TGD Turbo - fix it up or sell off?

[BeeEckser]

I wonder if anyone can give me their thoughts on this one.

I have a BX TGD Turbo, owned from new since 1990, ‘G’reg in very well looked after condition, having been garaged for most of its life when not on the road, and with 167k on the clock. Consequently it has little if any rust.

Recently the dreaded green fluid started to appear on the ground, inspection revealing a rear brake pipe, and with likely replacement needed for all the pipework front-back.

I have a choice;

Scrap it – only it’s way too good for that
Sell it for spares/repair – but again its too good for spares, and it would not fetch much cash.
Fix it up by replacing all pipework with a kit from the good man at Pleiades and “dropping the subframe” to access the tubing. I can't keep my beloved BX afterwards as I am moving house and wont have the space.

I am not sure whether doing the work and spending the cash on parts (pipe kit and new battery – around £220 in all) would be economically worthwhile in terms of a selling price of the finished car – maybe it’d only be worth it if kept and run.

I don’t know how long the work would take me to fix it (anyone know?) and what jacking kit needed as I don’t have a ramp, and how difficult the work is – the Haynes book doesn’t cover such things as pipework replacement or even dropping the subframe.

Alternatively I could sell as a project, though again I have no idea as to selling price (anyone interested?)

I welcome any wisdom that is on offer

[mat_fenwick]

Prices of good BXs are going up - although not a low mileage example which may put some people off, I'd guess yours could fetch around £700 if running. Immobile projects seem to go for little more than scrap value, reflecting the cost of transporting them

[sdelasal]

Another option might be to pay a local 'independent citroen' mechanic to do the work for you.I think i had a quote for about £250 but ended up doing myself and getting to love working upside down on the concrete floor for what felt like hours. Depends I guess whether you have time or money to spare. Either way, you can then hopefully sell on for the going rate of a turbo of 500+ with an mot. steve

[Mothman]

You cant scrap it, looks too nice.
Probably well worth having it done if you cant do it yourself. Then sell the other car n keep it.

Andy

[rutter123]

i got all 4 front to back pipes made up by plaidies for about £70, not too bad to do if u can get the car up on ramps or a little higher, yhe trickiest bit is lowering the axle a little whilst on the ramps. i would advise pre soaking all the unions several times with WD40, other lube sprays are available before removal, or you can do as i did and cut the pipe close to the union with electrical snips, this also sort of seals the pipe as well, then u can get a 8 or 9mm socket on the union makes it a lot easier to get them undone, and you dont run the risk of rounding them off with a brake pipe spanner. changing all 4 dosent take much longer than doing one. fit from front to rear. i did mine at work and lifted the car with a forktruck.took about a morning to do.

[Tim Leech]

There's no other 1 owner from new cars on this forum, plus it's a car you know, far too good to scrap, TGD turbos are quite scarce now!

[Tinkley]

Definitely a car worth keeping as a solid runner. Use one of the better independent Citroen mech places. Depending on where you are in the UK ie distance to one or DIY it. I am not overkeen on mechanics who do not know BX at all, working on mine. Example, at MOT - failed on excessive handbrake travel - cured by using steady foot pressure on pedal and pumping handbrake to take up slack!. Example at tyre place/garage - the rear wheel will not come off mate - they'd left it on normal ride height!.

From doing basic stuff I've now got round to the more serious stuff like engine/gerabox change. They not too bad to work on. Make sure you jack and support the car though in case of it descending rapidly. I even use secondary supports sometimes if there is any danger of he car being unstable in any way.

Keep this one on the road, good luck.

[Thread Bear]

What do you replace it with? New cars are crap and loose value while costing a fortune to maintain. Second hand replacement, leap in the dark. Expend some money on a known quantity which is not going to be worth less at the end of the year and indeed the value will probably reflect the expenditure, making it the economic winner as well. If your happy with the car as a driving device, no need to change just as you are at the point where loyalty points might raise the value as one of the few BX left. I agree it would be best to find some guy with BX skills if you cannot/do not fancy doing it yourself. Sadly these cars are not pratt proof - well none are actually, but it is just more noticeable on good cars.

I have just gone through this whole thought process, myself. The answer seemed clear for me. I am sticking with the BX. 167k is not a huge mileage for one of these.

[rutter123]

agreed with TB, spend a few hundred quid getting it sorted, this will only add value in the long run. mileage is irrelevent @167k providing it has service history should do double that easily my t/d over 250k, with the average garage bill for modern motors being approx £300 i think putting some time into the bx is a good move. modern cars tend to break down more and cost more to maintain and are well out of most peoples knowledge for diy repairs. a bx is next to nothing to insure (classic policy) prob returns more mpg than many and dosent look the same as every other modern motor.i had a 90 tgd turbo (H580HHC) up until i got the tzd was a great car run it for 5 years but sadly rust issues saw the demise then it was broken up for donor parts. not sure how many tgdt are left now i would expect not many, again adding value. many people were frightened of the complexity of the hyd system but its really not that bad, changing pipes is an everyday job the main issue is getting enough access under the car, always worth asking your local garage if u could use their ramp, for a fee im sure.

[BeeEckser]

Guys,

many thanks for all your comments. I was expecting to hear an alert to responses via e-mail (doh- newbie, honestly), so its taken me some time to twig that I had to log in to see responses. Put it down to my age!

You've all given me lots to think about. I am going to try to have a go at it if I can get it jacked up safely.

Thanks again folks I appreciate it. I'll let you know how I get on....

[Tim Leech]

keep the faith mate, if you do decide to sell it in the future you should be able to find a good home.

[Defender110]

TGD Turbo my favourite spec BX if it has the grey tweed, definitely worth doing if everything else is ok. How is the interior out of interest?

[mat_fenwick]

my favourite spec BX if it has the grey tweed

Yeah, me too! I'm actually giving serious thought to swapping the leather of mine with the TGD spec. tweed of the one I'm selling. In fact if it wasn't for the fact the tweed driver's seat is worn I'd have probably whipped it out already!

[Tim Leech]

Please don't scrap it!!

[RxBX]

Please don't scrap it!!

Tim, I don't think the owner wants to do that as its being offered up F/S in THIS thread !

However it does seem that someone needs to step in, so that it doesn't go for scrap

Tim, IIRC you stated in another thread you'd found a 'Snow coloured winter hack' was it this one ?

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