1996 Citroen AX VTR

Couple more hours on the little AX today, removing the back axle. The more I dig into this shell the better it gets which is a bit unnatural really. Every other car I have ever owned has got worse the closer you look. I mean, just look at this boot floor:



There is a tiny bit of scabbiness along the seam on the other side:



Underneath?  Looks like someone has sprayed the boot floor with something.  



I've got the back axle on the floor and comparing it with the Saxo VTR one which looks OK now I have cleaned it up, although the discs and calipers are DOA:



I'll need to source some different handbrake cables, can't remember if an AX GTi has rear discs.  But I now need to decide what to do with the load sensing bias valve on the back axle.  It looks like it has been leaking brake fluid.  I know what it is supposed to do, but do I need one? The AX axle doesn't have one, not sure whether this is just some piece of safety legislation that came in between the AX and Saxo, or because the Saxo has discs all round. Anyone know for sure whether I need it?

I had many hours of fun in a AX GT, great fun things

This is what you get for being cocky.  I decided to drop the fuel tank out so I could weld the rear ends of the sills without blowing up my workshop. I'm getting very cautious as I get old, a few years ago welding next to a plastic tank wouldn't have bothered me. The filler pipe took a bit of wheelarch with it as it came out:




I also poked the crusty boot floor seam and made more holes:



There are a fair few rusty edges to welded seams, problems just starting.  I've always wanted to do this with my cars, get on top of the rust before it has a chance to take hold. If I deal with this stuff now this little AX might outlive me.

Just been talking to my good friend and massive time-waster James who comes to my workshop and stops me doing anything useful. He said "why don't you turn it into a van?"  I looked at doing that years ago with another AX but the shell was too far gone.  Tempted, but the interior on this AX is mint and it would be a shame to put most of it in a skip. 

I'll take cambelt and see how it runs. Gets the car on the road quicker, stops you going down a rabbit hole of shiney new parts and blowing the budget. If it turns out to need work you've only wasted a bit of time and coolant putting it in to rip it out again. L

Gotta love French electrics.  Minor annoyances of building retro cars include ordering parts online (wishbones, fuel pump, rear discs) and then getting a message back asking me for the reg and VIN number so they can confirm I have ordered the right parts.  Haven't yet had anyone actually refuse to sell me anything TBF but getting bored with explaining "it's a project".

More minor annoyances: I just used up the last of my Argoshield on a customer vehicle and it's an hour round trip to fetch another cylinder. About time I found a supplier who will deliver to places where locals still point and wave at passing cars.

If it were me in that position, I'd take a 1mm slitting disc in an angle grinder and trim the arch lip down

As for the proportioning valve, see if you can source on from a 306/405 setup and instead of the spring to pull the arm, use a bit of threaded bar and turn it in to a fixable position valve

I hate my life. Lifted the carpet to get at the wishbone nuts and found this:




Now escalating rapidly just like every project car ever:

Well the nasty little heap is now back on its (4 stud) wheels and I'm fast learning from experience what I could probably have found out if I'd spent a bit of time researching what other people have done to their AXs.  





I swapped the AX top mounts onto the Saxo struts, didn't realise at this point that the lower spring cups are detachable so I kept the Saxo springs which came with the struts.  The Saxo strut inserts were both dead - one had been mullered with mole grips on the piston rod, and the other had no fluid in it. Must have been fun driving that.  The inserts from the AX struts fitted just fine. AX track rod ends bolted up, needs the tracking doing as it is a bit pigeon-toed as is. But even on 155/70s it is looking a bit more butch.  There's something unsettling about 3-stud wheels, reminds me of the old Cold Ware era Dacias and that is not a good thing.

Having found that I can change the spring cups (the Saxo springs are way too long and strong) I've been rummaging around in parts catalogues and it looks like there wasn't much difference between the AX GTi and the lesser models suspension-wise, apart from an ARB. I'm starting to think that for the back roads around here, low and stiff is exactly what I don't want.  Fine on a butter-smooth track, but I think I might actually try running this on stock suspension (plus ARB) before I start spending money on springy stuff.  Ideally I'd like to drop it about 20mm just for the looks, but by keeping things standard for now I might be able to actually get it on the road before I get bored and stick it under a dustsheet for the next five years.

So the struts will need to come off again to swap the springs and cups, I'll probably treat them to new inserts, also one of the wheel bearings is a bit rumbly. For now I'm going to play with the new engine for a while, cambelt it and see if I can get it in today.

I am not sure if this is any help but did notice that the AX GT has round wheelarches with plastic arch covers. Would that help with the axle width issue?

This is going to be fun once done - hope you don't find any more holes!