1972 Citroen DS 21 Pallas

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hydraulic-reservoir

inbd-front-disc-brake

left-tire-rubbing

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piston-is-dinged-a-bit

head-off-stuck-valve-is-3-second-from-right

otherwise-looks-ok

christmas-in-november

Head returned from Stewart Machine Service

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clutch-actuator-leaking

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piston-with-worn-ring-lands

exhaust-manifold-spacer

gunk-in-the-oil-pan

pan-getting-cleaned

rocker-shaft-cleaning

cam-going-to-delta-cam

spheres-going-to-steve

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Block cleaned and painted

Liner seal lands cleaned

Lotsa parts cleaned, ready for wire-brushing and painting.

Pan cleaned, that was a big job!

Gotta roll the car out, clean and paint the engine bay

Starter cable frayed, corroded and insulation failed

Starter cable insulation damaged and corroded

Tranny cleaned up

Lotsa cleaning on a cold, wet PNW day.

Oil-soaked brakes cleaned and dried

Weber carburetor is disassembled for cleaning

Gunk in the bottom of the carb bowl - but no corrosion

Love the Weber floats!

Careful to take photos of disassembly to make sure the right size jets go back in the right hole

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Tank before cleaning with Marine Clean and hot water

Fuel tank after cleaning with Marine Clean

Battery tray parts are painted with POR 15 after cleaning

Head back from Cal Stewart with 2 new valves, all new guides

Parts cleaned, painted, drying

Fuel tank and radiator getting cleaned with hot water and Marine Clean

Delta cam completes the regrind, they welded three lobes and did a very nice job

Delat cam also ground the followers and ran them in the tumbler for a while to knock off the sharp edges

Closeup of the cam. Very nice and only $150 for all of the work, followers included.

New interior trim, plug hides the fastener

Under the basdcule bridge on the Hylebos Waterway

Using a long breaker bar, a puller and my 1/2 drive ratchet to get the tri-axe off the axle

It comes off slowly

Dampers come off so I can get the new boot on

New boot installed

Engine and crank waiting for new bearings, pistons, rings and liners

Cleaning the air cleaner

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$They\'re pretty!$

Citroen NOS pistons, liners, rings arrived late last night in the dark.

Regulator and spheres back from Citraulics

The rear wheel wells get cleaned.

Engine bay clean

$I\'ll remove the brake ducts and lower pan for more cleaning$

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Tabby Cat comes down to inspect work in progress

Installing the new standard bearings in the crank bearing caps

Assembling the pistons, pins and connecting rods

The crank gets cleaned again and goes in, new bearings installed

Old cracked and hardened cam seal replaced in the distributor tower

The tank cleaning continues, after the Marine Clean, I rinse it and put in a quart of blue Prep and Ready

After rinsing out the Prep and Ready, I dry it for four hours using a heat gun and the Kerosene heater

Pouring in the US Tank Sealer

After sloshing the sealer around, it completely coats the inside of the tank. Has to dry for 96 hours.

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Warming up the pistons and small end to install the pins

Installing rings and inserting into liners

Hylomar on the liner sealing flange

Placing the paper gasket on the liner flange

Liners, pistons and rods going into the block

Lining up the rods with the crank journals

After the oil pump and filter housing goes in, the sump goes on

I go to the auto parts store to get a clutch alignment tool, fuel filter and some hose and I see Turbo the auto parts store security cat has staked out the warm sunny spot by the battery display rack. She's a big cat, at least 14 pounds and she's always there when I go in to get stuff.

Lining up the timing gears

Setting the chain guide clearance using my 12 inch scale that is .42 mm thick - perfect for the job!

I start to organize the head

Timing cover in place - enough work for one day, time for a glass of wine

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I apply some Epifanes varnish to the new mahogany trim

We go for a cruise on the Monk, Renee takes photos of a Polish grain freighter with her new camera

We head to the Foss Waterway for lunch

Approaching the Foss Waterway and The Dock pub where they have good cod and chips.

The old boat has the Foss Waterway to herself.

Back home after the cruise and I get ready to instal the head

I remove the long exhaust studs and install short one to accomodate the removed smop pump air manifold

Head goes on the Citroen engine

$Renee takes a photo of me installing head bolts. I use my Nokia BH905 bluetooth headsets to listen to Shpongle on my iPhone. After I go through all of my Shpongle albums, I listen to some Sci Fi audio books, or some such thing. If someone calls, I can press the button on the headset with a non-greasy knuckle and answer the phone. Also alerts me when I get a text from the FAA\'s Regional Ops Center about something. I love these headphones, but they\'re getting pretty dirty.$

Rocker shaft buildup

New o-rings on the rocker shafts - the old o-rings were hard as rocks

All rockers installed, head with final torque

Distributor tower installed, flywheel bolts getting torqued

The basic engine is getting near complete, time for more cleaning and accessory installation

$I use my torch and lots of Kroil to remove the exhaust stud nuts that hold the lower pipe on to the headers. I\'ll clean these up and install new gaskets and nuts$

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Clutch installed, ready for transmission

Getting everything ready in the bell housing

New camshaft seal on the bell housing glued in place with some Aviation Form-A-Gasket

My neighbor Terry came over and helped me slide the transmission into place on the engine

The rubber bushings on the hydraulic regulator were rock hard, so I chipped them out and made new ones from some new, green, hydraulic hose I got from McMaster-Carr.

