1985 Citroen BX 19GT overhaul
Discussion
So naturally, with the rear end of the car a total mess, it seemed to logical thing to do was to attack the front. I'd already had to hoist the car up onto a dolly to wheel it around the workshop as I'd removed the rear subframe, and now it was at perfect height to commence removing parts from the front of the car. In my haste to get the car painted, due to the deal I'd been offered being a limited-time offer, I'd planned to do something about the front end for some time. It wasn't on the original list of jobs though (most of this stuff wasn't - it was only supposed to be a blow-over!) and though my Dad's already told me it doesn't fuss him too much, it does bother me when it looks like this:
You've got a mix of minor holing, some dubious previous repairs and a variation of paint. Something had to be done.
So, engine out:
I'll carry out some minor repairs on the engine later.
Access now gained:
Of course, anyone who's delved into an old, well-used car like this (nearly 200k remember, and I don't think it's seen much in the way of cleaning!) will know the pain of the grime. You want to crack on and get it repaired and painted, but you know you can either clean one small patch, repair it and then paint the patch, or you can do it properly. With so little free time, so many other projects and massively running behind on timescale, I decided to go the whole hog and do the full job. Obviously.
Clearing down the inner wings. Sadly we're going to lose the OE paint code and RP number, but then we're not going concours or anything daft:
Nice:
Rust through to the inner wing, so the decision to tackle the whole front end is looking justified already. There's every chance that more rot would have cropped up in a year or two if I'd just sorted the obvious stuff alone:
In for a penny:
(I wanted to keep that lip around the edge as the plastic s
t shield attaches to it)
Desperately trying to replicate all the original seams! A quick coating of POR15 to keep it sound while I muck around in other corners of the engine bay:
Found some grub:
Wanted to repair all rot first, then clean using thinners, carb cleaner and brushes, but it was too far gone with the oil/grease/LHM! So for the opposing side, degreasing was the order of the day first before a session with the jet wash:
Spent AGES agitating the degreaser all over the bay. 3 hours or so just of scrubbing, but when the hose hit it, it made it all worth it:
Nice application of Schutz there! I'm sure there's nothing bad underneath whatsoever:
Schutz was hiding a dodgey patch. I was so shocked I nearly had to sit down!:
Tricky one to begin cutting out:
Got there though:
Should be pretty well disguised. Certainly enough for me!:
Earlier on, while removing the engine, I found another section down at the bottom of the front panel. Looked like rust had got in behind a panel:
Well, I dug deeper and it turned out rust had gotten in behind a panel. So that panel had to be repaired too. Spot welds drilled, panel chopped:
Closing piece on the end was also frilly around the bottom due to a previous poor repair, so that was chopped too:
(Looks grim, but it's actually really thick material as it's part of the toe eye. The rust is all surface, happily it's all really strong underneath.)
Finished repair section, Shreddies style!:
Needs some more tidying up (grinder doesn't fit in there, so it has to be a die grinder, and they don't leave the best finished - lucky this is all hidden!)
Getting inside the engine bay to attack all the surface rust I can find. Prevention over cure, and all that:
Spent ages removing most layers of paint. For every 20sq cm you cover, you'll find 1sq cm of surface rust, burrowing away under the paint and underseal. It's a painstaking job, hunting it all out, but it just seems worth doing now.
Anything that had specs on, near or under it was ground back:
Then the entire section was degreased, washed, treated with Metal Prep (POR15 pre-treatment, zinc-phosphate wash-off stuff) before I coated all visible un-coated surfaces with grey POR15:
POR15 is evil stuff when it's on your hands, or up your nose. But when it's on a prepared surface, it's brilliant. It goes on very thin, and can be used as a primer, which is good, as I'll be rattle-can spraying the engine bay body colour before the engine goes back in.
Everything up top that wants to be semi-pretty (engine bay pretty, not bodywork pretty) will be POR15 underneath, then the normal paint colour, possibly with lacquer (original finish didn't have lacquer, though later BXs did).
