One Of The Best 205's In The Uk

[Andy_C 50]

Time flies. I last saw Rob's (2-Pugs) 1FM 2 years ago - http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/show...ad.php?t=111329 and he wanted her given a going over for a forthcoming appearance at the NEC in a few weeks' time.

 

Whilst the car's not a daily driver (lucky sod has an E39 M5 for these duties), Rob's diligence was evident the minute he arrived yesterday as the car still looked pretty much as good as when he drove away 2 years ago - proof it were needed that careful washing pays dividends. She's now also sporting a relevant private plate!

 

 

 

Given how tidy she was I decided that there would be little need to drag out the Karcher, opting instead for soaking the wheels, tyres and arches in APC and cleaning using a variety of brushes before rinsing with a hose.

 

Next I applied a mild shampoo solution via pressure sprayer and left to dwell while I filled my buckets, before rinsing. Shampoo was Dodo Supernatural and stricy TBM used to wash using lambswool mitts.

 

Car was dried and then clayed using SV Paint Rubber, thoroughly warmed in hot water to ensure it remained soft; lubricated with a very mild shampoo solution before rinsing.

 

During rinsing the power of gtechniq was apparent - the trim has had no other treatment in 2 years and still beading like a good 'un.

 

 

I then masked up the trim and started polishing. Menzerna 203S was chosen and applied using a spritz of Gloss-It Pad Primer and LC polishing pad. The priming helped eradicate any issues with the polish.

 

Befores & afters were hard to get as I wanted to crack on and again the paint was in bloody good nick, with more marring coming from the clay than anything else.

 

Front wing summarised best what I had to deal with over pretty much the entire car.

 

 

 

Swissvax Cleaner Fluid was applied by hand in the garage as the weather turned against me big time. This was applied to each panel, left to go off for a few minutes and then buffed off with a plush towel. Wax was Best of Show, applied with a SV applicator and left for 45 minutes while I polished the wheels by hand using Menzerna 3.02 and sealed using Blackfire Metal Sealant - the best product I've used on wheels bar none so far. This was left for an hour before removing.

 

Tyres with Endurance gel and then buffed after 20 minutes to reduce the gloss and minimise sling.

[Andy_C 50]

A few finished pics and a day's work well done on what IMHO is one of the best 205 GTI's in the UK, period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My quality control assistant then turned up - she doesn't seem very sure!

 

[lemmingzappa 75 1 Cars]

Lovely

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

Very nice indeed! Nice to see standard 205's in such good shape . Many miles on it?

[dale205mills 39 7 Cars]

That car just keeps getting better and better. I mite have to take a trip up to the NEC.

[muddatrucker 125]

Wow, thats the best example I've seen, looks like its just rolled off a production line!

[Anthony 1,003]

You missed a bit

 

[mickie 3]

quality control lady needs to wipe her nose

[Batfink 201]

wow! almost makes me want to clean my car....

 

almost...

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Tyres are wrong, Should be the old P600 or MXV P's or even rarer the old Goodyear NCT

Edited October 18, 2010 by Miles

[muddatrucker 125]

How much would you say its worth?

[hexhamstu 9]

needs front mudflaps.

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

How much would you say its worth?

 

It's worth what anyones willing to pay. If it ain't for sale then it isn't worth anything. Nice to have all the same and hope the owner enjoys it .

[AJA_GTi 0]

Stunning car, stunning work.

 

Was having a look on the 205mtv forums recently I'd love to find one for sale

[Joehow 0]

awesome!... gives me a bit of inspiration to get mine in the garage and start work.

[muddatrucker 125]

It's worth what anyones willing to pay. If it ain't for sale then it isn't worth anything.

What a pointless answer, thank you.

[Edp 67 3 Cars]

Great car and great work.

 

I must pop and see you sometime Andy and bring the sorrento with me

[blniasgti 0]

had the pleasure of seeing robs 205 1fm whilst collecting some goods from him, saw it tucked up in its cover and after removal of the cover i had the pleasure of a close up look around it and must i say it looked absolutely stunning then let alone now after the work you've done to it !!!!

[Baz 421]

What a beauty! I can't help thinking i'd be scared to use it though!

 

What a pointless answer, thank you.

 

But factual none the less!

