French fancy - Citroen BX 1.9RD

[RobT]

Well, I was in the enviable situation recently of having the space (an empty council lock-up) and the money for a new motor. My original intention was to get an early Mark 1 Rover Sterling, but that didn't work out so I figured I've got to fill the garage with something otherwise that's 50 quid a month being wasted! Naturally I blame you lot for my choice as, what with dollywobbler's BX and several other recent threads on 80s French tat, I had the urge to get something similar.

 

So ebay yielded a 1 owner for 20 years, regularly serviced BX in North London that looked just the job. I decided to bid blind as the seller (who'd owned it for 3 years) sounded a decent chap and the car looked alright from the photos, so Friday evening and £397 later I 'won' this old thing:

 

 

I picked it up early on Saturday morning and then drove from Hatch End to Eastbourne just for something to do, and I'm very impressed with it. I was expecting some sluggish old oil burner but they're actually quite acceptable performance wise, and as this one had been serviced religiously it runs really well for it's 131k miles, pulling smoothly with no clatter. And I'm sure it's quieter than the 52-plate Mondeo TDCi I had a few years ago - I used to get out of that on long journeys being sick of the constant drone, but not in this. The seller said I could expect 58mpg on a run but I was thrashing it a bit down the M23, I'll do economy motoring another time as I was having too much fun!

 

It needs jobs doing, main ones being the clutch is a bit heavy and sticky which makes changing into 1st or reverse a bit of an event (just a new cable I hope), and it'd benefit from new spheres at the front, a job I'll have a go at doing despite knowing sweet FA about these things Now I'm no cleanliness freak but this car also needed a good thorough clean, so I spent 5 hours Sunday mainly just de-crudding the interior. It's not to The Doctor's standard but has probably added about 20 quid to the car's value!

 

 

Holding the fuggin' bootlid up shite style (the struts are caput)

 

 

All in all, a good shite-orientated weekend

[M'coli]

WIN!

[trigger]

Bargain! A diesel Estate BX must be a sensible choice as a cheap tat carrier.

[RobT]

Bargain! A diesel Estate BX must be a sensible choice as a cheap tat carrier.

 

That's the plan. Allotment clearing duties means I need something to lug stuff around in, well that's my excuse anyway! It also means I can rest the Montego a bit as another full winter on the road will make it dissolve even quicker than it is already.

[mnde]

I like! Well done RobT

 

Mark.

[Father Ted]

Rear Blinds????

 

Ultimate accessory

Shitetastic

[dieselnutjob]

It needs jobs doing, main ones being the clutch is a bit heavy and sticky

 

the cable doesn't pull directly on the clutch fork. it pulls on a bell-crank arrangement that is bolted to the top of the gearbox. on BXs many of these bell-cranks cracked and Citroen sold a modified stronger one for under £20 (at least it was a few years ago), and it's a 20 minute job to change. also make sure that the pivot point of the bell-crank isn't seized.

 

also the pedal box can crack on a BX though from memory this affects the accelerator pedal more than the clutch

[RobT]

Rear Blinds????

 

Ultimate accessory

Shitetastic

 

On the parcel shelf yes, lovely clean white ones - that's my shiny new garage door in the photo which makes it look like window louvres on the back, bit of arty farty photography!

 

It needs jobs doing, main ones being the clutch is a bit heavy and sticky

 

the cable doesn't pull directly on the clutch fork. it pulls on a bell-crank arrangement that is bolted to the top of the gearbox. on BXs many of these bell-cranks cracked and Citroen sold a modified stronger one for under £20 (at least it was a few years ago), and it's a 20 minute job to change. also make sure that the pivot point of the bell-crank isn't seized.

 

also the pedal box can crack on a BX though from memory this affects the accelerator pedal more than the clutch

 

Thanks, yes I've been reading about that the clutch fork on the BXclub forum but I'll also check the pivot point too. Touch wood the pedal box is OK, but I noticed this little surprise on the passenger door yesterday, hinge mount coming away from the body:

 

[jonathan_dyane]

/\ they all do that sir...

[wuvvum]

Yup - on mine it was the driver's door that did it.

 

Great cars these - yours looks pretty good for under £400.

[dollywobbler]

Nice one. Looks great. Rare colour I think. The clutch can be heavy, but as mentioned, the fork mechanism can be borked and cables can get sticky. Crunching into first and reverse suggests an adjustment issue. Have a play with it. You'll either make it worse or better.

 

That said, they can all be a bit crunchy going into reverse. Trick is to select fifth before reverse (keeping the clutch down) which is also the same advice given to owners of TVRs with the T5 gearbox. That (and possibly the odd electrical gremlin) are about the only similarities.

