rmattila's Bx Van 1,7D -90

Post by **Defender110** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:16 pm

Pleasant exhaust tone?

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:23 pm

Well, it took us home from 250 km away, and prevented poisoning from the exhaust fumes (which somehow find their way to the front of the cabin after such a pipe break, apparently due to some extraordinary aerodynamics in the rear bumper area).

-Riku

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:35 pm

That piccy is ace, studded winter tyres, improvised exhaust & a sphere thats no longer green.

Post by **Defender110** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:04 pm

rmattila wrote:Well, it took us home from 250 km away, and prevented poisoning from the exhaust fumes (which somehow find their way to the front of the cabin after such a pipe break, apparently due to some extraordinary aerodynamics in the rear bumper area).

-Riku

Yes this has been mentioned on here before, if the exhaust tail pipe isn't just the right length (too short or too long) it appears to get sucked into the cabin.

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:42 am

The first real spring day - finally warm enough to take the new family member for a short trip. CX spheres in front an DS spheres in the rear really make driving her a smooth experience.

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Sun May 15, 2011 9:45 pm

Putting a new engine on the old lady:

1.9 diesel this time, took it from a BX GTi that was going to the scrappers. Originally from a 1997 Xantia.

shovebus · Post by **shovebus** » Fri May 27, 2011 10:48 pm

, it was re-classified as a van. There still existed a loophole in 2005 to make such a conversion by simply removing the back seat and replacing it with a plywood bench with maximum 3 cm padding. This loophole was closed in 2007, so it's no more possible to make such 5 seat "tax vans". The old ones were luckily allowed to keep their status and the back "seat".[/quote]

hi...i have a van but what you have appears to be a "break",not a full panel van as is mine,i.e panels on the side,no windows or high roof..interesting that we call things differently..cheers

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Sat May 28, 2011 6:46 am

The official term is "N1 class vehicle" or "pakettiauto", which would directly translate as a "package automobile". In practice, this classification results into a significantly (by factor of 6) lower annual diesel tax, and on the other hand brings certain limitations concerning the number of allowable passengers.

No requirements concerning panels etc. any more, but there was a period in the 1970's, when the rear side windows had to be replaced with covers. It has been a continuous play of cat and mouse since 1950's, when the "temporary" sky-high automobile tax was enacted in order to prevent foreign currency from flowing out of the country. In order to avoid excessive burden to businesses needing a transport vehicle, N1 class vehicles were given certain tax privileges, and whenever the rules for the classification have been changed in order to prevent ordinary people like me from taking advantage of the lower tax rates, new loopholes have been quickly found. The high-roof BX Van is one example of the solutions found to enable N1 classification for a regular car.

Nowadays it's just a matter of enabling a reasonably-taxed (by Finnish standards..) way of using a diesel powered automobile.

Post by **Defender110** » Sat May 28, 2011 9:43 am

Hi Rmattila

That 1.9 diesel lump is certainly doing the rounds now entering it's third car possibly more.

I'm intriqued about the CX spheres on the front and DS spheres on the back. How much does that alter the ride. Did it just improve the ride because your old BX ones were worn out and did you just fit these because you hapened to have some or is it a recognised improvement that you deliberately made?

+ I notice the overiders on the front bumper of the red one, are these a citroen fitment?

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Sat May 28, 2011 9:58 am

Defender110 wrote: I'm intriqued about the CX spheres on the front and DS spheres on the back. How much does that alter the ride. Did it just improve the ride because your old BX ones were worn out and did you just fit these because you hapened to have some or is it a recognised improvement that you deliberately made

The black Van was built from a "regular" red one by a well-reputed small Citroën oriented shop, and the new spheres were part of that package. I have a sphere filling equipment at home and refill the spheres once a year as part of the routine maintenance, using a slight overinflation (65 bar or so) to make the ride even better than with brand new spheres. Still it feels that the black one is the smoothest, so I guess the CX/DS combination has some effect.

I notice the overiders on the front bumper of the red one, are these a Citroën fitment?

For a long time, it was a Finnish MOT requirement to have headlight washers in automobiles. Some cars had the equipment when leaving the factory (Saab, Volvo etc.), and they had proper wipers. Other cars needed the equipment to be installed by the importer, and the simplest way was to fit spray nozzles in the front bumper. It was approved as fulfilling the requirement, even though it's clearly inferior to a real wiper arrangement. I'm not quite sure if the BX ones were installed by the importer or at some earlier stage of the chain.

RxBX · Post by **RxBX** » Sat May 28, 2011 11:25 am

Defender110 wrote:........................
+ I notice the over-riders on the front bumper of the red one, are these a Citroën fitment?

Tim, has some fitted on his 16 TRS !

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Sun May 29, 2011 6:21 pm

Rejoined with the family after having the engine changed.

The first tank has now been driven with the Xantia XUD9 under the bonnet, and it seems to work OK. Feels quite powerful after the old XUD7.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon May 30, 2011 5:54 pm

I love those BX's, especially your 2 tone blak & silver one with morette's, will you be coming over to the ICCCR next year in one?

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Tue May 31, 2011 9:12 am

MULLEY wrote:will you be coming over to the ICCCR next year in one?

We've been talking about it, but have not decided yet. So far we've not attended even the local BX meetings, but who knows..

rmattila · Post by **rmattila** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:15 pm

Washed the Dark Lady.