Following an ill-advised move and a disastrous relationship, my finances are in tatters. Much as I love Sally, it was time to be realistic. I was never going to scrape up the money to get her fixed.
So, I put her up for sale in various places including the wonderful forums at the BX Club. Really, I can't rate these guys highly enough - within 24 hours I had an offer from a guy who wanted to take Sally on as a project and was willing to swap her for one of a few cars that all sounded a little shabby but had long MoT. It sounded like a good plan to me - being mobile is more important to me than the small amount of money I'd have got for selling poor Sal.
The guy had a couple of cars available, but I've gone for the diesel because it seemed from his description to be in better nick; I liked the diesel BX I had before; and this is an interesting car, being a very early Mark 2 with an automatic box. It's also yet another ex-Chris Salter car, so he's pleased to hear that it's going to a good home! I hope I will qualify as that.
I'm picking the car up tomorrow; more details and photos will follow soon.
Sunday, 25/03/07
The first time I saw this car I thought it was just going to be a bit of a banger, something more reliable than Sally... just something to tide me over until I could run a proper classic again. But I've already driven it over 200 miles, motorway and town, visiting friends that I haven't seen for ages, and I'm getting more and more impressed with it. Sure it has some problems but don't we all? Under the dents and missing interior trim it's a good, solid motor. We're really bonding.
Here are some pictures for you!
D180 HVF in all its faded glory.
Mmmm. Pink bumpers.
A previous owner recently put a pretty sizeable dent in.
There are a few other small bits, but this is the only serious rust
Some thieving lowlife pondscum did this, just a couple of weeks ago.
Friday, 30/03/07
I've made a few small improvements - it's amazing what a difference the little things can make!
A good clean up of the interior with some products I got free with a subscription to Practical Classics magazine has left the interior shinier and smelling nice.
The previous owner popped round with a spare wheel and a new matching wheeltrim - many thanks for those.
I went to Halfords and splurged a bit too. New wipers, those little blind-spot mirrors (which I find invaluable on a BX) and a new steering wheel cover - the wheel itself has gone GSA-style melty, and the cover that was on there was more than a bit knackered. Scrabbling through the Hello Kitty and 2 Fast 2 Furious ones I finally found a comfortable, plain grey one - exactly the same colour as the dash itself.
Monday, 02/04/07
I took HVF on a good long run at the weekend. Friday night along the A-roads to Canterbury, some touring about while I was there, then back to Brighton via New Romney to pick up a set of alloy wheels that a fellow bxclub member had won on eBay, and London to visit my parents. Needless to say, it didn't miss a beat.
My parents and friends are used to me running around in various old knackers and I'd described HVF to them as lived-in but in very good nick - they were pleasantly surprised! Even my mum, who's very hard to please, said that it wasn't shabby at all.
The windscreen wiper switch had been flopping about - presumably as a result of the break-in - but I found the screws for it under the driver's floor mat so now that's fixed in place. A small but very significant improvement!
We passed the 130,000 mile mark on the way up to London. Here's to 130,000 more!
You know, it's a funny thing how your views on certain cars can change. I like BXs more and more the more I drive them. When I was using GSs and CXs as everyday cars I saw the BX as a slightly boring, mundane modern and looked down my nose slightly on their owners as people who just didn't know any better.
I'm really changing my mind on that though; HVF is sufficiently quirky and unusual to keep me entertained and it's definitely a proper Citroen.
It's also a very capable vehicle with none of the drawbacks - I hauled a load of stuff about this weekend over fairly long distances with good economy and - very importantly - exemplary comfort. I couldn't even have transported those alloys in a GS or CX, never mind all the other bits that I picked up from my parents' place as well.
I originally bought my old TXD for all those reasons, but I'm starting to love the BX for its classic qualities too! After all, how often do you see them on the road?
I guess - if you're a classic car fan reading this and you're not into BXs - all I have to say is this: I'm really bonding with HVF.
Thursday, 05/04/07
I just can't rate these guys highly enough. Thank you for everything.
Sunday, 08/04/07
Both the seller and Chris Salter, who owned the car before, had mentioned to me that HVF had a slight LHM loss but hadn't traced it as it wasn't too serious as yet. Non-Citroen owners tend to panic at this thought, having been led to believe that any leak will render the car immediately brake- suspension- and steering-less but in fact there is such a lot of redundancy built into the system - including a pretty paranoid warning light system - that you'd be extremely unlucky to suffer an instant hydraulic pressure loss. In fact, I've never heard of it happening. I worry about it less than I worry about the springs poinging out of the suspension of a normal car - and I have heard of that happening.
