Workaplenty

Ok, had a great morning at the garage and lots has been going on since the last update (though from the pics it may be hard to tell...)

Firstly all four doors are now welded, rust/rot free, back on the car and primed ready for the new paint.

The two back wings and front nearside wing are also sorted...

This is the front offside wing about to be given the treatment, should be finished by the end of the day...

As for other things... the interior is nearly finished and is looking great. No pics yet as it was all covered up at the garage but it is basically as new (black vinyl) with extra support put into the two front seats to make the twistier parts of rallying easier. At present the interior is bare:

Mechanically the main bits have yet to be started but the whole exhaust is off. The front box is currently being worked on by Graham. I saw the section he'd been tinkering with and he's enlarged the baffles and opened it up a bit to allow for a faster breathing system. From the front box back it will be a fully bespoke stainless system exiting in one slightly larger back box and pipe. Should sound nice. Combined with the new four branch carb and a damned good service it should pump the output up a bit and give an easier breathing engine.

Speaking of which we're going to do some work on the front airvents. At present a lot of that area has been taken up with the registration plate...

The plate will be coming off (the bugger is riveted on) and new airvents created and a vinyl bonnet mounted licence plate popped on like the early Jaguar E Types...

I think that about covers it for now. Work has begun today on the sills and chassis so by the time I go back (in about 3 weeks) it should be nearly there and ready for the complete respray.

Oh, I managed to pick up a pair of period spot lights - Cibie Super Oscars. They were bloody expensive but will be much needed in the low/no light sections of various rallies.

Ok. Over and out, I'm off to Devon for a week with the family...

I cant get no sleep

Off to the garage tomorrow, will post more pics of the work.

It'll be tough to sleep tonight, i miss my little French bit on the side...

A face full of spots

I've been trying to source the original spots that the rally DSs wore.

Ouch.

They're Cibie Super Oscars and if I want a decent original pair I'll be selling a kidney, child, house or all three.

Oh well, there is always a price to be paid for historical accuracy I suppose.

A watched pot never boils

Seems like ages since the last update - in fact it has been about 5 days.

I promised myself that I would not go over to the garage this week (a 3 hour round trip) and wait until next Thursday. However I am wavering and I wouldn't at all be surprised to find myself zipping over instead of doing work.

I ordered the vinyl self adhesive bonnet licence plate today to cheer myself up. As the normal plate covers up about 75% of the radiator & air intakes on the front of the car I thought it was probably a sensible move (as well as looking good.)

I heard from the chap who is organising the Citroen Classic Challenge 2012 the other day and he wrote that the route is looking like it will actually be a real challenge. Really looking forward to putting the car through its paces but I'm a little concerned about space. My father and brother are joining me on the rally and my conservative estimate is that we weigh about 300kg between us. Then I read this web page (http://www.heroevents.eu/Events/HowtogoClassicCarRallying/) and looked at what I'll need to take.

Not all of it is essential but the weight thing is bothering me as it makes such a difference to the components of the car and the chances of a problem sky-rockets if we load it to the gunnels. I'm considering asking someone to run the Range Rover as a support car. The only down side is that I will end up paying for both and a conservative estimate of fuel, ferry crossings and lodgings for another 2 people will be in the region of £1500 + food and booze. Maybe it is a small price to pay for peace of mind though, I'll think about it...

I think the Rangey would look good kitted out in support crew decals though.

Help for Heroes

I'm delighted to announce that I will be running the car in the May 2012 Citroen Classic Rallye in aid of Help for Heroes.

If you are interested in making a charitable contribution to H4H you can visit our charity webpage at http://www.bmycharity.com/BJJW - all donations go straight to H4H (not us!) and UK tax payers can also elect to pass along a tax incentive too on any donation.

And on the 7th day...

So this is how I left them, all hard at work. They're a terrific bunch, details earlier in this blog: GM Motors, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.

Graham's latest

This is one that Graham has just finished. It is an ID19 and very pretty she is too...

This little lady catches the eye too...

J'adore paint

It seems the previous keeper (1973-2006) liked a bit of change in his life. The pic below shows what has been on it from bare metal when new:

Metal>
Primer>
Blue>
Primer>
Olive green>
Blue (again, no primer this time, just slapped over the olive green)>
Primer>
Rouge Massena

I'm having every panel taken back to bare metal, primed, painted (Rouge Massena again) and laquered. Should be an amazing finish when done.

