Grolliffe's overhaul...

tom · Post by **tom** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 6:03 pm

Last week, I bought the bits to start getting the car back in shape.
Last weekend saw the cam belt changed together with a clonky droplink
This week the other one, a gearbox mounting and a new clutch. Not very easy, so the rebuilt rack and the new lower mounting can jolly well wait until some other time!
The old clutch was the original. Despite a little finger wear (it was by no means as bad as many) the linings were good for another 20,000 before the rivets would have been touched. 143,000 miles. Good. I don't want to be doing that job again!
The new one is so light that I keep thinking that the string has bust! And it is gliding away from rest now

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:09 am

Sounds nice, its good to get things working like a new un, it makes it worthwhile, I bought a Xantia yesterday, nothing much wrong with it, drove it home and passed it on to my dad, could have kept it, but I prefer my BX. last week my bro in law offered me his A4 avant TD at a reasonable price, still I kept the BX, I must need medical intervention

Stewart

tom · Post by **tom** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:38 am

Yes; the last fortnight has seen the driving experience just get better every time that bits are changed. The cam belt was a surprise. Despite putting it on in exactly the right way, the engine is much smoother and torquier low down. I find that hard to explain, but I'm not complaining.

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:04 pm

I did a cambelt/clutch on an old BX estate 1.9D for a mate a few years ago, someone had painstakingly cut down M8 bolts and put them into all of the timing holes, thus rendering it impossible to time the thing up properly, I duly removed them and fitted the new belt properly, when i returned the car the owner phoned me and asked what I had done to it??? it had never gone so well in the 70k miles he had owned it! watch out for monkeys, they get everywhere

Stewart

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:23 pm

duh, i thought thats EXACTLY what you do on the n/a diesel? just stick the bolts in the holes?

tom · Post by **tom** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 6:12 pm

Well, sort of Vanny. The pros do it with dial gauges and wands but I just did as you suggested.

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 6:36 pm

a dial guage, huh and i didnt think there was any 'proper' engineering in keeping a BX alive, i thought it was all down to bodgeit and scarper?

tom · Post by **tom** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 7:04 pm

That explains a lot

Mr B · Post by **Mr B** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 2:22 pm

Vanny wrote:duh, i thought thats EXACTLY what you do on the n/a diesel? just stick the bolts in the holes?

All Ive ever done, works for me

tom · Post by **tom** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:46 pm

Yet more progress! DLM and myself were at a mate's garage making the acquaintance of a monster of a steam cleaner. Shiny engine bays by coffee break thence to Colden Common (which is neither,) to plunder a tizzydee. The foglamps, alas were past praying for and it seemed like a wasted journey until David told me the car had a plip! Treasure trove!
Cost a fiver and 1.50 for the batteries. Grolliffe unlocks from either door so I was expecting to have to do some rewiring. Nope, worked first time. And second time! A nice pint of HSB before returning to Grolliffe's lair and an afternoon listening to Broken English on the tape player and drowning the car in Waxoyl. Time to shower and crack a bottle of the Co-op's Laid Back Ruby. A good day!

tom · Post by **tom** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 7:29 pm

Pulled the front end down to find a couple of loose bolts. The rack is fine so the painstakingly rebuilt item can go back into stock. spent the agfternoon fighting with a cold and cutting bits of Polypropylene foam into wedges to pull through the various wires that retain handbrake cables and freeing up a siezed caliper which has suffered bellows failure on its slides.
The other pads looked good for another 15,000 as well but new ones are the right answer. Today's glitch, apart from the streaming cold I'm suffering from, Tightened up the pinion heat shield bolt good and tight. Now the heatshield rubs against the hardydisk. Damn!

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 7:33 pm

Sounds like the heatshield needs a little "clearancing" Tom, re my previous posting on the bolts they were cut down M8s screwed into the timing holes behind the pulleys thus preventing proper timing of the engine

Stewart

tom · Post by **tom** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 8:01 pm

Ah! now I get it! they were meant to seal those holes where the timing pins leaked out. A wise precaution indeed!

Jaba · Post by **Jaba** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 12:04 am

Tom,
Broken English ? - Excuse me while I kiss the sky.
Glad to see that you are Faithfull to the old but good music as well as the old but good Citroëns.

J