My bodged Citroen BX 16v
Discussion
I see some really good threads in this forum so I thought I'd add one which is hopefully as good a read as the others! I'm about to undertake a fair amount of work on the old bone, and opinions and advice are always appreciated if anyone can share their knowledge. Threads like these keep me enthused to cary on with it too....and I need enthusiasm to approach it at the mo! So it's a bit of a readers ride/ongoing project thread.
I've owned my BX about 6 & 1/2years now. For some reason I'd always hankered after one, even in school when my other mates were into Imprezas and Skylines! I've always been a Citroen fan as I've pretty much grew up in BXs and XMs and got hooked. My first car was a beige 1989 1.4 BX, which at the tender age of 16 I set about tuning up, passing my test and promptly breaking it.
I sold an 18 month old Saxo, left my boy racer days behind and in June 2004 paid the princely sum of £770 for my 14 year old Citroen with a weak syncromesh on third gear and an exhaust that rattled when the suspension dropped to it's lowest setting.
[i]Quick BX 16v info:
The BX GTi 16v, for those not really into BX's (I imagine that's the majority of people on here!) was launched in 1987. The Citroen BX itself was a mid-sized 5 door hatch (also available as an estate) which was more famous for it's impressive if not slightly boring diesel models. It still used the hydropneumatic suspension system that scared off so many, as found in the DS, GS and CX models. It was simplified in the BX however....MacPherson struts up from with semi-independant trailing arms at the rear. Struts/rams replaced springs and spheres replaced shockers. The brakes and power steering ran off the same system, with a series of valves and regulators diverting and maintaining pressure. The car features an anti-dive system, which prevents the nose of the car from diving at all, yet retains full suspension movement. It also regulates braking pressure to all four discs depending on load, yet obviously retains the same ride height. After it was launched in 1983 ('84 in the UK) it was offered with some well-equipped, if slightly dull 1.4 and 1.6 models followed by a diesel. The 19GT offered in 1985 wasn't exactly a Bahnstormer with it's 1.9 8v, carb-fed engine, but did make a good cruiser. The Sport was offered overseas with a twin carb version of the GT's engine, before the GTi came out in 1986 using the 205 GTi 1.9 engine. The mental 4TC Group B model is well worth researching, it's a great read and was a great flop!
The BX 16v used the first French twin-cam multivalve engine to go into mass production, a unit it shared with the 405 Mi16 ph1, which was launched 8 months later, making the BX GTi 16v the first French production vehicle with a twin cam/MV setup. It was marketed more as competition for the forthcoming Renault 21 Turbo, Ford Sierra XR4i, BMW 318iS and Vauxhall Cavalier SRi130, aswell as the yet to be announced 405.
The engine itself was an all-alloy 1905cc 160bhp/133lb ft unit, with a compression ratio of 10:4:1 and a specific output of 84bhp/litre, which was pretty good at the time and combined with a kerb weight of 1060kg it made pretty decent power to weight figures too. Although generally adored by the those in the Peugeot circles, it is not that well known and the model as a whole wasn't well recieved in the UK. For a start it cost £3,000 more than the BX 19 GTi 8v model, and aside from some sideskirts, slightly beefier seats, thicker anti-rolls bars, wider wheels and a slightly stiffer setup of the hydropneumatic suspension, it differed little from the normal GTi. I guess the idea of a liquid/gas suspension squishy French hatch with an unrefined screaming twin-cam engine (in an already fairly noisy, unrefined car) and short gearing didn't make alot of sense to people, while the others couldn't work out where the extra £3k went. It was the engine.
It used all manner of expensive production techniques, and the head itself was based on the one used in the 205 T16 Group B rally car. The rocker cover is magnesium alloy, the head is a twin-port design on the exhaust side and it boasted a larger valve area than practically any other twin-cam of the era, and not too far off the mark today. Check out Puma Racing's website for the specs if you're interested in numbers! Word is PSA lost out on every unit they produced!
