The 16v.....twenty-twelve

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Kitch
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The 16v.....twenty-twelve

Post by Kitch »

Well life with the BX has started again - I taxed it last night! It's going to be a hectic year for me, but there are few events during the year I intend on attending.

First thing I had to do was get the car onto the rolling road we installed last year at work. I've only ever put the Saxo VTR (honest) and Picasso on it, and being I took the BX to a local RR place who don't have a great rep last year and getting some silly unrealistic result (176.2bhp!) I was keen to pop it on a set that I know aren't fudged.....because I'm the operator!
Flywheel figures on rolling road dynos are only ever an estimate - the wheel figure is the only truely accurate one. I did two runs, one with the Superchip it (used to) have fitted, and one without.

Run with:

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Run without:

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The clue is in that dip in torque at around 3000rpm. The graph isn't cali'd to show it yet, but on the AFR readings the mixture leaned right out to dangerous levels (around 17.5-18.0 AFR) before richening back up too much until around 6500rpm, which was the only point the mixture was right. So whoever mapped that chip basically had know idea what they were doing! Results were broadly similar, but I'd been wondering for some time whether that chip was crap or not.....seems it was.

Results weren't clear cut to decipher though; 133hp at the wheels isn't too bad at all, and using the standard calculations (which you can do on a calculator) the result is 159bhp, which I'd be happy with as it shows the engine is in good health. However, the corrected figure of 144bhp isn't great, and this figure is normally more accurate is takes into account wheel slip, ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure.......it gets boring but you get the idea!

No excuses to hand at this moment. I think the front tyres only have around 20psi in them and the tracking is miles out, so there would have been a bit more drag then normal :lol: I'm going to sort the tracking out, pump the tyres up and have another go. I'll film that one too.

Today's job was to sort out the driver's door moulding, which has come unstuck and tends to jam against the wing meaning you have to slide out of an opening about 50mm wide!

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Turns out the door has a fair amount of surface rust and the mouldings on the 16v are held on with a blob of mastick at each end with trim tape along the middle. The rust was under both blobs of mastic, but only severe enough to have it come away at the front end.

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Lots of rubbing down ensued before caking it in Kurust and leaving it overnight in the workshop.

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I'll fill it tomorrow, let that harden, rub it back, prime it, rub it back and paint it. I know it doesn't need to be perfect under there as it's hidden, but I see it as a good excuse to practice getting a nice finish with a rattle can! I might have a bash at the skirts and valances if it comes out ok. I'm not quite a full respray stage yet, but having to polish it to keep it red annoys the shit out of me as I don't like cleaning cars. Bores me to tears if I'm honest - I can probably stomach up enough enthusiasm to do a car once a year. Besides, I don't have time!

While I was doing the door (and seeing as every bloody product under the sun needs to be left ages before the next stages) I noticed the rear C-pillar isn't looking too clever, and have seen (someone who I can't remember's name, but it was on a Hurricane) do a quick fix with filler with good results I thought why not? It's not holed yet so it'll buy me some time. So I started that too:

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And that's as far as I've got today. Gotta get it ship-shape (within reason) - I'm getting married in a week and a half and need it ready for then!
:lol:
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citsncycles
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Post by citsncycles »

Looks like you caught that lot just in time!

With the preventative work you're doing before the filling it should be a good long time before it needs more work.
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Post by saintjamesy89 »

On your work rolling road do you do private runs? Would be nice to have my GT and my astra on there to see what they're putting out.

Who'd thought there would be that much rust under a door moulding?! I know side skirts usually give issues with rust, but i'd never though door mouldings would...

I've been liking the look of valvers more and more lately, especially if it were a P1 in black. Perhaps I should just go for all performance models? I'm very keen on P1 8v's too (but only with those cool wheel trims), an autobox would be good on an 8v in my head for some reason. That'd be a nice view at a show! GT, then GTi P1 8v and P1 16v 8)
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Post by Paul296 »

Really nice work - looks great! I did my door shuts over 6 months ago now (on the Hurricane) and they're still solid as a rock - although I do keep a weather eye on them - yer never know!. Do you know if those air vents on the C-pillar can be removed? I'd like to refurb mine but think they might be mastic-ed in and not removable?
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Post by Kitch »

Mike:

It's not a perfect fix as I'd cut it out and weld some tin in there and then fill it, but doors aren't exactly hard to source and time isn't that plentiful at the moment so I'm hoping this'll hold for a while. Once I've filled and sanded it I'll use some zinc primer on the bare metal. I've gone all tarty with it, keeping it in my garage (which has a dehumidifier) so hopefully I won't have to do this door again - just other three at some point!

