Renovation process 2001-2002

Work done during the initial renovation process

  • all dents and rust removed [and fibreglass roof cleaned up] There were many large dents and some small in nearly every body panel & some minor rust in small patches on doors under rubber and on one door base, minor rust under roof sill/edging above windscreen and lower boot lid edging, door tops, and worst was in right C pillar which needed 2cm welding fix! not bad…
  • respray with Noir body & Blanc roof & then clear coated [for some reason Australian citroën dealer painted over Dspecial roofs with matching body colours]
  • lower front panel painted with hardened protectant paint to prevent stone damage etc The inside of this was also washed and cleaned in detail as the drainage holes had silted up badly. That area then was painted with POR15 – like many other parts of the car – to prevent future rust and to aid drainage with a nice smooth surface.
  • stripped wheel hubs and powdercoated & 5 new Michelin XVS Tyres – plus replaced larger hubcaps which were delivered with it originally with small dimpled ones which I prefer on this model [sometimes]
  • inside door handles and headrest mounting bars rechromed – done at the ‘Bronzing Studio‘
  • all stainless trim and bumper bars repolished – [some existing plastic chromed trim replaced with stainless such as Headlight Nacelle edging] – mostly cleaning but some polishing
  • new windowscreen due to several minor cracks
  • new headlining – had to go with pallas grey material due to not finding any replacement white dimpled material – the old stuff cleaned up ok but was looking pretty age stained – [kind of like tobacco stained curtains]
  • strip and resurface/paint inside of plastic lighting Nacelles
  • updated with retractable seatbeats for front seats – [was driver only] and new non retractable ones for 2 back seats
  • engine bay cleaned out /degreased [repaint bay and repowdercoat internals at later date]
  • new rubber seals wherever necessary & new rubber mudflaps
  • new lining for boot & cleaned up rubber/foam boot seals
  • new lining for back parcel shelf
  • straighten C pillar fluted aluminium panels – a few small dents still in them – really difficult to remove – extra padding placed behind them to prevent future dents
  • drained everything and put new fluids in
  • new reversing lights fitted – the old housings were very weak and cracked [but still got them] – the new ‘Nitestalker’ spot ones [with Fog light spread for better side coverage] are a bit overkill but it’s good to be able see where you are going – even if it is about 200 meters away ;-)
  • some wiring relays moved around under dash and all wires cleaned up
  • had to get a new battery
  • got new black and white number plates made up.
  • new glass and mirrors for side and interior mirrors – edging plastics replaced
  • new stainless pallas windscreen wipers supplied by Denton
  • glaze and wax etc along with final touch up stainless polishing
  • new black leather for seats, door trim and headrests etc. replacing jersey velours which has fallen apart completely along seat tops and other spots due to UV& general sun damage in Australian conditions. The upholstry was degraded by Australian sun to the point where is was disintegrating completely. I could not find any matching original Jersey velours anywhere so went with the black leather which is really impressive in real life. It is very high grade black cow leather from NSW Leather Co pty ltd 707 Elizabeth Street Waterloo NSW 2017 [ph: 02 93192900]
  • touch up dashboard and renovate – the UV has really killed the plastics – came up well with meguiars Vinyl liquids – however it still needs the bottom 2 screw holes to be repaired where the plastic has broken off around the recessed screw holes – also maybe new steering wheel later?
  • grey carpets etc. are in excellent original condition – but need additional new cover mats [with Citroen insignia maybe later]
  • additional new fog lights – Hella COMET FF 100 SERIES – Quartz Halogen Fog Lamps – we really need them 6 months of the year in the upper Blue Mountains [1000+metres] – minimal black switch installed for them on dash along side blower buttons
  • install audio system – Pioneer Head and speakers -Front speakers TS-G1647 16cm are very good because they have only a 42mm mounting depth
  • used smaller TS-E1075 10cm for the rear - front and rear speaker mounts custom made and leather covered – rear ones still have to be fixed down permantly but sound great from just below front seats. [Needs tweeters somewhere high and a woofer in the boot maybe later.] Warning! make sure there are no wires or tubes before you drill a hole anywhere in these cars to mount anything!!
  • rewire loom under steering column and add new fuses behind dash. [see above - DOH!]
  • ducting replaced from vents to blowers – using black plastic tubing – Jason from European Autocare sourced and installed it
  • new brighter Osram/Hella H4/H1 50+ headlight bulbs [old ones too weak]

Subsequent fixes

  • October 2002 – Rewire, repair and reposition wiring harness under steering column.  New headlight reminder wired in.
  • December 2002 – Fitted new air ducting to front guards and engine bay area. Replaced gear box oil and adjusted Carburetor.