MrOtter
West Midlands
"Your car is your story, so don't let someone else write the book." - Moog
Posts: 281
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Dec 21, 2015 13:17:00 GMT
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Hello chaps/chapesses, welcome to my new project.   IMG_0725 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr  IMG_0726 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr It got delivered last weekend, came up cheap on a Facebook group and I've wanted one ever since I had my BX, so I thought why not, I'll have that! I did buy it sight-unseen and with hardly any info, but I thought it was worth a gamble. I always feel like I abandoned my BX prematurely, and like I have unfinished business with hydropneumatic Citroens... so now I've got my chance to continue on the adventure in to weird Frenchness. I also really wanted a 70s car for my next toy, and whilst this is an 80s registered car it certainly has it's roots firmly in the 70s. Also, everything inside is brown, which is awesome. It's "apparently" one of 6 or so of the very first turbo diesels in the UK, and it was a Citroen press car back in 1985 (it was registered Jan 1st '85, but I'm going to call it an '84 car!). Absolutely no idea if this is true, but it's definitely a late Series 1 car and an early turbo diesel, as it's badged as a TRD which didn't last long in the UK due it being too close to a slang word for a trouser log! At least that's the story I've read, hence the reason all later cars are badged DTR in the UK. It's been stored in a barn for the past 4-5 years at least, and it's been off the road for 10 years (although apparently still running/driving until it was put in the barn). I haven't looked at anything mechanical yet, so far I've just cleaned it because it was disgusting inside and out. First, let's have a quick look round the car and see what I've actually bought. Last taxed and MOT'd in 2005.  IMG_0731 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Driver's door card was off but in the car, just like my E30s was when I bought it. Fate perhaps? Maybe every car I buy should come like this.  IMG_0732 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Let's venture inside then. Single spoke steering wheel, plenty of brown - I'm liking this.  IMG_0733 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Few parts inside?  IMG_0735 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Yeah, bit full in the back too...  IMG_0736 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Under the bonnet. I know loads of bits have been disconnected and there a few pieces missing, so this might take me a while to sort out. Few random spare bits floating around under here as well.  IMG_0729 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Still has the original tin of LHM! url=https://flic.kr/p/CcHWyf]  [/url] IMG_0730 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr New fuses needed perhaps?  IMG_0734 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Then I moved on to cleaning the thing. There wasn't too much muck on the outside, but what was there was barnyard muck, so it did smell a bit 'fruity'.  IMG_0727 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Washed.  IMG_0739 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr It's got its marks and dents, but it's not too bad for a 31 year old car. I had a quick look at cleaning out the interior and decided to leave a whole day aside for that. It was covered in dead insects/small animals droppings that had all gone white with fuzz, and there were a few species of creepy crawlies living inside. Yummy.  IMG_0740 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr I love the design of the car, for some reason I couldn't stop staring at the door cards.  IMG_0741 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Who needs normal dials with needles that move round a circular face? Not Citroen, that's who. I'll have several rotating cylinders please.  IMG_0742 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr These photos are very dark, but the headlining has completely collapsed, so that'll need attention before I get it on the road.  IMG_0743 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr  IMG_0744 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr I cleaned out the interior this past weekend, but I'll leave that for another update. |
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Last Edit: Jun 8, 2016 11:42:34 GMT by MrOtter
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Dec 21, 2015 13:47:41 GMT
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For the age & neglect, that looks pretty good. (I quite like the CX myself.)
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Dec 21, 2015 14:14:32 GMT
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I do like these, they are about as quirky as they come. I believe this will be the same engine as I have in my Hymer motorhome, I had to had the head welded and skimmed a couple of years back. Apparently they are known for becoming porous and I don't think new ones are available. Just check that it isn't pressurising th ecooling system and keep an eye on the temperature guage. Other than that, it hasn't missed a beat.
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67 VW Split bus
69 Beetle Cab
96 Jeep Cherokee XJ Sport
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Dec 21, 2015 14:19:10 GMT
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This is something I'll just have to follow. Like rallyboy said, it looks very good considering it's been off the road for over 10 years.
I've always wanted a CX (and a number of other Citroëns) too, but all the ones I could afford are rusted beyond my skills.
Looking forward for any progress, loved what you did with the BX!
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gt
Part of things
Posts: 136
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Dec 21, 2015 16:40:09 GMT
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looks nice now it's had a wash ,have you had a chance to see what it's like underneath ,i love old citroens.
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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1984 Citroën CX 25 TRD TurboPhil H
@philhoward
Club Retro Rides Member 133
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Dec 21, 2015 18:01:36 GMT
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I thought the porous head problem was with the Turbo II when the engine was made in India?
