My XM's have a new stable mate...

The place to show off and tell us all about your XMs (or even other cars). Should it be a big project, or just some general pics, start your thread in here.
David Hallworth
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My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by David Hallworth » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:05 pm

I've rescued a 1988 Citroen CX GTi Turbo 2... :D

Last weekend I made the trip from home to Cupar in Fife, it was about 2.5 hours with the trailer to rescue a CX that I'd never seen before...

It was nose into the garage which was at the end of the driveway up the side of the house, I winched it onto the trailer backwards but wasn't happy with all of the weight being right at the back of the trailer as previous experience tells me the weight of an engine right at the back of the trailer acts as a giant pendulum so we drove it out onto the road, dropped it back off the trailer, turned the trailer around and then winched it on nose first.

Thankfully I'd taken loads of bits of wood of varying thickness so I could break it's approach angle onto the trailer slightly as it is stuck on low at the moment due to a hydraulic leak. Were there for around an hour before we'd got everything loaded and tied down, I was then given a box of stainless steel brake pipes that were bought from Germany for the car, a genuine Citroen workshop manual and a host of other parts. Once we were all done we had a cuppa and a chat about the car.

It turns out this car was on the Citroen stand at the 1988 Glasgow Motor show. It was bought at the show by a photographer from Paisley (11 miles from here) called David Deayton. In 1991, he then traded the car into Citroen Glasgow and bought an XM V6. Andrew, the chap I bought the car from bought it in 1991 from Citroen Glasgow for the sum of £4000. He even gave me the receipt he got for the car from Citroen Glasgow :D

When I was at our last CCC monthly meet, I was talking to the CCC Scottish Section Secretary. He was at the motor show in Glasgow when he was a kid and had his photograph taken in a CX GTI Turbo 2, it turns out it was this very car! It's got an amazing bit of history to it :)

Here's just a couple of pictures I took on the day:

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I put some LHM in it and started it up and saw the high pressure leak. Thankfully one end of the pipe was very easy to get at, the other end however, wasn't. It only appeared to be one end of the pipe that was a mess. I got it unscrewed from the union without any problems which was surprising, followed the pipe and found the other end of it disappeared up behind the height corrector.

I cut the pipe on a nice straight run and flared it on the car, then used a joining piece and spliced in a new piece of pipe. I then put 2 litres of LHM back into the reservoir and started it up. The STOP light on the dashboard wasn't going out and the suspension wasn't going up. I checked the pressure screw on the regulator and it was loose, I tightened this up and the car went straight up.

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Apparently it's incredibly rare that all of the LCD readouts on the dashboard still work too...

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I had the car running for about an hour, most things seem to work, the fan kicks in as and when it should, unfortunately the oil pressure gauge doesn't work. When I pressed the brake pedal there was an LHM leak from the drivers side front brake pipe and there is a leak from one of the rear brake pipes. It sounds like time to fit the box of stainless steel brake pipes that came with the car.

Anyway, the brake pipes were fitted and I needed to move the car off the ramp to get my brothers 207 GTi up in the air. The bonnet was a jar and the rear wheel covers were still off, but she looks spectacular :)

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As of Thursday, the car is finished apart from one bloody brake pipe!

The entire car has been repiped from front to back and all the pipes at the rear have been replaced. After this was finished, on I took the front O/S wheel off to get a look at the leaking brake pipe so that I could sort that out. The CX has 4 piston split calipers, a very similar idea to Brembo's. There's a metal pipe that runs around the caliper taking fluid from one half to the other half. Typically, it's this that's pouring fluid out of it.

I've found one place who stock them, a company called CX Basis in Germany, and they certainly know how to charge for them!!

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I was a bit concerned that the flexi would break when I removed it from the brake pipe so I ordered one of those as well, once they arrive, 30 minutes to fit that and then all I need to do is bleed the brakes and she's finished.

I'm going to put the car into a bodyshop locally to have the patch welded on the longeron as I don't fancy doing that myself. Other then that, we're MOT ready almost and well on target to be roadworthy for 1st July!

David.
'98 Xantia Activa V6 :-D
'00 XM V6 Exclusive
'12 C6 3.0 HDi Exclusive
'15 C4 BlueHDi Feel

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raynoon
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by raynoon » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:09 pm

Bloody Hell David! That is fantastic! What an absolute cracker of a car!
1993 Citroen XM 2.1 turboSD auto
1995 Citroen XM 2.1TD Auto EXCLUSIVE

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MTXM
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by MTXM » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:18 pm

That is an interesting find David and you do like challenge! Is this your first CX I guess and from the limited knowledge I have of the model the late GTI is perhaps one of the more appealing CX to own. The car certainly does look in pretty good shape and all the best with the project! Regards, Matthew T.
1989 V6 Exclusive (Poland car) - Now living in a local Motor Museum!
1990 V6sei auto (grey auto)
1990 V6sei manual (gold car)
1990 V6.24 Pallas (Germany car)
1990 V6.24v (Scotland car)
Other previous XM sold and broken too many to mention!

