As time winds endlessly on, and the Citroen BX grows ever older, so many myths have formed that always amuse me. Coupled with very lazy journalism, which I attribute largely to Social Media, there are an increasing number of articles about the BX that are utter nonsense. There’s a trend within a trend where some of this ‘journalism’ comes from authors who weren’t around in the car’s heyday, and in cases, have never even driven the car.

While I would never have expected my return to the BXProject blog to be a post largely AI-generated, there’s a damn good reason for letting the computer in the cloud write the post. In the past few months, I’ve seen some utter drivel written about the BX with no research done. Not even a quick flick of Wikipedia, which is by no means an accurate reflection of fact, but may have at least pointed these journalists in a better direction. This flood of BX nonsense accumulated until I asked myself, could AI do a better job?

Below is the article written by Claude AI with the initial prompt of “Can you write me a 2000-word article on the Citroen BX?” Personally, I think the AI has done a fairly decent job, but I’ll check back in with you at the end. Enjoy.

THE CITROËN BX

A Revolution Born from Crisis
Design, Technology and the Making of an Icon

The Birth of PSA: A French Industrial Rescue

To understand the Citroën BX is first to understand the convulsive corporate upheaval that created the conditions for its existence. In December 1974, Peugeot S.A. acquired a 38.2% stake in a financially stricken Citroën. The oil crises of 1973 had devastated the French automobile industry, and Citroën — burdened by its extraordinary engineering ambitions, its Maserati acquisition, and a management structure ill-equipped for austerity — found itself on the edge of bankruptcy. The French government, alarmed at the prospect of mass job losses, brokered a deal that brought Peugeot in as a stabilising force.^[1] By April 1976, Peugeot had increased its stake to 89.95%, formally creating PSA Peugeot Citroën — where PSA stands for Peugeot Société Anonyme. A new chapter in French automotive history had begun.^[2]

The implications were profound. Citroën had long been the enfant terrible of the car world — a company that invented front-wheel drive for the masses, deployed self-levelling hydropneumatic suspension in family saloons, and seemed to regard engineering convention as an adversary. Peugeot, by contrast, was methodical, financially conservative, and commercially shrewd. Under PSA, the new orthodoxy was clear: the two brands would share platforms, engines and supply chains to reduce costs and compete with rivals such as Renault, Volkswagen and Ford. PSA management dictated that new Citroën models would draw from a shared group powertrain bank, and that future platforms would underpin cars across both marques.^[3]

In 1978 PSA expanded further, acquiring the failing Chrysler Europe operations — including the British Rootes Group and French Simca — for a nominal fee of just 76 pence, plus the assumption of substantial debt. The rebranded Talbot division added yet more complexity to the group’s recovery mission.^[4] Against this backdrop of industrial integration, rationalisation and enormous financial pressure, Citroën’s engineers and designers were tasked with producing a car that would define the brand’s future. That car would be the BX.

Project XB: The Design Brief and Bertone’s Winning Hand

The origins of the BX trace back to December 1975, when Citroën initiated a replacement programme for the GS family saloon, initially coded XA. The brief was refined significantly by 1977 under the new code XB: a modern, transverse-engined, front-wheel-drive hatchback that retained Citroën’s iconic hydropneumatic suspension while drawing on PSA group engines. The car needed to be lighter, more fuel-efficient, and aerodynamically competitive — imperatives sharpened by the memory of the 1970s fuel crises.^[5]

Citroën’s in-house styling centre at Vélizy submitted proposals, as did Italian coachbuilder Italdesign — whose concept bore a notable resemblance to the later Lancia Megagamma. But it was Turin-based Bertone, and specifically its chief designer Marcello Gandini, whose submission won the commission.^[6] Gandini was already one of the most celebrated automotive designers alive — the man responsible for the Lamborghini Miura at just 28 years old, and later the Countach, the Maserati Khamsin, and the Alfa Romeo Montreal. His BX proposal was angular, geometric and uncompromising: a wedge-shaped silhouette that made the contemporary Ford Sierra look almost baroque.

Development proceeded through the Vélizy technical centre, with the exterior style frozen in late 1979. From there, the BX underwent an extensive engineering and safety development programme that would, for the first time at Citroën, be guided significantly by computer-aided design.

The Volvo Tundra Myth: Setting the Record Straight

Few aspects of BX history generate more confusion — and more colourful storytelling — than the car’s relationship with the 1979 Volvo Tundra concept. The popular narrative, repeated in countless automotive features, holds that Bertone designed the Tundra for Volvo, was rejected, and then simply sold the same design to Citroën. This version of events is appealing, but it significantly misrepresents the chronology.

The truth is more nuanced. Gandini had already submitted his winning design to Citroën and the BX project was well underway by the time the Tundra was unveiled at the 1979 Geneva Motor Show.^[7] As Classics World confirmed after reviewing the Citroën development archives: the BX had already been accepted when the Tundra was first shown.^[8] The relationship between the two cars is not one of direct lineage but of shared authorship: both emerged from the same design mind, working within the same Bertone studio, exploring the same geometric visual language — a language also seen in Gandini’s earlier 1977 Reliant FW11 concept (also known as the Anadol FW11, created for Turkish manufacturer Otosan).^[9]

The Volvo Tundra was built on the mechanics of the Volvo 343, featuring a 70 bhp 1.4-litre rear-wheel-drive platform that proved structurally awkward — the rear leaf springs extended the platform length to a point where the design proportions became compromised.^[10] Volvo, focused on its conservative core market, considered the concept too radical and too difficult to sell, and politely declined.^[11] Bertone, convinced of the design’s potential, subsequently presented a modified version to Citroën — but by this stage Citroën already had a Gandini design in development. The Tundra served rather as a public statement of the visual themes Gandini was exploring; the BX was the independent, commercially developed result of that same creative period.

One specific design detail does link the two: the rear side window with its pulled-down top edge, creating the effect of a floating roof — a treatment seen on both the Tundra’s C-pillar and the BX’s.^[7] This was a Gandini signature, an idea that would not become fashionable in mainstream production design until the 2010s. In that sense, both cars were decades ahead of the market. The Tundra concept itself survives today in the Volandia museum near Milan, part of the remnants of the Bertone collection auctioned after the company’s 2014 bankruptcy.^[12]

The Digital Pioneer: CAD, Aerodynamics and Structural Innovation

The BX holds a significant place in automotive engineering history as the first Citroën — and arguably one of the earliest mainstream European production cars — to be developed with substantial use of computer-aided design (CAD). Development was carried out at the Vélizy technical centre, which made a substantial investment in CAD technology to accelerate design convergence, reduce reliance on physical clay models and styling bucks, and optimise aerodynamic performance.^[13]

The results were tangible. The BX achieved a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.34 — respectable for a family hatchback in 1982, at a time when the Ford Sierra caused a sensation with its 0.34 Cd and the Audi 100 C3, launched the same year, would achieve 0.30. By modelling airflow computationally rather than relying entirely on wind tunnel iteration, the engineering team was able to refine the BX’s angular body into a shape that performed better aerodynamically than its origami lines might suggest. This directly improved fuel economy — a priority in the post-oil-crisis climate — and contributed to highway stability.^[14]

Weight engineering was equally central to the BX’s technical brief. The car weighed just 885 kg in base form — extraordinary for a five-door family hatchback of its size. This was achieved through an innovative and, at the time, controversial use of composite and plastic body panels: the bonnet, tailgate, bumpers and side panels were all manufactured from polymer materials rather than steel.^[15] The decision provoked scepticism from press and public alike; plastic panels were associated with economy vehicles and were assumed to offer inferior structural performance. In practice, the crumple zone philosophy embedded in the BX’s design — a rigid passenger cell surrounded by energy-absorbing extremities — meant that the composite panels contributed to, rather than undermined, occupant safety in low-speed impacts.

There was a further practical benefit: the plastic panels did not rust. An enduring frustration with European family cars of the 1970s and early 1980s was corrosion — the BX’s plastic bonnet and tailgate sidestepped this entirely, extending the car’s usable lifespan considerably and reducing long-term ownership costs.^[16]

The hydropneumatic suspension, Citroën’s gift to the world of ride comfort, was retained and refined. Unlike simple coil or torsion spring systems, the interconnected hydropneumatic spheres automatically adjusted damping and ride height in response to load and road surface. A driver could raise or lower the car’s ride height — described by contemporary testers as the ‘stilt effect’ — which proved particularly useful for traversing flooded roads or rough terrain. The system also gave the BX a ride quality that its conventionally sprung rivals of the era could not match.

The Platform Connection: BX, PF2, and the Peugeot 405

The BX was the first substantial product of PSA’s platform-sharing strategy for its mainstream family cars. Its underpinnings — the PSA PF2 platform — were designed from the outset to be adaptable across both marques, providing a common engineering foundation while allowing each brand to express its own character above the waistline.^[17]

Five years after the BX’s launch, in 1987, Peugeot unveiled the 405 — a car styled by Pininfarina under Leonardo Fioravanti, with a refinement process led by Peugeot Design Director Gérard Welter. Launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the 405 was in many respects the BX’s fraternal twin: built on the same PF2 platform, sharing the same family of PSA XU-series petrol and XUD diesel engines, and benefiting from the same transmission architecture.^[18]

The contrast between the two cars illustrated the range of PSA’s ambition. The BX, with its Gandini angularity, Citroën’s satellite controls and CX-inspired backlit instruments, was an eccentric individualist — deliberately different, technologically adventurous. The 405, styled with Pininfarina’s more classical Italian elegance, achieved a drag coefficient of 0.31 (0.29 on some variants) and won European Car of the Year in 1988. It became Europe’s best-selling car in 1990 and accumulated over 2.5 million sales across its production run.^[19]

While the 405 used conventional MacPherson strut suspension at the front and trailing arms with torsion bars at the rear for most variants, the BX retained Citroën’s hydropneumatic system — demonstrating how different suspension philosophies could be applied to the same platform.^[20] The rear suspension of the BX was actually derived from the earlier Peugeot 305 Break estate, a further illustration of the component-sharing pragmatism that PSA’s survival had demanded.

The engine story ran parallel. Both cars were among the first French-market vehicles to receive 16-valve cylinder head technology, introduced on the BX in 1987 — making it the first French mass-produced car to carry this specification.^[21] The 16-valve engine featured a cylinder head derived from that of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, the mid-engine Group B rally weapon that had distinguished itself in motorsport. This crossover of competition-derived technology into a mainstream family hatchback was entirely typical of Citroën’s engineering culture — and the 160 bhp BX GTi 16v remains one of the most remarkable practical performance saloons of its era.

Commercial Legacy and Lasting Significance

The BX was launched on 23 September 1982 in a theatrical reveal beneath the Eiffel Tower — a wooden box bearing the inscription “Voilà la nouvelle Citroën” was slowly lowered to the Champ-de-Mars, before opening to reveal the new car to a crowd assembled in the Paris night.^[22] A week later it appeared at the 69th Paris Motor Show and went on sale in five versions across two engine options. Initial press reactions were mixed — the drum speedometer, satellite controls and angular design were polarising — but buyers quickly responded positively, drawn by the competitive pricing, excellent ride quality and low running costs.

