BX excess, can it be a success?

Tell us about life with your BX, or indeed life in general!
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Thread Bear
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Thread Bear »

Well I can certainly let you know. We hope to get them moved back on the 5th and 6th so keep off the upper M5!

Also hope to collect the BX 1.4 on Tuesday 1st. Its storage is lost so it must come back. Fortunately i can now pop it in the garden of the new pad till shed building is done. 'Thar's gerna be a barn rasin' - yee ha!' \:D/ Calls for some extra beds and a barrel of beer I think beers . Ooo, so many to choose from..... ~ale~
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work

'87 Trooper, Borgwards, Saabs, MG ZB, Bellamy Trials, Fiat Jolly & Bianchina, Goggo Dart, Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Bubblecars
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Tinkley »

Here's hoping I've managed to get a shot of a Zele, in the link/image below. Now the one my Dad drove was a nice mid blue one... :lol: :lol:

http://cdn.carthrottle.com/wp-content/u ... 55x409.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Thread Bear »

You are near the last resting place of one of the Zimps. Three Zagato bodied Imp based cars. I tried to buy it but no go. Had several other nice machines but was happy for it all to decay.

Off to get two Trojan Balemasters today. My mate's collection. You think I am nuts, try him.
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work

'87 Trooper, Borgwards, Saabs, MG ZB, Bellamy Trials, Fiat Jolly & Bianchina, Goggo Dart, Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Bubblecars
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Tinkley »

Finally got car back on the road. Subframe is not too bad to do. Most awkward bits in my case were, undoing the height adjuster on link rod (corrosion), refeeding the two hard pressure pipes through from the brakes and getting them clipped in (1 still to do but it's OK as is). Problem with the latter is because I reused pipes off old car and it took some reefing to get them out the Y joint. It would be a lot easier with new pipes here. If I did it again I think I would use new pipes, to minimise distortion on the run. You have to join up the Y joint before the frame is fully up as there is no access later.

Considering I only had the car at a minimum height to do the job, it was not too bad. Literally on my back I could only just get to see properly behind the back of the subframe. You need to see well when disconnecting the ride height control rod from a/r/b and the ball joint to height corrector. You can use the corrosion line on the main control rod to reset the height adjuster link. It will be worth taking the single bolt out and cleaning and greasing it. V awkward to get at no matter what type of spanners/sockets. You might be lucky and have a less corroded one.

Much much easier on a ramp or from a pit. BTW it is worth tying up the a/r/b both ends and the steering rack. I did this with ropes fairly easily but you might need to put a timber beam across thee engine bay depending on the engine layout and access. When reassembling use the float in the height corrector and the a/r/b to get the ball joint in position and the control rod on the a/r/b into the bush on the subframe. If you have any more queries on it TB just mail me. Good luck with your fleet.

Never seen a Zimp, interesting thing (headlight 'eyebrows' would make good pedestrian choppers) with Peugeot shapes in places. Remember being in an Imp when the rotor arm sheared at the bottom of the Tolworth underpass....... :o

Tolworth underpass on A3 south west of New Malden for those that wish to place it.
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

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It does sound like another of those tasks where a ramp or pit would be a boon. There is no great fun in being prone under a car feeling about for lost tools and dirt falling in your eyes. I am encouraged. Need a space of time top do this which suddenly seems to have vanished now I have boshed down several walls in the new dwelling. There is far more work needed than I had originally planned in the first phase of works. Good news is it makes the other phases easier, bad news is I need more money now.

Need to check out the suspension joints and other things while I have the car in bits. It should be a very good car, not a show-piece, but for driving. If it were that good as to show I would pass it on as I am not a shower and this is about as good a condition as I need. The way things are staking up I will be much better aquianted with the car when I get to do the cross member as the other cars are keeping a menu of issues waiting.

I forget the history of why the Zimps were made now. They certainly confirm to a look that was coming out of the design house at the time. The Imp was a bit of a brick to look at and its reliability did not help its reputation. However a sorted one certainly punches above its weight. The prices have now moved to start to reflect this. The Imp was based on a Rootes made Microcar called The Slug. This after looking at the Goggomobil. Like BMC Rootes could not see the Microcar/Bubblecar thing and went to the light car answer for development. A wise choice.

Is New Malden related to Karl Malden? I am sure his nose is being used as a roundabout somewhere round there.
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work

'87 Trooper, Borgwards, Saabs, MG ZB, Bellamy Trials, Fiat Jolly & Bianchina, Goggo Dart, Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Bubblecars
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Tinkley »

Not spotted Karl's nose round here, though maybe him falling over is the cause of the Devil's Punchbowl
:lol:

My Dad sold BMW cars in the late 60's and early 70's. we even had one of their little runabouts with the 700 motorcycle engine in. Did about 45mpg, rather tinny and later on they rusted badly. I remember we had it for about 3 years, a mid tan colour. Something like this

http://www.cartype.com/pics/7248/full/b ... uxus_1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also remember the servo completely failing at 90mph through red light approaching New Malden (Kingston) on the A3 on a BMW 1800. Led to complete factory recall.....intermittent servo failure. Nice little problem to have. The Imp was not a bad car for the time, had the later Coventry Climax based engine in the Chrysler Sunbeam 1.0LS I had. Gutless wonder but great handler. The BX I bought after it was a sea change. That Sunbeam gearbox was a brilliant change, best I have ever used on any car so far. The Lotus version was even quick... :D

