1978 CX Diesel - viewed and bought, but not by me

[davehedgehog31]

Fuck me. 

[richardmorris]

  On 21/08/2019 at 19:30, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Protect those seats, from reading other threads they dissolve in the sun, and are rarer then a Jeremy Clarkson speech that does not offend someone. 

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The ribbed cord stuff isn’t too bad, the brushed nylon is like vampire skin in daylight though. 

[lesapandre]

On my Visa the foam padding under the covers turned into a kind of fine sand too!

[richardmorris]

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:11, richardmorris said:

I’ve just remembered that one of the first moans the garage had about the car was the turbo had an oil drip. I happily / ignorantly ignored this for six years and the 70000miles. It used no oil between services although it could lay down a good smoke screen which was just the diesel smoking. I’ve been checking the bills.  In six years 2001-2006 it cost over £6000 in servicing, mostly welding,  fuel pump, injectors, air con, brakes, tyres, radiator, belts. It never left me stuck anywhere though, unlike the c5 replacement.

In contrast I’ve had my Mercedes for over seven years now, done 50,000 miles in it, and the total bills are less than £3000 including the head gasket and paint. The current ac work will probably add £1000 to this, but it’s still cheaper than the cx. CXs are quite a demanding and expensive car to maintain, although a fantastic car to drive. 

 

[richardmorris]

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:35, lesapandre said:

On my Visa the foam padding under the covers turned into a kind of fine sand too!

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Same on my 2cv. It’s ok until you touch it.

[beko1987]

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:11, richardmorris said:

I did 300 miles in mine non stop down to burgundy at erm, well say 80-90 ish and still got over 40mpg. I miss that car- I understand from Patrick rugg that some idiot is rebuilding it. Galloping metal moth although the interior and bodywork was like new. I got it to 110 once on the autoroute and it still felt the same as at 70, not even a lot noisier. Max revs then though.

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Wheras in the 1.4 8v zx, 65mph at 2,999rpm is quite nice. 67mph+ at over 3000rpm is noisy as fuck and neccecitates the music being turned up to drown out... I got mine to 90 once and feared for my life so stopped that nonsense... 

[DSdriver]

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:43, richardmorris said:

... I’ve been checking the bills.  In six years 2001-2006 it cost over £6000 in servicing, mostly welding,  fuel pump, injectors, air con, brakes, tyres, radiator, belts. It never left me stuck anywhere though, unlike the c5 replacement.

In contrast I’ve had my Mercedes for over seven years now, done 50,000 miles in it, and the total bills are less than £3000 including the head gasket and paint. The current ac work will probably add £1000 to this, but it’s still cheaper than the cx. CXs are quite a demanding and expensive car to maintain, although a fantastic car to drive. 

 

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I never actually did the arithmetic but I can remember thinking at the time that what I was saving on fuel and garage bills was similar to the monthly payments on my brand new Volvo 740 GLT

[bangernomics]

  On 21/08/2019 at 11:10, Tadhg Tiogar said:

TD didn't come in until 1984.

Assuming that it’s standard, my 88 hymer had a turbo engine out of a late cx fitted.

[richardmorris]

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:56, beko1987 said:

Wheras in the 1.4 8v zx, 65mph at 2,999rpm is quite nice. 67mph+ at over 3000rpm is noisy as fuck and neccecitates the music being turned up to drown out... I got mine to 90 once and feared for my life so stopped that nonsense... 

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I only did it once, just to see. A bit like the kick-down in my Mercedes- I won’t be doing THAT again.

[Uncle Jimmy]

+83 points for the blueness of the seats, would have been higher but no louvres on rear screen ?

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:43, richardmorris said:

....In six years 2001-2006 it cost over £6000 in servicing, mostly welding,  fuel pump, injectors, air con, brakes, tyres, radiator, belts. It never left me stuck anywhere though.....

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In the 20 months I've had mine, I'm happy* to report that I'm well on the way to matching your total. I've had:

- auto gearbox rebuild (about £2200, most of which was the labour involved in extracting engine and 'box, and then putting it all back in again),

- alternator (a mere bagatelle at £250 by contrast), and

- the entire exhaust system is next to go (£1440 + VAT).

- not to mention money spent on acquiring and stockpiling spares wherever I can find them.

This means I've spent more than I paid for the car in the first place. Fortunately no bodywork needed.

Being a petrol 3-speed auto also means that The Mistress likes a drink, and I'm lucky to see anything above 25mpg. She has also downed tools once, coming back from the CX Technical Day in the Forest of Dean when the battery gave out (which led to the alternator being replaced). Never less than entertaining, though, and will give you a thoroughly good ride.

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:56, beko1987 said:

Wheras in the 1.4 8v zx, 65mph at 2,999rpm is quite nice. 67mph+ at over 3000rpm is noisy as fuck and neccecitates the music being turned up to drown out... I got mine to 90 once and feared for my life so stopped that nonsense... 

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You won't like the CX automatics, then. 60mph is about 2700rpm, whilst 70 is 3000/3100rpm. Rev limit is 5500. I generally don't do more than about 60mph these days; plenty fast enough whilst still being relatively relaxed.

A real shame the S2s never had a 4-speed auto. It would have made a real difference to fuel consumption and made a relaxing car even more relaxed. I'm still wistful for the 4HP22 'box in the 635CSi, which was barely turning 2050rpm at 70mph. Rev. limit was about 6500.

