Citroen XM Forum

Those oldies survived from dealers to unbranded garages to probably DIY-ers so they survived Bath is nice!

russ92xmsed wrote:Near Bath...

You know, I was born and brought up in Somerset Russ, not tremendously far from Bath really. It was only a couple of years ago that I actually went there so it only took 52 years

The place absolutely took my breath away

It really is very nice down there. We dont go to Bath often enough actually. Good drive down too. Took the scenic route through Stroud ect.

Good day out.

The C5 has gone in today to have surgery! I went with Dad to pick him up after dropping off. Handily Halfords was right next door, so I went and got a can of paint for the car. They had another name for my colour. It was in Italian, so they couldn't say it!...but sounded a b it like Basalt to me.

Any way, like Paul and his paint, amazing what goes into it to make up the colour. Pink, orange, black, white and blue all went in. Initially it looked far too dark, but a quick dash to the car to match it, it was spot on.
I need it for a large chip on the boot lip, and the door top I was sanding. The rear bumper needs doing too, so I will see how much I have left for that.

C5 is now sorted out. No problems apparently. Typically my theory strikes again...car in garage equals rain.

I have really got to sort out my idle setting, its getting too low and sitting in traffic isn't fun.
Oooo!, and also my oil level gauge popped back into life. First time in ages it has done that. For how long though......

Took the scenic route through Stroud

There aren't many people who can find a scenic route through Stroud.

In the past, I have seen my home town referred to as "the armpit of the Cotswolds"

Rob

It is a curious town...i was remarking on it whilst driving through it...industrialised, hilly little place in the middle of what seems like nowhere. I can see why some might refer to Stroud in that way. What is going on with the Halfords building?

Ahhhh...but it is better than driving down the m5 though! ...you get a treat of passing through Painswick to make it all better.

My Dad worked in Stroud in the 70's. used to commute in a bright yellow Fiat 128! As a family we nearly lived there too.

russ92xmsed wrote: Oooo!, and also my oil level gauge popped back into life. First time in ages it has done that. For how long though......

Has the oil been changed recently Russ?

The level sensor on my Activa (which is just a light but a similar sensor) played up the other day crying wolf about low oil. The oil I knew was due for a change...

Changed it and although it didn't immediately sort the light a day later it did and it's been good since..

The sensors are well-known for doing funnies, especially with semi and synthetic oil...

Now that did cross my mind Jim. Yes I changed the oil a couple of weeks ago. So it must have de gunked it!

It suddenly popped up and then couldn't decide what level it wanted to be at, and then slowly drifted back to rest.
Quite strange seeing it working again.

Well today, I did some bodywork. When I got the car a year ago, it had knocks and dents, which for a 20 year old car, is to be expected. But one of them really annoyed me. And I did notice recently that it had started to corrode. Essentially at some point, the lip on the very bottom of the boot lid..under the red rear lights, had been bashed in on one area. So it must have hit something in particular...maybe a pole or something. Anyway it cracked the paint quite badly and just looked rubbish. So I fixed it.





Here is the dent having been pulled out. I just used a pair of old pliers.





All wrapped up!
I filled the shallow dent with some filler. I would have needed special tools to get it fixed without filler...which I don't have, let alone the skills. When it was pulled out...easy enough to do, it left a shallow concave area. So filler was needed to smooth things out.
Above are of it being painted



All done! Three coats of paint. Two coats of lacquer later. The lacquer coat is a sod to get right. Not helped by the boot suddenly shutting and creasing a small area of the second drying lacquer coat. But it isn't the end of the world. A little sand, maybe another quick dust of clear coat and then a week of curing and a good rub with rubbing compound and a polish and it should be fine. But over all I'm delighted it is now fixed. Looks so much better.

Rear bumper now needs attention!!