Mat's BX Blog

[Defender110]

Definitley the dreaded once the seam sealer starts bleading like that there will be some welding required. Use a heat gun to peal off the seam sealer Mat and catch it now before a major inner wing repair is required. It's much better than most though a very nice example in my favourite spec.

P.S. I have a spare hubcap somewhere if you can't find one mate.

[Defender110]

Same here, I think you will be very suprised to see what likes under the seam sealer and behind the plastic inner wing where this little blead is starting to show through.

[mat_fenwick]

I've just had a look, and you're right The metal adjacent to the seam sealer appears to be OK, but I can well imagine welding being required once that is removed. The decision then is whether to go to town on it, do everything I find that needs doing and sell it as a fully sorted (albeit not pristine) BX? Or do what's needed for the MOT, and niggly things like blower motor etc, then just advertise it honestly so any prospective buyer can see what's required in the long run?

I'm erring towards the latter, as time spent on this is time not welding the red one (or working on the house ), although I can't do that until the donor panel arrives. Annoyingly the relevant panel on the white one is excellent! But the old cliché springs to mind that it's much too good to scrap, which is the reason I bought it in the first place

[Dollywobbler]

I think you're right with your limited work plan, otherwise the ecomonics just won't stack up. Get it road legal, then sell it to someone else as their long-term project. Not like they'll have to tackle that work immediately.

[Tim Leech]

I think the latter is probably best, not many people buy a 19TGD estate to use as a show car (although by the looks of it it would clean up very well indeed), if you get it solid and relaible then let the next owner improve on it if they choose.

[Vanny]

Given your competency and experience, you'd be able to weld up both corners in a day! Although common, i know rusty wings put a lot of people off buying a BX. It's the fear that it will cost a lot to fix, even though it is arguably the easiest bit of a BX to work on (especially with no ABS!).

I guess it would be worth an extra £100 on the asking price which would help to cover the days work?

[mat_fenwick]

You could be right, but I think I'll get an MOT first (and sort the red one!) before spending lots of time on it. I got the heater working last night (hence the Tech FAQ write up), and bonded both headlamp lenses back on. Also replaced a few dash bulbs.

[mat_fenwick]

And in other news I got some new tyres fitted to the Focus at the weekend (annoyingly eating into the BX road tax fund ) and seeing as it's supposed to be the winter hack I fitted some winter tyres. Now that tyres have ratings it's easier to pick purely on performance rather than brand or price. I went for some bizarrely named Star Performer offerings from China, whose only downside seemed to be poor fuel consumption. The Fuelly figures should show this, as I filled up only 10 miles before fitting them. I wasn't that impressed with the quality, as they needed a comical number of weights to get them to balance, but they seem round enough and don't vibrate yet!

There's been a bit of snow the past two mornings, so I got a chance to try them in the white stuff! It's the first time I've tried them on a vehicle I know - fair enough it was comparing them to well worn summer tyres, and only a thin layer of slushy stuff but I couldn't get them to break away. I even overtook someone gingerly making their way along, very impressive. Time will tell whether they last, and what they are like in normal use but they don't feel bad so far (I'm not pushing them as I want them to last!) Maybe slightly more squirmy, but liveable with.

[MULLEY]

I suspect that even cheap chinese winter tyres would out perform any expensive summer tyres in those conditions. What would be interesting is to see how much better a good quality winter tyre is compared to the cheaper one's? I know of very few people who've had winter tyres & then can live without them, they really are that good, i've been super impressed with mine.

[Paul296]

but they seem round enough.

Yep, the only question I ask myself when purchasing tyres; 'do they seem round enough?'

[hilarystone]

I 've had sets of Vredestein Snowtrac 3 winter tyres fitted to both the CX Ambulance and the 16V. On the CX they have been superb both in the snow we have had and on wet roads offering great grip. Last weekend we came back over B4560 from Llangynidr after an inch of snow had laid. Other cars were picking their way over at 10–20mph but the CX felt really stable with lots of grip at 30–40mph.

But on the 16V the Vredesteins were altogether different feeling very edgy and I took them off within a couple of weeks of fitting them – they will be for sale at the beginning of next winter... I also fitted a set of Michelin Alpin A4s to the Xantia Activa and they have been great especially in standing water, much better than even really good summer tyres. Both lots of wheels with winter tyres will be removed and replaced with summer tyres in the next couple of weeks.

[MULLEY]

I'd keep them fitted, i've heard more snow is on its way Strange about the vredesteins, perhaps they just didn't suit the bx for some reason?? Still better than summer tyres though

[mat_fenwick]

I did read that if you were to only have one set of tyres all year round, winter tyres in summer would be less of a compromise than the other way round. But obviously if you already have summer wheels, there's no point not fitting them.

Managed to make some progress on the red BX this evening (as well as re-sealing the shower enclosure in the house) by cleaning up the rust in the C pillar seam I split some weeks ago. I gave it all a coat of Deox gel, so hopefully I'll be able to weld it back up again soon. I also stripped down the rear brakes on that side to make sure the pads can move smoothly. Found some rear spheres for the white one too

[mat_fenwick]

The tyre fitter did seem a bit surprised that someone was fitting winter tyres at the end of March, but I think I made a wise choice! My route back from work is quite exposed, and the drifts had got fairly deep.





If I hadn't cashed in the tax on the Discovery I'd have taken that, but thought snow wouldn't be an issue in March I still reckon that has better traction AND grip, but that could be down to the extra weight cutting through the snow more. Either way I'm well happy with the tyres - just hope they wear OK.

[mds141]

The extra weight isn't always an advantage in the snow Mat. I remember coming down the hill just past Wrexham Ind Est in the artic running at the full 44 tonnes. I didn't dare touch the service brakes and relied solely on the exhaust brake. Imagine my surprise when I looked in my door mirror and saw the trailer starting to swing round. Definitely a brown trouser moment!