GT guy: Yeah we do private stuff mainly, tuning, mapping and health checks are what it's about. I did make noises about organising a BX Club RR day but got next to fuck all back on it! :lol: I guess you don't really buy a BX for power! But it's good in terms of checking the condition of your engine. We're going to do a min-restoration on my Dad's GT in the next month or so (it's very similar to yours) and the first thing I'll do is RR it to see what state the engine's in and if it warrants rebuilding it.
I also like the look of the 16v, probably more so than a regular BX. I'd never class a BX as a good-looking car in the way an Alfa 156 or 205GTi is, but I definately like the looks.
I personally would only really class the 16v as a performance model. The GTi makes a good tourer (the 16v really doesn't!), but the GT also does the tourer role well and with more character than either a GTi or a 16v. The 16v is the only out & out model built where speed is highly important IMO. And perhaps the 4TC :lol:
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Post by Kitch »

Paul296 wrote:Really nice work - looks great! I did my door shuts over 6 months ago now (on the Hurricane) and they're still solid as a rock - although I do keep a weather eye on them - yer never know!. Do you know if those air vents on the C-pillar can be removed? I'd like to refurb mine but think they might be mastic-ed in and not removable?
You're the guy who did his! I remember now :lol:

The vents on the C-pillars can be removed, but they're a real bastard to get off, but I have managed it. Eventually when I start repainting bits of it I'll whip em out and get them powder coated in black, or even do them in POR15 if I can get it to run thin enough. if it proves to be ages before that happens I'll mask up and stone chip 'em.
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Post by Mike E (uk) »

To get the showroom figure on a 20 year old engine is a good result.

I am interested in an RR session, would like to check both my cars.
Fareham is easy to get to from here.

The BX16V is a good touring car, but only after gearbox mods coz it simply revs too high at motorway speeds to be comfortable.

Mike
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Post by Paul296 »

Kitch wrote:The vents on the C-pillars can be removed, but they're a real bastard to get off, but I have managed it. Eventually when I start repainting bits of it I'll whip em out and get them powder coated in black, or even do them in POR15 if I can get it to run thin enough. if it proves to be ages before that happens I'll mask up and stone chip 'em.
What's 'POR15'? I masked mine off, rubbed them down and repainted with stone chip paint (the previous owner had hand painted them with gold gloss enamel - yes, GOLD! :shock:) the surface of the enamel paint means the new paint peels periodically - I figured the vents might be an arse to get off - look's like I was right!
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Post by mat_fenwick »

It's an overpriced paint that you can put on over rust, and peels off in the areas that weren't rusty. I used one tin about 10 years back and as you may be able to tell, wasn't impressed. Others may have had better results?

Rust cures/preventions are a bit like engine oils and tyre choice - everyone has their own ideas on what's best! With that in mind, have you thought about a cold galvanising coating such as Zinga or Galvafroid, rather than just a zinc rich primer.

I'm interested in the rolling road, just a shame you live so far away!
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Post by saintjamesy89 »

Your dad is Arctic steel on here isn't he? I remember his GT being the same colour as mine. Would be great to come and have a RR session for the astra and GT in the summer, like July/August time, especially if I could have a perv at your dad's GT at the same time! How much would it cost?
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

saintjamesy89 wrote:Your dad is Arctic steel on here isn't he?
:lol: :lol: :lol: I wasn't aware of this :lol:
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Post by mat_fenwick »

:lol: :lol: :lol: :rofl:
I don't think Andy is aware of it either!
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Post by Kitch »

:o My mum's got some explaining to do......
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Post by Tim Leech »

saintjamesy89 wrote:Your dad is Arctic steel on here isn't he? I remember his GT being the same colour as mine. Would be great to come and have a RR session for the astra and GT in the summer, like July/August time, especially if I could have a perv at your dad's GT at the same time! How much would it cost?
Lol erm no its baldbazza! :wink:
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Post by Kitch »

Mike E (uk) wrote:To get the showroom figure on a 20 year old engine is a good result.

I am interested in an RR session, would like to check both my cars.
Fareham is easy to get to from here.

The BX16V is a good touring car, but only after gearbox mods coz it simply revs too high at motorway speeds to be comfortable.

Mike
It's not strictly a showroom figure though - the engine measured figure is based on the resistance measured in the coastdown only. The correct figure is technically more accurate, though neither can be classed as fact. You'd need to bolt the engine to a dyno directly to measure that. But 133whp is good enough in my book. It feels like a quick 16v, which is what matters to me. I've had some before which felt sluggish compared with this.
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