1985 Citroen BX 19GT overhaul
Discussion
Right, extended lunch - I'm getting this up to speed!
The place to start the final update before we're up to speed, is POWAH!!
That's right; With the newly rebuilt Solex carb (seemingly) functioning correctly, I took a brave pill on an evening I was meant to be sticking some Mini race cars on the dyno, and took advantage of the fact they were running late.
Back in 2013, we got around 75bhp, which is what a BX 1.4 puts out! It clearly wasn't right, and the BX was clearly not happy. Fast-forward to 2018, and all the efforts on the carb appear to have paid dividends!
Sticking with the DIN correction factors, that's 105bhp - exactly what they were rated at from new! Give or take some ponies either way (as a rolling road dyno is never going to be 100% accurate), that is a proper result! A broad, strong power graph too, and the air/fuel ratio under full chat was really stable. Buzzing at this point!
The interior was still to be finished, though. I'd fitted all the window motors and mechs (leccy windows all round, don't you know!) I hadn't fitted the doorcards, however, as these doors were donor doors, if you remember, and had no damp-proof membranes fitted.
I bought a huge roll of polythene ages ago, and never got round to sorting this out. Today, I would address this. First up, I had to complete the wiring into the driver's door. To do that, you need to disassemble the connector for the window motor and central locking, so that you can pass it through the rubber bellows:
I know. Dumb, isn't it?
Once the driver's door was wired up, I was ready to make and fit the membranes. Had an idea in my head, as rather than just glue a load of polythene to the doors and trim it off, I wanted some templates as I own a millionty other BXs, and I'm willing to bet that collectively they have two doors MAXIMUM that have a membrane fitted.
So, template making:
Which evolves into membrane making:
Wiring all tucked away and tested on all doors. Yup, all of them. Didn't miss any problems. The driver's door in particular definitely did not have a mis-mounted window motor, resulting in a failure to move the glass. Nope. No chance.
Here's the driver's door membrane fitted. It stayed like this. Honestly, I didn't have to cut the new membrane to access the window motor (because it was fitted properly, of course) and I certainly didn't use gaffa tape to seal it back up.
And then the doorcard can be fitted in all it's filthy, dusty glory:
I'm pressing on at this point, and there's a good reason: I booked an MoT for the car to give me a deadline to work to. This was Friday, last week (14th)!
So, with an interior in place, I prepared the car for any testing on salty roads, should the unthinkable happen and it actually get through the MoT for the first time in 6 years! I bought some underseal, and went nuts:
It came with an attachment, so I was also able to inject all the cavities and sills:
All that remained was to chuck a small Christmas gift on it - number plates! These gave a subtle nod to the past, as Martin Walter was the dealership that supplied the BX brand new, back in 1985. I Googled the dealership, based in Cambridge, and was gutted to hear that the old building that once housed it has only recently been knocked down. Would have been nice to take it back there for a photo one day, but ho-hum.
The 14th arrived, and at 10am the BX went to the MoT station. Honestly, I'm never nervous about MoTs, as they're so easy to get through (a flawed test, IMO), but in this instance, I was really bricking it! Note the masking tape, which was holding on the second attempt at getting the door mouldings to stay on the b
d doors:
Some adjustments of the headlamp later, and I needn't have worried - passed first time, no advisories
An issue that didn't escape me was the cold-starting. I was having trouble with the newly-rebuilt Solex carb, suspecting I'd got something fitted wrong. I'd removed it, played with it, put it back and then sworn more times than I could remember. When I took the car to the MoT, it was warmed up and would idle, but when I went to leave.....there was a smoke screen, and choking ensued.
I was so keen to drive this thing that I pretty much decided I was going to take it out that day. This is where it starts to get tricky...
You see, the car isn't mine, it's my Dad's. Going way back to the beginning of the thread, it was him that decided to get it overhauled, as he'd been left a small amount of money by my recently departed great Uncle Charlie. it was money he never had before, and he had a tatty car in the garage that could have looked a bit nicer. There was always the chance it would increase in value (it couldn't exactly drop any lower!) so he was happy to crack on.
I started it, but once I was balls-deep, I realised the enormity of the task. It wasn't cosmetic, it was really rotten. If we had any idea if was this bad back then, I doubt it would have been saved, so my naivety and ignorance saved this car, because once we were too far in to turn around, we found the real trouble!
Because of this, the job has taken AGES. Way, way longer than expected. A combination of being busy at work, having a young family, too many cars of my own and a real motivation problem meant that the GT has waited, and waited, and waited. My dad has been really patient. He rarely mentions it, and I think knows that I'm doing what I can, and that I haven't wanted to rush anything. The car has been a bit of a Pandora's box, and you find that as soon as you open one problem to fix it, you find four more.
So with things the way they are, updates to my Dad have been sparing. He doesn't really know where it stands. the last comms he had from me were regarding the rolling road at the top, where I informed him we'd retrieved some French donkeys that were lost to the field next door, and this time shut the gate.
I then had an idea - I would give him the car back for Christmas (Christmas 2022, you ask?). Non....THIS Christmas! I'd dabbled with this idea in my head for years, but never had the chance. All of a sudden, everything was in place. The car was MoT'd, Christmas was round the corner, and he had no idea that I'd made progress (well, unless he reads this, in which case I'm screwed, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't. And, if for some reason he does....Merry Christmas, Dad!
)
I had a problem, however - the law. I can insure it easily enough, but it's not taxed. I don't really want to drive his SORN-for-the-past-six-years car around, and have it impounded by the plod (the advice I was given by a traffic cop neighbour is that if it's more than 3 months out of date, I'm havin' it!) So I had to tax it, but how? I don't have the registration documents.
Step forward Mother Kitchski! A few texts later, she's found the V5, and got me the document number from it! Some minutes later, and the GT is taxed, insured and MoT'd for the first time since 2011! And my Dad (I assume) has no idea!
Only one thing for it.....TEST DRIVE TIME!!
Honestly, this day was so, so overdue! It was almost an emotional moment, as this year has been quite a testing one for me in many ways, and driving this thing a few miles up the road completely boosted me! It's been a weight on my mind for so long, that to finally achieve this was a big, big deal. I'm still buzzing now, in a way!
The drive was largely positive. It didn't misbehave, though it was clear the carb was far from happy. It pulled sweetly once fully warmed up, but like at the MoT, anything else meant hard work. Getting it going again after I took those pics was time-consuming, and smokey! There was a light knock from the suspension somewhere, which I think might be a droplink in the very early stages of wear. Could also be a noisy strut, as they're a bit sticky now. I also found that the tell-tale lamp for the indicators had stopped working, which was a bugger, because the indicators don't self-cancel, being up on the rocker switch on the left-hand pod. You're basically relying on hearing a very old-looking French relay clicking behind the dashboard somewhere, but thankfully you can actually hear it, because the radio is also not working (and I'm pretty sure that it actually was working when the car came down!)
Otherwise, it was bliss! The ride is such good fun, and deals with big lumps and bumps extraordinarily well. Speed bumps just aren't a thing, and you watch all the modern cars around you banging into drains and bumping up and down huge lumps in the road, and wondering where they went, because you felt nothing! In true BX form, you feel the imperfections and ridges more than you'd think, and I'd go as far as to say that refinement and NVH absorption aren't its strong suits, but I can forgive that when the ride is pillowy soft! The brakes are immense too, though the clutch needs tightening, as gearchanges can become reluctant if not rev-matched perfectly. I'm also missing a gear linkage (I know, it still works without it!) so that may yet improve things, but I suspect the clutch release arm needs the thread winding out a bit.
All in all, it's a very positive drive. I drive the car to watch my youngest in his Nativity, where he played a cat (just.....don't even...) and then remember than I've left all the bungs out for the various box sections! Ooops!