In late 1989 the BX GTi 16v simply became the BX 16v. It gained bigger fibreglass bumpers, a wraparound 'whale tale' type spoiler and anti-roll bars that were thicker still. The alloys were now anthracite with a polished rim and in 1991 the engine was fitted with a knock sensor to allow it to run on unleaded fuel without drama. In 1992, the engine was de-tuned to 148bhp by lowering the compression ratio using dished pistons, and tamer camshafts. A year later it was killed off completely (along with the Citroen BX) and replaced with the 155bhp 2.0 iron-blocked unit found in the ph2 405 Mi16, aswell as the Xantia 16v, 306 S16 and ZX 16v.[/i]
6 months into my beloved BX ownership, I suffered a fate shared by many who've been racing the engine while attacking a sharp corner....something you should really avoid doing in an XU9J4 powered car that doesn't have a baffled sump! I managed to create an oil surge, pumping all the oil into the head (so much that the rocker cover nigh-on burst!) and running the bottom end dangerously low (at about 7300rpm!). Result was a bent crank and completely ruined big end bearings. I had the crank reground, lightened and balanced, the bores honed, the flywheel refaced & balanced and rebuilt it with new bearings, thrust washers and piston rings. 4 years later I stripped the head off and took it apart to sort out the noisy tappet I'd had since the rebuild. This turned out to be a bent valve (one inlet, even though it's neighbour was fine!) which had been banging away like mad. I lapped in a good replacement and refitted the head, before a bit more f
king careful about how I put it down and handle it this time!
In 2006 the car was used in a fairly low rent TV production called Used Car Roadshow. Here is a terrible quality clip of the brief feature:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVWmmo_c0hA
Fast forward to 2009 and I've got twin baby sons and a TVR Chimaera fighting for my attention. The BX it sitting around doing sweet FA.
2010, or more specifically a couple of weeks ago looms and I decide that I could actually use the BX now, as I'm now working more locally and using an old car that drinks like a fish isn't really an issue if you barely clock up more than 8 miles a day!
So far I know that the following need doing:
1) Coolant leak behind suspension HP pump.
2) Brake doseur valve (a valve in place of a brake master cylinder) is leaking to the return side interally and losing braking pressure.
3) Undersealing.
4) Sidelights wiring needs attention.
5) ABS light on, suspect faulty wiring as all sensors give correct resistance.
6) General tidy-up.
So bring it out onto my little ramps to get under neath and have a nosey:
All seems well until I see this. I know there are one or two patches on the car which are starting to rust, but BXs are generally pretty good at holding it off. This bit worried me:
So I started to poke it:
aholeS!!!!
This little lump fell out, which I at first thought was lead but now realise it's probably chemical metal or something like that:
It left a nice hole in the scutter tray underneath the rear washer bottle, and as I suspected a small hole behind the dashboard. Great!
As time progressed I found more and more lumps of crap. I'm now figuring that the car has either rotted really badly in one area, yet remained fine it pretty much all the others, or it's been in a smack at some point. Either way, my BX has been bodged! Someone in the past didn't want to weld this lot up because it would have meant removing the dash. Scary thing is I've had the car all this time and it's taken ages to manifest itself.
The entire lower box section of the A-piller has started to rot badly from inside. The panel housing the door hinge is starting to come away:
Time to remove the dash:
To get a good look at this:
Suspension turret looks worrying too:
So it's hydrualic resevoir out, and suspension sphere off so the suspension strut can be removed:
To (try) and repair this whole mess by plating all the holes back to thick, strong metal (could be easier said than done on the A-pillar), I've got my mits on a nice thick bit of steel perfect for the job:
Theres the first bit ready to plate the rotten edge of the inner wing:
This is my first attempt at welding a car body, so be gentle!
The lower panel blew through on it's left hand side so I had to build it all up again. Luckily this piece is completely hidden and it seemss to be nice and strong, so this was a result!
So this is how she looks at the moment:
Amazingly, the nearside front corner seems to be mint! Normally this is the worst area....on the offside, mineral oil/LHM generally spills out of the res so the inner wing is nicely oiled from under the bonnet. The nearside tends to pick up the st in the gutter and rot out quicker, yet on this car the nearside is very good and needs no welding at the moment, just repainting! The middle and rear of the car.......who knows!
I've owned my BX about 6 & 1/2years now. For some reason I'd always hankered after one, even in school when my other mates were into Imprezas and Skylines! I've always been a Citroen fan as I've pretty much grew up in BXs and XMs and got hooked. My first car was a beige 1989 1.4 BX, which at the tender age of 16 I set about tuning up, passing my test and promptly breaking it.