I think I've knocked out all the walls I need in my house now, still a fair bit to do but on the home straight. Priority now is c/heating change which means taking out the storage rads and putting in the eco friendly pellet boiler and a wet system. Don't have gas though its in the street and it is only going one way price wise even if they start fracking 7 miles away in Fernhurst.. :lol:
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

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Have you seen the You Tube of the 700 Coupé driven by Jackie Oliver at Goodwood? Its not slow!
Neither is my bud John Bannell's which has fuel injection on motorcycle derived parts. He thinks he is at over 50 bhp but still tweaking.
The Three original Martini coupe's with superchargers had 71 bhp out of 700cc in 1961/2. They were very competitive in hillclimbs.
Its claimed the 700 saved BMW, I do not know about that but it was a far better car than the 600. I have had a few 700 but they are not really for me. Front wings are nigh on extinct even on the cars left! Now they are pretty cheap as it is a light car, and is neither cute like a micro nor fast as a classic, so an area mainly of lower priced stuff. A market leader now being the 2CV of course.
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work

'87 Trooper, Borgwards, Saabs, MG ZB, Bellamy Trials, Fiat Jolly & Bianchina, Goggo Dart, Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Bubblecars
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

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As reported the BX 1.4 Leader was collected from Brislington yesterday. Bit of a nightmare trip with failed equipment in repair having to be liberated from the workshop of a mate in the opposite direction of collection. Bumpy roads knocking the lights out. Knocking the replacement light board off and general traffic generated by schools meaning the trailer was invisible despite being wider than the towcar :evil: .

Got down to the lock-up which was being handed back to the council. Report was the car would not start. Fortunately I had put my spare Ex van battery in. That resolved that issue to be replaced by the main feed into the thermostat housing, I assume, failing - chucking water out. This reduced the number of minutes engine time we could use. To get out of this 'garage' meant negotiating a drop of some five inches down a wedge of concrete. With no suspension, a failed high pressure line under the cars waistline, this was a problem. I had bought my bubble planks ex of the van for loading small cars in the back. However they had to be placed on the descending edge of the concrete wedge so as not to catch under the low BX. I therefore had to stand in half splits on the ends of the plank waiting to jump out of the way of a brake-less BX running poorly. I am not built for gymnastics but accomplished the task :P .

Loading was much the same problem but my trailer is an ex twin axled racing car one and on 10 inch tyres. This means it is low slung, though a tonne is as much as it will carry safely. So just the height of the planks gave clearance a more normal trailer might not have afforded by its height from the ground to bed. Here the problem was to get Gary out of the car, as the doors became trapped by the trailer wings. Strapped on the car filled the trailer as a max load. A bit nose heavy by choice but the Merc could cope with that. Proof was it towed beautifully :P .

This is Gary Hares' last BX. Sounds like he is not planning on another. It is so that Sandre got her green Estate from Gary. I think he could have created a good BX in fact. He has to buy skills in and since he did not concentrate on one car effectively the effort was defuse over a number of cars, none of which yielded reliable transport. Bit of a shame as he is a nice guy and deserves a bit of luck in his life. His dog got killed by a pit bull attack in the park and it seems he has had a bad time of it. He now has a ZX which is proving a better bet.

The trip back could not be on the M4 as the trailer was not a finished item and technically illegal if a Policing person applied his rule book. There is a weigh bridge VOSA station at Swindon and they like to use it. Trailers are an easy nick, so regularly pulled if they look interesting. Therefore I elected to go A4 and then north through the downland Lanes through Aldbourne, Lambourn and Ashbury. Well I met everything that could get in the way. Even a Copper on point, a rare sight these days, directing traffic around a stranded truck on a mini round about. Deep joy for all involved, including the Copper who had to dodge the larger vehicles whilst maintaining control. He did very well, actually, as the situation could have got out of hand with the aggression from further back in the queue, which is so prevalent in modern driving. I suffered the after effects as the 'next slowest thing' thereafter, with some bloody dangerous overtaking and unnecessary chopping from traffic coming passed on a modified, wide but superseded A road. No excuse. So it was actually pleasant to take to the lanes and the far more challenging driving conditions. (Something of a joke as the paranoia of a criminal record from the revenue collecting arm of policing pushed me onto far more challenging and dangerious roads when I probably need not have been there). That is until I realised it was a last rush to get the late harvest in. Being from the countryside that was dumb. I always let tractors go this time of year, as they need to get on. This is normally reciprocated but it made for slow progress :( .