So, it's back to the workshop, where I refit all the plugs. However, I can't find the two largest ones from the rear sill, so have to get creative:
Raised the back end by putting the car on high, then lowering it with axle stands under the rear jacking points. No jacks needed!
The hole in question:
No grommets anywhere near that big in my stocks, so I found some real (honestly...it is, I promise) carbon fibre:
Done! With thecheap, stty wannabe fake carbon fibre caps in place, I could now drive through salty puddles with gay abandon!
The wheel bolts were letting the side down, so being that the BX was resting indoors over the weekend, I decided to attend to those too:
Another couple of coats and they'll be ready for me to scratch to st when I put a socket on them.
I returned this week, knowing that I was on the home straight. Two big issues hanging over me with the car: The engine was leaking oil and coolant a bit, and the carb wasn't happy. I discovered how unhappy when I revved the engine and changed the colour of the ground:
Then it began misfiring, so I pulled the plugs to have a look:
Hmmmmm.
Time to put this right, once and for all. I know that the carb itself is fine, because the dyno results showed perfect air/fuel mix, as did the powercurve. The issue, I'm sure, is the autochoke unit. There is a fair bit of complexity with the various flaps and linkages, as everything moves depending on how hot it is, and how much throttle you've got on. There's a choke flap at the top of the first choke itself, which remains closed when I'm sure it's meant to open. I remove all the linkages and exercise everything by hand, but nothing makes that flap open until the engine is nearly warmed up. Full throttle pulls the flap open, so it's just the idle I'm having trouble with.
Then it dawned on me! There was a diaphragm on the back of the choke unit, and I'd renewed this as it was part of the kit. It's the diaphragm that opens the choke flap when heavy throttle is applied. And......there's an adjuster on it! If the old one was leaking, and the adjuster had been overwound to compensate, then the new one was probably being held too far out. So, I wound the screw back until the flap sat where I wanted it to, and the result was instant! Now I could get on with the job of setting the idle mixture and speed:
Bingo!
It's reading a little bit rich as the HP pump is dragging quite a bit, so I've left it idling slightly higher to compensate, but in all truth it could just be left like this. It runs like a peach!
The autochoke still in operation in that pic. It idles at around 900-950rpm when warmed up, and it will restart on a single churn of the starter motor. Sometimes it's seemingly instant! It's like 'Turn key = engine running'! It was never like that before!
So, that brings us up to today! This lunchtime, in fact. I had a number of jobs to do (accountants, parts to collect etc.), so the BX was taken out for more testing:
No Citroen suspension test would be complete without cobbled streets. Sadly it's Portsmouth, not Paris:
We're up to date! FINALLY!
Right now, I've got a couple of parts still to fit. It needs a massive clean inside (hence no interior pics), and some final bits to fit and adjust. Covered around 140miles so far, and I want to keep running it around so that I can give it back to him ready to go (although I suspect it'll be back for some tinkering before long).
Question is....how do I give it back to him? He's a bit like me, in that he might feel awkward if I wrap the key in a box and give it to him, but then that's what my kids really want to do. We're not going round there until the 29th December, so I've got time to think.
Oh, and worry where the oil is dripping from!
The place to start the final update before we're up to speed, is POWAH!!
That's right; With the newly rebuilt Solex carb (seemingly) functioning correctly, I took a brave pill on an evening I was meant to be sticking some Mini race cars on the dyno, and took advantage of the fact they were running late.
Back in 2013, we got around 75bhp, which is what a BX 1.4 puts out! It clearly wasn't right, and the BX was clearly not happy. Fast-forward to 2018, and all the efforts on the carb appear to have paid dividends!
Sticking with the DIN correction factors, that's 105bhp - exactly what they were rated at from new! Give or take some ponies either way (as a rolling road dyno is never going to be 100% accurate), that is a proper result! A broad, strong power graph too, and the air/fuel ratio under full chat was really stable. Buzzing at this point!
The interior was still to be finished, though. I'd fitted all the window motors and mechs (leccy windows all round, don't you know!) I hadn't fitted the doorcards, however, as these doors were donor doors, if you remember, and had no damp-proof membranes fitted.
I bought a huge roll of polythene ages ago, and never got round to sorting this out. Today, I would address this. First up, I had to complete the wiring into the driver's door. To do that, you need to disassemble the connector for the window motor and central locking, so that you can pass it through the rubber bellows:
I know. Dumb, isn't it?
Once the driver's door was wired up, I was ready to make and fit the membranes. Had an idea in my head, as rather than just glue a load of polythene to the doors and trim it off, I wanted some templates as I own a millionty other BXs, and I'm willing to bet that collectively they have two doors MAXIMUM that have a membrane fitted.
So, template making:
Which evolves into membrane making:
Wiring all tucked away and tested on all doors. Yup, all of them. Didn't miss any problems. The driver's door in particular definitely did not have a mis-mounted window motor, resulting in a failure to move the glass. Nope. No chance.
Here's the driver's door membrane fitted. It stayed like this. Honestly, I didn't have to cut the new membrane to access the window motor (because it was fitted properly, of course) and I certainly didn't use gaffa tape to seal it back up.
And then the doorcard can be fitted in all it's filthy, dusty glory:
I'm pressing on at this point, and there's a good reason: I booked an MoT for the car to give me a deadline to work to. This was Friday, last week (14th)!
So, with an interior in place, I prepared the car for any testing on salty roads, should the unthinkable happen and it actually get through the MoT for the first time in 6 years! I bought some underseal, and went nuts:
It came with an attachment, so I was also able to inject all the cavities and sills:
All that remained was to chuck a small Christmas gift on it - number plates! These gave a subtle nod to the past, as Martin Walter was the dealership that supplied the BX brand new, back in 1985. I Googled the dealership, based in Cambridge, and was gutted to hear that the old building that once housed it has only recently been knocked down. Would have been nice to take it back there for a photo one day, but ho-hum.
The 14th arrived, and at 10am the BX went to the MoT station. Honestly, I'm never nervous about MoTs, as they're so easy to get through (a flawed test, IMO), but in this instance, I was really bricking it! Note the masking tape, which was holding on the second attempt at getting the door mouldings to stay on the b
d doors:Some adjustments of the headlamp later, and I needn't have worried - passed first time, no advisories
An issue that didn't escape me was the cold-starting. I was having trouble with the newly-rebuilt Solex carb, suspecting I'd got something fitted wrong. I'd removed it, played with it, put it back and then sworn more times than I could remember. When I took the car to the MoT, it was warmed up and would idle, but when I went to leave.....there was a smoke screen, and choking ensued.
I was so keen to drive this thing that I pretty much decided I was going to take it out that day. This is where it starts to get tricky...
You see, the car isn't mine, it's my Dad's. Going way back to the beginning of the thread, it was him that decided to get it overhauled, as he'd been left a small amount of money by my recently departed great Uncle Charlie. it was money he never had before, and he had a tatty car in the garage that could have looked a bit nicer. There was always the chance it would increase in value (it couldn't exactly drop any lower!) so he was happy to crack on.
I started it, but once I was balls-deep, I realised the enormity of the task. It wasn't cosmetic, it was really rotten. If we had any idea if was this bad back then, I doubt it would have been saved, so my naivety and ignorance saved this car, because once we were too far in to turn around, we found the real trouble!
Because of this, the job has taken AGES. Way, way longer than expected. A combination of being busy at work, having a young family, too many cars of my own and a real motivation problem meant that the GT has waited, and waited, and waited. My dad has been really patient. He rarely mentions it, and I think knows that I'm doing what I can, and that I haven't wanted to rush anything. The car has been a bit of a Pandora's box, and you find that as soon as you open one problem to fix it, you find four more.
So with things the way they are, updates to my Dad have been sparing. He doesn't really know where it stands. the last comms he had from me were regarding the rolling road at the top, where I informed him we'd retrieved some French donkeys that were lost to the field next door, and this time shut the gate.
