saintjamesy89 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 12:30 pm
Don't worry about the opinion of others, it's your car dude - do as you want! You might get comments, but everyone has opinions.
I'm not worrying, it's just that I don't have a clue what it'll look like in person. If multiple people say it won't work, they likely say it out of experience. I know I've done that before when making recommendations. Besides, I'm just throwing ideas at the wall. I really don't know what I want to do, so any advice is much appreciated.
Back to the hole, it looks aftermarket to me and it would let extra air through (leaner AFR) even when the choke is fully closed, perhaps making the car harder to start when cold and run less well until it warms up and the choke starts to open. I've never seen one before, did it used to run better when hot or cold? I have a feeling it might have been done previously to resolve a running/starting issue.
Also, interestingly your choke butterfly is grey metal, all those I've seen have been a brass like colour.
Huh, that's weird. When the carb worked correctly last summer it performed equally good when cold and hot. It had no running issues I would mention. The poor running and eventual non running was caused by a warp to the base of the carb (and a suboptimal rebuild which quickly snowballed into a much larger problem). I will report back once I get to actually drive the car with the newly rebuilt carb.
Dave_16v wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 2:10 pm
Possibly you are overthinking it. As long as you only do bidirectional nonstructural modifications, you might like part, all or nothing of what you do in which case you will have what have now. Like I said in my original post, I only commented since you asked for opinions, I don't as a rule get involved with discussion online but it's such a small forum, there aren't many to reply.
Whatever you do, most people who see the car out won't have a clue, they will view it as it is, not if it's original or not, it's only you and a few purists who will know.
I possibly am, but it did develop into an interesting discussion (which is a net positive for smaller forums like this one). I greatly appreciate your (as well as everyone else's) replies. It's genuinely amazing to have such a positive community centered around BXs.
And you're right, most people who see it won't have a clue. Even purists might not know. As an example, a few people pointed out that the wheel trims my BX currently has aren't the correct ones for a 16 TRS, and that it should instead have the same trims it had before but completely silver. This would be correct if we looked at it in a vacuum of UK-only BXs. However, in Yugoslavia (as well as some other countries like the Netherlands (the seller of the wheel trims said that they were taken from a Mk2 16 TRS)) the 16 TRS was for a long time the highest spec BX sold. This may not be true for the Netherlands (again, that 16 TRS could have had its trims replaced), but it was definitely true for Yugoslavia. I looked at brochures and price lists ranging from 1983 to 1993. In all of them the highest spec cars were either 16 TRS or 16 TZS. Due to this being the case, and the standard wheel trim for the highest spec TRS models being the GT trim, it's logical as to why they have it. Someone suggested they may have been replaced, but here's the catch. The 19 GT was never sold in Yugoslavia, thus making that practically impossible. This is just one of many examples of situations where even purists and people who know BXs can get caught up (and an interesting story as well!).
I love this forum and the way discussions develop in a friendly way without any snobbery or argument, not like another certain British car forum I frequent And it's not the Commer one
panky wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 8:28 pm
I love this forum and the way discussions develop in a friendly way without any snobbery or argument, not like another certain British car forum I frequent And it's not the Commer one
Hah, exactly! It's a really positive place. The reason is that BX owners are the biggest chads out there (for example Kitch) so we don't have the time nor need for petty arguments.
That brings me onto a big reason why I can't really get enthusiastic/geeky about our E36. That community is filled with chavs and other similar characters which just ruins it for me. If the E36 had a community like this I may be more inclined to care about that car. It does sound a bit snobby to value cars based on their owners/community, but for me it does play a big part. The BX community encourages productive and informative talk about the cool tricks of these cars, how to keep them in tip top shape and get the most enjoyment out of them. Meanwhile over in E36 land most discussion is based upon doing chav things (which is quite unfortunate, but it is what it is).
Jugostran wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 8:19 pm
I possibly am, but it did develop into an interesting discussion (which is a net positive for smaller forums like this one). I greatly appreciate your (as well as everyone else's) replies. It's genuinely amazing to have such a positive community centered around BXs.
And you're right, most people who see it won't have a clue. Even purists might not know. As an example, a few people pointed out that the wheel trims my BX currently has aren't the correct ones for a 16 TRS, and that it should instead have the same trims it had before but completely silver. This would be correct if we looked at it in a vacuum of UK-only BXs. However, in Yugoslavia (as well as some other countries like the Netherlands (the seller of the wheel trims said that they were taken from a Mk2 16 TRS)) the 16 TRS was for a long time the highest spec BX sold. This may not be true for the Netherlands (again, that 16 TRS could have had its trims replaced), but it was definitely true for Yugoslavia. I looked at brochures and price lists ranging from 1983 to 1993. In all of them the highest spec cars were either 16 TRS or 16 TZS. Due to this being the case, and the standard wheel trim for the highest spec TRS models being the GT trim, it's logical as to why they have it. Someone suggested they may have been replaced, but here's the catch. The 19 GT was never sold in Yugoslavia, thus making that practically impossible. This is just one of many examples of situations where even purists and people who know BXs can get caught up (and an interesting story as well!).
It is interesting and it goes beyond BX's to other cars, indeed bikes as well with mechanical and restrictive differences. I'm glad the opinions you sought were helpful, on this site you would typically expect to get an intelligent thought out response. Looking at your car in the photos, whatever you have done looks nice and something I noticed in keeping with your geographic differences is no repeaters on the wing. It's gives a very clean look, nice and easy to polish too .
Prefer it to the Lamborghini, like Signor Gandini!