I drill and tap one of the oil galley plugs for an oil pressure gauge

$You can see the tapped oil pressure plug with the pipe fitting installed - just under the head. I was going to relocate the pressure regulator, but this project is taking long enough as it is - I\'ll do that next time$

This engine is complex - lots of things to install and get lined up. The old alternator belts were too small on the original alternator, so I cut the old one to fit it and measure how long the new ones should be.

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Looks very complicated!

New water pump and green hydraulic hose arrive

I test the starter and get some oil flowing through the engine

I start to install the accessories

The o-rings in the hydraulic system are all old and hard

I can crack the o-rings in half - time for new ones

Takes a lot of time to install new o-rings, new fitting seals, etc.

Have to clean out the old seals and install new ones

I use the hand crank to get the engine to TDC on #1 and install the camshaft pulley

getting the puller marks aligned

Belts going on, new alternator

Have to replace the water temp sender wire

I like using these heat shrink butt splices

I cover the new wire and butt splice in a sheath of heat shrink

Cleaning the seals out of the regulator

I use a Q-tip to get the rubber bits out of the seal holes

I could not figure out where this hose terminated, after a half hour of looking at all of me removal photos, I e-mailed Steve Hammond and he responded immediately telling me that the hose does not terminate, it's a drain for the manifold and must be 400mm long. Very helpful.

Making progress - slowly

Torquing the brake attach bolts

Front mount installed

It's been a long day, but it's almost ready to go

Exhaust manifolds and shrouds installed, I used some ceramic filler that Steve Hammond recommended to plug the smog pump sensor holes in the head, thereby allowing me remove that spacer plate and install shorter exhaust studs.

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New air filter decal :-) also a sphere gets installed!

Engine goes in with help from Renee

Steering rack o-rings had red RTV goop slathered on them, plugging one of the holes in the rack

Reservoir hoses connected

Gearbox pipes get connected

$Rack goes on, but it\'s not centered, checking my old photos, that\'s how it was when I got the car, so now I have to figure that out.$

Mount bolts in and tight, time to start connecting

Lots of stuff to install and connect

$Wiring rat\'s nest$

O-rings in the transmission connection are replaced

I drain the red Dexron out and clean the tank, refill with green LHM

The Nissan filter that fits perfectly, great tip from the Yahoo DS list guys!

The engine is ready to go in

Static-timed, all bits are on

I made sure all the stuff below the head is well and truly secure because access will be a problem if I have to adjust something!

Pretty red plug wires :-)

Engine bay cleaned and painted, after this photo, I reinstalled the bottom pan and brake cooling ducts

Carburetor reassembly with help from the breakdown illustration, a photo printed out from the DS Yahoo site and the iPad cache of disassembly photos

Some help from Steve Hammond was key in understanding and assembling the idling valve body onto the carburetor

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Slowly coming together

I pour new LHM fluid into the hydraulic reservoir

Prior to installing the left front suspension sphere, I install a new o-ring into the suspension actuator

Newly charged front suspension sphere screwed into place

Radiator installed

$Carburetor controls installed and rigged. Next it\'s time to connect wiring$

Wiring from the battery to the alternator and fuse panel is completely corroded

Only these wires are damaged, the other wiring appears to be relatively new and uncorroded

So, I make up a new section

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Bleeding the hydraulic system

installing the new Pirelli tires

Peparing the fuel tank for installation

Cleaning the fuel tank bay

The fuel tank bay is clean and rust-free. This car is in excellent structural condition.

Prior to installing fuel tank, I apply LPS-3 to the fuel tank bay.

Old brass connectors replaced by marine shrink-fit butt splices

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I install the new snoot I got from Western Hemispheres

$Using cleco\'s to hold the pieces in place while I pop-rivet it back together$

New snoot installed

After almost 200 miles on the clock, the engine still blows blue oil smoke - not good!

$I remove the plugs for inspection and do a compression test, plugs look good and compression is high 170\'s on every cylinder$

Oil leaking from the exhaust side of the engine

$Time to pull the engine back out and remove the head and see what\'s up with this smoker.$

Oil out of the exhaust ports

Head and head gasket look very good, pistons are coated with oil - not good

Head has oil residue built up thickly on the combustion chambers

Close-up of the combustion chambers.

Sludge in the chambers :-(

Cylinder no. 1 cross-hatching still evident

Cylinder 2. Rings should certainly have seated by now, but the amount of oil smoke coming out means there is definitely something up with the rings.