Anyway, an LHM leak shouldn't be dismissed... but this darn thing did not want to be found. I crawled all over the engine bay with the engine running several times and couldn't see any drips.
Then a few days ago I noticed that whenever I parked up the car would leave a trail of LHM (it does tend to stain road surfaces, which is useful when looking for leaks). Hm, I thought, is it only leaking when the brakes are on? That would be consistent with the pattern of drips it makes when I'm manoeuvring into parking spaces, especially as it's an auto - you use the brakes when manoeuvring much more than you do in a manual. Brake fluid return hose maybe?
Unfortunately, being single, I can't look under the car for drips and press the brake pedal at the same time.
I swear, that isn't the reason I invited my mate Mark, who I know through the Citroen Car Club to the barbecue I held today. It didn't stop me asking him to help me out though! With someone else around, the leak took about three and a half seconds to trace - LHM was bleeding from a little tube attached to a gizmo behind the left front wheel. I shoogled it around while Mark looked down into the engine bay to see if we could figure out what it was connected to and it just fell off the gizmo in my hand - it was extremely loose.
It was at this stage that things started to get a little bit surreal. Normally working on Citroens involves grazed knuckles, short pipes and wires, and swearing, but it was all gravy from here on in.
It was obvious that the end of this pipe had split, so we decided to aim for the old cut-the-end-off-and-push-it-back-on trick, which doesn't usually work on Citroens because the pipe/wire/whatever was cut in the factory to exactly the right length and there's no give in it whatsoever.
But here, the part was accessible and there was more than enough give in it to cut some off.
I was a little worried when I pushed the newly-snipped pipe back on as it went rather too easily, but I'm going to buy a jubilee clip for it when the shops open again after Easter. I don't think there are enough jubilee clips in the world, personally. All that was left to do was a top-up, which Mark very thoughtfully helped me out with once my own LHM stash had dried up.
We also compared the part to Mark's car, which was likewise ill-equipped in the jubilee clip department but the pipe seemed much more firmly attached than on mine. Very bizarre. Perhaps mine had just slid on nicely because of the coating of LHM it's been receiving lately? Either way, I was grateful for an (apparently) easy fix.
I'll leave you with a shot of two happy BX owners!
Hmm. It shouldn't have been so easy. This won't last. It just can't.
Sunday, 15/04/07
I toddled down the road to the Southern Classics show at Shoreham Airport this morning - my first car show of the year. To be honest not a great show, not all that big, but it was fun to be in the airport watching the planes and helicopters coming and going. I think I'll go back there in future if the weather's good and I've got nothing to do, just to sit in the public car park, soak up the sun and watch the planes.
Anyway, the show itself was pretty small but I'm glad I went. There was an empty parking bay next to another red BX so I parked up there and had a stroll along the public car park, which was about half-and-half classics and moderns. Very nice - and a reminder always to poke about in the car park at classic car shows! The only other Citroen I noticed was an absolutely beautiful XM, polished to a state that looked like it had come straight from the showroom.
When I got back to my own BX, two blokes were giving it the once over - Syd and Sam, who I know from the Citroen Car Club, and owners of the red BX and the polished black XM respectively.
Sam makes his living as a car valeter and was using the XM as a mobile advert for himself. All I can say is - Sam does good work. After giving my BX a quick look over, he said what he always says - "I could bring that up like a diamond" - and whipped off to his XM to fetch something to sort out my pink bumpers with. Hiring a professional valeter like Sam isn't cheap (partly because of the prices of the lotions and potions they use) but he's generous to his mates and was happy to go around my bumpers for me with a product whose name I have, of course, forgotten. The difference is amazing.
What Sam recommended was a chemical wash to remove the road film, then a treatment once a week with the stuff he'd used, which would gradually build the colour back up. He doesn't think the one treatment he's given will last long, but he says if it lasts a couple of weeks it means it'll be worth the long-term treatment. He reckons he could bring the paint up like new too - not that it's too bad, for a 20-year old red car.
This shot shows the difference the treatment makes - compare the bumper to the trim ahead of the rear wheel, which Sam didn't treat:
Chatting with Sam always reminds me of the huge difference in philosophy that he and I have. I've said before on this site that I don't mind my cars wearing their years and their miles with pride, rather like their owner wears his grey hairs. I know that my BX is mechanically sound and I don't mind that it's a bit shabby. Sam, on the other hand, will never be satisfied until his cars gleam; he looks upon cars like mine as a challenge.
