Car Mechanic Mag!!

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 17 Feb 2005, 13:16

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ACTIVE8

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Richard Gallagher

Errr, the Xantia, March issue is not due out for another two days (18th Feb).
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Yes, true. Although my guess is that Stuart McB has a subscription. Generally subscribers will have a copy of the magazine posted to their address, and will receive it before it's available in the shops.
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Yep - mine arrived on Tuesday

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 17 Feb 2005, 14:19

Ahhhh.
The truth will set me free!
Bought LRO magazine yesterday - have to do this every so often to put me off buying a Landy. It works too, just reading some of the readers stories and knowing my own prowess with a welder (fantastic at blasting holes in rusty steel) is enough to calm my whims....
More so because its aluminium bodied - oh didnt my father an I have fun re building that Bond Minicar trying to patch in aluminium - impossible things I can do... Welding takes a LOT longer.

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 17 Feb 2005, 18:29

Car Mechanics also did a BX cheapie project a year or so ago- it was a PX they got for a few quid, and concluded that for the money and time they spent on spheres, pipes, welding etc, they could have bought something a lot better in the first place, but to be fair it seemed to be a particularly bad one- they had to weld the floorpan!!
I remember they also did one about 10 years ago- I still have the issue somewhere,I rediscovered it in the loft a while back- which was a real horror!! It was a Mark 1 diesel, and the front spheres were so tight on the struts that one of the strut tops actually fractured when they tried to shift the sphere[xx(], and the headlining had to be replaced due to sunroof leaks.
They also did a rebuild on a wrecked and overheated XUD last year as well, albeit from a 405.
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Who writes this drivel?
I mean, yes they go pop, but so long as you look after the car and change the coolant / make sure the rad isnt clogged etc.....<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Regarding this, I have a 'Which' car buyers guide for 1993, and even then BX HG's were down as an issue, with the advice to check very carefully...........It is a MAJOR design fault, but not in the engine/cooling system directly, but the lack of a temperature gauge. After all, if someone such as my wife is driving, who has absolutely no interest in what makes it go,which to be fair is most people, all the handbook says is watch for the yellow light and the stop light-by which time its WAY too late[:0]-an absolutely dreadful piece of design!!!!!

DLM · Post by **DLM** » 17 Feb 2005, 18:41

I'm almost certain it must have been the work of a bean-counter - and it wasn't even something to to torment "les anglais" as the domestic models were similarly badly-equipped. By the way, CMM did a 3-4 page BX buying guide back in about 1991 which covered most of the known problems fairly accurately. However, they seemed to think that broken front subframes were a common enough occurrence to merit a pic and a mention. I've yet to see one!

Stuart McB · Post by **Stuart McB** » 17 Feb 2005, 18:55

Yep! got a subscription for Christmas, that and Classic Car Magazine. Both a good read in the bath.

Post by **Jon** » 17 Feb 2005, 20:54

Quote:However, they seemed to think that broken front subframes were a common enough occurrence to merit a pic and a mention. I've yet to see one!
The subframes on BX Mk1's were notorious for rusting through at the back each sides where they bolt to the floorpan. I've welded up quite a few of them. I don't know exactly what Citroen did when they introduced the Mk2, but none of them have the same problem. As I can't actually remember when I last even saw a BX Mk1................[:(]

Post by **philhoward** » 17 Feb 2005, 22:15

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Jon

I don't know exactly what Citroen did when they introduced the Mk2, but none of them have the same problem.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Made the octopus out of weaker rubber, so it distributed green anti-rust liquid on it...

DLM · Post by **DLM** » 17 Feb 2005, 23:44

Cynic! Well, at least I've got two explanations for the price of one....

Post by **Jon** » 18 Feb 2005, 00:10

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Jon
I don't know exactly what Citroen did when they introduced the Mk2, but none of them have the same problem.
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Made the octopus out of weaker rubber, so it distributed green anti-rust liquid on it...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Made the subframe from better steel and actually rustproofed it, rather than relying on planned oil and LHM leaks I guess! [:D]

BagStar · Post by **BagStar** » 20 Feb 2005, 04:43

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by paranoid

F**k me at that rate all my old cars needed 12 head gaskets, And I know at least 5 of them are running perfectly!!!!!
Oil changes every 5000 miles that was the secret[:D][:D]
Those tossers are putting DIY'ers off[:(!]
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I don't think it's the DIY'ers, it's the people that are buying them.
We all know it's the cambelt, but the "media" don't know anything.
That Ginny Buckley was doing an interior design slot on Granada Reports 6 year ago, and she does'nt look the kind of girl who would get her hands dirty getting to know the greasy stuff. Engines that is not a lovely 'Big Breakfast'. Mind you, from what she knows, she should stay in the kitchen a bit more. [;)]

BagStar · Post by **BagStar** » 20 Feb 2005, 04:46

Forgot to add this to my post.
CMM is a mag that I find very useful sometimes, but it is hard to please everybody at the same time. Especially once a month. My missus will tell ya!!! [:)]

ACTIVE8 · Post by **ACTIVE8** » 22 Feb 2005, 16:51

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by DLM

They did an XM 2.1TD as a project car about 3 years ago. I kept the mags but they unfortunately got soaked in temporary storage a couple of months ago. The editor (Peter...erm can't remember the surname)is quite amenable to the odd citroen: is it him writing the project articles?
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The Xantia project car featured in the present issue of CMM makes for interesting reading.
Although I would be interested to read about their previous XM project car, does anyone know the actual issues it appeared in ?

ralph · Post by **ralph** » 24 Feb 2005, 13:55

Stuart - your spot of an error regarding the MGB thermostat piece is typical of the mag - it's full of them.
Spelling errors, grammatical errors, it's packed full every month.
If only they would tighten it up a bit, and that goes for the writing too. The editor - Peter "king of waffle" Simpson - is the worst offender, he writes 1,000 words when 200 would do.
Then there's the excuses for articles not appearing. I remember a Renault 25 service was promised in a forthcoming issue (does anyone still own one? Does anyone care??), which was held up because the editor couldn't get the car off his mother-in-law!!
Mind you, where else could you read a double-page feature on a rusty, H-reg Ford Granada taxi???
Rant over. I love the mag really[:)]