I'll AX this only once... though there is an Echo in here
Discussion
As mentioned in my other thread on the Corrado - it was becoming pressed into service more regularly due to the demise of the diesel Astra.
This was a problem on a number of levels, it's not the ideal daily, I don't really like the dog going in it on a regular basis....and it's off the road with some issues for at least the next month.
A backup plan was required, and a search of various classified adverts commenced. There are plenty of £500 cars out there, but most of then are not very interesting. I mean where's the fun of a reliable, newer car that is unlikely to need maintenance and hence allow us to get on with fixing all the stuff that NEEDS doing right...?
Hence we hopped on a train to South West London to buy a car from an McLaren employee. Sound interesting?
Well...not that interesting:
Here is a 1.1l Citroen AX Echo. A single point injection, 60HP TU engine in a car that weighs 720kg. Of course we'd love an AX GT, I've always wanted one....but they're £3K not £500 and would definitely become a well loved other project taking even more time away from the other projects we're not doing!
Besides that, I'd spend months in a 1.5D version delivering pizza and having a splendid time doing it. Lightweight, skinny tyres, controllable understeer....and that was the diesel. The petrol version as a runabout had to be worth a try.
All of my protestations about not spending time on it were useless though. I've ordered a set of mudflaps, I'll be fixing the currently missing ducting in the engine bay, and...if I can find some, buying some doorcard pins to make opening the doors a lot easier from the inside! Today, I also washed it, used a machine polisher and some back to black on the faded plastics. I clearly need help as I can't leave it alone.... It's also the youngest, lowest mileage 4-wheeled vehicle in the fleet
The height of french luxury
An application of this
Led to this
....and eventually this.
....and this.
I suspect there won't me many updates, but it helps me keep track of what I'm doing!
Cheers,
Tom
This was a problem on a number of levels, it's not the ideal daily, I don't really like the dog going in it on a regular basis....and it's off the road with some issues for at least the next month.
A backup plan was required, and a search of various classified adverts commenced. There are plenty of £500 cars out there, but most of then are not very interesting. I mean where's the fun of a reliable, newer car that is unlikely to need maintenance and hence allow us to get on with fixing all the stuff that NEEDS doing right...?
Hence we hopped on a train to South West London to buy a car from an McLaren employee. Sound interesting?
Well...not that interesting:
Here is a 1.1l Citroen AX Echo. A single point injection, 60HP TU engine in a car that weighs 720kg. Of course we'd love an AX GT, I've always wanted one....but they're £3K not £500 and would definitely become a well loved other project taking even more time away from the other projects we're not doing!
Besides that, I'd spend months in a 1.5D version delivering pizza and having a splendid time doing it. Lightweight, skinny tyres, controllable understeer....and that was the diesel. The petrol version as a runabout had to be worth a try.
All of my protestations about not spending time on it were useless though. I've ordered a set of mudflaps, I'll be fixing the currently missing ducting in the engine bay, and...if I can find some, buying some doorcard pins to make opening the doors a lot easier from the inside! Today, I also washed it, used a machine polisher and some back to black on the faded plastics. I clearly need help as I can't leave it alone.... It's also the youngest, lowest mileage 4-wheeled vehicle in the fleet
The height of french luxury
An application of this
Led to this
....and eventually this.
....and this.
I suspect there won't me many updates, but it helps me keep track of what I'm doing!
Cheers,
Tom
My dad had a Forte (I think?) new. Whatever the "GT spec but 5 doors" one was. I remember the rear window blowing out when the hatch was closed one day, and the mirror adjuster arms snapping their (metal) internals during a Yorkshire winter morning.
I had a £150 1.0 shed at one point, on the basis that I needed a car right now, and it was the only thing for sale within walking distance of my house for the amount of money I had at the time. It soldiered on for a few months until I blew the head gasket in spectacular fashion on the M1. I stuck the engine back together with a big tube of gasket goo and positive thinking (ignoring the warped head and two cracked cam carriers), and it soldiered on for another month or two - utterly knackered, and so down on power it could only do 30mph flat out - until I replaced it with a Suzuki SJ.
I had a £150 1.0 shed at one point, on the basis that I needed a car right now, and it was the only thing for sale within walking distance of my house for the amount of money I had at the time. It soldiered on for a few months until I blew the head gasket in spectacular fashion on the M1. I stuck the engine back together with a big tube of gasket goo and positive thinking (ignoring the warped head and two cracked cam carriers), and it soldiered on for another month or two - utterly knackered, and so down on power it could only do 30mph flat out - until I replaced it with a Suzuki SJ.
Just thinking back now, i think my parents almost bought a new one back in 1995ish?
I think it was a 1.0 'Spree' in a bright blue/green colour, they were going for some crazy low price at the time, but they instead got a new Micra 1.0 (which to be fair at the time seemed a much more modern/solid car and to be fair it served them well for many years)
I've since had two Saxos, a 1996 1.1 SX and a 2001 1.1 Desire - both related to AXs of course.
I've also had two ZX TD Auras, both great cars.
I do like my 90's Citroens.
I think it was a 1.0 'Spree' in a bright blue/green colour, they were going for some crazy low price at the time, but they instead got a new Micra 1.0 (which to be fair at the time seemed a much more modern/solid car and to be fair it served them well for many years)
I've since had two Saxos, a 1996 1.1 SX and a 2001 1.1 Desire - both related to AXs of course.
I've also had two ZX TD Auras, both great cars.
I do like my 90's Citroens.
Crikey, thanks for the support all, much appreciated!
@Kitchski it is, in part your thread on the GT that led me down this path. It made me remember how much fun I had driving it!
