Ex Rallycross 205 Restoration

[ben_r1 0]

Welcome to my 205 project thread.

 

The car is a ph1 205 gti 1.6 1986 model. This is my second project car atm taking priority over a Sierra XR4x4 which is more of a long term project.

 

The car was purchased in Jan 2011 with the intention, here comes the joke, to be used as a daily runabout road car, being as i find 'normal' cars tediously boring to the point of anger lol. Its an iconic french hot hatch and exactly the reason i had my heart set on one.

 

Car history:

 

Its previously owner had been in possession of the car for 5 years and in that time, its fair to say, he didnt show it any mercy. The car was stripped and bucket seated up and spent its entire career with him as a professional rallycross car ( a very successful one at that im told ) until the original 1.6 unit blew up on him. In his workshop it sat amongst other competition cars for a couple of years, an empty shell, until he decided to get it running up again as a trackday car. For this he found an 80k later 1990 spec more powerful 1.6 engine to replace the dead lump. However after fitting he lost time and space for it as the bodywork was suffering so up for sale it went.

 

The car was bought for the low sum of £500 with four bald tyres and only the interior he could find, massively incomplete. But alas the drivers seat was bolted in and seatbelt fitted so i could get it home at least.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice suprise hiding behind this:

 

 

This will be a rapid speed project with all funds being directed to this vehicle, taking priority over the Sierra, my Clios, 197 and 182, until she is roadworthy and of presentable condition.

 

Watch space for pic heavy updates

 

Thanks for reading.

[allye 530 3 Cars]

ooooo, that wiring looks fun so does the rot. Got to love the old ph1's!

 

Good luck with it.

[ben_r1 0]

Thanks lol.

 

I was kind of hoping to come on here, the wealth of experience and knowledge it is, and everyone tell me its 'not that bad' and 'i've Mot'd worse' remarks to make me feel like this is a doable 205 and not just scrap.

[Obey_R 23]

I thought my rust was bad! There's some photos in my project thread of the rust I had on my rear quarter which ended up being completly chopped out and a donor panel welded in from a base model. It failed the MOT on 14 points and over the last 10 months I did it on a budget to pass with only 2 advisories, so it's do-able!

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Looks like a nice project to get stuck in to!

 

If you want to sell the dash, drop us a line!

[welshpug 1,657]

looks nothing like a rallycross car! They're usually totally battered

[omega 82]

looks nothing like a rallycross car! They're usually totally battered

 

agree with the above,dont you have to have a cage for rallycross?

looks like you have a lot of work to do anyway good luck with it

[Batfink 201]

Most of us probably would have scrapped it but I admire you for taking on the challenge! Its certainly fixable. Its only money right!

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

The car was stripped and bucket seated up and spent its entire career with him as a professional rallycross car ....

Road rally maybe, if it was Rallycross it would have not lasted a season and would have certainly had a weld in cage in order to compete.

 

Still it looks a good project. Phase 1 dash's are hard to get complete so you may find it much easier to update it to a Phase 1.5 (Grey) dash as these are more durable and more commonly available.

 

Keep us posted

[jackherer 543]

I was kind of hoping to come on here, the wealth of experience and knowledge it is, and everyone tell me its 'not that bad' and 'i've Mot'd worse' remarks to make me feel like this is a doable 205 and not just scrap.

 

Sounds like you need to look at this thread.

[ben_r1 0]

Engine Issues:

 

Okay the car has been run around for a few days and its evident theres is catastrophic coolant leak, dumping an entire systems worth in aound 100 easy going miles.

 

The car was inspected for the leak and it was soon obvious the leak was coming from the head gasket on the right side of the block, bad times indeed.

 

This was confirmed by this mess found in the oil filler neck, i know its common for these motors to have such deposits in the breather system, however put two and two together with this AND the visual water droplets from the block/head seal its safe to assume it needs changing:

 

 

 

So the head gasket has blown? Before any work was decided it was time to give the engine a full inspection to see what im up against:

 

The jet washer was cracked out and the engine cleaned as best i could, including a massively oil covered diff casing

 

 

Now shiney and clean:

 

The oil leak was thanks to a leaking camshaft seal hidden behind the distributor, all the more reason to rip it out:

 

 

The head is now going to be taken out.

[matty_gti 20]

Oil leaks from the dizzy/seal are very common. That rot looks like alot of work!.

Edited March 21, 2011 by matty_gti

[ben_r1 0]

Not really mate, only needs a plate welded over the infected areas. The boot floor just needs a clean up and respray.

[Anthony 1,003]

Ah, so that's where that car went to - I knew that it had been sold off cheaply owing to the rust earlier this year, and good to hear that you'll be putting in the time and effort to repair the old girl.

 

You're slightly mistaken about what it used to compete in though - it wasn't rallycross, but autocross, which is quite different! More info here

[ben_r1 0]

Hmm the only place this car is likely to end up this year is a scrapyard somewhere. Unfortunately i've assesed the corrosion on the entire shell properly and it seems uneconomical to repair the rust seeing as a decent car can be picked up for half the price. Its heavily rusted on the boot floor, boot hatch, inner wing behind headlights and door sills. And both rear quatres are completely non-existant.

 

With the engine in bits waiting for a cylinder head which has gone missing with the rebuilder the whole project looks doomed and its most likely outcome is to give up and break it for parts.

 

Shes dead

Edited March 24, 2011 by ben_r1

[welshpug 1,657]

pfft, pessimist!