Mat's BX Blog

Tell us about life with your BX, or indeed life in general!
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mat_fenwick
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Post by mat_fenwick »

jonkw wrote:Ground needs more levelling IMHO
Worry not, the area I plan to put the tents on is nice and level. Although did look like this earlier on in the year! I wonder which Levellers album we should play? For those who aren't fans it would be this one.
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Are people still up for the idea? It will have to be October time now, a little bit colder and wetter but just need more booze...

Thing is, I don't really want it to be a completely open invite on a forum viewable by all, I'd rather ask people to PM me if they are interested
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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
CitroXim
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Post by CitroXim »

jonkw wrote: PS can I sleep in your van, I worry about my tent. In the cold and rain.
I just worry about being in a tent in the cold and rain..

I have the solution. A Xantia estate with the back seats folded makes a perfect camper. A full six feet long. Just need to hang some nice curtains and the jobs a good 'un.

I guess a BX estate is as long in the back?
Jim

'98 Xantia 1.9TD in Red - Gabriel the Bus...
'96 Xantia Activa in Red - My favourite toy...
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mat_fenwick
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Post by mat_fenwick »

Not quite Jim - I've slept in the back of mine and can't quite stretch out.

I'm sure we can accomodate you in my van Jon, just so long as you make quite sure that I am not occupying the bed before you get into it. (I may well be banned from the house...)

Hmmm, I have a plan forming that involves a huuuuge bonfire, and possibly some semi-pro fireworks - there is a decent fireworks wholesaler not too far away who opens to the public around October time.
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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
M

Post by M »

jonkw wrote:so, you'll be there will you? :?
That depends on a couple of things
A) am I invited
B) how long it takes to get to Mats on a 125 laden with me and my camping gear ( me, tent, sleeping bag, trangia, some clothes, toothbrush)
Beer I can buy nearby / en route.
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mat_fenwick
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Post by mat_fenwick »

You can come along M, take you a fair while on a 125 though... Beer isn't a problem, we now have shops in this part of Wales! Let me know what takes your fancy and I'll even stock up.

I took the BX for an MOT today. Enjoyed the drive to the test station immensely! :D Loads of torque and seemed to be much better throttle response. Mind you after spending the last year driving mainly an automatic Discovery and an 100bhp van, neither of which have the sharpest throttle response I may not be used to driving a car again!
It failed the MOT on leaking fuel pipes (an advisory last time) and a loose track rod end :oops: When they told me I remembered tightening it up until the joint started to spin, then it started to rain so i stopped for the day. Next time I touched the car was when I needed to move it so on with the wheels, and then nothing was done to if for months so I completely forgot that I hadn't finished the job. A fairly easy fix though.
Takes a while cranking before firing, 4-5 seconds so I wonder whether that is down to air being drawn in through the fuel lines? They should be with me later this week so I'll know then.
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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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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Sound! Hope it flies through next time.
• 1992 Citroen BX TZD Turbo Hurricane
• 2006 Xsara Picasso 1.6 16v
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mat_fenwick
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Post by mat_fenwick »

Took it for a retest last Friday - it passed! :D Neither job was quite so simple as I'd thought - it was a bit of a pain to stop the track rod end from spinning. My usual trick of putting a jack underneath it to press the taper into place doesn't work on a BX, as the joint comes downwards, so I had to faff around a bit with a large G clamp/socket and a couple of blocks. Fuel pipes were also a bit fiddly at the back but made easier by borrowing a pit.
I celebrated by visiting a mate down in Bristol and having a couple(!) of drinks...
So far I have done about 700 miles and it's a definate worthwhile swap. I'm in roughly a gear higher than I would have been previously most of the time, and despite some pretty enthusiastic driving still managed 42mpg. I reckon I've got a dodgy glowplug - very smoky for the first 30 seconds or so and runs roughly too. That's despite the garage replacing them for my Dad when the engine was in his Xantia; I wonder whether they only did 3 as I seem so remember one of them is more difficult to get at in the donor vehicle...
It was good to pop in and see Chris G at the weekend and pick up the seats he had kindly stored for me (cheers Chris!) Cracking place he's got, full of (what seemed like) every type of bus under the sun. And a fair few Citroens too. Also handily sorted me out with a replacement dipstick and oil temperature sender, handy when you have your own personal scrapyard!
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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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Post by mat_fenwick »

