GT mediated Awesomeness

Tell us about life with your BX, or indeed life in general!
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saintjamesy89
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

mat_fenwick wrote:
saintjamesy89 wrote:I usually employ the one-foot-with-all-your-weight-on pushing down and pulling up with both hands on the other end. It works in loosening wheel nuts very well, but it also works very well in making you fall over and swearing!
Maybe pop a sturdy jack or axle stand under the other end - that way there's no give and you can apply maximum force, either by hand or by stamping on it.
Ah clever! I will have to see how much space there is in the garage, it's quite tight with a BX in there! But does sound like a good plan.

Sadly no GT work today, i've been asked to work 12-9 and i've not long woken up...
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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saintjamesy89
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Had an interview at Yeovil NHS Hospital. The post is Pharmacist assistant, and pay £14.5-17.3K. All they were asking for were good GCSE's but half of us there had degrees! It's a two part recruitment process, today was written, oral and practical examinations and a look around the departement etc and week after next will be formal interviews. 90 Applicants, 27 invited today and 13 turned up! All for one post...

I know it's very difficult to tell but I think I did rather well :) We had 4 tasks, an essay on why we would be good at the job, we had to check off a delivery and mark dates/batch numbers etc on the sheet, do an excel and word task (I was the only one in our group that finished it :D )and then an informal discussion about ourselves

It's a temporary post until 31st March 2013, but apparently there is scope for extension and an NVQ to become a technician etc. But, I want to be a clinical microbiologist. To do this i'll have to do the NHS' STP (Scintist Training Project), which is a training process over 3 years and you do a masters level degree at the same time. So after 3 years I will be a qualified Clinical Microbiologist (healthcare scientist) and can then practice at any healthcare institute. There is further scope to become a consultant and do a doctorate level project and training. The bonus is that while your training on the STP you're earning £25k :) it goes up when you finish the training too.

I'm also applying to other things, but this is plan A.

In other news, no GT progress... When I get paid on 3rd September i'm going to buy a breaker bar and sphere tool (also a BNIP set of GM mk2 astra specific mud flaps :) ) and should hopefully get some progress going! And the Astra is still very very shiny, the beauty of wax is that if it gets dirty, or rain marked - you can just wipe the dirt etc off with a buffing cloth, keeping the shine 8)
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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citsncycles
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by citsncycles »

Good luck on the job - sounds a promising start to the process at least!
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saintjamesy89
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Through to round 2 of interviews, Tuesday 4th. Fingers crossed! It'll be so nice to have a reliable, non-minimum wage job that is normal hours and not including weekends :D Although I might still do a few weekend days at the garden center for extra monies.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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Wooscary
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Wooscary »

Good luck!
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Mickey taker »

well done Tom , best of luck on the 4th
1991 BX Meteor 1.6

light travels faster than sound, thats why you look intelligent and then you spoil it all by opening your mouth !!!!!
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citsncycles
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by citsncycles »

..that_ [-o<
Mike Sims
BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
BX 4X4 Estate - Oh god, I've done it again!
BX 17RD MK1 - it called to me!
BX14 TGE, - SOLD
XM Turbo SD,GS Club Estate,Visa 17D Leader,HY Pickup,Dyane Nomad,Dyane 6,2CV AZL,Falcon S,Trabant P50,3x Land Rovers (88" series 1,109" series 2a FFR,series 2a Marshall ambulance),DKW F7, Lambretta LD150 x 1.5,Mobylette SP93,Ural Cossack,Ural M63,CZ 250 Sport,Honda Varadero 125,lots of bicycles & tricycles including (but not only) Sunbeams,Higgins & Bates!
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saintjamesy89
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1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Can anybody recommend a gearbox oil for my GT please? Castrol's website recommended it's Syntrax 75w90 Universal fully synthetic stuff. Also what's the capacity for the gearbox oil? Another question, shall I go for 10w40 or 15w40 engine oil? It's the same with the astra - opinions seem to vary which is better and I never remember which I last went for or how good it was!