By the time production ended in June 1994, more than 2.337 million BXs had been built — making it one of Citroën’s most commercially successful models and, alongside the Peugeot 205, one of the two cars credited with rescuing PSA from financial ruin in the 1980s.^[23] The diesel variants — particularly the Turbo Diesel estate launched in 1988 — became the UK’s best-selling diesel car for four consecutive years from 1987, a remarkable achievement for a French manufacturer in a market not always sympathetic to continental cars.^[24]

The BX’s technological legacy extends beyond sales figures. Its pioneering use of CAD in production car development, its composite panel construction, its application of 16-valve technology to a mainstream family car, and its role in proving the viability of PSA’s platform-sharing strategy all left lasting marks on the industry. When the Citroën Xantia replaced the hatchback in 1993, and the estate in 1994, it did so with a smoother, more conventionally styled body — a product of the ‘bio-design’ trend that had swept the industry. Many enthusiasts felt that with the BX’s departure, something irreplaceable had been lost: a car that had been genuinely, uncompromisingly itself.

The Citroën BX endures as a symbol of what European family car design was capable of at its most ambitious — a product of corporate crisis, creative collision and engineering conviction that sold over two million units precisely because it refused to be ordinary.

REFERENCES & SOURCES

• [1] Citroën Wikipedia (Peugeot acquisition history). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn
• [2] PSA Group Wikipedia (formation of PSA, 1974–1976). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSA_Group
• [3] Citroënvie: ‘Citroën BX – The Other Saviour of PSA’ (platform sharing under PSA mandate). https://citroenvie.com/citroen-bx-the-other-saviour-of-psa/
• [4] PSA Group Wikipedia (Chrysler Europe acquisition, 1978). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSA_Group
• [5] Carrozzieri-Italiani: ‘The Citroën BX designed by Marcello Gandini’ (XA/XB project origins). https://www.carrozzieri-italiani.com/listing/citroen-bx/
• [6] Citroënvie: ‘Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the BX’ (Bertone commission and Gandini design selection). https://citroenvie.com/celebrating-the-40th-anniversary-of-the-bx/
• [7] Volvo Tundra Wikipedia (Tundra–BX relationship; shared designer not shared design). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Tundra
• [8] Classics World: ‘Citroën BX road test’ (BX accepted before Tundra shown; first CAD project at Citroën). https://classicsworld.co.uk/cars/citroen-bx-road-test/
• [9] Car Design News: ‘Concept Car of the Week: Volvo Tundra (1979)’ (Reliant FW11 lineage; Bertone’s pitch to Citroën). https://www.cardesignnews.com/cars/concept-car-of-the-week-volvo-tundra-1979/433871
• [10] Below The Radar: ‘The story of the Volvo Tundra’ (343 platform issues; flush glazing; post-Tundra design work). https://www.below-the-radar.com/volvo-tundra/
• [11] Top Gear: ‘Concepts that time forgot: the Volvo Tundra’ (Volvo’s rejection of the design). https://www.topgear.com/car-news/concept/concepts-time-forgot-volvo-tundra
• [12] Top Gear (as above): Tundra original concept in the Volandia museum, Milan.
• [13] Citroënvie: ‘Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the BX’ / Stellantis Media: ‘Citroën BX Celebrates its 40th Birthday’ (CAD use at Vélizy; Cd 0.34; composite panels; 885 kg weight). https://www.media.stellantis.com/uk-en/citroen/press/citroen-bx-celebrates-its-40th-birthday
• [14] Citroënvie 40th Anniversary / Stellantis Media (Cd 0.34 achieved through CAD-assisted development).
• [15] Citroënvie 40th Anniversary (composite materials for bonnet, trunk lid, bumpers; 885 kg kerb weight).
• [16] Honest John Classics: ‘Citroën BX Review’ (plastic panels, rust resistance, lightweight construction). https://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/citroen/bx/
• [17] AROnline: ‘Peugeot 405 history, development story and UK production’ (PSA PF2 platform shared with BX). https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/peugeot/405/d60-development-story/
• [18] Grokipedia: ‘Peugeot 405’ (Pininfarina design; Frankfurt Motor Show 1987; XU engine sharing). https://grokipedia.com/page/Peugeot_405
• [19] Peugeot 405 Wikipedia (European Car of the Year 1988; best-selling European car 1990). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_405
• [20] AROnline (as above): BX hydropneumatic vs 405 conventional suspension on shared PF2 platform.
• [21] Stellantis Media / Citroënvie: BX first French mass-produced car with 16-valve engine, 1987; engine derived from Peugeot 205 T16 head. https://citroenvie.com/citroen-bx-the-other-saviour-of-psa/
• [22] Citroënvie: ‘Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the BX’ (Eiffel Tower reveal, 23 September 1982).
• [23] Citroënvie: ‘Citroën BX – The Other Saviour of PSA’ (2.337 million units; role in PSA rescue alongside Peugeot 205).
• [24] Citroën BX Wikipedia (UK best-selling diesel car 1987–1990; UK sales performance). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_BX

Well? What did you think about AI’s attempt to summarise the history of the Citroen BX? It’s not too bad. A little repetitive and in some areas, but much better than some articles out there. Believe it or not, I actually learned quite a bit from the article. And it does tackle some of the more annoying myths. However, the complete prompt was a bit specific;

Can you write me a 2000 word article on the Citroen BX? Start with the formation of PSA, cover the miss understood links to the Volvo Tundra design. Cover any links to the Peugeot 405. Don’t forget some of the technological advances like computer aided design that drove crash test results. Please do your own research before writing the article. I’d like it presented in a word document with references to sources.

Prompt to Claude AI (Sonnet 4.6) on the 4th of April 2026

The text is entirely Claude’s work based on my prompt. Claude told me it’s fine to share the words without breaching any IP. The images are from a range of AI generators all with the same prompt. And more importantly, this is the first, last and only time I’ve used AI to create the literacy content. I do use Grammarly to make the sentence structure more readable, and some picture manipulation uses a little AI, but otherwise, all content will come from my mind to your eyes almost directly.

M

The post THE CITROËN BX – AI Thoughts appeared first on BX Project.

With the bodywork looking absolutely fantastic, my mood was certainly lifted. After all these years, would XPO cross the finishing line and finally hit the road? Well, I’d been invited to a rather special day out, but had only a matter of days to get the car finished and through the MOT test. No pressure. But to make it worse, the rapidly approaching event had the opportunity to bring two BX16v’s together that hadn’t seen each other for years.

Finishing Touches

Booking an MOT through my favourite independent Citroen Specialist had come with its own added excitement. Yes, I could get an MOT, and the test slot was before the event. Just sixteen hours before I was due to be at the event. The challenge of first time pass for a car off the road for sixteen years was one I would have rather avoided. The remaining ten days would be used to make sure XPO got over the finishing line the first time.

Wheel Bolts

Not strictly an MOT test item from slightly corroded bolt heads, a well-presented car is much easier to inspect. I’d like to think that a tidy car is a well-maintained car, but I know that’s not always the case. Either way, my hope is that taking care of the small details will help get that first time pass.

The bolts are all machine wire brushed and degreased with brake cleaner. They then get several coats of KRAMP acrylic paint. Acrylic isn’t the hardest paint and won’t withstand an impact driver, but it will pause the corrosion.

Better still, the black paint finish is a really good match for the original powder coated bolt heads.

Interior Lights

The wires dangling down above the drivers head, where the interior light should be, is not the greatest look. I’m not aware of a specific MOT rule, but I struggle to believe that live wires at ear height aren’t code-able. My issue was finding a good spare.

Or, more specifically, finding the right spare. The collection above shows the original failed light unit to the left. Then, three good passenger light units to the right. Finally, a correct unit but for a lower-spec model, next to the broken unit. I had no idea that there was a low-spec light unit. Once again, Luke came to my rescue and found a spare in his supplies!

Blower and Wiper

Blower Motor

While I had tested the cabin blower motor before installing it in the scuttle, it was rather weak in performance. Certainly not the ‘blow your socks off’ performance I was used to. So, out it came.

Stripping the blower unit down, it became apparent that the brushes in the motor were past best. The dragging/binding sensation was obvious when turning by hand. Once taken apart, one of the brushes was indeed very worn. The motor wouldn’t last long for the new owner.

While I might have somewhat added to the job, I spent a little time making up a proper test harness. This harness would test both the blower motor and the controller at the same time. The resistance board in the cabin was replaced with an adjustable resistor. Grabbing a spare cabin blower unit from the loft, I proved it was good, cleaned it up and installed the assembly into the scuttle.

Wiper arm and scuttle cover.

To get the blower in and out had meant taking the wiper arm and scuttle trim apart. But this did have one unexpected benefit.

On reinstalling the blower, I could install the freshly painted scuttle cover. These seem to fade faster than any other part of the car, so I was more than happy to add some nice shiny red paint.

To make sure everything had gone back together properly, I tested the wiper washer performance. And it was bad, really bad. Trying to figure out what had gone wrong, I realised the freshly painted wiper arm had no return spring. This is the spring that pushes the wiper blade onto the screen!

Back into the spares and this less pretty but working wiper arm was installed.

Engine Cover Bolts

There were a few engine cover bolts missing when building the engine for XPO. Given my findings, while tearing down the engine, I suspect they had been missing from G-SEG for a long time. I didn’t really want to take the car for an extended drive without these in place.

Hydarulic Pulley Cover Bolt

Previous attempts to find the stepped bolt for the hydraulic pulley bolt had been unsuccessful. My searches suggest this is a rather unique bolt. The solution I came up with was to start by gluing a regular M6 nut onto the thread of a captive washer M6x30 bolt.

The bolt/nut assembly was offered up to the lathe, centred and spun up. The additional nut was then machined down to a circle to fit into the hole in the hydraulic belt cover.

The result was surprisingly successful. The machined nut made a nice snug fit and held the cover perfectly.

Rocker Cover Bolt

Another semi-important but missing bolt was for the rocker cover. These special chromed bolts often snap in the head, so spares are hard to come by. After months of looking for a good used part, I bit the bullet.

With PugOneOff coming to the rescue. I was a little nervous about spending £5 on a bolt plus a scary amount of postage costs, but the replacement part is an excellent reproduction. The flange on the top of the bolt is a little thicker, but otherwise, the replacement bolts are perfect!

Wing Mirror

Ah, the wing mirror. Unlike my car Jazz, XPO only has a single electric mirror. This requires a different switch with a different internal wiring arrangement to operate the mirror movement. Without the specific single-mirror version of the switch, the passenger-side motors move to full extension.

Escaping glass

Predictably, the switch that came with XPO was the wrong sort. Unfortunately, after a few ‘full extension events’, the old mirror tape failed, and the glass fell off. My fortune improved when I walked around the car to find I had left my hoodie under the mirror. The glass was saved and stuck back on once the switch was fixed.

Dual V’s Mono Mirror Switch

While I was aware of the dual v’s mono switch predicament early on in the XPO build, I had been unable to find a mono switch. Workling through my entire switch pile, it seemed I only had dual switches!

In desperation, I had tried to cut the link marked with the arrow above to see if dual switched could be converted to single. If they can, it is not by cutting this link, which simply cuts the supplied power. Oops.

At some point in my hunt for a mono spare, I realised that perhaps I might find a switch still in the trim panel. And sure enough, after a route through the interior trim moutain, my prayers where answered. I’m not sure if the numbers stamped on the back have any relevance to mono or dual switch, but now you have a reference.

One thing I did note: the bulb in the switch is an old filament type and gets super hot super quickly. This would explain why all the buttons split! If I ever find a brand-new switch, my first task will be to convert to a cooler LED lamp. Oh, and if you’re wondering where XPO’s original switch is, apparently it is in ‘BAH’!

Reg Plates

A definite requirement for a successful MOT is registration plates. As only one bumper came with the car, only one registration plate was present. There is no way I would get around only one registration displayed in the UK!