[Broadsword]

What an amazing looking original car. Great Ray Purchase there. Also, the second photo there. Wedging your head between the front wheel and wheel arch of an elderly hydropneumatic Citroen on service high is not a great idea. Seriously though that looked suicidal, you should tell your friend off for that.

[wuvvum]

  On 21/08/2019 at 16:17, Three Speed said:

Turned out a filthy, rusty diesel CX commanded quite a lot of respect in the queue

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Interestingly I found much the same when caught in traffic on the way to Shitefest.

[Saabnut]

  On 21/08/2019 at 22:20, Broadsword said:

What an amazing looking original car. Great Ray Purchase there. Also, the second photo there. Wedging your head between the front wheel and wheel arch of an elderly hydropneumatic Citroen on service high is not a great idea. Seriously though that looked suicidal, you should tell your friend off for that.

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I did!

It had 4 new spheres fitted last year. For the last few years it has only been used for the occasional local show, everyday work duty being taken over by a Land Rover 90 Defender.

I cannot think of a greater contrast between a CX and a 90.

[lesapandre]

  On 21/08/2019 at 22:04, Tadhg Tiogar said:

In the 20 months I've had mine, I'm happy* to report that I'm well on the way to matching your total. I've had:

- auto gearbox rebuild (about £2200, most of which was the labour involved in extracting engine and 'box, and then putting it all back in again),

- alternator (a mere bagatelle at £250 by contrast), and

- the entire exhaust system is next to go (£1440 + VAT).

- not to mention money spent on acquiring and stockpiling spares wherever I can find them.

This means I've spent more than I paid for the car in the first place. Fortunately no bodywork needed.

Being a petrol 3-speed auto also means that The Mistress likes a drink, and I'm lucky to see anything above 25mpg. She has also downed tools once, coming back from the CX Technical Day in the Forest of Dean when the battery gave out (which led to the alternator being replaced). Never less than entertaining, though, and will give you a thoroughly good ride.

You won't like the CX automatics, then. 60mph is about 2700rpm, whilst 70 is 3000/3100rpm. Rev limit is 5500. I generally don't do more than about 60mph these days; plenty fast enough whilst still being relatively relaxed.

A real shame the S2s never had a 4-speed auto. It would have made a real difference to fuel consumption and made a relaxing car even more relaxed. I'm still wistful for the 4HP22 'box in the 635CSi, which was barely turning 2050rpm at 70mph. Rev. limit was about 6500.

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£1440 for an exhaust system is a lot? Is that stainless? Uk sourced or imported from France? Seems a bit steep. I'm in France quite a lot I never see these CX about - DS yes and XM too - but not this middle sister. Happy to take a look around in France exhaustwise as I am often hanging about with car people - if you have seen my Regie Renault thread. 

[tooSavvy]

£1440 ?.... I have [eventually] scored my centre pipe for £24.

... bit like being surprised fiesta brakes cost £11.95 lol

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 22/08/2019 at 07:28, lesapandre said:

£1440 for an exhaust system is a lot? Is that stainless? Uk sourced or imported from France? Seems a bit steep. ..

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It is steep. It's UK- made, all stainless, and is the full front to back.

The other alternative is a system by P.D. Gough (Citroën specialists) but they are quite a distance from here and I think I'd be without the car for a while.

[lesapandre]

Ah yes stainless so maybe not so bad. If I stumble across a cache of CX spares whilst in France I will post details in the 'for sale - wanted section' for general attention.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 22/08/2019 at 09:03, lesapandre said:

Ah yes stainless so maybe not so bad. If I stumble across a cache of CX spares whilst in France I will post details in the 'for sale - wanted section' for general attention.

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As long as they're not LHD-specific. Also there are myriad variations between the models - e.g. the diesel exhaust systems are a bit different from the petrol ones, and the petrol ones are different depending on engine capacity and whether turbo / NA.

Headache if you end up with the wrong bits.

Also, the name CX-Basis is a bit of a dirty word amongst the British CX band - you'll see why when you read their price list...

[lesapandre]

Ah yes - those myriad variations, don't I know it. I bought an exhaust for my van in France when it fell off - all went smoothly until I found the exhaust had a different fitting! I had to botch it on with tin and jubillee clips until I got home. It fell off on the M20 - luckily it was 2.00am so I could recover it from the road.

I'll photograph anything that looks interesting and provide contact details - I might be able to get parts numbers etc.

You never know what's about though - I bought Triumph Herald MK1 and a 2000 MK1 early 60's factory parts lists at a French brocante when I was away for €5!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 21/08/2019 at 20:11, richardmorris said:

.... I miss that car- I understand from Patrick rugg that some idiot is rebuilding it.....

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Might I just make clear that the eejit in question isn't me.

I thought Patrick went to Hong Kong a while ago, taking his Prestige with him? Well, the Prestige went there, anyway, and the last time it popped up on the Internet it was in quite a sorry state.

[richardmorris]

  On 22/08/2019 at 09:50, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Might I just make clear that the eejit in question isn't me.

I thought Patrick went to Hong Kong a while ago, taking his Prestige with him? Well, the Prestige went there, anyway, and the last time it popped up on the Internet it was in quite a sorry state.

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Well it was a long time since we spoke (when I bought the merc from him in 2012). I didn't know he'd emigrated.