[Car_Upgrade] Wes's 205 Gti6 Fast Road And Track Car

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

hi, this is my current 205 which i have owned for almost 5 years now. it started out as a pretty much standard 1.6 with full magnex exhaust system and goodwood style 1.9 alloys. this is my 7th 205. i thought it was about time i started a project thread about it. the car is my toy and is only used for trackdays and shows and the odd weekend blast in the summer. it gets stored for winter.

as it was when i got it:

then i renewed and upgraded all of the suspension with 306 gti6 bilstein front shocks with eibach springs and group n top mounts. 309 gti front arb, new wishbones, drop links, track rod ends. at the back i have fitted a fully reconditioned rear beam from anthony with a gti6 24mm arb and solid mounts with new gti6 shocks.

then i moved onto the interior. i have fitted full black leather seats from a 309 goodwood and late spec door cards. also a grey carpet and centre console.

the car pretty much stayed like that for the first year and i went to a few shows and meets and even did a small track day at haynes. then i had a plan to convert it to gti6 power so i went out and bought this:

a citroen xsara vts, 2 owners from new with full history and only 80k. i used it for a couple of months and did a track day at castle coombe and a day drag racing. i then got in touch with miles who would do the conversion for me. took him down both cars and a couple weeks later i had a gti6 powered 205!

engine is standard apart from a rich w lightweight flywheel and bbm silicone hoses. i am using the vts gearbox and bigger brakes up front with mintex 1155 pads.

pic of me on haynes track, the first time i took it on a track. spun it twice as it was very wet. the start of many track days.

did a trip to the ring and 4 trackdays and a few pistonheads runs.

at the ring

at combe

at prescott

i fitted a set of toyo R1R tyres as the crap yoko prada were total junk on the track. the toyos are great, they transformed the car.

i have tidied up the engine bay by fitting a polished inlet manifold and removed the resonator box and run the injector wires underneath, also fitted red cam covers.

then it went into the bodyshop to get the rust on the drivers sill cut out and a new piece fabricated and welded in and painted, also fitted an auto bonnet with louvers.

before

after

bonnet

then i fitted a very rare gti16 badge and new lights to the rear

i managed to put a hole in the rad when changing the mani doh! so fitted a new alloy rad

i also fitted a deep dish omp swade steering wheel as i was finding the old one hard to grip on trackdays but no pics of that. the latest addition is a rear half omp roll cage enabling me to keep the full interior.

this is for safety reasons as i have seen two cars roll on track now plus these old 205's arn't exactly made of much.

went to a few shows and track days last year finishing with a trip to the classic lemans where it didn't miss a beat.

which brings this thread pretty much upto date. the latest parts are my carbon fiber coil pack cover and a pair of recaro speed seats which i got from feb on here. i have stripped them down and fitted new bolsters and am currently getting the centre cushions trimmed in gti red check material ordered from the chap on here to match the door cards and rear seat. i will update with pics when i get them done in the next couple of weeks.

i have just retaxed it and got it back on the road after its winter hibernation. plans are to get the cage, the strut brace and the cam covers painted white and get the other sill repaired as it is starting to bubble. and get the recaros in with a standard gti rear seat and put the goodwood leathers up for sale.

[Kezzer30 40 1 Cars]

Some great work and effort gone into this lad well done liking it alot

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Cheddar meet in April straight up! Looking good wes

[Ryan_B 2 2 Cars]

Real cool, I love the recaros!

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

thanks for the comments.

 

thought i would add what i have been doing with the recaros as they have been a project in them selfs.

i bought a set of 3 so i had one to use for spares. these seats are from a mitsubishi evo 4 but are fitted to a lot of jap performance cars and are identical to civic type r seats. mine are a black alcantara outers with cloth centres, they are blacker than the pics show. i have a pair of genuine recaro 205 sliding sub frames to fit them in the pug.

 

this is what i started with.

 

 

as you can see the bolsters have worn and sagged over time but the material is pretty good with no holes. so i bought 2 new side bolsters from capital seating and set about stripping the seats down following a guide i found online. using the best bits from all 3 seats i now have a pair with good bolsters.