I then had an idea - I would give him the car back for Christmas (Christmas 2022, you ask?). Non....THIS Christmas! I'd dabbled with this idea in my head for years, but never had the chance. All of a sudden, everything was in place. The car was MoT'd, Christmas was round the corner, and he had no idea that I'd made progress (well, unless he reads this, in which case I'm screwed, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't. And, if for some reason he does....Merry Christmas, Dad!
)I had a problem, however - the law. I can insure it easily enough, but it's not taxed. I don't really want to drive his SORN-for-the-past-six-years car around, and have it impounded by the plod (the advice I was given by a traffic cop neighbour is that if it's more than 3 months out of date, I'm havin' it!) So I had to tax it, but how? I don't have the registration documents.
Step forward Mother Kitchski! A few texts later, she's found the V5, and got me the document number from it! Some minutes later, and the GT is taxed, insured and MoT'd for the first time since 2011! And my Dad (I assume) has no idea!
Only one thing for it.....TEST DRIVE TIME!!
Honestly, this day was so, so overdue! It was almost an emotional moment, as this year has been quite a testing one for me in many ways, and driving this thing a few miles up the road completely boosted me! It's been a weight on my mind for so long, that to finally achieve this was a big, big deal. I'm still buzzing now, in a way!
The drive was largely positive. It didn't misbehave, though it was clear the carb was far from happy. It pulled sweetly once fully warmed up, but like at the MoT, anything else meant hard work. Getting it going again after I took those pics was time-consuming, and smokey! There was a light knock from the suspension somewhere, which I think might be a droplink in the very early stages of wear. Could also be a noisy strut, as they're a bit sticky now. I also found that the tell-tale lamp for the indicators had stopped working, which was a bugger, because the indicators don't self-cancel, being up on the rocker switch on the left-hand pod. You're basically relying on hearing a very old-looking French relay clicking behind the dashboard somewhere, but thankfully you can actually hear it, because the radio is also not working (and I'm pretty sure that it actually was working when the car came down!)
Otherwise, it was bliss! The ride is such good fun, and deals with big lumps and bumps extraordinarily well. Speed bumps just aren't a thing, and you watch all the modern cars around you banging into drains and bumping up and down huge lumps in the road, and wondering where they went, because you felt nothing! In true BX form, you feel the imperfections and ridges more than you'd think, and I'd go as far as to say that refinement and NVH absorption aren't its strong suits, but I can forgive that when the ride is pillowy soft! The brakes are immense too, though the clutch needs tightening, as gearchanges can become reluctant if not rev-matched perfectly. I'm also missing a gear linkage (I know, it still works without it!) so that may yet improve things, but I suspect the clutch release arm needs the thread winding out a bit.
All in all, it's a very positive drive. I drive the car to watch my youngest in his Nativity, where he played a cat (just.....don't even...) and then remember than I've left all the bungs out for the various box sections! Ooops!
So, it's back to the workshop, where I refit all the plugs. However, I can't find the two largest ones from the rear sill, so have to get creative:
Raised the back end by putting the car on high, then lowering it with axle stands under the rear jacking points. No jacks needed!
The hole in question:
No grommets anywhere near that big in my stocks, so I found some real (honestly...it is, I promise) carbon fibre:
Done! With the
tty wannabe fakeThe wheel bolts were letting the side down, so being that the BX was resting indoors over the weekend, I decided to attend to those too:
Another couple of coats and they'll be ready for me to scratch to s
t when I put a socket on them.I returned this week, knowing that I was on the home straight. Two big issues hanging over me with the car: The engine was leaking oil and coolant a bit, and the carb wasn't happy. I discovered how unhappy when I revved the engine and changed the colour of the ground:
Then it began misfiring, so I pulled the plugs to have a look:
Hmmmmm.
Time to put this right, once and for all. I know that the carb itself is fine, because the dyno results showed perfect air/fuel mix, as did the powercurve. The issue, I'm sure, is the autochoke unit. There is a fair bit of complexity with the various flaps and linkages, as everything moves depending on how hot it is, and how much throttle you've got on. There's a choke flap at the top of the first choke itself, which remains closed when I'm sure it's meant to open. I remove all the linkages and exercise everything by hand, but nothing makes that flap open until the engine is nearly warmed up. Full throttle pulls the flap open, so it's just the idle I'm having trouble with.
Then it dawned on me! There was a diaphragm on the back of the choke unit, and I'd renewed this as it was part of the kit. It's the diaphragm that opens the choke flap when heavy throttle is applied. And......there's an adjuster on it! If the old one was leaking, and the adjuster had been overwound to compensate, then the new one was probably being held too far out. So, I wound the screw back until the flap sat where I wanted it to, and the result was instant! Now I could get on with the job of setting the idle mixture and speed:
Bingo!
It's reading a little bit rich as the HP pump is dragging quite a bit, so I've left it idling slightly higher to compensate, but in all truth it could just be left like this. It runs like a peach!
The autochoke still in operation in that pic. It idles at around 900-950rpm when warmed up, and it will restart on a single churn of the starter motor. Sometimes it's seemingly instant! It's like 'Turn key = engine running'! It was never like that before!
So, that brings us up to today! This lunchtime, in fact. I had a number of jobs to do (accountants, parts to collect etc.), so the BX was taken out for more testing:
No Citroen suspension test would be complete without cobbled streets. Sadly it's Portsmouth, not Paris:
We're up to date! FINALLY!
Right now, I've got a couple of parts still to fit. It needs a massive clean inside (hence no interior pics), and some final bits to fit and adjust. Covered around 140miles so far, and I want to keep running it around so that I can give it back to him ready to go (although I suspect it'll be back for some tinkering before long).
Question is....how do I give it back to him? He's a bit like me, in that he might feel awkward if I wrap the key in a box and give it to him, but then that's what my kids really want to do. We're not going round there until the 29th December, so I've got time to think.
Oh, and worry where the oil is dripping from!
Paracetamol said:
we had one of these new in 1984. A160LRJ 16TRS.
My dad came from a Volvo 240dl and found it very flimsy but boy what tech it had (much of which did not work!). And the suspension and drum speedo were show shoppers.
I've got a 16TRS on an A-plate in one of the other thousand BX threads I'm running My dad came from a Volvo 240dl and found it very flimsy but boy what tech it had (much of which did not work!). And the suspension and drum speedo were show shoppers.
IanUAE said:
My grandmother bought my parents Metro for the grandfather and gave him the key in a wrapped matchbox one Christmas. We have history of giving joke presents at Christmas he thought it was a joke present that he was getting a match box. He cried when he finally opened the box.
Aww, perhaps he asked Santa for a Fiesta? 
Thanks for everyone for the kind words. It's nice to finally get to this point!
I'll try and pick up in the correct chronological order, so we actually need to go back to the 21st December! I'd noticed that the spark plugs had become really fouled up, despite the car seemingly running well and emissions that were within spec. The only possible cause in my mind was the choke. I was loath to play with the carb again, but I knew that when the choke was in operation, the engine ran a more little on the lumpy side than I would like. I was confident I'd be able to play with it successfully, so you can imagine my disappointment when I adjusted a couple of screws and threw the whole thing out!
So it was back out with the gas analyser!
I managed to get the emissions right down this time (0.3 Co anyone?!) I also got it to run smoothly on the choke, but I haven't got the rate at which it shuts off quite right, as it goes from 2000rpm down to 1000rpm in the space of 20secs or so. Still, it runs, and though it's a bit lumpier than it was, I'm hoping it won't foul the plugs up at least!
Later that night, the real fun ensued. I was feeling a bit deflated, as though the car was driving very nicely, I knew it had more niggles than I really wanted to give it back with. One of the niggles was the inoperative indicator tell-tale lamp. It wasn't an issue to me too much, though given that the indicators don't self cancel, there was a chance my Dad would have issues, so I went fault hunting. That escalated into....
