The search for a DX engine (Part 1)

MY DS had originally been fitted with a red tag 'DX' engine but, somewhere along the way - and while it retained it's original ancillaries such as starter, carb and alternator - it had acquired a 'DX2 engine block and cylinder* I'd come to realise this soon after I acquired the car, but never got to the bottom of it. I'd always wanted to reinstall a DX engine in my car, but while I was driving it around and enjoying it, it simply wasn't a priority. Now that the current engine was out of the car well, that was a different matter, and a 'DX' engine went up my priority list again - especially as I now suspected my current DX2 engine was tired and badly worn.

In October 2015 I started to track down a 'DX' engine. They were only fitted for a few years, so were relatively scarce compared to the DX2. After several false leads, I discovered that Adie Pease (Peacock Engineering) over in Norfolk had one. It was a little rough but was fairly complete. It lacked the ancillaries, but I would swap these over from my current engine. 

Very early one rainy Saturday in November, I drove westward to Winslow in my Zafira to meet Richard. Picking up an old pine table top from his firewood store, we drove on to the barn to pick up additional pallets and cushions to pad out and protect the back of the Zafira from the engine I planned to pick up that day. In driving rain we set off on the long trek east to Norfolk to meet Adie with a view to a potential purchase.

When we arrived, Adie's barn workshop resonated to the sounds of choral music. Now it wouldn't normally be my kind of thing, but I could instantly see how it was great background music when working on cars in such a big open space. Adie already had the DX engine up on an engine stand and had started stripping it down. The block was caked in mud, rust and oil, but under the rocker cover the rockers and spring assembly looked clean an tidy (not tar-covered as  they were on my current engine), and the tappets were shiny and smooth. Adie showed me others in his workshop to  demonstrate what 'bad' looked like. The engine wouldn't turn and one of the pots looked dry and crusty. It received a liberal squirt of WD40 and I had instructions to repeat the exercise for several  more weeks. Two bolts had been sheared when removing the head and Adie showed me and Richard how these could be removed by welding a nut to the end. The sudden burst of heat is thought to 'shock' the frozen metals, allowing the broken stud to be gently loosened and teased out.

I told Adie I was going to have a go at rebuilding an engine - my first. I tested my rudimentary knowledge on him and he gave me some further pointers and the offer off telephone help if I got stuck. Money changed hands and Adie helped load the booty in the back of the Zafira with an engine crane. Richard and I began the long drive back to the barn, arriving at teatime in darkness. We backed my Zafira into the barn and, using Doug's engine crane, carefully placed the 'DX' engine down in a quiet corner with a squirt of WD40 and threw the cushions back in a corner before heading home. It had been a long day, but very satisfying.

DX Engine - Small Barn, 21 November 2015

* I still have the original "Certificate De Conformite" that came with my DS when it rolled out of the Quai De Javel in early 1968. This lists both the cars chassis number and its corresponding engine number. In 2014, when updating my V5 with my new Bedford address, I was amazed to find that not only was the engine number on the V5 different to that on the "Certificate De Conformite" but it was also significantly different to the engine actually now fitted to my car. So it looks as though the engine had been changed at least twice before the car reached me!

Quick Word About.......Fire Safety: Carburettor Fuel Inlets

I’m resurrecting something that has been raised on the CCC (Citroen Car Club) forum, as any safety tip is worth repeating.

For those that don’t know, there is a possibility that the brass fuel inlet fitting can work lose from the carburettor body.

Loose Inlet Pipe (Photo: Colin Smith)

If this happens while you’re driving, your pump will spray fuel over the engine as you splutter to a halt. If you’re lucky, you push the pipe back on and off you go. If you're unlucky, you get a fire....... 

Photos: Gerry Freed

The solution is to replace the brass push-fitting with something that’s going to stay in place and hold the hose tight. With that in mind, Richo - a much respected contributor to the ‘Aussiefrogs’ forum down in Oz - made threaded and barbed fittings and sold a few batches of kits on a non profit making basis. The kits consist of a fitting machined by Richo, a cutting tap of the correct size and pair of hose clips. The fitting has a threaded end to go in the carb body and a barbed end that the fuel pipe fits to. Richo also sold just the fitting if you were so inclined.