Still kick myself for not buying a GTi Turbo many years ago. Would still love one at some point.
Bookmarked!
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,419
Club RR Member Number: 52
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1984 Citroën CX 25 TRD Turboqwerty
@qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member 52
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Dec 21, 2015 21:33:34 GMT
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Ok Mr. Otter, you win at retro rides!
Can't wait to see this progress.
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Dec 21, 2015 22:19:09 GMT
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Those circular door pockets... Probably would never work in another car.
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Dec 21, 2015 22:39:03 GMT
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Loving the dials. A mate of mine had a GSA many moons ago - I remember being mesmerised by the dials, and wondered why more cars didn't adopt them.
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Ian
Part of things
Posts: 977
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Looks pretty clean on the outside now, looks like you have similar work ahead to the touring. Is this three cars now? the Mini, the E30 and the CX?
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PhoenixCapri
West Midlands
Posts: 2,685
Club RR Member Number: 91
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1984 Citroën CX 25 TRD TurboPhoenixCapri
@phoenixescort
Club Retro Rides Member 91
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Love these, my parents had a couple when I was a kid, including a 2.5 GTI, remember it being an amazing cruiser with the worlds comfiest seats. Good luck with it  |
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Dec 22, 2015 10:26:01 GMT
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What a fantastic colour combination. How is the availability of parts for these?
If I ever stop buying Rovers, Citroen is definitely my next stop.
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I've got Rovers.
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neil79
Part of things
Posts: 141 
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Dec 22, 2015 11:07:07 GMT
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 745
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Dec 22, 2015 11:12:28 GMT
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^^ Holy Cow, one of those conversions is a bit Thunderbirds.....  |
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Current Fleet:
1968 Wolseley 1000
2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe
2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport
1998 318is Coupe
2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged
1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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MrOtter
West Midlands
"Your car is your story, so don't let someone else write the book." - Moog
Posts: 281
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Dec 22, 2015 12:59:30 GMT
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Wow, this got more attention than I expected! Thanks so much for the comments guys, I'll try my best to respond to people's comments/questions below.
Yes, superficially it's in pretty nice shape, there's minimal rust to the cosmetic body panels but there are plenty of rusty holes in the sills, the passengers floor pan, around the battery tray, in the boot corners, and I'm sure I'll find more... so it's still going to take a while to weld it up, but thankfully it should all be hidden/structural stuff so I don't need to worry about making it too pretty.
As far as I know, and as philhoward said, the porous engine block issue was indeed on the later Turbo IIs, and isn't an issue on these early Turbo I cars. Fun fact - this was the fastest diesel car on the market when it was released. 95 throbbing horses and 160 lbft from a 2.5 turbo engine. Technology has moved on a bit since then hasn't it!
Ian, I sold the E30 back in June when I finished uni and got myself a job, as it would've been stupidly expensive on fuel. I'm dailying a 2005 Volvo S60 D5 now, I'm not man enough/rich enough to run an old fun car doing 45 miles a day so I chose the comfy, frugal, modern option! So at the moment I have the Volvo, the Mini, and now the CX.
PhoenixCapri, I haven't properly sat in it yet as the seats were unbolted and covered in so much vile stuff I feared for my health just being inside the car, but the seats are incredibly soft! You really sink in to them, like an old sofa.
SamR380, the parts availability seems pretty poor so far, I haven't looked too extensively but I don't think it's going to be easy to get some of the bits I might need, particularly for this engine as it wasn't put in many vehicles.
neil79, the leather interiors, especially on the early cars, are properly stunning. My car is just cloth and looks a bit rubbish in comparison, but it's still got plenty of character!
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Last Edit: Dec 22, 2015 14:29:58 GMT by MrOtter
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Dec 22, 2015 13:09:21 GMT
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Yeah this will be good, these old Citroens have really grown on me as of late.
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1984 GZ10 Soarer
1987 GX71 Limited - sold
1983 Celica Supra
1989 GT4 - sold
1989 Range Rover
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Ryannn
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,421
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Dec 22, 2015 13:28:07 GMT
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What happened with the BX? I'd been following earlier but it escaped me!