I sold an 18 month old Saxo, left my boy racer days behind and in June 2004 paid the princely sum of £770 for my 14 year old Citroen with a weak syncromesh on third gear and an exhaust that rattled when the suspension dropped to it's lowest setting.
[i]Quick BX 16v info:
The BX GTi 16v, for those not really into BX's (I imagine that's the majority of people on here!) was launched in 1987. The Citroen BX itself was a mid-sized 5 door hatch (also available as an estate) which was more famous for it's impressive if not slightly boring diesel models. It still used the hydropneumatic suspension system that scared off so many, as found in the DS, GS and CX models. It was simplified in the BX however....MacPherson struts up from with semi-independant trailing arms at the rear. Struts/rams replaced springs and spheres replaced shockers. The brakes and power steering ran off the same system, with a series of valves and regulators diverting and maintaining pressure. The car features an anti-dive system, which prevents the nose of the car from diving at all, yet retains full suspension movement. It also regulates braking pressure to all four discs depending on load, yet obviously retains the same ride height. After it was launched in 1983 ('84 in the UK) it was offered with some well-equipped, if slightly dull 1.4 and 1.6 models followed by a diesel. The 19GT offered in 1985 wasn't exactly a Bahnstormer with it's 1.9 8v, carb-fed engine, but did make a good cruiser. The Sport was offered overseas with a twin carb version of the GT's engine, before the GTi came out in 1986 using the 205 GTi 1.9 engine. The mental 4TC Group B model is well worth researching, it's a great read and was a great flop!
The BX 16v used the first French twin-cam multivalve engine to go into mass production, a unit it shared with the 405 Mi16 ph1, which was launched 8 months later, making the BX GTi 16v the first French production vehicle with a twin cam/MV setup. It was marketed more as competition for the forthcoming Renault 21 Turbo, Ford Sierra XR4i, BMW 318iS and Vauxhall Cavalier SRi130, aswell as the yet to be announced 405.
The engine itself was an all-alloy 1905cc 160bhp/133lb ft unit, with a compression ratio of 10:4:1 and a specific output of 84bhp/litre, which was pretty good at the time and combined with a kerb weight of 1060kg it made pretty decent power to weight figures too. Although generally adored by the those in the Peugeot circles, it is not that well known and the model as a whole wasn't well recieved in the UK. For a start it cost £3,000 more than the BX 19 GTi 8v model, and aside from some sideskirts, slightly beefier seats, thicker anti-rolls bars, wider wheels and a slightly stiffer setup of the hydropneumatic suspension, it differed little from the normal GTi. I guess the idea of a liquid/gas suspension squishy French hatch with an unrefined screaming twin-cam engine (in an already fairly noisy, unrefined car) and short gearing didn't make alot of sense to people, while the others couldn't work out where the extra £3k went. It was the engine.
It used all manner of expensive production techniques, and the head itself was based on the one used in the 205 T16 Group B rally car. The rocker cover is magnesium alloy, the head is a twin-port design on the exhaust side and it boasted a larger valve area than practically any other twin-cam of the era, and not too far off the mark today. Check out Puma Racing's website for the specs if you're interested in numbers! Word is PSA lost out on every unit they produced!
