Citrojim's AX, Pixo, C3, Running and Cycling Tales

[CitroJim]

I always thought the "MK2" 106 I had back in 1998, a 1.4 on an R-plate was a great car. It would have been a Saxo underneath. Lovely soft ride, but immensely chuckable.

I must confess I've never explored the outer limits of Saxo roadholding Mike but I always feel it's a sure-footed little thing... Having said that, the AX is very chuckable despite ample amounts of roll! Only the GT had the luxury of roll bars...

Today was to be a relatively straightforward job of replacing Bluebell's weeping wheel cylinder... It started well enough and removal of the drum revealed a quite manky scene within...

The shoes are in good enough condition with no contamination - I caught the wheel cylinder in time...

All the self-adjusting bits were seized but with a bit of work they all freed off nicely... A good wash in brake cleaner and they're now good to go

The backplate was in a state but it cleaned up nicely...

And then it all escalated a bit... The pipe union going into the cylinder was seized to the pipe. I knew this was the case from weeks back and hoped regular Plus Gas soakings would free it off...

Sadly not... This happened...

No great worries as I'll just make up a new pipe... The other end, where it meets the trailing arm flexi-hose looks inaccessible but by undoing one 10mm set-screw it'll all become accessible... Said set-screw is now soaking in Plus Gas and payers are being said...

It's not easy to see in this picture but the bit soaking is the thread end of said set-screw holding the flexi-hose bracket to the trailing arm...

The wheel cylinder union is a special and not standard as found in pipe flaring kits so I needed to rescue it...

No way was the remains of the pipe going to come free easily, even a punch would not get it moving so it was a case of drilling it out on the lathe!

That did the job Often I wonder what I'd do without my lathe... It's so valuable... Not used every day but by gosh, when needed it's a lifesaver...

That's it for car work today, the remaining bit was spent preparing my race bike and kit ready for the Bison Duathlon on Sunday...

It's a beast of a duathlon, taking place on Dunstable Downs with a hilly trail run course and a very hilly road bike course...

The first run is 13.5Km, the bike leg is 65Km with two ascents of the horror that's Bison Hill and then after that there's a second trail run of 6.5K...

Huge fun! Can't wait to race it despite the weather being likely to be a bit moist... That'll make the trail runs hugely entertaining...

[Skull]

Excellent progress Jim

Best of luck in your Duathlon

[CitroJim]

Excellent progress Jim

Best of luck in your Duathlon

Thanks Skull, on both counts

As most of the day was taken with parkrun, walking in the woods with family and road testing my racing bike ready for tomorrow I only had a short time to do some more on Bluebell...

Hopefully I've struck lucky today... After yesterdays setback I found I could tease a bit of spare length out of the pipe, trim the end and form a new flare.

The old union was incredibly tight on the pipe and it was no wonder I failed to free it yesterday. I had to clean the bore out with a drill... Amazing how much rusty stuff it drilled out!

Hopefully it'll be successful and prima-facie I see no reason why not... I ran out of time to test it today and now the earliest I'll be able to will be Monday...

When I went to take the photo of the pipe and union my phone camera was still in selfie mode... I couldn't resist

That's a good LED portable floodlight I have there... Invaluable

[Stickyfinger]

That's a good LED portable floodlight I have there... Invaluable

Agggg....the horror !

[Michel]

When I went to take the photo of the pipe and union my phone camera was still in selfie mode... I couldn't resist

Halloween isn't for another week Jim.

[Hell Razor5543]

That's a good LED portable floodlight I have there... Invaluable

It isn't bright enough, Jim. It didn't dazzle the camera, so we can still see YOU!

[mickthemaverick]

There is too much flak flying at Jim here - It could have been worse!!!!!:

Spoiler: show

Own creation

[CitroJim]

[Gibbo2286]

Looking at your brake pipe Jim reminded me of this, it's on my shelf in a genuine Citroen parts bag but the part number has been rubbed off.
I've wondered for a long time what it might fit.

[CitroJim]

I've wondered for a long time what it might fit.

If that's not an AX/Saxo/Pug 106 rear flexi to cylinder brake pipe I'll eat my woolly beanie Eric!

I'd be more than happy have it in return for some appropriate remuneration of your choice

Today's Bison Duathlon on Dunstable Downs was a bit of an adventure today... Following torrential rain overnight and during the event the trail run course had turned into a mud-bath with massive puddles of standing water and rivulets flowing down the hills... And muddy chalky soil is very, very slippery...

The first run was huge fun Hilly, muddy, wet, cold and very 'technical' on very narrow tracks - some of which had become fast-flowing streams

Arriving at transition after the first run we were told the bike leg had been postponed due to deep floods out on the course and would we care to run the second run leg and accept a free entry into a future event as compensation? So off I went for another aqua-run in torrential rain...

Going home, I saw that indeed parts of the bike course would have needed a submarine to negotiate!

And what's not to love about running eight miles on the scenically rather awesome Dunstable Downs getting covered in mud, sliding around like a dancer on ice, soaked to the skin and chilled to the bone? Absolutely nothing I truly adored every second

What helped was the happy atmosphere generated by us all in our collective struggles against the terrain and elements...

It strongly reminded me of school cross-country runs when I was a lad... The only bit of PE I ever enjoyed and could do fairly well at...

And all for this medal, muddy shoes and a soaking wet car... The shoes were at one point a lot muddier but running the last mile through long, wet grass cleaned them quite a lot!

Once home and sorted out, despite being just a little tired I was keen to see if my brake pipe repair had worked...

Firstly, I stripped and cleaned the old weepy cylinder as I was keen to see how bad it was... It cleaned up reasonably well so used it just to see if it was now fluid-tight and to test the pipe seal...

After bleeding using my one-person bleed kit...

And success, both as dry as we all wished Dunstable Downs was earlier today

To stop the cylinder pistons popping out during testing with no shoes or drum in place, I cunningly used a G Cramp...

Tomorrow I'll reassemble with the new cylinder and the revived shoes...

We have progress

[mickthemaverick]

Well done for sticking that out Jim, I'd have definitely developed a mysterious injury at the start and volunteered to make the tea for the other competitors!! A shame you didn't get to use the bike after the time you spent preparing it but your loss there turned out to be Bluebell's gain so can't be bad!!

[Hell Razor5543]

To stop the cylinder pistons popping out during testing with no shoes or drum in place, I cunningly used a G Cramp...

I bet that hurt, Jim!

[Gibbo2286]

I've wondered for a long time what it might fit.

If that's not an AX/Saxo/Pug 106 rear flexi to cylinder brake pipe I'll eat my woolly beanie Eric!

Yours free gratis Jim if we can get it to you without some postman bending it to fit through your letter box.

PM me an address.

[CitroJim]

I've wondered for a long time what it might fit.

If that's not an AX/Saxo/Pug 106 rear flexi to cylinder brake pipe I'll eat my woolly beanie Eric!

Yours free gratis Jim if we can get it to you without some postman bending it to fit through your letter box.

PM me an address.

That's awesome Eric Thanks so much! I'll PM you shortly...

[CitroJim]

I'd have definitely developed a mysterious injury at the start and volunteered to make the tea for the other competitors!!

A few did just that Mick... Can't say as I blame them really

Had I done so I'd have avoided a soaking wet and muddy driver's seat in my Saxo... Not to mention half of Dunstable Downs in the footwell

To stop the cylinder pistons popping out during testing with no shoes or drum in place, I cunningly used a G Cramp...

I bet that hurt, Jim!

It made their pips squeak James