Yeah. Not good for the stress levels a few days before the Xmas holidays! However, I found the problem at least, which turned out to be a wire I hadn't plugged in, because it was trapped inside the heater ducting. The wire was a signal wire from the indicator switch module to - you guessed it - the tell-tale lamps! I was so giddy with delight, that I forgot to take a picture of them working!
The car was now as ready as it would ever be. I planned to get a few more miles in before the 29th, but before this I gave it a good clean inside and out. The paint needs a machine polish really, but for now it'll do. I started on the engine bay, which, before the project got going, looked like the upper pic below. The lower pic is how the same engine bay looks now:
It's come out nicely
Finishing touches were some repro stickers I bought at a Citroen event a couple of years ago:
On the 27th, I cleaned the interior. Probably the first time it's been cleaned in about 7-8 years! It came out well - better than I thought it would!
Next I waxed all the wheels, but for the spare I needed to think outside the box. It lives under the car, you see, and being diamond cut, I didn't fancy its chances of retaining a pretty finish if it spent its days lying face down at the road.
I devised a cunning plan. First step: Wax....
Then (in Uncle Rob style), polythene bag:
Then, place bagged wheel in a spare wheel cover I bought on eBay:
Then, wheel refitted under car:
Now it was time to get serious. I cleaned and polished the car top to bottom on the 28th. It really did look nice, even if I knew it could be much better up close. I wanted to get some nice pics of it before I handed it back:
It was at this point my wife suggested we take a picture of my kids with the car, and then buy a frame and wrap that picture up for his Christmas present, so that's what we did.
Then, my wife and I drove the BX to Harveys, to look at sofas. Even journeys to mundane tasks are enjoyable! It was a pleasant afternoon, and we found a cracking corner sofa that we've now ordered, and I can't wait to slump into (Featherby at Harveys, if you want a BX-esque corner sofa - it's very soft!)
The 29th rolled around, and the nerves were building! I put the final touches to the BX, and got it ready to go. Here it is bidding the Imp farewell:
And just before we set off to my parents.
You're all going to hate me, but I didn't get any pictures of it actually at my parents house! I did get a video of him driving off in it (on one of the 3 or 4 rides he had to do that afternoon), but it's got my kids in it, so I'll see how my wife feels about me uploading it!
The reveal went well. It all started badly, as my mum (who was the only one at base who was in on it) said to be there at 11:30am. That suited me, and I was running late, which was fine, as I wanted to be the last one to arrive. I actually planned to park it just out of sight, and let myself in with my own key.
I followed my wife down the M27, and when we came off we split two ways, with me going to top up the petrol tank, and wait for the all clear. When she got in touch, it was to say that she was the only one there! Nobody else was there, because nobody else had been told to be there at 11:30am! Bloody hell!
So I ring my brother, who I needed to get in the house before me, as we knew my dad would come to the front door to meet my niece and nephew as he always does. Having a spanking BX parked outside would give the game away somewhat, so they needed to haul ass and be there before me. My brother suggested I drive the car to his, which entailed driving PAST my mum & dad's house, but my wife reckoned my dad was distracted by getting my kids' new phones hooked up to the Wi-Fi!
I arrived at brother's house, who'd just returned from walking the dog, and waited for them to walk over. When everyone else was there, I drove it around the block and parked it exactly where I wanted to - in sight of the front door, but out of sight of the window.
My nerves were already in bits at this point, as I'm quite an anxious person anyway, but to compound matters, my dear old Gran is suffering from dementia, and she now knew the car was outside as I was on speaker phone in my sister's car when I had to ring and brief her too. I could just imagine my Gran turning to me and asking "So who's car did you drive here today Richard? Your father's?" But, Gran was good as gold, and Mum was the word. Well, Gran was the word, technically!
As if by fate, we were doing food first. Somehow I managed to chow down a large buffet lunch, and then the time came (about the time I replied to that message above).
We dug the bag of gifts out, and my wife asked if I wanted to do his first, but I was worried that he'd feel a bit awkward, so I said I'd just give it to him with the others. It worked out well, as the first gift I gave my parents was a copy of my new book (a buyer's guide on the TVR S Series). They're not prospective buyers, but I thought it would be a bit of a joke present, though they were actually quite touched!
My Mum then unwrapped her picture canvas, and my Dad started to peel back the paper. I sat quietly and watched, as did my wife. Nobody else was paying too much attention, so it worked out OK. He unwrapped it, and sat and looked at it for a few seconds. I know you're probably all hoping for a 'Car SOS meets X-Factor' emotionally-charged moment, but it wouldn't come across like that.
He paused, and then said "Oh, it's a nice picture of the boys next to a BX. It looks like my BX!"
I said it was his BX.
He asked if I'd managed to get it on the road, or if that was near my work.
I said I managed to get it on the road, and it's on the road now; The road outside his house! I then gave him the keys and told him it was done.
Like I say, no emotions, tears, hugs or the like. But I know my Dad, and he was a bit choked. Thing is I'm emotionally awkward, so I just started talking, and talking, and talking! I talked it through for a few minutes, and revealed my plan. He suggested we go outside, and he was pretty stoked to see it looking much brighter than it did last time he saw it! He actually said "Oh wow!" and chuckled in amazement when he saw the engine bay. He droves a DS4 around, which is only a year or two old, and it's fair less tidy than this!
He ended up taking us out for trips, first of which my brother, who jumped in the car to "Relive old times", harking back to our red 16TRS we grew up with. We went out first with Dad, and just as we were getting back to the house, he realised he'd forgotten to drive down the road the laid speedbumps down when he used to own hydro-Citroens years ago! He used to enjoy just being able to take them at any speed, while mere-mortals had to slow down!
So, it was an about-turn and back to that road to relive it! It's weird, as the road has a mix of bumps; Half are those red rubber ones your wheels tend to drive either side of, and the others are some mean tarmac humps. The BX doesn't actually deal with the former any better than a modern, as it's not quite as wide and the wheels end up riding the bump more, but the humps? It's uncanny!
Anyway, trips were completed, and the next day he posted a picture on social media:
That's the first time he's ever posted a picture of a car of his online! I think he must be happy
And that's where we are today! We're up to date, once more! The BX GT has returned home, and it's probably the only GT currently on the road (there are normally two or three a year, but they're both SORN over the winter).
It'll need to come back, of course. It's bound to have niggles, as it's been in so many bits. It's got an oil leak, coolant leak (waterless coolant eats Hylomar - who knew!) and I think the timing is slightly too far advanced, as since I'd tinkered with the carb it's pinking slightly. Short-term, I need to get some rear bumper stops fitted (the originals aren't available, so I've found some alternatives I'm going to see if I can adapt to fit). I also need to refit a gear linkage, which I've now found since I cleaned my desk up when I returned to work at Southways!
It was weird being there, because for the first time in 6.5 years, my Dad's BX GT wasn't!
Over and out
I'll try and pick up in the correct chronological order, so we actually need to go back to the 21st December! I'd noticed that the spark plugs had become really fouled up, despite the car seemingly running well and emissions that were within spec. The only possible cause in my mind was the choke. I was loath to play with the carb again, but I knew that when the choke was in operation, the engine ran a more little on the lumpy side than I would like. I was confident I'd be able to play with it successfully, so you can imagine my disappointment when I adjusted a couple of screws and threw the whole thing out!
So it was back out with the gas analyser!
I managed to get the emissions right down this time (0.3 Co anyone?!) I also got it to run smoothly on the choke, but I haven't got the rate at which it shuts off quite right, as it goes from 2000rpm down to 1000rpm in the space of 20secs or so. Still, it runs, and though it's a bit lumpier than it was, I'm hoping it won't foul the plugs up at least!
