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Renovation process 2004

• February 2004 –  Hydraulic system bled and regulator fully checked over. Brakes shoes were adjusted.
• May 2004 – Spark plugs all replaced. Sump gasket replaced along with oil and filter. Hydraulic pump suction pipe replaced. Starter motor relay fitted. The Air filter was moving about and needed to be secured better.
• June 2004 – Seemed to be getting bad batches of petrol around this time. Car kept dying and the spark plugs were blackening up all the time. Had to get the car towed and all the spark plugs replaced  along with some fresh petrol to get it running again.
• October 2004 – Both rear suspension return boots and left hand front suspenison boot replaced. Engine breather top flex pipe was replaced. All the pivot balls and knuckles were cleaned and regreased too.
• December 2004 – Rocker cover gasket had a leak and was replaced during normal service.

Renovation process 2003

• April 2003 – replace drivers window winder – sealed winding unit jammed open. Left hand light setup was checked as the wiring for it was playing up again.
• July 2003 – gear box oil changed.
• August 2003 – replaced fuel tank breather pipe. [nasty smell of petrol was coming into the car especially on cornering.]
• September 2003 – Water pump failed and was rattling like crazy – New water Pump and new radiator core installed, New rear accumulator sphere [was leaking nitrogen- down to 1/3 pressure], back brakes were dirty and needed adjustment, and the very effective A9 was added to the Hydraulic system to flex it up a bit. Also the Fuse mounts were completely cleaned up to ensure better contacts. The high and low beams were erratic and would sometimes light up and sometimes not.
• December 2003 – Right hand front suspension rubber boot replaced. Pivot ball and knuckle cleaned. A9 treatment added to engine oil.

Images post rebuild 2003

Images [ From April 2003] taken in Blue Mountains Sydney where I am located.

These were taken some time after the main renovation was completed and I had been driving it for a bit and decided to set up this site to document it and the renovation process.

• All linked to larger images – also see the Flickr gallery

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.

Images of rebuild 2001-2002

Images of Dspecial rebuild – [ 2001-2002] done @ European Autocare in Penrith, Sydney

It did seem to take forever but the time allowed us to source replacement parts and additional items at a good pace, and also check the underlying structure and components for anything that might need fixing while it was stripped back. I spent long hours onsite cleaning trivial things like rubber seals, beading, fabric mats and linings and stainless bits and pieces.

• Early shots after first respray

• Ron applies endless PPC coatings after wirebrush attacks on the surface rust everwhere

• Ron and Denton do the roof sills- Sills basically needed only wirebrushing and a few scrapings to get them ready

• June and back together externally – now to trimmer and installation of new leather seats etc.