In late 1989 the BX GTi 16v simply became the BX 16v. It gained bigger fibreglass bumpers, a wraparound 'whale tale' type spoiler and anti-roll bars that were thicker still. The alloys were now anthracite with a polished rim and in 1991 the engine was fitted with a knock sensor to allow it to run on unleaded fuel without drama. In 1992, the engine was de-tuned to 148bhp by lowering the compression ratio using dished pistons, and tamer camshafts. A year later it was killed off completely (along with the Citroen BX) and replaced with the 155bhp 2.0 iron-blocked unit found in the ph2 405 Mi16, aswell as the Xantia 16v, 306 S16 and ZX 16v.[/i]
6 months into my beloved BX ownership, I suffered a fate shared by many who've been racing the engine while attacking a sharp corner....something you should really avoid doing in an XU9J4 powered car that doesn't have a baffled sump! I managed to create an oil surge, pumping all the oil into the head (so much that the rocker cover nigh-on burst!) and running the bottom end dangerously low (at about 7300rpm!). Result was a bent crank and completely ruined big end bearings. I had the crank reground, lightened and balanced, the bores honed, the flywheel refaced & balanced and rebuilt it with new bearings, thrust washers and piston rings. 4 years later I stripped the head off and took it apart to sort out the noisy tappet I'd had since the rebuild. This turned out to be a bent valve (one inlet, even though it's neighbour was fine!) which had been banging away like mad. I lapped in a good replacement and refitted the head, before a bit more f
king careful about how I put it down and handle it this time!In 2006 the car was used in a fairly low rent TV production called Used Car Roadshow. Here is a terrible quality clip of the brief feature:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVWmmo_c0hA
Fast forward to 2009 and I've got twin baby sons and a TVR Chimaera fighting for my attention. The BX it sitting around doing sweet FA.
2010, or more specifically a couple of weeks ago looms and I decide that I could actually use the BX now, as I'm now working more locally and using an old car that drinks like a fish isn't really an issue if you barely clock up more than 8 miles a day!
So far I know that the following need doing:
1) Coolant leak behind suspension HP pump.
2) Brake doseur valve (a valve in place of a brake master cylinder) is leaking to the return side interally and losing braking pressure.
3) Undersealing.
4) Sidelights wiring needs attention.
5) ABS light on, suspect faulty wiring as all sensors give correct resistance.
6) General tidy-up.
So bring it out onto my little ramps to get under neath and have a nosey:
All seems well until I see this. I know there are one or two patches on the car which are starting to rust, but BXs are generally pretty good at holding it off. This bit worried me:
So I started to poke it:
a
holeS!!!!This little lump fell out, which I at first thought was lead but now realise it's probably chemical metal or something like that:
It left a nice hole in the scutter tray underneath the rear washer bottle, and as I suspected a small hole behind the dashboard. Great!
As time progressed I found more and more lumps of crap. I'm now figuring that the car has either rotted really badly in one area, yet remained fine it pretty much all the others, or it's been in a smack at some point. Either way, my BX has been bodged! Someone in the past didn't want to weld this lot up because it would have meant removing the dash. Scary thing is I've had the car all this time and it's taken ages to manifest itself.
The entire lower box section of the A-piller has started to rot badly from inside. The panel housing the door hinge is starting to come away:
Time to remove the dash:
To get a good look at this:
Suspension turret looks worrying too:
So it's hydrualic resevoir out, and suspension sphere off so the suspension strut can be removed:
To (try) and repair this whole mess by plating all the holes back to thick, strong metal (could be easier said than done on the A-pillar), I've got my mits on a nice thick bit of steel perfect for the job:
Theres the first bit ready to plate the rotten edge of the inner wing:
This is my first attempt at welding a car body, so be gentle!
The lower panel blew through on it's left hand side so I had to build it all up again. Luckily this piece is completely hidden and it seemss to be nice and strong, so this was a result!
So this is how she looks at the moment:
Amazingly, the nearside front corner seems to be mint! Normally this is the worst area....on the offside, mineral oil/LHM generally spills out of the res so the inner wing is nicely oiled from under the bonnet. The nearside tends to pick up the s
t in the gutter and rot out quicker, yet on this car the nearside is very good and needs no welding at the moment, just repainting! The middle and rear of the car.......who knows!Nice to see there are some BX lovers hidden on here! I don't really want to call it a project, it's not a big enough job and almost insults some of the things others do with their cars! But I don't think I'll just be doing the MOT work and hopping in it somehow.
I'm hoping the rest of the car isn't reflected in the front O/S corner. I know there is bubbling at the base of the C-pillars where they meet the dog leg, but this is pretty common and hopefully I can just treat it and dress it up.
The real restraint at the moment is time, or lack of it! Not sure I'll get a chance to look at it over the weekend, and by the time I'm back from work it's too dark to do anything.
I'm hoping the rest of the car isn't reflected in the front O/S corner. I know there is bubbling at the base of the C-pillars where they meet the dog leg, but this is pretty common and hopefully I can just treat it and dress it up.