[RobT]

 

That said, they can all be a bit crunchy going into reverse. Trick is to select fifth before reverse (keeping the clutch down) which is also the same advice given to owners of TVRs with the T5 gearbox. That (and possibly the odd electrical gremlin) are about the only similarities.

 

Thanks for the advice Ian, I'll give it a go. Electrically it doesn't seem too bad, fingers crossed. One thing that is knacked is the clock - it's stuck on 7.27 and constantly ticks making it sound like a bomb. I hope that isn't a bad omen for something!

[catsinthewelder]

Thread Bump

 

I've just got home from an enjoyable afternoon, train to Burton on Trent, met Chris (Skattrd) and bought this car

[dollywobbler]

Ha! Welcome back to the BX fold. That didn't take long!

[RobT]

Thread Bump

 

I've just got home from an enjoyable afternoon, train to Burton on Trent, met Chris (Skattrd) and bought this car

 

Excellent Aside from the grumbly front struts and heavy clutch (unless Chris changed it) you've got a good 'un there.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. I wouldn't worry about the struts to be honest. As for clutches, perhaps we can talk through how you change one at the Tech Session next month. I fear the one in my Mk2 is on its way out.

[skattrd]

Thread Bump

 

I've just got home from an enjoyable afternoon, train to Burton on Trent, met Chris (Skattrd) and bought this car

 

Excellent Aside from the grumbly front struts and heavy clutch (unless Chris changed it) you've got a good 'un there.

Nice meeting you again Rich, and I'm glad the cars gone to a good home

 

I didn't do anything to the car Rob, apart from drive it and make it a bit dirtier

In my short ownership though I did decide I do like bx's and will definitely have another one at some point ... or maybe its big brother

[RobT]

I didn't do anything to the car Rob, apart from drive it and make it a bit dirtier

In my short ownership though I did decide I do like bx's and will definitely have another one at some point ... or maybe its big brother

 

They are quite good fun aren't they, and the diesel economy is a real boon. I haven't done much to the 25 either apart from polish a few panels, get bored of the time involved doing so, and left it as is. I can confirm that the fuel gauge does actually work - I played a dangerous game and took it well into the red last week and it kept going. I had a can in the back though just in case!

[catsinthewelder]

Aye, good luck on that XM Chris

 

It's a great motor, many thanks to Rob for sorting out most of the issues and Chris for his carefully directed marketing and generally being the most helpful seller you could wish for. I've been a bit busy the past few weeks but he's been happy to hold onto it without needing a deposit then picked me up from a station miles from where he lived at very short notice. 15.2/10 GR78 seller etc

 

I've got the struts from the old one to slowly rebuild and fit at some point as well as the complete drivers door so I can sort an iffy window mech. I promised myself with the last one that if BX's were something I got into then a better example would be required and I've now got it

[RobT]

Yeah I never got around to sorting that drivers window, during the winter months I just didn't bother opening it! And you may have noticed my woeful bodge around the passenger door hinge weld, not proud of that but MoT man didn't notice

 

Sounds like you're perfectly placed to get it almost A1 again. I'll keep an eye out for you and the car as I'll be in the Ludlow/Shrewsbury area third week of August.

[catsinthewelder]

No worries, it's a very tidy bodge and at least theres still metal there to weld to. I pulled the drivers door off the old one by hand

 

3rd week of august you say? the weekend of the 24th-26th will hopefully see a few BX's round Ludlow as I'm running a tech weekend at work for them. Feel free to pop in, theres at least a couple off here coming

[RobT]

We're staying in a B&B near Shrewsbury for 3 nights 21st-23rd, so if we do drive through it'll be more of a flying hello, but I'll keep an eye out nonetheless

[Spiny Norman]

That's almost exactly the same (apart from the colour) as a BX RD19D estate my boss had years back. The best of the old school rattlers mated to a superb chassis and super comfy seats. (although they don't look it at first).

I had fond memories of that car.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I've lost track of who ended up owning this one on here. Great to see it hanging on in there - I'm pretty sure it's the same one lots of us have featured on the Autoshite mugs from a few years back? Looks like it's going  under the hammer anyway:

 

[loserone]

I think @yes oui si was the last one on here.

[loserone]

https://wbandsons.com/listing/citroen-bx-19-rd/

[wuvvum]

36 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I've lost track of who ended up owning this one on here. Great to see it hanging on in there - I'm pretty sure it's the same one lots of us have featured on the Autoshite mugs from a few years back? Looks like it's going  under the hammer anyway:

 

"Citreon", FFS.

[catsinthewelder]

MOT's been out for a bit, does anyone know what it needs?

I assumed it was still in West Yorkshire.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Looks like @strangeangelowned it for a fair time: 

I think it was his thread I used to follow, although I can't find it currently. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Oh, FFS.