Citroen DS crash repair, pt 1

Back in September last year, I unfortunately crashed my DS.   Since then, I was able to track down a NOS bonnet, some good used bumpers and other parts and strip the rear of the car.   The cars paint was faded so instead of having the repairers match faded paint, I will pay extra to repaint the whole car.  My current plan is to change the colour of the car from Rouge De Rio (Rio Red), a 1971 colour to Rouge Cornaline, which was offered in 1969 and other years.   The Rio red is almost and orangey red and I prefer something with a bit more depth.   A red option was not offered in 1970 except for Bordeaux which is a deep brown/red.

Last week the repair process began and they have already made good progress.    On disassembly there was some damage to the chassis, and you could see where a previous repair had been done.  (I had a photo of the car with damage to that side of the car from some years ago).   This is now being repaired properly and then the new parts I found will be put on the car.

In addition, the door handles have been removed to start preparing the rest of the car for paint.

Next update the car will probably be ready for paint.  I’ll probably be able to look at a sample in the new colour and see how it looks.