This brings back fond memories of my 16v BX, I used to drive it 850 miles to Paris and back (all in one day) every 2 weeks for a year to collect goods from a customer. It had 70,000 miles on the clock when I bought it, and it never let me down. It was driven as fast as possible all the time in France and it was the most comfortable car I had ever owned. Sold it with 120,000 miles on the clock for £100.
Leaking shock is probably the sphere leaking and as they are so easy to change I would order all five and change them as one. Transforms the handling and a great opportunity to change the mineral oil at the same time. Loving the changes and can’t wait to see her back on the road.
is just some seepage, leak is when drops are formed and drip to the floor. Tha may be just form the return pipe connectors and is totally fine, just wipe before MOT and keep an eye on places where oil actually drips.
@@Number27 A Tesla motor under the rear, 1 of the rear the drive shafts driving the suspension pump when in motion 2 electric truck hydraulic power steering pumps for suspension when stationary, or swap to air suspension.
He's doing humanity a service by elevating the BX to its proper status. They were plagued by prejudice in a way that Peugeots never have been, though the 405 (and 406) was a cracking car.
Excellent video, my favourite car you've bought to date, probably one of the last proper Citroën. Try a hair dryer/heat gun on the front bumper first before considering painting it's probably UV damage.
Nice video, very enjoyable. I have a Nissan Micra that I'm sorting for MOT by end of month. Had a welder do some work for me on sill, crossmember, but I also had a dropped drivers door like you. The guy basically got hold of bottom of door whilst open & pulled up against weight of car a couple of times, which cured the door. Trick of the trade he said.
Great work on the rust repairs mate. Going further and further down the restoration path. Next thing you will be doing full bare metal restorations with silly engine swaps ;)
Tell me about it! Wishing I'd kept my GTi now. In fact I wish I'd kept quite a lot of my cars, especially my first car which was an Alfa GT1600 Junior that I bought in 1981 for £400. It was already rusting then, but good ones are fetching £40-£45k these days. It stings every time I come across one on the web.
Hi , these were great cars , I had a diesel for years and drove all over the UK FOR WORK . really comfortable and great m p g . and lucky we had a Citroen expert in our village , who only replaced the clutch lever arm and some hydraulic pipes , as they are service parts . 250 k miles in nothing if serviced as advised and some taxis had this on them .
Always interesting to see anyone keen enough to spend time saving an interesting car. Citroens from the 70's to the 90's were a bit of a Marmite manufacturer. Very good cars but typical French over engineering in a lot of areas made them difficult to maintain. My Dad loved them though. He had an air cooled GS, then a GSA. Moved on to the BX range with a 17D and a 19D, then ended up with a Xantia.
I recently sold the BX 16TRS i had since 2006 and made more than 100000km, Those cars are amazing, but require some time and labour, specially to sort oil leaks. Old plastic return pipes are old now, and will leak some place sooner or latter. The 16V are so special, very fast, fully equipped, and still a practical spacious family car. Great videos on this tomato.
My old man had a 1.4 and it was immaculate and his neighbor had the gti. Loved them. I was only a young lad and loved slamming it to the ground. Looked well cool.
That 'floor drain' was there to let primer out when the bare body was dipped. It wouldn't have been left open - it would have had either a rubber bung or a steel cover plate which usually rusts away in no time.
I once watched doors being fitted to MGBs on the line at Abingdon. Hinge fastenings partly tightened, door slammed hard to set the panel gaps (!) then the door partly opened and opened, a long metal bar slid down through the rear of the window aperture and levered like mad from side to side to align the rear edge of the door with the B pillar. Primitive, but it worked!
“THE FLYING TOMATO “ Great work on this one Jack. Absolutely with you on the work done so far, and reasons why your leaving other work for someone else. Looking forward to the next update 👍🏻.