Work a plenty

Been in to Graham today to see how things are going on and was delighted to see them motoring along. Looks like all will be ready for the end of July which is just what I was hoping. So, some pictural updates:

Interior out and off to the reupholsterer, front and rear wings off and back to metal

Feels great to see so much happening so quickly. Already 2 weeks through the 8 week project estimate.

Work

So, the rear wings and all four doors are off, back to bare metal and welded, work starting on chassis today.

I'll be visiting the garage on Thursday to have a look and maybe lend a hand.

The interior is all out too and off to be reupholstered and some more lateral support added to front seats...

It gives you wings

The classic DS rally cars all had the cut away rear wings to make rear wheel changes easier. I'm sorely tempted to pick up a pair of spare wings and make the cuts...

First rally entered

I decided that I needed a little encouragement to get things done and dusted so I've just entered my very first rally.

It is in May 2012, called the Citroen Classic Challenge 2012. Details on the rally here: http://web.me.com/macksy/The_PHILIBUSTERS_File/Welcome.html

Jobs list

This is as much to help me as anything... A list of the jobs that are being done between me and Graham...

Rust - All four doors (bottoms), both rear wings, inner sills
Interior - retrimmed in original vinyl, front seat cushioning replaced for better support
Removable rollcage fabricated and fitted including side impact/t-bone protection along front doors and sills
All pipe work evaluated and replaced
Spheres serviced
Hydropneumatics - full overhaul
Bespoke fast flowing racing exhaust fabricated and fitted
4 way carb fitted and tuned
Flywheel lightened, heads ported
All 4 wheels shotblasted, sanded, powdercoated and balanced
Fuel leak fixed (should improve mpg!)
Spotlights & foglights sourced and fitted
Full recarpeting and mats

I think that is enough to be going on with for now...

Found a man!

I attended the Citroen Car Club's Northern Rally at Wetherby Racecourse last month and was introduced to a very good chap who is going to be doing the most important stuff - the repairs and strengthening to the chasis and also addressing the rust issues.

His name is Graham Morton and his firm is GM Vehicle Services in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. His website can be found at http://gmvehicleservices.co.uk/index.html

This is the car arriving with Graham last week...

Clean lines

This is a pic after I'd taken off all the stickers, the blind, the headrest, the armrests. Just pure, naked beauty (in my opinion!)

One of the exterior jobs to add to the list is sorting out the lighting. You can see above it has four lights - the outers are the normal driving lights (the ones with black tape), the inners are the high beams (yellow). Even with all 4 on in the dead of night they're no brighter than candles in jam jars. All of the rally DSs I've seen are kitted out with several sets of spotlights (pic below) - looks like that'll be the route I take but I'll have them removable so they're not on day to day.

Holiday snaps

We took a break to the Languedoc (SW France) and I saw this Citroen HY Van. Note the fig tree that actually grows through the van. Also the owner has decided to nail (yes, nail) his letterbox onto the side of it. I don't think it has been driven for decades...

Undressing

Many DS purists will be quite upset with me about this but I am quite adamant about what I do and don't like on any car, especially my DS.

So out came the scalpel and I took off all the original stickers from the windscreen, rear screen and dealer sticker from the boot panel. I also removed and sold the Venetian blind from the rear window. A lot of people love these but I don't for two reasons; firstly they do obstruct visibility to the rear and secondly (most importantly) they make a real racket with the windows down at speed.

This car is not going to be a museum piece - it is going to be driven regularly and hard.

Arriving home

Here are some photos of the car when I'd got her home. First things first, a bit of a wash and wax to see what is what...

Note cheeky 2 year old above sucking on a soapy sponge - delicious!

Getting started

I've always loved the Citroen DS and when I found the car that is now mine for sale online I knew I had to have it.

I collected her from West Sussex in April 2011 and drove the 250 miles back home to North Yorkshire. I didn't really think about the fact I'd be driving a 38 year old car all that distance, took it on faith and she made it without a single problem.

With this blog I am hoping to track the progress I make in turning her from a slightly tatty cruiser to a classic rally/racer. Once done I will be racing her in various events. Not many people know that Citroen have a rich history in  long distance rallying, the pic below is of a race prepped DS.

The dream is to enter her into the Monte Carlo Rallye Historique (which the DS won in 1959).

So the fun begins. I'm ready for a real wallet bashing...