Citroen DS Safari

[badabec]

Hello, I finally fitted the engine/gearbox into the Safari. Next job is to raise it back up on axle stands so I can fit the exhaust.

 

[chunkolini]

you're a brave man
Wonderful, beautiful, ugly, weird, visionary motors.
I love them
Keep the photos coming

 

[ahebron]

Some one said Safari?

 

[frank horton]

super nice job so far.....
wont ask what the floor n rocker panels were like......
I rebuilt my Dutch friends Safari (petrol-automatic) a rare trans I beleive.....
anyway hundreds of hours cutting n welding up etc.....
BUT I found a non runner but NO rust, with a few dents in Morroco....said he should go buy it.....
instead I had to weld up his junk pile.....
as above more photo's pls......

 

[badabec]

A few pictures of the Safari. I bought it unseen from an English guy in France. It had been stored for years. It was an ambulance. It came with a Safari roof and another full interior.
The first thing it did was bleed LHM over the drive from a split pipe. Then the oil pressure switch failed and it dumped all the engine oil.
Safari sills are double thickness on the outer surface of the box section. Not sealed, so capillary action does the rest.
So many spot welds on the tops of the sills I used a plasma cutter. Most were two or three spots overlapping each other.
I've made a new loom. Citroen use the same colour wire with different coloured sleeves on the ends. These fade to beige. I chose British Standard colours. Plenty of fuses (originally just four) and everything run through relays.
All new hydraulic pipework in Cunifer.
@Pete. reground the rear hubs for me.
I'm not a rivet counter...

 

[beeRS]

Wow. That is off-the-scale cool.

 

[Nomad]

Nice work on a great project. Always loved the DS & Safari, a neighbour had one when I started driving and it always appealed. Keep up the good work

If anyone is looking for similar I keep seeing project DS being advertised in Europe, links below for info
Chap (dealer?) has 2x DS adverts & parts listed, photos show he has more cars in the barn https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/profile/100004361911159/

£2,000 project, looks rough but complete, no documentation https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/926983126285361/

When searching, "Citroen Boca" seems to work (Citroen Mouth??). I'm also seeing wings & roofs at sensible prices...

 

[badabec]

I'd already re-plumbed the hydraulics and re-wired (own loom) the car before fitting the engine.
Connecting all the other control cables and linkages etc is like rewiring a plug through a blackthorn hedge. You can see it but you just can't get your hands on it.
Adjusting the handbrake calipers needs a two inch long 14mm open ended spanner reduced in thickness by half.

I really need the help of a four year old child with a vice like grip.

 

[Mick Annick]

I'd already re-plumbed the hydraulics and re-wired (own loom) the car before fitting the engine.
Connecting all the other control cables and linkages etc is like rewiring a plug through a blackthorn hedge. You can see it but you just can't get your hands on it.
Adjusting the handbrake calipers needs a two inch long 14mm open ended spanner reduced in thickness by half.

I really need the help of a four year old child with a vice like grip.

You coming over for this?

 

[badabec]

The Safari made it outside under its own power. It starts, stops, rises and lowers.
Unlike most cars, the brake calipers are left loose until it can be started and the brake pedal pushed down. That centralises the calipers and they can be tightened.
Yes, that is the aluminium bonnet on the roof rails.

 

[ahebron]

Unlike most cars, the brake calipers are left loose until it can be started and the brake pedal pushed down. That centralises the calipers and they can be tightened.

Thats how I set up my MTB disc brakes.
Seeing that skeleton frame work opens a whole raft of possibilities