Citroen Ax Project (16v Hybrid Conversion)

[Rusty_Pug]

This project was introduced by Chompy_Snake but thought as its my car I'd open a new thread which I can include everything on myself. Here I have my Citroen Ax Spree 5 door (of course) 954cc running a MA4 (4 speed manual) gearbox. Its 20 years old (older than myself) and its a very nice green colour the Citroen thought was stylish in the late 80's and early 90's...  

This little go kart was purchased for £200, which is cheap to say that the numbers of Ax's are now dropping very quickly. I bought it from Warrington. I knew I was buying it before we got there, it was a 5 door... green... Citroen Ax which every 19 year old lad wants to buy as there 10th car...

We travelled there in a Lexus LS400 (4.0 v8.... not the cheapest lift I've ever had) but I bet you can guess which car made it back first... ME! of course because I was the one with the sat nav so had to be in front and wouldn't let the Lexus past me!

It cost me £50 to insure the Ax for 24 hours... which I used every minute of

The night I brought the Ax I took it down to the local Tesco... People laughed at me which was the aim of going there in the first place... sat there in my Ax revving the beefy 954cc engine I showed everyone how quick... or slow the Ax actually were by ragging it through Tesco in only first gear... 0-30 in about 5 seconds
So everyone in there Honda Civic Type R's, the Corsa VXR's and the other over-rated (so called) fast cars saw how awesomely slow the Ax is, all I have to do now is build the Ax, take it back down... do the same again and see the difference in there facial expressions, ask them for a race (not on public roads of course) and then laugh at me afterwards... Well that's the plan anyway...

Here is the build so far...

The Ax as it was when I first bought it...


 
Front end stripped down ready for the engine change...

Peugeot Series 1 (S1) Rallye Seats and 4 Point Sparco Harnesses... Stripped out the rear seats and plastics but not the door cards as the weigh nothing anyway





Found the engine for the car, 1.6 16v JP4 engine from a Peugeot 206cc with 90,000 miles



Started the 4 stud conversion on the back which was as easy as changing the back plates and drums from my old quicksilver, the front is simply putting the quicksilver suspension legs onto the Ax but keeping the Ax top mounts



Uprated speakers were a must because I couldn't put the stereo above volume 10 without it crackling





I looked around forever looking for the wheels I wanted to go onto the Ax... something never done before, something people wouldn't believe, something no one would expect... I went for the Porsche 924 Tarantula's



Boss Kit and Steering Wheel was then changed... which I need to replace with a deep dish but this one will do for the time being



I purchased the j4 engine parts I needed for the Hybrid Engine... a few more parts are needed but got most of what is needed so far...





The new head was placed in position to make sure it actually fitted correctly and the rear engine mount from the VTR was grinded back to fit clear the head...



Snug fit now after some grinding...



Engine ready for new timing belt, tensioners, water pump, head bolts and whatever else I end up doing (having a full rebuild basically)



That is the build so far...

On the to-do list... Get the tired, old and small 954cc engine out the Ax
                              Build the new engine and get it nice and shiny
                              All new tyres on the alloys after being refurbed and painted
                              Clean up the Engine Bay!
                              Patch up any rust (none so far)
                              Get the wiring loom built

                              New engine into the car ready for wiring
                              Get the engine wired up

                              First start up

                              First test Drive

                              Have some fun on the road!!!

                             
Any information you know of that would help with the build is much appreciated!


I will post updates as the build goes on but due to the weather recently and my finances being S*** the build is slow but progress is being made...
                             


 

[dave21478]

When I used to do trackdays at Knockhill, the car that was consistently the fastest was an AX. It was running a Saxo VTS engine on throttle bodies and slick tyres. Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING could keep up with it. Granted the guy knew the track well, but that car was untouchable, much to the annoyance of those in more powerful cars.

[Station]

I would love an AX with a VTS engine etc. Dugong's garage mate has one.

[PiperCub]

Bet that really upset the cheque-book heroes crowd, all the gear, no idea! (I'll take it for granted this included the local Lotus Elise superheroes)

 

Let me guess, when they got the smug arses handed to them by 'Some crappy French PoS', did they cite any of the following as an excuse? Brake fade, duff quality fuel, over fuelling injectors, ECU fault, suspension set-up. The list is long...............