I set myself a similar timeline when i brought my Nova Antibes back to mine a few weeks ago ... got the belt and water pump done ... haven't touched it in a fortnight now.. 😁 look forward to the next one as always 😎👍
When I was at college in the 70s my mates really hot mum Barbara had a mk1 consul with an oven tray on the floor so your feet would not go through to the ground due to a rusted out floor, I bloody hope Steve is not reading this
Jack look up a video of a Renault 5 being built when it comes to door adjustment / alignment this big guy gives the door one hell of a yuk it closes perfectly that’s what’s needed on your door ,the nuclear industry are always looking for welders if you fancy a career change 😂👍👨🏻🏭
Nice one Jack. My dad had two GSA Pallas, one second hand and one new (which I later bought off him). He loved them both but for some reason switched to Ford rather than have a BX. I later had a Xantia as a company car when they first came out and he was very jealous of that mind you.
Wow, Jack! I am impressed, mate! The BX didn't hide much behind the front wing at all besides that which you knew about! Your welding is not as bad as you think, mate - looks good as gold with a solid (if not slightly heavy) bead and will stand up to a fair bit of punishment. You may find that the door lines up better with all four wheels back on the ground too. Glad the oil leak wasn't as frightening as it could have been and I'll look forward to the next instalment in the Sundried Tomato saga! Oh - you may already know that 80s reds are a bugger for fading - especially on colour-matched bumpers. Sometimes an oil-based furniture polish will bring them back, but they never really matched for long after they left the factory and even the black plastic or black rubber bumpers needed more than the likes of Armour-All to protect it / bring its colour back. As I was right into having a pristine-looking car at the time (I had a black Alfa Sprint) but didn't have a huge budget for detailing creams (largely due to the aforementioned Alfa Sprint), I experimented with a few household cleaners and polishes to see what worked. I found either a furniture oil (if really bad) or sometimes something like Neopol (which is silicone based) brought it back and held the colour for longer than the comparatively more-expensive-to-purchase car detailing products and have stuck with them ever since. The bumpers will soak it all in and change colour, but will likely remain a satin or matt finish for the first half dozen times, but the paint does eventually shine again after a few more applications.
Looks like a Bradford registration, Citroen dealer back many years ago was Jack Andrews. The leasing company I worked for bought numbers of these as they were “flavour of the month” with a couple of large fleets back in the day,
Always found the BX appealing. Don't really know why it doesn't get more attention than it does, it seems to me to be quite an interesting Citroen. Not as interesting as say a DS or a CX, but interesting nonetheless. It looks a bit 80s, but also a bit futuristic, if you know what I mean. It'll be interesting to watch you give the old fille the makeover she deserves
I love the interior. Same as in my BX GTi. I lost it years ago due to an accident 20 odd years ago, still miss it every day. Great cars, great suspension (floating over potholes..). Comfortable like nothing else. Nice sounding engine. Big boot, plenty of room and light weight.
Great work Jack, loving watching this update and saving this BX. One tip for the bumper…shoe polish providing you can something close to the colour. On my Dads old Peugeot 309 I regularly ended up (as a kid!) making the bumpers look like new with some black shoe polish which seemed to last for ages!
I had a BX for 7 years, very reliable car, zero rust on it in that time as even the bonnet was plastic the only issue I had were the rear suspension globes which proved a pain to change but a really good band wrench did the trick
These are super rare, I know I’ve been looking for one that is tip top. Getting it an MOT is a good start. Most of the plastic bits are available new from Citroen or Chevronics at a good price. Please save this car properly it may be its last chance. All the hydraulic bits are robust and easily sorted with the right tools and the right parts and fluids. The corrosion is just corrosion that any neglected car of this age has.
Split pipe is probably a return from the suspension unit. Those just unscrew with a strap wrench but I don't know how much bleeding is required after replacement.
If there is wear on the bottom hinge, you may be able to shim it, by cutting a small section out of flat washer and tapping it into the lower part of the hinge to take up some of the slack. A softish, copper type washer may work best for this. Good luck!
Well done Jack, They are worth saving, I think once you drive it you may decide to do more on the car ?? I loved the drive of mid 80's /90's Citroen's just the quality failing made me fall out with the brand, but loved the drive..!
Bertone made this design for the upcoming Volvo 480 but when Volvo decided against it, Citroën liked it and only a few things changed from the original Bertone design such as popup headlights replaced with normal headlights and some other bits.
The xu9j4 engine is easy to work on. The belts in that car should take no time. I bought an OE kit including water pump for about £180 from Germany. Be prepared for wobbly butterflies on the throttle body.