Looks a good buy, I'd be too nervous to get one though! Haha
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MrOtter
West Midlands
"Your car is your story, so don't let someone else write the book." - Moog
Posts: 281
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Dec 22, 2015 13:29:42 GMT
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Ryannn, I sold the BX on when it developed a bad habit of getting air in to the fuel system and becoming almost undriveable. I tried loads of things to fix it over the course of about 3 months but I eventually gave up just before my exams so I wasn't stressing about the car whilst trying to study/get my degree! I sold it on to a car dealer from up north for cheaps, he found that all the fuel lines were rotten and were letting air in to the system but not letting any meaningful amount of fuel to leak out, so I never noticed it! The thing that triggered it was me putting Bio-diesel in it, which it ran really nicely on but bio is known to be a detergent of sorts, so it must have just pushed the old rubber bits of the fuel lines past their breaking point. A real shame I got rid of it, but I had to concentrate on uni instead at the time and couldn't afford a second car (ended up borrowing my dads car for 6 months). --- So then, this past weekend I cleaned out the interior. Here's just a little snap shot of the sort of mouldy detritus that was all over the inside.  IMG_0746 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr  IMG_0747 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr I also can't stress enough how bad the smell was inside. I actually wore rubber gloves and a respirator the entire time I was cleaning all this out, otherwise I'd probably have caught something... Here's the stuff cleared out of the front of the car.  IMG_0773 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr There's a new clutch kit, new timing belt (although 'unused' is probably a better term as it's gotta be quite old by now), spare air con pump/compressor, spare tail lights, the headlights from the front of the car... the little orange thing in the box on the right is actually a section of a passenger wing from another CX, as the bottom of the wing on the car has gone rusty, so this'll be used to repair that area. The guy I bought it off did have a plan for this car, but just never quite got round to it. Not sure these bits are OE Citroen equipment?   IMG_0774 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr So, as I said, that was the front half of the car cleared out. Here's what was in the rear.  IMG_0775 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr There's a spare passenger seat in there as apparently the frame is a bit dodgy on the original one, so that'll need a bit of work to swap over the fabric from the original seat to the replacement. I also found another set of tail lights, another set of headlights, lots of cardboard boxes, a piece of... I'm not sure, lino? Wallpaper? And then this...  IMG_0780 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Betamax anyone?!  IMG_0781 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr I'm hoping it's worth millions on ebay...  Here's what the cleared out innards of the car looked like.  IMG_0776 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Previous owner had cut out the rust in the floor pan already, it'll be up to me to patch it up.  IMG_0778 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr I'm fairly certain there was a mini eco-system thriving in the carpets.  IMG_0779 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Still has a cassette player!  IMG_0782 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Ever wondered what happens to a rubber glove left to fester on a carpet for many years? Wonder no more.  IMG_0783 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr It was sticky gunge on the outside and rock hard in the middle. Good thing it'll be hidden under the seat I guess! Notice the rusty imprint on the back seat from that Betamax unit. It was firmly stuck on and peeled away with quite a noise when I picked it up.  IMG_0784 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Also, that's the headlining at the top of the image! Few odds and sods in the boot too. Including bits from other cars, like those fuse boxes?  IMG_0785 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Spare steering rack is nice though, can't imagine there's loads of those still around? Pulled the carpets from the boot.  IMG_0786 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr  IMG_0787 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Then I broke out the vacuum cleaner. Looking a lot nicer now.  IMG_0789 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr  IMG_0790 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr  IMG_0791 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr It's got rear window blinds, just like the BX.  IMG_0792 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Managed to loosely tuck the headlining up out the way. Not much left holding it on.  IMG_0793 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr  IMG_0794 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Now you can venture inside without feeling ill!  IMG_0795 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Also vacuumed out the boot.  IMG_0796 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Accidentally vacuumed up some car...  IMG_0797 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr The other side doesn't look too smart either.  IMG_0798 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr The rear corner bumper is hanging on with cable ties as the bracket underneath has rusted away I think.  IMG_0799 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Now I've filled up the conservatory with car parts again.   IMG_0800 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Along with a few Mini parts too.  IMG_0802 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr Before I finished up I decided to have a look in the glove box and found these!  IMG_0788 by Sven Cumner, on Flickr So that's where I'm up to now, I'm going to try and get it running over the Christmas break but I have no idea if there are any essential bits missing, so it might not happen too soon... then after that I'll have a look at the rust. Cheers everyone |
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Last Edit: Jun 8, 2016 11:53:43 GMT by MrOtter
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Just love these cars. I had a CX2400 (1976 I think) that I used to drive in country Australia, it was a cruising spaceship of a car. Mine was silver like this but with leather seats, fuel injected and the C-Matic which was not the best gearbox but it was an event to drive the car and in long distance high speed cruising it was in its element. I know you are going to have many frustrating moments in rebuilding this car (I recall having to replace a starter motor on the side of the road in country NSW...rotten Paris Rhone electrics) but envy you for the ultimate enjoyment you will derive from it. I will watch your progress with interest.
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Tepper
Part of things
Posts: 381
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Dec 23, 2015 16:56:40 GMT
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Love this, really looking forward to watching you get it resurrected. Good luck!
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1989 Peugeot 205 GTi - stolen!
1983 Mazda RX7
1968 Rover P6 - also stolen.
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