Team Green Tiger - BX19TGD - Back on the road

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:45 pm

Dollywobbler wrote:neither wheel rotates as freely as the rears

Remember that you are also rotating the drivershafts and differential, so the front wheels will never spin with the same ease as the rears.
Is one pad wearing before the other?

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:32 am

It does feel like it's slowing quite a lot when you ease off, but dropping into neutral, it isn't so drastic, so I assumed it was just diesel engine braking.

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:50 pm

Well, she's still going, and still working hard taking a massive tree to the tip.

rayfenwick · Post by **rayfenwick** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 6:06 pm

Dollywobbler wrote: Just over 400 miles done now and we're kipping next to Loch Lomand tonight. (In a hotel, not a la BX in a Fenwick stylee)

Nothing wrong with doing things in a Fenwick stylee... I live in a Fenwick stylee...

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 10:22 pm

Aha, be careful what you say Ian, us Fenwicks outnumber you Seabrooks!

You say a tree, but that looks more like a large mound of earth.

But I will agree the estates are useful for carrying bits of tree around.

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Tue May 11, 2010 4:08 pm

With tree carrying duties complete, and after 12,000 miles in 8 months, I've finally got the brake issues banished. I hope...

A trip to Bourne Citroen highlighted the rather dubious nature of at least one of the handbrake cables, so they've been replaced. Now the brakes have lost that slight binding feel, and the lever barely seems to come up at all compared with before! This is ideal timing as the MoT's up next month.

On the downside, an anti-roll bar drop link and a track rod end have both developed a little play, and the starter motor is very, very tired. But that'll have to wait until next month and another pay day!

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Tue May 18, 2010 9:37 pm

Bugger. MoT ran out one day before the above post! I am 'remember MoT FAIL!' Those new handbrake cables will come in handy tomorrow, and I'm glad I had the cambelt done recently too...

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Wed May 19, 2010 4:46 pm

Well, she passed. Huge list of advisories though, including poor handbrake (this after new handbrake cables being fitted), corrosion near seat belt mounts (surface rust at the base of the B pillar - filled 'em with wax last week so the residue didn't help with the look!) and an iffy windscreen.

Oh well. Got the ticket, now back to motoring!

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Fri May 21, 2010 10:44 am

New 16v interior collected from Mike P last night. Longer evenings meant I could make a start to pulling out in the old interior, but this proved to be not as easy as I hoped!

For a start, one of the screws holding the rear seat back rest in place sheared. Not wanting to deal with that last night, I focussed on removing the front seats. The driver's seat is almost out, but there were two torx bolts holding the rear of the left-hand runner in place, and I'm struggling to get enough clearance for the furthest forward one. What a pig! Of course, it'd help if I tidied my garage so I could actually find all of my tools (I'll need to some how get a ratchet on my torx bit). More angst to follow this evening. Bring on round two!

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Fri May 21, 2010 12:17 pm

I remember having a job changing front seats in my Dad's Xantia...I found the front bolts incredibly hard to get at under the seat, no room for a Torx bit and ratchet. So I cut down a Torx bit and welded it to a rod, and removed the front bolts half a turn at a time. It was some time later that I realised if you just put the seat back on its runners there was loads of room!

For the BX seats I've used a ratchet spanner with an adaptor to hold a Torx bit, so you get the ratchet action with little height. A couple of my rear seat bolts sheared too - I ended up having to drill and re-tap

I wonder if you can swap the new seat onto the old mountings though?

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Fri May 21, 2010 8:38 pm

Well, as this keeps going from one failure to another, I think I'm going to stop now! I have finally managed to get the driver's seat replaced (hmmm, super comfy) but decided to swap the seatbelts as the one supplied was better than the one I had - and they weren't compatible. However, with the new seatbelt installed, it refused to unlock. Took it out, played with it a bit and it started working. Fitted it again, wouldn't unlock again! It may then have somehow got rather broken after an unexpectedly high impact on the driveway...

So, back to putting the original belt exactly where it was, and then swapping the buckle over to the new seat, even though the case of said buckle is held together with insulation tape. No further issues, seat installed - aided by discovering that one my imperial allen keys is the perfect size for those torx bolts!

Nothing else could possibly go wrong, so I then set about replacing the rear seat again. Carefully eased out the other bolts, no further shearing. Then I did what I should have done before I started. The back of the 16v seat lacks the 'flaps' anchorage that covers over the hinges with the seats folded. I haven't decided whether this is an issue or not yet, but as I couldn't be bothered to faff further, I've saved this decision for another day.

So, then I set about replacing the broken seatbelt buckle. Again, incompatible seat belts mean I have to replace the entire lap belt. I've just come back into the house absolutely exhausted after finally coaxing the two very reluctant seat belt bolts to come out. Heavy dose of copper grease before those go back in! Was a bit worried as the floor was starting to flex around the bolt holes with the force required...

Who said swapping interiors was easy?!

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Sun May 23, 2010 2:21 pm

After a day off, I've been attacking the interior today, and it's been much closer to plain sailing - apart from dealing with the heat!

I've replaced the broken rear seat belt, with the bolts coated in plenty of copper grease. The rear seat base is in place and I'm about to put the rear seat back in - which actually seems to have locating slots for the parcel shelf unlike the seats that are coming out. However, the interior will be even more of an odd mix than I imagined as my wife has declared that she prefers the grey tweed seats to the heavily-bolstered 16v ones. Doesn't really matter as this car is far from concours, and I'm fitting little of the black plastic trim, so it would be fairly odd anyway! Might fit a new door card on my side but not the passenger side...

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Sun May 23, 2010 6:26 pm

Anarchist!

Post by **Tim Leech** » Sun May 23, 2010 7:44 pm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-BX-Estate ... 3f00017902

Sisters!

Probably part of the same fleet!

Dollywobbler · Post by **Dollywobbler** » Sun May 23, 2010 7:46 pm

Poor sibling! As mine is ex-Cowies, very likely they were on the same fleet.