8:38 I love your cardboard welding shields. Safety First! 😱 By the way, that sunroof probably rusted because the drains got blocked. Water sits in the bucket around the glass panel, and wicks up into the seam where the bucket is joined to the roof panel. Been there, done that, and really it is a death knell for the car over the long term. But as promised, I am watching everything you post about this Cit.
Doesn't even need blocked drains to leak. I had a '95 306XSI that would drop water from the front of the headlining. Didn't happen every time it rained and I couldn't get it to happen with a hose. Eventually tracked it down to missing sealant on a small length of the joint between the lip of the roof and the reinforcing hoop at the rear edge. Water was wicking up through the joint, ending up on the wrong side of the hoop so it wouldn't run out of the drains, running around it to the front and onto the headlining. A bit of sealant smeared on blind with a finger cured it.
Jack, I had a phase 2 16v on a G plate in the mid 90’s, and kept it for seven years as my daily. Really quick lightweight cars 👍 There was a black one for sale in Bedford for £6995 about a year ago… suspension wise just make sure you have the correct 16v spheres as the GTi 8v spheres make the ride too soft in the corners. Looking forward to more form this under rated hot saloon 👀
I had a bx loved it so much was very sad when it ran away just outside Bristol inhaling it’s own engine oil. How ever i did manage to stall the engine let it cool down and I managed to get it go again. After that you could not drive above 50mph as it would run away again it limped on for a few months locally in Devon before it finally would no longer start in the winter months without a tow. I think the engine had the best part of 300thousand miles on it and was worn out. I bought a xantia estate and ran that for 10yrs before I bought a new c5 estate hpi exclusive that I ran for 16yrs and still own but is off the road with a fuel issue. I’ve now bought a 2012 c5 exclusive tourer and it’s been the worst Citreon I ever bought it’s always got some issue and is in garage right now having repairs done. The older Citreon’s was the best ones they gave very little trouble long term but they was well known for leaving the odd oil slick in the drive way.
In the factory, if a door was mis-aligned they put a long plank between the sill and the door bottom, near the lock end and simply levered the door up basically bending it into place ( saw on a video at a BMC factory many years back), you don't lever against the skin but rather put a bit of wood between the plank and the bottom of the door frame. I have tried this method a few times over the years and it actually works...honest!
This crazy Englishman... has a Ferrari in the garage and an Elise somewhere (btw... what happened to the Elise? Is it done? No driving videos? Sold?) and is now dealing with the french guys finest engineering work ever done (maybe I am not too serious here). I'd love to see you taking on a classic Esprit or maybe sth Italian again! Also the Frankenlise did not get the room it deserved I guess? Really like your vids!
I'll totally buy this off you when you've had enough, I own a Citroen XM so totally used to the hydropneumatic suspension, also I have a 205 GTI which is getting ready for the same Mi16 engine in that's in that BX. Recently bought an inflatable spray booth, so I'd give it the much needed respray!
@@johnchurch4705 Not yet, I need to raise the awning on the side of my house first. However I'm spraying alloys in my conservatory, so I've got all the proper spray gear; proper gun, filters, big compressor, air fed mask etc.
Door adjustment is simple, a 2x4 plank under the door and resting on the top of the sill, i quick tweak and job done, that’s how it was done in car factories back in the 70’s
I absolutely loved my BXs, I had a dark green turbo diesel hurricane… so comfy. Detested by my car mad mate but, there’s just something magical about these cars. I drive a bmw 330i e90 touring which is great as I do long distances between Switzerland, Germany and the Uk I cycle everywhere else but…. I still hanker after a bx hahaha! Thanks for the video.
If you're moving downmarket to putrescent heaps that need major patching, you might want to check out RUclipsr Fitzee's Fabrications. (If only for the Newfie accent.) He does amazing feats of recreation, and has an interesting technique called "cut and butt".
get it going and drive it, they are brilliant we had a 8v gti it was about the same hp as an xr3i but nothing could catch it on bends. Unfortunately it came to a rather nasty high speed end proving that !
Superb work and quite a solid car ,i like the bx a good looking car my dads mate had a turbo diesel he let me have a drive around the block drove well and was quite responsive the brakes take some getting used to i had a mk2 cavalier sri and was a firm push of the pedal on the bx the slightest touch and it was like doing an emergency stop very different to what i was use to .
