Rebuild or scrap?

[womble3go]

Hello,

Not sure if this post is on the right topic if sorry.

I have a 1990 BX17 TZD estate which should be white! It been parked up for nearly 3 years now since a rear hyd pipe broke, also need a few other jobs to get through the next MOT, and in the process of fixing it I found and bought another one which needed a little work to put it back on the road.

Time has now come to either put it back on the road or get it gone in some form?




The jobs that need done that I can think of in no order are
1) body work,
2) engine leaking gasket, turbo, clutch
3) hyd pipes & fuel pipes
4) new brakes pads & discs
5) tyres wheels
6) check over wiring as mice had moved into the engine bay
7) hoses & radiator as think it blown in the really bad winter we had
rear swing arm bearing as stolen to keep other bx on road
9) exhaust system

Before the car was parked up it had the injectors over hauled, set of new glow plugs, set of new spheres, front wish bow brushes and drop link arms. I have owned this car for 11 years before parking up with great motoring. It’s got a better engine with turbo than the BX19 estate I’ve got on the road at the moment and is much better for towing.

The question is, is it worth doing all the work to car in time and money or just time to draw a line under it? Please can I have your thought and have I missed any work that I should do?

Kevin.

[ken newbold]

I'd say if the bodywork is good then it's worth saving. However it all depends how much time you've got on your hands. It needn't cost a fortune if you're not in any hurry as you can take your time to source the parts you need at the right price.
Looks like an interesting project. I've saved worse, but then I had the time and the parts and the enthusiasm!

[MULLEY]

It probably looks in a worse state than it actually is. You may regret getting rid if its fairly rust free, as Ken say's, just do it over time to get it back on the road & then hopefully you'll have a nice car to add to your collection

[rutter123]

Im in the process of doin some major work on my 1990 tzd turbo inc turbo rebiuld, wheel bearings, various leaks, hoses, welding, octopus, clutch release bearing, cambelt and water pump, exhaust, front wishbones, brakes etc etc...plus dozens of smaller jobs, total spend so far about £400. Not including alloy wheel refurb and new tyres, in my opinion worth every penny ive had this car about 8 years and use it every day covering 170k in this time, its all down to how much you are willing to spend and how much time and effort you can afford. Estates are very thin on the ground now esp t/d versions. Ideally you need to get the car on a post lift and go over it with a fine tooth comb and make a comprehensive list of everything that needs attention especially the hydraulic system as a lot of this will be shot.
Sometimes things are not as bad as they may appear, do you plan on doing all the work yourself? If you are in no rush parts can be sourced quite cheaply from ebay, e.g i got front wheel bearings for £5 each, front wishbones £20 pair. Rear arm kits £15 a side from Malcolm Lockwood who is an excellent source for bx bits, worth checking the cond of the rear hydraulic struts as estates have the fatter rams which are quite hard to find now. At the end of the day its your call whether you go ahead or not even if spend £1000 you will have a very practical comfy reliable economical car that will only go up in value so will be money well spent, good luck whatever the outcome, plenty of advice and help on this forum.

[KevR]

I'd agree with all of that. I'm just doing a complete suspension strip and rebuild, re-pipe, new bearings, discs, ball joints, welding, underseal, waxoyl etc on one of my 1991 TZD estates and when that's finished I'll do the same on the other one. Planning on keeping them both on the road as long as possible so for me it's worth it. A lot depends how sound it is underneath - they don't like being sat in the damp unused and you'll find a lot of stuff that was perfectly ok (pipes, bearings, hoses, radiator etc) may have suffered from disuse. Mine was sat for six years, some of that time outside, and it wasn't pretty underneath by the time I got round to starting work on it - and the radiator just crumbled away into dust....
I'd drag it out, get it started and give it a good wash and see how it scrubs up. IF all looks good, then as said above, get her up in the air and have a good rummage about under her skirts...

[womble3go]

Hello guys,

Thank you for the replies, that's been a lot of help, I got one more project to get done before I drag her out and start looking her over. I planning to do most of the work myself as I have the time.

I did have a look under the back end at the beginning of the year as the bx that is use at the moment had rotted away round the front subframe mounts on both sides so I needed to see what should have been there and it was in a lot better state.

When it was parked it was driven and then placed on blocks so at least it not on the ground and the air has been able to move round.

Kevin.

[Tim Leech]

I agree with the above sentiment, they are so rare now you can't just through one away and get another! So if it's viable and you of course want a bx estate then...