How many one the road now?

[docchevron]

Reality is that our older BXs will last longer even though they are becoming thin on the ground and we can salvage parts for them.

Yes and no I reckon.
not many years back I could (and did) buy BX's for pennies, sometimes free.
The method was always the same. If they were good cars I'd give them away or use them and pass them on to people that wanted one.
Some were a bit broken and couldn't be arsed to fix, like,m had one that put the planet gears through the bellhousing, since the rest of the car was a tad shabby anyway, I scrapped it and recycled was of further use, and so it went.

But the situation is increasingly scrap BX's, or very cheap BX's I've picked up are so totally knackered there's little left of use.
Especially stuff that is very very hard to get now, like driveshafts and stuff that tends to fail, often times now it's parts that are hard to get that is the reason for the car being offered for free...

It's sad, but realistically I think BX ownership will get very expensive for thise of us that carry on with them longterm, especially if the car is used everyday since I can't envisage anything for the BX like the Traction guys manage, or the 2CV dudes for that matter, so I suspect numbers will dwindle until it really is only enthusiasts and nutters that keep them going with a bit of luck, some inginuity and a chunk of hard cash..

I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not.

[rob-bx16v]

It's sad, but realistically I think BX ownership will get very expensive for thise of us that carry on with them longterm, especially if the car is used everyday since I can't envisage anything for the BX like the Traction guys manage, or the 2CV dudes for that matter, so I suspect numbers will dwindle until it really is only enthusiasts and nutters that keep them going with a bit of luck, some inginuity and a chunk of hard cash..

I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not.[/quote]

Im at that stage right now. The bx is un mot,able there are 7 or 8 small rust holes, the inner wing needs repairing, the rear beam and petrol tank has to come out to weld a small patch on the rear subframe mounts and guess what - the pipes are in the way and both door shuts are rusting, and the red paint has seen better days. It also needs one of the rear arm bearings doing, a new fdv valve, a new rubber/metal hp pipe from fdv to pressure reg, The valve stems have started smoking ( since its been stood ) And im getting fed up!.

I want to save it and will try but i need about £4k to put it all right including full repaint mot,tax etc. Ive started saving but im nowhere near that amount and im constantly living on the breadline to save as much as i can and tbh im running out of enthusiasm!.

Im thinking of taking the private plate off it and transfering to the ford but ive been told you cant do this if the car with the plate on is un mot,d?

[mat_fenwick]

I think that the only way anyone is going to continue with real long term everyday use BX ownership is by either doing everything themselves, or by getting rich...

I'm firmly in the former category, but not too worried yet as most things are able to be worked around. As an absolute last ditch resort I reckon you could ditch the hydraulic system altogether and revert to springs (using a combination of 405 and C15 bits), although that may well upset some purists!

[Philip Chidlow]

I will make it my responsibility to get over a hump and get my hands a lot dirtier than they have been. There are jobs I will tackle myself this year where maybe I wouldn't have previously. One issue is finding a place to work, but I hope to finally be getting another garage again...

I feel what's been said is right, and unless one can afford to fork out the equivalent of maybe £800 a year in indy mechanic bills to keep a BX as a daily driver, doing more DIY is makes huge sense.

But hang on. From my point of view, spending for the sake of argument £50 a month more than you might spend maintaining a Fiesta (e.g.) for a car you love and is certainly not losing any value is OK in my book.

[docchevron]

Im thinking of taking the private plate off it and transfering to the ford but ive been told you cant do this if the car with the plate on is un mot,d?

This is correct Rob.

I feel your pain mate.
Though really the painting is the only thing that will cost uber bucks.

Welding is easy if you can, which is no consolation if you can't..

The other bits bar the valve stem seals is an afternoons work.


It's a shame we dont have a base for having technical weekends like the D biys do, they seem to work very well, and by getting a group of people together some that can, and some that cant, it's amazing what can be achieved.

[rob-bx16v]

The main problems i have is 1) i can not weld, 2) i have nowhere to leave/strip the car down long term. Welding is not cheap as im finding out. For me it will cost a lot more to sort that somone who is able to weld/strip the car at their lesure with their own space to work.

[rob-bx16v]

Im thinking of taking the private plate off it and transfering to the ford but ive been told you cant do this if the car with the plate on is un mot,d?

This is correct Rob.

I feel your pain mate.
Though really the painting is the only thing that will cost uber bucks.

Welding is easy if you can, which is no consolation if you can't..

The other bits bar the valve stem seals is an afternoons work.