Dieselman
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by Dieselman » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:19 pm

Agreed. It looks very tidy.

Tell us more about the stainless steel pipes you were given, also what flare tool do you have.

I had cause to use my impact flare tool on the car last week to insert a new rear brake feed pipe that became wet when I dropped the rear subframe. It worked surprisingly well.
92 2.1SED M.RP5740 ECZ Sable Phenicien
92 3.0 V6-24.Rp 5713 EXY Black
92 2.1SD M.RP 5685 ENT Blue Sideral
Prev
90 2.1SD M.RP 5049 EJV Mandarin
92 2.1SD A.RP 5698 EJV Mandarin
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David Hallworth
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by David Hallworth » Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:44 pm

I was given a box with the car of stainless steel rear brake pipes that were already flared and formed to suit the car. Andrew who I got the car from said they were from Germany and from looking at the website I believe they were from CX-Basis.

I've got two flaring tools. One of them is a small handheld 3.5mm one that you hold with a spanner and tighten with a 19mm spanner/socket. It works great for pipes that you want to do on the car. I *think* it was made originally by Plaedies.

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The other tool I've got came from eBay several years back. It's bigger then the other one and needs to be mounted in a vice. It's less fiddly to use then the other one but both do the same job :)

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David.
'98 Xantia Activa V6 :-D
'00 XM V6 Exclusive
'12 C6 3.0 HDi Exclusive
'15 C4 BlueHDi Feel

cxprestigeauto
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by cxprestigeauto » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:08 pm

David, as an ex CX owner she looks a belter! Personally I prefer Series 1 CXs but she does look a bargain.

CX Basis stock everything but they really do know where to put the decimal place. Watch out for the tax added at the end of the checkout!!!

Enjoy :)

Rob
1991 XM 2.0 Si auto RP 4903 (12 April 1990) Alpine White
2019 Suzuki Vitara AllGrip SZ5 Automatic 1.4 BoosterJet. White
1972 Banham Sprint kit car (Frogeye Sprite replica, really a Mini!)

David Hallworth
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by David Hallworth » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:18 pm

Thanks Rob.

Biggest expense so far seems to be £1000 for a set of metric tyres!! Bloody 15.4" rims... Only Citroen :lol:

David.
'98 Xantia Activa V6 :-D
'00 XM V6 Exclusive
'12 C6 3.0 HDi Exclusive
'15 C4 BlueHDi Feel

Dieselman
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by Dieselman » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:29 pm

Those prices can really spoil your day every 20,000 miles.
92 2.1SED M.RP5740 ECZ Sable Phenicien
92 3.0 V6-24.Rp 5713 EXY Black
92 2.1SD M.RP 5685 ENT Blue Sideral
Prev
90 2.1SD M.RP 5049 EJV Mandarin
92 2.1SD A.RP 5698 EJV Mandarin
94 2.1SD A.RP 6218 ERT Triton Green
91 2.0SI M.RP 5187 EWT White

David Hallworth
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Posts: 543
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Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by David Hallworth » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:37 pm

From what I've read online 20k is seriously ambitious for Turbo 2 front tyres :(

David.
'98 Xantia Activa V6 :-D
'00 XM V6 Exclusive
'12 C6 3.0 HDi Exclusive
'15 C4 BlueHDi Feel

cxprestigeauto
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Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:10 pm
Location: Calne, Wiltshire

Re: My XM's have a new stable mate...

Post by cxprestigeauto » Tue Jun 14, 2016 7:09 am

I agree! If you drive it as Citroen intended then 10K is more realistic.

They are seriously quick but you have to be brave round the bends as they roll like a battleship by todays standards!! They will hang in there but only at the price (!) of your tyres!!!

Get the rust proofer out. They make XM's seem like they are made of stainless steel. I would strongly advise removing the sill covers and wax injecting the sills AND putting a protective coat between the covers and the sills. My old Pallas was well Dinitroled from new but rusted badly where the sill covers had rubbed through the paint causing it to rest from the 'outside' in, all hidden from view.

Keep her looking this good and your money will be safe.

The driver's door mirror looks a little droopy? You will need to find an Esprit/TVR to reclaim a mirror from ;)

Rob
1991 XM 2.0 Si auto RP 4903 (12 April 1990) Alpine White
2019 Suzuki Vitara AllGrip SZ5 Automatic 1.4 BoosterJet. White
1972 Banham Sprint kit car (Frogeye Sprite replica, really a Mini!)

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