Talking B____X

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:32 am

Yep. At least I recovered most of the costs. But agreed, someone did alright, if they have the facilities to break or repair it of course!

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 1:18 pm

That was a breaker - and I can't see that there'd be that much money in selling the parts when you consider the effort that would be needed to break, then store, market and deliver the parts.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 1:45 pm

I think it's sold for its engine tbh. I'll ask this evening what his intentions are. Seems an OK chap.

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:07 pm

What was the interior like? If the buyer has no use fot it, I'd be interested at the right price.

Cheers

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:47 pm

Anyone interested in bits I'll PM you his number.

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 7:54 pm

Please do

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:15 pm

I'm surprised you didn't post up the engine etc on a pug forum, you would have easily got more than what it sold for on e-bay, someone's got a right bargain. I wouldn't be surprised if suddenly a load of 16v parts suddenly start appearing on e-bay over the coming weeks

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:10 pm

In the end I couldn't be arsed. I don't argue that I might've got more, but I would've had to be offering the engine already out of the car. As it is, the car was worth maybe £300 on reflection, but times is hard and now I don't have to worry about it.

After all I didn't enter into this to make money. That might've been construed as cynical

As it is that car was a scrapper/breaker. At least the engine will live on - and some 16v bits will live on too although the guy is not interested in breaking it to sell bits on eBay. But if anyone needs his number let me know.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:10 am

Do you know what the new owner is planning on doing?

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:26 am

The idea is to rebuild the engine and put it into his Peugeot 205. What a surprise!

But it was interesting in a way to talk to someone who just could not see what could possibly be appealing about the BX. He told me his mates asked what he was picking up, and when he told them, they all said "what? don't know it" and when he said it was "the ugly one with trick suspension" they all knew

But in his favour, he did acknowledge the undoubted uniqueness and the fact it's pretty well equipped - as well being not much heavier than a 205 - and the fact he was afflicted with a similar Peugeot fixation!

He will save bits upon request; I did suggest he saved the alloys for instance (and he actually mentioned saving the HP pump). I said I would share his number with interested parties...

The thing is, at least the engine will live on, whereas the whole car was otherwise doomed, and I have made most of my outlay back. It was worth the effort.

Post by **Tim Leech** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:05 am

Sitting on wet grass for 5 years didnt do it any favours, it goes to show that BX's can look great up top but be a "pear" under neath.

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:24 am

Yes, they do hide it very well. Still, you'll have more of an idea where to check next time (if you're allowed!)

A bit of a shame but these things happen - hopefully a few 16v specific bits will be saved too.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:12 pm

Got the GTI up on ramps this morning and we spent a fair amount of time poking around (it had been steam cleaned for the MOT in September so was really clear of dirt, oil and stuff) and didn't find anything to be concerned about. which is great - no rusty holes confronting us and all the pipes look really good. The rubber pipes at the fuel pump will benefit from replacement, but that goes on the list for when the front brake discs, pads and ARB bushes get done next service.

So after that check the car's underside got a good spraying in all its nooks and crannies with Dennis' mix of oily gloop - just before the salt gets put on the roads here (cutting it fine this year!).

A couple of points though: the Auto box drain plug is rounded off badly, so I'll be contacting my local auto box specialist for that.... but this makes me wonder; I know the box has had two recent changes (as much as is practical to drain with each change) with DII, but is there anything else I could do on a preventative level to ensure the box doesn't expire? It's got nearly 220k miles on it...

Engine oil: It's had synthetic all its life, but over the last year it has seemed to burn a little (nothing too bad at all, but I am aware), so I took the decision to put a good quality 10/40 semi-synthetic in with the service today. Hope it works out OK. And I did put Tesco's 99 octane in the tank today too, so the car must sense it's being looked after!

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 4:09 pm

Philip Chidlow wrote:just before the salt gets put on the roads here (cutting it fine this year!).

Pah! It's positively tropical down there - the first gritting was back in October, and they're been out every night for the last few weeks, despite the temperatures only dropping below freezing on a handful of nights. I think they're being extra cautious ever since a bunch of cyclists were killed a few years back when a car skidded on an untreated road and the council got a lot of stick for it. Fair enough, it was a tragic event but I wish people would learn to drive in accordance with the conditions (and that includes not slowing to 15mph just because they can see a bit of slush on the verges!)

electrokid · Post by **electrokid** » Thu Nov 25, 2010 7:26 pm

Pah! It's positively tropical down there

Even so... snow tyres went on a couple of days ago. Finding a warm enough area to re-spray the wheeltrims wasn't easy.