4x4 Estate needing a home

Tell us about BXs you have spotted on the road, or BXs/parts spotted for sale including eBay finds.
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electrokid
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Post by electrokid »

the estate being a bit more slab sided though,
Yes you're right - different bodyshells seem to suit certain colours better than others - perhaps I should fiddle about with some blue screen stuff to see what it would look like.
1992 BX19 TGD estate 228K Rusty - SORNed
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electrokid
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Post by electrokid »

Like this... only with more time spent / attention to detail etc :-)

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citsncycles
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by citsncycles »

Right, time to briefly drag this thread up to date before the story of this car gets moved to the blog area. A comment I made on another thread about 4x4 estates lead to Brian contacting me about this car, which I gather he's had little time to do anything with, asking if I was interested in taking it on. After a brief PM exchange, both with Brian and Mat Fenwick (who had also expressed an interest, my not wanting to trample any toes) I'm planning to collect this car and bring it home late this month.

God knows what I'm letting myself in for, or how long it'll take to get on the road, as I'm not exactly flush with cash at present, but I figured what better stable mate for Timex and the G!
Mike Sims
BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by Kitch »

Nice one Mike. Bung a 1.9td up front and make it the car it always should have been!
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electrokid
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by electrokid »

Glad it's going to a good home Mike =D>
1992 BX19 TGD estate 228K Rusty - SORNed
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by citsncycles »

I'd be wary of putting a TD in it because of the weakness in the transmission. If there's a problem with the engine I'd be tempted to convert to NA power (which actually has less torque than the petrol engine), but I'd have to look at the possibility of raising the gearing accordingly otherwise it'd be slower than a slow thing on a slow day.

If I was looking at using it regularly I'd seriously consider an LPG conversion, if I could work out somewhere suitable for the tank.
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BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
BX 4X4 Estate - Oh god, I've done it again!
BX 17RD MK1 - it called to me!
BX14 TGE, - SOLD
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by Tim Leech »

Well done Mike!
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by Jaba »

Good news Mike, a very good choice sir !
I am missing my BX estate, it is such a practical vehicle. I still have the car for use as a donor if you need any bits.
The Joy of BX with just one Citroën BX to my name now. Will I sing Bye Bye to my GTI or will it be Till death us do part.
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by Kitch »

citsncycles wrote:I'd be wary of putting a TD in it because of the weakness in the transmission. If there's a problem with the engine I'd be tempted to convert to NA power (which actually has less torque than the petrol engine), but I'd have to look at the possibility of raising the gearing accordingly otherwise it'd be slower than a slow thing on a slow day.

If I was looking at using it regularly I'd seriously consider an LPG conversion, if I could work out somewhere suitable for the tank.
LPG....that's a good call actually. It's just the space the tank takes up that's a pain, especially with an estate (you buy one for the boot afterall!) And if you put a tank underneath, it ends up being tiny giving a range of sweet FA.
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by mat_fenwick »

That's my only gripe with LPG - the limited range unless you give up storage space or have a custom petrol tank. One possible solution for the BX would be to lose the spare wheel to give space for one doughnut tank, and then lose the main petrol tank to create more space there. I've not found any long thin cylinder tanks (presumably for strength reasons) so two short cylinders would have to be used - but would anyway on a 4x4 due to the propshaft. Modify and keep the auxiliary petrol tank for cold starting and backup, as assuming you have gas, you won't want to use petrol!
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by citsncycles »

I did think along the lines of Mat's idea, with the possible alteration of having a petrol tank one side of the prop, and LPG the other, in case you find yourself in an area without LPG (as there are in parts of Scotland apparently).

Another idea I had in the event of a 4x4 having gearbox faliure would be to turn it into a 4x4 hybrid, with a standard transmission driving the front end, and an electric motor driving the rear. When not using the electric drive it can charge the batteries back up. Of course, I've not actually looked to see what space there is under there - not much I'd imagine!
Mike Sims
BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
BX 4X4 Estate - Oh god, I've done it again!
BX 17RD MK1 - it called to me!
BX14 TGE, - SOLD
XM Turbo SD,GS Club Estate,Visa 17D Leader,HY Pickup,Dyane Nomad,Dyane 6,2CV AZL,Falcon S,Trabant P50,3x Land Rovers (88" series 1,109" series 2a FFR,series 2a Marshall ambulance),DKW F7, Lambretta LD150 x 1.5,Mobylette SP93,Ural Cossack,Ural M63,CZ 250 Sport,Honda Varadero 125,lots of bicycles & tricycles including (but not only) Sunbeams,Higgins & Bates!
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by Kitch »

In my experience if you run gas, you definitely want a decent petrol tank alongside as round here we've only got two LPG filling stations within a 25mile radius! It was pretty easy to run out!
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by citsncycles »

Yep - we're spoilt round here , with 1 LPG station 1/2 mile from home and another about a mile from work, but I know coverage can be patchy in some areas.
Mike Sims
BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
BX 4X4 Estate - Oh god, I've done it again!
BX 17RD MK1 - it called to me!
BX14 TGE, - SOLD
XM Turbo SD,GS Club Estate,Visa 17D Leader,HY Pickup,Dyane Nomad,Dyane 6,2CV AZL,Falcon S,Trabant P50,3x Land Rovers (88" series 1,109" series 2a FFR,series 2a Marshall ambulance),DKW F7, Lambretta LD150 x 1.5,Mobylette SP93,Ural Cossack,Ural M63,CZ 250 Sport,Honda Varadero 125,lots of bicycles & tricycles including (but not only) Sunbeams,Higgins & Bates!
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by MULLEY »

I always thought the car had to start up with petrol & once it was upto temperature, then it could be switched over to lpg either manually or by a computer device depending upon the quality of the lpg kit chosen?
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
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Re: 4x4 Estate needing a home

Post by mat_fenwick »

Single point systems will start on gas at a pinch, but will switch over immediately after startup. So long as the coolant is above the boiling point of the LPG (~ -40 degrees C) the gas will still vaporise. Although it won't have any cold enrichment like the choke does on the petrol carb, it doesn't really need it as the fuel is already vaporised.

Multipoint/gas injection systems need the engine to be warmer for two reasons:
The LPG contains waxy deposits which when cold could clog up the gas injectors. When warm it can flow through and be burnt by the engine.
Also as the gas injectors take their pulse lengths from the petrol injectors, when cold the petrol injectors have a longer pulse time which isn't needed for gas, so would run too rich if switched over too early.

A carb. BX would need a single point system so could be run on gas a higher percentage of the time, although would suffer some power loss compared to a multipoint system where you can't (shouldn't be able to!) tell which fuel you're on.
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1993 1.9 TZD Turbo Estate
1996 3.9 V8 Discovery
1993 VW LT35 campervan
1985 Hyundai Stellar V8
2016 Hyundai iLoad
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