com/

Ken (left) has 30 years of experience in car restoration.

And I thought I was tall... :o)

2008-11-25T19:57:00.000-05:00

Bad surprise when I removed the dashboard...

This is the left side.

Took advantage of treating and painting the inside.

2008-11-09T19:03:00.001-05:00

The left front brancard was damaged...

I used a copper plate to add some metal...

This plate has magnets embedded in case you cannot use a clamp.

After grinding and self etching primer.

Semi gloss black to match the rest of the chassis.

The bottom was really in bad shape.

After cutting, sand blasting, treating for rust and applying weldable primer. I'll be able to add some metal once the new fabricated piece is in place.

Ready to be welded. This side will be inside the longeron.

The seem will be hidden by the valence.

All the welds have been sealed with a paintable sealer between the primer and the paint to avoid any further penetration of water or moisture.

2008-10-30T20:03:00.002-04:00

On the auxiliary lights...

After sand blasting the over sprayed paint and the rust, I used a zinc plating kit from Eastwood.

I wire brushed lightly to get this shiny finish:

This is between the auxiliary lights and the front fenders.

2008-10-27T11:01:00.008-04:00

The right fender had a lot of issues.

The wheel well has been poorly fixed long time ago. I have to wait until the car is soda blasted before seeing the extend of the damage.

Another ugly part...

The antenna hole needs to be erased.

Under a thick coat of bondo, I found holes that were plugged. Probably from a former rear view mirror. Instead of grinding the metal, someone just plastered a ton of bondo over it.

I have just added some metal and grinded the excess.

Some self-etching primer will protect the metal while waiting further work.

Some rust at the bracket connecting the fender to the end of the bumper.

I will seal the welds later with a brush on sealer.

Believe it or not, the fender was welded to the chassis with a home made bracket.

The bracket to the bumper was cut and welded higher. The fender was resting on a stack of washers.

After being sealed and painted, this should look good again.

2008-10-06T14:35:00.008-04:00

I have received this DS21 cabriolet to be restored to its original color. This is an US Export model which was repainted blue. My task in hand is to restore it to its original color, "Blanc Carrare".

This car was purchased by a Celebrity in the early 70's. In the past two years, I have rebuilt the gear box and did some hydraulic work on it. This is a sweet car to drive.