The real restraint at the moment is time, or lack of it! Not sure I'll get a chance to look at it over the weekend, and by the time I'm back from work it's too dark to do anything.
shirt said:
fantastic effort mate. i know i wouldn't be bothered attempting even 10% of that work on a bx!
my dad had one when i was 17, he let me drive it occasionally when i passed my test as it was a station car and truly fecked. the suspension regulator had gone meaning it was permanently at normal ride height but with the pressure at such a level it was as stiff as a racer. it would corner flat [until the tyres inevitably gave way] and would take off without much effort at all on back roads. tons of fun, if massively irresponsible of myy old man to give me the keys to it in that state knowing it was going to get ragged!
Haha sounds like many BX stories I hear! The regulator wasn't fmy dad had one when i was 17, he let me drive it occasionally when i passed my test as it was a station car and truly fecked. the suspension regulator had gone meaning it was permanently at normal ride height but with the pressure at such a level it was as stiff as a racer. it would corner flat [until the tyres inevitably gave way] and would take off without much effort at all on back roads. tons of fun, if massively irresponsible of myy old man to give me the keys to it in that state knowing it was going to get ragged!
ked, the spheres were. £20 a corner, 10 mins to change! But you're not the first (or one hundred and fiftieth!) to say something like that. Theres a massive grey cloud hovering over Citroens with this suspension but most of it is just people who've been mis-informed. No doubt some joe bloggs mechanic told your Dad his regulator had gone! They're better off sticking to Fords and Vauxhalls in some garages! So would I be sometimes too I wonder!Jumturbo said:
Kitchski said:
'It was marketed more as competition for the forthcoming Renault 21 Turbo, Ford Sierra XR4i, BMW 318iS and Vauxhall Cavalier SRi130, aswell as the yet to be announced 405'.
You missed one important competitor as most do! The MG Montego Turbo! I quite liked the BX16v with the lambo style wheels etc ( I think the same guy who designed the BX designed the Countach too!) and they were disliked by some a bit like the Monty's and later disregarded by a lot. However, in terms of standing start acceleration, the BX and Monty were neck and neck roughly and trounced the rest!
(especially the Beemer, but really this should be the 325i, which was still slower!)
Good luck with the resto!
Quite right, the MG Montego Turbo was in there too. I knew there was one unloved car I'd forgetten!'It was marketed more as competition for the forthcoming Renault 21 Turbo, Ford Sierra XR4i, BMW 318iS and Vauxhall Cavalier SRi130, aswell as the yet to be announced 405'.
You missed one important competitor as most do! The MG Montego Turbo! I quite liked the BX16v with the lambo style wheels etc ( I think the same guy who designed the BX designed the Countach too!) and they were disliked by some a bit like the Monty's and later disregarded by a lot. However, in terms of standing start acceleration, the BX and Monty were neck and neck roughly and trounced the rest!
(especially the Beemer, but really this should be the 325i, which was still slower!)Good luck with the resto!
As far as Beemers go, it's actually had the betetr of a number of E36 325i's, let alone the 318's. But then we can't be saying things like that on PH can we, they're the ultimate driving machine afterall
Mini_Lund said:
I am loving this thread! 
My parents used to own a white BX TGS - H424 HKA, I think it was a 1.6 if I remember correctly. From what I remember, we had to sell it as it didn't have power steering and it was too heavy for my mum to use as she had RSI. I can remember the interior comfort like theres no tomorrow, not to mention the ride comfort given the wet suspension. Think I've still got 2 new old stock spheres, wind deflectors and an electric window motor in the kitchen! So sorry to see that car go, it was a minter. I think my dads still in mourning! Not sure of its whereabouts nowadays though.
Yeah, a TGS would have been a 16TGS. One of the lower spec models, but also one of the most comfy versions of BX going. My parents used to own a white BX TGS - H424 HKA, I think it was a 1.6 if I remember correctly. From what I remember, we had to sell it as it didn't have power steering and it was too heavy for my mum to use as she had RSI. I can remember the interior comfort like theres no tomorrow, not to mention the ride comfort given the wet suspension. Think I've still got 2 new old stock spheres, wind deflectors and an electric window motor in the kitchen! So sorry to see that car go, it was a minter. I think my dads still in mourning! Not sure of its whereabouts nowadays though.