Everything underneath will be repaired and treated, but this time coated with Rustbuster 2-pack epoxy. Originally the BX would have been bodycolour underneath too, but to get that there on this car would add much more time, so that's where I'm drawing the line. The Epoxy, by it's nature, is no where near as pretty as the POR15, but it is as tough - probably more so. It'll do a job no problem.
As work moves around to the arches, which will be Epoxy mastic (but with some casual colour overspray!) I begin removing more layers of original underseal. And guess what I find?
I know, what are the odd right?!
And it got better:
That, is the side of the chassis rail inside the OSF arch, behind the mount for the front brake hose. Nice big hole. Joy.
So, the mount has to come off:
To reveal the water-trapped mess underneath:
While I'm digging around, I find another patch on the lower front chassis rail. Luckily, this time it's been caught, and it's a perfect example of how cars rot. Bare in mind, this car has been kept indoors for the last 5 years or so. The only water to go near it was when the inner wings were hosed down, which was actually 3 months previous (I'm running out of sync here). That surface rust, found under some underseal, was DAMP. Number one solution to stopped your car rusting? Keep on top of cracked underseal!:
Anyway, I carry on digging out the messy arch:
Luckily Citroen got the underseal right in the box section, and internally it's mint.
Treated and plated:
Refitted the mount (and beefed it up as it was suffering a bit on the back) using a jig I made from more discarded Shreddies boxes (someone at our place eats LOTS of Shreddies. Not even frosted ones, either!)
And that's where we are now. Need to continue with the stripping/prepping of the front arches, before I get the metal treatment out and slap some sticky black paint on them!
You've got a mix of minor holing, some dubious previous repairs and a variation of paint. Something had to be done.
So, engine out:
I'll carry out some minor repairs on the engine later.
Access now gained:
Of course, anyone who's delved into an old, well-used car like this (nearly 200k remember, and I don't think it's seen much in the way of cleaning!) will know the pain of the grime. You want to crack on and get it repaired and painted, but you know you can either clean one small patch, repair it and then paint the patch, or you can do it properly. With so little free time, so many other projects and massively running behind on timescale, I decided to go the whole hog and do the full job. Obviously.
Clearing down the inner wings. Sadly we're going to lose the OE paint code and RP number, but then we're not going concours or anything daft:
Nice:
Rust through to the inner wing, so the decision to tackle the whole front end is looking justified already. There's every chance that more rot would have cropped up in a year or two if I'd just sorted the obvious stuff alone:
In for a penny:
(I wanted to keep that lip around the edge as the plastic s
t shield attaches to it)
Desperately trying to replicate all the original seams! A quick coating of POR15 to keep it sound while I muck around in other corners of the engine bay:
Found some grub:
Wanted to repair all rot first, then clean using thinners, carb cleaner and brushes, but it was too far gone with the oil/grease/LHM! So for the opposing side, degreasing was the order of the day first before a session with the jet wash:
Spent AGES agitating the degreaser all over the bay. 3 hours or so just of scrubbing, but when the hose hit it, it made it all worth it:
Nice application of Schutz there! I'm sure there's nothing bad underneath whatsoever:
Schutz was hiding a dodgey patch. I was so shocked I nearly had to sit down!:
Tricky one to begin cutting out:
Got there though:
Should be pretty well disguised. Certainly enough for me!:
Earlier on, while removing the engine, I found another section down at the bottom of the front panel. Looked like rust had got in behind a panel:
Well, I dug deeper and it turned out rust had gotten in behind a panel. So that panel had to be repaired too. Spot welds drilled, panel chopped:
Closing piece on the end was also frilly around the bottom due to a previous poor repair, so that was chopped too:
(Looks grim, but it's actually really thick material as it's part of the toe eye. The rust is all surface, happily it's all really strong underneath.)
Finished repair section, Shreddies style!:
Needs some more tidying up (grinder doesn't fit in there, so it has to be a die grinder, and they don't leave the best finished - lucky this is all hidden!)
