GT mediated Awesomeness

Tell us about life with your BX, or indeed life in general!
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saintjamesy89
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My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Had a misunderstanding above, she wasn't being picked up friday 14/08 to have the work done - the mechanic was just coming to have a look to see what would need doing. He seemed to think that just the obvious front one, and the front to rears needed doing but would have an in depth look when she's on the ramp.

Unfortunately he is moving premises, and is having issues re-installing his ramp so he doesn't want to promise he'll be able to do the work before 19th Spetember when I wanted to use her for my wedding. I have consoled myself with a Rolls Royce Corniche as a wedding car instead.

GT won't be OTR until next spring now, no point rushing her onto the wintery, salty, wet roads and hopefully I can get the front pipe off, send it to pleaides for a copy and at least get her lifting without spewing LHM everywhere.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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Tim Leech
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Tim Leech »

I'm still looking for that speedo cable!
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
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saintjamesy89
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198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Lol, cheers Tim! Don't put yourself out mate, im not going to need it for a while.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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saintjamesy89
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Posts: 1994
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 pm
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My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Goodness, two months since I last saw the GT! Popped over this morning as I was paraniod that the nice michelins and steelies from Tim that went on her for the MOT were getting substantial flat spots.So up on axle stands she went. What a job! The garage she's in has enough space to walk down one side of the car if it's parked more or less against the other wall - so getting a jack under that side, and then an axle stand withough breaking or scratching anything was quite an accomplishment! At least I can now go and play with the pipes 'at will', as when they're sunk it's remarkable difficult to do so. Typically, it was quite wet and windy when I was tinkering, and I got soaked. Of course as soon as I got home it was quite nice and sunny...

I also put the new wheel trims on (off of Tims lovely TZI) which are apparently the last set of new TZ trims in the Uk. They are gorgeous! I was never particularly keen on the standard GT ones. Put them on just for show:

Image

Image

In other news, I have been to-ing and fro-ing about what to do with my daily car. I quite like my Rio, it's reasonably quick and fun to drive, but the ride is crap and the interior is cheap and nasty, so I was thinking of replacing it with a Fiat 500C (retractable roof) 95bhp diesel, a Peugeot 206cc 1.6HDI or a Vauxhall Tigra 1.3CDTi. I did a couple of test drives, and considered quite seriously a Smart Roadster Brabus Exclusive (remapped to 116bhp, very quick! But no suspension, and they all leak).
In the end I kept the Rio, it's cheap to run, does 55mpg and has been reliable for over a year so far, even better it now has 135 bhp and 205 ft.lb (as opposed to 115 and 188 as standard). It is now, quite quick - it'll wheel spin in 2nd if you floor it, the torque hit when the turbo spools up is quite addictive! It would have been quite alot more torque (original re-map was in the 230 ft.lb region) but the turbo vanes are apparently gunged up, meaning it's overboosting too low down in the rev range and then cutting boost pressure at about 2400rpm before picking up again and peaking torque at 3500rpm (way too high for any useful torque) - this meant there was a huge flat spot so the remapper had to get clever with the fuelling to get an even curve. There's still a small flat spot, but you only notice it in 4th/5th.
We also got my husbands Venga 1.4CRDI remapped, 97bhp/180ft.lb (book figure 90) up to 118/202 - but the curve is very steep up and down, where the rio's is flat.

Hope to get the pesky front HP feed pipe done sometime soon, will remove it and send it off to Pleiades for a copy. Maybe next month? Weekends looking busy this time of the year...
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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Tim Leech
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Tim Leech »

How's married life Tom?
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
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saintjamesy89
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Posts: 1994
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 pm
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My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
x 123

Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Not much different to life beforehand really, we've been together for six and a half years and lived together for five and a half of those. Have you set a date Tim?
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
User avatar
saintjamesy89
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Posts: 1994
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 pm
Location: Somerset
My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
x 123

Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Been meaning to get down to the GT for some time now, but have been very busy (as always) over christmas. Now the new year has set in, we've decided to have a bit of a DIY mission in the house. Starting with the bathroom, new sink and toilet (concealed cistern), and I have made a unit for behind the both for extra storage.
Anyway, the GT Got that pesky leaky front suspension feed pipe off this afternoon - took me 2 hours! Because of the lack of space to turn a spanner, all I could do was turn the union screw 1/6th of a turn before having to reposition the spanner... And then i was spinning the union screw for ages before I realised I only had to pull the pipe out.

