Weekend Work

[steelcityuk]

In a sudden outburst of enthusiasm I decided to investigate the rear underside of the XM which I hadn't seen. Hopefully it wouldn't be too rusty and I could check over the spare & cradle, change the Hydractive sphere, oil the H/C linkage and give it a coat of Waxoyl.

I took this photo because I thought it looked good on the ramps with the bonnet up.


This is how it looked after removing the usual bits.




So with a Bank Holiday weekend ahead I decided to lavish a few hours on the old girl. The best I could think of was to strip off a few bits and grit blast them before giving them a couple of coats of Hammerite followed by a coat of Waxoyl.


Steve.

[citroenxm]

Hi Steve..

She actually to me looks very good! Is that a previous chassis patch by you or a previous owner??

Im going to drop and swap the rear subframe on my 2.1SED and hope theres not too much if anything needing dooing under the rear...

Ive already examined the sills which both need dooing to start with!

Swapping the subframe for a few reasons, rust, worn anti roll bar bolt mounts in the rear arms, and really to ascess the rear end body.

Paul

[steelcityuk]

Thanks for the encouragement Paul. Where abouts are seeing the patch? I haven't noticed any welding up to now but must admit I've concentrated on the subframe up to now.

Good luck with your work, I'm sure you'll make a great job of it.

Here's a bit more progress.

The rear disc shields have now had two coats of smooth Hammerite.


The rear subframe 'spurs' grit blasted and given two thick coats of smooth Hammerite.




The trailing arms and calipers came up a treat too. These will be lacquered to help keep them clean.


I would be nice to have the time and money to strip the subframe off and take it in for shot blasting and powder coating. If I win the lottery maybe I will!

Steve.

[citroenxm]

Hi Steve.

RE: Welding:

In your second Pic, the first one of the underside, right under your "removing the useual bits" words, that chassic has had a welded patch on it... quite clearly. I good job though I must add!!

One I would be proud of..

Paul

[steelcityuk]

Hi Paul,

I checked last night, no welding at all in that area, just strange colour/texture where the spare touches I suppose.

Disc shield back in place, existing bolts/washers replaced with stainless.


Steve.

This post has been edited by steelcityuk on June 02, 2011 12:03 pm

[citroenxm]

Ok Steve...

Um, those disks look a little worn, would she not deserve some newer or better ones with all the amazing good work and effort your dooing to her?

Or is it my eyes again

Paul

[steelcityuk]

Hi Paul,

I don't know about the disc thickness, I'll try and measure them and see what the spec is. The MOT man didn't pick up on it so I assumed they where OK.

You sound a little doubting about the welding or lack of. The picture does make it look like it's been welded so I'll post another later now I've done the waxoyling.

Steve.

[steelcityuk]

These still aren't very good photo but then I'm not used to sunshine!





After seeing the finished effect the disc shields need painting black on the caliper side, at the time of painting them I was undecided but having seen them in situ it's obvious silver was a mistake.

The rear discs are 7mm thick at the thinnest point, I haven't had chance to check yet what the recommended minimum is.

Here's some more detailed photos of the rear floor beam, I still don't think it's been welded if only because the quality of the welding would have to be top notch to give this finish and there's no sign of any disturbance to the surrounding underseal.













Steve.

[blue94auto]

Wow that renovation work looks spot on Steve, The rear spheres look a bit crusty on mine ,I have been spraying the Threads with wd40 a few times over the last few weeks. I will try and give it some loving when I do the spheres.
But the work you have done there is spot on,well done.
Gary

[Dieselman]

Paul was referring to the line along the crossmember, which did look like a strip had been welded in, but in the 3rd picture in your last post it looks like it's how the underbody protection is applied.

I need to get under my new purchase and waxoyl the rear end, it's the only part with any rust and that is very minor..though surprisingly the MOT tester has made an advisory about it.

[steelcityuk]

Thanks Gary.

Hi DM, Is he being a bit strict or just giving you an heads up so you can deal with it?


I've been meaning to clean out the fuel tank strainer for sometime now.

Here's how it looked




There was a horrible gelatinous substance binding all the junk together. A quick scrub over with brake cleaner and a toothbrush soon had it clean. If I'd have had more time I'd have stuck it in the ultrasonic cleaner.

Here's the spare height corrector I cleaned up at the weekend, 45 minutes in the heated ultrasonic cleaner with detergent.


Steve.

This post has been edited by steelcityuk on June 07, 2011 01:49 pm

[steelcityuk]

The spare wheel carrier needed some attention too. For it's age it's in good shape really. The rubberised coating is incredibly tough but like underseal once the water gets it starts to eat away the steel unseen.





After grit blasting, rust treatment, a spot of welding and two coats of smooth Hammerite. Plenty of holes drilled to stop water getting trapped.




Steve.

This post has been edited by steelcityuk on June 10, 2011 11:41 am

[steelcityuk]

The rear work is finished with this final touch.


Steve.

[DoubleChevron]

OMG that is rusty

In Australia, XM's simply don't rust, not even in the slightest. The older cars still disolve in time (ie: CX/GS/DS ) .... However if you don't live at the sea and look after them, even DS's and CX's will last decades of daily use out here

seeya,
Shane L.

This post has been edited by DoubleChevron on June 11, 2011 02:04 am

[steelcityuk]

Hi Shane,

In the UK that isn't rusty but this is -




These are the 1998 series 2 I had.

Steve.

This post has been edited by steelcityuk on June 11, 2011 12:36 pm