BX16V.com Forum

Well after a productive day ive managed to find out exactly how far the rust has gone ( good news- not that far at all ) and its nothing to do with the underseal ive put on. Its down to age and design flaws in the car. The seam in the wheel arch has split letting water in under the originall underseal and the hole in the upper wheel arch has been caused by the bracket holding the breather to rot out and spread under the original under seal also the hole in the bulk head has rotted from water bottle side through so not all that bad.

Also theres no rot at all round the car assides a little bit round the exhauust hanger ( again design flaw ). So far ive cleand the rust up by sanding it down, then treating it with rust cure, then hammeriting it to slow it down. Im going to go ahead and have the car done as im not doing it for profit, Its simple "i like it" ive looked at newer stuff in particular the renault sport megan 225 f1 but i dont fancy a trip to the dealers everytime a dash light comes on!. Im going to keep the bx therfore it will never be for sale so it doesnt matter what cash i put in to it and if i have to ill sell the rs turbo as a cash boost ( dont want to just yet though as i need it ).

Took a few pics and again sorry they are so big


chassis rail easily repairable only a small hole.


door shut area- thats as far as its gone


top of wheel arch










not realy that bad for 18 years old

this shows up the problems you face when you paint up stuff without disassembling and cleaning first-that stuff looks great till you see where the paint stops, and the rust/crap begins. Would recommend pulling it apart and cleaning the crap out of all of it and repainting. Good news on the rust front though!!!

Just one thing, from a design engineers point of view the faults you describe are NOT design flaws. Remember its a very old car (by modern car standards) and built to a budget, to do much else with the exhaust hook would mean a significant cost increase, and i dont know of a single report of an exhaust falling off under warranty. Its just age, not a flaw. God makes me sound like i'm sticking up for the Citroen engineers

It would be a shame to scrap the car, the no. suits the car well.
C16VBX (Citroen 16 Valve BX)
If you want to lay up the car I suggest you get a can of Wurth's Rust Converter and apply on the rusted areas, it really works that stuff.
Hammerite I am not too sure...

I went out this morning to touch up what i thought was a bit of surface rust on the sill lip at the front of the passenger side and after further investigation the original underseal has cracked and rust has started up the sill between the lip and kit as i put a screwdriver straight through the sill in te small gap. Im seriously considering getting somthing else now. I know its not worth much as a car but theres £500 worth of plate and if i couldnt sell it id transfer it to whatever i got next, But i probably would not sell the car whole but strip it as its worth more in bits, like the grey one we stripped 6 years ago,

im temped with this

http://www.pistonheads.com/SALES/1206330.htm

Will let you know my final decision as i need to think about this carefuly.

if its such a pear how would you sell it whole? Infact if it really is that bad then a bit of time with an angle grinder and stripping brush might be the way to go, find out the true extent of the rot once and for all, and a then coat liberally with a rust eater if its not all that bad.

Doc had a recent thread (though i forget where it is posted) on the huge amount of surgery he undertook on his valver after it got cowed. There was a huge amoutn of rot in it!

Its not realy a pear, the other sill seems fine and the main floor pans and boot floor are all solid. Its just the arse of taking all the kit off including the rear air vents as last time i did that ( on the grey one ) i managed to break the plastic c pillar panel. However ive just been given a phone number for a bloke that does bodywork on my doorstep and hes already done a bx 16v not long ago ( repaired a pillar and door hinge rust, repaired crack and resprayed rear bumper and repaired the bodykit on this particular one ). Im going to give him a ring and get him to come out and give me a quote. Apparently hes very good and whilst not the cheapst hes not that expensive either and you pay for what you get.

Very nice VTS there and it's not far from me.

Mike P.

rob, i can understand the vts as a logical step up formthe bx, but if honest, that one seems a little pricey, after all its 7 years old! (i know i know in temr of ours it practically new lol) but the values on them arnt that much at all! have a nose on ebay! will give you an idea of what they are fetching in the various conditions,
they are great cars though!

rust is almost inevitable on a car of the age of ours, but with labour costs as they are it can make a good repair costly, if yo ucould weld your self then it wouldnt be all that bad!
as allways with these cars, its swings and roundabouts!

i'm trying hard to save some cash to get darren to do the octopus on mine but with littluns birthday at the beginning of this month, then pops birthday next week, wife's early Oct and best mates mid oct, doesnt make oit easy! especially when i broke a couple of bits ont he mtb which needed replaceing! (my source of exercise, travel and fun!!)
and aswith all there are Shiny bts for that too!

taka few days to think about it matey as rash descisions can be made in haste!

tim,

im still 50/50 on repairing the bx. I do like that xsara but like you said its dear and too far away for me. However if i have one it has to be a vts and in that colour ( dont want any other colour ) my bros had his xsara vtr now for 6 years and its cost him practicly nothing and i do like driving it.

The worries ive got with bodywork is i dont want to hand over a large sum of money to have the car repaired if its not done right, I dont realy want to see rust coming back through 12 months after it was done, Im realy funny about who i would like to do it as the last body shop that touched the bx in 2003 when a woman reversed into the side of it put a new doorskin on which has overspray, lifting laqure, and surface rust bubbles on the edge of the door, they also sprayed down the side of the car with the same results ( rough paint and peeling laqure ) and that was a £2500 insurance job. I took it back and they didnt want to know so you can see my point.

Bad news im afraid, the rear chassis leg has gone round the fuel tank area so this would mean fuel tank out as well.

So far we have:-

inner wing rust
rear wheel arch rust
door shut rust
bulkhead rust
rear chassis leg rust driver side
rear chassis leg rust round fuel tank passenger side
fuel filler neck rust
and passenger sill rust

Im afraid its the end of the road for this car. Im not repairing it or getting another bx as they are now too old. One the mot has run out i will commence stripping it.

A sad day but i knew it would come eventualy

Now im off to look at newer stuff

Be a real shame to break up a car that means so much to you mate, as Mike has already said the amount of time money and effort expended thus far makes it a keeper.
If you can't do what needs doing right now I would mothball the car until you find someone to help out or you have taken a welding course and bought a mig welder
You need someone who knows BXs and welding to look at it and give you an honest opinion rathe rthan just a garage or bodyshop.

The Xsara vts is a cracking motor but they are not rouble free motoring that's for sure.

Cheers
Luke

Sorry luke this ones dead. Im just finding more and more rust, The drivers sill has gone through as well and the sill end in the drivers wheel arch has gone bad also the front drivers side chassis legs gone. Im toying with the idea of getting another phase 2 so i can re-use all the new parts on mine. Idealy i want a non rusty h,j or k plate 16v preferably in white this time but no more red ones. Is it to much to ask for a structualy sound 16v? does anyone know of any for sale? more chance of knitting fog i know

Am so sorry to hear that rob, Really am fella,
as the others have said, I know how much time and effort you guys have put into that car!
really dont know what to say! Was hoping it would be a case of a few small bits of rust!

Darren's bro used to have a white shell lying around from when he had his, may be worth an ask?? No idea what condition its in mind!

am truely gutted for yo umatey!

Boo sux....sorry to hear of the loss...a thousand curses on salted roads.

PS would love your bonnet though!