Later that night, the real fun ensued. I was feeling a bit deflated, as though the car was driving very nicely, I knew it had more niggles than I really wanted to give it back with. One of the niggles was the inoperative indicator tell-tale lamp. It wasn't an issue to me too much, though given that the indicators don't self cancel, there was a chance my Dad would have issues, so I went fault hunting. That escalated into....
Yeah. Not good for the stress levels a few days before the Xmas holidays! However, I found the problem at least, which turned out to be a wire I hadn't plugged in, because it was trapped inside the heater ducting. The wire was a signal wire from the indicator switch module to - you guessed it - the tell-tale lamps! I was so giddy with delight, that I forgot to take a picture of them working!
The car was now as ready as it would ever be. I planned to get a few more miles in before the 29th, but before this I gave it a good clean inside and out. The paint needs a machine polish really, but for now it'll do. I started on the engine bay, which, before the project got going, looked like the upper pic below. The lower pic is how the same engine bay looks now:
It's come out nicely
Finishing touches were some repro stickers I bought at a Citroen event a couple of years ago:
On the 27th, I cleaned the interior. Probably the first time it's been cleaned in about 7-8 years! It came out well - better than I thought it would!
Next I waxed all the wheels, but for the spare I needed to think outside the box. It lives under the car, you see, and being diamond cut, I didn't fancy its chances of retaining a pretty finish if it spent its days lying face down at the road.
I devised a cunning plan. First step: Wax....
Then (in Uncle Rob style), polythene bag:
Then, place bagged wheel in a spare wheel cover I bought on eBay:
Then, wheel refitted under car:
Now it was time to get serious. I cleaned and polished the car top to bottom on the 28th. It really did look nice, even if I knew it could be much better up close. I wanted to get some nice pics of it before I handed it back:
It was at this point my wife suggested we take a picture of my kids with the car, and then buy a frame and wrap that picture up for his Christmas present, so that's what we did.
Then, my wife and I drove the BX to Harveys, to look at sofas. Even journeys to mundane tasks are enjoyable! It was a pleasant afternoon, and we found a cracking corner sofa that we've now ordered, and I can't wait to slump into (Featherby at Harveys, if you want a BX-esque corner sofa - it's very soft!)
The 29th rolled around, and the nerves were building! I put the final touches to the BX, and got it ready to go. Here it is bidding the Imp farewell:
And just before we set off to my parents.
You're all going to hate me, but I didn't get any pictures of it actually at my parents house! I did get a video of him driving off in it (on one of the 3 or 4 rides he had to do that afternoon), but it's got my kids in it, so I'll see how my wife feels about me uploading it!
The reveal went well. It all started badly, as my mum (who was the only one at base who was in on it) said to be there at 11:30am. That suited me, and I was running late, which was fine, as I wanted to be the last one to arrive. I actually planned to park it just out of sight, and let myself in with my own key.
I followed my wife down the M27, and when we came off we split two ways, with me going to top up the petrol tank, and wait for the all clear. When she got in touch, it was to say that she was the only one there! Nobody else was there, because nobody else had been told to be there at 11:30am! Bloody hell!
So I ring my brother, who I needed to get in the house before me, as we knew my dad would come to the front door to meet my niece and nephew as he always does. Having a spanking BX parked outside would give the game away somewhat, so they needed to haul ass and be there before me. My brother suggested I drive the car to his, which entailed driving PAST my mum & dad's house, but my wife reckoned my dad was distracted by getting my kids' new phones hooked up to the Wi-Fi!
I arrived at brother's house, who'd just returned from walking the dog, and waited for them to walk over. When everyone else was there, I drove it around the block and parked it exactly where I wanted to - in sight of the front door, but out of sight of the window.
My nerves were already in bits at this point, as I'm quite an anxious person anyway, but to compound matters, my dear old Gran is suffering from dementia, and she now knew the car was outside as I was on speaker phone in my sister's car when I had to ring and brief her too. I could just imagine my Gran turning to me and asking "So who's car did you drive here today Richard? Your father's?" But, Gran was good as gold, and Mum was the word. Well, Gran was the word, technically!
As if by fate, we were doing food first. Somehow I managed to chow down a large buffet lunch, and then the time came (about the time I replied to that message above).
We dug the bag of gifts out, and my wife asked if I wanted to do his first, but I was worried that he'd feel a bit awkward, so I said I'd just give it to him with the others. It worked out well, as the first gift I gave my parents was a copy of my new book (a buyer's guide on the TVR S Series). They're not prospective buyers, but I thought it would be a bit of a joke present, though they were actually quite touched!
My Mum then unwrapped her picture canvas, and my Dad started to peel back the paper. I sat quietly and watched, as did my wife. Nobody else was paying too much attention, so it worked out OK. He unwrapped it, and sat and looked at it for a few seconds. I know you're probably all hoping for a 'Car SOS meets X-Factor' emotionally-charged moment, but it wouldn't come across like that.
He paused, and then said "Oh, it's a nice picture of the boys next to a BX. It looks like my BX!"
I said it was his BX.
He asked if I'd managed to get it on the road, or if that was near my work.
I said I managed to get it on the road, and it's on the road now; The road outside his house! I then gave him the keys and told him it was done.
Like I say, no emotions, tears, hugs or the like. But I know my Dad, and he was a bit choked. Thing is I'm emotionally awkward, so I just started talking, and talking, and talking! I talked it through for a few minutes, and revealed my plan. He suggested we go outside, and he was pretty stoked to see it looking much brighter than it did last time he saw it! He actually said "Oh wow!" and chuckled in amazement when he saw the engine bay. He droves a DS4 around, which is only a year or two old, and it's fair less tidy than this!
He ended up taking us out for trips, first of which my brother, who jumped in the car to "Relive old times", harking back to our red 16TRS we grew up with. We went out first with Dad, and just as we were getting back to the house, he realised he'd forgotten to drive down the road the laid speedbumps down when he used to own hydro-Citroens years ago! He used to enjoy just being able to take them at any speed, while mere-mortals had to slow down!
So, it was an about-turn and back to that road to relive it! It's weird, as the road has a mix of bumps; Half are those red rubber ones your wheels tend to drive either side of, and the others are some mean tarmac humps. The BX doesn't actually deal with the former any better than a modern, as it's not quite as wide and the wheels end up riding the bump more, but the humps? It's uncanny!
Anyway, trips were completed, and the next day he posted a picture on social media:
That's the first time he's ever posted a picture of a car of his online! I think he must be happy
And that's where we are today! We're up to date, once more! The BX GT has returned home, and it's probably the only GT currently on the road (there are normally two or three a year, but they're both SORN over the winter).
It'll need to come back, of course. It's bound to have niggles, as it's been in so many bits. It's got an oil leak, coolant leak (waterless coolant eats Hylomar - who knew!) and I think the timing is slightly too far advanced, as since I'd tinkered with the carb it's pinking slightly. Short-term, I need to get some rear bumper stops fitted (the originals aren't available, so I've found some alternatives I'm going to see if I can adapt to fit). I also need to refit a gear linkage, which I've now found since I cleaned my desk up when I returned to work at Southways!
It was weird being there, because for the first time in 6.5 years, my Dad's BX GT wasn't!
Over and out
Oh, I forgot!
Here's a vid I took on the 28th, on our way to look at the sofa. I wanted to capture just how good the BX's suspension is at dealing with crap roads, and the ones in our industrial estate were ideal, as they are truly ste.
https://youtu.be/gevuIZeLqjo
Considering those spheres are 7 years old, it's riding pretty sweetly! As the old saying goes, "Like the needle in a record groove!"