Jugostran wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 8:19 pm
I possibly am, but it did develop into an interesting discussion (which is a net positive for smaller forums like this one). I greatly appreciate your (as well as everyone else's) replies. It's genuinely amazing to have such a positive community centered around BXs.
And you're right, most people who see it won't have a clue. Even purists might not know. As an example, a few people pointed out that the wheel trims my BX currently has aren't the correct ones for a 16 TRS, and that it should instead have the same trims it had before but completely silver. This would be correct if we looked at it in a vacuum of UK-only BXs. However, in Yugoslavia (as well as some other countries like the Netherlands (the seller of the wheel trims said that they were taken from a Mk2 16 TRS)) the 16 TRS was for a long time the highest spec BX sold. This may not be true for the Netherlands (again, that 16 TRS could have had its trims replaced), but it was definitely true for Yugoslavia. I looked at brochures and price lists ranging from 1983 to 1993. In all of them the highest spec cars were either 16 TRS or 16 TZS. Due to this being the case, and the standard wheel trim for the highest spec TRS models being the GT trim, it's logical as to why they have it. Someone suggested they may have been replaced, but here's the catch. The 19 GT was never sold in Yugoslavia, thus making that practically impossible. This is just one of many examples of situations where even purists and people who know BXs can get caught up (and an interesting story as well!).
It is interesting and it goes beyond BX's to other cars, indeed bikes as well with mechanical and restrictive differences. I'm glad the opinions you sought were helpful, on this site you would typically expect to get an intelligent thought out response. Looking at your car in the photos, whatever you have done looks nice and something I noticed in keeping with your geographic differences is no repeaters on the wing. It's gives a very clean look, nice and easy to polish too .
Yep, I love the simplicity of my Mk2. It's quite charming. There are other geographic differences (wiring, wheel trims, exhaust) which are also quite interesting! Also, the intelligent responses on this site are great to see. Makes it easy to motivate myself to be the best BX caretaker of all time (though that's unlikely considering most repairs done to my BX are ghetto by British standards hah). If you want a bit of an indicator of how ghetto it can get, me and two other blokes replaced the clutch on it...by hand. No lift. No hoist. Just a strap. We just had a channel under the car for one bloke to guide the gearbox into place while me and the other bloke acted as the hoist. It went well. (the strap was actually just a nylon tow cable)
Last edited by Jugostran on Tue Apr 23, 2024 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jugostran wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 3:24 pm
If you want a bit of an indicator of how ghetto it can get, me and two other blokes replaced the clutch on it by hand. No lift. No hoist. Just a strap. We just had a channel under the car for one bloke to guide the gearbox into place while me and the other bloke acted as the hoist. It went well. (the strap was actually just a nylon tow cable)
I fully believe that, there are so many examples of people in Europe carrying work with the most basic tools on jacks, bricks or anything available . It sometimes offers a good insight on how to do a task between their method and the sometimes Haynes OTT approach. I've seen some in India doing all sorts as well, it's their way of life, it's broke, fix it where it is.
It's a shame you feel the urge to want another car different to what you have but at times but I suppose we all do it. The good thing for me is that after having Gti's and a MK 1 16v, I ended up with the exact model I wanted so I have never had the urge since to want anything different BX wise but I appreciate some like different models for whatever reason. Maybe that advert of Mr Gandini driving to work played a part, it was my favourite one in the day.
Last edited by Dave_16v on Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Prefer it to the Lamborghini, like Signor Gandini!
Jugostran wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 3:24 pm
If you want a bit of an indicator of how ghetto it can get, me and two other blokes replaced the clutch on it by hand. No lift. No hoist. Just a strap. We just had a channel under the car for one bloke to guide the gearbox into place while me and the other bloke acted as the hoist. It went well. (the strap was actually just a nylon tow cable)
I fully believe that, there are so many examples of people in Europe carrying work with the most basic tools on jacks, bricks or anything available . It sometimes offers a good insight on how to do a task between their method and the sometimes Haynes OTT approach. I've seen some in India doing all sorts as well, it's their way of life, it's broke, fix it where it is.
The "by the book" guides appear as overly complicated to most of us here hah. We do things with the tools/means we have. An issue arises when people in countries with incredibly high standards start comparing their cars to ours 1:1. Though, I've noticed a funny trend. For example in Switzerland. Their BXs look good and are straight, but they often drive badly or don't drive at all. Meanwhile our BXs look...well...worn, but they all run! Mine has never left me stranded. The only incidents it did have were with the LHM reservoir bursting and the carb becoming broken. Though the latter isn't the car's fault but a fault of improper carb repair procedures.
It's a shame you feel the urge to want another car different to what you have at times but I suppose we all do it. The good thing for me is that after have Gti's and another MK 1 16v, I ended up with the exact model I wanted so I have never had the urge since to want anything different BX wise but I appreciate some like different models for whatever reason. Maybe that advert of Mr Gandini driving to work played a part, it was my favourite one in the day.
I adore that commercial. It is my ethos with cars. I don't like supercars, they may appear fun on screen but driving them is way too much of a responsibility. Anyway, you drive an iconic model of the BX, and I can't imagine how it feels to just be happy with what you have. The fact that what I have is a standard Mk2 is sort of disappointing as it lacks much of the cool factor of the Mk1, but it doesn't exactly have much to give in return. It's not like a 16v where you get lots of power and other "modern" features in return for the cool factor of the Mk1. You don't really get much in return on these Mk2s. Maybe one day I will ship it to Kitch (he said that he prefers the Mk2 hah) and get myself a nice Mk1.
Update time!
The BX is now running well and is being used almost every day. It still has some weird clunks (which I'm guessing are the top engine mount spacers), but is otherwise very nice to drive.
And it's not the Commer one 
.