Interestingly, the registration plate that arrived with XPO bore the branding of ‘Bedlam Beds’. Not only are they still in business, but I also managed to track down a former owner of XPO who was delighted to hear the car was coming back on the road. I did offer to post the original plate to them, but I don’t think that’s something normal people do.

Once again, the team at Retro Plates was able to sort me out with something period-correct for the front and rear of XPO. I’m not a fan of securing plates with tape only. I’ve seen too many plates pop off when cars hit unexpected puddles. But if i’m going to screw plates on, i’m going to make sure the holes look right.

And then immediately changed my mind. I couldn’t bring myself to drill through the brand new plates nor the freshly painted bumpers. Instead, I went for five strips of 3M VHB 25mm tape on the back of each registration.

What a difference a fresh set of plates makes to the car. Nice and simple, period correct, with a small reminder of where the resurrection was chronicled.

Rear suspension buffers

Another non-MOT critical task was the rear suspension buffers. The buffers are intended to stop the rear of the car from slamming into its own subframe when the back end inevitably sinks.

The buffers weren’t available for years, but the fantastic people at Chevronics had them remade. They were cheap too! Amazingly, both sides just unbolted without a fight. They went back together with original bolts and replacement stainless washers and nuts.

And while I was under there, the fuel pump heat shield from Luke was installed.

Seat Belts

Seat belts are definitely a requirement for the MOT, and I won’t make it over the finishing line without them. As any nice person would, the night before the MOT, I went around the car and made sure the belts were all plugged in. Usually, this is a simple gesture, and I’m glad I did. There were no seat belt receivers on the front seats!

After realising I never had the front seat belt receivers, nor any spares, a little bit of panic set in. Okay, the logical solution at this point was to borrow the receivers from Jazz. Pulled out and installed into XPO I hit another problem. Somewhere between H and J reg, the seat buckles changed and they are NOT compatible.

The buckles and receivers are rather different, and manufacturing was moved from Yugoslavia to France for the later cars.

The newer buckles are much deeper than the original which makes me suspicious that there might have been a regulation change.

The receivers are also significantly different in design. In the end, I had to put the whole front seatbelt setup from Jazz into XPO for the MOT. Again good fortune struck, and the previous owner found XPO’s originals, which were returned to the car post MOT.

Parcel Shelf

XPO has a split folding rear seat which takes a different parcel shelf to cars with a single piece folding rear seat. And you guessed it: XPO was supplied with the parcel shelf for a single-piece rear row. Not as significant of a problem as it might seem though!

The bar for the leading edge of the parcel shelf was also missing. This is not the first time I’ve had this issue, so I know that a 10mm OD tube of around 120cm is long enough to span the void. A self-tapping screw at either end stops the ‘peeling’ of the plastic shelf, and it is practically invisible once installed.

Although the split fold seat has the parcel shelf supports in different supports to single piece seat, the split seat has the retaining bolts for both parcel shelf types. A little bending of some 2mm alloy sheet and a couple of industrial strench supports are made up.

The little bend stops the bar from falling out of the bracket. Predicatably, this is not the first time I’ve made these for the Citroen BX.

For the missing side plates, the complex plastic design can be simplified and made slightly more robust. The edge hook receiver is attached to the body (away from the running path of the seatbelt and should never fail. I do wonder if I should have painted these as well, but time was ever flowing.

Tyres and MOT

Before I knew it, my preparation time for the MOT had run out. Despite ordering the tyres a few weeks before the MOT was due, they hadn’t arrived with enough time to get them onto the car. The tyres that had come with XPO, originally from G-SEG, where not going to get me over the finishing line.

To overcome this challenge, I grabbed some wheels for Jazz. The borrowed wheels and tyres went on XPO, and XPO’s wheels went in the boot.

I arrived for the MOT at the excellent Keith Davis and Sons, and the tyres had arrived. We spent a little time getting them installed on the alloys, but I chickened out on installing them for the MOT. I enjoyed getting a lesson on the art of tyre installation. I’d hate to think how many Keith has done in his life time!

A good going over the car and it seemed the drive to Keiths had raised no new issues. All pre-MOT checks where made. Fluids where they should be, lights illuminated when they should (and shouldn’t). Crunch time was approaching!

While we were at it, the front wheel alignment was checked. It was a degree out, but given I had set up the front end with a couple of sticks and a tape measure, I thought this was amazing. I also love working with older kit like this. These optical wheel alignment tools work really well.

Across the finishing line?

On the eleventh of October 2024, my time had finally come. This was it, no more preparation, time had run out. It really would be now or never. I hoped that any minor failures would be easily fixed. Perhaps a dirty connection on a bulb or a tester less familiar with the art of Citroen hydraulic suspension. I’ve honestly never been so nervous about taking a car to MOT. Would XPO finally reach the finishing line? This was a proper test, not just of the car’s suitability to be on the road but also of my ability to build a car. What could I have missed?

I sat as patiently as I could in the MOT waiting area. I’d been upfront with the tester, how long the car had been off the road and how much work I’d done. I don’t know if it was this brief discussion or just normal due diligence, but the MOT seemed to go on for an ever longer time. After the first ten minutes, the tester came and asked a couple of questions, and my heart sank. What had he found? I certainly seemed to know his way around a hydraulic Citroen.

After the tester’s brief questions, it seemed like another 30 minutes before the car was driven off the ramp, and he returned to the office/waiting area. I guess he sensed my anxiety, sat at the computer and started typing. Not a word was spoken. This was evil, mildly amusing, but evil. Eventually, the printer whird into life and a single sheet of paper spat out. Picking up the sheet, the tester rose to his feet and beckoned me forward.

Off to a new home

XPO has finally achieved its first PASS in 5,882 days, or 16 years, 1 month, and 8 days.

I have, of course, oversold this interaction at the MOT, and after handing me the paper, we went outside. The tester seemed genuinely impressed with just how tidy the car was. He’d noticed a few grommets and other non-MOT-relevant opportunities for improvement, but there were no failures, no formal advisories, not one. A completely clean sheet on the first go. Over the finishing line in one. I couldn’t believe it. I could have cried. How the hell did I manage that!

With a buyer lined up and a house move well underway, there were a few finishing touches and a little more shake down to do before XPO would go to its forever home. And a near thermal even that would have been catastrophic. With just one more article left on this adventure, I’m glad you’ve stuck with me through it!

M

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Mechanical, steering and hydraulic issues seemingly sorted, XPO was not far off ready for the government inspection. However, before presenting the car for test, I thought it best that the car be a little more presentable. Having been stored outside since 2008, in a range of tight car parks, the bodywork was a little worse for wear. The time had come for bodywork revival.

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG ARTICLE, HOWEVER, MOSTLY JUST PICTURES

How bad can the paint be?

Casting our minds back to the original XPO articles, we recollect that XPO had become a spares car, destined to live on in many other BX projects. However, the overall condition made the then-owner reluctant to part the car out. The roller coaster nature of XPO’s survival, from scrap to saved to parts car to likely restoration, had more than taken its a toll on the bodywork, which was in need of some revival.

Storage Rash

After more than a decade of storage, shunting and sitting in car parks, XPO has suffered more that a little storage rash.

Dents in both wheel arches had been present for some time. The likelihood of my getting them out perfectly was slim, but I was able to push some of them out with my hands. The worst, on the tight radius of the drivers wheel arch was something I would only make worse, so I stayed well away.

A gouge in the passenger side wing was through the colour coat but not through the primer. Gentle persuasion from behind removed the worst of the dent. However, a full respray would be needed to cure the rash.

Creating optimism

An age-old trick to selling cars is to throw on some thin oil or silicon. As the liquid works into any scratches or surface imperfections, the reflected light starts to give the best possible result, until the first wash.

While I’m not one for pouring snake oils onto cars to pass them off as better than they really are, in this case, it was useful to see if the car could be brought up before investing in a professional polish. A small amount of WD40 and a gentle cloth started to reveal the paint wasn’t as bad as I had feared.

On the wing with the big gauge, I had been contemplating getting the wings resprayed. However, before jumping in with the expense, I hit the wing with a dual-action polisher. Working from 1000 grit to 3000 grit in a small area, the results were fantastic. The decision was clear: preserve as much of the original paint as possible!

Fuel Filler Flap

Ah, the fuel filler flap. What a nightmare this was. Predictably with no engine, I’d never tried to open the flap until it came to fully cleaning the car. Previous access to the fuel tank, to check for contamination, had been through the inspection port under the back seats.

Imagine my surprise when I tried to put the key into the lock, and it wouldn’t move. Some time with various lubricants and I could get the key into the lock, but it absolutely would not turn. Eventually forcing the flap off the cap (they’re usually stuck together) and a bit of brute force was used to get the fuel cap out of the filling port.

In the process of getting the cap out, I received a rather health bath of accumulated crap. Given that the car hadn’t been on the road for a very long time and had been pressure washed to death since it arrived at BXP HQ. This pile just goes to show how much filth gets trapped up behind the long range fuel tank!

Fule Filler Cap

Despite resorting to excess force to get the cap out and the snapped plastic locking ring, the fuel cap was in surprisingly good condition. It turns out that there should be a sealing ring between the lock and the housing, which stops rain from getting into the lock. This had long since perished and the aluminium lock housing had oxidised into a solid lump

Sourcing a replacement fuel cap took months. However, in that time, I managed to free off the lock barrel. Amazingly, the corrosion wasn’t too bad, so with some gentle cleaning, I managed to get all the tumblers in the lock moving again. Well-lubricated,, the revived lock was installed in the new fuel cap. The fuel cap was reinstalled in the fuel flap, and suddenly, it was like there had never been a problem! Frustratingly, the lock is far smoother than my own BX

Replacing the Side Trim

When XPO arrived, it was missing the trim that sits between the rear upper wings and the 16v body kit. This isn’t too unusual as the solid trim pieces become stiff and brittle with age, then warp in the sun.

While XPO’s original trim had come with the car, it was snapped in two. Fortunately, I still had the trim from J603 LLP. The plastic profile had, not surprisingly, warped. However, with some gentle encouragement and a length of stiff alluminium, I was able to strighted out the trim.

Preparation

The old foam trim tape had become brittle and partially removed, but it was still clinging on. The worst was removed with a plastic trim tool, and the remaining glue residue was removed with isopropyl alcohol and panel wipe.

Re-affixing

Some 3M foam backed Very High Bond (VHB) trim tape holds the painted trim to the body. A roll of frog tape and some foam packing hold the pressure onto the trim to ensure an even stick. An often missed application requirement with VHB is that it is pressure activated. The zip-type taping to hold everything in place might look ridiculous, but is works.

The finished trim doesn’t look too bad at all. You might notice the body areas above and below the trim where it was polished before being glued down. The tape will need to sit for a few weeks before the polisher comes out again, to save ripping the trim back off.

And while were sticking and glueing, the roof trim was bonded back on with Sikaflex where it had been moved to allow the windscreen repair.

Rear Vents

Next up, the body air extractors needed to be tackled. These vents are a major design feature of the BX, but they look really naff when they get old and rusty.

The red paint work around the vent was masked off with the wax-coated ProDec tape, which seems to overspray running to the painted part. The grill area has unstick from the GFRP body kit, which means we can get paint over the whole surface, top to bottom.

The wider area is maked off and then sprayed with a generic black acrylic aerosol from KRAMP. The fast-drying 1K paint works really well here. Thin enough to not block the holes and matte like the original finish.

I’ve been using the KRAMP aerosols more and more on the tractors, and the finish is really durable. Another job i need to do on my own BX!