[Andy_C 50]

Absolutely - if it's not for sale then other than for insurance purposes its value is irrelevant.

 

I'm no car valuer but way I see it is this; if that Sorrento 1.9 in the dealership in Shropshire which popped up here a few months back was for sale at £10k then the first 1FM has to be worth broadly the same given its comparative rarity and condition. With a fresh paintjob then more again BUT in the event of a major bump, let's face it a reshell, retaining all of the original 1FM features and equipment is unlikely to run to this level (although I might be talking bollocks as regards cost).

 

Would that mean it's not original? Of course but if the repairs are properly documented then it becomes an integral part of the car's history. For sure some value is lost as this car is AFAIK currently totally original in terms of its shell and engine etc but I'd certainly buy a car which has been badly damaged and properly repaired and documented as, I suspect, most of us on here would and given the type of car the 205 GTI is, many will have had a knock or 2 at some stage either due to over enthusiasm or simply because they're all now 20-odd years old or more.

 

Ed - any time dude; never seen your car in the metal

Edited October 20, 2010 by Andy_C

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Surely thats in better nic than the day it rolled out the factory!? How many miles it on?

 

Truely stunning car, well done!

 

Ali

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

Would that mean it's not original? Of course but if the repairs are properly documented then it becomes an integral part of the car's history. For sure some value is lost as this car is AFAIK currently totally original in terms of its shell and engine etc but I'd certainly buy a car which has been badly damaged and properly repaired and documented as, I suspect, most of us on here would and given the type of car the 205 GTI is, many will have had a knock or 2 at some stage either due to over enthusiasm or simply because they're all now 20-odd years old or more.

Triggers Broom - he has had the same broom for years but it has had 4 new heads and 5 new handles!

The "Ex Roger Clark" Cossack Mk2 Escort only has the dashboard top from the original car (and the registration plate)

 

Value is in the originality of the paint. Respraying it would potentially devalue it. People went to see that Shropshire one with paint depth measuring devices and discovered that despite only 7k miles, it had received a lot of paint. It put a lot of people off. The ex concours PSOOC 1.6 GTI that sold for over £6k had 88k on the clock but had original dealer plates, window sticker, floor mats etc.

 

However this doesn't detract from the fact that Robs is very tidy, though he has been slowly acquiring the right parts over many years...

[Andy_C 50]

Kind of agree at this level BUT I'd bet my house that Chris Evans' California Spyder wasn't wearing its original paint and at the upper end of the classic car market originality only stretches so far, particularly with competition cars which are more than likely to have been repainted at some stage. Can of worms that one.

 

As for paint gauges, they've caused as many problems as solved frankly. Invaluable tool for measuring working depth of paint when polishing but a real nightmare when it's assumed that because a thickness strays away from what is "known" to be the norm, something's not right. Unless someone can say hand on heart that the Shropshire car left the factory with thin paint, it's easy to assume repairs based solely on thickness and TBH unless the gauges in question were DFT (i.e. the bloody accurate and expensive ones) then I'd take it with a handful of salt as the cheaper gauges are rarely unfallible, I promise you.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Andy_C

[2-Pugs 57]

Thanks all for the kind comments - and thanks most of all to Andy for his hard day's work. I'm very pleased with the result of course. Without a doubt I'd highly recommend Andy's work. And he's a very nice guy to chat to as well :-)

 

Anyway got it tucked up ready for the NEC now. Just hope it doesn't rain on the way up there!

 

Yeah I must admit a couple of things. What started off as a second car for enjoyable occasional driving has ended up become something I am getting more and more fastidious with and careful with so I have to say I don't drive it much at all any more, for the exact reason of not wanting to put a stack of miles on it, damage it, or devalue it. Which I admit, does somewhat defeat the object of it. But then, on the flip side, I could never forgive myself if I knackared this car in that way. Of the 17 or so known remaining 1FMs, this one has the lowest milage, is in the best condition, and coupled with it being No.1 it would be a shame to ruin it. Guess I need to get another 205 GTI for proper driving! The other problem is that I have an ever expanding list that's currently 3 pages long of things to do to it to keep improving it and make every aspect of it as good as possible. Chasing perfection is a tiresome business!

[feb 47]

As mentioned elsewhere Andy, the car and work are stunning, well done!