Citroen DS Tail light

The rear bumper bar has been ready for fitting since February.  I had not yet mounted it was one of my tail light housings was not working and I figured its easier to replace this with the bar off the car.   A friend in the Citroen Club gave me a used one, which was better than what I had, but also not working.   My next option was to purchase a reproduction part.   The quality of reproduction parts for the DS can be quite spotty, so I was interested to see what the reproduction DS tail light assembly would be like.

On the whole, it looks like an exact copy, but I am a bit disappointed in it.    For starters, the bullet connectors were of a different size and type than the ones used in the DS, so I had to replace them.   The quality of the plastic didn’t seem that great either.

We will see how it goes.   The lens is not nearly as faded as the original unit, so I may swap my original lens with the one that came with this reproduction assembly.   The good news is that it mounted properly and works (once I replaced the bullet connectors).   The repro units do not come with bulbs, but all my bulbs were working from before the crash.

I tried to mount the bumper next, but after putting a small scratch on one of my rear wings.  They will need to be removed to prevent further damage.

I had also ordered a reproduction light assembly for the rear drivers side indicator.    At the same time I also ordered the proper rubber part to isolate the ‘trumpet’ from the rest of the car.   The previous owner had just cut a piece of round rubber and glued it.   The right rubber piece is more of a V shape.   The lens is also held in through a metal strip with a specific bend.   Mine were rather out of shape, so I added a couple of them into my order and this made it much easier to mount the lights.

The first photo shows the improvised rubber part and the second shows the correct one.  I needed to use a razor blade to remove all the old glue from the trumpet.

The main challenge I have now is the electrics.   At first the indicators were working great.    There is something screwy still going on with the wiring in the car.    When the headlights are turned on, the left hand indicator in the dashboard lights up.  In addition, that side does not work from the stalk.   The front works on the right side, but only the front.   More troubleshooting here is needed.