Update on that free 19TGD, the 'Red Baron' as it has become known.
Went down to Kermit's place where we did a brief appraisal of what's good and what wasn't so good. The car is surprisingly solid and has certainly had money spent on it fairly recently with new (CX) front and accumulator spheres, some hose renewal, a new alternator and some other bits and bobs. The oil's pretty clean too. Within three hours the car sported a brand new cam belt. The old air cleaner apparatus has been discarded in favour of a Jetex cone filter and after some blatting around (after adding a few gallons of good quality diesel and a shot of Redex) this has revealed itself to be a bit of a rocket (in 19n/a terms!).
It's quick off the mark and responsive - makes a bit of an induction din, but hey. I managed an average of 61 mph the 98 miles back from Worthing to Chelmsford at what I guess might be around 45 mpg. On the exit from the M25 and onto the A12 it handled the 'do-or-die' lane dog-fighting with aplomb and I'm sure as I joined the A12 on a fast negative camber left-hander no diesel BX I've ever been in would've done it quicker and stayed on the road
A carefully applied load of Gun Gum means the downpipe will last a bit longer before needing replacing, and the rest of the exhaust is relatively new. Some repairs are needed to the n/s arch (much like Paul's Hurricane) but the rest seems all solid. The corroded fuel pipes will be protected with Waxoyl, but will need changing pre-Challenge.
Front discs and pads will also be changed before we take it to France. Rear arm bearings are fine and the ride is every bit as good as any other (Mk2) BX I've driven.
Cosmetically the car will be getting a new front bumper: the rear will come up OK. The paint is a bit patchy, but nothing a bit of appropriate cutting, polishing and waxing won't cure. The deepest scratch has now been touched in (EJX code red was mixed at Halfords - excellent job). The interior's dirty but OK, and the new driver's seat cushion (thanks Anne-Marie!) means the old worn one can donate its fabric to repairing the driver's seat side bolster. The original Blaupunkt Boston Radio/Cassette works as it should.
We managed to coax the sunroof open and now it works as it should, but cleaning the drain tubes proved inconclusive so we'll have to watch out when it rains. There's a nice new deflector fitted now.
The heater knob is stuck but the fan and ventilation dials work OK.
It needed new wiper blades but both the front and the rear wash/wipe functions work. The front wiper will get a refurbished motor as the spindle's very loose.
The front tyres are decent Goodyears but the rears are a mix: Firestone and something unheard of, so decent part worn Michies for the rear then.
Pictures to follow.