Citroen XM Forum

Second coat of paint turned out not too bad. These corner spheres are IFHS spheres, the regulator is a Citroen one, but IFHS coding is easy to understand, so I marked them accordingly. 2* XM30RH, 1* XM50AR
The fuel tank support straps and rear spheres went back on. The tank straps were a bit challenging as the tank had sagged due to only being bolted at the sides, for several weeks. I had to prop the tank up to be able to install the strap bolts.

I cleaned and greased the end of the suspension cylinder, to ensure the sphere fitted snugly and stop any corrosion. I recently was informed of a Cx rear cylinder suffering sudden and rapid fluid loss due to the end of the cylinder having corroded. Xm rear cylinders are mounted in a more shielded position, but still near the back wheels.
Followed by the exhaust.

As the rear wheel-arch liners are out I took the opportunity to check for rust. All is generally in good order with a little surface rust at the bottom of the Rh wing/sill section.
After giving this a good wire wheeling it revealed a pin holed area at the bottom of the sill, about 10mm square.

Most of it looks pretty good. I'll weld in a patch to the holed section and seal, prime and paint the rest.

I am particularly interested in the joint between the lower wing and the sill, as that lets water in which causes the lower wing area to rot. The seam sealer has broken down a little, so I will deal with that.
Some surface rust on the inside of the sill.
After a good, wire wheeling a pin-holed section appeared, the rest cleaned up.

I cut out and patched in a new piece for metal for the sill trailing edge. I spent quite some time forming the new piece to exactly match the sill curve and creating the return on the trailing edge, then due to having to hold it free hand and working in a very tight spot managed to not fit it perfectly into the sill.
At least it is the underside edge that is not aligned fully.
It then decided to have a good look at the seam sealer inside the lower wing area.

A casual look showed this.

I dug a pick into the seam sealer and found it was cracked and had come loose from the metal, allowing water behind it which had caused mainly surface corrosion, but a cluster of pin-holes in a localised area.
I drilled through the pin-holes with a burr and welded them up, using a copper plate behind to stop the weld. I couldn't hold the copper tight to the steel so have ended up with a bit of a splatter, which due to tight access is very difficult to grind back. I was grinding back and actually cut through the steel again, so had to re-weld.

I cleaned the metal with mild acid and added fresh seam sealer and a thin skim of filler to fill in weld and grinding marks.

I should have done this with the subframe and fuel filler removed, but wasn't aware it needed attention then.

I've added fresh seam sealer which also forms the bonding for the lower wing to sill join.

At least having found and re-instated the failed seam sealer means water won't enter the C pillar to sill joint and corrode the door shut and sill, which causes extensive corrosion and is a very involved repair.

A painting and cutting day.

In the rear door shuts I found very slight traces of paint bubbling, so scraped it of to reveal. This is due to the lead edge of the paint being battered by road dirt and dust, which is abrasive and gradually chips the paint. Edges of panels are more susceptible as the paint is thinner on the sharp metal edge.
After chipping all the surface rust out I had a surface good enough to sand and prime.
I sanded the filler skim and applied another coat to fill imperfections. After sanding applied anti-corrosion primer.

As I needed to wait for the paint to dry I moved onto the rear panel, starting with the most corroded and most awkward section to deal with.

The right hand side behind the rear wheel is in the line of road dirt, so has suffered a bit. The bumper support cushion which has a locator that plugs into this hole has never been removed.
I cut out the rusty metal, made a card template, marked up and cut-out some metal.

The first task was to drill and form the hole section for the bumper support to plug into. Working out the actual centre of the hole was challenging as the metal needs to be bent afterwards.

I drilled the hole to about 20mm then hammer formed it into a support ring, using an axle stand stanchion as the form and small ball-pein hammer.

I bent the angles by gripping the metal in a vice and gradually hammering it over. A folding device would probably give a more authentic, less sharp, curve.
It fits Ok. It was a little too tight and I relieved the car body, then it was a bit loose on the upright, but that gap will allow weld in.

Rust cut out, plates made and welded in.
Rather than make another section with the bumper cushion recessed hole, on the one at the left side, I checked for rust and finding only one heavy spot drilled it out and using the copper plate behind method, puddle welded it.
The third area affected is where the spare wheel safety hook bolts on. I need to fettle this a bit more.

I then gave the surface corroded areas a scrub with mild acid and they went from
to

I'll polish the welds a bit more and have another go at the surface corrosion.

I fettled the welds a bit more then treated any remaining surface rust by picking the rust spots and acid treatment at which point pretty well all traces of rust were gone.

From
To
I then wire wheeled the both sides of the rear plate and applied a first coat of anti-corrosion primer.
And a second coat onto the lower wing/wheel-house areas.

Two coats of anti-corrosion primer and two coats of machine enamel later, the underside looks like;

As it is hidden by the bumper, I decided to use Hammerite smooth direct to metal paint for the rear panel, but it only comes in a limited range of colours, which, unsurprisingly, doesn't include Citroen ENT.

It was time to break out the scales and paint tins, Blue and Black. I mixed 51g of black and made it up to 75g with Blue, so 2:1 ratio.
Having painted it on it is very slightly too blue, so I'll add a little bit more black for the second coat.
Brushing this paint in warm conditions isn't ideal for finish, but it should last for years

I added a bit more black to the paint mix and painted a second coat, which due to being Hamemrite being brush painted in warm weather has left it a bit brush marked, but it's in a discrete location.
I'm pleased with the colour match.

Rear panel rubber stoppers back in along with fitting the height corrector "flag", spare wheel carrier safety catch, carrier and rear bumper support cushions.
I will need to centralise the height setting lever "flag" when the car is back on it's wheels and at normal ride height.

The spare wheel carrier bump stops ends are glued when fitted round the bar. I used some EDPM roofing cement in the split joints, then held them together with Jubilee type clips while they cured. It worked.

I had to cut down and re-form the spring for the safety catch to make it work properly. It needs to have tension at all times to avoid coming off the bracket. I also lock wired it on for surety.