 

 

i ordered some of the standard red check material from the chap on here then went looking for someone to retrim the centre cushions. this was a very hard task as an upholsterer doesn't like touching car seats it would seem, well the ones i spoke to wouldn't!

so for a laugh i loaded the seats and went to my local car trimmer to see how much they wanted. i soon walked out after they wanted £300 and a 2 month wait! remember this is just a labour price as i have the material.

anyway after asking everyone i knew, i found out there was an upholsterer local to me who had done some car work before. went and saw him and he was happy to do the work for £100. so thats where i'm upto at the mo, cushions should be done within 2 weeks. i will add pics when i get them back.

 

a trial fit to make sure they fit ok before i started working on them.

 

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

i got the seat cushions back from the trimmer and they look great. i ran out of time to get them fitted in the car tonight but should get them in tomorrow night. here is how they look.

 

 

i will update when i get pics of them fitted.

[MiniGibbo 142]

Seats look awesome..!

[Lowercase 56]

those look brilliant, jobs a good'un

[cRaig 273 1 Cars]

Seats look ace! I was a bit disappointed when I first saw you were getting rid of the leathers for them, but they look much better now

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

seats are in, they are so comfy and supportive and they look good. they are fitted on proper recaro sliding subframes. i have fitted a standard 1.6 back seat so it matches.

 

 

 

and for something a bit different, a key hook i knocked up from a 1.9 badge. i have got 4 vehicles and this helps keep the keys all in one place just inside my front door.

 

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

thought i would also put these pics up of my car when it was used for a buyers guide feature in performance car mag just before i got it. its nice to have a bit of history, and i still have the mag.

 

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Seats look brilliant Wes. A really nice touch.

 

Badge looks good too. Where did you get that from?

[Lowercase 56]

whats the seating position like now they're in?

 

lol the guy who did that article using your 205 is one of my best mates lol

 

Ben Koflach, has a stomper of a BMW touring which hes slotting an m3 engine into.

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

they sit slightly lower than the standard seats, i think they would be about the same height as standard seats on non tilting frames. they are fine for me as i'm a short ass.

[Josh_Quant 27]

seats are fat nice touch!

[Jim Slim 0 1 Cars]

the amount of people i see put different seats in there cars especially these recaros and leave them not matching anything! these look the tits, even puttin the rear 1.6 bench in is smart and a quality attention to detail! nice work mate

[qwerty 9]

I love those evo seat with the retrimmed gti centre, there quite comfortable too, I loved them in my evo 4

 

Where did you get your alloy rad from?

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

I love those evo seat with the retrimmed gti centre, there quite comfortable too, I loved them in my evo 4

 

Where did you get your alloy rad from?

The rad is one from eBay, has been fine for a year now. If you get one just make sure you chuck away the rubber o rings that come with it and use something else as they split as soon as they get hot. I used plumbers tape and fiber washers.

 

The only update I've got is that I have replaced the 1.6 rear seat with a mint half leather 1.9 one. And i have also fitted a new set of toyo t1r tyres as the r1r's were getting low, i will be fitting them to an old set of rims to use on my next trackday. i will be be spraying the cage white in the next couple of weeks.

Edited May 9, 2013 by Wes

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

update time. i've had a week off work so decided to get painting. i have sprayed the cam covers, strut brace and roll cage white. also repainted the slam panel black and cleaned up the catch. i finally decided to tackle the rust on the inner wings, luckly it was just surface rust and hasn't gone through.

 

 

on the inside i stripped the carpet out and fitted some new underlay, bought from carpet right and pretty cheap. 2 square meters for £13.

 

 

while it was stripped i got round to fitting a quick shift gear stick and a new leather gaiter that i've had sat in the garage for about a year! the gear stick makes so much difference, i dont know why i didn't do it sooner.

 

 

i have changed the back seat to a half leather 1.9 seat as the old 1.6 seats had a couple of holes in the uprights. no other plans for it now but i keep thinking about supercharging it. if i see a kit come up cheap i might be tempted. i will just keep myself busy tidying and painting parts in the engine bay for now.

[madspikes 41 1 Cars]

Nice work.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Where did you get the gear stick from Wes?

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

Got it from someone on here I think. I think it's a constella one.

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

me and chipstick went for a hoon over the blackdown hills the other night. couple of pics but it was getting dark.

 

[jameswallace. 8]

who did you get the red and black check material from? looking to get my seats redone.

[Wes 86 1 Cars]

From a chap on here but can't remember his name right now. This is his site: http://205gticovers.com/index.html