BX Club Forum

I need a sticker saying

"yes, I know you haven't seen one of these in ages."

Someone said that to me today!

Have you done your stickering yet?

Doing another 6 day stint(can't seem to turn down overtime). If it decides to stop persisting it down I'll get stickered up on my remaining two days off. As well as all the other things I need to get done.

I'll try to take a picture of the 'good' side tomorrow - something tells me I'm not going to get the passenger side finished before we go

I'm a little amazed to be honest... Since putting the stickers all over the BX I have had thumbs up from blokes who probably wouldn't really give me the time of day - and most pleasing of all (and being completely honest) I've had several young kids - between say 3 and 7 years old - just wave and smile at the car as it chugs past while their oblivious parents busy themselves with pushchairs and shopping etc. ...It's lovely.

Well this is it's good side:



I will fit my newly sprayed front wing this weekend, and it needs a good polish, but other than that this side of the car is about done for now. How close to this the other side will look remains to be seen.

Philip Chidlow wrote:I'm a little amazed to be honest... Since putting the stickers all over the BX I have had thumbs up from blokes who probably wouldn't really give me the time of day - and most pleasing of all (and being completely honest) I've had several young kids - between say 3 and 7 years old - just wave and smile at the car as it chugs past while their oblivious parents busy themselves with pushchairs and shopping etc. ...It's lovely.

'like'

Philip Chidlow wrote:... several young kids - between say 3 and 7 years old - just wave and smile at the car as it chugs past

Sweet - BXC the next generation?

Mike, will you be stickering the GS at all?

I've just stickered up my 16V today – as it was tipped to be the only dry day for the next few days. I must admit I struggle with this sort of task and am not especially pleased with how well I managed. But the bonnet chevrons went on OK which was I thought the hardest to get right but some of the other ones have rather too many creases in though they look OK from a distance…




And have today booked the hotels… And ordered the Swiss Vignette. Can someone give me any advice on what CB to get? Its totally outside my experience.

Wow, that looks superb!

CB:

From the BXagon times...

A quick dummy's guide to CB  for participants.

Equipment required.

A CB radio, this should come with a power lead and a microphone.
All CBs  work the same way. Only a basic set is required, some CBs are very expensive but are intended for enthusiast long distance communication, not short range inter-car chat as required here. I expect that a single channel will be chosen as the default for the duration of the trip, so we know where to call and listen.

Our CBs need to cover the 40 channels which are legal to use in France ( These channels are legal to use in the UK too )
The in car 'Mobile' type is best, hand held radios are tricky to use in cars.

Radios which are suitable use FM, and the  ' MID band  ' channels. Newer radios are marked 'CEPT' or '40 EU' or '80 channel UK/EU'

(not suitable: some older CB sets are AM only, and cannot receive or transmit FM signals. Other sets are type UK CB 27/81 and type MPT 1382 and though these are FM, , do not cover the 'MID band' (unless they have been modified aftermarket). Some sets have a switch to select AM or FM, these are suitable if they cover the 'MID band'.

If you have any doubt if a radio you wish to buy is suitable, email me with the type and I will check for you.

Expect to pay about £20-30 on ebay for a 1980s set, up to £50 for a modern set.


Here is a list of suitable radios:

MIDLAND 121 multi
MIDLAND 78 98 48
TTI TCB-660
DANITA 3000 80 channel
Commtron 8 AM/FM

there are lots more.

Antenna.
A magnetic mounting type is the easiest to use. As a rule, the longer the antenna, the better the range, and the bigger the diameter of the magnetic mount, the more secure it is on the car.
Plonk the mount in the middle of the roof,and run the cable through the gap at the top of the hatchback.
Do not transmit on a CB without a suitable antenna connected, you may damage the transmitter output components.
If you have a BX without a sun roof, you may be happy to cut a hole in the roof for the antenna. This is the best installation method, but if you only want CB for 2 weeks, a magmount is less bother.
It is best to buy a new magmount, these deteriorate if left on a car long term, and you don't want an annoying intermitttant antenna fault.
CPC.co.uk are currently selling a magmount for £5.50 and a suitable whip antenna to fit it for £9 (+VAT) This is a very good deal.

Power.
You can simply stick a fag lighter plug on the power cable (CBs only use about 1Amp maximum) But these connectors do tend to fall out easily, so I recommend running a wire either to the rear of the lighter socket and fixing it securely, or better still running a wire to the battery and fusing it there at the +ve terminal.

It is worthwhile fixing the CB so it is not loose in the car. It is tricky changing channels if it is not fixed, and the wires can get broken if they get pulled around.
The passenger side of the centre consule in the BX is a good place to fit the mounting bracket of the CB to.

Range.
3 to 5 miles is typical between two cars. In open country side it can be much further.
Ignition interference on receive can reduce range, oil burning BXs have an advantage here as they have no ignition sparks.
If you have a faulty HT lead, you will hear it clicking away on top of a week signal.

To check if a channel is in use, you can listen for a while on the channel before transmitting, if all is quiet it is probably free to use.
Or simply ask 'is this channel in use, please?' CB use is not very common nowadays, so I doubt if finding a clear channel will be a problem.

I haven't put any stickers on mine yet, but I have mounted the CB. Not wanting to drill any extra holes I was reluctant to mount it to the dash or centre console. Last time I simply gaffer taped it to the passenger sun visor, and then taped that to the grab handle to keep it in position; this time I've gone for a (slightly!) more fixed approach.



I've got a sheet of aluminium with a slot cut across one end, which I've then jubilee clipped to the grab handle. The CB is taped to the sheet. It wobbles a bit, but not as much as I'd expected. For the power connection I've simply taken a feed from the map light, which is ignition controlled - fitting piggyback connectors to keep the original wiring intact.

I should point out that I'll be travelling solo...

Mike, will you be stickering the GS at all?

A set of challenge stickers will be waiting for me in France, although I'll be cheating with the bonnet one and putting it on a piece of magnetic sheet.

More important is the ongoing mechanical work - the rear spheres were recharged today at Tony Weston's, but unfortunately they found the triax on the passenger side to be badly worn. Luckily I have spares so have dropped them down there and hopefully it'll be sorted tomorrow

hilarystone wrote:

Another stunna!

I'm not generally a fan of red (although I have owned a Venetian pink BX) - but these two might convert me!

Can't wait to see the others, and pix taken during the event. I bet a group of them will be huge crowd-pullers.

Hi Mat
Thanks for the heads up on the power supply I was wondering where the nearest power to the passengers side sunvisor area was.
That will save a lot of time on Tuesday when Phil C gets here.
Might weather permitting fit Phils old radio and CD changer so we can have some serious sound's for the trip.
I have to say Hilary the 16V looks superb stickered up I hope I don't get in the wrong car what with Phil C's and Mike E's as wel 3 very red cars with identical Stickering it could get confusing