simes
Part of things
Posts: 734
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Sept 17, 2017 20:13:20 GMT
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simes: Yes we are in La Manche, Annoville to be precise but Agon-Coutainville is probably the nearest town you might have heard of. Would be good to get into the retro scene here if one exists, apparently there is a Brit near us that collects Citroen Vans, the old ones with the corrugated panels. he has loads of Citroen stuff apparently, I'm trying to track him down. I know Agon, I was there about a month ago. My dad belongs to BRAC, Retro club in Bayeux. They live literally over the border in Calvados. Normally in an Austin Somerset but he's got a CX and a 1958 2cv. He's got an english friend in Periers with a nice collection, peugeot 203, vanden plas a landy. There are lots of little provincial shows worth popping along too.
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Simes
205Mi16 - 262 cams, Jenvey Throttle Bodies, Emerald managment blah blah...... E91 320D MSport Honda NC30 Vespa 300GTS
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dave
Part of things
Posts: 34
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Sept 20, 2017 18:04:48 GMT
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Took the BX for its most important test yesterday, drove over to my father in law's house to see if he approved. He's a retired mechanic who worked for a local garage for 40 plus years, must have worked on plenty of BX's in his time. He says I paid too much for it, but he says that about everything, the Normans are a lot like the Scots when it comes to finances. A fter crawling underneath, sticking his head under the bonnet and pumping the suspension up and down a few times he made some positive grumbling sounds. He noticed a door pin making a bid for freedom and had that fixed in two minutes. Errant door pin can be seen here. Interestingly the car is marked as a 91 although it was registered in 1990? He also noticed that the Temperature warning lights don't come on with the ignition, this is a worry so will investigate further. In fact We are going to go over the car completely and go parts shopping together early next week.
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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Sept 20, 2017 19:05:49 GMT
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It's quite simple to fit an aftermarket temp gauge. With two BXs I drilled and tapped into the sensor for the temp warning lights - just upstream from the thermostat - and screwed in a sensor that came with a gauge that I bought off eBay for 20 sheets. Worked for ten years.
You could probably even find a sensor that would screw directly in there - I fitted an LED gauge to try to match the dash of the early models and the sensor that came with it needed tapping into the original.
I just cleared all my BXs and parts earlier this year - I got a huge hoard of parts free from an ex-Citroen mechanic about five years ago on the condition that I took everything. It was overwhelming.
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Last Edit: Sept 20, 2017 19:11:45 GMT by düdo
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,512
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Sept 20, 2017 21:16:15 GMT
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Looks great. Looking forward to the progress.
I saw a few of these when in France in August.
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CURRENT FLEET '91 Nissan Primera (41k miles, an early one and immaculate) '99 Ford Mondeo Ghia X (60k miles) '01 Mini (#869) '06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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Dr.AK
Part of things
Posts: 411
Club RR Member Number: 62
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1990 Citroen BX CalanqueDr.AK
@docak
Club Retro Rides Member 62
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Sept 20, 2017 21:21:45 GMT
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That's an amazing little car, man.
Now I know what I'll be doing tonight... searching the local for sale ads vor vintage Citroens...
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dave
Part of things
Posts: 34
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Sept 25, 2017 9:17:26 GMT
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,608
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Sept 25, 2017 9:25:00 GMT
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Making me want white wheels on white car again. Such period futurism.
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dave
Part of things
Posts: 34
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Sept 25, 2017 9:34:47 GMT
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And some pics of my friend Titou's BX. He lives in the next village. Its a Millesime turbo diesel special addition with all the bells and whistles, the opposite of mine, He drives it like he stole it. He surprised me with a high speed blast along the beach between our two villages one day. Scary, but quite an experience! As close as Ill ever get to the Nevada salt flats!
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dave
Part of things
Posts: 34
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Sept 25, 2017 18:12:31 GMT
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As it's the BX's 27th birthday today, going by its first registration, I took it over to my father in-laws (Michel) to have a go at getting it ready for its re-test. Maneuvered into Michel's garage, a real Aladdin's cave, he seems to have every tool imaginable. After not much persuasion it started leaking its magic green fluid onto the garage floor. no leak from the front sphere. its coming out from somewhere above front the cross member. Looks pretty good underneath. Bearing in mind that I don't speak French, a lot of what he was doing/discovering is a bit of a mystery. But anyway, we headed off for his test drive and to visit the motor-factors to order a bunch of parts. Mostly hydraulic related but also a new rear passenger side light cluster to replace the cracked one. After getting back we took the drivers side head light off, the glass had come away from the case and was letting water in. we started by scraping off what was left of the sealant. Some of the silver coating had come away so I had a go at replacing it with glued down kitchen foil. not sure if this is a good idea, I would have bought a new unit but Michel wouldn't hear of it. We silicone'd the two pieces back together and re fitted the light, complete with inner tube holding it all together, Ill remove this in a few days, fingers crossed! Had a go at the rattling exhaust, seems like the silencer piece hasn't been well manufactured and is missing a bend. We tried heating it up and bending it, but that didn't work. So we ended up smacking it with a sledge hammer until it roughly was the right shape. This ain't formula one! Anyhow the rattle is gone and the car is much smoother running now. A good afternoon, and a good start. I'm learning a bit about mechanics which is something iv'e always wanted, and I think Michel is happy to pass on some of his knowledge. He has three sons who have little interest in mechanics and seems to like that I show an interest, I'm very happy to have my own tame mechanic!