[beko1987]

Nice work, wish I could do half of this stuff!

 

I should probably own an ax at some point, and a xantia and bx. Then I can say I've had the full range of early 90s Citroen!

[overrun]

There used to be a pretty prolific AX around these parts, maybe 10 years ago.

GT shell, with a twin-upswept centre exit DTM and rumoured to be running a BX GTi engine.

 

Dunno what it was (suspecting Saxo), but it didn't hang about.

 

Good luck with it, but I would lose the harnesses and refit the back seats, personally.

[UltraWomble]

I seem to have wandered into an edition of Max Power... Actually it takes me back to my yoof but of course then it was all about putting Austin 1100 engines into 998cc minis and lobbing on twin carbs. Rebuilding a donkey on a mucky garage floor - repseckt. Im sure this will be lunacy once finished, but most of the fun is in the fettling. Enjoy.

 

Having a 1500 dizzler AX in Forest Green I can safely say that though they feel like they are made out of tin foil they are quite robust and fun to drive. Front after market driveshafts seem to be made out of cheesium though and last only nanoseconds before clonking again.

[vulgalour]

You forgot to mention the original AX engine has OMGHGF and the tyres on those Porsche wheels are destined for a Princess.  These are important and salient points on this forum.

[ruffgeezer]

You need to swap the whole beam as the ax one won't have the anti roll bar in it, an will probably have torsion bars like cocktail sticks. what you have done will work but will handle badly.

 

I'll dredge up my ax posts later,I've had a 5 door vts and 5 door vtr, I've also got a few spare bits still.

[Bren]

Did a double take on seeing you with the grinder.

 

Thought it was an autoshite head skim....

[vulgalour]

Skimming a head with an angle grinder, WCPGW?

[New POD]

Apart from the interior shit that you have removed, and worse shit that you have added, I'm incredibly impressed.  Had you keep the interior standard, I'd be MORE impressed.

 

I have AX form.

 

Firstly my best man, (now a Chartered Engineer at Rolls Royce designing aero engines), had an AX GT, which he sold a P6 to buy, and which then had head gasket followed by terminal engine failure.  He found a 1.1 engine in a scrap yard, and threw that in, and flogged it.  Whether he told them it had half the power it should have I have no idea, but he was always a bit of a twat.

 

Then I had a 1.4 AX D with GT wheels. I had to jack the rear arches out so the wheels did not fail. I fitted big spot lights, with one relay and one fuse per light (as you do), and spent 5 years trying to destroy it. No luck. In the end I got so bored of it I px'd it at a dealer for a mk3 astra saloon.

[the judge]

Yoinks!! U have skillz for a young dude. Round of applause for you!! That is gonna be fast as fook

[tooSavvy]

Skimming a head with an angle grinder, WCPGW?

 

 

Cams + Grinder dust + Trainers ...... Hola!

 

TS 

[ruffgeezer]

Here is the thread for my Ax Vts:

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/12564-grannies-shopping-trolley-ax-vts-content/

 

 

This is the Ax VTR I built for £80 (including buying the car!)

http://www.pistonheads.com/Gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1471838&mid=0&nmt=As+an+aside%3B+in+relation+to+Smurfs+(1994+Ax+debut)

 

 

[Rusty_Pug]

Thank you all for the comments!!

And yes the head skim will need doing soon, need to get head gasket cut out yet but cardboard box is still in the loft

Ruff geezer I will look at them later on once I have access to a computer, as it stands Im hoping for about 130bhp before cams or anything like that with the hybrid engine, been told they perform very well with the correct gearbox, etc and when it's finished it will be put on the rolling road to see what it will pulling

Oh and the axle 4 stud conversion... I have a spare axle so that will be going on complete with new brake lines as there butchered

[Rusty_Pug]

Head gasket made...
 

Head skimmed and polished up abit
 

 

More to come soon

next couple of weeks and i'll have the cambelt (shit loads of rubber bands) with tensioners (used), a water pump and the clutch (couple of hour in the scrapyard, should find one)




 

[Pete-M]

Why take the seats out?