Bumpers

Ah, the bumpers. When buying XPO, I knew the rear bumper was missing and the front a little tatty. Fortunately, I had some replacement bumper options. Although I didn’t know at the time that XPO’s original bumper lived on at the back of BAH

Bumper Painting

I had a few rear bumper options, but a chance visit to a local Citroen Specialist gave me the opportunity to buy a good condition rear 16v bumper.

This replendent white bumper made a great start point for a replacement for XPO and saved me a trip to the garage loft!

A friend and professional painter had already offered to paint up the bumpers and made up a swatch to check the colour match. Pretty good I thought!

While painting the rear bumper, the front bumper was also repaired, tidied and repainted.

Bumper Brackets

Before going off for a repaint, new brackets were attached to both the front and rear bumper with Sikaflex. The reproduction of the bumper brackets has been covered in a previous article, so I won’t labour the topic here. Instead, enjoy a montage.

Bumper Trim

One of the most satisfying parts of the XPO project has been bringing the bumpers back to life. This is more than just a bit of paint but years of getting parts remanufactured for just this moment.

The sides of the trim inlay are lined with ProDec before the 3M VHB tape is offered up. From past experience, the tape is super sticky and will make a mess of the paint if I slip while offering the paint to the channel.

You can see in this close up just how snug the tape fit is and the potential for getting it all wrong!

The finished result is blooming marvelous. Fresh paint, fresh bracket and fresh trim. Now i just have to make sure i dont damage them!

One finishing touch for the bumpers is new spot lights, and new stickerd for the false inlets. These stickers where cut from a roll of matt black vinyl using a plotter and came out rather well!

Bath Time

Before a full machine polish is carried out, the paintwork needs a thorough deep clean to remove any dirt, debris or more likely oils.

A warm but over cast day made for the perfect weather to get the bucket and hose out. And why wash one BX when you can wash two?

It would be fair to say that after a few years in the garage, XPO had picked up a bit of dirt. This was the FOURTH wash bucket and still the filth was pouring off the car.

Back in the garage, a clay bar was used to drag out the worst imperfections on the larger areas. The difference was night and day when running a cloth over the bonnet.

Roof Graffiti

Before the bodywork revival could be completed, there was one area I needed to tackle on the roof. Remembering that XPO as once going to be scrapped, it had been used to test out some paint. Some less-than-subtle black paint.

It turns out the paint was some sort of black engine enamel. The dual action polisher made a notable impact on removing the paint with 1000 grit polish. However, I was concerned that the DA would eventually cut through the red paintwork.

And so began the manual process. Over several nights, I slowly removed the enamel paint with some 3000 grit wet and dry paper and water. At the end of day one, the task seemed like it would never end.

By the second day, the roof trim finishers where starting to look pretty good. A glimmer of hope was forming that I would not need to respray the roof.

Then, by day forty twelve, more than 95% of the paint was removed. A few bits still remained at the bottom of joints where the wet and dry wouldn’t fit. But from the face of defeat, I had clutched a victory!

Cut and polish

In the early days of the XPO project, I had the full intention of giving the car a full cut and polish myself. I’d bought the kit and the product and practised in a few areas. But that was the start of the project, and when the guy who had painted the bumpers offered to polish it for a relatively low hourly rate, I couldn’t say no!

An early morning start on a cool morning was expected to be followed by a whole day of polishing.

But not long after mid day, and a solid four hours of machining, and the polished car emerged from it’s slumber.

Even now, I can’t get over just how well the paint cleaned up on XPO. Despite years of semi-neglect and living outdoors. Despite being red in finish with a factory single stage paint. And despite all the odds, the paint came out gleaming!

Finishing Touches

Now I was into the finishing touches. Freshly painted bumpers and windscreen grill to go on, and pretty soon an MOT beckoned.

Tailgate

I debated what to do with the tailgate for a while. The black paint around the registration plate was faded and battered. I had planned to just polish it up as best as possible. However, after polishing the rest of the car, a quick touch up wasn’t going to cut it!

So, the badges came off, after careful measurement! I certainly wouldn’t want them to be stuck back on in the wrong place.

The KRAMP matt black paint came out again and several coats applied.

The ABS badge was cleaned and new tape applied while the paint was curing.

And a few days later, the bade was reapplied to the near perfectly finished tailgate.

Bumper bracket

Once the front bumper was back on, I had to make up a retaining plate. The original plate had rotten away and ripped out the mounting holes in the fibreglass bumper.

After some CAD engineering and careful marking and cutting, a replacement bracket was made up in aluminium sheet. I’d love to tell you this was because the material is light weight and this is a race car, but it was simply what was lying around!

Stainless pan heads fix the plate to the bumper, almost looking like teeth. I did contemplate painting the fixings black, but the ‘teeth’ rather amused me!

Next Stop, MOT!

Well, that was an epic article, and the longest in the series. Fortunately, the final two articles will be shorter. Will XPO pass the MOT? And where will her first outing be to? Find out in the next and penultimate article!

Until next time!

M

NEXT – Eps49 The Finishing Line
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With the engine running, exhaust installed, and hopefully now leak-free, I did have one small issue with moving the car around. While I’d managed to drive the car forward and out of the garage, backwards wasn’t happening. Although I could select the reverse gear and put power to the wheels, the tyres were not happy. At first glance, it would seem I had serious wheel alignment issues.

French Fries or Pizza?

Those who have never had a ski-ing lesson might not know what the ‘French Fries or Pizza’ quote is about. Simply put, if your skis are side by side (like fries in a carton), then you’ll slide. If you push the back of the skis out to make a triangle (or pizza slice shape), then you’ll slow. Both are pointless, as if it’s your first lesson, you’ll brake with your backside (maybe that’s just me). Get the wheel alignment out, and the tyres will act like ‘pizza’ skis and stop the car from moving.

Despite setting up the rack for the track rods to be evenly spaced, and matching the original amount of exposed thread, the front wheels where not pointing straight. Infact, they where particulalry cross eyed! There is no way I would be getting to an MOT with the wheels pointing towards each other.

I managed to get XPO moved back towards the garage with a set of wheel skates and a bit of push and pull. In the process of manually reversing the car across the drive, i noticed the front passenger side wheel seemed to be wandering a lot. Could a failed wheel bearing be the route of the problem?

The picture above gives a feel for just how far out the steering alignment was out. The passenger wheel is pointing almost deadly straight, yet the wheel on the drivers side is around 5 degrees toe in. While this might not sound like a lot, but it should be 0.3 degrees toe in (both wheels pointing ever so slighty towards each other to help self-centering of the steering rack. I’m surprised the car even managed to get out of the garage. I suspect rock-hard tyres of ten or more years old probably helped.

Wheel Bearing Change.

The first issue to tackle in the wheel alignment was the play in the front left bearing. Obviously this would be a lot more fun if the car was on a ramp, but forcing the car to the ramp didn’t seem like a great idea. Even if the tyres were, more than past best. Fortunately, this was in March 2024, and the weather was unseasonably mild.

As most of the front of the car had already been apart, getting the hub carrier off the car was surprisingly straightforward. I do like it when cars come apart easily unfortunately, this isn’t common on Citroens of this age. I did think on and pulled the hub out of the carrier before pulling the carrier off the car. Very unlike me to think that far ahead.

While I have some of the genuine Citroen tooling, some times I have to make do! Although the press is 10T, I did need a bit of help from a lump hammer to shock the bearing out. I wonder if this was the original wheel bearing? While the bearing wasn’t grinding, it was very dry. Certainly beyond best.

In less than an hour, the replacement wheel bearing was back in the hub carrier. A short time later, the whole assembly was back on the car. I might have managed the change in 30 minutes if it wasn’t for the pigging circlip.

DIY Wheel Alignment

To get a rough alignment, I’m using a tried and trusted stick-and-string approach. Basically, I clamp bars to the brake discs and then measure the distance between the bars at different places along the bars. Then, apply a bit of trigonometry to figure out the degrees of toe in. Or, in this case, make the measurements the same and leave the final alignment to a grown-up!

Rather than the traditional wooden sticks, I have some aluminum profile lying around. I’m measuring at about 10cm and 50cm from the brake disc. The bars are carefully clamped in the same relative positions on each side. And yes, I did put the brake disc screws in before starting the measurements.

I have to confess, I have never tried to do wheel alignment like this, and it took a little trial and error to get good measurements. This is not meant to be a perfect setup, and the method is riddled with errors. Without the wheels on the ground, and load on the suspension components, alignment is unlikely to be spot on. However, I should be able to get the wheels pointing roughly straight forward, certainly enough to get the car to a show with alignment kit.

[As a side note, I took the car for alignment after the MoT. The wheels were at about -1.2 degrees, quite a long way over the 0.3 degrees. However, for using a couple of sticks and a tape measure, I’ll take it!]

Fucking Clutch Cable

I’m not even going to hide it. I really, really lost my patience with the car when it came to the clutch cable. Back in episode something or other, before the engine had gone in, I proactively replaced the clutch cable with a new one. I ordered the cable based on the Citroen part number, 96081710, and it arrived relatively quickly. But I noticed when installing that it looked, well, odd.

In the image above, the lower cable is the one I took time to install BEFORE the engine went in. Beyond all the plastic-to-rubber interfaces having become disassociated, all the parts were present but didn’t quite look right. I put this down to a newer version or an update in the design, given the BE3 gearbox was used for decades. The upper cable in the picture is the replacement I had to order. A QH bought the part, QCC1426, but a genuine Lecoy cable was in the bag.

While the first and second cables look relatively similar even off the car, there’s a big issue. The first cable is nearly two inches short where it counts. How I got this short cable on the car in the first place, I have no idea. However, I do have an idea how many swear words are needed to recover a clutch cable on an XU9j4-engined Citroen BX. The total number, in my case, was very high.

Installing the cable in situ

The Citroen BX 16V engine is tipped backwards to allow for the large air intake, the clearance at the back of the engine is sub-optimal.

Those who have attempted a clutch cable job themselves will recognise the part above, and the pain it brings. On the right-hand drive BX, the cable comes through the bulkhead at the cambelt end of the engine. Somewhere between the brake valve, cabin heater pipes and hell. There is practically no clearance to the clutch pedal attachment point. My trick to getting the cover plate back in is to slot the rubber and metal plate. This allows the lower screw to be partially inserted, and the plate to be slid in place later.

One of the delays in getting XPO on the road was finding the willpower to tackle this clutch cable change. I knew it would be a nightmare at the start of the project. Perceived pain is why I first replaced the cable with the engine out! After with changing the steering rack, finding the will to change the cable in situ took more than a month. However, once the wheel alignment was complete and the clutch cable adjusted, I could finally drive XPO up and down the drive. A significant victory!

Practically ready for the road now!

NEXT – Eps48 Bodywork Revival
PREV – Eps46 Hydraulic Octopus

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After all the fun of getting XPO running again, finding the hydraulic leaks, and changing the steering rack, the leaks have not stopped. While the flow of green blood has definitely been stemmed, all is not well with the fluid return path. However, all the leaks seem to be at the front of the car, and limited to just one area. Will a hydraulic octopus change resolve the issues?

Finding the Leak

After the previous episode, I changed the steering rack to a refurbished version, hoping to stop all of the low-pressure leaks. While the replacement rack, with new pinion seals, has made a notable difference in fluid loss, I’m still enjoying some green puddles from XPO. Fortunately, the puddles are landing in the drip tray, and I’ve noticed they seem to increase when the suspension rises and falls. This is a reasonably good sign I haven’t made things worse with the steering rack.