The spheres might be dead if they're a few years old, but the wind deflectors generally fetch good money on fleabay.
Managed to plod on with a bit more welding on Sunday. By 2am my eyes were in intense pain due to some intense stupidity with a welding mask, or lack of! Basically, even you've got a really difficult spot you need to weld and the mask keeps getting in your way, find another way. DON'T take it off and carry on by squinting! Arc eye is bastid painful!!
Anywho...proving to be a real ahole to weld a BX. Some of the metal, even rust-free is paper thing and just keeps blowing clean open. The welds I've come out with are looking pretty shabby, which is a shame. But they also seem very strong, which is good.
I just kept going until I couldn't see daylight through any of it! If it blew a hole, I just built up on the existing weld in layers until it bridged the gap. That's why it looks ste, although it does seem to have worked. Got alot of grinding to do in the engine bay now though 
On a positive note, I had a play with a grit blaster today. It's possibly the best invention to be found in a workshop, along with a plasma cutter and a dremel-multi!
A spare fuel rail originally looked like this:
And after 10mins looked like this:
Ready for some paint. Wonder what else I can grit blast?!
Anyway, 4 holes done, 5 more to go. Including the big A-pillar one, but I'll need to remove the door to do that and I figured it's better to leave removing the door until the last minute because of things like wet weather and wildlife! So the less that's off the better!
But the BX is moving along, just very very slowly.
Anywho...proving to be a real a
hole to weld a BX. Some of the metal, even rust-free is paper thing and just keeps blowing clean open. The welds I've come out with are looking pretty shabby, which is a shame. But they also seem very strong, which is good.I just kept going until I couldn't see daylight through any of it! If it blew a hole, I just built up on the existing weld in layers until it bridged the gap. That's why it looks s
te, although it does seem to have worked. Got alot of grinding to do in the engine bay now though On a positive note, I had a play with a grit blaster today. It's possibly the best invention to be found in a workshop, along with a plasma cutter and a dremel-multi!
A spare fuel rail originally looked like this:
And after 10mins looked like this:
Ready for some paint. Wonder what else I can grit blast?!
Anyway, 4 holes done, 5 more to go. Including the big A-pillar one, but I'll need to remove the door to do that and I figured it's better to leave removing the door until the last minute because of things like wet weather and wildlife! So the less that's off the better!
But the BX is moving along, just very very slowly.
CarlosV8 said:
Love this car, can't wait to see it back on the road! I miss my BX 16v, the Xsara VTS isn't quite the same!
Xsara VTS is quicker though, believe it or not! Off the line they're neck and neck, but only because this BX is chipped and can rev higher. If I was changing up at the standard rev limit the Xsara would have nosed ahead.After 80mph, the Xsara starts pulling off. After *ahem* 120mph, the Xsara just f
ks off! Not even close! Mi16 1.9 might be cooler etc, but the GTi-6 lumps definately have more grunt!Martian O said:
Mini_Lund said:
....My parents used to own a white BX TGS - H424 HKA, Not sure of its whereabouts nowadays though.
The tax hasn't been renewed since November 2004, so guess it was cubed along with most other BX's over six years ago! Being a Citroen, it fared well to last fourteen years. My neighbour had one and it was always on a ramp being repaired. Rust and electrical gremlins finally led to it being put down.
tali1 said:
Kitchski said:
CarlosV8 said:
Love this car, can't wait to see it back on the road! I miss my BX 16v, the Xsara VTS isn't quite the same!
Xsara VTS is quicker though, believe it or not! Off the line they're neck and neck, but only because this BX is chipped and can rev higher. If I was changing up at the standard rev limit the Xsara would have nosed ahead.After 80mph, the Xsara starts pulling off. After *ahem* 120mph, the Xsara just f
ks off! Not even close! Mi16 1.9 might be cooler etc, but the GTi-6 lumps definately have more grunt!The Crack Fox said:
Funny, I loath the majority of modern french cars, but stuff of this era really floats my boat. I've always fancied a BX, quirky styling and pretty quick too. A mate had a Gti or turbo (?) version for a few weeks back in the day, bonkers quick for the time.
Thanks for sharing the pics.
