N2G Projects, Project Spectrum

Project ZX Spectrum – Show n Shine

Back in black, baby.

This is how at all started, about six months ago. Covered in horrid, hand painted flames, down at heel, tired, in need of a lot of love and looking very sorry for itself as a result. Poor thing. It was one step from going to scrap yard, but when we were offered this 1996 Citroën ZX Volcane for free, we had to try and save it.

And do you know what? I think we did indeed save it – just look at the old girl now!

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First, we fix the ZX…

Before we get into the car’s new found good looks, there was some work we had to do first. In the last update, I had changed all the brakes, cleaned up all the arches, fitted new drop links and ball joints and fitted a snazzy set of Berlingo steel wheels that I had wrapped in Falken rubber. Since then, I have (with the help of my good friend Rich) changed the timing belt, water pump and clutch cable. This brought the car to a level of mechanical health that meant I could used it. The timing belt was a big unknown, but on removal of all the covers, it seems I needn’t have shown any concern. The belt was healthy, the water pump looked new. We changed it all anyway, as we had it in bits. But it was good to know it had been looked after. To reward it for being a joy to work on, I bought it a K&N induction cut, which on reflection looks like a large phallus, but it’s on now.

Then we paint the ZX…

Yes, it’s finally bloody painted. Is it a show-winning job? No, is it bollocks. It’s the result of some U-Pol primer and £36 of Montana White graffiti paint. Again, Rich offered a hand and a garage, and over the course of two days we painted the car black again. Prior to me rocking up to Rich’s place, I removed as much of the old ‘banger rally’ paint as possible, which was a hateful job. Truly hateful. But it had to be done.

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We then spent the best part of a day sanding the car back to get a good surface on which to paint. It was a lot of work, as there was some horrid textured paint underneath the flames that we had to contend with. In the end, we sanded the whole car bar the front bumper, rear bumper and lower rear bootlid. Then, we masked up and hit it with the primer.

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We let that dry off, then did a bit more sanding and refining. Then it was time to hit it with the colour. As I mentioned earlier, we used Montana White, which is a brand name. We didn’t paint the car white, obvs. It’s a graffiti paint, but in essence is a one-stage paint. It goes on very well indeed, and it can be cut back and polished to a good shine. It’s tough, too. Plus, it’s like five quit for a tin. I bought ten, but still have about four left. Was the job perfect? No, of course not. There are some runs and some imperfections that I have yet to sort, but that’s to be expected. The main thing is it looks a million times better than it did before. And you certainly wouldn’t look at it and think it was done in a day, in a garage, by an idiot.

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Of course, black is a painfully unforgiving hue, so the new paint revealed all manner of horrors. The most significant being the bonnet, which has more ripples than washboard. Happily though, a friend is breaking a late ZX, so I’m having that bonnet and I’ll paint it to match. As for the rest of the car, I left the paint for a few weeks to go properly hard, then I put the side trims back on. I have also made a half-arsed attempt at machine polishing it, but really it needs a wet sand, so that’s next. Crucially though, I got it looking good enough for Festival of the Unexceptional. So that’s where I took it…

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Then we show off in the ZX…

With the car painted black, and thus no longer on the receiving end of people pointing and laughing, I could get some more use out of the ZX. However, this only extended to local runs, no more than ten miles in any one sitting. However, it did well and pulled along without complaint. In fact, it’s a damn good laugh to drive. It’s only 120bhp or so, but it weighs as much as belly button fluff, so it’s quite nippy. I love driving it. I did not, however, love the idea of driving it to Lincolnshire for FOTU. In fact, it filled me with dread. Daft, really, given all the mechanical work I had done to it. But it was a lot of driving (400 miles in one weekend) and I was worried it would be a bit much for this car that had been left decaying in a lock-up for half a decade.

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My worries were pointless. Over the course of the weekend, it drove to FOTU, then to Bicester for RollHard and then back home to Bristol and not once did it skip a beat. The only complaint is with the transmission, as it gets hard to find first and second when stuck in traffic. I have been told they are very sensitive to oil though, so have ordered some fresh stuff and will change that next week. That’s it though. It was a riot throughout, a joy to drive and a car that people seemed genuinely interested to see. I find that very odd, personally. But people like that the car on YouTube, and they seem to like what I have done with it, so if it makes them happy, I’m happy.

It’s just a good, fun, happy little car. It’s comfortable, it’s remarkably good on fuel, it handles well, most of it still works and now it looks a hell of a lot better than it did. I’m quite proud of how far it’s come. It’s a rare care these days, so it’s nice to have saved it. As for what’s next, not sure really? Refine the paint some more and get it looking as good as possible. New front suspension, transmission oil, brake fluid change then just continue to enjoy it I guess. Not bad for a free car.

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