1987 BX19 GT acquired

[STUNO]

As the more up to date searchers on here will be aware the silly side of STUNO has bought the above.

It has done many hundreds of thousands of kilometers (350,000 km's) but is solid and only needs a short list of jobs done.

take a peek at it!

work required.......

Exhaust manifold gasket.......Both front window lifters....carburettor rebuild......paint.

but in true Citroen style things have also gone wrong. 

The other day I was 80 km from home and part way through a roundabout lost all gears, just had a floppy gearstick not connected to anything.

Call the AA ! They arrived after a 20 min wait and had a look, both gearshift rods had come adrift at the gearbox end and one was snapped off, so not fixable at the roadside. So a tow somewhere was required. But on Sunday afternoon in a strange city where to ? The AA man said to get towed to a place he knew of who was a Euro car specialist, but of course he would be closed, however he lived close by and could possibly come to put it in his yard. When we arrived there with the Citroen we found the owner there doing some work ! Yard was opened and car was dropped in his secure yard.

Fast forward a couple of days and repairs are underway, he is rebuilding both rods and will use rose joints at the gearbox end which he says will never fail again.

I think I have found a repairer to trust, and his estimated price is much less than I feared.

It is also superbly floaty with modified spheres, definitely the best ride ever on a BX, and it handles well.

More to come !!

[Wingz123]

Hmmmm where have I seen that before I wonder.......I was swimming in the sea and saw it race past me as I was wringing out my trunks..

?

[STUNO]

Wot you on boy???

 

To get a different perspective watch dollywobbler Ian's hubnut  on you tube. It is quite the star, and I have been followed home by a fan !

[Jim Bell]

That looks amazing. Well done indeed man. 

[Wingz123]

9 minutes ago, STUNO said:

Wot you on boy???

 

To get a different perspective watch dollywobbler Ian's hubnut  on you tube. It is quite the star, and I have been followed home by a fan !

He drove it along the beach....

[cort16]

Is the GT the 1.9 carb as it was in the UK? I had a 1984 BX GT and loved it other than the weird wayword gear change.

Mine also broke down on the way home.

[HMC]

YES. 

[Remspoor]

I thinks you might need to change the plate to a "private" one. Something in recognition of it's interweb fame.

Hubnut returned it to you just in time it seems.

[Skizzer]

This car is ace.  So glad you’ve found a friendly and capable repairer, that’ll make all the difference.

Major winnage all round.

[hairnet]

stuno plate - only 999$

[STUNO]

The plate stays, it has had that since birth !

Yes skizzer, I haven't had time to sort out anyone near me, a garage near work had a 2cv in the other week, so might have a talk to them. The main Citroen people are 2-3 hours drive away.

[mat_the_cat]

2 hours ago, STUNO said:

It is also superbly floaty with modified spheres, definitely the best ride ever on a BX, and it handles well.

Another factor in its favour is that being a Mk1, it will have the roller bearing front wishbone pivots, rather than the later rubber bushes. These seem to give a more supple ride, needing less force to start the suspension compressing.

[dollywobbler]

3 hours ago, mat_the_cat said:

Another factor in its favour is that being a Mk1, it will have the roller bearing front wishbone pivots, rather than the later rubber bushes. These seem to give a more supple ride, needing less force to start the suspension compressing.

Believe that was ditched towards the end of Mk1 production. This is a late one, built 1986 but not registered until 1987.

I wouldn't rush too much for a carburettor rebuild. It's a little fluffy at light throttle, but pulls well under full throttle, and the autochoke seems to generally behave. It was a joy for 2000kms around Northland. I was seriously impressed. Given the subsequent issue, I'm very glad I didn't use it for south island, where I really could have been stranded in the middle of nowhere...

The gearchange was genuinely the only thing that gave away the mileage, so with that sorted, it should be a real peach. I hope it serves you well.

[STUNO]

I just about agree with you Ian, the carb may be a generic Stromberg  ? problem,  but coupled with the hot start fuel starvation nuisance I will get it looked at. I agree it pulls very well on the hills although my paranoia can still detect something amiss. I will probably get it to Auto France in Auckland to check that and do the windows as they know that problem well. 

[Tomtation]

Te window runner channels that the glass sits in are either made of cheese and crumble away, or some MK1's appear to have them bonded to the glass, also the rivet fixings on the scissor arm get loose and have enough play for the glass to be a bit pissed. I've replaced both channels with the MK2 type and motor mechanisms in my 85 GT.