Number 27, I wouldn't recommend lifting your Tomato or any vehicle by the side only. It could damage your vehicle's frame & wheel hubs & etc. The professionals said to always do both sides if you lift the front end or rear end... or both ends.
I traded in my Lada Riva estate (don't laugh), for a one year old 1989 BX gti 16v in black.....it was like going from the stone age to the space age. I loved that car.
Have you checked under top of driver's door as had relative with one and it rotted there. If can't press brake pedal at idle near 14-20 times before car objects the accumulator sphere had it, and probably ones in the 4 corners too. Affects brakes and handling which only realise when had it all done. You might want to save the other BX in field if not toast.
Yo, I might take that off your hands when you come to sell it, I'll see how it looks over the next week or so. Citroëns are better cars than many people realise.
Your mig wants the wire speed and ampage settings adjusting properly, you will find your welding will improve tremendously. It should sound smoother and quieter when set right, spend a little time doing it, you will find it pays dividends. Your doing a grand job though.
This brings back fond memories of my 16v BX, I used to drive it 850 miles to Paris and back (all in one day) every 2 weeks for a year to collect goods from a customer. It had 70,000 miles on the clock when I bought it, and it never let me down. It was driven as fast as possible all the time in France and it was the most comfortable car I had ever owned. Sold it with 120,000 miles on the clock for £100.
Hats off for taking on the Tomato!!! Love it!
Leaking shock is probably the sphere leaking and as they are so easy to change I would order all five and change them as one. Transforms the handling and a great opportunity to change the mineral oil at the same time. Loving the changes and can’t wait to see her back on the road.
is just some seepage, leak is when drops are formed and drip to the floor. Tha may be just form the return pipe connectors and is totally fine, just wipe before MOT and keep an eye on places where oil actually drips.
A good project, love the use of cardboard as a fire barrier when welding the floor🔥👍
Oh yes.. I always do things properly 🤣🤣
@@Number27 A Tesla motor under the rear, 1 of the rear the drive shafts driving the suspension pump when in motion 2 electric truck hydraulic power steering pumps for suspension when stationary, or swap to air suspension.
@@Number27 Funny guy ! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Never thought I’d be interested in an old BX, but here I am! I’m actually really enjoying these videos 👍
Great to hear, thanks for watching Chris!!
He's doing humanity a service by elevating the BX to its proper status. They were plagued by prejudice in a way that Peugeots never have been, though the 405 (and 406) was a cracking car.
Following you living with this and the cheap S500 is such good content. Really enjoying it.
Excellent video, my favourite car you've bought to date, probably one of the last proper Citroën. Try a hair dryer/heat gun on the front bumper first before considering painting it's probably UV damage.
I think it is UV damage. I had a red 1.6 in about 1987 and even though it was only a couple of years old the bumper was already pink.
Nice video, very enjoyable. I have a Nissan Micra that I'm sorting for MOT by end of month.
Had a welder do some work for me on sill, crossmember, but I also had a dropped drivers door like you. The guy basically got hold of bottom of door whilst open & pulled up against weight of car a couple of times, which cured the door. Trick of the trade he said.
Great work on the rust repairs mate. Going further and further down the restoration path. Next thing you will be doing full bare metal restorations with silly engine swaps ;)
If the car needs a whole respray anyway, get a couple of rattle cans matched and made up for you and do the bumper that way.
I agree x2
@@davidrcordeiro X3 on this.
2 weeks till you MOT it, brilliant, excellent video.
Just realized how much I miss my BX 19GTi (and before that my BX 16RS)! Thanks for caring for her, mate
Pleasure!!
Good start. Glad to hear Rich will be helping out. He's the man for all things BX.
I've always liked BXs and I really enjoyed that Flipping Bangers episode so very nice to see this car on YT again.
I saw a 4x4 one of these parked at a local hotel a few years back, looked great!
These were cracking cars in their day. I used to sell them, new, in '88.
My mate put this engine in his 205 GTI.
Cool !
Those rot repairs got sorted quick sharp! Impressive 👍
Great to see that beast live on. Makes me feel old to see a car I once drove when fairly new becomes a classic resto project!
