7 Jan
2004
7 Jan
'04
6:23 a.m.
Over here in glorious sunny Scotland, most of the
geeky computer
collectors tend to run around in mid-to-late-80s, very high spec cars.
The reason being, they're very cheap to buy when the electrickery goes
I keep as far from electronics in cars as I can. Too hard to fix at the
roadside, and the official manuals never contain really useful
information -- they assume you don't have a 'scope and logic analyser.
Therefore you're restricted to swaping darn expensive modules.
wrong (or in the case of my beloved Citroens, the
hydraulic suspension),
but fairly easy to fix if you have the right sort of mind.
On the other hand I _love_ Citroen hydraulics. My dream car, if I ever
learn to drive is a DS. My father has a BX, and I've spent many enjoyable
hours fixing it. Actually, it's been very reliable -- I've just changed
the clutch for the first time in 10 years (one of his previous cars
needed a new clutch every 2 years!). The hydraulics have proved to be a
non-problem -- I've had to replace the return pipes (they're 'rubber' and
they failed after about 9 years), the odd seal, and one metal pipe that
was mangled by an idiot garage after an accident repair. The system is
really easy to work on when you get used to it (and if you have the
diagrams in the official manual -- I do!)
-tony