BXProject

It started with a text from Kitch, followed by some E-mails and a few PM's, all about exhaust crossboxes for a valver.

No-one seemed able to get any.
So I rang GSF Bristol, SDL and A&R.
All of whom said "no problem, stocked item" etc etc.
Further text from Kitch and I ring up GSF to order one for collection later.

"No problem"
then a call back:
"Sorry mate, we can't get them anymore"
"WTF, you said you have stock"
"Our supplier no longer has stock, sorry"

Shit.
Ring SDL back:
"Yep no prblem sir"
"great I'll be down in 10 minutes"
"ok"

get there, no cross boxes! I have no idea what the fuck they were offering as the right part, but it looks like it was for a tank.

In short. The end of the BX exhaust?

GSF no longer keep ANY BX exhaust parts at all, bar clamps and fixing kits.
Depressing.

Citroen have been dropping some parts and making others prohibitivle expensive for a few years now - new fuel pump? Certainly sir £1300 + VAT

Fucking utter gobshites and basterds.

Just nipped to the local post office. I live in a quiet part of town about a couple of miles from the centre. I've been parking outside the post office for 30 years... ok on a single yellow..
They've put fucking traffic wardens on all the way out here, in 10 minutes come out to a parking ticket £ 70-00$%"^&*(){} where do they think we are a fucking city centre with obstruction problems...3 vehicles in a street 300 yds long £210 to the council for 3 minutes work. Utter shitehawks wankers and leeches

/\ They were talking about no more/very expensive spare parts.....wtf you bumping your gums about a parking ticket for? Didn't you wave your disabled badge at 'em?

bastards done me even though I had the blue badge in the window

evidentally the clock card had slipped in front of the permit and obstructed the end date on it
still twas only £30.00

Doc, phone CES (Chester Exhaust Supplies) and see if they have one. I'll bet very good money they have one!

In fairness the cross box is very simple and it would probably be just as easy to make one up. Might speak to my uncle and make me a stainless one when i get back to the UK. I have a few ok ones at the farm, had turned them to scrap so might have to see if they are still there.

Piece of scaffolding pipe, couple of coke tins, some jubilee clips = job done....

thams will be some sodding huge coke tins then!

I have a reel of stainless wire so will look at what's needed to make them up.

You can buy perforated stainless tube and pre punched ends of different sizes

what about flanges Phil? The valver has push together ends (where the cross box links to front and rear pipes, rather than slide in) and they are slightly triangular (not just round). I guess not a huge problem, roll and weld jobbie, but the original i think is all one piece?

Oh, I've never seen a valver one. Should'nt present much of a problem though, as long as I have say, a rusted/knackered one to cut open and use as a template.

Now I aint going to be working regular like, I'm going to clear my w/shop out, build myself a forge and buy in some hand rolls and a bender. I have a tinmans jenny knocking about somewhere.

it's the same part number for a turbo d item, so next time you scrap a TD, save the exhaust.

I had thought my TD's frontpipe was too far gone for the recent MOT, but it's holding together for the time being. My caravan repairer/breaker friend has a simple cure for the inevitable seam rust on the frontpipes of the 19d van-towers he's run for many moons - he just brazes them up again. Tom suggested to me that the TD's frontpipe was double-skinned, so maybe that won't work.....

And as for the rest....

Couldn't get an intermediate (transverse) box for my GTi. Tried through some mates at ATS, Nothing. Tried GSF etc. Nada. Eventually settled for a s/h Walker box which might last a year/18 months...

It's not encouraging is it?

I may have found one locally for Kitch, the factors have said "Compter says yes" but they won't know till Monday if they can actually find it. Luckily my system is fairly new (although I plan to bypass the crossbox anyway) and I found a genuine rear section on ebay which I got for a tenner. The seller was a bit of a tosser, I paid for it and had no response for several weeks. I managed to track him down as he had used what sounded like a real name on ebay, had a couple of mates who lived in the same town (luckily!) pay him a visit and collected what was rightfully mine. Result!

It seems Bosal have some stock left, but I'm told there will be no more.
I've got one coming in the morning, for much cheapness, which is nice.
But it's rather concerning that in the space of three months it's gone from being able to get a complete genuine 16 valve exhaust including fixing kit, to not being able to get ANY exhaust part for any BX at all.

I've been looking through what GSF and indeed Citroen themselves still hold stock on.
It's grim reading.

I'll be making up a stainless exhaust for both cars I think, oh, and one for Phoenix.

I still remember when the only part you couldn't get new for a BX was the glovebox.
And it weren't that long ago!

This has been the situation for some time, in fact. Calipers were very hard to source two years ago and ABS brake hoses have long been a topic of debate. New ABS driveshafts? Fergeddit! Face it, the BX is several generations obsolete and parts are going to be harder and harder to find. It is the reason why I no longer run a BX as daily transport, although I fancy building one up for use in France. Those of you with spares cars will be ok for the time being but many BXs will not make 2010 because "you can't get the bits, mate".

Which brings us back to Doc thinking about the garage trade and me getting some extra workshop stuff. I even have a lathe knocking about somewhere.


As I said, As I retire a bit, I will have more time to reflect on which parts are going to be most needed to keep our motors going and how best to achieve this.
I mean in terms of what is feasible to manufacture, given the skills that prevail on our website.
I can boast professional standard in maintenance fitting/machining, Fabrication and welding.
Detail fitting and assembly, good Blacksmithing /forging ability, including heat treatment.
Electrical/electronic....err forget it.
Many more of us will also have good skills in other areas and as we move into this rather unknown situation, with regard to bitz, I dare say that, given the above, we may be more self sufficient than we think.

/\ Dood, you have no qualifications in cheese!!!! You need to be a professor in cheesium and crapite to manufacture these parts! And where exactly is your source of unobtanium?!

I'll trade your skills in magiking stuff from metal for my skills in trapping escaping smoke!