Tell me about it! Wishing I'd kept my GTi now. In fact I wish I'd kept quite a lot of my cars, especially my first car which was an Alfa GT1600 Junior that I bought in 1981 for £400. It was already rusting then, but good ones are fetching £40-£45k these days. It stings every time I come across one on the web.
Hi , these were great cars , I had a diesel for years and drove all over the UK FOR WORK . really comfortable and great m p g . and lucky we had a Citroen expert in our village , who only replaced the clutch lever arm and some hydraulic pipes , as they are service parts . 250 k miles in nothing if serviced as advised and some taxis had this on them .
Considering the butchery needed to that door pillar you've done very well to get that door anywhere near fitting.
Another interesting vid Jack. Thanks again for going to the effort of creating these. Love them and your automotive adventures!
Thank you Ewan, take car chap!
Jack, do the TB. It's not just the stresses of use for timing belts, it's also the degradation of the rubber. It's not worth the chsnce leaving it 🙂
Wow so lucky!! Much less rust than I thought it'd have
Always interesting to see anyone keen enough to spend time saving an interesting car. Citroens from the 70's to the 90's were a bit of a Marmite manufacturer. Very good cars but typical French over engineering in a lot of areas made them difficult to maintain. My Dad loved them though. He had an air cooled GS, then a GSA. Moved on to the BX range with a 17D and a 19D, then ended up with a Xantia.
This great content Jack! Aren’t BX’s just great looking cars! I’m looking forward to seeing your next update 👍😃
You know what, I've got to admit I really really like the look of that BX too. It seems to have aged really well in the looks department
@@azamchaudhri Hasn’t it just! Having said that Azam I’ve always liked the BX it’s just different and I love that about it!
@@ryanmccormick2150 yeah I liked the BX too when it was new.☺️👍🏼. but tbh forgot about it until now.
I recently sold the BX 16TRS i had since 2006 and made more than 100000km, Those cars are amazing, but require some time and labour, specially to sort oil leaks. Old plastic return pipes are old now, and will leak some place sooner or latter. The 16V are so special, very fast, fully equipped, and still a practical spacious family car. Great videos on this tomato.
My old man had a 1.4 and it was immaculate and his neighbor had the gti. Loved them. I was only a young lad and loved slamming it to the ground. Looked well cool.
That 'floor drain' was there to let primer out when the bare body was dipped. It wouldn't have been left open - it would have had either a rubber bung or a steel cover plate which usually rusts away in no time.
Great work Jack. Good progress there. 👍🏻
I once watched doors being fitted to MGBs on the line at Abingdon. Hinge fastenings partly tightened, door slammed hard to set the panel gaps (!) then the door partly opened and opened, a long metal bar slid down through the rear of the window aperture and levered like mad from side to side to align the rear edge of the door with the B pillar. Primitive, but it worked!
“THE FLYING TOMATO “
Great work on this one Jack.
Absolutely with you on the work done so far, and reasons why your leaving other work for someone else.
Looking forward to the next update 👍🏻.
5:29 Fittingly, that car cover half draped over the Tomato resembles the sheet they put over people who have just died.
😂 😂 😂 😂
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
Well done Jack, loving this journey of yours
Thanks chap, hope all good!!
About as much fun waiting to drive a fixed Citroen Tomato, as waiting for facebook/instagram to go back online today Jack!!
I set myself a similar timeline when i brought my Nova Antibes back to mine a few weeks ago ... got the belt and water pump done ... haven't touched it in a fortnight now.. 😁 look forward to the next one as always 😎👍
When I was at college in the 70s my mates really hot mum Barbara had a mk1 consul with an oven tray on the floor so your feet would not go through to the ground due to a rusted out floor, I bloody hope Steve is not reading this
Jack look up a video of a Renault 5 being built when it comes to door adjustment / alignment this big guy gives the door one hell of a yuk it closes perfectly that’s what’s needed on your door ,the nuclear industry are always looking for welders if you fancy a career change 😂👍👨🏻🏭
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Love these videos like the merc… just tidying them up…
Grinder and paint makes me the welder I ain’t 😉
Really surprised all the sills and wheel arches are in that good of a condition. Great work getting the saving process of this car started!