Well it's now been over a month since the last update! :oops: So what has been happening over here?
I seem to have been on a bit of a spending spree, I now have a CB radio (thanks Marty!) that I have no idea how to use. I've done a spot of research but not in any great detail yet. Also bought a new rear light for £7 from eBay (advertised as being for a Citreon), braided heater matrix hose, radiator top hose and a rear suspension strut. Although this spending leaves me short for a set of glow plugs, which ironically are what a actually need! But the other bits were bargains, and I can get by (albeit smokily) without replacing the plugs, at least for another couple of weeks.
I've managed to get the mower running again (just in time for winter!) On that subject, how much salt do we need on our roads? :twisted: Round here it's been almost continuous for the last couple of weeks (despite only having 2 frosty nights), I'm getting bored of always hosing out the wheel arches... I'm certain that it actually makes the roads more slippery when the temperature is above freezing - they are so greasy at the moment. On boost it will spin the inside wheel in third coming out of some corners. Never thought I would live in Wales and actually hope for rain!
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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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mat_fenwick
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Post by mat_fenwick »

Seeing as there has been little change with the BX recently I thought I would post up some older photos of the welding I did on the van last year before I started the campervan conversion...hopefully they will be of interest to some.
It was bought on eBay and not exactly as advertised..."surface rust only" was the wording used. Surface rust on both sides and meeting in the middle maybe.
Here are a few shots of the floorpan after I had cut back to solid metal.

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The outside was a similar story, ths is the only photo I can find showing it.

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As this wasn't structural I could have used filler, but that wouldn't have lasted. Patching the panels wasn't an option as the remaining metal(?) had the structural integrity of foil. So I managed to obtain some genuine VW panels and set to cutting away the rusty remains.

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The first of many pieces of new metal going in.

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More later when I will post up more photos of nice shiny metal! (actually dull grey galvanised sheet really...)
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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
M

Post by M »

Nice welding - looks a big job though. Im intrigued is there any particular reason why the wires for the numberplate go on the outside of the van?
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Post by Tim Leech »

Thats quite picked for a L plate LT, thougt they were more rust resistant than that!
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
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DavidRutherford
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Post by DavidRutherford »

mat_fenwick wrote:an 100bhp van
ooOOoo! get you with your three-figure-horsepower van! Some of us dream of that sort of figure!

*wanders off, muttering about only having 75 at the flywheel and what feels like about 25 at the wheels*

I feel your pain regarding the welding. I've probably not done quite as much on mine, but what I have done has been fairly intricate. Quite a bit easier than welding a car shell though I find... with a commercial vehicle you just have so much more space to get into everything.
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Post by DavidRutherford »

M wrote:is there any particular reason why the wires for the numberplate go on the outside of the van?
That's actually quite a good design feature. Mine go on the inside of the van, and when you open the rear doors by 180degrees, the cable is extremely vulnerable to damage. Having the cable on the outside means it's out of the way when the door is open.
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Post by docchevron »

DavidRutherford wrote:
mat_fenwick wrote:an 100bhp van
ooOOoo! get you with your three-figure-horsepower van! Some of us dream of that sort of figure!

*wanders off, muttering about only having 75 at the flywheel and what feels like about 25 at the wheels*
Easily fixed sir!
Remove diesel engine, replace with a slightly throatier lump from a CX, like a 2.5GTi Turbo 2 unit!
I REALLY want to do that!
Smokes lots, because enough's enough already!

Far too many BX's, a bus, an ambulance a few trucks, not enough time and never enough cash...
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