A bit of welding anyone?

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:49 am

A relatively good example of an early Mk. 2 Diesel.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1987-CITROEN-BX-1 ... dZViewItem

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:02 am

Nice car, very honest description (who else would take a car for MOT when it still has 7 months remaining?) and one owner with good miles.
Looks like a decent buy for someone, hope he gets the price he wants for it.

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:19 am

Same model and colour as my dads second one that did 150k miles, wouldnt take much to fix it up.

Baldbazza · Post by **Baldbazza** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 12:14 am

tim leech wrote:Same model and colour as my dads second one that did 150k miles, wouldnt take much to fix it up.

You tempted then Tim? I'm sure you could find a little room for another

tom · Post by **tom** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:48 am

Reality check:
1 Vendor claims to have spent £4k in three years. That is difficult to do.
2 IT IS A RUSTBUCKET!
Get real.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:16 am

I tend to agree Tom, as I remember all too well the fate of my 'D' plate red GTi. Rust killed it. A bad year for BX bodies?

tim leech · Post by **tim leech** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:30 am

Sorry Bazza as much as It would be nostalgic the net BX I buy will be a Turbo D estate.

Barnsley BXer · Post by **Barnsley BXer** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:28 pm

tom wrote:Reality check:
1 Vendor claims to have spent £4k in three years. That is difficult to do.
2 IT IS A RUSTBUCKET!
Get real.

Depends who is doing the work.I've got a service record in my locker at work from a Northern "specialist" who shall remain nameless which is approx £7k in 5 1/2 years

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:32 pm

tim leech wrote:Sorry Bazza as much as It would be nostalgic the net BX I buy will be a Turbo D estate.

Though you were buying that Blue one on ebay? it only went for £82squid.

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:24 pm

I thought the same, Ken. It was a 1.9TD as well so everything you could want in an estate. What happened Tim?

Considered reality check:

You could easily spend £4k in three years, I`m with Dean as I`ve owned and seen BX`s where the receipts have been around this mark. In fact the 4x4 hatchback collected from Kent had had £3.5k spent in about 18 months.

Rusty it may be but it passed a test 5 or so months ago, I`ve seen considerably worse on the road and it could be sorted out by a competant welder.

Still say it`ll be a good car for someone.

tom · Post by **tom** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:13 am

cavmad wrote:
Still say it`ll be a good car for someone.

It won't. The rear subframe came out last year because it was rusty. The door shuts picture shows that this car is past praying for. There is absolutely no point in going anywhere near this car because sound ones can be bought for less than the cost of even the cosmetic welding required. As for making it safe, structurally sound and likely to last for another five years

no chance. If the vendor has been stupid enough to be ripped off by some jerk who takes his money without pointing out that the car is a deathtrap, would you want to buy a car from him?

m_2975 · Post by **m_2975** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 1:22 pm

OH MY GOD!

Call me sheltered but how do you get rust on a BX at the top of the windscreen and on the sill????

In all the years that I have been in and under BX's i've never seen anything like that. The MK1 1985 BX 16TRS that I saved from the crushers a few years ago didn't even have any there! A bit in the bottom of the doors but not in the actual body itself.

Must be the Australian climate that saves them. It also sounds like a lot of pre 1991 BX's have gone to the crushers because of uncoated hydraulic pipes and rust in what I consider strange places. I can't understand the rust in the front wings either.

Come to Australia where BX rust is virtually unheard of even in MK1 cars!!!

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:45 pm

It couldn`t have been too bad or it wouldn`t have passed it`s MOT though surely?
If someone could get this cheap and get a few months economical motoring out of it it`d be well worth it.

Vanny · Post by **Vanny** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:04 pm

tom wrote:Reality check:
1 Vendor claims to have spent £4k in three years. That is difficult to do.

Erm, no its not! Three engine changes in three years and enough trips on a flat bed to make it from france to scotland, not to mention all the non essential parts (like aircon, rear leather head rests) and you can easily rack up £4000 in three years, infact if i had only racked that much up i'd be a happy bunny! And mine aint even all that!

However it does look like a rust bucket!

Rust at the top of the windscreen (top of the A-pillars) is unfortunately far too common! The body shell isn't very stiff and going round corners too fast eventually cracks both the paint and the metal, and before you know it, there goes the pillars!

Kitch · Post by **Kitch** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:08 pm

I'd go for it. How many examples do you see which look fairly clean and tidy, yet have blown head gaskets, knackered syncros, worn interiors, duff radius arm bearings etc. If the body is ALL that is primarily wrong with it, then its a good fix IF you are, or know a welder. How much is metal and welding wire? Its only your time you're really sacrificing.
The cost of getting it fixed at a garage would far exceed its worth but for a DIY job with someone who knows what they're doing, its a fair deal.
I mean you could buy one cheaply with an average body and duff mechanicals and spend hours faffing around fixing it all, to have an average looking car which runs well, all be it one that will continue to corrode in the usual spots.

Or have one that runs well, is tidy throughout and spend some time making it look pretty and respectable. It all depends whether you want a BX for an everyday hack, or something to be proud of. Ok, a diesel BX isn't everyones idea of a special car you are proud of, but to some they are. And thats a D plate Mk2, they're quite rare thesedays and personally I'd be proud to get it looking tip top (not that its far off on first glance).

The estate I purchased for naff all nearly 2.5years ago, and is now owned by "Captain Slow" which was at the Stratford rally on Sunday, was rusty when we got it. The gearbox was loose and noisy and near impossible to put into gear. It had 172k miles on it, heater didn't work and there was rust on both rear arches, the sills, under the bonnet and the front wings. Probably in more structual places too. It failed the MOT on a small bit on the sill, which was patched up.
I could have walked away at the time because of the rot etc, but I didn't. To this day, it has NEVER broken down and is probably the best car I ever owned. Its still rusty now!
And this red one looks like its had a similar upbringing. Our estate was owned by the previous owners from new in 1989, the owners wife cried when we drove it away. They'd genuinely loved it and cared for it. This red one screams the same at me, if anything due to the length of time the owners have had it. Plus they look genuine and honest....if you look they've been offered £225 already which is arguably alot more than its worth. But they turned it down to give the bidder a fair chance, and unless they're majorly misinformed, they'll know its worth less than that too.

Someone save it