Citroën CX GTI Turbo
Last-minute jitters as James’s CX is readied for the road
Ishould be excited about my CX project – the focus of my attention for nearly two years. As I write, the car is just weeks away from hitting the road for the first time in a quarter of a century and yet a mild anxiety is hanging over me. Is this normal? Maybe it’s the fear of failure at the final hurdle following the lengthy period of hard work and expense. Thoughts of driving this complex beast out of the Practical Classics workshop for the first time since it arrived in February 2018 without knowing what it’s like to drive – or even if it will drive at all – have been filling me with worry, while the understandable absence of the usual moral support from colleagues at a lonely workshop during lockdown hasn’t helped. There’s nothing quite like the social aspect of being there with mates – something we all miss at the moment.
Wiring worries
It’s also striking just how the much of a doddle the restoration of my DS project was in comparison. The older car was simpler, with plentiful specialists and better parts availability. Expertise on the CX is much thinner on the ground, especially when you consider how this one – the fuel-injected and turbocharged GTI – is loaded with Eighties electronics. You might think the main concern was hydraulics but (and I say this quite sincerely), Citroën had it nailed by the time the CX was launched in 1974. No, it’s definitely the electrics. The quality of the wiring is absolutely diabolical.
I have been thorough during the course of the restoration, replacing or cleaning every electrical connector I could find. My car electronics pal Darren Walster came over and worked his magic on the more complex wiring systems, but even he conceded that it only takes one broken wire to cause mayhem. Should I have taken the engine out? Yes, of course. There’s simply no space to work in the engine bay of a CX. The removal of that enormous 2.5-litre lump would have given me the chance to go through every single element of a unit that was never designed for the car (the CX was originally engineered to take a rotary) while cleaning and painting the void. Alas, CX engine removal is a specialist task so, with
funds tight,
I decided to reconsider in the spring. In the meantime, now would be a time to make-do and buck the trend of 2020, salvaging some cheer and getting it back on the road before Christmas.
Final prep
Still on the ramp at the PC workshop, where it has been since February 2018, completion was close – the CX looking shiny on four brand new alloys and running smoothly, turbo spooling up nicely and radiator fans kicking in when they should. Yes, my pursuit of perfection had fallen a little short, but the CX was beginning to feel like a car instead of an expensive ramp ornament. Motivated, I ticked loads more off the list, and performed numerous socially distanced tasks through the pre-november lockdown period with help from Darren, and Citroën pals Barry and Pete Annells. After that, I was able to travel alone to the workshop to work on smaller jobs such as exterior trim, the annoyingly complicated door mirror mounts, bumpers, headlights and so on.
I spent days inside the car, too. From the fitment of new sound-deadening under the carpets, bulkhead and in the door skins, to fitting the period stereo cassette and some USB slots into the centre console cubby hole, the list became shorter and the smile ever-wider.
Having noticed most of the dashboard bulbs were dead, I removed the instrument panel, improved the connections and set about testing the electric windows, reconnecting the remotely operated mirrors, tidying the dumbfoundingly messy wiring inside the doors, then attaching the awful door cards (a well-known CX weakness – they’re made of soggy cardboard). Unlike many a Series 1 CX, these almost fit properly…
A few weeks later, I stood back, slumped into my camping chair and took a swig of tea. As well as a range of essential tasks such as fitment of mirrors, the horn and a working instrument panel (the CX has 17 warning lights), I’d managed to sort many of the ‘feel-good’ cosmetic items, too.
I wanted it to depart the workshop entirely finished for the 200-metre journey across the yard to the nearby MOT station. Then, with test complete, my aim was to turn not left out of the MOT bay and disappointingly to the workshop, but right… and onto the main road. Could it happen? I booked a slot and prepared for a few more sleepless nights. Verdict next month!
james.walshe@practicalclassics.co.uk