What to do?

All chat, general/off topic/banterish and questions relating to the BX16valve.
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robin hughes
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What to do?

Post by robin hughes »

Just recently ive decided to put most but not all of the 16v back to standard. Over the last two days i have put the 5 spoke alloys on off the blue gti we scrapped, replaced the bonnet with the standard one plus grill and replaced the door mirrors with the originals. As some of you will know ive been looking in to having the car fully repainted ( except engine bay ) this means doors, sills, full glass and windscreen out job. As i want a top job i was thinking a buget of around 4k?. However when putting the five spoke alloys on i found that the inner arches have started to rust from the back ( door shut areas both sides ) and theres now a hole through the top of the inner wheel arch into the boot where the extra fuel tank is,

Also the fuel cap filler neck has rusted away and the filler cap does not lock any more and is taped shut :( . Ive also found rust under the washer bottle in the bulk head which is now a small hole ( mot fail ) and the rear chassis rail drivers side needs plating as its gone through ( mot fail ) and also the inner wing passenger side has now gone through to.

Im beginning to wonder wether its worth doing or to just sell cause right now it looks dog rough and nothing like it used to. Dad says dont bother and sell it because once all the bodys done the hydraulics will just need doing ( struts etc ) and basicly ill just be paying out all the time.

What do you guys think? is it time to let it go? :?
The citroen bx 16 valve loves garages hates driving
1990 escort rs turbo 220 bhp
1992 bx 16 valve phase 2 red
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robin hughes
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Post by robin hughes »

The car as it stands. I dont think ill bother putting it through an mot at the end of the year ( due december ). need to get prices for welding :roll: .

The pics are a little on the large side so could anyone on here ( mod ) resize them?. I dont know how to do it and would be grateful of a lesson on how to do it.

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wheel arch into the boot

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bulkhead rust

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inner wing rust

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door shut rust. The rear quarter panels are going to have to come off to sort this mess.


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fuel filler flap, new fuel filler neck needed.

To be honest im pretty peed off, im thinking some of this may have resulted from the underseal i used?
The citroen bx 16 valve loves garages hates driving
1990 escort rs turbo 220 bhp
1992 bx 16 valve phase 2 red
Vanny
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Post by Vanny »

you need a new O/S rear quarter panel, that will resolve most of the issues in that area, bit of a bugger if your not doing it yourself, but if your thinking of a full repaint then its not so bad.

Quite frankly there is no value in a BX. If your going to keep the car you need to be pretty darn sure you want to lavish money on it and never see it back. You also need to be 100% sure you want to keep it.

There is no point getting the work done, then getting rid as you certainly wont make the money back.

Personally i'll be keeping my BX as long as i humanly can, so i wouldn't be worried about spending the cash on it. The other half might think otherwise though.

On the plus side, what you have shown in the pics is reasonably striahgt forward to fix. But i wonder what else is hidden underneath the body kit and wax oil?
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robin hughes
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Post by robin hughes »

the main floor pans and boot floor are fine, ive had a good poke around (spent hours under it and thats all the rot i could find. Its the wheel arches that have started going ( where it gets all the crap ). Im wondering wether i used the wrong underseal? its the hammerite underbody seal with added waxoyl. Its as if its cracked and let the water in. the rear door shut repair is bugging me as ill need the metal cut out from another bx with decent shuts to have welded in, And the inner wing repair looks like its going to be hard to get to with the abs in the way?. Also i dont want it bodging as rust only comes back to haunt you that way. If i had it done yes i would be keeping it indefinitly but its finding some one who will do it and do it right?. ive even been looking at the citunig site as they do bodywork and restoration.

Otherwise its replacement will be a newish citroen xsara vts in helios yellow if i can find a good one.
The citroen bx 16 valve loves garages hates driving
1990 escort rs turbo 220 bhp
1992 bx 16 valve phase 2 red
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Post by Vanny »

Finding someone to do the work isnt the problem, its the cost that will be the killer if you dont do it yourself. Front inner wings are a doddle, ABS pump is bolt out affair, sure you'll loose some LHM but thats not a big problem.

you dont really need to cut the shuts of something else, a good beater should be able to sort something reasonably easy. Frankly i've never seen rot that bad in that area before, usualy the seems start to split like in the front inner wings.

My general point is that the welding you have here is pretty easy to perform, but the cost of getting it done right will be a killer!
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Post by NZ16v »

find a mate who can weld, doesnt look that bad IMHO,clean her up. And sell me your bonnet!!!
Would rather be driving ONE 16v,than fixng TWO.
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thanuttiscotsman
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Post by thanuttiscotsman »

hey man, your car doesnt look bad at all! :D believe me mine is worse! welding is not the rocket science some people think it is, its a doddle really. i think maybe one option would be that you go out and buy a welder and started learning some new skills? would save you a fortune in the future! personally rust was the main killer of my old cars, so i bought a welder and started learning myself and im now pretty good at it.

rossco
1989 BX 16v ph1 Big project chipped, k+N, scorpion s/s, weber throttle body, Nitrous injection

1990 BX 16v ph2 (now scrapped)
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robin hughes
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Post by robin hughes »

cheers for the replys guys,

If i decide to take it to a body shop do you reckon its going to be over a grand to sort that little lot?. I cant get it there at the mo as theres no tax, plus it needs a new rubber/metal high pressure pipe and flow valve fitting, Ive also got the drivers side rear arm bearing to do ( its gone again after 4 years ). Ive got to do all that lot before i can drive it anywhere.