Cylinder 3. Might have the scrapers in upside down, but I was very careful!

The head gasket looks great, good compression on the seailing surfaces, no damage, no leakage, no oil in the water or vice versa.

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$Waiting for the head gasket to arrive, so we go for a cruise on New Year\'s Day$

Renee takes us out of the harbor and into the bay

Almost 60 degrees out on Commencement Bay today, sun is shining on the Olympics in the background

$The local lumber yard is shut down for New Year\'s Day$

Back to work on the head - re-installing the valve springs after the seals are glued in place

I test the thermostat to make sure it opens at 75 degrees C.

January 4, the new head gasket arrives, time for reassembly

Rockers and pushrods going back on

Head bolts torqued, then valve lash set to cold specs

$Feels like I\'ve been here before!$

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January 5th and the engine gets its accessories re-installed

Friday, January 6, the engine goes back into the Citroen

This gets easier with practice!

Fenders going back on

January 7th, the engine ran last night and no smoke - the valve guide seals definitely fixed the oil burning problem

I painted a Banksy rat on the right rear where I sanded the bondo off.

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All of the bits go back in the engine, air cleaner goes in after hot valve adjustment

New leather steering wheel cover - very soft :-)

New snoot for the radiator duct

We name the Citroen Banksy, for obvious reasons

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Snow today in The metropolitan Puget Sound area

I closed the garage door, fired up the keroene heater and scraped the oil-soaked carpet and insulation off the front floorboards using my Fein tool.

The metal is pristine under the insulation, it was installed with some very thick black tar which appears to have successfully prevented any rust at all :-)

Even in the areas not coated with the thick black tar, there is no rust.

$Normally the front driver\'s floorboards are a rusted mess on a 40 year old car - not this one!$

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I put new 205/70R15 Pirelli P4 tires on the front and 185/65R15 on the rear

$The 205\'s really make for a nice ride!$

I restored the spare tire kit and install under the hood. I have a new strap for the spare coming from Western Hemispheres.

I decide to install modular plugs for the quarter panels since I seem to be taking those panels off quite often.

I mark the wires with colored wire tape

I solder the connectors after crimping them to ensure a good connection

Finished connector

Mcmaster.com has green heat-shrink!

I install connector for the marker lamp

Soldering the connector

The aft connection

The forward connection of the left quarter panel

I use a heat-shrink terminal end for the ground wire and more green heat-shrink.

The horn and ground wire connector

I overhauled the air horn electric pump motor, now the air horns work great!

I bought a Pertronix electronic ignition to replace the points

The hall-effect sensor goes in the distributor, fits perfectly, easy as pie.

Done, easily a 15 minute job from distributor cap off to cap back on.

The heater neeeds a new valve, one of the bolts broke off

A new heater valve came with the car - not a cheap part!

Heater parts getting cleaned and re-assembled.

Heater back in with new valve and no leaks - it works quite well now.

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$It\'s a nice day for a cruise in the old Monk, the Olympics lite up in the sunlight!$

We hear over the VHF that there is a pod of Orcas in Colvos Passage on the south end of Vashon Island, so we head over - but no killer whales are there when we arrive :-(

Another nice day, so I adjust the valves on the Citroen again to fix two of them that are still a bit sloppy.

The plugs look great and the engine is running fine.

$I polish the faded paint at night in the rain. I swear I\'m not crazy.$

Here is our new Newfoundland puppy that is 4 weeks old. We will go to Missoula next month and get him. The cats will love him :-))

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I take the Citroen to Performance Exhaust in Pacific, just down the hill to fix the leaking downpipe coupling.

They jump right on it and fabricate a new coupling that fits the downpipe perfectly.

$Then they weld the aft end to the existing expansion pipe and it\'s very much quiter now!$

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While looking for hydraulic leaks, I discover the hydraulic pump has a slow seep, time to get it overhauled.

I also remove the clutch slave cylinder and put a new o-ring in it to stop a slow leak coming from that unit as well. I mark the clutch setting with red paint to make sure I get it back exactly where it was before I removed it.

The main hydraulic pump is driven by two belts and it drives the clutch regulator (above the pump) with another belt.

Just need to remove a few nuts, loosen the adjusting arms, remove the belts and hydraulic connections.

$And it\'s out. I\'ll send it to Steve Hammond at Citraulics in Sylmar, CA for an overhaul.$

You can see the wet fluid leak area where the pump used to sit. With the slave cylinder and the pump re-sealed, that should be it for hydraulic leaks.

One thought on “1972 Citroen DS 21 Pallas”

Ken Deal on August 30, 2021

Re Citroen DS21 (1972). I’m in the process of de-rusting and coating the gas tank on my ’72 DS. Your photos are very helpful. Thanks.

Where did you get that fantastic green hydraulic tubing?

Cheers, Ken

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