In the end it took three hours to do the 60 miles back :cry: . However no pulls :D . Why do Mercs have American hand brakes? You know, the ones you cannot tell if there on or not. During unloading, I assume I had not got the hand brake to lock on, as instead of the BX moving off the trailer, the trailer and Merc moved from under the BX and the front wheel of the Merc over a drainage void. That made the Merc immobile as it has not subtle suspension nor a diff lock leaving the lighter rear wheel spinning uselessly. To add to the fun the out of control movement trapped the front of the BX over a jack stand on the rear of the trailer. The whole blocking the lane passed my 'new' house. A right old mess to sort out #-o . These trials are best done a bit at a time. So BX off first to free the trailer. Off with the spoiler, Ah ha. I had the correct tool with me as I saw that one coming [-X ! Then trailer off. Would the Merc come out. Would it buggery :twisted: . I had to get the neighbour to pull it out with his car. Fortunately he did not seem greatly put out by it and chat ensued leaving the road blocked. Ah, this country life! :)

So what of the BX you cry :roll:. It is a plain white 1,4 from Feb 1989. The V5 says its a Leader but the car makes no claim of being anything. It is effectively 'barn find' condition with no suspension and a water leak. No doubt other issues will reveal themselves. It has a slightly bent rear wing and a nasty after market glass porthole sunroof. This had its glass broken by a kid standing on it and a plastic replica put in place. Its a mess. The car seems relatively rust free and in good unmolested condition otherwise. It came with a boot full of new boxed spares, books and some misc handy knick nacks along with a packet of unused mudflaps. All in all a bargain for £130. F883 PLU becomes Pluto and will go into storage round the back of the new place, free storage - important, till I have time to do something to get it on the road again :D .

A long old job in the end but worth the doing.
Last edited by Thread Bear on Wed Oct 02, 2013 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work

'87 Trooper, Borgwards, Saabs, MG ZB, Bellamy Trials, Fiat Jolly & Bianchina, Goggo Dart, Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Bubblecars
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Stinkwheel »

Ah a 'leader' not seen one of those for ages. Its probably lost all its lower half stickering which would have been much like this....
Image

The did CX, BX and Visa's in leader varieties at one point or another.

Good fun all this faffing about with half mobile french tat isnt it :)
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To slightly mis-quote Kitch ... "BX 14. They're just brilliant!"
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Thread Bear »

I am not sure. Indeed no lower decoration, but it features twin go faster pinstripes not unlike my white Estate. I will attempt pics in due course. Maybe there are differing Leader specs. Oh, it has two differing wheel trim sets of three. They might give the game away if referred to the Wheel trim police. I hope they do not induce paranoia as well!!!!
Miguel - 16 TRS Auto S, light blue, 43k miles - £450
Pluto - 14 E S, White, 105k Miles - in work
Egbert - 19 16v Gti, White, A/C & Leather, - Keeper
Walt - 17 TZD Turbo S, graphite, 70k miles, good op extras - Keeper
Scraper- 17 TZD Turbo E, blue, 208k miles - parts
Homer - 19 TXD E, Red, 189k miles - £250
Gary - 17 TZD Turbo E, 118k miles - in work

'87 Trooper, Borgwards, Saabs, MG ZB, Bellamy Trials, Fiat Jolly & Bianchina, Goggo Dart, Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Bubblecars
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Stinkwheel »

twin go faster pin stripes?

are they same colur as each other or differing?

might actually be a 'flight' or a 'preview' in which case the pop top glass roof would have been factory not aftermarket.
Doctor Of Gonzo Journalism!!!
93 BX TZD Estate
90 BX 14TE St Tropez
93 BX 19 TXD Estate
92 BX 16TXi
77 Ami 8 Break
79 Acadiane
81 Dyane6
84 2CV6
85 GSA saloon rally car
To slightly mis-quote Kitch ... "BX 14. They're just brilliant!"
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Tinkley »

Every Leader I've ever seen had a darker lower part and the wording Leader on it. Not too sure about colour schemes, I seem to remember white and silver ones, though they may have been others. At the time my E plate 14RE was earlier. Also be careful with that F plate as the change to TU engine was about August 88, just when the letters changed from E to F. Should have a TU and suspect all Leaders had the TU engine, perhaps someone else can confirm? In fact it might be the change point exactly of the engine, no Leaders with 150 engine.
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Tim Leech »

I will be surprised if it has no leader stickers, they are factory fitted and stuck on very well, the leader had a great seat with a tartan insert. Also they had grey bumpers.

if you have the reg I can run a check.
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Stinkwheel »

Tim Leech wrote:I will be surprised if it has no leader stickers, they are factory fitted and stuck on very well, the leader had a great seat with a tartan insert. Also they had grey bumpers.

if you have the reg I can run a check.

Tim,

I think its F883 PLU looking at threadbears post.
Doctor Of Gonzo Journalism!!!
93 BX TZD Estate
90 BX 14TE St Tropez
93 BX 19 TXD Estate
92 BX 16TXi
77 Ami 8 Break
79 Acadiane
81 Dyane6
84 2CV6
85 GSA saloon rally car
To slightly mis-quote Kitch ... "BX 14. They're just brilliant!"
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Re: BX excess, can it be a success?

Post by Tim Leech »

Acoording to experian its definatly a 1.4E Leader.

maybe someone didnt like the stripes?
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
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