Image

I spoke to Pleiades on thursday and they gave me the four different pipe lengths that this pipr could be, so I need to measure it and order the new pipe. Put the new pipe on (hoping it's easier than removing the old one...) and get the GT, hopefully then with functioning suspension, towed to the garage for front to rear pipework amongst a few other little bits. Then BXers, it's MOT time! And I can finally use the bloody thing like it was designed to be!

In other news, some idiot pulled out infront of me at a locally notorious corssrads on a main road. I didn't even have time to brake, so ploughed straight into the side of him. Our momentum pushed his car into the car on the other side of the crossroads (a sandwich effectively), so three right offs! Luckily Steve's dad, being a sales director at a Kia dealer local to us, sold me a Rio from his fourcourt (at a discount of course) identical to the wriiten off one except colour and newer plate. It's the same engine as my previous, but obviously not remapped, so it's considerably slower.

That's all for now. Depending on post times, I hope to get the new pipe on next week and see how busy the MOT man is for the work.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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MULLEY
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by MULLEY »

Glad you're ok & luckily it was just a modern that can be replaced.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
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Tim Leech
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Tim Leech »

Hi Tom

Good to hear from you matey!
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
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saintjamesy89
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Posts: 1994
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 pm
Location: Somerset
My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
x 123

Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Yeah, just a modern. Raplaced it the next afternoon.

Good to hear from you too Tim, your BX list has grown since I was last on here! What's the story with the Athena?
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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Tim Leech
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Tim Leech »

Hi Tom

I've been looking at it for over 3 years and it "called to me", I've always admired the colour and interior and Paul296 first BX was the same model and colour too so we went "halves on it"

It had sat for over 10 years on a grassy bank and if we didn't save it no one would I expect.
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
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saintjamesy89
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Posts: 1994
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 pm
Location: Somerset
My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
x 123

Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Ah, a bit of a project then? Are there pictures on your blog?

New pipe ordered! Should receive it mid week. Chap I spoke to at Pleiades was really nice, had quite a good chat. Apparently he lived in somerset some years ago, just round the corner from me.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
User avatar
Tim Leech
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Tim Leech »

Hi Tom

Yes I will be updating as I go along, I must admit to not posting much now these days as the forum is so quiet.
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
User avatar
saintjamesy89
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Posts: 1994
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 pm
Location: Somerset
My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
x 123

Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Well fellow BX'ers, the GT now has it's new pipe on! It aint pretty, but it doesn't leak (yet at least). What a polava, radiator end of the pipe went on fine, the other end on top of the steering rack (and handily underneath a heatshield by the exhaust downpipe was quite a bit more difficult, I could get the pipe in the hole but took me ages to line the union nut up so it would catch the thread, all the time my inner arm is being rubbed raw by the teeth from the cam sprocket. But the GT now rises, stops and steers without much effort. The citroen specialist man can now drive her the 10 mile sor so on his trade plates to do the work, rather than hiring a trailer, and finding someone willing to tow the trailer, and worrying about getting her on said trailer.... etc

The citroen specialist in Crewkerne down the road will hopefully make the pipe a bit straighter and tidier, as I was using a can of WD40 and my shin bone to create the bends! First thing monday I wil be calling said chap to pick her up and do the oither pipes that need replacing (mostly front to rears i think, and some others around the rear subframe), also to do the water pump, cambelt tensioner, exhaust manifold, check the timing (as i've had the cam out and the dizzy off too) and drivers window doesn't work, the motor moves so I guess the glass has fallen off the rail or something.

Whilst she was outside, in the rain I went over her with a sponge to get all the garage crap off. Talking of the rain, you cannot believe how grimy, greasy and wet I am! Just got a bath running, and i have the feeling that I will have to clean the bath afterwards... So in the next week or two, I sincerely hope she'll be on the road for my use! No pics i'm afraid, my phone died, I was using it as a light to vainly try to see what I was doing.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
User avatar
saintjamesy89
1K Away
Posts: 1994
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 8:01 pm
Location: Somerset
My Cars: 1985 Citroen BX19 GT
198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
x 123

Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Went over today to dry the GT off, as she was put to bed yesterday all wet. Put some fuel in to get her to the garage, and put the new super-shiny TZ trims (from Tim's loively TZI) on. Had a rare bit of sunshine, so snapped a photo or two. I'll be really glad when the exhaust manifold is sorted, she is so loud!

I also noticed that the paintwork has suffered slightly in storage, there are a couple of scratches and a dent that I don't think was there before. I suppose being in such a small garage and doing work on her etc was bound to give a scratch or two, regardless of how careful I thought I was being!

Image

All tucked up.
Image
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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