When hydraulic pressure is added to a component, some pressure will inevitably be lost as fluid finds it way past worn seals. Citroen recognised this so most components have a leak back path. The low-pressure fluid trickles out of the many components, including the suspension struts, brake valve, steering valve and height correctors. At the front of the car, these small rubber pipes send the fluid back to a joining block and then back to the fluid reservoir. These leak-back pipes and connection blocks are collectively nicknamed the ‘octopus’.

While I visually checked over the octopus (long ago) before putting the engine in, clearly, there is a break in a pipe which I did not see. There are so many pipes in this area, that are hard to see into, the leak could be coming from anyone. Rather than bodge a fix, I might as well change the whole set of pipes. I’ve done this before, on my back in a car park, how hard can it be on a scissor lift?

Understanding The Octopus

Depending on the spec of the vehicle (mostly with or without ABS) there may be one or two octopi’. On XPO there are two octopi, a main one (the large octopus) and a secondary set of pipe (small octopus). I’m hedging my bets and only changing one octopus.

The lovely people at Chevronics have had the octopus for the Citroen BX remanufactured. When it arrives, the remanufactured hydraulic octopus looks like the picture above. Ignoring the white sticks, the octopus is a very good match for the original and not brittle like the one on XPO. All I have to do is perfectly swap over each of the original pipes for this new rubber spaghetti.

Fortunatley, I dont need to work out the piping arrangement as there is a fantastic guide already available at;

http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~ynar/bxorg_archives/m15/m15e.html

The pages show the overall layout of the octopus, where each pipe connects, and more importantly, the order of the pipes at the reserviour. I confess that I’ve tried to write a more detailed version, but other than improving the resolution of the pictures, the old Citroen.org pages are fantastic.

The pages even look at the structure of the inside of the middle connection blocks of the octopus. Something that can be very useful when trying to understand why the connections are made the way they are.

Changing the hydraulic octopus.

I’ve found it hard to describe in words some of the fiddly parts of the octopus change. There are many steps better suited to a video and a not still images and some text. What I’ll present here is simply some of the steps i take to the octopus change, and a few tips. It is not meant as a complete guide.

Marking up the pipes.

The pipes that run back to the reservoir have to travel through a piece of plastic sheath as they come up the back of the engine. This stops the pipes from slipping into places they should not be. Once they have been fed through the sheath, I find it impossible to tell which one is which.

So before starting, I put masking tape on the ends of the pipe and label them as per the Citroen.org guide. Covering the ends also stops the pipes from getting full of dirt when fed up through the sheath.

Cross subframe tentacles

My preference is to work through the pipes from the furthest points back to the manifold (rubber jointing block), then up through the sheath and back to the big green tank. This seems to get the manifold back into the right place.

The cross-car pipes are held in place at one end of the run with a single zip tie. The tie is loose and designed to hold the pipe back, not rigidly fix it in place.

The pipes then cross the subframe in another plastic sheath. Again, it’s worth coving the ends before drawing the pipes through the sheath.

The sheath terminates short of a looping metal bracket bolted to the subframe behind the long drive shaft.

I would suggest you undo this bracket for bet access but make a note of the additional pipes that are also guided by this bracket.

Extracting pipes

To bring new pipes in, I like to setup pulls or feeds using the old pipes.

Cutting the pipe off the manifold, I drill a 3.5mm hole, then tie some 1.5mm flexible wire to the end of the old pipe. I withdraw the pipe away from the manifold and the wire will follow the exact route of the pipe.

Hydraulic Octopus Pipe Bundle

The image above shows the buddle of hydraulic octopus pipes down the side of the engine. In the first image, the bundle is still taped up with yellow tape. Despite the age of the tape, the glue is still doing its job and won’t usually allow the old or new pipes to be slid past. I recommend that you remove this tape, and slide back the upper section of sheathing.

Engine bay disconnection

Depending on what features the car has, three or more connection may be made at the manifold on top of the LHM fluid reservoir.

At thirty-plus years old, the plastic here can be a little delicate. I recommend twisting the pipe with a very light grip from a pair of pliers to break the seal between the aged rubber pipe and the manifold outlet. Then, slide the pipe off. If the old rubber won’t turn with a small around of force, gently slit the pipe with a blade and peel back.

Return bundle replacement

When bringing the three or more hydraulic octopus pipes back up into the engine bay, I find it best to do all three together.

A slip not around the pipes using the wire pull helps to get a good grip, but if over-tightened, it will also damage the pipes.

To hold the not against the soft pipes without over-tightening, I apply a good wrap of tape. I use a type of Tesa tape that has high abrasion resistance. The outer finish of the tape makes it slide through the sheath much better than normal duct tape.

Drive Shaft

Both the Haynes and the Citroen workshop manual suggest taking the short drive shaft out.

I have to confess, I didn’t take out the drive shaft initially, as on the 1.4-litre engine car, I remember doing the job on first, I didn’t take the shaft out. I assume there was more room around the small engine, but I might have just been more nimble.

This also meant that I had to drop the gear oil, which I didn’t want to do, but I’m glad I did. Despite XPO having new gear oil just a few months earlier, the filth on the left is what came out, compared to the new oil on the right. I never thought to flush the gearbox as there was no oil when it arrived, but clearly, it was long overdue a flush.

With the drive shaft removed, there is plenty of room to access the myriad of connections around the front height corrector. Notice the failed pipe at the top of the height corrector? That is a new pipe! The angle at which I tried to fit the pipe caught a sharp lip on the metal barb of the corrector and tore the pipe. Good job that I took the drive shaft out. I’m certain this is where the original octopus failed, and there was quite a burr on the lip of the metal connection.

The dead octopus

I have to confess to being a fan of dissecting failed parts. I like to know what the failure point was, so that I can try to avoid the same failure point again.

However, having chopped the old octopus up in situ, I wasn’t expecting to find much

Laid out with all the severed pipes, it is clear just how hard and brittle the old pipe has become.

Amazingly, despite all the cut-off sections, I found one obvious hole. This split on the bend would have been facing into the subframe, so I don’t feel so bad for missing it.

Hydrualic Octopus Replaced

With the new octopus installed, does the car still leak?

Well, it’s hard to see with a still image, but with the engine running, I can confirm that the hydraulic octopus transplant has been a success.

Down by the replacement manifold and the area that was previously leaking, there is not so much as a drop! A few suspension cycles and lots of checking over the next few weeks will be needed. However, for now it seems all the fluid is staying where it should!

In the engine bay, the new pipes finish off the look of the otherwise very clean engine bay. A job well done!

With the hydraulic octopus replaced and the leaks solved, I’m almost ready for the first drive of XPO. However, the front wheels are a little cross-eyed and need some adjustment first!

M

NEXT – Eps47 Alignment
PREV – Eps45 Steering Rack

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The dark, cold evenings reduce car playtime as the Christmas season falls upon us. Usually, I would have some interesting project to play with, but being between accommodations, I’m restricted in opportunity. Instead, I reflect on happier, sunnier times, such as Rustival2, held in September 2024.

Parts of this article were originally published in the CCC Citroenian magazine in November 2024

All Roads Lead to Rustival2

After the success of Rustival in March 2024, the amazing organising team threw a follow-up. Another very early morning was in store for my trusty BX and me. After twenty-one years of ownership, a 5:30 am start was neither the first nor the earliest Jazz and I have been up and out. All to get down to Gaydon for the 7:30 am ish opening. The start of Rustival 2 had a very different feel. Where the first Rustival included a Citroen Convoy, I was flying solo this time. A splash and dash for some E5 dino juice, and there was no DS’s insight this time.

A quick stop at services hoping to pick up a convoy on the way down to the Midlands was soon dashed. The pack of mixed Citroens was an hour behind me, so I trundled southbound on the M6. To avoid the ever-increasing M6 Toll charge, we took the scenic route through Birmingham and over the spaghetti junction. Coming over the Gravelly Hill intersection, my mood started to lift as the sun started to dominate the sky. Today would be a good day, even if it is a cold one.

Arrival at the British Motor Museum

A week of senior management reviews, late nights and a general lack of time resulted in little preparation. Jazz had received little more than a battery charge and oil top-up. Even the screen wash was left at a low level, as I’d run out of top-up. This seems to be the way things have been in the last few years. My red Citroen BX16Valve is slowly turning pink and, in some places, decidedly orange due to an overall lack of attention. She is, however, seeing a lot more miles in the last few years. The run down to the BMM was certainly a welcome leg stretch for both of us. The 1991 Citroen BX completed the journey with no beat missed and only a single obvious rattle in the cabin.

Despite having set off later than the first Rustival, and taken a rather leisurely pace down the M6 and M40, I seemed to arrive rather early at the British Motor Museum. Colour me old-fashioned, but I still think of the place as the ‘Heritage’. I guess that’s what happens after 10 years of visiting for meetings. A cool start is soon overcome by the very welcome sunshine.

Old friends

The long solo journey was absolutely worth the effort, and it didn’t take too long to track down my fellow columnists, Richard and Sara. As seems to be a common sight at the moment, Sara had travelled out with her beautiful Traction. Unfortunately, Hilda the Imp was poorly, and Richard had brought ‘Dump-it’ the 106 out. I really enjoyed admiring the ‘average spec’ 106 next to the Saxo stable mate. Amazing what variance platform engineering used to achieve compared to modern standards.

New Friends

At my heart, I am very much a nostalgia and reminiscence fan of cars. While I’m Citroen and BX-centric, I love seeing all the cars that used to be rolling around when I was younger. I think this is the main pull of Rustival, a mixed-brand show where quite literally anything goes. From Dennis fire engines, Leyland busses, Crown Victoria police cars, there is such a huge range. The tagline for the show is ‘Clapped out to concours’, but it would be very hard to separate the clapped out to the concours as all the cars at the gathering are so clearly loved. Unlike so many other shows, I felt no shame in not immediately getting out and polishing the BX, despite being parked next to a gleaming Alfa.

Rustival2 Main Stage

In a similar lineup to the first edition, Rustival 2 included a main stage with all manner of celebrities managing a Q&A-style entertainment session. A highlight from this year was the ‘live’ walk-around game of Top Trumps, interspersed with crowd stories of owning versions of the cars. We also witnessed not one but two Citroen BX owners on the stage at the same time. Our very own Richard was telling the crowd about his next mammoth 24-hour fundraiser for Sophie’s legacy. He was joined by no one other than Darren Walster, who is loaning his JurasicCar to the fundraising event.

What I love about Rustival the most is the feel. Everywhere you look, new and old friendships are being cemented. Conversations with strangers and catch-ups between old friends. The cars are a way of getting to the show and starting conversations, but the event is about the people. Over the few hours of the show, I had great catch-ups with some of my oldest (longest-suffering) car friends. I also caught up with some ‘digital’ friends and spent far too long nattering about nothing in particular. With over one thousand cars at the event, it would be nearly impossible not to get chatting with someone. My only complaint about the show is that it is over all too quickly. An overnight version is desperately needed.

Citroen BX at Rustival2

Okay, I’ll confess, there were a lot of cars at Rustival2. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much time wandering the rows of cars as I had hoped. I managed to have a quick run around the showground when I started to hear about how many BXs were in attendance. I managed to snap fourteen cars in total, but I know I missed snapping Tim Leech’s BX GT and subsequently found I missed ‘CCF’ as well. With these cars considered, the total number of Citroen BXs in attendance was 16, or about 1.5% of all the cars at the show. The BX was the most well-represented model despite the huge number of Minis and the high number of 205s.

