You know those moments when you allow your thoughts to wander too far into the realms of optimism? Well, I had one of those moments the other day.
Autumnal aromas augmented by waft of oil smoke
There was I, happily bounding along in the BX on a blissful sunny morning, the leaves on the trees just turning and the sunset colours glinting off my fibreglass bonnet. I'd taken it out for a quick late-afternoon back-road blast, and I was so pleased with the experience that I allowed my mind to drift into the realms of foolishness. "This car's been so well-behaved of late," I found myself thinking. "All I've had to do has been to drive it and enjoy it. What am I going to write about in my next PH update?"
Of course, you can guess where this is going to end. As I killed the engine on arriving home, my eye was caught by a wisp rising from the shut line between the bonnet and the front wing. Ah.
Further investigation revealed it was oil smoke. A cursory inspection suggests that one of my minor oil leaks has just become a little less minor – the drips now frequent and landing on the hot exhaust, hence the smoke.
Sunny thoughts for the BX, even with niggles
Rich, the poor sod who I turn to a gibbering state every time something goes wrong, reckons it's the rocker cover gasket. Not the end of the world but still something I'll need to get seen to sooner rather than later. A trip back down to Southways is in order.
Fortunately, I was already planning on heading down there anyway. Those of you blessed with a more encyclopaedic knowledge of Citroen BX interiors have already spotted that the seats and door cards are not correct. The 'Le Mans' interior was only fitted to later cars; mine should have the earlier 'Monza' trim. Fortunately, Rich has such an interior in stock, so the plan is to head down there in a couple of weeks and swap one for t'other, for the sake of originality. I'm hoping we can get the rocker cover gasket sorted at the same time. Oh, and the passenger seatbelt, which now refuses to become unbuckled. Just another character feature – and one which will be sorted when the interior's changed!
Interior swap on the (door) cards for winter
With those bits done, I'm hoping to be able to turn my attention to longer-term plans for the car. Over the past couple of months, a (very) rough plan of action has emerged in my mind, and it goes something like this: Phase One will involve taking the car down to Southways at some point over the winter and leaving it with Rich for a bit, so that he can sort the remaining teething mechanical and electrical niggles in one fell swoop.
Phase Two, I hope, will then come at some point early next year, and will involve finding a bodyshop willing to pull out the dents, repair the rust spots, and give the old girl a lick of paint so that she's looking brand new once again. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get the wheels refurbished and add a full stainless exhaust, to solve once and for all the fluffiness that comes from the current system's mismatched parts.
Money pit? Oh yes, and then some – but you know, money isn't everything, and if I can stick with it and pull it off, I'm hoping the result will be worth it!
FACT SHEET
Car: 1989 Citroen BX GTI 16V
Run by: Scrof
Bought: April 2013
Purchase price: £800
Last month at a glance: Smoking: bad for your wallet. Especially when it’s your car that’s doing it.