 

Everything else, fair enough. Removing the seats I don't get. It's a 5dr ffs. AX seats weigh less than an anorexic's fart. All removing them does is make the car louder and shitter.

[320touring]

Why take the seats out?

 

Everything else, fair enough. Removing the seats I don't get. It's a 5dr ffs. AX seats weigh less than an anorexic's fart. All removing them does is make the car louder and shitter.

Cos its his car and money and he can do as he pleases?

 

Everyone here likes different things, open mind, empty wallet ftw!

[Rusty_Pug]

The seats will be going back in, I have decided to go back to the original look of the car looking standard with alloys on it
and then use the rallye seats and harnesses for santa pod and track days
 

It wasn't going to be a daily use but now I decided I will be able to do both 

£1600 is the cheapest quote for the insurance... on a modified car scheme with the engine and other modifications declared. I'm 19, had my licence just over a year, 1 years no claims and 3 points for speeding (SP30)... with everything declared including the fact its a hybrid engine... this is pretty cheap.... and also any other modifications I do will cost me £25 extra after the policy has started to cover admin costs, this is with Adrian Flux and is Fully Comp with key cover, window screen cover, courtesy car and all the added extra's  
they know the Ax is a classic car now but cant give me classic insurance due to my age but because its a classic it brought the quote down, the fact that I have declared everything also brought it down (when you declared one modification it was more expensive... work that out!) Oh and I will be having a insurance approved dash cam for accident purposes which brought the insurance down a lot! (its like a black box but the insurance cant where I go, how long I drive and all that but if I have an accident I can prove what happened... video proof cannot be argued against!

More soon! 

 


 

[ruffgeezer]

So.due to an accounting error, I have a set of brand new braided hoses more than I need, cost me 60quid, yours for 55. inc delivery if you like?

[Rusty_Pug]

They may come in handy, i'll let you know because on a very tight budget right now as I've just bought a Sportex 4 branch manifold and decat pipe, wiring loom and new momo suede deep dish steering wheel  

[Rusty_Pug]

update on the build....
 

sportex 4-2-1 manifold and decat pipe

16v wiring loom

 

 

Suede deep dish steering wheel

 

All those parts cost me £60!!! Bargain if you ask me

When the weather gets better I can rip the old 950cc engine off the Ax get the new engine build and get the wiring sorted then it is a case of putting all the pieces together... it is coming on well considering my budget....
 

Things to buy... head gasket
                          timing belt kit

                          head bolts
                          water pump

 

 

[vulgalour]

Unbolt the engine, attach helium balloons to AX, job jobbed.

[Rusty_Pug]

I'm not crying about it? The weather has been shit, no lighting in the garage which makes things harder and putting it on the drive will be sooooo easy with no brakes... It will be out soon but right now with the shitty weather and having bad arms I'd rather wait for a good day to do it

And yes aha helium may just do the trick;)

[ruffgeezer]

You could always come over and loan my engine crane if you get stuck.

[Rusty_Pug]

We'd have problems getting it there aha

The only person available to tow the ax (which is sorn and uninsured) would be Graham and he has a mk1 clio automatic so would be a struggle aha would be a laugh but with recent gearbox problems on the clio I don't think it'll be towing much just yet

I think the plan is get the engine out, then get the block mounted into the engine bay and bought the engine with the block already mounted due to not having a crane and always, a lot easier to put just the block into the engine bay rather than struggle putting the complete engine in straight away, without a crane it can get messy and things get broken aha and on the ax some things are getting hard to find and are also expensive if replaceable

£5 for 8 tiny clips for the headlights... £20 for used headlight adjusters because you cannot buy them from Citroen anymore...

But warmer weather has been forecasted soon which means the engine will be out this month

[Minimad5]

Did you make a head gasket out of cardboard ? !

[OwdChina]

Did you make a head gasket out of cardboard ? !

 

Top quality cardboard no less   !!....................see post #23. 

[Rusty_Pug]

That head gasket blew straight away so back to the drawing board to make a new one