1985 Citroen BX 19GT overhaul
Discussion
Kitchski said:
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.
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.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.
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.
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Interestly (admittedly you're a better judge of that than me), the 19GT as a trim was superceded by the 19TRS, which in turn was superceded with the 19TZS.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!
Kitchski said:
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.
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!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!
Kitchski said:
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!
Excellent thread. My Dad had company cars throughout the 70s- 90s. I vividly remember going to collect his black f plate turbo diesel BX from Wateringbury Citroen in Kent. Great car and followed by a white Citroen Xantia Turbo diesel.
He piled on 120k on the BX in 3 years and then the Xantia stayed with us for about 8 years. It had a galactic mileage on it when it left the family.
Thanks OP, you brought back some brilliant memories.
He piled on 120k on the BX in 3 years and then the Xantia stayed with us for about 8 years. It had a galactic mileage on it when it left the family.
Thanks OP, you brought back some brilliant memories.
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 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 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!
I'll read it all properly, but I've got to say, kudos for sticking what looks like a Fleshlight (NSFW on Google) to your Dad's car...
ETA - you'd clearly clocked some sex-aid similarity already. That aside, Lovely car. I had an unhealthy hankering after a BX GT while the obvious option was an AX GTI. Clearly, I've liked an estate for a long time (probably memories of my Dad's Audi 80 - F177SHY - why can I remember that?).
All in all, cracking job. Thankfully, my kids still think my idiotic car choices are "fun" and not "bloody embarrassing".
ETA - you'd clearly clocked some sex-aid similarity already. That aside, Lovely car. I had an unhealthy hankering after a BX GT while the obvious option was an AX GTI. Clearly, I've liked an estate for a long time (probably memories of my Dad's Audi 80 - F177SHY - why can I remember that?).
All in all, cracking job. Thankfully, my kids still think my idiotic car choices are "fun" and not "bloody embarrassing".
Edited by Smitters on Wednesday 23 October 10:28
This is all kinds of awesome. A huge well done to the OP for a colossal effort and for doing such a nice thing for his dad. I'm constantly amazed by the skills that a substantial number of posters on this site have whereas oil and filter changes, spark plugs, brakes etc. are about as much as I can do.
A friend of mine had a BX back in the day and I remember the ride being sublime. It's good to know that this one survived and is in great hands.
A friend of mine had a BX back in the day and I remember the ride being sublime. It's good to know that this one survived and is in great hands.
Kitchski said:
Well bumped!
BX has been collected and is with me for the night ready for an early morning run to Goodwood for the 80's breakfast club.
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!BX has been collected and is with me for the night ready for an early morning run to Goodwood for the 80's breakfast club.
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!
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!
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