I have to admit the modern French stuff is a bit off the mark for me. Modern Peugeots are nearly down with Korean stuff for me now and are an embarrasing shadow of their former selves! Citroen are trying, but the DS3 is too chintzy for me. The facelifted C4 looks more dulled down than the great looking original and the C5 was marketed as being German.....that's really not cool. French are French, German are German! C6 is the only cool one, and it's only a matter of time before it gets pulled.Thanks for sharing the pics.
The BX GTi was mk2 Golf GTi 8v sort of quick, there were no turbo petrols, only the turbodiesels. They did raise the bar a bit performance-wise back in the day for this kind of market. Otherwise you may have been graced by the 16v version
A bit more progress today, still chasing rusty holes with a welder!
Tackled the speedhole down by the bumper mount. Decided to cut the plate the same shape as the hole rather than plate it with a sqaure as I wanted to mess with as little as possible down there. Came out well though, so bumper should line up exactly as it did before:
Attacked a couple of other tiny holes before going for one of the three tricky ones (probably the easiest of the three though!) but it's one of the ones that you can see through behind the dashboard with:
Did it in shorter bursts and managed to find a BX setting on the welder, so I marked it on!
Was a bit of a result as unless you seamed for 3 seconds or more, it doesn't blow through the paper-thin tin too badly! Welds are coming out tidier, but still as strong so that's a result. Got ALOT of grinding still to do in the inner wing under the bonnet though, if I want to stand any hope of keeping the engine bay pigeon st-free!
Tackled the speedhole down by the bumper mount. Decided to cut the plate the same shape as the hole rather than plate it with a sqaure as I wanted to mess with as little as possible down there. Came out well though, so bumper should line up exactly as it did before:
Attacked a couple of other tiny holes before going for one of the three tricky ones (probably the easiest of the three though!) but it's one of the ones that you can see through behind the dashboard with:
Did it in shorter bursts and managed to find a BX setting on the welder, so I marked it on!
Was a bit of a result as unless you seamed for 3 seconds or more, it doesn't blow through the paper-thin tin too badly! Welds are coming out tidier, but still as strong so that's a result. Got ALOT of grinding still to do in the inner wing under the bonnet though, if I want to stand any hope of keeping the engine bay pigeon s
t-free!Edited by Kitchski on Sunday 7th November 21:59
Holy thread resurrection! I forgot I'd ever started this!
Well fast forward to today then. I got all the welding done (though it was very cold when I did it and I wasn't enjoying myself, which kinda showed in the work, so I plan to do it again right at a later date.
After I'd attacked the welding, I took the car into work to finish off some of the reassembly jobs I had to do. It made life alot easier being able to crack on during the evenings there!
Once I'd got it all back together, it failed the MOT on a number plate lamp! Popped it back on the road and pressed it into daily service in the middle of the last winter and it's just carried on from there. It went on a PH south coast organised R/R day, where it surprised everyone (including me!) with an est. flywheel output of 176.2bhp. Personally, I wasn't convinced that was right - luckily we're in the last processes of fitting a rolling road at work so I might get to try it on that if I'm lucky and see what the truth is. To be honest, times matter more than graphs anyway, don't they?
After that I've just been using it everyday. My commute to work is short and sweet, meaning the car never warms up fully and I'm doing well to better 25mpg! It's run very well in all that time, except for a pair of knackered anti-roll bar links. I haven't even serviced it in the last 3 years or so (it's only covered 5k miles in that time, but it is running high grade oil.
I took my 2yr old twin boys out for the day in it during the "summer" which included a trip to Tangmere air museum:
Took it to a local car show:
And these are the most recent pics of it, taken at a recent PH meet (the purpose of which will hopefully be revealed soon!)
I'm not going to subject it to another winter on salty roads, I think it's had it's fair share. It'll actually be heading for a garage to live in at our new house (all being well). I'll probably try and get it on the road next year on a classic policy, but until then I'm looking forward to just enjoying driving it, which I never seem to stop doing.
Well fast forward to today then. I got all the welding done (though it was very cold when I did it and I wasn't enjoying myself, which kinda showed in the work, so I plan to do it again right at a later date.