Getting inside the engine bay to attack all the surface rust I can find. Prevention over cure, and all that:
Spent ages removing most layers of paint. For every 20sq cm you cover, you'll find 1sq cm of surface rust, burrowing away under the paint and underseal. It's a painstaking job, hunting it all out, but it just seems worth doing now.
Anything that had specs on, near or under it was ground back:
Then the entire section was degreased, washed, treated with Metal Prep (POR15 pre-treatment, zinc-phosphate wash-off stuff) before I coated all visible un-coated surfaces with grey POR15:
POR15 is evil stuff when it's on your hands, or up your nose. But when it's on a prepared surface, it's brilliant. It goes on very thin, and can be used as a primer, which is good, as I'll be rattle-can spraying the engine bay body colour before the engine goes back in.
Everything up top that wants to be semi-pretty (engine bay pretty, not bodywork pretty) will be POR15 underneath, then the normal paint colour, possibly with lacquer (original finish didn't have lacquer, though later BXs did).
Everything underneath will be repaired and treated, but this time coated with Rustbuster 2-pack epoxy. Originally the BX would have been bodycolour underneath too, but to get that there on this car would add much more time, so that's where I'm drawing the line. The Epoxy, by it's nature, is no where near as pretty as the POR15, but it is as tough - probably more so. It'll do a job no problem.
As work moves around to the arches, which will be Epoxy mastic (but with some casual colour overspray!) I begin removing more layers of original underseal. And guess what I find?
I know, what are the odd right?!
And it got better:
That, is the side of the chassis rail inside the OSF arch, behind the mount for the front brake hose. Nice big hole. Joy.
So, the mount has to come off:
To reveal the water-trapped mess underneath:
While I'm digging around, I find another patch on the lower front chassis rail. Luckily, this time it's been caught, and it's a perfect example of how cars rot. Bare in mind, this car has been kept indoors for the last 5 years or so. The only water to go near it was when the inner wings were hosed down, which was actually 3 months previous (I'm running out of sync here). That surface rust, found under some underseal, was DAMP. Number one solution to stopped your car rusting? Keep on top of cracked underseal!:
Anyway, I carry on digging out the messy arch:
Luckily Citroen got the underseal right in the box section, and internally it's mint.
Treated and plated:
Refitted the mount (and beefed it up as it was suffering a bit on the back) using a jig I made from more discarded Shreddies boxes (someone at our place eats LOTS of Shreddies. Not even frosted ones, either!)
And that's where we are now. Need to continue with the stripping/prepping of the front arches, before I get the metal treatment out and slap some sticky black paint on them!
olds_cool said:
Great work 
Wish I had the space, time, patience and expertise to do this to my car!
Keep the pics coming
Space is borrowed, officially (perk of the job - I don't earn much, so I claim my earnings in sq footage Wish I had the space, time, patience and expertise to do this to my car!
Keep the pics coming
)Time - I don't really, I do a little bit every Friday
Expertise -
neilbauer said:
Love it, I had a AX for a couple of years 
Got an AX GT also. Was planning to restore that to show-winning standard, but now being realistic and aiming to tidy it up a bit and put it back on the road for next year.S10GTA said:
I hope your dad is chuffed with the time & effort you've put into this
He'd better be! Though in fairness, I get my lack of emotional behaviour from him so I probably won't see it!Edited by Kitchski on Wednesday 4th November 08:53
Fastdruid said:
It's fiendishly simple. In a very complicated fashion. 
So firstly you have the ride height adjusters front and back. These are connected to the suspension arms and to the lever in the cabin via rods.
When the suspension (arms) rise (ie the front or back dipping) the ride height adjuster allows more fluid into the circuit which counteracts the force applied to the car, the arms then lower, raising the nose or back of the car *but* the damping and spring rates (which are driven respectively by the orifice and gas over oil 'ball') stay the same. The same then happens in reverse if the suspension arms drop (ie the front or back rises), the ride height adjuster reducing the amount of fluid in the system and hence dropping the (relative) ride height.
