The 1991 BX16 Meteor so loveingly cared for by mnde is now outsuide my house having been v ery kindly collected from mnde towers in Woking last week and driven to Kinross by Autoshite.com member The Moog (aka Will) who left it at his Mother in Laws house.
Mrs S gave me a lift in the Scoob up to Moog's Mother-in-Law's place in Kinross this morning to collect the BX. Lovely sunny autumn day up here and the drive over the Forth bridge was excellent The only drag being they are digging up the A90 and M90 at the moment so it is 40 (av speed camera facists) most of the way so we were a wee bit late.
Will's Mil's house was easy to locate as it was the only one on the street with PSA's finest angular chod parked outside it - squatting suitably low on it's haunches. First glance was ho ho! A collection of wonderful BX nutter related stickers on the back window and boot door and the outrageous spoiler is in pretty god fettle compared to some I have seen. Mark (mnde) has kept the car in excellent daily condition. The central locking worked on the key with usual Citroen stick-the-door-lock-knob-through-your-elbow-when-you-are-resting-your-arm-on-the-window-ledge power and I climbed into the wonderfully comfortable BX seats.
This is the first time I have owned or even been in a BX that wasn't a range topping Gti or TZD. The Meteror was a special edition with a better tuned 1.6 carbed engine producing 94 Bhp- a similar output to the BX17 Diesel Turbo. Equipment is modest and good - the superb pinstriped fabric interior (I am always impressed with the quality of the non-tweed trim level in 1980s Citroens without exception the 3 BXs and 2 CXs I have owned have always had spotless upholstery a testament to the hard wearing nature of the fabrics used.)
The dash is the usual Mk2 BX affair a pod sitting with good visibility on top of the dash containing a speedo (with the usual BX wobbly needle), a rev counter, oil, petrol but unlike the cars I have owned there is no temperature gauge - only the yellow and red lights of death - if this light comes on all it does is tell your your head is already cooked!! There are electric windows up front and manuals at the back no one touch opening on the driver's side as in the Gti and TZD. An electric sunroof, digital clock, parcel shelf sunblinds and that's your lot. No electric mirrors, aircon,rear electric windows. I tried the key and the battery is indeed dead. Will had reported that getting close to Kinross after the 450 mile drive the lights were beginning to dim and Mark has mentioned that the alternator brushes were on their last legs - looks like they have finally given up. No matter, I had the big battery from the Pug in the boot of the scoob and some jump leads so I hooked it all up and the car started on the 4th turn - needs some pedal as Mark said I suspect the autochoke must be sticking a wee bit. The suspension kicks in nice and quickly and up she goes.
This is the first BX I have had without the rear quarter perspex windows and it does make the back seats a gloomy place to be! I quite like it!!!
Under the bonnet I was amazed at how dinky the 1.6 with the carb looks - slightly offset infront of the driver (as per the CX). I'm used to the 1.7/1.9 and XUD and the 1.9 petrol which are significantly larger and with turbos and EFI there is not a lot of space to work under the bonnet. The whole set up looks brilliantly straightforward and all the bits that tend to leave you on the hard shoulder are within easy reach - the alternator is the most accessible I have seen in a while - no burrowing into the bowels of an 850 here!
A quick wander round the car while she warmed up I confirmed the car is exactly how Mark described it (as it was always going to be) body work is very sound in all the nasty BX places - I'll need to sort the sill out and patch the boot exhaust hanger seam at some point. paint on the plastic bonnet and the roof line is worn as described but not unsightly for a car of this type. The paint in other areas is in good nick and I rather suspect that a partial respray of the roof and bonnet could be all that is required.
Mrs S was looking impatient to get back to Edinburgh so I got behind the wheel and we headed off stopping at the petrol station to get some juice for the Scoob - I didn't want to switch the engine on the BX off to see if I could get some charge into it.
It is a good thing to stp away from a car for a while and come back to it. I drove a BX for years, I passed my driving text in a TZD and had Niges old Gti earlier this year. The amazing thing about the BX is that no two models are the same experience..following the Gti the Meteor is a lot more refined and poised on the road - you wouldn't think so but of course the theory with Citroen was rather than sticking in a heavy lump of power, you keep the car as light as possible to maximise the efficiant use of that power and enhance this with superb suspension. The Meteor is far more in this church than and of the other BX's I have owned - you always got the impression with thre others that they were slightly compromising but this car is 100% mad Citroen in the way that a CX22 is. I had forgotten how sooth and refined the suspension is you really do float on the road and the car, despite narrow tyres, handles the bendy bits with supreme and total confidence. The gear change on this example is the best I have ever used on a BX which can be a bit clunky and vauge - this is rifle bolt percise. The car pulls away with ample power and is acceptable throughout the whole range. Even in 5th you get a decent amount of pull - not the XUD type but more than adequate. After the bone shaking Scoob the car feels serene to drive. Noise levels are nice and low under 60mph largely due to Mark's addition of a diesel underbonnet liner which helps to muffle things. The exhaust tone is very similar to the douvrain engined CX 22 I had. There was the occasional blip on the carb when flooring after coasting for a few yards but nothing unacceptable and the car was getting low on gas. Over 60mpg wind noise was quite bad - worse than on any other BX I have driven - I suspect that the 3 vaned wiper spoiler is the source of this so I will remove it to check (despite the fact that it is an ubershite badge!).
There is a clicking from the speedo area - I suspect it is the drive for the tach - probably needs a skoosh of lithium grease - all still working so not too worried about it. The stereo has no face - Will was using it on the way up so I suspect it is in his bag!
I decided to get some gas going into Edinburgh so stopped. This time the battery was totally dead - I jumped it from the spare battery again and drove home - the last half mile there was not enough juice to work the wipers or the indicators or the windows - the central locking was out as well. It certainly looks like the alternator has finally given up the ghost. I hope the battery hasn't suffered too badly either.
So - before I can use the car I really need to sort this out. Before I go ordering bits for it I am going to have a quick look at the 306 Alternator - the 1.9TD runs on a 12V alternator - if I can get it to fit is there any reason why I shouldn't be able to use it in the BX which is also a 12V unit? There may be a wait on the bits for the BX.
anyway a big thanks to Mark and another one to Will for driving it up here - I totally love it and am genuinely impressed with this now rare and very pure model of Citroen. If you want one - there is an identical one on ebay just now!
update - the 306 alternator doesn't fit...I stripped down the one in the car and found, as Mark had mentioned that the 500 mile drive had done for the worn brushes - slip ring had deep trenches and the rectifier didn't look very healthy all these bits add up so £40 later I have a reconned one coming on Friday. Util then I have fettled the alternator as best I could - it was dribbling a meager 9v - lights on 4.6V and now at least is putting out 12V so I might be able to use the indicators and wipers! I've dropped in a battery from a V12 XJ40 - it was a Daimler Double Six which has about 650 cranking amps and is rather large - this should keep me going till Friday.
All in all I am very happy to be back in the world of the BX and am really enjoying the different feel the 1.6 has over the oil burners and performance versions - just different - more like a greyhound than a racehorse!
not quite as stunning aa an SM, but not far