1991 Citroën BX TZD - Potentially my perfect commuter car

Evening all,

So, I have been chipping away at this for a while now. I got the rear axle assembly removed from the car. Doing this wasn't anywhere near as horrible as I thought it was going to be, for a start I have the luxury of a 4 post lift in my garage. It was just exhaust removal, 4 pipe unions, the ABS sensor leads, 6 nuts and it is out:




Whilst this was out, I changed the arm bearing on the other side, so both sides are now new, I also replaced the mounts at the front end of the axle because the old ones looked like this:




Aside from the sheared off stud, the rubber bushes were shot.

Back underneath, I set to with a wire wheel and uncovered a car that was a bit crusty, rather than completely rotten as I had feared:



I cut out the worst of the rust and welded in some repair patches:





I had to do both sides in pretty much the same place. Once completed, I decided to hide it all under a product I hadn't used before, Dinitrol - so after a thoroughly unpleasant time spent cleaning all the surfaces I could get at underneath the car, I used their rust converter primer first, left that for 24 hours or so and then sprayed on their rust inhibitor stuff, called 4941. I had heard and read a lot of good things about Dinitrol so I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. I only have waxoyl to compare it to but the Dinitrol seemed to go on better and easier than Waxoyl. Dinitrol doesn't dry exactly, but it hardens off much quicker than Waxoyl, leaving a wax film behind that doesn't rub off on contact. I'd say the Dinitrol is like a better version of Waxoyl, does the same job but is better at it - which it should be given the price of the stuff!

Anyway. here is what I was left with:





Concerned about the scabby hole in the sill end on one side and the lack of a hole on the other side? Yeah, I got carried away with the rust proofing and forgot to do what I was planning to do with them, which is make them big enough for a large rubber grommet, I'll be doing that soon!

So last night I got the rear axle reinstalled, it doesn't feel quite right refitting it looking so scabby and horrible but I am trying to keep this project in perspective, ultimately this is supposed to be my cheap car, which I intend to use every day, as long as it functions correctly and is solid, looks aren't so important.



The next step was the one I was a little unsure about, bleeding through the suspension and the brakes. To those who are not aware, the suspension and brakes on a Citroen BX (and many other Citroens of the era) are part of the same system, sharing a common hydraulic fluid. It sounds mad when you read in to it but at the same time makes a lot of sense. Bleeding the brakes seemed to go very well, I had already freed off and cleaned the brake bleed nipples prior to reinstalling the rear axle, so I knew they weren't blocked up or seized in (to be fair, they needed a fair bit of heat to get them moving so I'm very glad I did this before having everything built back up!). I ran the engine, stuck the suspension on the highest setting and opened the bleed nipples, with a press of the brake pedal, fluid is pumped at pressure out of the nipples and I just let it run until I saw no more air and closed the nipples off again. I used the word 'nipples' a lot just there.

So, the car now rolls and stops again and I think is ready to have a stab at an MOT test. Wish me luck!





Various other jobs to sort:
- Refit A pillar interior trims.
- Make the stereo work (the ignition fed live came from the dash light supply, so when the dash lights are dimmed the stereo turns off!).
- Install a high level brake light (seemed like a good idea on my MGB and wouldn't hurt having one on this).
- Fix the intermittent drivers window switch (it is a fancy one with a 'one touch' function!).
- Replace the rear sections of exhaust because they are basically made of rust.

metaphorically and literally solid work !

matfenwick

Thanks for the tips - I took a close look at those 4 hydraulic pipes, I reckon they've been done before because they looked great, I decided I'm going to leave well alone for now. Is there anywhere you can buy those pipes as new assemblies or do you just make up what you need with appropriate pipe and new fittings?


biturbo228

The rear axle lifting frame sounds like a good idea, I was thinking of cobbling together something similar if I have to take the axle down again. I managed ok with the jacking beam and a transmission jack and some trusty bits of workshop wood but a frame that picked up on the outer extremities of the axle would've certainly made things easier for myself! Thanks for the tip about metal thickness, thankfully the only bit of serious rot I have found was those rear chassis legs, everything else seems really solid.

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For various reasons I wasn't able to complete a proper test drive until this evening - I have just covered my first 10 miles in the car and I am really pleased with it, the ride is just what I was hoping for and is at least as comfortable as the L322 Range Rover I've been working on recently, if not a little bit more supple in fact, it is going to be just the ticket for my commute.

Adding to my list of little jobs, there is a really annoying squeak from the top of the dash on tick over, it is over and above what I deem acceptable, even of an early 90's french car so I will hope to rectify that. Also I think there is a tired bush or two somewhere on the front suspension, I couldn't see any MOT fails in there when I had a poke about but it will still need a freshen up when time and funds allow.

That is ace, not as cool as the Jag, but getting there.
There used to be loads of these kicking around, now there's hardly any.
I can only think of 3 off the top of my head. Yours, vulgalour 's and a white GTI that's local to me that pops up at shows now and again.

I don’t comment often but read a lot of threads on here, this comment really made me chuckle,’it is like being married to a performance management consultant’ I’m still laughing while type this reply😂
Lovely car by the way, like it was mentioned earlier I to didn’t used to pay much attention to these in their day but now I appreciate what a handsome thing they are.

Nice result on the MoT pass, and happy you found at least one trim rattle. Mine has started generating a dashboard rattle at precisely 62mph, but finding it is proving... tricky.

This is looking very nice! Unexpectedly saw it in the car park this morning and had a look around. It looks really good on those wheels. Is yours the blue MGB that's there occasionally too?

I recognise both of those too! Nice collection.

I normally park in the new anpr car park now though, saves printing out a new pass for each car regularly... Also more safe 'corners' to park in.

I actually saw you as I was leaving (light blue Elise S2), would have said hi but afraid I was already running late :/

Great to see it being used properly you're absolutely right about the ride on these things. How they get a 1000kg car to ride better than my 1800kg Jag is nothing short of witchcraft