Worth a punt?

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 10 Mar 2005, 18:21

Its local and its (fairly) cheap.
I suspect the owner is having the "oh bugger its a Citroen and its leaking" panics...
I know its a 1400, but it could be my journey into BX-land
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... eName=WDVW
Thoughts anyone? (Particulaly Dave, Jon and Vanny)

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 10 Mar 2005, 18:57

Its worth a look if you don't have to travel far!!! At least it's supposedly got a V5.
I notice its test runs out in May: he's probably looking at spending too much money to get it through another- the lost LHM is not a good sign as its of an age when unless the pipes have been changed they will ALL be close to being rusted through-the car's too early for the protected ones. Not expensive if you DIY but a big pain in the butt!!!! I know, I've done it[xx(][:(!]
On the plus side, however, no bids!!! A flat BX is worthless in the market and you wwill probably get it for next to nothing!!

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 10 Mar 2005, 21:07

Emailed him to ask where he is and to look at car before bidding - if indeed pipes are rusted to booogery may offer him £45!
Might make a nice HP summery project for me.

dillosk8ter · Post by **dillosk8ter** » 11 Mar 2005, 00:16

Well apart from a few minor mishaps I've loved running my BX14 and its alot quicker than I thought a large car with a small engine would be. Just changed the hydraflush back to LHM and cleaned block and filters, softened up groaning struts, which I wasn't expecting...a very pleasant suprise!!!!

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 11 Mar 2005, 00:56

I think the octopus is shot on this car. There is LHM all over the engine bay too.
It does not really rise and is throwing out fluid as fast as it can be poured in - which makes driving it home difficult even though it is only 4 miles away.

Dave Bamber · Post by **Dave Bamber** » 11 Mar 2005, 01:22

Hmmm. As bxbodger says, it will have the non-protected pipes. If they are not mint, think carefully. It's looking too dear at £95, if he'll take £45, as you say worth a punt. The octopus pipe from GSF is £25 plus vat, so not the end of the world. Whats the rest of it like?
Sunroof will be prop blocked drain tubes.

Dave Bamber · Post by **Dave Bamber** » 11 Mar 2005, 01:43

I prefer this one. More money, more work, located at the other end of the world but more interesting (well for me anyway)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 37707&rd=1

vanny · Post by **vanny** » 11 Mar 2005, 03:16

Hmmm, blown leak off pipe? If it goes up in the world then you can probably patch the hole to get it home! And of course once its up you can tow it a little way! Stick it on a static towbar and you'll be fine!
But the best option is to wait till the summer when a) its much more fun the be under a car b) i can come play!

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 11 Mar 2005, 11:45

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Dave Bamber</i>

Hmmm. if he'll take £45, as you say worth a punt. Whats the rest of it like?
Sunroof will be prop blocked drain tubes.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Rest of the car seems very sound - he body has been either lucky or well looked after. Just not rising at all (due to lack of vital fluid).
Not willing to take my £45 at the moment - so I will see if it ends without any bidders. Mind you I am also keeping a watch on this one (not a BX - sorry)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 83712&rd=1

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 11 Mar 2005, 13:02

Firstly Dave Bamber's diesel is a series 1 (orange indicators - so will have the wonderful lego dashboard - so will have something really different.) I think this engine is a couple of BHP down on the later ones which got up to 71 BHP and my recollection of driving a B reg one was that it was rather ponderous to move of in and felt quicker in second. In reality it felt as though it had an extremely heavy flywheel which took time to get spinning - something our '94 ZX 1.9D doesn't suffer from. - I was on the lookout for this when we tried it out.
Series 1 great fun but it isn't as well rust protected is it?
1.4 could be interesting as its very light and may ride nicely. How durable is the engine - 98,000 may be below average but still is quite a long way! - especially over 15 years or so.
What are you really looking for?
Jeremy

Post by **RichardW** » 11 Mar 2005, 15:27

If it's puking LHM as fast as you can put it in, then it's a high pressure pipe leak, not an octopus leak. Favourites on this engine are the pump to regulator pipe (especially if it's not bolted down!), and the curly pipe under the box. My first car was a BX 14 Preview (and a shed!), and both of these pipes went - you get the advantage of the GTI interior. It looks pretty smart, so if it's rust free £50 should be OK. You can repair it outside his house and annoy him - it should be pretty easy to do!

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 11 Mar 2005, 16:16

Well like I said - hes not willing to accept the £50 yet. But looks very nice inside and out and very little rust.
If I can get the car to rise - does anyone know if it will stay up with an LHM leak if i shut the engine off (ie jack it to the "high" setting then shut down?) I may be able to tow it home if I can do this.

Post by **Jon** » 11 Mar 2005, 16:38

If you can get it running, chuck it in high, fill up the LHM, then open and close the 12mm bleed on the press reg 1/4 of a turn for about 15 times, then close, chances are, it will come up into High. You then should be able to switch it off, and if the accumulator is any good, it should stay up.
BTW I saw this set of BX front to rear pipes on EBay (all BX front to rears are the same unless you have ABS, despite what the seller says. ebay clicky here
AS regards the Octopus, Non PAS ones are different to the ones that GSF sell (+PAS), but from what you are saying it sounds like a metal pipe has let go.

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 11 Mar 2005, 22:24

If the leak is that bad then chuck some Veg oil in the LHM reservior (dont ask me how I know), its less polluting and has the advantage of being usable for making chips or running in the AX if theres any left over.
Stewart

Kowalski · Post by **Kowalski** » 11 Mar 2005, 22:53

Sounds like a money pit on wheels to me but Jon seems to like his...