Citroen XM Forum

White Exec wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 07, 2018 2:28 pm

Thanks, Mark.
Splendid. Could you also post a photo or two of it and its fixing, if possible?

John returned my handle which he'd repaired using the bits that disintegrated on, and then fell off it and it looks and feels remarkably good. Big thanks to John (although the photo doesn't do it justice).

And as requested I'm enclosing a photo of the handle reversed so that the detent button works for a LHD version. As John's explained, it's dead easy to remove and re-fit: just draw down the boot (elasticated at the top), undo two small screws either side of the sleeve, slightly push down and twist the whole device whilst holding in the detent button and it then easily pulls off. Re-fitting is the reverse process – either for RH or LHD !

Mark W

Thanks, Mark.
That's really helpful, not least in knowing that it's switchable LHD-RHD.

The actual profile shape of the forward and the rear sides of the head are a little bit different to suit the grip.
The wider glue gaps show up quite white in the photo.
If I do another one I will obtain some fine greyish black powder to treat the glue lines with once the surplus glue is cleaned off.

John

xmexclusive wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:20 pm

The actual profile shape of the forward and the rear sides of the head are a little bit different to suit the grip.
The wider glue gaps show up quite white in the photo.
If I do another one I will obtain some fine greyish black powder to treat the glue lines with once the surplus glue is cleaned off.

John

They show up white(ish) in the photo due to the flash catching the edges of the original cracks which John's filled in very nicely. In "real life" they're only evident close-up. But yes, if the handle were reversed to use on a LHD car the detent button feels slightly, but only very slightly awkward. But not as awkward as changing gear with a lever that has no rubber cover, which is what I'd been doing for the last few months!

Mark W

Is it possible to post a photo of a cracked/broken inner part?

John, you might be able to mix some (artists') powder-colour, or even some dark grey ABS/PVC sanded dust (ex-plumbing pipe) into the glue, so it's self-coloured. Just an idea.

Years ago I very successfully used Vinyl Kote to refueb/recolour some P6 upholstery. Results were good, and hardwearing.
Current details/stockist seems to be here:
kolourbond.co.uk. "Vinylkote 40".
If the repair of the cover is sound, this might provide a suitable all-over colour refinish.

Hi Chris

Sorry no photos of the rigid centre piece.
As explained above each try at repairing has been quite a learning curve.
I only had a spare cracked gear lever head because I tend to keep XM bits, even those I have no use for.
The first repair attempt was just to see if gluing worked so I used what was to hand.
I did not notice any wide gaps or significant glue lines with this trial.
Once complete and reported my interest lapsed and the gear lever was discarded into one of the junk heaps.

When Mark later found a need for one it was a few months before I chanced across the trial head and sent it to him.
I made it a condition of supply that he sent me his broken bits which he did very promptly.
He also gently mentioned that there was a partial glue failure on the head sent to him.

I obtained a good quality glue and set about a proper repair of Marks broken head.
The wide gaps were not obvious until after the glue had passed the point of no return.
At least this made me understand the cause of the original cracking.
Similarly the whiteness of the glue was not apparent until it had dried, too late for any effective glue colouring.
The glue I was using had a 10 to 45 seconds grip time so no chance of adjusting the position of already added pieces.
Had I been aware the broken pieces made up into something slightly smaller than the centre handle I would have avoided butting them so tight.

If I do another one I will try to equal out the crack gaps as the thin ones tend to merge into the pattern on the plastic.
Many were butt tight, certainly it would have been better for the wide ones to be on the underside of the head.
As I mentioned before I seriously doubt there is any significant demand and repair seems to work.
If anyone has a unwanted broken spare then I would be pleased to received it to rebuild and hold for stock.

An extra cover if required needs to match the car it goes into.
I have found that cosmetic differences can really upset some XM owners.
I have plenty of recovered XM seat and door panel leather.
I think stitched black or gey leather will look and feel right.

John

Very instructive, John, and thanks again.

I know some owners are more concerned about cosmetic appearance than others, which is fair enough, but I'm happy with something that isn't just a jagged, hard-plastic bar! And as I said earlier, the photo I took doesn't quite do John's work justice.

I'm driving my car to Citroen Specialists in Stirchley (Birmingham) tomorrow to hopefully get the ride problem – which is still harsh over surface irregularities even after replacing six spheres (see other thread) – diagnosed and sorted and am confident that the handle will do what it's supposed to do. If there's any deterioration in John's handiwork I'll gently let everyone know!

And John, your handle went back to you in yesterday's post!

Cheers – Mark W

When repairing trim parts (mostly on the BX, I didn't need to do similar work on the XM) I used normal acrylic paint to cover up any glue marks and gaps. The trick was not to spray them on the surface but to use a lint-free rag cloth rolled up into a ball, dabbing the paint. This has several advantages: the amount of paint transferred is minuscule, so colour match can be obtained by repeated dabs, it practically dries instantly and will never form a shiny, flat area. I don't know how it would resist wear and tear in constantly handled parts but it can be repeated if it wears off. On trim panels, it really provided excellent results, many times indistinguishable even under close inspection.