After I'd attacked the welding, I took the car into work to finish off some of the reassembly jobs I had to do. It made life alot easier being able to crack on during the evenings there!
Once I'd got it all back together, it failed the MOT on a number plate lamp! Popped it back on the road and pressed it into daily service in the middle of the last winter and it's just carried on from there. It went on a PH south coast organised R/R day, where it surprised everyone (including me!) with an est. flywheel output of 176.2bhp. Personally, I wasn't convinced that was right - luckily we're in the last processes of fitting a rolling road at work so I might get to try it on that if I'm lucky and see what the truth is. To be honest, times matter more than graphs anyway, don't they?
After that I've just been using it everyday. My commute to work is short and sweet, meaning the car never warms up fully and I'm doing well to better 25mpg! It's run very well in all that time, except for a pair of knackered anti-roll bar links. I haven't even serviced it in the last 3 years or so (it's only covered 5k miles in that time, but it is running high grade oil.
I took my 2yr old twin boys out for the day in it during the "summer" which included a trip to Tangmere air museum:
Took it to a local car show:
And these are the most recent pics of it, taken at a recent PH meet (the purpose of which will hopefully be revealed soon!)
I'm not going to subject it to another winter on salty roads, I think it's had it's fair share. It'll actually be heading for a garage to live in at our new house (all being well). I'll probably try and get it on the road next year on a classic policy, but until then I'm looking forward to just enjoying driving it, which I never seem to stop doing.
Thats one thing this car always manages to do....brings out tales of similar cars others have had with fond memories! AX GT's always seem to do the same. To everyone else its a stty old French car!
The mk1's didn't have indicator stalks and the like. They had this system called PRN (I forget what it stood for) but it basically put all the switchgear into little pods on either side of the steering wheel. Looked a bit weird and took gtting used to, but once you did it actually made sense! Can't say the same about the rotating drum speedo and LED rev counter, but they were good fun!
There was also a model called the Digit, based on the mk1 19GT. Had digital dials with shift lights and rolling speedo. If you knew what one was, then had a look at a Lamborghihi Reventon dash operating you'd have to ask the question!
tty old French car!The mk1's didn't have indicator stalks and the like. They had this system called PRN (I forget what it stood for) but it basically put all the switchgear into little pods on either side of the steering wheel. Looked a bit weird and took gtting used to, but once you did it actually made sense! Can't say the same about the rotating drum speedo and LED rev counter, but they were good fun!
There was also a model called the Digit, based on the mk1 19GT. Had digital dials with shift lights and rolling speedo. If you knew what one was, then had a look at a Lamborghihi Reventon dash operating you'd have to ask the question!
Not alot to update. It's parked on a farm at the moment looking a bit grim. Going to pick it up again tonight though - quietly excited! How sad is that? You own a (comparitively slow, regular) car 8 years, don't drive it for 3 days and get excited at the prospect of driving it again? Just goes to show how much more important character and fun-factor is over value I guess.
I might be retrofitting air-con to it soon though, as well as ripping all the panels off and performing rust-prevention measures underneath to avoid the carnage you had with that Peugeot!
I might be retrofitting air-con to it soon though, as well as ripping all the panels off and performing rust-prevention measures underneath to avoid the carnage you had with that Peugeot!
Love for French oddities has stretched to 'our Cheryl too:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/qr1bkbWKevE
(Just cover your ears, you'll be fine)
http://www.youtube.com/embed/qr1bkbWKevE
(Just cover your ears, you'll be fine)
K50 DEL said:
Kitchski said:
I might be retrofitting air-con to it soon though, as well as ripping all the panels off and performing rust-prevention measures underneath to avoid the carnage you had with that Peugeot!
BX with air con... that'll be pretty rare, think I've only ever seen a photo of one of them.Controls are mounted in the tiny horizontal gap below the central air vents IIRC
If anyone's reading this and is feeling the love, I know of a black ph2 16v up for £650 with no MOT needing a bit of work:
Give me a shout if you're interested and I'll pass the details on to the owner. It's not going on the bay (to my knowledge). The car is in Lincs (again to my knowledge!)
Cheers
Give me a shout if you're interested and I'll pass the details on to the owner. It's not going on the bay (to my knowledge). The car is in Lincs (again to my knowledge!)
Cheers
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