1998 XM - 2.1td - Steamy Windows!

[citroenxm]

Im a bit low on window winders at the moment, if I had pleanty Id offer you one, but I cant. With a planned future of keeping my 2.1 SED, the 24v Manual XM and one more project Ill need what I can get...

[turbo_imp]

No worries, robertesmart has offered me one for a very good price

I can't wait to give it a proper polish, I just ran out of time and energy today, next weekend maybe

[Dieselman]

For window winder wire, John Pritchard Ropes, in Loughborough should be able to supply.

[red_dwarfers]

Just been reading through. Very interesting Nice to see someone else with pretty much exactly the same car as me. Mine is tucked away in the garage at the moment, can't wait to get it on the road again I'm far too tight to have both the XM and Xantia on the road at the same time you see

[turbo_imp]

Been doing a few bits and bobs as and when time allows

I changed the oil, the old was BLACK! The filter also appeared to have been fitted by a gorrila, took two screwdrivers hammered through the case and bent one of them either way it has a new filter and nice clean oil now, I will do frequent oil changes over the first few thousand miles to clean up the internals.

I took advantage of some late sunshine to clean up the enigne bay a bit, hoovered half of a sycamore tree out of the scuttle and vents it came up quite nice really



I had a good look under the back end whilst it was in the air, spare wheel carrier predictably is vitrually non existant, but the floor and rear subframe is in good condition, I will give it a damn good scrub and underseal as the weather improves.

I sorted out the dot matrix, got nearly all of the segments working but both bulbs are blown so need to order some new ones. Took me ages to find this screw under the alarm light



Between hospital and midwife appointments today I managed to get the struts dropped down enough to scrub, rust cure and then heavily waxoyl the strut tops. They are actually very solid, just the rubber condition on the drivers side is a little concerning, I have a plan for this though
In consideration of the temperatures out there today, I had the cans in near boiling water for 30 mins to thin it out, even so as soon as it left the nozzle it solidified. After a little think I got my workshop hairdryer out and went to town It melts very fast with that and seeped into all the nooks and crannies





Finally I have made a start on refreshing the trim, the rubber is in pretty poor shape, having accumulated quite a lot of ingrained dirt and subsequently lichen.





I initially took a scouring pad and some hot soapy water to remove the surface dirt and growths, then took a cloth and some thinners to the stubborn bits -



Then once clean and dry I gave it a coat of boiled linseed oil and left it to dry, it looks like new now



So I am now just waiting for the rear window mech, some nice weather to do the rest of the bodywork and my wife to give the interior a damn good clean!

Oh does anyone have a rear chrome trim strip? I am not too concerned about the condition as quite a lot of the trim is corroded, I think I am going to remove it all and paint it.

Hope you are all well.

J

[CitroJim]

Wow She's starting to look very minty now J

I can see a show winner in the making. Are you planning on visiting an rallies this year?

[turbo_imp]

No plans yet, but we might be persuaded love a bit of summer (see rain) show and camping

Not sure on a show winner, but it will be at a level where I am happy with it and secure in the knowledge that there will be no nasty suprises

This is how I like my cars (still miss this one, the pen*s that purchased it from me wrote it off two days later!)

[CitroJim]

the pen*s that purchased it from me wrote it off two days later!

I had a similar thing happen a good few years back when I sold my much loved 205GTi. Six weeks later it was dead after being squashed by an errant dustcart. Very upsetting

I'd love to see more of that imp of yours too. Always been a great fan of them and badly wanted one when I first started driving... It was not to be sadly as I listened to dad's advice at the time and his advice was to stay as far away from one as possible due to overheating issues and dangerous handling.

Interesting to see Practical Classics this month did a back-to-back test of the Imp and Mini this month and to nobody's great surprise the Imp trounced the Mini in every department.

Dad also advised me to stay as far away from Citroens too that didn't work but he did dissuade me from having a GS in the late 70s though

[turbo_imp]

This was the imp project thread, I had a Stiletto as my first car

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... read=35631

[russ92xmsed]

I saw that too Jim, interesting reading.
Incidentally my Mum was very down on Citroens too. Always wrote them off as being unsafe, based on the 2CV being a bit ...well you know!
Finally got through as she adored the C5.


J your really cracking on...well done. It's looking brilliant. I'm enjoying the tips too. I've used nut oil on black trim before now, but it tends to run off in the rain. Vaseline is what I use and works a treat.
Only down side it goes everywhere.

Look forward to seeing more!