Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[white exec]

Our Zel is not one to be "fobbed off" easily!

[Hell Razor5543]

So, there is a little sky blue missile hurtling around the MK area, startling cabriolet drivers, is there? I still think my description of the BX colour is nicer (a warm caramel meringue) than beige! If it were a matt shade then maybe, but glossy is NOT beige!

[Zelandeth]

Well doesn't that sound happier?





I'd known something was way off with the carb setup from square one given that the idle speed was very high and I could tell with my nose from fifty feet away that she was running stinking rich. I decided to actually investigate that this afternoon and it didn't take long to work it out. The idle mixture screw was wound all the way in and firmly seated...So the carb idle circuit was doing precisely nothing. The only reason the car was idling at all was because the idle speed screw had been wound so far open that the throttle was held about 10% open and she was actually running from the main jet rather than the idle system.

Winding that open a couple of turns and backing off the idle speed adjustment (as that immediately shot up to about 3500rpm once I started to open the idle circuit up) soon got things much closer to where they're meant to be. I'll hook the CO meter to get it vaguely close to the book value when the rain stops. Now she's not running horrendously rich I'm glad to report that the intermittent but frequent miss at idle has vanished as well. Not expecting to get it absolutely perfect as I've no idea how stale a lot of the fuel in the tank is, but I don't reckon things are a million miles off now.

The even bigger positive of this than a smooth idle though is that apparently backing that adjustment screw out has resolved the issue I had with the accelerator pump being blocked off - that's now working properly it looks like.

Just wish the rain had held off for another hour or two.



Particularly annoying as the oil filter I'd been waiting for arrived this morning, so I really wanted to get the oil and filter changed today. Guess that's a job for later in the week now.

Nevertheless, it did give me an opportunity to get some gratuitous water beading photos on the freshly waxed paintwork...Imagine it's been a few years since this happened!

















Feels like having the carb largely co-operating is quite a big step towards the car being actually drivable now. Rear spheres will be the next big step.

[myglaren]

Tremendous progress Zel. The BX must be worth a great deal more already.

[mickthemaverick]

Certainly does sound sweet though possibly still a tad fast? Bodywork looks great, roll on the spheres!!

[Zelandeth]

Certainly does sound sweet though possibly still a tad fast? Bodywork looks great, roll on the spheres!!

Yeah, I'll have a closer look at it when I've got the gas analyser and a tachometer on hand. Any lower than this though and the whole car vibrates when the cooling fan or hydraulic pump kick in. Though it's entirely possible that there's still 10+ year old fuel in the fuel tank so trying to fine tune it at this stage may well just have me chasing my tail!

Still obviously still need to do a full check of the hydraulic lines before I even consider driving the thing off the driveway anyway - though it has passed the highly technical "stamp as hard as I can on the brake pedal and see if anything goes pop" test just fine.

[mickthemaverick]

Purely out of jealousy I went looking and found this on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-BX-1 ... Swge9gMl0Z

It certainly is interesting but not as nice as beige!!
The chap says he's starting a DS next so we may see more in the future!

[Zelandeth]

Package arrived this morning for TPA.



Installation was pretty straightforward...Though I still had to fabricate a cable end. I think I just need to go to Speedy Cables or similar and just order a proper cable. The issue seems to be that (unsurprisingly) the cable has a standard motorcycle type barrel connector at the handlebar end...but finding off the shelf motorbike throttle cables more than a couple of metres long is tricky - and this needs to be a touch over five metres long because of the routing. As it is having trimmed away the frayed bit of cable I'm now down to literally millimetres to spare, and it's a bit frilly at the handlebar end so will likely fail again in the not too distant future.

Nevertheless, it does mean that I've now got matching grips on the handlebars which looks SO much better.



The throttle action is also way better...It always felt very much as though it wasn't attached to anything before, so you were never quite sure how much throttle you were applying - and I'm not 100% certain that I was ever actually getting full throttle as the old twist grip was distorted and binding up at several points in its travel. New one is all metal so should hopefully fare better.

New grips are a good deal chunkier than the old ones which I think will be a good thing.



Will have to wait for a test drive to be certain, but just sitting in the garage the bars felt a lot more comfortable to hold.

[white exec]

Take a look at Tecni-Cable for all that stuff, Zel.
Their stainless multicore is excellent stuff, and widely used for refurb to electric window mechanisms.