Oh well looks like the plates staying with the car for the mo. Ive given myself 1 year to get most jobs done and the money tegether. But i realy need to find long term storage for it that wont cost the earth.

On a positive note chris, im not giving up on it just yet!


It's a shame we dont have a base for having technical weekends like the D biys do, they seem to work very well, and by getting a group of people together some that can, and some that cant, it's amazing what can be achieved.

[docchevron]

If I had the time, and more importantly, space, I'd do it for ya.

Sadly, space and time are sadly lacking right now.
Maybe next year will be different, although I say that every year, and it never seems to happen...

[kermit the frog]

I for one am determined to keep the Green Hornet ALIVE as long as i can.
I have my old TZD hatch which i am slowly stripping for spares and as long as the parts i remove and check are ok or can be refurbished i will be ok.
Any parts that i remove from the Green Hornet will be also checked and refurbished if at all possible.
This way i can recycle parts from both cars to keep one on the road.
Obviously service items are still available at the moment but this too may dry up so i am trying to stock up on oil filters etc.
I replaced the waterpump, cambelt and tensioners etc prior to doing the BXAGON so that area is sorted for a while.
Next on the list is drive shafts and front uprights.
Front pads were changed on the BXAGON.
Tyres are ok thanks to Barry Mallion.
From who i managed to aquire some decent tyres and wheels last year.
We must all do our part to keep this icon of the motoring world alive for the rest of the motoring comunity to appreciate.
At least they are fairly easy to repair and are not loaded with so much electronic crap that you need to have a mainframe computer to sort out which bit has failed.
And anyway by keeping these cars going we are doing our bit to save the planet by not wasting energy having a new car built.
The main enemy of the BX is rust but if we are all vigilant and get it sorted ASAP we can keep the beast's alive well into the future.

Sorry if i have been ranting.

Regards Kermit

[rob-bx16v]

If I had the time, and more importantly, space, I'd do it for ya.

Sadly, space and time are sadly lacking right now.
Maybe next year will be different, although I say that every year, and it never seems to happen...

No probs chris i know your score at the mo.

I will hang on to it as long as i can but it is sat in the garage at the mo and cant stay there forever. Valve stems arnt that bad and i only noticed it when the car was facing nose down the drive as it gave a puff of blue smoke when started from cold which then cleared straight away.

[tom]

I'm currently considering saving my old dreamspec BX again. A great deal of work and cash went into the car about three years ago but it has cancer of the coachwork and requires quite a bit of skilled surgery to keep it viable for another five years on light duties. I'm wondering if it is actually worth it. A good BX was a wonderful car but a poor one is not worth having. Nor yet is one that has become too precious to use.
This is a family saloon/estate car for which you can't get bits and it is complicated. Most of us got into BXs because nobody else wanted them.
Classic car buyers play safe and buy MGBs or Min ors which they can keep on the road. I parted with my BX when I needed a reliable car for an 80 mile commute and I couldn't get exhausts off the shelf, or another set of brake hoses at any price nor yet a replacement for the six month old failing driveshaft. I enjoyed Minis, Fiat 128s, Saab 900s and BXs. Good cars all of them. I 've been keeping BXs going for seven years. It may be time to move on.

[mat_fenwick]

Is DLM thinking of getting shot of it then Tom? Not heard anything from him for a while, hope things are OK.
I must say it seemed fine with a cursory look at Stratford earlier this year, but then again BXs tend to hide the rot quite well.
I did find that TD ABS driveshafts were available a few months back, I got a few quotes in September but held back in the (unsuccessful) hope of finding a good S/H one in France.

[ren16tx]

im just back from vietnam,so my mk1 BX 19TRD will be back on the road very shortly!!
As for "moving on" from the BX,what would you replace it with?? Xantias are ok, but they don't have the same charactor as the BX! and i have no desire to replace it with anything newer!!
The more BX's that suvive now, the better,as there will be a bigger demand for parts,and im sure it won't be long before parts are remanufactured ect, you just have to look at what happened to the GS/A,these remaining cars are down to the last few hundred in the uk, but thanks to companies like Chevronics,most parts are now available to keep these going for years to come,but it took along time,and many G's that were savable have been lost forever,there is no real reason for BX numbers to decline to a few hundred,as with the G,if people Now put a little more effort in keeping/saving/storing these cars instead of just scrapping them for the sake of a few hundred ££s to keep them going!
we don't run BX's because its cost effective, we run them because we love them!!