Funnily enough i also had the gear linkage issues, and mine's only done 60000 miles! Good ol' Citroens.

With the carb, if the autochoke works well, don't mess with it!

I am planning on retrofitting air con to my GT, i have imported a french MK1 with a/c so have all the parts, although its a 16 with a weber carb. I might be in contact when i do the job for photos and stuff when (not if!) I have issues! If you're game.

GT's are for winners! ?

[Tomtation]

From Ian's videos it looks like you have the same solex 34/34 z1 as me, but with the extra a/c stuff btw.

[STUNO]

I don't have the car at home so just guessed at Stromberg, but may well be Solex. I also have not investigated how much of the aircon is still in place. It has had the radiator replaced by a bespoke Aluminium one so there may be a lot missing ! 

With everything working it would be a very pleasant place to be.

[Tomtation]

IIRC it was solex or weber as standard. Good luck with it, i love mine ?

[STUNO]

I retrieved the BX from the garage in. Hamilton today. The gears are now much easier to find. I had not realised just how bad it was. Now all is well and the change is easier and very slick. 

The drive home reinforced just how good a long distance drive is with it, there is a superb ride, very comfy seats and plenty of power to make very good progress on our crumbling highways.

Only 124 more jobs required now ! But 1 more added, flush the radiator.

[GeordieInExile]

Do those rear quarterlight windows open? Ace.

[STUNO]

2 hours ago, GeordieInExile said:

Do those rear quarterlight windows open? Ace.

No, I open the rear window a bit for airflow !

[hairnet]

because waikato fart :D

are the wheel alloys or caps - did bx get the 16v style alloy at all?

[carlo]

I know the 305 GTX had the same 105bhp engine, not sure if the gearing and carburation was the same, but that thing pulled like an absolute steam train, amazing torque at low revs.  I have a feeling the BX did have higher gearing.

[STUNO]

Hairnet,,,, the wheels are alloys but i am not sure of the 16v alloy, still learning.

Carlo... yes the same engine, this is pre-fuel injection so has a twin throat carb. It does have plenty of torque and loves hills.. not  educated re the gearing !

[dollywobbler]

Having driven both cars, it did feel like the BX had slightly taller gearing. The 305 GTX really is a fussy thing at motorway speeds.

Good news about the gearchange. Need to get Jon to dig his Cavalier out now for a head to head.

[STUNO]

Another month has gone by, completely without disaster.

But don't let that fool you.....it is French

Nothing more has been fixed yet, but two things have stopped working. The central lock has ceased to operate from the driver's door. It still operates perfectlyif the key is used in the passengers door, so I am assuming a minor wiring problem . Dollywobbler predicted that was going to happen as any movement of the door had the system making a few electrical clicks which he seemed to know predicted doom. The window washers have ceased to dribble too, not yet investigated, but the bottles are both full. There has not been any bad weather for some weeks so the fix can wait until just after they are needed.

A visit to this area by dollywobbler hubnut yesterday was enough reason to visit parishioner jon for tea and talk and a bit of driving. He also pronounced the BX gearchange to be much improved, so that's me happy ! Jon was also happy to leave Mrs jon to continue painting the house on her own for a few hours as it was a very hot day.

Some pictures were made

Dollywobbler being obsessive about windscreen wipers, Cavalier was coated in Australian wood ash, Cavalier off for a hubnut test run,

two random views of the hobbiton hills from chez Jon, the jon cats and Fairmont meets BX again.

 

[stuboy]

loving the cavalier and cat pics

[dollywobbler]

Good to see you and the BX again. This photo also happened. Amazingly different cars to drive.

 

[STUNO]

A huge update.

As I have been without any income for a month or so, absolutely nothing has been done.

BUT the BX started to mis-behave badly. I thought the auto choke was coming on when the engine was hot, the engine would splutter and die, then refuse to run again, although some coughs and splutters were heard. There was a huge amount of fuel going down the carb and totally flooding it. I just happened to try it with the inlet pipe removed from the carb. and it started and ran quite well. It turns out there is something in the inlet system that is blocking the air flow totally. Once again I disconnected the air cleaner and improvised a new air cleaner which will stop rocks and dead insects being ingested. The car now is running the best it has ever done, absolutely a hoot to drive and power to spare. Not going to try to fix it further for a while and fuel consumption seems to be a lot less now. Happiness results.

 

 

 

[Skizzer]

Excellent news!  (Looks factory m8.)