Air intake grille wanted.

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 2:28 pm

Hi Folks,

Do any of you good people have an air intake grille spare in reasonable BXing distance of Woking in Surrey ? I'm refering to the plastic grille just below the windscreen - removed by taking off the windsceen wiper then the big plastic nut and the 2 poppers at each side. Preferably in Venetian Red but I can respray if not.

I want to try and fit twin wipers - I park under a tree and bird droppings and tree resin get smeared when only attacked from one direction - two wipers are far more effective than one at doing this - and I don't want to work on the original grille if I can help it.

Thanks,
Brian.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:56 pm

I would struggle to fault the standard Bx single wiper blade for the reason you list.

Have you tried a new and decent quality wiper blade, that is correctly sitting against the windscreen?

A well documented modification is to open up the washer holes on the wiper body to get more wash onto the window, that should help you see out

Mike P.

Post by **Tim Leech** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:09 pm

Ive fited the slightly bigger 21" blade and agree with mike I find the single wiper more than adequate, plus purely in opinon only would detract from the cars looks, and make it less Citroenesque.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:55 pm

Roverman wrote:...less Citroenesque.

Wha...? Someone say something?

(Citroenesque: My alter-ego on certain other forums and the odd auction site or two)

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:57 pm

I had a 21" blade on the GTi, but replaced it with a 20" - next time it's a return to 21" I think. Also, a good make of blade will help - I find the deflector types are good at speed too.

What make is best? Bosch - Halfords - Tescos

- or what????

BX Bandit · Post by **BX Bandit** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:10 pm

I've always like Bosch myself, and GSF used to them at £4 or £5 a throw, but they've gone up.
I then tried Tesco cheapo at about £2 but they rust up very quickly and don't fit the screen, so I tried their flexi fit jobbies, the modern things. They don't look as good as a traditional one IMO but they perform ok and cheap enough.
My theory on a BX wiper is that it does double the work of a twin blade set-up, so they don't seem to last too long anyway. So Tesco modern jobbies suit me well.

(Personally, I find Halfords very expensive!)

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:46 pm

Thanks for all the comments - I do agree that it would look slightly unlike a BX and I hope the thought of twin blades doesn't offend anyone - after all I'm sure we all agree that the BX is a very well designed and well built car.

Since the mid 70s I've found that mods to the wipers (mainly larger blades) can improve vision during rain and other muck. I agree with Roverman and Philip - 21" is a good sized blade to use on the BX - I've always used 22" (my current BX is my third TGD) but there are some disadvantages to this. Firstly the parking position is a dog to set up so that it parks neatly and doesn't slap the bottom of the windscreen - it's a slightly heavier blade and is more prone to do this. Second, Halfords don't expect you to fit this size of blade to this design of arm - so the adapter for this is not usually included so you have to use the old one. And it does miss a small arc on the nearside due to the curvature of the windscreen but the extra area of screen that is cleared of rain more than makes up for that.

I've just had to replace wiper blades on the Granny so I did what I always do (this is my 6th Granada Mk2 ! ) and replaced the 18" with 21" - the difference is staggering - I knew there was something wrong before

FredMrBX · Post by **FredMrBX** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:45 am

Did you already found your air intake grille?

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:40 pm

I have found one grille with the prospect of another one next June but if you have one spare then I'd be interested to buy it from you. There is only one part of the moulding designed for the wiper and I need 2 of them !

Thanks,
Brian.