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Last Edit: Sept 25, 2017 20:17:04 GMT by dave
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Sept 25, 2017 22:11:03 GMT
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The hydraulic leak is probably from the so called Octopus. It's a pretty common thing to go wrong with BX's. It's a pain to replace with the XU-engined ones, but maybe the upright TU engine leaves you with more room? This all looks very similar to what I've experienced with my BX's. I've also had the glass come off of my headlight, and have also battled to make the exhaust fit so that it doesn't hit anything on the car causing rattles. BX is such a great car when everything is in order. I've driven Xantias and C5s and both lack the wonderful steering feel of the BX... And while the newer cars are more refined over harsh bumps, the overall ride quality just feels better in a BX. BTW. Your crossmember looks to be in remarkably good shape. You don't see ones like this up here. I guess you could say that about the whole car.
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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1990 Citroen BX CalanquePhil H
@philhoward
Club Retro Rides Member 133
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Sept 26, 2017 7:46:05 GMT
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Another vote for the Octopus; both my BX's became incontinent at the same spot (there is a stub that has to do a bend to pick up from the front height corrector - both split on the corrugated section on this hose).
Both mine were XU-powered (one diesel, one petrol) and it's a fiddly job - first word of advice would be to get friendly with a jetwasher before you even think about starting it as all manner of road muck collects on the top of the subframe where the star point of the octopus sits (and the front height corrector).
I think there are also several versions available - I seem to remember not all BX Octopii are created equal so make sure it's the right version for yours.
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Last Edit: Sept 26, 2017 7:57:07 GMT by Phil H
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dave
Part of things
Posts: 34
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Bumper, Phil, yep looks like the leak is coming from the octopus. Nice looking BX Bumper! So another round of repairs in preparation for the Control Technic. Some parts gathered, rear light to replace the cracked one picked up second hand. A sphere to replace the functioning but worn out one, and a probe to fix the non working temp lights. The probe is NLA from Peugeot and Citroen but we found a generic one at the motor factors that looked about right. First job was replacing the front sphere, this took only a few mins, it just screws on and off. Next up fixing the cracked LHM pipe coming from the 'Octopus' above the front cross member. Michel pulled of the end of the pipe at the split, and then re fitted it by stuffing a smaller pipe in between the two pieces and heating it up! Again I would have bought a replacement but he assures me this is the way to do it. Apparently he similarly fixed another bx with the ink cartridge from a Bic Biro and it lasted for years. we will see. Its been a few days now and the leak is gone. The temp probe is proving difficult, the generic one we bought didn't work so we headed off to the scrappy and found a used one, that one didn't fix the problem either. So we are searching for a new old stock part. The Bx drives much better now, the steering is much lighter, good news as it doesn't have power steering!
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Last Edit: Oct 7, 2017 12:13:40 GMT by dave
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dave
Part of things
Posts: 34
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Oh and it passed the Control Technic! After smoking a few cigarettes with Michel, the tester made some compliments about how good it looked, spent ten mins looking the car over, tested the lights, and gave it a pass! also only paid half price, ten euros for a two year ticket! It helps when the tester is a friend of the family
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Last Edit: Oct 7, 2017 12:10:22 GMT by dave
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result!!
love the impromptu ramp set up. the bottom of my drive is about as steep but it has never occurred to me to rig up something similar. mind you ,the last few years has been with me owning a 3" lifted samurai... I even swapped out the gearbox with it sat as was on the level!!
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'80 s1 924 turbo..hibernating '80 golf gli cabriolet...doing impression of a skip '97 pug 106 commuter...continuing cheapness making me smile!
firm believer in the k.i.s.s and f.i.s.h principles.
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congrats on the pass re: the 1990/1991 thing. could it be "model year" ? for example i think vauxhall 1991 model year ran from sept 1990 to august 1991, if that makes sense ? probably clutching at straws though
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probably just me.. but I would have to source a bumper insert for the front.. that would niggle me on such anotherwise "right" car.
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'80 s1 924 turbo..hibernating '80 golf gli cabriolet...doing impression of a skip '97 pug 106 commuter...continuing cheapness making me smile!
firm believer in the k.i.s.s and f.i.s.h principles.
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Such a cool looking car! We never got these here in the States, it'd look especially weird here. What are these like to drive? What-all is powered by the spheres that Citroen is so well-known for?
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Thanks! It is in pretty good nick for it's age and mileage, but photos do make it look a lot better than it really is. Glad you got your LHM leak fixed and the car to pass it's test. What are these like to drive? What-all is powered by the spheres that Citroen is so well-known for? BX's are fantastic to drive. The steering feels spot on, and despite having a very comfortable, soft ride they also corner way better than you'd expect. I've had a bunch of cars and I've always found BX to be like nothing else when it comes to driving. I think the light weight (around 1000kg/2200lbs) contributes to all this. The downside is that it does have a pretty flimsy interior and the body lacks in rigidity compared to newer designs. The hydraulic system powers the suspension, brakes and power steering in the better equipped versions.
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MJK 24
Part of things
Posts: 175
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In the USA, right now- these might not be very popular. But- You know what? I LOVE THIS THING. Citroen is often ignored worldwide but Jay Leno approves and so do I! Great write up and great car. I'd be proud to own it.
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