The level to which the car drops/rises is dictated by the position of the height adjuster lever. Incidentally although there are only 4 settings (IIRC it's been a *long* time since I've been in one) the ride height is infinitely adjustable, it's just a set of detents for the lever. So if you wanted to "lower" a BX but not run on bump stops you could just cut a new detent (or modify the rod setup).
The load based braking is just as clever, the brakes are fed from the same suspension hydraulic circuit, but "after" the suspension, this means that as the suspension loads more force is applied to the fluid and hence to the brakes and vv. The only downside being that in normal use the rear brakes get very little use. Every now and then my dad used to reverse fast and then hammer the brakes to clean up the rear brake disks.
EDIT: Forgot to say, good work!
Ah right, that makes some sense. I knew about the ride height adjusting by the height correctors being opened and closed by the links to the anti-roll bar rotation, but didn't assume they could adjust quickly enough to prevent the diving of the nose, as that's something that happens suddenly, whereas if you sit on the bonnet while it's running, it'll slowly sink before slowly rising back up to normal height. I assumed there was some input from the braking circuit into somewhere around the height corrector.So firstly you have the ride height adjusters front and back. These are connected to the suspension arms and to the lever in the cabin via rods.
When the suspension (arms) rise (ie the front or back dipping) the ride height adjuster allows more fluid into the circuit which counteracts the force applied to the car, the arms then lower, raising the nose or back of the car *but* the damping and spring rates (which are driven respectively by the orifice and gas over oil 'ball') stay the same. The same then happens in reverse if the suspension arms drop (ie the front or back rises), the ride height adjuster reducing the amount of fluid in the system and hence dropping the (relative) ride height.
The level to which the car drops/rises is dictated by the position of the height adjuster lever. Incidentally although there are only 4 settings (IIRC it's been a *long* time since I've been in one) the ride height is infinitely adjustable, it's just a set of detents for the lever. So if you wanted to "lower" a BX but not run on bump stops you could just cut a new detent (or modify the rod setup).
The load based braking is just as clever, the brakes are fed from the same suspension hydraulic circuit, but "after" the suspension, this means that as the suspension loads more force is applied to the fluid and hence to the brakes and vv. The only downside being that in normal use the rear brakes get very little use. Every now and then my dad used to reverse fast and then hammer the brakes to clean up the rear brake disks.
EDIT: Forgot to say, good work!
I've got a method for keeping the rear brakes operational: On the rare occasion I've got a full load of passengers, I'll take the opportunity to slam the anchors on a few times. If I'm feeling nice, I'll even tell people first
Thing that always makes me giggle in the 16v is the rear end. If you give it welly along the motorway, the car pitches and the back end squats quite a lot, as it's essentially still a softly sprung car. As the back compresses, the height corrector thinks "Oh, hello!" and raises the back end back to normal ride height, mid-hoon. When you eventually lift off, the rear end jumps up in the air! Can actually be a bit un-nerving if it takes place around a bend, but luckily I've grown out of full-speed runs down the M27! (Especially against blue Xsara VTS')
Fastdruid said:
Well, the ride height is adjusted from the ARB as that automatically corrects for roll. There is a delay of ~5s though before it takes effect which is why you can fool it with a long full throttle run!
The "anti-dive" is due to the rear brakes being off the rear suspension, because of that it bleeds pressure from the suspension and lowers it at the back which keeps the car level. So the car still dives at the front, it just dives at the back by the same amount and keeps it level.
I'm not sure it does squat under braking though. To a certain degree, yes, and I know in Xantias and XMs, heavy braking does cause the whole car to squat slightly, but on the BX I'm nigh-on certain the front suspension isn't compressing at all. I've felt the back end try to pull down under heavy braking before, but the front feels like it's just staying put, hence why I was convinced it was the work of witches!The "anti-dive" is due to the rear brakes being off the rear suspension, because of that it bleeds pressure from the suspension and lowers it at the back which keeps the car level. So the car still dives at the front, it just dives at the back by the same amount and keeps it level.
