The ‘Turkey B’ project continues. Over the past few weeks I have managed to install the repaired Citröen AX GT dashboard in the AX 11, all cabling, switched and other associated plastics have been located, cleaned and installed. EVERYTHING works!

The dashboard speedo unit is now refitted complete with speedo cable and all electrics, all lights work as they should. There is a little more cleanup and tidying work to do but for now it is looking really good and great to have it all functional.

The outside is coming on too, the bumpers have been cleaned and treated to some boiled linseed oil to bring them back to the correct colour. I think that the front bumper is missing one of the hidden steel supports towards the right hand side of the car, will need to see if I can find any reference to one being there, if there is a reference then my one is missing.

All exterior lights now work, the front has later model indicators with orange bulbs. The two rear light clusters have been refitted with new bulbs and all work. The rear wiper even works.

I managed to find a set of four genuine Citröen ZX 13″ wheel trims that almost identical to the original AX trims. The wheels have been cleaned and painted inside and out.

The front right hand wing had to be wrapped as the damage was such that it would have been impossible to repair and not that easy to find, if one comes along it will be swapped out.

Next job is the interior, the seats need to come out, carpet up and a thorough clean. Next time I am in France I will pick up some seat covers from the supermarket, I am sure I can find something there that will be fine.

Look out, the ‘Turkey B’ is coming.

#CitröenAX #VoitureFrancaise #RetroRide #FrenchCar

The Citroën AX project continues, this week has been all about cleaning and removing stuff from the car to ready it for the replacement parts. I have found out that there are only 11 AX 11 RE models on the road at the moment so I am still thinking this is worth saving.

Most of the dashboard has suffered from the UV degradation, to the point that when I got the car most of it was missing anyway, replaced with cardboard boxes. I have sourced a replacement dashboard, it has some UV degradation but not as much, I have managed to salvage it and with the help of some fibreglass and time I now have an almost complete dashboard that will fit in two parts, top horizontal section and then vertical facia, it’s a work in progress with no doubt many compromises and perhaps some wood sections to cover the cracks…

Outside, well, lots of cleaning, some dent removal and then more cleaning. The roof bars are off at the moment, then need some work to get them back to useful, that will be done but for now it’s all about cleaning. The bonnet has been mopped with some Farcela G3 compound and there is actually paint below the faded mist, will have to do the whole car but that is how it is, it will look fine with some polish.

The wheels, I have thrown out the two remaining broken wheel trims and have decided to refurbish each wheel with some thorough cleaning and then matte black paint, they may have trims on in the end but for now the wheels are starting to look good.

The current spend is around £250.00 for everything and some meticulous work, it’s coming along nicely believe it or not…

More soon..

Time for something new.

It’s been 51 weeks since I set off for Kempen in Germany to collect the Mercedes Benz 608D Fire Engine, it’s been quite a year, over the autumn and winter I spent a lot of time converting it into a camper and spring and summer have been busy with 30+ night away in the UK and Europe. Turns out that the 608D was an excellent buy, the vehicle itself is in first class condition, a few front brake issues but they seem to be resolved now with some extra work to make sure the shoes move together. After 4000kms I have changed the oil for 5w30 synthetic and cleaned up the filters, should be good for another 800,000kms now.

I have know the Citroën AX for a number of years, driven by Steve and full of stories about faults and failures. He has decided to but another car so I gave him £100.00 for the AX, it’s know as the ‘Turkey B’, so that name will stick.

I am the 11th owner of the AX, it’s done about 65,000 miles and needs a lot of work, there are only 11 left though, it’s a rare car.

Look out for more posts about the Citroën AX and all of the other stuff that I am doing at the moment here, on Instagram and Twitter over the next few months.