I must admit, his enthusiasm is infectious and the car just looks soooo much better with its bumpers brought back to life. I've also got to admit to a degree of shame seeing the old shed sitting next to Syd's BX... and even worse when Syd left and Sam put his shiny XM in his space. The XM's only a couple of years younger than my BX but looks like it just left the showroom.
I can't afford Sam professionally but I am thinking hard about the idea of giving my BX a polish at least, and maybe buying some of the professional-grade products off of Sam next time I see him.
Syd also had a present for me - which was extremely generous of him - but I will tell you about that next time.
Sunday, 22/04/07
I popped up to my Dad's today, to do some little bits of cosmetic work on the car. It's easier to work on Dad's drive than on the road outside my house, plus he quite enjoys doing this stuff (and doesn't get the chance on his moderns) so I thought we'd get some male bonding done into the bargain.
First up: that bent front numberplate. A BXClub member had seen some pictures of it and commented that the old-style metal plates can be straightened out by putting them in between two planks of wood and applying a club hammer. Dad wasn't convinced but figured what the hell.
The first job was to get the numberplate off the car. The reason I hadn't done this at home was that the screw heads were well knackered - rusted so badly that there was no trace left of a head to take a screwdriver. However, the remains seemed to have hardened into something with the qualities of titanium. The first drill bit we tried lasted literally a matter of seconds before turning into this:
Dad's had something of a stressful time at work lately so I let him do the hammering. I think it was extremely therapeutic - he certainly seemed more relaxed afterwards.
He was even more pleased when he saw what a difference it had made. The devil is in the details, and that bent plate had been really bugging me. We agreed that you can see how these concours guys start getting more and more obsessive over detail.
Now, onto that present that Syd gave me at Shoreham. It's got to be said, Syd is a generous guy - I just couldn't believe that he'd just given me this item for free as they are so rare and highly prized in BX circles. Thank you Syd! This is just what I needed to complete that '80s vibe. '80s revival? You saw it here first.
Ready?
Here goes.
Trailblazers RULE.
Tuesday, 01/05/07
I did something today that I'd never done before - I polished my car. And re-applied the bumper treatment (from Meguiars, no less). It was looking great, and a nice chap from up the road chatted with me for a bit, passing the time and reminiscing about nice old cars. When he left, he asked me if I knew I was losing oil and pointed to the front bumper. Oh. Damn.
Well, that definitely wasn't there when I was treating the bumpers - which I'd done with the car up high, to make it easier to reach the undersides and awkward bits. Maybe it was leaking when the car dropped - which I'd done to polish the roof. A bit of experimenting and I found the leak.
I raised and lowered the car and tried to capture the LHM peeing out - it goes with enough pressure to water the radiator - but didn't manage to take the picture quickly enough before it stopped. See the Y-shaped pipe? The leaking pipe is the left-hand one. Of course, the leak is in the pipe that runs towards the back of the engine bay and disappears into the bowels of the engine, not the easily-accessible one on the bottom of the fluid reservoir.
For now I'm going to snip the end and push it back on further down, but I will be trying to find out where that pipe leads, and how hard it is to replace.
I might need to think about doing something drastic like replacing the octopi if it's going to keep springing leaks at this rate.
Monday, 07-05-07
A quiet Bank Holiday Monday, and time to fix that leak. Just like the other one, I was able to bodge things up by snipping off the split end and re-attaching it. All seems well, but this is only going to get worse.
I've been quoted £120 for a new octopus, fitted, which is very reasonable but unfortunately I've got to move again this month so I'm not going to get it done just yet - I want to get the move out of the way first.
Saturday, 07-07-07
I sold HVF today, to a friend of Chris Salter's who needed a cheap runabout. I'd have felt guilty about that if it was on the 'bay, but I know Chris as a clearing house of old Citroens in need of love - I know he'll keep that 20-year history safe and pass it on to someone who can look after it when the time is right, especially as he's owned the car before.
The first time I saw this car I hated it - I saw a dirty, dented, broken-into, diesel-powered old banger which was expedient because of its long MoT. We soon bonded though; a wash and vacuum made it look like a car again and some proper care and polishing made it look almost good. I'd never polished a car before. It was reliable, too - stuff went wrong with it, but we went 1500 miles together and I never saw it on the back of a breakdown truck. A first for me, I think, except for Sophie, which was some sort of fluke.
All in all, a fine car and one with a lot of miles left in it. I just wanted a Mark 1.
All content copyright (c) 1998-2007 Stuart Hedges
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