Carpets

The carpets I bought at ICCCR in Holland have to start going in the car sooner rather than later. I didn't want to leave it too late and come across a problem which couldn't be resolved. Having said all that, the carpets are of great quality and good progress is being made. The original soundproofing/underlay is in good condition and is being re-used.

Original carpet... well rotted

New carpet section with original foam being used

This is the section that is fitted underneath the front seats with runners in place

The piece shown at the bottom of the photo is the original section for the rear foot-well and serves as a good comparison of the colour and quality match.

Front ¼ panel

These small pieces on the front ¼ panels are more involved than at first sight. A slot has to cut into the carpet to accommodate the welded bracket and then you have to figure out how to remove the bonnet release.

Front bulkhead

To install the front bulkhead carpet the heater control panel had to be removed, the red section is notorious for fading away. A bit of careful masking and my daughters red nail varnish makes it look a lot better. You can buy stickers for these but are expensive at about £20.00.

2mm foam strip fills the gap formed by the reinforcing plate on the inner sill

Trim piece for brake pedal

Refitting the trim piece for the brake pedal is a tricky job, there are 6 small bolts securing it to the support for the pedal gear and into the floor.
Naturally nothing lines up properly.

N/S/F footwell, the tricky part is aligning the screws with the original holes

N/S/F sill section

N/S/R heater outlet

N/S/R sill section

Rear bumper woes :(

Now here's a lesson learned in how not to check the ‘softness’ of your Citroën DS suspension! Use something solid to kneel on like the rear panel of the boot and NOT the top section of the rear bumper; they are a great deal more delicate than they first appear.

Rear bumper damage after kneeling on it!

So after much cursing I decided to remove the bumper to see if could be straightened. After removing the bumper it revealed a few more problems, namely the bumper support brackets were badly corroded, the support rubbers were worn and the rear lights were misaligned, these additional jobs would be sorted while the bumper was off.

Corroded rear bumper bracket

Rear bumper removed, back panel re-painted and wiring connectors cleaned and greased

Rear light panel had seen better days, a good clean up and repainted gloss black

Rear light panel repainted gloss black

New bumper brackets painted and waxoiled, these should last another 40 years

Rear light panel refitted with number plate and rear lights that are now straight

Checking the rear lights all work

eBay to the rescue which sourced a quite good top bumper section, the original was far too damaged to be repaired, The part was in Holland at a price of £35.00 and had a small dent which was repairable.

Trial fit of the new bumper section

All refitted and polished up and all new stainless steel fittings were used as the old mild steel bolts had to be cut off.

Note to self;
Well worth the effort as it now looks much better that it did originally but don't kneel on the rear bumper again.