I'll have to get a go-pro on the side and film it stopping suddenly!
Fastdruid said:
Check that out: https://youtu.be/cqtmfoFs-5c?t=1m (it should start at a minute in). I know what you're saying, and the back end does pull down slightly, but the front just doesn't dip on a BX. The tyres seem to have movement than the suspension there. I know from previous experience the XM does dive slightly, but the rear end goes with it as you say. The Xantia's the worst of the lot for it. I've had two non-HA models, and an Activa, and the whole car used to squat under braking. Activa made up for it in the corners of course!Be warned - the video is exceptionally cheesey, although the GT model does make a brief appearance. Probably because it was only briefly produced!
Fastdruid said:
I think there are two things, firstly there is anti-dive in the suspension geometry itself[1] and then the self-levelling aspect of the rear brakes.
You can kind of see it in that video at about 1m8s, as the BX comes to a halt it rises.
[1] As mentioned here[2] http://bx16valve.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Br...
[2] Ah so much reminiscing over the BX19 DTR Estate and BX19 GTi my parents used to have.
Could be geometry at play there. The rising at 1m8s though, is mostly the back end. The front hardly moves. I think you're probably right, and that it is the rear suspension controlling it for the most part, but it's possible it's just much more effective on the BX than other models I've tried. It's as impressive as the Activa is around a corner, if I'm honest.You can kind of see it in that video at about 1m8s, as the BX comes to a halt it rises.
[1] As mentioned here[2] http://bx16valve.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Br...
[2] Ah so much reminiscing over the BX19 DTR Estate and BX19 GTi my parents used to have.
Suppose I should update the blog! Not a huge amount has happened since the last one, and what has happened has mostly been confined to rust removal, treatment and prevention. I'm getting pig-sick of wire brushes, paint, welding....you name it! Friday just gone I didn't have a great day, and actually downed tools and just stood there for a while at one point. I pondered digging the engine out of the corner and getting on with rebuilding that, but there wasn't enough time left to start all that, though it would have provided the change of scenery I think I badly need!
Anyway, we did get somewhere at least!
First off, I went on and removed the wishbones. The bushes are royally shagged, and because of the suspension arrangement on the BX, knackered bushes make quite a big impact on stability and handling:
The wishbones pivot on a spindle, which was nicely rusted into the wishbone bush sleeves:
Unlike the BX in my other thread (the TRS one) the GT uses a conventional bush arrangement, rather than the addition bearings etc fitted in the subframes on the earliest BXs. The bushes are easy to find, and happily the wishbones are still in plentiful supply, and complete with bushes:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-XB-1982-1994-...
Though it wasn't without drama extracting that information from Euro Parts' online advisor:
Me: Hi, could you confirm these wishbones come with the bushes already fitted please? Thanks
ECP advisor L****l: Hi. Thank you for the message. For some they do come with bushes. Reagrds
Me: Hi, Ok. If I purchase a pair of wishbones from this listing, will they come with the bushes fitted? Thanks.
ECP advisor L****l: Hi, Thank you for the message. Please can we have your car registration. Regards
Me (getting the 'ump): Hi L****l, You don't need my car registration. This is the correct part for my car. All I want to know is whether these arms will come with bushes already fitted, as is shown on the picture (and is hinted at on the listing). If they come with bushes, I'll buy them. If they don't, I won't. It's really as simple as that. Thank you.
ECP advisor S**n: Hello, Thanks for your message, I can confirm that the item will be coming with the bushes, Regards
SUCCESS! It was so painless too!
Anyway, a good price and the arms arrived, indeed complete with bushes. Spot on, worth the hassle after all!
In the meantime, my foraging for tinworm had uncovered some ugly spots, and these were treated with Rustbuster's pre-treatment (kinda like Kurust, only it actually seems to work):
The whole offside inner arch/wheelarch was then finished off with Rustbuster black 2k epoxy mastic paint, with the original treated inner wing finished in grey stonechip, which overlaps the POR15 at the top:
I'd like to see it try and rust like it did before!
