Gentry Vs Gti (Reshelling)

[rikky 37]

hi,

got a few questions really for those in the know.. don't post on here often but do my fair share of browsing it

 

i've been looking for a good rot-free 205 gti to drop my gti6 engine into. finding a rust free one is proving hard and the only one i'd seen recently sold on ebay and had bad faded paint on it (but turned out to be a 1.6 rather than the 1.9 it was advertised as..)

 

luck has it that my mum's got a 205 champagne automatic Gentry, with an original 50k on it, and it's immaculate inside and out, and 100% rust/rot free. seems a shame to waste it, but i'm going to use this and start again using its bare shell (it's got intermittent starting issues and she's had enough of it).

 

i'm guessing the shells are pretty much the same on the GTI's and the Gentry's? i'll obviously have to replace every single thing in the car from the interior panels and dash to all the wiring and literally reshell a 205 gti into it, but it's not too much of an issue in my mind having done this to 306's in the past. my main concern was the fitment of things like manual parts which i'll replace the automatic bits with. engine wise, it's a standard GTi6 engine (with a 5-speed box) going into it.

 

a couple of things i've noted from here are maybe the subframe difference, also the wiring internally somewhere relating to the reverse lights? but if i completely replace the looms throughout i shouldn't be having issues should i? and rear arches requiring cutting..

 

not to mention it'll be being fully resprayed in another colour, but i shouldn't encounter any issues really should i doing the above?

 

i've been given a lot of info on the GTi-6 site off someone (who's on here no doubt) but just wanted some clarification before i butcher a lovely Gentry

 

i'm sure it'd be easier to just find a decent GTi but the opportunity of a free Gentry which is rot-free seems too good to turn down

 

cheers

[Tom Fenton 1,536]

Shell is the same as a GTI. All bits will swap over.

[rikky 37]

short but sweet - thanks! i'm going to need a full 205 really to scavenge bits off but atleast it'll be tidy. must resist putting a cage and buckets in it. just want it standard, but with GTi6 power

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Champagne project on lemonade money!

[welshpug 1,647]

poo brown dash!

[rikky 37]

*poo brown dash which will be going in the bin

 

the whole interior is immaculate, might chuck it all up on here and see if anyone's after it

 

as for lemonade money, you haven't seen how my things progress.. they never turn out cheap

Edited June 25, 2012 by rikky

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

as for lemonade money, you haven't seen how my things progress.. they never turn out cheap

 

Good point. I have seen how your things progress. You spend obscene amounts, sell them and then wish you hadn't. Where's that cracking S16 gone?

[rikky 37]

being put to good use by the new owner though by the sounds of it.. unlike me, who brought it out every month, washed it, & put it back away

 

not sure how the Gentry (hard for me to type that considering we've always called it the Gay Entry) interior is compared to the GTI but i'll probably keep it and retrim it if it's the same

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

has it got a leather interior? if so I may be interested in the front and rear seats if theyre in reasonable condition

[rikky 37]

yes. in the champagne colour. they are excellent condition, i haven't started pulling it apart yet but if you are interested i will put you on "the list" and give you a shout when i take it out? but yes, they are very good nick indeed. i will start a separate thread when i do pull it apart

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

yep i'll have first dibs on them please

[Tesstuff 222]

To answer your questions.

• The shells are identical, no rear arch alterations needed.
  
• The seats are identical, no retrimming necessary, biege will look swell
  

 

Having seen that car it is criminal to do what you propose but having done the same to my Gentry I suppose I am in no position to preach.

 

But with their rarity, and incredible value in France (we pay £500ish for a decent Gentry, they will pay £4000ish for the same), I feel with such an incredible example you would be best served seeing it as worth a lot more than as a shell for a conversion.

[welshpug 1,647]

French gentry is slightly different spec.

[GLPoomobile 958]

If the Gentry is as clean as you say it is, and with only 50k miles and some starting issues, I think it's possibly a bad decision using it as a project base. Sounds to me like a waste of a good car when there are others that actually need saving.

 

Totally appreciate you want something rust free, but if you are going to the trouble of a re-spray then it's not necessarily a massive issue if you can find a shell in reasonable condition, rather than completely mint.