If it were a TZD I'd have the same thought.
Wow...that was almost painless. Well done. Looking forward to see if eventually go the full Monty and give it a new paint job.
Nice one Jack. My dad had two GSA Pallas, one second hand and one new (which I later bought off him). He loved them both but for some reason switched to Ford rather than have a BX. I later had a Xantia as a company car when they first came out and he was very jealous of that mind you.
A worthy and suitably quirky project. Following with interest!
If you're mig welding outdoors with gas it's best to stick a bit of something around the weld to stop the breeze blowing your gas shroud away.
Wow, Jack! I am impressed, mate! The BX didn't hide much behind the front wing at all besides that which you knew about! Your welding is not as bad as you think, mate - looks good as gold with a solid (if not slightly heavy) bead and will stand up to a fair bit of punishment. You may find that the door lines up better with all four wheels back on the ground too. Glad the oil leak wasn't as frightening as it could have been and I'll look forward to the next instalment in the Sundried Tomato saga!
Oh - you may already know that 80s reds are a bugger for fading - especially on colour-matched bumpers. Sometimes an oil-based furniture polish will bring them back, but they never really matched for long after they left the factory and even the black plastic or black rubber bumpers needed more than the likes of Armour-All to protect it / bring its colour back.
As I was right into having a pristine-looking car at the time (I had a black Alfa Sprint) but didn't have a huge budget for detailing creams (largely due to the aforementioned Alfa Sprint), I experimented with a few household cleaners and polishes to see what worked. I found either a furniture oil (if really bad) or sometimes something like Neopol (which is silicone based) brought it back and held the colour for longer than the comparatively more-expensive-to-purchase car detailing products and have stuck with them ever since. The bumpers will soak it all in and change colour, but will likely remain a satin or matt finish for the first half dozen times, but the paint does eventually shine again after a few more applications.
Flipping a flipped banger 😀 welding old cars is never as easy as it seems👌
I say 2 weeks is quite the challenge, c'est la vie. Best of luck 👍
Looks like a Bradford registration, Citroen dealer back many years ago was Jack Andrews. The leasing company I worked for bought numbers of these as they were “flavour of the month” with a couple of large fleets back in the day,
Thought it's condition would be worse, do a proper paint polish and it 'll do wonders. Great and underrated hot hatch!
im sure the door will close fine, once its on the ground. old cars flex, especially when they are up in the air like that
Always found the BX appealing. Don't really know why it doesn't get more attention than it does, it seems to me to be quite an interesting Citroen. Not as interesting as say a DS or a CX, but interesting nonetheless. It looks a bit 80s, but also a bit futuristic, if you know what I mean. It'll be interesting to watch you give the old fille the makeover she deserves
I love the interior. Same as in my BX GTi.
I lost it years ago due to an accident 20 odd years ago, still miss it every day. Great cars, great suspension (floating over potholes..). Comfortable like nothing else. Nice sounding engine. Big boot, plenty of room and light weight.
Great work Jack, loving watching this update and saving this BX. One tip for the bumper…shoe polish providing you can something close to the colour. On my Dads old Peugeot 309 I regularly ended up (as a kid!) making the bumpers look like new with some black shoe polish which seemed to last for ages!
Brilliant work Jack. Total respect.
I had a BX for 7 years, very reliable car, zero rust on it in that time as even the bonnet was plastic the only issue I had were the rear suspension globes which proved a pain to change but a really good band wrench did the trick
These are super rare, I know I’ve been looking for one that is tip top. Getting it an MOT is a good start. Most of the plastic bits are available new from Citroen or Chevronics at a good price. Please save this car properly it may be its last chance. All the hydraulic bits are robust and easily sorted with the right tools and the right parts and fluids. The corrosion is just corrosion that any neglected car of this age has.
It's a pile of junk pal sorry to say
Hey @number27 Jack you just might have found the next owner here.
@@johnyp2967 Negative. If you consider, what this car went through, it is actually in amazingly good shape!
Great car. Deserves some overdue love and caring. You sir, have earned a new subscriber. Thank you for showing us this quality work
Thanks for subscribing Bill!