Here's a vid I took on the 28th, on our way to look at the sofa. I wanted to capture just how good the BX's suspension is at dealing with crap roads, and the ones in our industrial estate were ideal, as they are truly s
te.https://youtu.be/gevuIZeLqjo
Considering those spheres are 7 years old, it's riding pretty sweetly! As the old saying goes, "Like the needle in a record groove!"
threadlock said:
I just caught up with the full story after forgetting for a few years. Thanks, Kitchski - I enjoyed the story and your writing style! It's all a great advert for your skills and your business. Hope your dad's still enjoying the car.
It's really weird that you just bumped this, as I was thinking about it about 15mins before I noticed! We're painting a very pitted sump pan at work, and I was trying to remember what I did with this! As for my Dad....I don't think he's used it much after all that FerdiZ28 said:
Maintains an excellent read this thread, good work OP and a very intriguing/endearing car.
One thing I’ve always wondered, is the one spoke steering wheel sturdy? Or does it flex on the top half?
Thanks. The wheel flexes a bit if you tug at it, but the steering's quite light and quick geared, so you're never really hauling on it anyway. It's never been a problem, put it that way.One thing I’ve always wondered, is the one spoke steering wheel sturdy? Or does it flex on the top half?
This thread is due an update soon, though, as the BX GT is booked in for Bicester Sunday Scramble on 6th October. I've also applied to get it into Goodwood's 80s breakfast club (cos I thought what could be more 80s than this?!) Not guaranteed to be accepted to that, though.
Fast Bug said:
Good thread, my Dad had 2 new BX19 estates as company cars. One TRS (F363DVU) and a TZS (H993GTF), both long gone judging by MOT history check!
Interestly (admittedly you're a better judge of that than me), the 19GT as a trim was superceded by the 19TRS, which in turn was superceded with the 19TZS. So....yeah!
threadlock said:
On 3rd Nov? Do post an update if you're going to be there - that sounds like an interesting event and it'd be good to re-live some of the craptacular cars from that era.
Will do. My gut instinct is that I'll be refused, as every time I've been accepted into one in the past, I've been refused for all others that same year. I'd love to be allowed in this one, though, as I want to go regardless.willyco said:
That dash and steering wheel is just the epitome of retro french.
It does make driving more fun!Pinkie15 said:
What an excellent thread/blog; just read from start to finish, fantastic way to return it to your dad
Also reminds me of my first car, bought in ‘92, a red 16 TRS B675 SHP. Superb riding car, though engine was shagged as it didn’t really want rev over 3k rpm, full ‘starship enterprise’ dash with ‘climbing ‘ light rev counter and rotating drum speedo. Rear suspension was knackered to as it sat low with nose up attitude.
Thanks! It was a red 16TRS that got me into them (I've got another blog I'm running on my own car). Same dash as you describe.Also reminds me of my first car, bought in ‘92, a red 16 TRS B675 SHP. Superb riding car, though engine was shagged as it didn’t really want rev over 3k rpm, full ‘starship enterprise’ dash with ‘climbing ‘ light rev counter and rotating drum speedo. Rear suspension was knackered to as it sat low with nose up attitude.
I won't tell you that the 3k rev issue is a carb linkage that sticks, and the funny height involves loosening a bolt, rotating a clamp a fraction, and doing the bolt back up again!
Dr G said:
Did I see this in a Shell station near Eastleigh yesterday?
Thought to myself at the time that I'd not seen one on the road in years but had forgotten this thread!
I checked, and you did not. Perish the thought my dad would actually use the thing Thought to myself at the time that I'd not seen one on the road in years but had forgotten this thread!
Fast Bug said:
Yup, your GT looks pretty similar to the TRS inside, albeit Dad's had the later dash. Yours seems to be a mix of the early dash, but with later proper dials rather than the drum speedo. The TZS had a much nicer seat cover, velour FTW!
That's because the later GT (two variations within the 18 months, believe it or not) had CX GTi velour! The GT (and Sport) also had conventional dials from the CX, rather than the bathroom scales type.TZS had 'Zenith' velour, which was plush.
idealstandard said:
Love this thread. My old man had a GT and then later a GTI in red (i remember being hugely excited by the sun roof when he got it). Some great memories of these 80s Citroens.
Ah, see I didn't get to sample the huge sunroof until I got my 16v in 2004. My dad's TRS had an aftermarket sunroof, which was small, and my first car (a BX, unsurprisingly) was a 14RE, so no sunroof there, either! But I've got great memories all the same!Just about time for a swift update!
Collected the BX back on the 2nd October, and took it home with me to attend to some of the outstanding niggles before attempting to drive it to Bicester on Sunday for one of their Sunday Scrambles.
Truth be told, my dad hasn't used the car much! He bought an Alfa Stelvio over the summer, and along with the allure of a new toy to play with, he was a bit anxious about the remaining niggles the BX had. Things like a missing gear linkage, missing rear bump stops and a tendency to 'pink' under load, presumably caused by slightly-too-advanced ignition timing. I'd told him it was fine to use it, but he's probably done about 200 miles or so all told!
En route home, pretty much as I left it at Christmas
So, the forthcoming weekend jaunt to Bicester was going to be a shock to the system! I'm a bit less anxious (despite suffering with anxiety issues!) about taking unproven cars and throwing them in at the deep end with a longer-jaunt, but I decided prior to the journey that I'd get some of the st sorted that needed sorting. This included the rear bump stop conundrum:
The hole furthest at the top is meant to be home to a dome-shaped solid rubber buffer, which the car sits on when it sinks. The other hole...I'm not sure what that is.
Said dome-shaped rubber buffer:
I could have bonded this back in, but the likelihood of it of falling off and being forever lost was too great to contemplate. At least this way, I get to retain it in a location I'll no doubt forget, and never need it again. It can now serve its true purpose - to clutter my workshop.
There is, i should point out, a complete absence of these available off the shelf. Even attempting to remove them from a donor car will prove unsuccessful (ask me how I know). So, going forward (for the corporate fans amongst you), there were two options; The visually very similar rubber buffer of the Fiat Coupe, or the visually differing but closer to home option of the Citroen C5 (the fking ugly one).
It dawned on me that although the Fiat item looks much more the suitable part, the C5 version may actually be the way to go. No, really, it did! There is logic here! Real, actual logic: You see, the Fiat item is made of hard rubber, and the 'probing' part of it which retains it in the underbelly of this French fancy is way, way bigger than the hole in which its meant to insert. This can prove quite a problem (ask me how I know). It either meant drilling out the hole so it's much larger, or whittling down the mounting. Well, the latter wasn't really practical, and the former was proving tricky due to poor access, because some idiot decided to leave this job off until the axle was refitted, instead of just eating that frog (more corporate lingo there, sportsfans) and sorting it out at the time.
I did manage to enlarge the hole a bit, however, which brought the C5's sex toy-esque's offerings into contention. These were much longer (giggity!), but also much softer (doh!). It seems they're actually designed to compress when in action, which is likely an advancement the C5 benefitted from over early hydro-Cit chod. Any who's ANYBODY has bottomed the rear end of a BX out before, and you certainly feel it 'land' on the bumpstops. Could the C5's option provide cushioning? Could they actually improve the ride even more?
To find out, I fitted them. Please ignore the crudity of manner in which the bonding sealant is applied; It was neat...until the suspension sank and it all squeezed out!
Do they work? Well, I certainly didn't notice it bottom-out afterwards. Are they still there? I'm too scared to look!
We still have an LHM leak, and a coolant leak, and an engine oil leak, but I also backed the timing off a bit, which improved the pinking situation. My dad had not heeded my advice to only use high-octane fuel, so with some V-Power in it, I suspect the pinking will vanish altogether. I fitted the missing gear linkage too, as the gear change seemed more reluctant than before, and I put this down to a lack of stability in the mechanism. This improved it marginally, but I think the clutch cable may have stretched a bit, so that'll need tightening up. The engine feels a bit sluggish at the moment, and as it warms up, begins to idle a little erratically. Smooth progress is difficult around town at times, too. I suspect I've cocked something up in the carb rebuild phase.
