I can't help myself.. Citroen CX Prestige purchased!

I can't help myself.. Citroen CX Prestige purchased!

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Discussion

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Saturday 23rd July 2016
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smileymikey said:
Can someone please buy this thing of beauty. Jewish Racing Gold, beige interior and smoother than Barry White pouring honey on a naked vestal virgin. I want it so much!!

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C769430
http://galloot.myzen.co.uk/stk23.htm

That's lovely, but £3k is more than a bit strong for a Douvrin-engined CX. Nice of them to include a large pic on their own site showing the lids to all the dash cubbies are AWOL, too.

But that apart, if any 22 is going to be worth £3k, that could well be it.

smileymikey

1,446 posts

226 months

Saturday 23rd July 2016
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TooMany2cvs said:
smileymikey said:
Can someone please buy this thing of beauty. Jewish Racing Gold, beige interior and smoother than Barry White pouring honey on a naked vestal virgin. I want it so much!!

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C769430
http://galloot.myzen.co.uk/stk23.htm

That's lovely, but £3k is more than a bit strong for a Douvrin-engined CX. Nice of them to include a large pic on their own site showing the lids to all the dash cubbies are AWOL, too.

But that apart, if any 22 is going to be worth £3k, that could well be it.
I do believe your mellowing with age.

320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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At the start of today I was concerned that I’d bitten off more than I could chew. The dream seemed very far from reality.



The task was simple – understand just how much work would be needed to get the car in a fit mechanical state to take to the road. I’d previously had the front end apart, and had a good clean of the underside to understand the condition of the inner wings.

The LH front needs some work at the rear near the bulkhead, but otherwise seems solid enough. We already knew the disc is ok, but the pads will be replaced.

The RH front brought better news – no obvious issue with any of the brake lines, and the suspension looks decent, bar the crust of road dirt.





Application of a jet wash brought about the ability to see solid inner wings, in decent condition, and suspension that was operating well with no visible leaks.

Time to move to the back. Despite having had the car since October last year, this was the first time I’d really had a look at the rear.







Both rear wheels came off relatively easily, and the car seemed solid where jacked at both sides- a good start. The solid brake lines looked good after we carried out come archeology to free them from 30+ years of dirt in the rear arms.

It has also had recent pads at the rear – still with the super shiny paint on -they looked almost fresh out the box. The discs, however, looked to be fairly heavily worn.

Additionally, there seems to be a significant amount of fuel leaking from the filter at the rear of the car – this will need addressed asap!

In essence then, the CX needs the following on the running gear:

Front Pads

LH Front solid brake line

LH Front Flexi brake line

Rear Discs



For the engine/fuel:

Oil filter

Oil change

Rotor arm/Dizzy Cap

Spark Plugs

Coolant top up

Radiator fans tested

Alternator and charging circuit checked



Bodywork:

Hole in LH front Inner wing to be welded

Door skins to be repaired or replaced

Bonnet untwisted and straightened

Front wings tidied or replaced



Interior

A bloody good clean

Blower Fan fixed



With that done she’ll be back on the road. It may seem a lot, but with minimal parts required, and some assistance from friends, it should be easy enough!


TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
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320touring said:


Bodywork:

Bonnet untwisted and straightened
The bonnets are always twisted like that - although not quite that badly! It's all to do with the prop just being one side, spring-loaded to take some of the weight, and needing the catch releasing to lower it. It's a recipe for bending...

320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Sunday 31st July 2016
quotequote all
TooMany2cvs said:
The bonnets are always twisted like that - although not quite that badly! It's all to do with the prop just being one side, spring-loaded to take some of the weight, and needing the catch releasing to lower it. It's a recipe for bending...
think its had a tap on the nose at some point. I will try to bend it back but for the moment it latches so can stay

320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Monday 1st August 2016
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Just bought this for the CX..Not cheap, but means I should have brakes shortlysmile And yes, it is 2nd hand

£70 should see it sorted and delivered.


Morningside

24,110 posts

229 months

Tuesday 9th August 2016
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320touring said:
Just bought this for the CX..Not cheap, but means I should have brakes shortlysmile And yes, it is 2nd hand

£70 should see it sorted and delivered.

Do they have on/off brakes like the GSA?

320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Tuesday 9th August 2016
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Morningside said:
Do they have on/off brakes like the GSA?
On these, the brakes are wholly hydraulic.

it works on how hard you press the pedal rather than how far it is pushed- takes a bit of getting used to but once you figure it out its nice and controllablesmile

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Tuesday 9th August 2016
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Morningside said:
320touring said:
Just bought this for the CX..Not cheap, but means I should have brakes shortlysmile And yes, it is 2nd hand

£70 should see it sorted and delivered.