My Car of the Show

While I don’t set out with a ‘car of the show’ in mind, I always enjoy a show more when there is a stand-out car at the show. Perhaps because it acts as an anchor for all the other exhibits? This time, my Rustival2 ‘Car of the Show’ is the Peugeot Hoggar Escapade. This car is one-of-one in the UK and was imported by its current owner, Mat. I’ve been following the adventures of this car on various social media channels; @channel205uk.

Manufactured in Brazil, the Hoggar is the spiritual successor to the Peugeot 504 pickup. With the front end of a Peugeot 207, the pickup starts as an almost familiar vehicle, but the more you look (especially at the back end), the stranger the ‘ute’ becomes. While I’m sure the Hoggar would have been a success in Europe and boosted the 13,000 or so units sold. I’ve rather enjoyed Mat’s Hoggar adventures, which he covers on his YouTube channel.

Rustival Variety

I mentioned the feeling of the ‘feel’ of the Rustival (and Rustival2) experience earlier. That coming together of friends, new and old, to natter about all things, some of them car-related. However, the approach to parking the cars generates part of that feel. Unlike many shows that park the same brands and models together in a segregated manner, Rustival parking is a little more ‘HubNut’. That is, cars arrive and park. No faffing, no lining up, no brand awareness. Just cars.

This results in a lot of juxtaposition. Be it a new Seat Leon next to a Fiat Punto or a 1988 Fiesta parked next to a 2007 Astra, old and new of all brands sit together. This really goes to highlight the uniqueness of Rustival; the key to the show is the owner’s love of the cars. From the cars presented in the peak of cleanliness to those arriving in their working clothes, the individuality of each car is really celebrated at Rustival2.

My Show Highlights

Not surprisingly, my Rustival2 show highlights are those cars that I used to see on the roads where I grew up but are now seldom seen. When I was a wee lad, the Mk2 and Mk3 Vauxhall Astra were key staples of the local police force, and I saw them everywhere. Similarly, I have fond memories of teachers and parents at my primary school having mighty Ford Sierras.

Many other childhood memories were seen in the flesh at Rustival2, and while the show was over far too quickly, I can’t wait until the next one.

Awaiting Rustival3

While the drive home was uneventful, it was incredibly satisfying being out in the BX, especially for a good long run out. Despite the rather tiring day, the event lifted my spirits and spurred me to work on the other BXs. Who knows, maybe I’ll get one of the other projects finished and out of the garage, and I can get to work on my own BX!

I can’t wait until Rustival3, this is certainly a show I intend never to miss!

M

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Adding a possibly six-month delay onto the rebuild was finding a downpipe for XPO. When I took the car on from Kitch (apparently, he has an SM now), I knew the car wouldn’t come with a downpipe. This was fine. I have a spare in the loft, so the front section of the exhaust, being unique to the BX 16Valve, wouldn’t make the exhaust installation a challenge. Or so I thought!

The Spare Down Pipe

The spare down pipe was from J603 LLP, a very rotten BX 16Valve I had bought for spares in 2007. J603 LLP brought a lot of parts, which got Jazz back on to XU9J4 power. However, I had two downpipes, both Walker reproductions. The spare had been hoarded away and saved for just this sort of rainy day.

The picture above shows the exhaust back in 2007. The downpipe then lived with my parents for the next eight or so years before moving down south. I remember packing the front pipe into the van when we moved back north. However, despite some serious searching, the pipe has vanished. I will never know whether it has helpfully been taken from the garden as scrap during the mega shed build or simply never packed during the last house move. What I do know is that the pipe is not with me any more!

Finding a front downpipe

After more than a year of looking at all the possible nooks and crannies that a house, garage, and mega shed could provide, I even went through my parents’ garden and garage in total desperation. The original pipe, 96064537, is unique to the Citroen BX 16Valve. Finally, I had to admit defeat and find another solution. After reaching out to many companies over the years to make up a stainless system, I finally found someone up to the challenge of manufacturing a split-down pipe.

Having taken the exhaust of Jazz, I ran the somewhat louder Citroen BX over to JP Exhausts. A few days later, I now had a complete end-to-end stainless system on my car, which freed up enough parts for XPO. I’m deliberately being short on details about the new exhaust, as it’s a good story in its own right. I’ll return to the stainless exhaust manufacture in a separate article, but if you want a sneak peek, check out this video from Adventures in Rust.

Preparing the exhaust for installation

While the exhaust on Jazz was in generally good condition, free from holes or major rust, it could certainly do with some preventative maintenance. Historically, I wasn’t keen on painting exhaust parts, but in my experience, a good coating of very high-temperature (VHT) paint can extend an exhaust’s life by as much as 10 years!

The front downpipe, which came from Jazz, is not an original Citroen part, unlike the missing one. This Walker reproduction downpipe is one of the best aftermarket parts available, with the splitter in the front section extending almost as far through the pipe as the original. The plate, which splits the front section of the pipe into two pieces, reportedly helps with low RPM pickup. I might be precious, but I like to have the Mi16 deliver power as it was intended from the factory.

Cleaning the exhaust pipe

Before painting the front pipe, all of the scale and rust are removed. A wire wheel and a combi-drill make swift work of the build-up and grime but don’t half make a mess. Good job I have XPO out of the garage.

A half hour or so later, and a wipe down with cellulose thinners, and the old exhaust is ready for painting. Although the exhaust is some fifteen years old, it is in surprisingly good condition. Hopefully, it will last for at least another fifteen years under XPO.

Painting the exhaust pipe before installation

I learned a long time ago that good preparation is the difference between VHT paint lasting a year versus five-plus years. The first step was the cleaning, but to get the VHT to really bond to the pipe, I have a little trick.

Gentle application of heat makes the VHT bond so much better. I don’t know how I know about this trick. It might have been from an application guide or perhaps word of mouth, but a little heat definitely helps. In the past, I’ve run the engine to add heat, but this time I am using a heat gun.

There is a huge range of VHT paints on the market. Unfortunately, I can’t say I have a huge range of experience with different brands, but I’ve used Simoniz brand VHT a few times with really good results.

Hanging Around

Once the VHT has been applied, the pipe is hung up while still warm. I’m not sure if the heat keeps the metal surface dry or if the heat reacts with the paint to make a better bond. Either way, it’s nice to be handling warm metal for a change.

A few more coats will be applied over the next few days to get a complete coat. I’m reasonable with a rattle can, but applying multiple layers should make sure I don’t leave any gaps behind.

The ‘hockey stick’ part also gets the same treatment. This exhaust part is still available, so it is less critical to protect the metal. However, I have a little VHT left and might as well use it.

Exhaust installation

With the exhaust system cleaned and prepared, XPO could finally have the last of the engine components installed. Before I even climb under the car, I’m already getting flash backs to how much of a nightmare the Citroen BX exhaust installation can be.

For reasons I’ll come back to in another article, the steering on XPO is suboptimal, and getting the car back into the garage and onto the ramp is simply not a fight I need to take. Instead, I’m working outside on axle stands, on the drive. Fortunately it’s a reasonably warm day for once.

A sheet of cardboard under the car stops me from finding a small pointy stone with my spine, but also saves the fresh paint from being scraped off the exhaust.

The underside of XPO looks remarkably clean, and the new fuel hoses help tidy things up. It is the lack of rust on the underside of XPO which has made the resurrection worthwhile. The car is simply too good to die.

Exhaust Nemesis

Lying on my back, looking up into the engine bay, this will be my view for the next few hours. That eight-branch manifold looks great off the bench, but from this angle, I just bloody hate it. There is very little room to work through to get the nuts onto the studs.

Some serious swearing later and the exhaust system is installed, with plenty of sealant

Finally, the genuine OEM back box at the system’s back end gets a refresh. Last painted in 2009, it gets a quick rub down and sprayed with Kramp paint. Designed for the agricultural market, the Kramp finish is remarkably thick. This is the closest finish I’ve had to the OEM powder coating. And with that, the exhaust installation on XPO is complete. However, with hindsight, I wish I had installed the tail pip with the bumper in place.

Rear Spheres

While the car was in the air, with an exhaust on, and a running engine, I could finally remove the rear spheres. To save from damaging the housing, the rear spheres need to be removed under pressure. This means putting the suspension at full height, with the engine running, then cracking off the sphere. Which is simply loosening a tiny amount with what ever force is required.

Right hand rear sphere

The right-hand side sphere loosened off incredibly easily. Yes, that’s a very old oil filter wrench wrapped around the sphere, and that was all the force required. I was gobsmacked that it came out so freely, and this was probably a good issue. After removing the suspension pressure and removing the sphere, I found the spring for the retaining plate was completely missing!

While a fairly simple piece of metal, the spring holds up the locking plate, which stops the whole rear suspension unit from falling out. Okay, it’s possibly not that dramatic that the spring was missing, as once installed, the sphere does a good job of blocking the escape route of the plate. Fortunately, I had one brand new spring in stock, and despite having been in storage for probably 15 years, I actually knew where it was.

This ‘after’ picture doesn’t justify how many leaves were built behind the sphere. It is no wonder that the aluminium suspension struts corrode out when they are sat in water and dirt inside the housing. Once cleaned, a new seal is installed for the sphere and the IFHS sphere wound in place hand tight.

Left hand rear sphere

Swapping to the other side, the left-hand sphere was a little less willing to part ways with its housing. Stepping up through the many sphere removal tools, and the big bar was the winner.

An obviously homemade tool which I’ve had for a very long time; it has only been defeated once. The simple box section with a piece of rebar is a little clumsy and bulky, but it gets a seriously good grip if space allows. However, despite the size, the tool produces excellent leverage.

The spring for the locking plate was installed correctly on this side, which is fortunate as I don’t have any more spares! A new seal, and the replacement sphere was installed. You’ll notice a relatively dry drip tray under the back of the car. Suspiciously, there was not a lot of fluid in the spheres, despite both registering no pressure on the test rig. Given that one of the diaphragms in the sphere was loose, they really should have been brimming with suspension fluid.

The finished Exhaust Installation

After all the prep, the installation doesn’t take too long at all. Yes, the tailpipe is a little drunk, but this is perfectly normal, unfortunately.

The engine can finally be run up to temperature with the exhaust installed. Proving out the cooling fans, the engine is surprisingly quiet now that the engine output air is baffled. I can get the car back into the garage and work on some of the hydraulic leaks next, which might turn into a bit of a drama!

See you next time!

M

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Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that during the first start in Episode41, there was something missing in the engine bay. A general lack of cooling system and, critically, no radiator. Given that the sole purpose of the Mi16 engine is to turn petrol into heat, a complete cooling system is needed to run the engine for more than a few seconds. Despite the cliffhanger of an empty ramp, the car won’t move under its own steam without some drive shafts. This article will focus on XPO becoming driveable.

The Cooling System

To overcome the engine’s keenness to turn into a fireball, the engine cooling system would need to be in perfect working order before becoming driveable. While the majority of the BakerBM silicone piping had already been installed, there were a few pieces of the cooling system puzzle left to be installed or repaired.

Water Level Sender Bracket

The later Citroen BX cooling system uses a slightly complex system to monitor water levels. While earlier (or simpler) BXs have an integrated radiator header tank and a float switch to turn the low coolant lamp on, the BX16V is a bit different. Like the 8v GTi and a few others, the XU9j4 has a separate coolant reservoir with a continuity switch.