Got paid today so have a list of things to buy...
  • 1. Sphere removal tool
    2. Breaker bar
    3. Water pump + cambelt tensioner
    4. Engine oil (decided to go for Castrol GTX 15W40)
    5. Antifreeze (need to do the astra's too)
    6. Gearbox oil (probably Castrol universal syntrans 75w90)
    7. LHM (where's the best/cheapest place to get it from? will try local motor factors)
    8. Brand new, in packaging GM mud flaps for the astra - not seen any genuine BNIB for sale at all in the last 3 years i've been looking! But there are some for sale on the astra forum.
After i've bought these bots I can crack on with getting her sorted! Cambelt first (alongside HP and aux belt) then the LHM and spheres I think followed by the other fluids.

Job interview went well I thought, will find out next week apparently. But have to wait for the CRB check to go through.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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Paul296
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Paul296 »

All the best with that job Tom - fingers crossed (not that I'm superstitious or anything) :D
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Tim Leech
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Tim Leech »

Good luck Tom!

Ken (where he is these days) put EP 80 in the DTR and it is nice and smooth.

Bear in mind a oil filter remover can also be used on Spheres and may prove useful in the future!

I do have a sphere tool, but its currently on "loan"
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Dollywobbler
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Dollywobbler »

Good luck.

I'd opt for 10w40 myself. Slightly thinner which will help with winter starting. Not a lot in it really. I've gone fancy and put some semi-synth in the Bluebird.

Malcolm Lockwood is pretty good for LHM. £4 a 1 litre bottle I think.
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Kitch »

In a car of that technology and that age, oil's oil! Cheap and frequently mate, that's all you need. Don't get sucked into Castrol branding. GTX is seriously basic stuff - unless you've got it for £8 a can of course!
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by Tim Leech »

As he says, just use a half decent quality semisynth, dont waste £40 on 5 litres of sooperdooper oil.

You should be able to get some perfectly suitable stuff for less than £20, the stuff I use is £11 a pop.
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citsncycles
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Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by citsncycles »

Malcolm Lockwood is pretty good for LHM. £4 a 1 litre bottle I think.
Yep, he'll be at the CXM aswell
Mike Sims
BX 19RD Estate Mk1 - Timex!
BX 4X4 Estate - Oh god, I've done it again!
BX 17RD MK1 - it called to me!
BX14 TGE, - SOLD
XM Turbo SD,GS Club Estate,Visa 17D Leader,HY Pickup,Dyane Nomad,Dyane 6,2CV AZL,Falcon S,Trabant P50,3x Land Rovers (88" series 1,109" series 2a FFR,series 2a Marshall ambulance),DKW F7, Lambretta LD150 x 1.5,Mobylette SP93,Ural Cossack,Ural M63,CZ 250 Sport,Honda Varadero 125,lots of bicycles & tricycles including (but not only) Sunbeams,Higgins & Bates!
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saintjamesy89
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198x Citroen BX16 TRS auto
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
1991 Saab 900 16v convertible
2007 Lexus RX 400h SE
x 123

Re: GT mediated Awesomeness

Post by saintjamesy89 »

Tim Leech wrote:Good luck Tom!

Ken (where he is these days) put EP 80 in the DTR and it is nice and smooth.

Bear in mind a oil filter remover can also be used on Spheres and may prove useful in the future!

I do have a sphere tool, but its currently on "loan"
Ah, I have an oil filter remover, but it's not the chain type - it's the rotating 4 arm jobbie. So I guess it'll probably not work, spheres being spherical and all :lol:

Cheapy it is then! On that note, does CCC membership allow us to get citroen main stealers parts at trade prices? The astra mk2 club allows us to do this, so 5L of GM 10w40 semi is about £7 8) Anyone know where Malcolm is based, or if he'll post?

Thanks for the crossed fingers and luck - it'll be so nice to have a job with daytime hours, a respectable and regular income and no weekend work!

EDIT: duuuh, what's stopping me using GM 10w40 in the GT? Not alot! Same goes for gear oil I suppose if we can't get citroen trade prices.
I'm not a Saint, or a James, but a Tom Saint-James!

Mes voitures:
1985 Citroen BX19 GT
1988 Volvo 740 2.0 GL Hearse
2006 Lexus RX 400h SE hybrid
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