What does everbody use their BX's for?

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Paul
How ya diddling Paul, Congatulations on getting your other BX Paul.
what colour is your new one Paul Two BX,s are always better
than one Paul
Seriously Paul I have promised myself to learn how to post more
pictures on the forum, at this precise moment she is covered in 3" of
snow
I broke my old faithful chain wrench trying to renew the L/H thread
accummulator sphere But new ones are on their way, so I hope to
get that changed as soon the snow clears Paul. Since I renewed the
spheres the car now runs at the correct ride height, so I am really
chuffed I don,t now have to take her to Pleiades to get that rectified
now. I do have sticky struts to sort out aswell, but I am sure I
can cure that OK
I have picked my stainless steel tailpipe trim, she is having a 45
degree slash with rolled in edges, so I think that would look pretty
nice when the new S/S Cat back system gets fitted in 2 weeks time
Paul.
How are things going up your end Paul

[saintjamesy89]

I've just looked up your gallery pictures of you TXi, all I can say is, gosh what a nice looking BX! Even inside the wheel arches are white and clean, from your list of work you've done with it i'm not particularly surprised though. Good effort, and nice BX

[Paul296]

It's silver . . .





. . . and very nice too! It does need quite a few things doing to it get it really tidy (infact the list gets a bit longer every time I drive it) but nothing that can't be done while it's rolling. One of the advantages of this slippery snowy weather is that you can't even tell it hasn't got power steering - whoah - easy tiger!

The Hurricane is currently languishing under a cover on my friends car port. A couple of weeks ago it got broken into, and although nothing was stolen or damaged the window surround on the drivers door was bent beyond repair. I've had to source a new door which I'm currently prepping before it goes to the body shop to be painted and hung next week. Once the work is done it will probably look tidier than before the 'incident', but it's been a load of hassle, expenditure and grief I really didn't need - oh well - c'est la vie!



I've also been busy refurbing the alloys (I decided I couldn't live with the crumbly bits in the middle of one of them). Anyway, one way or another, I'm hoping that Vert Triton lovelines will be resumed asap!

[ben]

Used daily 5 days a week in summer and usually 6 or 7 in winter ,i do minimum 125 miles a week in it anyway. It's my daily hack, workhorse, ridiculous load lifting ,trusty steed
Although that is not what i do for a living in the picture, i was helping someone move
Oil and filter type self serviced roughly once a year..
Paid £350 for it 6 years ago, and apart from consumables like brake pads etc it's had one clutch cable, some spheres ,and one scary leak resulting in a quick dash to chevronics but that's about it ,you can't complain at that and i am quick to inform any 'audi drivers types at work smug remarks' of that

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Saintjamesy89
That,s very very kind of you to say, thank you very much, credit
too to the previous owner aswell I was really pleased when the rear
wheelarches came up the same But I did get absolutely soaked to
the skin, and told off by wife, who was out at the time thankfully.
I am really really pleased how she is looking in engine bay, aswell
I for definate will post some more pictures, as soon as the snow goes
ok
All The Best.
Vince.

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Paul.
Yes, I remember now Paul, the Bradford registered one She
does look very, very nice doesn,t she Paul
I like the one about the list getting longer evrytime you drove it,
I had that problem, and I wasn,t driving at all.
Is that black part on the bottom of the front bumper, the spliiter
that you have been talking about then Paul nice new rear mudflaps
too Paul
The paintwork looks very very nice doesn,t it, especially the match
on the cars paintwork and the colour coded bumpers is very very good
isn,t it, and so shiny the best silver one I have seen for ages Paul.
So sorry to hear about the door Paul Why can,t people just
leave alone what is not theirs, they wouldn,t like it someone did to their
car would they you have been very lucky to get a new door for her
Paul, But as you say though alot of work too.
Nice paint job on the alloys Paul It is so difficult to get that kind
of quality of finish that you have there Paul, especially the laquer has
to be just right doesn,t it
Anyway I must send this so that you can read it.
All The Best Paul.
Vince.

[Paul296]

Hi Vince,

Yep, that's the splitter! The mudflaps are actually AX or ZX flaps - I've built up a little stock of them as BX ones are really hard to come by (which isn't because Tim's sucked 'em all up or anything like that! - only joking Tim! ) they're basically the same as BX ones but require a bit of 'creative bracketting' to get them to fit!

I'm refurbing the alloys one at a time as they are - to say the least - 'labour intensive' if you want something that looks like a factory finish - which I do! One of them in the pic I havn't started at all and the other one is only primed - with etch primer for alloys. I couldn't find a code for the silver so I got a motor factors in Bolsover to match it. I should really have used a two pack lacquer but I don't really have the facilities to use it safely and once it's mixed you have to use it the same day or it goes off - which is a bit inconvenient if you're pushed for time and space. Instead, I used Halfords PU lacquer which is a super hard acrylic designed for alloys, but I think Upol make a good one too.

To get a good finish, to avoid spitting and aid the paint flow I warm up the paint and the surface to be painted then apply the paint in lots of thin coats, carefully drying it off with a hairdryer between coats. If you really scrutinise the finished article it's not quite as good as a gun and compressor as an aerosol can't atomise the paint quite as well - but it's as near as dammit!

Paul

[MULLEY]

Looking forward to seeing how good your alloy's come up, i've got a few sets that could do with the Paul touch

[Tim Leech]

Looking forward to seeing how good your alloy's come up, i've got a few sets that could do with the Paul touch

Depending on how bad the wheels are, sometimes its worth getting them shot blasted beforehand, we have a local company that charge about £10 a wheel to get them down to the bare alloy, which is what I normally do.

[Paul296]

Bare alloy . . .



. . . just Nitromors and elbow grease - and shot blasting won't file out the kerby dinks either! Having said that I used so much elbow grease I might give the shot blasting a whirl next time - I'm knackered!!

[KevR]

Too much like hard work for me... I've just take a set off (not Speedlines, the other ones I can never remember the name of that went on the estates) to get the tyres removed before refinishing, and it'll definitely be the beadblast option!

[mds141]

Looking good Paul. Need to get the alloys on the XM done soon, starting to do my head in. I will be getting them done at the same place that did the re-furb on the valver alloys, as i think that they did such a good job. Kev, enjoyed the article on the R1100S, where you reunited it with it's 1st owner. Can you divulge what the next project will be, or is it a RIDE secret

[Paul296]

. . .the re-furb on the valver alloys, as i think that they did such a good job.

Thanks Mark. It was those spanking alloys on your valver that made me so dis-satisfied with mine - cheers mate!

I took the Hurricane up to the bodyshop today for a door 'consultation'. The rubbing strip on the 'new' door is the same as the one on the Hurricane luckily - I was a bit worried about swapping them over as they never come off very cleanly. Replacing the striping on the sides was a bit of a worry as well, but the painter bloke sent me to a local sign maker were I'm having some replacement ones made up. I had to buy a whole roll so if any other 'Hurricaneers' need some replacement silver/purple striping; I've got loads, just let me know.

Here's a couple of pics I took when I got back from the bodyshop before the Hurricane went back under cover . . .

[Tim Leech]

Any pictures of the damaged door Paul?

[Paul296]

I'll take some and post them Tim. I try not to look at it to be honest - I just burst into tears! It doesn't actually look that bad - it's just completely shot (reaches for handkerchief and blubs in a pathetic and melodramatic way! )