My first car was a Peugeot 405 Mi16. Same engine. Wonderful car!
Was going to say the same thing. I had a G-reg Mi16 4x4 for 7 years ! Heavily modified...was a touring car...
Really looking forward to it as it develops.
I find this so much more satisfying than watching you jump from crisis to expensive crisis on the Ferrari and that goes for S Class also.
Great progress Jack look forward to the next vid
Split pipe is probably a return from the suspension unit. Those just unscrew with a strap wrench but I don't know how much bleeding is required after replacement.
Enjoying this…always had a soft spot for the bx 16 valve.
You’re a brave man, Jack.
If there is wear on the bottom hinge, you may be able to shim it, by cutting a small section out of flat washer and tapping it into the lower part of the hinge to take up some of the slack. A softish, copper type washer may work best for this. Good luck!
Well done Jack, They are worth saving, I think once you drive it you may decide to do more on the car ?? I loved the drive of mid 80's /90's Citroen's just the quality failing made me fall out with the brand, but loved the drive..!
Bertone made this design for the upcoming Volvo 480 but when Volvo decided against it, Citroën liked it and only a few things changed from the original Bertone design such as popup headlights replaced with normal headlights and some other bits.
I heard that the BX was the car that saved Citroen - probably the last of their radical designs . I love 'em
Radical? This was where Citroen lost their flair and became more mainstream.
I love this project the BX is so cool! I really miss Pepé
I would like to see a full respray on this car.it’s special😎🎉
The xu9j4 engine is easy to work on. The belts in that car should take no time. I bought an OE kit including water pump for about £180 from Germany. Be prepared for wobbly butterflies on the throttle body.
8:38 I love your cardboard welding shields. Safety First! 😱 By the way, that sunroof probably rusted because the drains got blocked. Water sits in the bucket around the glass panel, and wicks up into the seam where the bucket is joined to the roof panel. Been there, done that, and really it is a death knell for the car over the long term. But as promised, I am watching everything you post about this Cit.
Doesn't even need blocked drains to leak.
I had a '95 306XSI that would drop water from the front of the headlining. Didn't happen every time it rained and I couldn't get it to happen with a hose.
Eventually tracked it down to missing sealant on a small length of the joint between the lip of the roof and the reinforcing hoop at the rear edge. Water was wicking up through the joint, ending up on the wrong side of the hoop so it wouldn't run out of the drains, running around it to the front and onto the headlining. A bit of sealant smeared on blind with a finger cured it.
A real "Jack" of all trades !
I like your optmism
Square up the door with a jack once the carv is back on the ground. It's seems brutal but it's effective.
Yep!! So I’ve been told!
Jack, I had a phase 2 16v on a G plate in the mid 90’s, and kept it for seven years as my daily. Really quick lightweight cars 👍
There was a black one for sale in Bedford for £6995 about a year ago…
suspension wise just make sure you have the correct 16v spheres as the GTi 8v spheres make the ride too soft in the corners.
Looking forward to more form this under rated hot saloon 👀
Hi Jack. You might be lucky by just changing the pin in the bottom hinge.
Kian the boy. Wicked. Just look at that BX promotional pic in black. Spunky for myself and those that still think these are cool
I had a bx loved it so much was very sad when it ran away just outside Bristol inhaling it’s own engine oil. How ever i did manage to stall the engine let it cool down and I managed to get it go again. After that you could not drive above 50mph as it would run away again it limped on for a few months locally in Devon before it finally would no longer start in the winter months without a tow. I think the engine had the best part of 300thousand miles on it and was worn out. I bought a xantia estate and ran that for 10yrs before I bought a new c5 estate hpi exclusive that I ran for 16yrs and still own but is off the road with a fuel issue. I’ve now bought a 2012 c5 exclusive tourer and it’s been the worst Citreon I ever bought it’s always got some issue and is in garage right now having repairs done. The older Citreon’s was the best ones they gave very little trouble long term but they was well known for leaving the odd oil slick in the drive way.
Anton’s here I could of done the welding for you!!
