BXProject

[Fish_Botherer]

Apologies for having sunk from view for a long, long time - needed a personal top-end overhaul towards the end of last year, then involved with other stuff. Should fish be needed for biblical miracles could probably oblige, but not with loaves....(tend to bother fish with them).

Hope all well with everybody in this neck of the woods.

[Bx Bandit]

Sorry to hear about the top end overhaul mate (think you're among familiar friends on here with that dude!)

Glad to have you back. Are you on a BX hunt?

[Fish_Botherer]

Cheers for those words, bandit.

Not really on a BX hunt- things haven't changed much financially since I passed on Grolliffe because I couldn't afford to keep on anything with four wheels (Grolliffe needed just a steering rack gaiter for Oscar's MOT - almost certainly the other side from the one the Doc kindly changed for me the year before).

Today I managed to spend 10 minutes talking to the female seller of a couple of 1960s/70s radios at a car boot sale near my brother's in Wiltshire before I clocked she was standing in front of a silver BX...... that wouldn't have happened a while back. Then the BX-bug kicked back into action and I worked out she needed a couple of front spheres, called her garage several rude names about the random-looking tyres until I realised it was a 16auto which does take 185/55/14s or similar, and suggested she beware car dealers offering scrap values if she came to sell (it was quite tidy overall with a regulation BX Auto one-owner 60k, though she seemed to think the autobox was slipping).

[Bx Bandit]

16 auto! Blimey, I didn't know they did such a thing. Can't be many about I wouldn't of thought.

Cars do eat cash don't they?! Still, they are bad for mental health, at least I find them so.

Take it easy FB

[Stinkwheel(Matt)]

Cars do eat cash don't they?! Still, they are bad for mental health, at least I find them so.

You see now, I think the opposite, after all the shit from work and modern life i find working on our cars very relaxing and easy (apart from when Im swearing at them)

[Fish_Botherer]

1600 Auto is what I mean - the typical one-owner or one-family-owned BX with low mileage. They keep popping out of the woodwork, probably not very energetically.... but do munch their way through fuel pretty energetically. This one was probably a bit sanity-inducing, after the final death throes of an MGF.

[mat_the_cat]

Ah, I should have probably seen this thread before your post about rear arm bolts - welcome back anyway.

Re the working on cars relieving stress, I find it does if it's a job that doesn't have to be done. Like an improvement/modification on a daily driver, or working on a car where it doesn't have to be finished by the next day/Monday morning. The pressure takes the fun out of it for me...

[docchevron132]

Welcome back David!
Sorry to hear of top end issues, although as Bandit said, thats pretty much par the course round here!

I trust things are better now?

Slipping auto is most likely the kickdown cable requiring some fettling, or the brake band needing adjustment. Best done early before it eats the box..

Talking of poor finances... I still have your engine / box at the farm. It's not at all in the way or a problem, but if you need some cash I'll find a buyer for it for you want?

[Fish_Botherer]

If it can be done with no problem to you - that'd be great, Doc. I'm pretty good now, thanks.

I have this sneaking feeling I may be back in a BX some time, and ideally a TD, but better that a spare lump and box get used rather than hang around on the off-chance. I'll see if I can dig out any history - but that lump ran well (if not spectacularly) in the silver estate rot-box that was my last-but-one BX. Limited mileage in my hands, to the extent that it had oil but not filter change (hence the cringe-making sore thumb of the Halfords filter on the bottom end). It probably had a Lucas pump originally (I seem to remember something on it had been appropriated when I last remember seeing it), but I do have a Bosch one kicking around somewhere in glamourous Gosport, if that'd help the shiftage cause.

I thought of swinging by the farm on the off-chance yesterday, but I'm being towed around by a pair of small but very lively Jack Russells while staying at my brother's, and they need exercise, amusement, and a firm hand (in the case of the four-month-old puppy). Not really what I want to have to deal with while driving a borrowed car....

If the lady gets back to me about her BX (passed on by her parents), I'll pass on your advice. From a cursory inspection It was a car with about as tidy a bodyshell as you could hope for from a BX hatch, bar the usual boot floor. The front doors had never been welded, and didn't look as if they needed it, and the rear arches weren't showing any signs of rot. Usual metallic silver considerations though - it'll either be very sound under the paintwork, or not.

[docchevron132]

nay problem, I'll see what I can get you for it. I'll cross your palm with silver for the box though.. Always good to have spares!!

[stu]

My Mark One was a 16 auto. Not exactly light on fuel, but I was only using it for fun at the time so not the end of the world. A crying shame, what happened to that.

[Fish_Botherer]

nay problem, I'll see what I can get you for it. I'll cross your palm with silver for the box though.. Always good to have spares!!

The very reason I had in mind when keeping it in the first place...

Probably quite a bit harder to get hold of nowadays than a TD lump. Thank you kindly!

[Fish_Botherer]

My Mark One was a 16 auto. Not exactly light on fuel, but I was only using it for fun at the time so not the end of the world. A crying shame, what happened to that.

As someone who started BXing with a couple of 1600s, I have a soft spot for them and could see how they'd work with an autobox - if only because the syncromesh always seemed to go on the manuals (3rd gear, if I remember correctly). I had a nice red Mk1 16TRS auto in my sights some years back, but I think it went to the scrapper (needed a starter, seller wouldn't wear the idea of changing it in situ - would only sell if trailered away, so I believe he scrapped it when there were no other expressions of interest apart from mine).

[stu]

That is sad. My current car was fixed on the seller's drive and driven home - I think he wished he'd asked for more money when he saw me drive it away!

The problem was a hydraulic leak, which was patched enough to get me home, but still losing some fluid - my avatar is a photo I took when I got home, illustrating how much LHM a leaky BX can drink between Ripley and Lewes!

[Fish_Botherer]

That's a lot of creme-de-menthe to lose! The seller in the case I talked about was a dealer - god knows why he found the idea of someone fixing a car in the hidden-away part-ex section behind the showroom unacceptable. And this was before serious insurance and health-and-safety paranoia properly kicked in...

[Bx Bandit]

Cars do eat cash don't they?! Still, they are bad for mental health, at least I find them so.

You see now, I think the opposite, after all the shit from work and modern life i find working on our cars very relaxing and easy (apart from when Im swearing at them)

See Matts post for my sentiments. It's great if you can doddle about and take your time, but it's normally a daily drive situation which means it has to be back on the road asap, ergo all rush and no pleasure

[mnde]

Welcome back David!

Cars do eat cash don't they?! Still, they are bad for mental health, at least I find them so.

You see now, I think the opposite, after all the shit from work and modern life i find working on our cars very relaxing and easy (apart from when Im swearing at them)

See Matts post for my sentiments. It's great if you can doddle about and take your time, but it's normally a daily drive situation which means it has to be back on the road asap, ergo all rush and no pleasure

^^
What he said. I find my cars f**k with my head. I find I think about them a lot, and if there are niggles I worry about them. Case in point: my GSA - out of MOT, but desperately needs shit underseal (2006 vintage) replacing because it's come away in several places = surface rust = not good. And I have no money to play with. And the exhaust is blowing like a bugger and it's got a handling issue - something loose at the front (sound familiar!). Also I find when I'm doing jobs, they tend to go wrong and take far longer than necessary and I keep mislaying tools etc.

Then again there are the jobs that aren't strictly necessary: I enjoyed vacumming out the BX yesterday and getting to work with the cockpit shine. It looks a darn sight better inside!

Mark.