Actually I wouldn't, I'd cry!
Anyway, nearside continues from where I left off some weeks back. Any Family Guy friends here? You know Cleveland's catchphrase? Not the nasty one, the one he usually says when the front of his house gets wiped out and his bathtub falls out the front of his house. Imagine him, saying that while looking at these pics. That's what I was doing:
Luckily we got away with it, just some surface corrosion to treat:
So the nearside front arch currently looks like this, and I've lost the will to live:
So in the meantime, a picture of the GT in happier times at a museum in Surrey, along with my 16v (and yes, I know the number plates are gash etc - I was going through a phase!)
Anyway, we did get somewhere at least!
First off, I went on and removed the wishbones. The bushes are royally shagged, and because of the suspension arrangement on the BX, knackered bushes make quite a big impact on stability and handling:
The wishbones pivot on a spindle, which was nicely rusted into the wishbone bush sleeves:
Unlike the BX in my other thread (the TRS one) the GT uses a conventional bush arrangement, rather than the addition bearings etc fitted in the subframes on the earliest BXs. The bushes are easy to find, and happily the wishbones are still in plentiful supply, and complete with bushes:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-XB-1982-1994-...
Though it wasn't without drama extracting that information from Euro Parts' online advisor:
Me: Hi, could you confirm these wishbones come with the bushes already fitted please? Thanks
ECP advisor L****l: Hi. Thank you for the message. For some they do come with bushes. Reagrds
Me: Hi, Ok. If I purchase a pair of wishbones from this listing, will they come with the bushes fitted? Thanks.
ECP advisor L****l: Hi, Thank you for the message. Please can we have your car registration. Regards
Me (getting the 'ump): Hi L****l, You don't need my car registration. This is the correct part for my car. All I want to know is whether these arms will come with bushes already fitted, as is shown on the picture (and is hinted at on the listing). If they come with bushes, I'll buy them. If they don't, I won't. It's really as simple as that. Thank you.
ECP advisor S**n: Hello, Thanks for your message, I can confirm that the item will be coming with the bushes, Regards
SUCCESS! It was so painless too!
Anyway, a good price and the arms arrived, indeed complete with bushes. Spot on, worth the hassle after all!
In the meantime, my foraging for tinworm had uncovered some ugly spots, and these were treated with Rustbuster's pre-treatment (kinda like Kurust, only it actually seems to work):
The whole offside inner arch/wheelarch was then finished off with Rustbuster black 2k epoxy mastic paint, with the original treated inner wing finished in grey stonechip, which overlaps the POR15 at the top:
I'd like to see it try and rust like it did before!
Actually I wouldn't, I'd cry!
Anyway, nearside continues from where I left off some weeks back. Any Family Guy friends here? You know Cleveland's catchphrase? Not the nasty one, the one he usually says when the front of his house gets wiped out and his bathtub falls out the front of his house. Imagine him, saying that while looking at these pics. That's what I was doing:
Luckily we got away with it, just some surface corrosion to treat:
So the nearside front arch currently looks like this, and I've lost the will to live:
So in the meantime, a picture of the GT in happier times at a museum in Surrey, along with my 16v (and yes, I know the number plates are gash etc - I was going through a phase!)
james_tigerwoods said:
Much *respec' to your work here - If it was me and I possessed even a modicum of your skill, I fear I might have thrown an epic strop, by now, and just bought all the parts for a new front end by now...
Ha! I'm not doing anything major here, it's just rubbing down, painting and welding, but thanks all the same!* Sorry for saying it like that, I'm posh me and I'd never say that
Can't buy a new front end though, sadly.
Another update, though not as momentous as I'd hoped it would be. Original plan was to have the front end all back together, painted and buttoned up by the turn of the New Year. That, ain't gonna 'appen.