2 weeks, fab, such a lot of work, go for it 🍅 👍
In the factory, if a door was mis-aligned they put a long plank between the sill and the door bottom, near the lock end and simply levered the door up basically bending it into place ( saw on a video at a BMC factory many years back), you don't lever against the skin but rather put a bit of wood between the plank and the bottom of the door frame. I have tried this method a few times over the years and it actually works...honest!
This crazy Englishman... has a Ferrari in the garage and an Elise somewhere (btw... what happened to the Elise? Is it done? No driving videos? Sold?) and is now dealing with the french guys finest engineering work ever done (maybe I am not too serious here). I'd love to see you taking on a classic Esprit or maybe sth Italian again! Also the Frankenlise did not get the room it deserved I guess? Really like your vids!
I'll totally buy this off you when you've had enough, I own a Citroen XM so totally used to the hydropneumatic suspension, also I have a 205 GTI which is getting ready for the same Mi16 engine in that's in that BX. Recently bought an inflatable spray booth, so I'd give it the much needed respray!
I'm totally serious, also I've got a pipe flaring tool for Citroen hydraulic lines, so if you need help give me a shout.
Have you tried spraying in the inflatable spray booth? Samcrac in the USA 🇺🇸 used one for painting the bumpers on his 930 Porsche.
@@johnchurch4705 Not yet, I need to raise the awning on the side of my house first. However I'm spraying alloys in my conservatory, so I've got all the proper spray gear; proper gun, filters, big compressor, air fed mask etc.
@@DanteICE looking to hearing how you get on 👍🏻. Ps I remember my brother painting his wheels in his bedroom with aerosol cans lol 😆.
Door adjustment is simple, a 2x4 plank under the door and resting on the top of the sill, i quick tweak and job done, that’s how it was done in car factories back in the 70’s
I absolutely loved my BXs, I had a dark green turbo diesel hurricane… so comfy. Detested by my car mad mate but, there’s just something magical about these cars. I drive a bmw 330i e90 touring which is great as I do long distances between Switzerland, Germany and the Uk I cycle everywhere else but…. I still hanker after a bx hahaha! Thanks for the video.
good job, don't worry too much about front bumper
Nice one Jack,re:bumpers can you use the blow torch method which will bring plastic back to new ?? ( if bumpers aren’t painted that is) 👍🚒
If you're moving downmarket to putrescent heaps that need major patching, you might want to check out RUclipsr Fitzee's Fabrications. (If only for the Newfie accent.) He does amazing feats of recreation, and has an interesting technique called "cut and butt".
Rattle can that bumper will be best to match in with the rest of the look
This is an awesome and rare car,i think if you respray all the car you won't loose.
get it going and drive it, they are brilliant we had a 8v gti it was about the same hp as an xr3i but nothing could catch it on bends. Unfortunately it came to a rather nasty high speed end proving that !
Superb work and quite a solid car ,i like the bx a good looking car my dads mate had a turbo diesel he let me have a drive around the block drove well and was quite responsive the brakes take some getting used to i had a mk2 cavalier sri and was a firm push of the pedal on the bx the slightest touch and it was like doing an emergency stop very different to what i was use to .
Welding. Something I’ve never ever triEd my hand at. A useful skill to be sure in which I’m sadly lacking.
Have good weekend David!!
Love your car Brilliant video 👍
Number 27, I wouldn't recommend lifting your Tomato or any vehicle by the side only. It could damage your vehicle's frame & wheel hubs & etc. The professionals said to always do both sides if you lift the front end or rear end... or both ends.
Great work on the A pillar, can you restore the bumper with a head gun the same as a black bumper?
I traded in my Lada Riva estate (don't laugh), for a one year old 1989 BX gti 16v in black.....it was like going from the stone age to the space age. I loved that car.
Have you checked under top of driver's door as had relative with one and it rotted there. If can't press brake pedal at idle near 14-20 times before car objects the accumulator sphere had it, and probably ones in the 4 corners too. Affects brakes and handling which only realise when had it all done. You might want to save the other BX in field if not toast.
Yo, I might take that off your hands when you come to sell it, I'll see how it looks over the next week or so. Citroëns are better cars than many people realise.
Your mig wants the wire speed and ampage settings adjusting properly, you will find your welding will improve tremendously. It should sound smoother and quieter when set right, spend a little time doing it, you will find it pays dividends. Your doing a grand job though.