To drive this continuity switch, an amplifier circuit is needed, or “CONTROL UNIT WATER COOLANT LEVEL 97517535”. This little box sits next to the radiator and turns the ‘you’ve lost your coolant’ lamp on in the instrument cluster. XPO did come with the little box, but it was a touch damaged. Given where it the box mounts on the car, it is not uncommon for someone to pull the harness and break the tab off.

Rather annoyingly, when testing the circuit in the box, it actually worked perfectly well. There seemed little point in throwing away a good part for the sake of a little plastic tab. In this case, the solution was to print out the missing part with a little added reinforcement. PETG should be up to the job.

With a repair piece made for the water level sender, applying Loctite Super Glue bonds the two pieces together. Once installed onto XPO, the coolant level warning circuit should be complete and functional. I don’t expect to lose any coolant, but it will be nice to know if I do!

Coolant Pipes

Back in episode 31, I had a large number of the metal parts plated by a grown-up after my failed homegrown attempts. Finally, the remaining pieces could be installed onto the car. The last of the freshly plated parts would complete the coolant system and the hydraulic system.

There is a lot of satisfaction in moving to the ‘rebuild phase’. I finally start to see the benefit of all the cleaning that was completed nearly a year ago.

I wish I had a vapour or CO2 blasting setup to get everything just about perfect. However, I have to make do with the parts wash and heavy degreaser for now. The fleshly plated parts really lift the appearance of the engine bay and spur progress.

Radiator

For a little while, I debated what to do about the radiator. I have a number of usable condition OEM radiators that will keep the freshly built engine cooled for many years to come. However, I also have a supply of brand new aluminium radiators which have no better or worse performance over the originals but are definitely not OEM.

In the end, I opted to use one of the aluminium radiators I already had. I should point out these are not the ‘Winner’ rads off eBay, and cost half the amount. Although not black in colour like the original, they should outlast any of the spares that I have in stock in good condition.

Cooling Fan

After the fun and games I’ve had in recent years, especially FOTU 2021, I am just a little paranoid about the cooling fans. After the cooling fan replacement saga in 2021, I’m left with only one cooling fan motor with very long leads. The motor was already assembled on the right-hand side of the cooling fan cowling, with very long wires.

New connectors are installed on the cooling fan leads, and they are hooked up to the vehicle engine bay harness. By shorting out the cooling fan wires, I can check to make sure the fan circuit is working. Fortunately,, in this case, the fan works at both high and low speeds, which confirms the motor works and the low-speed resistor works!

Cooling Fan Switch

The cooling fan on the Citroen BX should turn on and off automatically in line with the temperature of the coolant that flows over the cooling fan switch. The switch is installed at the end of the radiator and comes in a range of flavours with different temperature trigger points.

One of the many bodges in XPO’s electrics was the removal of the OEM cooling fan switch connectors. Fortunately, the FastOn/FastOff terminals are still available new, and I was able to re-terminate the wires. After a little electrical sleuthing, I identified which wire was for the low and high-speed switch and marked up the cables.

I salvaged the OEM connector shell/housing from one of the many spare engine bay harnesses I have acquired. The cooling circuit was complete with an old cooling fan switch installed into the end of the new radiator. The system was filled with suitable specs of blue antifreeze with a 50:50 ratio with de-ionised water. Finally, we are one step further on XPO’s journey to becoming driveable!

Drive Shafts

If I want XPO to move under its own power, I’ll probably need to connect the wheels to the engine through the clutch, gearbox and, of course, the drive shafts. While XPO was delivered with a single drive shaft, there was of work needed to get them installed onto the car!

Short Side drive shaft

First, I tackled the short drive shaft that came with the car. While complete, there were many issues that needed to be addressed. The first issue was the very heavy coating of built-up dirt and grease. While I’m not a spinning metal bar expert, I suspect a significant weight build-up around a rotating member probably isn’t a good thing. Scraping, degreaser, and brushing later,work could continue.

Once cleaned, I was happy that the short drive shaft was usable. However, the zip ties on the drive shaft cover/gaiter/CV boot were a little concerning. Zip ties are great for a short-term solution, but they don’t tend to age well. Over time, the plastic will stretch, and the CV boot will fail or worse, moisture will get in a destroy the constant velocity joint.

Surprisingly, the zip ties were still reasonably tight. However, the CV boot could not be saved as it already had a perforation that was letting grease out. Unfortunately, this CV boot was past its best and would need replacing.

The CV boot appeared to be completely original at the other end of the shaft. A testament to OEM parts, at some thirty years old, the rubber was still holding together. However, the cracking around the bend shows how the VOCs have leaked from the rubber, making it hard and brittle.

Driveshaft Rebuild

There was no other solution. Both CV boots would need to be removed. Surprisingly, the inner CV gave up its hold on the drive shaft remarkably easily. This aided a fairly rapid change of the rubber gaiters. Unfortunately, it has been a long time since I last changed the drive shaft covers on any car. However, the rebuild process went surprisingly smoothly.

Once again, I am incredibly grateful to Luke. Not only did he tell me the part numbers for replacement CV boots, but he also posted a box full of drive shaft parts. But for a few amazing people, I might have given up on XPO a long time ago. However, I’m very grateful to all those who have raided their spares and got me back on track!

Long Side Drive Shaft

The drive shafts are different lengths because the Citroen BX gearbox is offset. The long side has a really long inner CV output shaft. The shaft is so long it has to be supported by a bearing in the rear engine mount housing. Unfortunately, XPO didn’t arrive with a long shaft. However, that seemed like a minor issue, as after-market parts can still be bought.

And buy an aftermarket shaft I did. The inexpensive part arrived relatively quickly and I had kept it to one side for this moment. However, the supplied shaft must be used on another vehicle. Although the shaft is the right length and fits perfectly, the ABS ring is clearly from another model. In the picture above, I have a BX rear ABS ring along side the new drive shaft ring. You don’t need to count the teeth to find the difference.

After some hunting, I managed to source the correct ring from Latvia! Although an inexpensive part, the emotional cost of fitting the ABS ring was significant. The wrong ring was quickly cut off, but the CV boot had to come off to press the new ring on. The new ring was heated with a blow torch in an old break disc, to achieve even softness. The red hot sensor ring was then pressed onto the shaft with a ten-tonne press. Very stressful, but I got there in the end!

Finally, with both drive shafts installed and the intermediary bearing secured, the gearbox could be filled. Only the best Total fluid for XPO; after all, who spends years building a car only to replace the fluids with cheap, out-of-spec oil?

Becoming drievable?

So, after all this work, was the car driveable? Well, yes and no. With the coolant system completed, the engine could be run for a longer period. After topping up with a hydraulic reservoir and a lot of bleeding, the suspension was finally alive. However, with the hydraulic system not pressurised, the LHM leaks started.

With the driveshafts in, the car could, in theory, move under its own steam, but there was a slight issue. No matter what I did with the cable, I could not get it to fit into the clutch release arm. I did manage to coax the car off the ramp by running the engine to raise the suspension and then restarting the car with the gearbox already in gear. Finally, the car drove out of the garage, but something was wrong with the geometry, so I couldn’t go backwards, even pushing!

Definitely not driveable at this stage, with just a few things to sort;

• An exhaust needs to be installed
• The front wheels need to point roughly in the right direction
• The clutch pedal/cable/lever needs connecting together
• And finally, there are a couple of leaks that need sorting!

Some might suggest I’ve just listed the final articles until the XPO project reaches it’s conclusion, and they would be right!

Until next time.

M

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After a long wait, the moment avid readers have all been waiting for is the engine installation. Remember, at this point, the engine has only been turned over manually. Manual rotations for some two years! The sense of trepidation is hard to put into words. Engine rotation is a long way off a running car. However, the only way to know that I have built it right is to complete the engine installation!

Engine Mount

Before I can install the engine, I need somewhere for it to sit. If the engine were mounted directly to the vehicle body, it would soon shake itself apart. Worse, the vibration would create stress fractures everywhere. The engine sits on rubber mounts to isolate the harsh engine vibrations from the vehicle body.

There are a number of mounts, upper and lower. Ultimately the engine and gearbox assembly is secured in three points. At the top, the upper engine mounts sits on top of a large rubber tower. Forward and rearward movement is restricted with side buffers.

While the main upper mount is readily available, the correct Citroen BX engine mount buffers are no longer available. The original Citroen type has been unavailable for many years. Fortunately, the mount for the Peugeot 205 will fit, with a small modification that requires drilling a 5mm hole.

With the hole drilled, the Peugeot-style buffers can be installed, ready to receive the left-hand engine mount. The buffers will probably need shimming once the engine is in, to get the buffers closer to the engine mount. A new rubber mount is also prepared for the gearbox upper mounting.

Engine Installation

There are a number of ways to get the installed on the Citroen BX. My preference is to drop the gearbox and engine assembled, from above. The load leveler on the engine crane makes this relatively straightforward. Although there is a good argument for loading the assembly from below, or even installing the engine and gearbox separately.

From experience, the XU9J4 engine likes to lean backwards on the crane. To aid installation, I use a plank against the firewall to guide the assembly in. At the engine mount end, I usually end up dragging something against the paintwork. A thin board here protects the bodywork. If you are installing a BX engine this way, I recommend removing the mounting stud from the gearbox. This innocuous post tends to catch on everything. While installing the engine is a one-man job, having a spotter/guide to swing the engine into its hole is recommended.

Engine Ancillaries

The case of the missing parts

Over the last few months of the build, I have been increasingly frustrated by the missing engine pieces. While I knew XPO wasn’t 100% complete, I was certain many missing pieces were in the car when it arrived. As I couldn’t find the missing bits, I spent many hours searching for parts in my stocks and on eBay.

Just as some of the parts where becoming critical, I solved the mystery of the missing parts. Discretely hidden under the parts washer, in an unmarked box, I found all the small missing pieces. Doh! Time to throw them at the car and start making some progress.

Engine Ancillaries

The engine installation continued with the installation of the air intake manifold, followed by the fuel, ignition, and electrical systems. The hydraulics are all installed with a new hand-made main feed pipe from FDV to the HP pump. A new belt is installed over the replated pulleys.

When the throttle body arrived, it was very roughly spray-painted black. Such a waste of a beautiful casting. Most of the paint was flaking off too. First, the throttle body was stripped and cleaned with a combination of ultrasonic cleaner and manual abrasion. After that, the throttle body flaps were reset, and linkages lubed, ready for reinstallation.

New NGK plugs are connected to a new distributor with some very cheap HT leads. These leads will come back to haunt me. Despite clearly being the wrong length, the seller wasn’t particularly helpful. On seeing the pictures, the seller told me he’d never had an issue with the many sets already sold. And that was that! This isn’t the only issue with the leads, as I will discover.

Air intake hose

One big problem I had with the engine installation was the air intake hose. Sitting between the airflow meter and the throttle body, the hose is critical to starting the engine. The engine did not come with one, and the only pipe I had failed on Jazz a long time ago. While I’d ordered a hose from BakerBM, Stuart was unable to find the last ever hose.

Fortunately, the BX community, globally but especially in the UK, is an amazing group. A few messages to some of the best BX parts finders and a large box arrives. It contains a brand-new air intake hose, CV boots, and other small parts that are missing. Thank you, Toddman! Engine installation can continue!

A key part of the installation is the auxiliary drive belt. As only the alternator and crank pulley are connected, the Citroen BX 16Valve takes a relatively short 5-peak belt. Like all the other belts, I’m installing genuine Gates belts.