With a lack of space in the workshop, the BX was actually pressed into daily duties. This is what my kids were faced with when I picked them up from football training:
Bless 'em. They just want to blend in, and be liked, and I pick 'em up in that! The comfort of the back seat, and the smoothness of the ride did not go unnoticed, however.
A few miles were added to the BX before Sunday rolled around, and the trip to Bicester began. First it was a dawn run into Portsmouth to collect a mate, before making the 90-odd mile trek up the A34. A pit-stop at Sutton Scotney Services saw an old VW Polo pull up, with one of the occupants clocking the BX before making their way towards it and unleashing a camera phone to grab some snaps. Felt a bit weird, but I guess to anyone else it's quite a rare sight!
I'd never been to Bicester Heritage before, and didn't really know what to expect. I'd heard good things, and as we approached the area, I could tell we were in the right place. Quite an interesting queue to sit in!:
The event was great! Such a variety and mix of cars, and a nice vibe about the place, too. Yes, there were some high-end (£) exotics about, but there wasn't any kind of sniffy-atmosphere that you might find at Goodwood or something. It was a place where a VW Jetta could park next to a multi-million pound classic Fezza:
Or a DS, like this:
...parked up alongside a S1 Escort RS Turbo:
Bitter, anyone?:
Communism vs. capitalism!:
Other notable entries (in my mind!):
And of course, the BX, which my mate Andy managed to capture pretty well. It's almost like he's a photographer, or something...
Once that was done and dusted, it was off in search of munch, and a visit to quite possibly the most dank and depressing Burger King I've ever seen!
It appeared to be a closed down Little Chef, with most of the existing furniture still scattered around like some kind of fast food time warp, and then a remote makeshift Burger King positioned somewhere in the centre. It was like eating in a film set, only you're on the crew's side!
Little Chef links plain to see outside. I haven't checked if it actually was a LC, but I'd bet good money it was. Looked 'right' having an old BX outside, too. I expect there were plenty on the road when this place was bustling!
The BX was returned back to Castle Dad last week, having covered 350 miles in its brief stint with me. I'll be collecting it again in a couple of weeks to take it to Goodwood's 80's Breakfast Club on 3rd November (you need tickets, if you're planning to go to this), and then this time it's sitting the winter out, having spent the last one playing in the salt.
I miss the ride quality already!
Collected the BX back on the 2nd October, and took it home with me to attend to some of the outstanding niggles before attempting to drive it to Bicester on Sunday for one of their Sunday Scrambles.
Truth be told, my dad hasn't used the car much! He bought an Alfa Stelvio over the summer, and along with the allure of a new toy to play with, he was a bit anxious about the remaining niggles the BX had. Things like a missing gear linkage, missing rear bump stops and a tendency to 'pink' under load, presumably caused by slightly-too-advanced ignition timing. I'd told him it was fine to use it, but he's probably done about 200 miles or so all told!
En route home, pretty much as I left it at Christmas
So, the forthcoming weekend jaunt to Bicester was going to be a shock to the system! I'm a bit less anxious (despite suffering with anxiety issues!) about taking unproven cars and throwing them in at the deep end with a longer-jaunt, but I decided prior to the journey that I'd get some of the s
t sorted that needed sorting. This included the rear bump stop conundrum:The hole furthest at the top is meant to be home to a dome-shaped solid rubber buffer, which the car sits on when it sinks. The other hole...I'm not sure what that is.
Said dome-shaped rubber buffer:
I could have bonded this back in, but the likelihood of it of falling off and being forever lost was too great to contemplate. At least this way, I get to retain it in a location I'll no doubt forget, and never need it again. It can now serve its true purpose - to clutter my workshop.
There is, i should point out, a complete absence of these available off the shelf. Even attempting to remove them from a donor car will prove unsuccessful (ask me how I know). So, going forward (for the corporate fans amongst you), there were two options; The visually very similar rubber buffer of the Fiat Coupe, or the visually differing but closer to home option of the Citroen C5 (the f
king ugly one).It dawned on me that although the Fiat item looks much more the suitable part, the C5 version may actually be the way to go. No, really, it did! There is logic here! Real, actual logic: You see, the Fiat item is made of hard rubber, and the 'probing' part of it which retains it in the underbelly of this French fancy is way, way bigger than the hole in which its meant to insert. This can prove quite a problem (ask me how I know). It either meant drilling out the hole so it's much larger, or whittling down the mounting. Well, the latter wasn't really practical, and the former was proving tricky due to poor access, because some idiot decided to leave this job off until the axle was refitted, instead of just eating that frog (more corporate lingo there, sportsfans) and sorting it out at the time.
I did manage to enlarge the hole a bit, however, which brought the C5's sex toy-esque's offerings into contention. These were much longer (giggity!), but also much softer (doh!). It seems they're actually designed to compress when in action, which is likely an advancement the C5 benefitted from over early hydro-Cit chod. Any who's ANYBODY has bottomed the rear end of a BX out before, and you certainly feel it 'land' on the bumpstops. Could the C5's option provide cushioning? Could they actually improve the ride even more?
To find out, I fitted them. Please ignore the crudity of manner in which the bonding sealant is applied; It was neat...until the suspension sank and it all squeezed out!
Do they work? Well, I certainly didn't notice it bottom-out afterwards. Are they still there? I'm too scared to look!
We still have an LHM leak, and a coolant leak, and an engine oil leak, but I also backed the timing off a bit, which improved the pinking situation. My dad had not heeded my advice to only use high-octane fuel, so with some V-Power in it, I suspect the pinking will vanish altogether. I fitted the missing gear linkage too, as the gear change seemed more reluctant than before, and I put this down to a lack of stability in the mechanism. This improved it marginally, but I think the clutch cable may have stretched a bit, so that'll need tightening up. The engine feels a bit sluggish at the moment, and as it warms up, begins to idle a little erratically. Smooth progress is difficult around town at times, too. I suspect I've cocked something up in the carb rebuild phase.
With a lack of space in the workshop, the BX was actually pressed into daily duties. This is what my kids were faced with when I picked them up from football training:
Bless 'em. They just want to blend in, and be liked, and I pick 'em up in that! The comfort of the back seat, and the smoothness of the ride did not go unnoticed, however.
A few miles were added to the BX before Sunday rolled around, and the trip to Bicester began. First it was a dawn run into Portsmouth to collect a mate, before making the 90-odd mile trek up the A34. A pit-stop at Sutton Scotney Services saw an old VW Polo pull up, with one of the occupants clocking the BX before making their way towards it and unleashing a camera phone to grab some snaps. Felt a bit weird, but I guess to anyone else it's quite a rare sight!
I'd never been to Bicester Heritage before, and didn't really know what to expect. I'd heard good things, and as we approached the area, I could tell we were in the right place. Quite an interesting queue to sit in!:
The event was great! Such a variety and mix of cars, and a nice vibe about the place, too. Yes, there were some high-end (£) exotics about, but there wasn't any kind of sniffy-atmosphere that you might find at Goodwood or something. It was a place where a VW Jetta could park next to a multi-million pound classic Fezza:
Or a DS, like this:
...parked up alongside a S1 Escort RS Turbo:
Bitter, anyone?:
Communism vs. capitalism!:
Other notable entries (in my mind!):
And of course, the BX, which my mate Andy managed to capture pretty well. It's almost like he's a photographer, or something...
Once that was done and dusted, it was off in search of munch, and a visit to quite possibly the most dank and depressing Burger King I've ever seen!
It appeared to be a closed down Little Chef, with most of the existing furniture still scattered around like some kind of fast food time warp, and then a remote makeshift Burger King positioned somewhere in the centre. It was like eating in a film set, only you're on the crew's side!
Little Chef links plain to see outside. I haven't checked if it actually was a LC, but I'd bet good money it was. Looked 'right' having an old BX outside, too. I expect there were plenty on the road when this place was bustling!