Do they have on/off brakes like the GSA?
The brakes are pretty much the same as G, yes. But not on-off, not unless you can't get your head around it being pressure rather than travel which varies the retardation.

320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Tuesday 9th August 2016
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In exciting news, Look what arrived last nightsmile





I have the rest of the week off, as does my Brother- most of that time is allocated to getting the CX significantly further on!

320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
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For some time now, the CX has been languishing without working brakes. It has demonstrated its displeasure by repeatedly dumping ALL the LHM it can get its hands on. But no more, dear reader, no more!

I managed to source a replacement solid pipe from Germany, bought it and had a wee sit down after paying for it. North of £70 had to be committed to get said pipe bought and shipped. I’ve had whole cars for less.

this is what £70 gets you (2nd hand!)



Just the small matter of transporting it 70 miles to the CX and fitting it..

The 205 was duly loaded with all the available tools, plus my brother and I, and we tootled off to the unit where the CX was stored. We both have time off work this week to get tore into the myriad projects that abound – chief amongst which was the CX.

Once arrived, we set to wrestling the old bracket off the failed hard line.



The bracket is held onto the hard line by a 24mm nut, and the brake flexi line passes through the nut into an inner thread in the hard line.



We cleaned up the parts with a wire wheel and gave them a coat of rust killer.



then it was time to build up the new line.





We got the pipe lined up, and all the bolts fitted, then reconnected the flexi to the brake line at the top of the strut.



Everything was tight, and the bleed nipple slackened off ok – time to hit the pedal!

Bugger, LHM was spraying out the caliper end where the hard line mates to the caliper.

No bother, time to tighten up the bolt.



KERTWAAANG! the bd has snapped. The air was blue, the ratchet was but a moment from being hurled through the windscreen. I was not amused.

My brother and Father stepped in, and I went off to a corner to mutter and curse. Time to figure out how to sort this.

The portion that was in the caliper turned out easily by hand- it had not hit the bottom, or cross threaded – We don’t know why it failed.

Thankfully the caliper and hard line were ok – it was just the bolt that was needing replaced.

First port of call was to call some local spares shops-none of them carried anything that would replace the snapped bolt.

Next up, time to try the dealer – Citroen seem to have no parts for anything that is over 10yrs old, although the Parts chap was helpful when I dropped in later on.

A call to Pirtek (a hydraulics fitting company) suggested they may have something that would do for the purposes of stopping the LHM leaking, and allowing the brakes to be used to move the car about the unit.

An 80min round trip later, ans I had a replacement bolt. It was much shorter, but was crucially long enough to fit through the hard line and into the caliper.



Bolt fitted, we bled the brakes with no issue. A good save! and it buys me time to find the bolt I need.

Next up was an oil service – it had not been done in my ownership, and was likely overdue:

The oil that came out was like tar.





As often seems to be the way with the CX, the oil filter was far from simple to get at..



Thankfully the removal tool sat over it ok, and the old (VERY OLD!) filter spun off with no great issue.

The new filter had the seal oiled and was installed, and tightened from the top.



Lastly, the sump plug was reinstalled, and new oil was added.

With all that done, it was time to get her started and out for a test drive round the unit.

The LHM was checked and topped up, and I took her out for a drive- seemed to go well, with the front brakes performing well.

Both my Father and Brother had a shot too -I think the Da struggled to comprehend what was happening with the brakes and diravi steering, although he’s keen to take a few more runs in it to “get used to it”smile

We then went to put it in the unit and were greeted by a horrible grumble, and the sight of steam..



It looks as if it has decided to repay us by leaking from the waterpump!



We put it in the unit, tidied up and went home.

Before we really lost the plot!

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
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Ah, the joy of CX...

320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Thursday 11th August 2016
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TooMany2cvs said:
Ah, the joy of CX...
indeed.. I'll be starting to take the coolant system alart today.

Hugh Jarse

3,502 posts

205 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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320touring

Original Poster:

1,428 posts

199 months

Sunday 25th September 2016
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Thanks for bumping this- I've not been near her for a month or so - you've guilted me into needing to go over next weekend..

EarlOfHazard

3,603 posts

158 months

Monday 26th December 2016
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Merry Christmas. Any update? smile

tdm34

7,367 posts

210 months

Tuesday 27th December 2016
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What a fantastic thread, bookmarked, can't beat Gallic design lunacy... wink

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

126 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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I don't want to gazump the OP here, but there's a rather sad end to this story.

Before Xmas, the unit the CX - and several other cars - was in was torched. Everything in there is utterly trashed.

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2016/12/31/goodb...



<sniffs, wipes a little tear>

hidetheelephants

24,289 posts

193 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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cry One less Prestige.

anonymous-user

54 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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yikesfrown