Engine Fixings

Most parts of the Citroen BX are shown in the parts catalogue as ‘NFP’. Or ‘no longer available’ in English. However, there is a relativley easy solution for bolts. The part catalogue usually lists the dimensions of the bolts. Fortunately, overall lengths and threads are listed along side the length of unthreaded sections.

A quick trip to Lloyd and Jones with a shopping list, and many of the missing bolts are sourced. In most cases, I’m replacing mild steel bolts with A2 stainless where possible, simple for the longevity of the finish. Nobody likes rust nuts.

A significant step in the engine installation is getting the last of the engine mounts installed. The lower engine mount consists of a large rubber damper in the lower engine mount bracket, connected to the subframe by a yoke. Although the main rubber is easy enough to find, the yoke can be a little harder to source. What was eventually installed on XPO is actually the second purchased yoke. It will take several months until I find the first one. All are installed with shiny new bolts, and we are getting very close to starting the engine!

Coolant Hoses

Depending on the engine, I wont always do the first start with the coolant system connected. However, the MI16 engine gets very hot, very quickly. The risk of damage to the engine with no coolant is far higher than a diesel-engined BX, for example. So, the coolant system needs to be assembled.

About 15 years ago, I worked with BakerBM to remanufacture the Citroen BX 16V coolant hoses in silicon. At the time, we recognised that there were two bottom hoses. The dimensions depend on the manifold type at the back of the engine. This means that where the plastic manifold is used, the hoses need trimming. Without the adjustment, the bottom hose is overly long and would rub against the anti-roll bar if not trimmed.

The later manifold sits closer to the edge of the engine, and 10mm needs to be trimmed off the hose. I usually put a suitably large socket inside the end of the hose and then trim it with a new blade in a Stanley knife. The later plastic manifold is also a little bigger, so a small amount of lubricant is well worth applying.

Trimming the BakerBM bottom hose.

Trimmed back and reinstalled and the hose is clear of the anti roll bar and drop link.

The bottom hose sits perfectly against the underside of the chassis rail. Fortunately, the plastic wheel arch liner will hold the pipe up and out of harm’s way. Incidentally, the Peugeot solution is actually a shaped metal pipe in this area. This makes a lot of sense, as a solid pipe would definitely be out of reach of the wheel of the anti-roll bar end.

Let Her Rip

Everything is connected, and the engine installation can finally be declared finished. Although there is still some tidying to do, drive shafts to fit, etc., however, all the parts needed to turn over the engine are in place. Regardless of months of turning over by hand, this is the moment of truth for my engine-building skills!

Well, it took some time, but the engine actually ran. Although the engine was previously turned over on the key and the fuel system manually primed, this was genuinely the first start and a successful one too! Oh, there’s no exhaust either

And there we have it. Engine installation complete. XPO has left the building!

Stay tuned for the next article to see what happens next. But as a hint, there will be LHM, probably not where it should be.

M

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After many months of preparation, including the fuel pipes and engine bay, the time moment for refitting the engine was getting ever closer. If you have followed this write-up for the last three and half years, you might remember the engine rebuild. After a lot of work on the old G-SEG engine, it had been rebuilt to a short block level. That means the engine had been built to the point the belts were on, and the engine innards could be rotated. However, in May 2023, the time had come for finishing the engine for reinstallation.

The Build Book

Helping me through the engine rebuild, I have a build book and a parts book. As wonderful as these look, they are really just fancy covers on top of readily available information. The parts book is a copy of the Citroen parts catalogue microfiche from 1998. The build guide is a copy of the Citroen Workshop manual sections related to the MI16, as well as a few extra notes and images.

As simple as the documents may be, the real value is in the notes. The parts list has notes of torque settings or installation conditions for most of the major fixings. This is a work of love, with hours spent pouring through workshop manuals to find the torque settings. The build book notes all the work completed on the engine so far, with hints and tips from forums and Peugeot manuals.

Oil Temp Sensor

As you can see below, the oil temperature sensor on the G-SEG engine came to me completely destroyed. Being exposed on the very bottom of the engine it is not unusual for the oil temperature sensor to scrape the ground. However, there is normally enough left to get a good connection.

When I finished the engine, I couldn’t locate a replacement oil temperature sensor in the UK or at a reasonable price. Despite parts from Europe being reasonably cheap at the start of the project, by 2023, imports were expensive. An imported sensor would likely cost £50 to £70.

The alternative was to use an old but functional spare I had tucked away. It, too, had dragged the tarmac, and while there wasn’t enough thread to make a connection, I had an alternative plan. Carefully drilling through the copper screw connector and a wire was threaded through, and a permanent connection was made.

Engine Mounts

Rear Engine Mount

Next up for the refurbishment process was the lower engine mount. Cosmetically, the rubber motion damper didn’t look in too bad condition. However, by grabbing hold of the centre section, the inner bush could be rotated more than thirty degrees. This rubber’s service life had evidently been exceeded.

Fortunately, an earlier Christmas present to myself meant I could quickly change the bushing with hydraulic pressure. This Sealey YK10B bench press may look compact, but it packs a punch.

Opportunistic purchasing of many Citroen service tool kits over the years means I have the official tooling for changing the engine mount bushing. A few pumps and out she flew.

With a new rubber bushing installed, the refurbished rear engine mount was bolted back onto the engine. The fixings were torqued up and marked so that I know they have been correctly installed.

Front Engine Mount

As simple as it may look below, the front engine mount also needed a little TLC. The upper section is held to the lower with threaded studs. However, one of the studs came out of the lower mount. Buckets of thread lock, and a few days later, it was ready to reinstall.

And there it is, reinstalled onto the G-SEG engine, torqued up, marked up, and rolled out. Wait, that’s transformers. Either way, the process of finishing the engine was flying along.

P Seals

During the short block rebuild of the engine, oil was added to the sump. Since then, the engine has been periodically rotated manually. And that highlighted a small leak from the newly installed sump. I immediately had my suspicions about the P’seals, which fit either side of the crank plate.

The crank end plate seals half of the crank to the block. The plate is required to remove the crank from the block. When the plate is installed, two seals are slid down the side of the plate with tabs to keep them in place. The tabs make the seals look like the letter ‘p’ or a golf club.

Finding the leak

My suspicion is that the P-seals might be the issue, which was triggered during the plate’s installation. The legs of the seals are excessively long and have to be trimmed to length. One required much more trimming than the other, meaning one was not installed correctly. Sure enough, with the oil system sealed and pressurised, bubbles of leak detector appeared around the crank plate.

I dreaded having to take the engine apart. But after several months of mental block on taking the sump apart and a fear of what may lay inside, I couldn’t put it off any longer. Especially if I was ever going to finish the engine.

Resealing and closing up

With the sump off and the crank plate out, one seal slid out of place during the installation, causing the leak. To prevent the p-seals from escaping again, new seals were installed with a little sealant.

After hours of careful cleaning, the sump spacer was installed with new sealant.

Finally, a new gasket and the sump were reinstalled, torqued, and leak-free. I should add that the rebuild was over a year ago, and to date, no oil drip has come from the P-seal end. Whoop.

Exhaust Manifold

The next step in finishing the engine is to install the exhaust manifold. The lump of steel takes the exhaust output from the four cylinders through the eight separate valves and out to the exhaust. On the Mi16, the manifold is both complex and beautiful.

Unfortunately, the original exhaust manifold fixings were past their best. The studs sticking out of the engine were mostly destroyed, and then the exhaust manifold was removed. So, a whole new set of studs was installed into the head.

A new gasket and copper exhaust manifold nuts secure the exhaust manifold to the short-block engine. Slowly but carefully, I’m getting closer to finishing the engine.

Oil System

Before the inlet manifold goes on, all the major piping must be installed onto the engine. First up is the oil system.

Oil Breather

Most combustion engines leak some cylinder gasses past the piston seals once they are over 30 years old. Wear of the cylinder walls and piston rings lets just a little gas from the cylinder into the oil system. As this gas passes over the engine oil, it picks up some oil particles that we don’t want to get out into the air.

An oil breather lets some of the gas out of the oil circuit and tries to capture some oil particles by condensing on a metal surface. The original filter was a mild steel mesh, like chain mail. Unfortunately, the filter was long past best when the engine was taken apart. A trip through the ultrasonic cleaner resulted in the mash falling to bits. Some of the filter mesh was even found in the sump! The filter material was replaced with a stainless steel mesh in the form of a pan scourer. This is a very marmite solution, with a risk of getting harder stainless steel particles into the oil system. However, I’ve done this on a few older vehicles and had no issues.

Oil Pipes

With the oil breather refurbished, the oil system and pipes can be installed on the engine. I deliberated for a long time about what to do here. I have three sets of original oil hoses for the MI16 from scrap cars and my own BX 16V. Without a doubt, I have enough complete hoses to make a set.

However, despite having a full set, the main oil filling pipe always ends up soft and often collapses. All three spare pipes I have where showing signs of going soft. While an expense I don’t need at over £100 for three pipes, I ultimatley opted for new hoses. The BakerBM silicone oil breather kit has been about for more than 10 years now, and is really good value for money compared to a failed engine.

Ignition System

Next, I could focus on overhauling the ignition system with the oil circuit complete. While not strictly required to allow the engine to be installed into XPO, this felt like a good time to do some of the fiddly bits.

Spark plugs

To finish sealing up the engine cylinders, I needed to fit some new spark plugs. These go quite deep into the engine, so I find them easier to install when you do not have to reach over a lot of bodywork.

Choosing a spark plug can be a bit of a minefield. While I’m biased, I genuinely believe that the Denso Iridium range has the potential to generate a stronger spark and help even combustion. I ran Iridium plugs in my 16v for more than eight years and never had any issues. However, recently, I returned to the OEM spec NGK BCP7ET, and honestly, I can’t see any difference. So this is what my 16v engines will get in future, and I’m stocked up for the rest of my life!

Rotor Arm

While not strictly needed for the engine to be installed in the car, I’ve taken a moment to install a new rotor arm while the thermostat housing is out of the way.

While I’m a little nervous about FAC quality, I’ve really struggled to find a genuine 5940.41 Citroen rotor arm. In this case, the material quality and finish look okay, and it is all I have. Installing without the gearbox and thermostat in place helps with the screw alignment.

Coolant System

Next up in the process of finishing the engine for installation is the coolant system. Well, some small parts.

Thermostat Housing

Oversized steel bolts in an aluminium casting in the relative presence of water are stupid. I have no idea why manufacturers do this. Not surprisingly, one of the two M8 bolts in the thermostat housing was snapped during the disassembly of the G-SEG engine.

After days of lubrication with BDX, the bond between the steel bolt and the soft aluminium didn’t really want to give up. Experience has taught me that heating up alloy castings only makes them soft and results in threaded hole stripping. Heat is not the solution here.

However, respite being well stuck, I have a spare housing if it all goes wrong. Sanding the stud back flush and drilling the core, I managed to get the steel threads out using an extractor tool. I’ve never actually had these tools work before.

After a small mercy, I could reinstall the thermostat housing on the engine. I always struggle to get the alignment on the pipe retainer, and while not glamorous, this clamping arrangement did work. Really I should have put the clamp against the pipe, but didn’t want to mark the Santorini metallic black finish!

Finally, Finishing the Engine

A mere two months later, and by July 2023, the engine is just about ready to be installed into the engine bay of XPO. Getting over the hump of taking the sump off really spurred my excitement to get the car back together.

There is still a lot to do before I can drive off into the sunset, but having the plated parts finally go back onto the engine is a big emotional boost. Who knows, maybe one day, this three-month project will be complete, and XPO will have a new MOT!

M

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PREV – Eps37b Fuel Pipes

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