Useful Information

General bits and pieces of information to help demystify the DS.......

This page will be be added-to from time-to-time, but any new additions won't be notified as 'new posts'. 

Scroll down to find......


Rear seat from a car with "-15 Heating" (added 5/1/2019)

Use of An Engine Stand (added 11/4/2018)

Roof Sealing  - a labelled cut away photo showing the construction (added 11/4/2018)



REAR SEAT FROM A CAR WITH "-15" HEATING

You often see Ds with the closing flap fitted into the metal tube that channels air to the radiator (they were a fairly common features on Safaris - especially Ambulances it seems). These were part of the "-15" heating system and helped the engine to warm up faster by denying cold air to the radiator and cooling system. 

However you don't often find saloons with the other part of the '-15' system - the additional water-fed heater blower in the rear. This provides warm air to demise the rear screen, and also blws warm air at the feet of the rear passengers.

I've seen examples of the rear heater for sale at very high prices. These have been pulled from scrap cars and the like. The one below was at Citromobile 2018 and had been snapped up by another trader (even before the public had access) - for a cool Euros 600........

"-15" rear heater assembly. it's upside down.....

They are nice to have BUT if you are planning to retro-fit one of these in your DS, there are a number of peripheral bits that you need to go with it. These includes the rear seat. The upright part of the seat is already shaped to hold the rear heater. It rests behind the folding armrest.

Rear heater in place (photo from 'La Nuancierds' website)

But this is where things get tricky: water hoses and air ducting need to fit under the bottom part of the seat.

Water hoses for heater (photo from 'La Nuancierds' website)

For this reason, the base part of the rear seat needed to accommodate the "-15" system is different to that of a standard saloon. If you DON"T have the right seat, then firstly, the seat won't fit properly into place and, secondly, it will squash the water hoses and warm air pipes underneath. 

Parts catalogues show separate part numbers for the "-15" seat

So what's different? The metal frame part is differently shaped from the standard frame to provide the necessary extra protected space beneath. 

Frame size is the same but the shape is different. Top frame is "-15"

The metal frame has concave areas at the sides and rear

The front corners of the frame are concave - allowing space for the air duct and vent that hide beneath.

The centre back line is raised to allow room for the heater box and hoses

Extra room at the back for the heater box and nozzles

The cuts in the surface of the foam show this is a "-15" seat
 for a car with leather upholstery (Part DS 922-124A)

The foam moulding is shaped to match the wire frame.

The sides and back are hollowed to allow room for the hoses and ducting.

The foam is moulded to leave a concave channel

The foam matches the shape of the frame

Warm air nozzles are hidden under the corners of the seat

Warm Air Nozzle

The ducting sits in a channel to stop it being squashed

If you are fitting a rear heater and don't have the proper rear seat, it would be possible to make a new frame (using a standard one as a template) and also hack at the foam of a standard seat.





USE OF A FOUR-FINGERED ENGINE STAND

This is a rough and ready collection of photos for those wanting to understand how best to mount a DS engine to one of these stands for rebuild purposes.

General points:
Generally you can use bolts, set screws or threaded rod to fix straight into holes already tapped in the engine block.

When mounting or removing the engine from the stand, make sure it is level and that you do not cross thread bolts into the block.

Use one or more big washers on the bolts you use to make sure they do not pull through the fingers of the engine stand.

If you plan to mount around the edge of the starter motor 'eye' then the holes are not threaded (the thread is in the starter motor). Just put long thin bolts through the hole and nut them off.

It's possible to rotate the engine on the stand after fitting. However the centre of gravity will change as you remove pieces - especially where the crankshaft is concerned. This will make it awkward to control if/ when you try to rotate the engine.

With the camshaft in place, you will only be able to rotate the engine 180 degrees by turning it in one direction. If you turn it the other way - and lose control because the centre of gravity has shifted - you risk bending the camshaft!

The first couple of photos are a relevant selection taken from the many photos I took during disassembly and then reassembly.

For reassembly (after the block was painted, I fixed to 'arms made of angle iron to the fingers of the stand, and then bolted the engine to the angle iron. It meant i could use more mounting points to spread the load. I had to strategically 'sculpt' one of the two arms to allow me to refit the camshaft. Similarly, I needed to make sure the angle iron still allowed me to fit the sump. Lastly, I had to drill two holes in the angle iron arms for the locating pins on the engine (that marry to holes on the gearbox).

On the starter side, one of the fingers of the stand is fixed to the angle iron. The other is fixed directly to the engine.

This last series of photos is various things I found on the internet during my early research. They have come from all over the place and I've lost rack of the sources - so they are used entirely without permission. I will be happy to remove or credit a picture if it's owner so wishes.

Stand bolted to a plate. Plate bolts to the engine in many places
(photo: Peacock Engineering?)

Bolted via the starter 'eye'

NOT bolted through the starter eye
(photo: Alteliers24.com)

(photo: Alteliers24.com)

ROOF SEALING
Roofs, leaks and sealing are regular topics of DS conversation. Here is a useful photo - originally sourced from 'Greenblood' on Aussiefrogs - that shows how a bonded roof is put together. I've added labels to make clear what the various bits are:

Cutaway of a bonded roof (courtesy of 'Greenblood')