[Zelandeth]

Take a look at Tecni-Cable for all that stuff, Zel.
Their stainless multicore is excellent stuff, and widely used for refurb to electric window mechanisms.

Cheers for that, I'll have a look into them. A stainless upgrade probably would be a decent idea.

-- -- --

Nothing much today, mainly just got an oil & filter change done on the BX. No more horrible rusty oil filter.



That wasn't the worst filter to get off I've dealt with, but it wasn't far off. I had to get the chain wrench and breaker bar involved.

Pulled out just over seven litres of oil, just under six went back in.



The discoloration on the dipstick shows where the level has been sitting for quite a while, a good inch above max.

Getting the oil filler cap off was a task in itself - get the impression it's not been off in a while, and it's just a friction fit.

Being the coolest point of the engine doesn't surprise me we've got quite a bit of condensation here.



If it's still looking like that after an hour's blat up the A5 or M1 then I'll look more closely, but there doesn't seem to be any pressurisation of the coolant, it looks spotlessly clean and she idles smoothly so reckon it is just old fashioned condensation. Remember this car was last in MOT in 2011...so she's not had a proper run in forever.

I did spot a couple of electrical things needing immediate attention while I was waiting for the oil to drain. Firstly this Scotchlok on one of the alternator lines.



Note the stub of brown wire...which sits exactly as close to this hydraulic line as it looks like.



Yeah...that's getting soldered and covered with heatshrink ASAP.

I originally thought this was a drain line for some reason...



It appears to vanish down through the bulkhead grommet towards the fuse box. I'll investigate further tomorrow... that's going to be getting removed at the first opportunity.

I can also confirm now that being in the humble RE trim level it doesn't look like this car has an oil level sensor (not sure if the wiring is there, hence if it could be retrofitted easily), unlike the higher trim levels.

On the subject of the instrumentation, the fuel gauge illumination appears to have heard me thinking about it and has resurrected itself.



Have to admit that while I was kind of scratching my head about whether taking on this car when she first arrived was a good idea, I'm really, really looking forward to driving it now.

[CitroJim]

I originally thought this was a drain line for some reason...

Going by the runs of something brown from the holes on the metalwork in this picture, it suggests the car was rustproofed at some point... May account for why it's still with us in good condition

Have to admit that while I was kind of scratching my head about whether taking on this car when she first arrived was a good idea, I'm really, really looking forward to driving it now.

Your decision was very sound Zel I'd have taken it for a quick drive by now if it was mine, just as an essential road test of the suspension and transmission The temptation would have been far too much to resist!

May that soon happen... You'll love the BX ride...

[Zelandeth]

I originally thought this was a drain line for some reason...

Going by the runs of something brown from the holes on the metalwork in this picture, it suggests the car was rustproofed at some point... May account for why it's still with us in good condition

Have to admit that while I was kind of scratching my head about whether taking on this car when she first arrived was a good idea, I'm really, really looking forward to driving it now.

Your decision was very sound Zel I'd have taken it for a quick drive by now if it was mine, just as an essential road test of the suspension and transmission The temptation would have been far too much to resist!

May that soon happen... You'll love the BX ride...

Given currently it has no rear suspension the ride wouldn't be up to much! She really needs some spheres!

[CitroJim]

She really needs some spheres!

I may have some here that will at least give you some semblance of suspension Zel... They may not be perfect for the job or correctly specified but they will certainly help get you up and running...

Let me know and I'll take a look and see what I have in the spares stock... We can arrange a socially-distanced collection/delivery I'm sure

[xantia_v6]

I may have some here that will at least give you some semblance of suspension Zel... They may not be perfect for the job or correctly specified but they will certainly help get you up and running...

Let me know and I'll take a look and see what I have in the spares stock... We can arrange a socially-distanced collection/delivery I'm sure

[Jim] You should have the non-HA spheres that came off the back of my silver V6 Xantia. They were either new or just regassed from Plaiedes. They were put back into marked Citroen boxes.

[CitroJim]

[Jim] You should have the non-HA spheres that came off the back of my silver V6 Xantia. They were either new or just regassed from Plaiedes. They were put back into marked Citroen boxes.

Mike, I indeed have Thanks for remining me!

Zel, let me know ASAP as I have an essential, authorised journey to make tomorrow morning (Covid jab) and that would be an ideal opportunity to drop them off to you...

I'll also lend you my sphere tool. You'll need it! As well as a big hammer and cold chisel I expect

Don't forget to initially crack them off with the hydraulic system fully pressurised and on high