If the body work comes in too expensive i may strip the car. Most of that corrosion is mot fail areas.
The citroen bx 16 valve loves garages hates driving
1990 escort rs turbo 220 bhp
1992 bx 16 valve phase 2 red
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robin hughes
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Post by robin hughes »

:D Right ive made my decision. Its staying because theres nothing else on the market any good for the money. Its going to have to sit in the garage for 12 months unused while i save the money ( dont do loans ). Is it worth cuting the rot out with an angle grinder so it doesnt spread as the car wont be going anywhere for a long while? Yes there will be holes but hopefully no more rot :? .
The citroen bx 16 valve loves garages hates driving
1990 escort rs turbo 220 bhp
1992 bx 16 valve phase 2 red
NZ16v
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Post by NZ16v »

angle grinder might be a bit big-try and get hold of a die grinder with a small cutting wheel, and then clean it up and prep it to protect metal...get it fixed as soon as possible-i powerfiled mine out,blew it clean, rust protected it then primed it before it went to the bodyshop to be repaired.
Its not a big job for someone who has the tools and experience...maybe wait till that person is available, so just wire wheel the crap out of the areas, rust kill the bejesus out of it and then paint it? Rust is a sh*t once it starts, so get in there asap! Even just sort the rust out now, prime it, and wait a bit for the funds to come through for the rest? Good on you regardless, another valver lives to fight another day!!!!
Would rather be driving ONE 16v,than fixng TWO.
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thanuttiscotsman
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Post by thanuttiscotsman »

hey robin, glad to hear your keeping it! tbh i dont think rust will spread if the car is kept in a dry place. but it would do no harm to get the work started and remove rusted sections. just make sure when you cut lumps out that you clean it and get it rust proofed v soon after cutting so rust doesnt set in the bits your keeping too. even touching bear metal with your finger will cause it to rust within 24 hrs. also if you have a year i would seriously consider learning how to weld. you can buy a decent starter welder for just over £100 in machine mart.

cheers rossco
1989 BX 16v ph1 Big project chipped, k+N, scorpion s/s, weber throttle body, Nitrous injection

1990 BX 16v ph2 (now scrapped)
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robin hughes
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Post by robin hughes »

well ive owned it 9 years and you wouldnt beleive the ammount of service history i have ( around £10,000 ) worth. I realy need to know roughly how much to get the rear door shuts and inner wing areas fixed. If it isnt more than 1k to do then i can have the money within 3 months and then get it resprayed at a later date. Trouble is the best place in cornwall no longer does rust repairs and is accident damage only and im struggling to find a garage in the area that will do a top notch job as im very very fussy. The hardest bit is getting it to them because it will be out of tax and mot by then.

Rosco im with you on the welder but i wouldnt want to practise on my beloved 16v incase i damaged it.
The citroen bx 16 valve loves garages hates driving
1990 escort rs turbo 220 bhp
1992 bx 16 valve phase 2 red
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Post by NZ16v »

go to a fabrication shop/engineers an ask for some offcuts of 1-3mm steel. They should have buckets of the stuff. Grab some, read up, and get cracking!!!
Would rather be driving ONE 16v,than fixng TWO.
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Adrian E
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Post by Adrian E »

Dude - have a dig around the local classic car scene down your way.

My old Mk2 Cortina 2 door ended up in Cornwall and last I heard was now white, rather than red, and sporting a 3 litre V6 to replace the not exactly asthmatic cammed up 1660cc that was in it before! When I sold it several years ago it needed inner wings, outer wings and lower A pillars (behind the front wings) so am assuming that all got sorted down your way.

May be possible to find someone through the RS club down your way that can suggest places to take it that'll do a decent job?

Accident repair is where the money is for paintshops - they can charge insurance companies pretty much what they like for not exactly brilliant quality work and 9 times out of 10 nobody complains, so I can understand why they wouldn't want to spend time poking bits of rust and trying to figure out just how big a job they'd agreed to take on will be!

You're also right that it may be easier doing the whole job in one go in terms of paint and rust repairs - if you really do want to go the whole hog and stop it rusting any further then you may need to consider a complete strip down and dipping the shell. For some reason red cars always seem to be amongst the worst for rust IF/WHEN it takes hold so you clearly have some hidden issues to overcome behind all the plastic.

Carry on :D
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Mike P
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Post by Mike P »

Hi Robin,

The amount of money you've spent on the car over the years makes it a keeper.

If you spend more money on it sorting the rust out, then it's a keeper.

I thought you and your Dad spent a long time undersealing the car etc to try and prevent this?

I know none of us look after old cars to make money, but I sadly think you will be looking at a huge hit when you sell the car.

As Vanny has said (and it pains me to say it), all Bx's are inherently worthless and will never will worth "good" money. There just isn't the general public interest in them to make the market strong for them.

As an aside, the general price of cars of the Bx's era seem to be going throught the roof at the moment IMO. Every man thinks his 205 is worth £2000 at the moment and Sapphire Cosworths for £5000 to £6000, never worth more than £4k in my opinion.

Yet people wouldn't want to spend more that £600 to £800 on a Bx. It always makes me chuckle when I read posts on the BX Club forum where they have a very low valuation trend on all Bx's.

As to sorting out the rust, I would guess around £1500 to £2000 for sorting out the rust and respray. I would advocate you doing all the stripping of the shell and bodykit removal, just for piece of mind, Can you imagine the phone calls from the garage along the lines of "that fibre glass bit just snapped" or "that plastic trim is a bit fragile" Would also keep the cost down as the above stated price.

Mike P.
Founder member of the Phase 1 Appreciation Society!
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'88 'F' White Bx16v - 62k miles & as seen on TV
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