 

On the other hand, have you considered keeping the Gentry as is and just doing the engine and box conversion and having a sleeper? At least then you could easily convert it back again and sell it as a Gentry in future. They do have niche appeal after all, and with the way the market is going for mint GTIs I wouldn't be surprised if the rarer models increase in value for mint OE examples too.

[rikky 37]

my main issue was finding something with a load of rot for £600 or so, and being worse off than i am with this mint shell, which will cost me nothing. given, i'll have to buy all GTI bits again and respray it [unless i do keep it the colour it is, but it's a bit marmite, and i don't like marmite]

 

it does seem a shame to pull it apart, i did see one on ebay though for £200 which needed a bit of working and thought to myself "they aren't going for much", so i don't really know what to do now you've said that

[Tesstuff 222]

Rikky - I have seen a lot of Gentrys going for low money and looking very clean, but none are anywhere near yours in condition. I strongly feel that yours is right up there with the very best and needs seeing as more than you are seeing it at present.

 

They started out as a rare limited run of cars and less than half of that run still exist, so yours is in prime spot to be the future minter example of the breed.

 

Also as self appointed Head of 205 Gentry Welfare , I refuse you the necessary permission required to butcher that lovely example

[rikky 37]

where've you seen mine? think i had some photos ages ago of it when we got it, might have chucked them up on the GTi-6 forum, forget now

 

my mum's been using it for a couple of years now. it was only on 30k when she got it (2nd owner) and that was about 6 years ago. if i'm being picky it needs the boot repairing as someone scuffed it, but it's not bad really. maybe i'd be better just finding a nice non-sunny 1.9 GTI and be done with it

Edited June 25, 2012 by rikky

[Tesstuff 222]

You can have my Gentry non sunroof shell if you want one that badly!!

 

Pop along to Warrington on Wednesday when I am up there to see the v6 in it if you want

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

What's your budget as this sounds like thousands with resprays etc. I think it would look well in champagne with some Goodwood wheels. Also by the sounds of it you would rather tinker with the car than drive it which defeats the object of having it! I would put the 6 engine in the Gentry and use it. You could have it done in a couple of weeks. Resprayed etc sounds like next year to me

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

+1

 

Standard looking Champagne coloured Gentry with a 6 engine sounds awesome to me!

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

I hate the colour and the interior colour so do it, But as said the shells the same, Loom is the same bar the box wires in the front, just remove the reverse lock out (Start) and off you go.

Subframe is a GTi one with all the fittings as is the pedal box, just swap a clutch pedal into it as its just blanked off

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

yeah you should definitely get rid of the leathers and sell them to me

 

I love having the opposite taste to everybody else!

[rikky 37]

What's your budget as this sounds like thousands with resprays etc. I think it would look well in champagne with some Goodwood wheels. Also by the sounds of it you would rather tinker with the car than drive it which defeats the object of having it! I would put the 6 engine in the Gentry and use it. You could have it done in a couple of weeks. Resprayed etc sounds like next year to me

 

haha, not sure where you heard that but to a degree you are right as my other 306 got left and never used - but i did fully rebuild a 106 xsi and a 205 gti in this time, and buy a 406 coupe and 2 M3's which needed work. so i hope that works in my favour

 

my garage will be empty as of this weekend so pressing on with the work would be straight away

 

 

I hate the colour and the interior colour so do it, But as said the shells the same, Loom is the same bar the box wires in the front, just remove the reverse lock out (Start) and off you go.

Subframe is a GTi one with all the fittings as is the pedal box, just swap a clutch pedal into it as its just blanked off

 

cheers Miles, i'll have a proper look at weekend when i get it home and see what to do. this thread has not helped!

 

when you say box wires, that'd all be replaced anyway by GTi-6 engine loom wouldn't it? plus i'll be putting a black dash in it anyway, so all the dash loom would transfer from a GTi as well (but i'd imagine that wouldn't be different anyway?)

Edited June 26, 2012 by rikky

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

The dash looms the same, it's just the front end loom which has the starter inhibit when not in 'P' or 'N',

 

God knows who designed that colour for the trim, Should be hanged for that

[marksorrento205 80]

haha, not sure where you heard that but to a degree you are right as my other 306 got left and never used

 

You Dave's mate that bare metaled that 306 shell and was going to hdi it? Just above and your location ring a bell to the one I saw when I popped down to see dave a few times