What has 'appened, is more rust. Yeah, I know!
With the offside front arch done, I moved to the nearside to finish removing the majority of the old underseal that I thought might be concealing corrosion. Turns out, it was. So, on a day where a regular man from country went into space, I welded more bits of new metal into an old French heap:
So, again, what should have been a couple of hours prepping for paint, turned into another weldathon:
That's the sound insulation behind wear the dash goes, just in there....
So I made some bits of metal, which look like scrap on the floor....
....and proceeded to weld them into the arch:
They were then treated with Rustbuster fe-123 rust converter, in part to attack the bits of rust I can't get to, or are already on the surface, and also to prevent the rest of the surface from rusting overnight, as I've left a lot of bare metal surfaces there.
I'm trying to keep the standard high and make it hard to tell there was every any work carried out, but my patience is starting to wear thin! It's starting to be a case of get it done, as opposed to show it off! This is the nearside arch now ready for paint, which I'll then follow by flatting back the engine bay and painting that body colour (had the paint mixed the other day). Then I'll put back all the gear I'd already planned to have put back by now!
What has 'appened, is more rust. Yeah, I know!
With the offside front arch done, I moved to the nearside to finish removing the majority of the old underseal that I thought might be concealing corrosion. Turns out, it was. So, on a day where a regular man from country went into space, I welded more bits of new metal into an old French heap:
So, again, what should have been a couple of hours prepping for paint, turned into another weldathon:
That's the sound insulation behind wear the dash goes, just in there....
So I made some bits of metal, which look like scrap on the floor....
....and proceeded to weld them into the arch:
They were then treated with Rustbuster fe-123 rust converter, in part to attack the bits of rust I can't get to, or are already on the surface, and also to prevent the rest of the surface from rusting overnight, as I've left a lot of bare metal surfaces there.
I'm trying to keep the standard high and make it hard to tell there was every any work carried out, but my patience is starting to wear thin! It's starting to be a case of get it done, as opposed to show it off! This is the nearside arch now ready for paint, which I'll then follow by flatting back the engine bay and painting that body colour (had the paint mixed the other day). Then I'll put back all the gear I'd already planned to have put back by now!
Zombie said:
Just found this thread and being a BX I thought your name would be attached to it, Nice work as ever! I still miss the BX 16v I had off you and rue the day I lent it to lad who crashed it! 
Yeah it was a half decent one, that. Bit rough around the edges, but had potential and went well. Black's always a good colour for a ph2, too.Funnily enough I went on to buy a 156 V6 a year or so later. Friend of mine (S10GTA on here) bought a GTA and it's an itch I had to scratch.
cirian75 said:
A GT got broken a few months back. Real shame too, but the guy reckoned he'd make more in bits, and it became one of those 'ransom' posts on a forum where 'This car is for sale and if I don't get £400 (or something) for it I'm breaking it' (even though he paid £150 for it) followed by a bump to the thread every day for about 4 days before declaring there was not sufficient interest in it (over FOUR days....some people have a life, and haven't even been on the internet in 4 days!) that he would be breaking it. That's not exactly what happened, but it's that kind of thing.
Anyway rant over, it made this one rarer at least
TooMany2cvs said:
It pretty much was that kind of thing. Did you spot his stroppy little "I'm vindicated!" the other day, in reply to the bloke that bought the ashtray...?
I did lol at that, yes.To be fair, if you buy a car it's yours to do whatever you want with it, but you're going to rub people up the wrong way in the process. If it was me, and I wanted to break it, I'd have found some terminal rot somewhere to justify it!
TooMany2cvs said:
Kitchski said:
If it was me, and I wanted to break it, I'd have found some terminal rot somewhere to justify it!
<looks back through photos in this thread>I've come to the conclusion that BXs are not too bad at fighting the amount of rot in a shell, compared with most rivals of the time. However, when they do go, they REALLY go, and it's always in hidden places. You don't see many with rusty bodywork, but's there all right.
Can't even remember how the bloody thing goes back together
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