Citroen XM Forum

Well, the work begins.....

As I've said, at the end of this month the xm comes off the road. Whilst its parked (for how long I don't know) I'm going to go through the car in all areas and put right anything that needs replacing, cleaning up, restoring, waterproofing...you name it.

Yesterday I went looking for a quick job and found that the scuttle seal wasn't sealed at all anymore The trim was sat slightly away from the base of the windscreen so that had to be tackled. After failing to apply a strip of sikaflex with the trim still in place and not wanting to silicone it, I had no other option other than to strip it all down and do it properly...after all that's the idea of what I want to do with this car, so not knowing what I was doing, a quick flick through the haynes manual and the bodywork trim section on here and I got stuck in.

First job I was dreading was removing the scuttle outer edge pieces without breaking them...surprisingly it was an absolute doddle I found working first by lifting up the leading edge and then prising gently upwards from the base, they popped off with no trouble whatsoever. I refitted them straight away and removed them again so that I knew it would go back together before I carried on. For anyone who hasn't ventured into that yet, you are then left with this.



Easy bit then, whip out the screws and shuffle the outer scuttle trim out of place. leaving you with this


Surprisingly it wasn't too filthy or full of leaves etc in there leading me to believe that someone had perhaps been in there before? Both drain sections were clear and the whole area completely rust free




So then onto the scuttle panel itself. off with the wipers, which will come off again at a later date to be repainted. Again a doddle to remove.


The absolute pain to remove were the washer feed pipes. Talk about tight! I didn't want to break off the pipe to the jet though

I could see why it wasn't adhered anymore to the windscreen...this small strip of crustiness, was what was trying to provide a seal


Whilst everything was off I turned the wiper motor on and lubricated all the linkages and sprayed what looks like a brake pressure flow valve? in a maintenance spray so when it dries it provides some form of water repellent.

Naturally being me, I cleaned everything up before It went back together
Before


After


With the scuttle panel off I cleaned the base of the windscreen and all of the trim pieces with some all purpose cleaner and ran a strip of sikaflex across its base. then it was a case of refitting it all. Cleaned up and ready for the outer trim to be put back on


To be honest it was a lot easier than I envisaged it was going to be, and now I have learnt a bit more about how to work on these amazing machines

Next up will be each wheel arch area. Liners removed, any rust areas treated, the whole lot refurbed and then reassembled. Ill be taking pictures as I go so that any future owners of the car can see the extent of what has been done on it, and what lurks behind its trim.

Excellent stuff Vince, it's all looking very tidy in the scuttle area

Great job Vince. I was a bit like Paul, why are you trying to seal the scuttle panel to the car, when it isn't meant too, but I see what you are trying to do. And yes that is the Doseur Valve. definitely lubricate it and make sure it is free and working...especially if your about to lay it up for a bit.

It isn't that difficult to get all the scuttle trim off. Scary at first, as you don't want to snap anything, but once you know how, it's easy.

Looking great.

The only advantage I see of the scuttle trim being stuck down is that the windscreen washers are directed properly.

A pin in the nozzles sorts that out though!

If the trim moves, so does the jet aim, which is why the trim is originally stuck down.

Dieselman wrote:If the trim moves, so does the jet aim, which is why the trim is originally stuck down.

I just tried the washers a bit ago as I've been out in it....they do seem better aimed now and weirdly seem stronger than they have even been on the passenger side...they always seemed a little weak on that side.

Vince wrote:

Dieselman wrote:If the trim moves, so does the jet aim, which is why the trim is originally stuck down.

I just tried the washers a bit ago as I've been out in it....they do seem better aimed now and weirdly seem stronger than they have even been on the passenger side...they always seemed a little weak on that side.

Thats possibly because Vince, when you removed the scuttle with the jets on it, you have moved or dis lodged some crap thats in the pipes or washer jets preventing a good spray.. They may block again.. Look closely at the clear washer pipes, theres lots of black crap inside them, this comes dislodged and works its way to the jets, eventually blocking them...

Nice work, I cant remember if I actually went in the sctuttle area and cleared the leaves out.. could of done with my Vac...

What's your next job Vince

Well captainhaddock...today I did a couple of super quick easy jobs. The black B pillar trim on both doors had been chipped on their training edges and so looked messy. I touched the bits up so its all black again...that looks a load better. And I hadn't known why but the rh tweeter used to go off and then come back on again following no apparent trend. I whipped it out hoping it hadn't finally died, and it transpired that the earth lead to the speaker had frayed almost off. So I took it out, put a new audio connector on it and after removing the old solder off the terminal its back in working order again

Future jobs I need to get done are the osr manual window regulator needs replacing. Its never worked since I got the car and I bought one months ago off ebay. Ive never bothered fitting it, but now I guess I have no excuse . Before that though, its wheel arch time. each arch im going to strip the liners off and hopefully not find a mound of rust behind them . Then im going to clean and repaint anything that needs it, probably replace both drop links again, inspect all the bushes etc and then put it all back together again.

Im looking forward to working underneath its skin somewhat. I don't know why as that's where all the problems lurk, but ive got plenty to do on it so it should keep me busy until next year I would have thought. I am mindful that I don't have the budget to do a resto to it so wont be ploughing every spare quid into it. Some bits will just stay as they are...what's the correct term? "original"