Citroën CX
James and friends get into the nitty gritty of his CX
The year has begun in a frenzy of work on the GTI Turbo project, having postponed plans for a late-winter holiday to prepare myself for any hidden costs in the final stages of restoration. Such is life, but the objective is to have it ready for the Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC… and I want to be able to drive it there. Wary that my impatience could lead to shortcuts and shoddy work, I spent a few hours over Christmas making a list of everything required to finish the car. It really helps when you can see it all on paper and in this case, I concluded that it might just be possible.
I dropped the 23-yearold oil, flushed the engine out and renewed the HT leads, fuel injectors and all filters. Once the tank was drained, flushed and sealed (along with a coolant flush and radiator re-core), the car could now – for the first time – be properly run up to temperature. Nosing out of the workshop for the first time, the pointy old beast made it into the yard… and then promptly cut out. Tracing the issue to a bad earth,
I realised that the CX would need something of a deep electrical inspection.
This particular CX relies on an array of relays and an ECU, so I unhooked much of it to clean up connections and while doing so, discovered numerous breaks in the extensive (and typically fragile) nest of wiring. My vehicle electrical engineer mate Darren dropped by one Sunday and advised me on all the bits that were confusing me and now, the car is bristling with unbroken electricity.