I've not had the chance to do anything more to it this week (Snetterton beckons next week and there's a ZZR1100 that needs attention).
However, once that's out of the way, applying more underseal is high up the list. It's been done already in places, probably how it's held up so well.
The wash has also revealed mismatched tyres, one with a small cut in the sidewall. The spare looks brand new though, so that may be swapped out.
I also received these through the post. The top from a friend who owned one and still had the manual, the bottom from t'interweb.
When the fettling starts I will be ready! I suspect this one is a keeper....
Cheers,
Tom
@Kitchski it is, in part your thread on the GT that led me down this path. It made me remember how much fun I had driving it!
I've not had the chance to do anything more to it this week (Snetterton beckons next week and there's a ZZR1100 that needs attention).
However, once that's out of the way, applying more underseal is high up the list. It's been done already in places, probably how it's held up so well.
The wash has also revealed mismatched tyres, one with a small cut in the sidewall. The spare looks brand new though, so that may be swapped out.
I also received these through the post. The top from a friend who owned one and still had the manual, the bottom from t'interweb.
When the fettling starts I will be ready! I suspect this one is a keeper....
Cheers,
Tom
Lovely car. Good honest transport from before any foolish concerns about crashworthyness. Driving one of these super light weight cars with their enthusiastic little engines is a real blast from the past, and you realise how much we've given up in the pursuit of greater refinement and safety. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it.
darkyoung1000 said:
Crikey, thanks for the support all, much appreciated!
@Kitchski it is, in part your thread on the GT that led me down this path. It made me remember how much fun I had driving it!
Hey! Whoa whoa.....don't pin this on me! That was your choice! You've made your bed..... @Kitchski it is, in part your thread on the GT that led me down this path. It made me remember how much fun I had driving it!
Nah they're good cars, genuinely. VERY compromised though, and if the compromises bother you then they're no good. If they don't, they're almost a perfect car. They do nothing 'badly' in terms of a daily commuter. A base-trim AX is as close as the world ever got to another 2CV.
No wheel painting as yet, although other things have been happening or developing in the background....
I'm unhappy with both front tyres (one has sidewall damage, one has a slow puncture) so have ordered pair of Falken's from Camskill (about £50 the pair). The spare original (Michelin) will replace one of the rears so I have matching front and back. Both Michelins are pre-2000 but the tread blocks are still soft (ish) and there's little sign of perishing or other degradation.
The original stereo has come out - it wan't easy. I then discover it's a Clarion, and will cost me £25 to get the code for....or a call to the local friendly Citroen dealer will get it for nothing! Unfortunately I've made a mess of it be trying to enter a code, panicking, pressing a button to many times, and locking it with the wrong code. Wisdom has it that I need to leave it on for a few hours to reset it before I can try the correct code, so I'm rigging up some wiring to connect it to a spare battery in the garage..... I do have a different stereo, but where's the fun in that!?
I've picked up/ordered a few bits so far, but the only physical work has been sorting out the warm air feed to the fuel injection system. The hose was missing, so some 2-ply neoprene ducting and a clip from an old washing machine that's been in my spares box for 10 years, meant this:
Was successfully transformed into this:
Very small progress, but then this was never about a total restoration from the ground up. It is after all, the regular use vehicle (a good job really as the Corrado is still not back on the road)....
Cheers for all the comments so far,
Tom
I'm unhappy with both front tyres (one has sidewall damage, one has a slow puncture) so have ordered pair of Falken's from Camskill (about £50 the pair). The spare original (Michelin) will replace one of the rears so I have matching front and back. Both Michelins are pre-2000 but the tread blocks are still soft (ish) and there's little sign of perishing or other degradation.
The original stereo has come out - it wan't easy. I then discover it's a Clarion, and will cost me £25 to get the code for....or a call to the local friendly Citroen dealer will get it for nothing! Unfortunately I've made a mess of it be trying to enter a code, panicking, pressing a button to many times, and locking it with the wrong code. Wisdom has it that I need to leave it on for a few hours to reset it before I can try the correct code, so I'm rigging up some wiring to connect it to a spare battery in the garage..... I do have a different stereo, but where's the fun in that!?
I've picked up/ordered a few bits so far, but the only physical work has been sorting out the warm air feed to the fuel injection system. The hose was missing, so some 2-ply neoprene ducting and a clip from an old washing machine that's been in my spares box for 10 years, meant this:
Was successfully transformed into this:
Very small progress, but then this was never about a total restoration from the ground up. It is after all, the regular use vehicle (a good job really as the Corrado is still not back on the road)....
Cheers for all the comments so far,
Tom
I too have fond memories of these. My Dad and I leased one for a month in the summer of 1990 for a trip around Europe (I am Australian). It was a white 1.1 three door. It had one of those cheap tape decks that only had fast forward, not rewind. I remember buying loads of cheap 70s compilation tapes at service stations to keep us entertained. No GPS back then of course, and we had some epic fights trying to find our way around.
We drove it about 3000 km through Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Germany. I basically drove it flat-out everywhere (I was only 19).The fastest I managed was an indicated 170 km/h on a downhill stretch of autobahn with both rear windows popped open for ventilation (it was a hot summer) and two huge suitcases in the back. I recall the braking performance from that speed was not confidence inspiring...
We drove it about 3000 km through Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Germany. I basically drove it flat-out everywhere (I was only 19).The fastest I managed was an indicated 170 km/h on a downhill stretch of autobahn with both rear windows popped open for ventilation (it was a hot summer) and two huge suitcases in the back. I recall the braking performance from that speed was not confidence inspiring...
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