Mat's BX Blog

[mat_fenwick]

If it's any consolation the Focus is leaking too, into the right rear footwell! Discovery, van and MINI all watertight though, and hopefully the BX will be too once I seal up the roof seams. Unlike the house:



Fortunately we caught it before the water rose any further, and unblocked the drain so it could escape.

I'd dropped a few hints to Lana before Christmas about an Optimate/CTEK type charger, that I could use to keep the van batteries topped up over winter while we're not using it. Well, she didn't get me one of those. But bought me something better! It's got two 25 Amp outputs, which are independently voltage and current controlled for charging each leisure battery, plus a 1 Amp output for keeping the starter battery topped up.

So it will easily cope with overwintering, but also if we are on holiday and not travelling much, a quick charge for an hour or so will put a reasonable amount back into the batteries. I wired it all in this evening and all seems to work well! It even has a temperature sensor, as the ideal float voltage for lead acid batteries varies slightly with temperature. It's quite handy being married to an engineer



Tucked away under the passenger seat:


Wiring starting to look a little complicated now!

[mds141]

You got a flux capacitor in there as well Mat?

[Mickey taker]

You don't honestly think Mats camper could ever hit 88 mph do you Mark !!!

[citsncycles]

Bloody Hell - a water tight Disco! That's a rare motor you got there!!!

[Defender110]

Bloody Hell - a water tight Disco! That's a rare motor you got there!!!

He's spent the last 6 months welding all the door shuts closed

[mat_fenwick]

That's a rare motor you got there!!!

Probably unique!

Back onto the BX, it's been drying out in the garage for the last week so I planned to make a start on sealing the roof trims today. Sadly the metal was still too damp to use sealant, due to the humid atmosphere. I did take off the roof rails and clean out the seam though, and in doing so made an interesting discovery.

On the passenger side there has always been a spot of rust where the roof level rises. I've dabbed at it with rust converter and paint for the last 8 years but never did anything about it properly. I decided to wire brush it back to good metal and found there was actually a crack there:


A quick bead of weld will hopefully seal it (had to be careful not to damage the trim).


Ground back to reasonably flush with the roof...


...and a coat of zinc rich primer to protect for now until the weather improves:


I've seen another estate with rust there on both sides, so I wonder if it is a weakness of the shell that they crack at that point?

[barry badger]

I've had two 19rd estates both of which were cracked there (i never did anything with the cracks and they never went any worse), they were both very high mileage so it could well have been due to stress. They were both dry inside though. None of my current fleet have cracks in the roof.

[mat_fenwick]

Both mine and the other one I saw the rust on are 200k+ mile cars, so that makes sense. I don't think that is the cause of the leak though, as it's nowhere near big enough to get a significant amount of rainwater through it.

In other news Lana seems to be suffering from Norovirus, so it's probably only a matter of time before I get it too. Oh joy.

[Mickey taker]

I think Lana's given it to me Mat, not nice

[Caffiend]

Before you can't move more than 10 seconds away from the nearest, um, facilities, get yourself to the chemist and buy some Dioralyte. Fantastic stuff for keeping hydrated and not feeling worse than you have to. Good luck. You'll need it.

[Dollywobbler]

And wash hands as often as you can bear. It's transmitted by contact, not airborne. She has my sympathies. So much of it about.

[mat_fenwick]

Well, without wanting to tempt fate it looks like she might be over the worst and I'm still OK. She's not thrown up today and even made it from the bed to the sofa!

In the meantime I've sealed up the roof trims on the BX. I've only got black Sikaflex (221) so used that with the intention of painting it red once set. But actually a black line looks rather neat. I'll see how it looks once the roof rails are back on but may leave it as it is.



Will have to sort out the paint around the window frames soon though!

[mat_fenwick]

Roof rail now back on, and I can't be bothered to paint the sealant - looks fine as it is anyway!

[Dollywobbler]

Let us know whether that cures it. Might face a similar job on the Green Tiger. Both mine need door window frame paint too. I've got some black Rustoleum, but I don't think it'll give the right finish. Not that it really matters given than the paint on both of mine is generally awful...

[electrokid]

Sorry to hear about Lana, hope she gets well soon - I can concur from a bout I had a couple of years ago - Dioralyte is definitely the way to go.

So... cracks in the roof - not looked at mine but I have had a damp seatbelt from time to time - is there any way to remove the fibreglass trim so I can have a closer look ?

I found water on the driver's floor mat yesterday so I guess I've found the leak that's causing wet floors front and rear OS in the BX - looks like windscreen - and the Granada seems to have a blocked sunroof drain nothing's dry around here !