(Another) drum roll please!

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:43 am

Da daaaaaaaaaaaa! Now the proud owner of a petrol BX hatchback (the £1.60 one from eBay).
Mixed news, though I`m mostly very happy: took a mechanical friend with me and had to leave him there whilst I rushed back to sell my Clio (eBay of course). Took a battery which was duff so picked up a known good one when I nipped back home.
Anyhow the BX was spinning freely and din`t look like it wanted to start so my mate checked spark at plugs (very weak) then whizzed the dizzy cap off and the cap and rotor arm have seen better days. He cleaned the cap and the arm up a bit so we tried again.
Ah, getting there now as it was trying to catch. Checked fuel getting through (it was) and tried again.
Bingo! She fired up and promptly smoked out the entire neighbourhood!
Changed plugs for some old ones we found in the back and ran on three cylinders but suspension lifted immediately without any creaks or groans. Still smoking like you`ve never seen before and smelt a bit petroly but running it was.
My mate thinks the auto choke unit is playing up (we had sto start it with various doses of right boot) and may be that it`s not working at all, so looks like a new (second hand) unit is on the cards.
Rather strangely there was oil coming out of one of the exhaust joints, though God knows why (sorry Ken).
Drove it back but had to rope the exhaust up and run rope through hatchback and tie onto front headrest as every single rubber bracket had broken underneath. I`ve never seen white smoke like it, from 20 foot behind you couldn`t see the car at all. It also seemed to boil up on the way back and probably needs water. I`m thinking maybe the headgasket has gone but my reckons due to being stood it`ll take a good blast to clear it all out and ewater may have been low (didn`t look to low though) and the steam has made what water there was condensate.
Bodywork and interior look really good and seem to back up the low mileage on the car.
As owner had promised on the listing there was extensive service history with the car and most promising was all the receipts for work done. A couple of £500 services with lots of work such as brakes, calipers, cables and Christ (sorry again Ken!) knows what else.
My mate thinks what it needs most is a really good service which is one of the few things I reckon I can do myself. Next payday it`ll be new plugs, dizzy cap, rotor arm and fuel filter which said mate thinks is one of the problems and then let it run for ages and see if it overheats and still smokes.
Very, very VERY happy so far and if all goes to plan I`ll be cutting my mechanical teeth on the car as it seems much easier to work on than the diesels.
Photo`s coming soon if someone would be so kind to let me text them to them and post them up for me.
Big thanks for all the help from everyone so far and just as importantly the inspiration to take things like this on.
Ps, interior IS the very nice red pinstripe affair as someone suggested it may be and will NOT be finding it`s way into one of my estates, least not while I`ve still got the hunger to sort this new one out at least.
Off out for one of my famous Cavmad cleaning sessions, pictures to follow. Any volunteers with a suitable mobile I can text the pictures to?

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:33 pm

Cavmad. You have PM.

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:48 pm

Cheers, will reply shortly!

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:21 pm

Just after starting it for the first time and trying to pollute anyone in a ten mile radius. Please note the less handsome than me friend of mine!)

http://www.fastandfurryous.co.uk/Cavmad ... 5_1015.jpg

The start of the drive back (believe me the smoke got MUCH worse thn this

)

http://www.fastandfurryous.co.uk/Cavmad ... 5_1025.jpg

The new fleet from the front..

http://www.fastandfurryous.co.uk/Cavmad ... 5_1227.jpg

The new fleet from the back (Tim, the one in the middle is flanked by style icons!)

http://www.fastandfurryous.co.uk/Cavmad ... 5_1228.jpg

New car`s interior (very nice too!)

http://www.fastandfurryous.co.uk/Cavmad ... 5_1231.jpg

And finally (phew!) after a quick clean of the exterior my new arrival in all it`s glory....

http://www.fastandfurryous.co.uk/Cavmad ... 5_1229.jpg

Huge thanks to David for hosting the pictures, cheers David!

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:27 pm

Now shove [img]directly%20before%20the%20url,%20and[/img] directly after, (no spaces) to make them appear here.

No problem about the hosting. I have a nice little webserver sat here doing very little, so it's good that it's getting some use.

If anyone else wants images hosted, they're more than welcome. The server does fall over every now and then, but is usually back up again fairly soon.

Mr B · Post by **Mr B** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 1:29 pm

All you need to do now is rip out that poxy petrol lump and replace it with a TD unit

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 4:42 pm

Hmm, what`s it like converting one to standard (n/a) diesel engine do you think? I ask because I have a good spare engine (complete car in fact) in the estate so have everything neccessary to swap? I take it fuel tank etc will need to be changed so id the estate one similar to hacthback one?
That way I won`t need to find another BX (or 405) petrol to pillage for the engine and I can finally get rid of the spare estate car at the same time.

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 4:58 pm

The swap is straightforward, If there are two petrol pipes coming off the sender under the back seat then you dont need to swap the tank, you just have to take the sender out and remove the filter on the end, other than that park em side by side and swap it over, engine and box in one lump, you may have to swap bits of loom over but its only the heater plug bits, have you got a rev counter? sometimes these can mess about.
Stewart

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 5:14 pm

I think both have rev counters Stewart, though if the tank from an estate will fit it will be ideal as there was some problems with the tank on the petrol one-quite possibly the filler neck or something may be twisted.
Also are the boxes and clutches different petrol to diesel as my diesel one`s clutch is a bit juddery now I think about it?

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 6:08 pm

The boxes are externally the same but the ratios are different, mind you fitting the new clutch is really easy with the engine on the floor, I would rather sort out the filler pipe than swap a tank though.
Stewart