Richo's Fittimg

The fitting can be used on a Weber or Solex carbs.

Richo's Fitting - Fitted......

Reports from grateful customers in Oz prove they are a hit. Here is some fitting advice by Richo, lifted from Aussiefrogs:

"The kit fits either the Weber as fitted to the later 21 and 23 engines as well as the Solex fitted to the D Specials. If your D was built from 1966 to 1974 then this kit fits.

I recommend removing the carburettor top and then tapping the thread required, BUT others will simply slap some grease on the tap then gently and carefully, making certain the tap is square to the hole, turn the threading tap a couple of turns, remove the tap, clean off the swarf, put some fresh grease on, thread some more until the job is done. At the very least, remove the filter nut at the top left side of the unit and block the access. You can also gain access to clean out swarf.

A small amount of thread tape, probably one wrapped turn will be sufficient. Next, thread the new fitting into place, with your 11mm or 7/16" wrench. I prefer to also use the hose clamp supplied in the kit on the new fitting, even though the barbs will hold the plot, no worries."


The last few kits that Richo made (in 2013?) found their way to New Zealand and the safe hands of Roger Simpson. Kiwi’s have been slow to take advantage of these and Roger is happy to see them go to good homes in the UK. Following the trail from Aussiefrogs I was able to contact Roger who happily sent me a couple here in the UK. Roger now about 6  fittings left. No Taps. Price for the fitting for NZ customers are NZ$15 (about £7) including postage. Contact Roger direct via the ‘contact’ form on his website and he’ll give you a price for the UK: 

http://www.ds23.co.nz. 

This will not include a tap to cut a thread, so you will need to purchase your own. The outer diameter of the brass push-fitting you are replacing (and so also the hole it leaves in the carburettor body) is about 8.15mm. To cut a thread, you need a tap slightly larger, which is why these fittings have an M9 threaded end. You will therefore need to buy a M9 x 1.00mm bottoming tap. Or contact me and you can borrow mine.

Colin Smith here in the UK picked up on the same idea. Colin used a 1/8” BSPT brass tail fitting readily bought in the UK, for example from Tom Parker Ltd for the princely sum of £2.04.

<<EDITED JUNE 2019: just guesswork, but I now believe it’s a 1/8" x 5/16" fitting that Colin used. 1/8" refers to the imperial thread size of the threaded end. If you buy an imperial fitting, you will need to buy an imperial tap of course. A 1/8" threaded end has a diameter of  about 9.7mm so before you tap for 1/8", you may need to drill out the hole in the carburettor to about 8.7mm or 8.8mm - otherwise your tap may be too tight for the hole.

BSPT also means that the fitting has a slight taper on the threaded end, this would mean that it got tighter as you screwed it in. there is a risk of it then cracking and splitting the carburettor body if you are too forceful.  This could lead to a fuel leak - the very thing you are trying to avoid.....So, instead, try to find a 'BSPP' variant as the threaded part will have parallel sides - just like a bolt.

5/16" refers to the internal diameter of the rubber hose you will push on to the fitting. 5/16" is about 8mm so the size of the DS fuel pipe you would use with the original non-barbed end piece.>> 

So anyway, you can buy off-the-shelf fittings that will do this job. I think Richo’s fittings are a little less-obtrusive than the off-the-shelf ones but there’s not much in it and at the end of the day, either version is better than an engine fire.

EDIT: fast forward to my post dated 30 June 2018 HERE and you can see how I got on fitting my 'Richo' fitting to my Weber carb.

If you don’t fancy your ability to do this without messing your carb up (or causing a fire!), Colin first tried a less elegant but equally effective solution using a tie rod of copper wire held on with jubilee clip. 

You can find Colin’s write up and fitting advice for both methods on his blog:

http://citroendsrestoration.blogspot.co ... afety.html

I hope this provides some food for thought. If you want one of Richo's fittings, contact Roger in NZ while he still has a few left