The BX was returned back to Castle Dad last week, having covered 350 miles in its brief stint with me. I'll be collecting it again in a couple of weeks to take it to Goodwood's 80's Breakfast Club on 3rd November (you need tickets, if you're planning to go to this), and then this time it's sitting the winter out, having spent the last one playing in the salt.
I miss the ride quality already!
threadlock said:
I saw the car on Sunday but didn't know whether you were one of the drifters around it so didn't want to make myself look a fool by saying hi to a random!
I thought the BX looked a lot better than I had been expecting from this thread - I thought you'd said it was cosmetically challenged but it looked resplendent!
Hi! I didn't spend much time near it, but if you saw a short scruffy guy, and a tall 'well-set' guy with a huge camera around his neck, that was us!I thought the BX looked a lot better than I had been expecting from this thread - I thought you'd said it was cosmetically challenged but it looked resplendent!
It looks OK, yeah. Obviously it had a respray, so initially it's great, but it was a cheap respray (and by a painter who's not very good, IMO). There are a few bits I'm not happy with, but for a BX of that era it's probably pretty good. It's the only GT on the road in the UK, so there's not much to compare it with
We got a few pics, so I'll update this before wrapping it up for the year, as it'll be SORN'd until 2020. Give me time to try and get some of the others done!
Just over three years since the last update, so what's occurred?
Well, I bought a TVR Chimaera...and a DS (well, a D Super 5), and an SM (but I might have mentioned that already).
I also started a YouTube documenting all the stuff I used to document on here (and more, to be fair). While I feel a little bad that I 'abandoned' some of these threads, to reality is that other than the BX 16TRS, not a lot else changed, and the methods of getting the pictures to attached were too clunky (they were always too big, or they glitched, or something - it's just taken me 20mins to get the images to work on here!)
More crucially, the GT is still with us. So what's new? Well, in 2020 something happened with the world, so despite the GT being 'good to go', it didn't go anywhere.
2021? The same.
2022? It was back! I went and fetched it back in April to bring it back to the unit and prepare it for its return to action. There were a few niggles that needed putting right (there still are, in fairness) but top of my list was to apply some stickers. Obviously.
These were a set of original Citroen 'Accessorie' side strips that my dad found on eBay years ago. It was finally time to put them on, before giving the car the clean of its life and making it look as pretty as could be. Why?
Because Classic & Sports Car magazine had been in touch, as they wanted to run a buyer's guide on the BX model (being that, officially, 2022 is the BX's 40th year (it's the 39th in the UK, mind!))
So, stickers adorned and tyres caked in tyre goo, the scribe and his photographer made their way down here and we spent a couple of hours driving about for some shots for the August 2022 issue of the mag.
Since August 2022, the article has been uploaded to their website, meaning I can show you a few bits of it!
(they asked me to make it roll a bit!)
You can read the entire article on their website, here: Classic & Sports Cars BX buyer's guide
You can even take it seriously, as I helped them write it!
No sooner had the magazine hit the newsagents, it was time to visit Festival of the Unexceptional, and rather than take any of my own chod, I felt it only right to give the GT its longest run yet (about 200miles each way, in one day). It did a grand job, and though I don't really have any pics of it myself (I was too busy trying to make videos) I noticed on Google somebody uploaded this:
With FotU out the way, the next job for the GT was for YouTube. No, not my channel; A much larger, successful channel by the name of Car Gurus! They wanted a BX to compare with the new C5 X (yeah...I don't either), as the BX was technically the start of that segment of Citroens, and the C5 X is likely to be the last.
They borrowed the GT for the day, and then back in Sept/Oct time, the video was released. The fella who drove it really seemed to love it, and his enthusiasm in the video is pretty much as he was in real life about it (despite the niggles I pointed out, like the throttle electing to jam open sometimes, if you floor it).
The main video is here:
And, while searching for that, I found this (which I didn't know existed!)
As for the future, I'm not sure. My dad, truth be told, doesn't use it much and doesn't seem too bothered by the idea of having an old car sat in the garage anymore (he's not really a 'petrolhead'), and he's seemingly too nervous to use it as he's used to his new SUV with its keyless entry and reversing camera and other such muck. After all that work, it's a bit of a kick in the grits, but it can't be helped if it's just not what it was to him, but we'll see. It doesn't help that I now work alone here, so don't really get the time to sort out some of the little niggles, niggles which I drove to Lincs with, but he's too anxious to drive it 5 miles with. Thing is it's nearly 40 years old; It will never be faultless.
Anyway, there's the trip down memory lane, and the update thereafter! Cheers!
Well, I bought a TVR Chimaera...and a DS (well, a D Super 5), and an SM (but I might have mentioned that already).
I also started a YouTube documenting all the stuff I used to document on here (and more, to be fair). While I feel a little bad that I 'abandoned' some of these threads, to reality is that other than the BX 16TRS, not a lot else changed, and the methods of getting the pictures to attached were too clunky (they were always too big, or they glitched, or something - it's just taken me 20mins to get the images to work on here!)
More crucially, the GT is still with us. So what's new? Well, in 2020 something happened with the world, so despite the GT being 'good to go', it didn't go anywhere.
2021? The same.
2022? It was back! I went and fetched it back in April to bring it back to the unit and prepare it for its return to action. There were a few niggles that needed putting right (there still are, in fairness) but top of my list was to apply some stickers. Obviously.
These were a set of original Citroen 'Accessorie' side strips that my dad found on eBay years ago. It was finally time to put them on, before giving the car the clean of its life and making it look as pretty as could be. Why?
Because Classic & Sports Car magazine had been in touch, as they wanted to run a buyer's guide on the BX model (being that, officially, 2022 is the BX's 40th year (it's the 39th in the UK, mind!))
So, stickers adorned and tyres caked in tyre goo, the scribe and his photographer made their way down here and we spent a couple of hours driving about for some shots for the August 2022 issue of the mag.
Since August 2022, the article has been uploaded to their website, meaning I can show you a few bits of it!
(they asked me to make it roll a bit!)
You can read the entire article on their website, here: Classic & Sports Cars BX buyer's guide
You can even take it seriously, as I helped them write it!
No sooner had the magazine hit the newsagents, it was time to visit Festival of the Unexceptional, and rather than take any of my own chod, I felt it only right to give the GT its longest run yet (about 200miles each way, in one day). It did a grand job, and though I don't really have any pics of it myself (I was too busy trying to make videos) I noticed on Google somebody uploaded this:
With FotU out the way, the next job for the GT was for YouTube. No, not my channel; A much larger, successful channel by the name of Car Gurus! They wanted a BX to compare with the new C5 X (yeah...I don't either), as the BX was technically the start of that segment of Citroens, and the C5 X is likely to be the last.
They borrowed the GT for the day, and then back in Sept/Oct time, the video was released. The fella who drove it really seemed to love it, and his enthusiasm in the video is pretty much as he was in real life about it (despite the niggles I pointed out, like the throttle electing to jam open sometimes, if you floor it).
The main video is here:
And, while searching for that, I found this (which I didn't know existed!)
As for the future, I'm not sure. My dad, truth be told, doesn't use it much and doesn't seem too bothered by the idea of having an old car sat in the garage anymore (he's not really a 'petrolhead'), and he's seemingly too nervous to use it as he's used to his new SUV with its keyless entry and reversing camera and other such muck. After all that work, it's a bit of a kick in the grits, but it can't be helped if it's just not what it was to him, but we'll see. It doesn't help that I now work alone here, so don't really get the time to sort out some of the little niggles, niggles which I drove to Lincs with, but he's too anxious to drive it 5 miles with. Thing is it's nearly 40 years old; It will never be faultless.
Anyway, there's the trip down memory lane, and the update thereafter! Cheers!
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