Project "peugeot 375"

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

After an awful long time I have started working on my project car again. Since I am tying to get my ass in-gear and work towards, at least, a rolling shell in november 2014 I am posting my progress here. I will probably be laughing at this deadline in a few years from now when the car is still in some sorry state, same as happened on the dutch forum.

In about 2008 I have bought a red 205 1.9 GTi, about a year later I decided to make a track-car out of it. That is what I am still tying to accomplish, albeit a bit slow.

In the garage with the 1.9 engine still in.

"Interior" and battery tray in the boot.

Removing the standard seat mounts, that were already coming apart!

My favorite pastime activity: removing underseal.

Engine out, and most of the ancillaries stripped as well.

After some elbow grease got the inside of the floor clean.

Next up: subframe mountings.

This is my first car related project ever so bear with me.

More progress will follow up until the current status of the car.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

... in reality five years have passed since the first post, so it was the first time the car was on the road again. Not on it's own strength though.

Getting a rollcage fitted.

I have opted for rather high door crosses since I will be driving with plastic doors.

From the abuse the 205 previously got the passenger side turret had already started doming, so reinforcement plates are welded on which are connected to the cage.

Rear with harness-bar.

Overview, note how the cages is put as close to the chassis as possible.

Ready for the next job.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

After receiving batch one of the GRP panels test fitting some of them. A bit of an in-between job since I wanted to see how the car would look when it's more of a car again, and if the panels have a good fit.

 

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

Next up: for an improved seating position and removing some unused parts of the car (original handbrake assembly) I have modified the exhaust tunnel.

A temporary help is cutting a hole in my car!

Aforementioned hole, still needs some shaping and bending so the floor will be relatively flat to mate up to the newly made exhaust tunnel part.

Old and new.

Trial fit.

Next up, welding the tunnel up and fitting new seat mounts.

[nick205 12 5 Cars]

Nice project. The shell looks very solid condition to start with.

[rallyeash 155]

What's the plan with the car? What engine?

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

@Nick: thanks! I sometimes feel a bit bad that I have done this to such a good shell. I have also seen some that were worse, never a really bad one, but this one is literally rust-free.

 

@Ash: 375 is the result of an equation (300 / 800) * 1000. These are key parameters to my project, you can figure out what is what. I will go a different route than typical I guess. The engine I want to use is a 1.8 LFY, at first NA so the power output will be a bit under my goal (with around 110 bhp). But as a second phase to the project I want to turbo the LFY. But as is the case with all plans: they tend to change. The goal however is quite fixed.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Looking good so far. Better to be slow and have a good end product, than rushed and sloppy.

 

Your English is very good. Are you a Brit abroad, or is English a 2nd language for you?

[DC2T 51]

What are you using to remove the paint and underseal? Just that wire brush wheel and corded drill?

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

@GLPoo: About the tempo, I agree. I want to do it (as) right (as possible) the first time. About the English, not native, but English is the main language in my line of work so I type/speak it for the greater part of the day.

 

@DC2T: I have developed several techniques that work for different surfaces. For large surfaces I now use an angle grinder with a wire brush attachment, typically the coarsest I can find. With the corded drill as backup with a finer and smaller wire brush for the difficult to reach spots. What remains is the junk in the seams itself. For that I use a blow torch to heat up the sealer and try to pry it out with a small screwdriver or a putty knife.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

Next step in the process is welding:

- Welding the exhaust tunnel in.

- Seam welding.

- Welding seat mounts in.

- Filling a lot of redudant holes in the bottom.

Luckily I had some help of a mate, since I lack the necessary skills.

The bottom of the now fully welded exhaust tunnel. There is still some excess metal that needs to be removed.

Seam welding the inside of the car.

... and the bottom. In this case the rear crossmember that connects the rear cage mounts together.

Nice angle on the cage.

Inside with tunnel ready.

Backside with top of crossmember welds, here you can clearly see what I meant earlier on: the crossmember connects the cage mounts.

Welding of seat mounts in-progress.

Almost done...

But this was enough for one evening so we called it a day.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

My god... they're using tools! This is what I use to remove the underseal. What is missing from the picture, but what might be the most crucial part of equipment, is a small tester screwdriver. This enables me to remove the sealer from recesses that are hard to reach otherwise.

More welding to the bottom. This time the crossmembers that run parallel to to car towards the back and the rear subframe mount.

... and it's done.

Rear end done as well.

I can continue with removing the last bits of underseal. Welding is on the agenda for wednesday, I hope to finish the seam welding by then so I can focus on the seat and seatbelt mounts.

The deadline for sand-blasting is 14th of July, for now I am on-track to actually meet that deadline.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

Bought an even bigger wire brush, this is about as big as you can go without causing damage to the metal. It is fast in removing the underseal though. As you can see you need quite some for an entire car .

 

 

After a few minutes with the big brush rear end is almost clear of underseal.

 

 

Welding has left a nice imprint on the floor.

 

 

And a close up of the crossmember running front to about halfway the car.

 

 

Seatbelt mounting plates are due to come in today, so hopefully can continue with that.

 

Welding todo list:

 

- Seat-frames

- Seatbelt mounting plates

- Bulkhead to floor

- Pedal-box reinforcement plate

- Few holes around the car

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

Rear completely void of underseal.

 

 

Test-fitting the steering wheel buttons.

 

 

This should eventually control indicators, horn and dip/dim.

 

 

 

Continuing with some welding...

 

A huge milestone is reached, for me at least .

 

 

Seat-frames for the driver are in! I can have a seat again in my "office".

 

 

On with the passenger side and seat-belt mountings.

 

 

 

Pedal-box reinforcement; to prevent the bulkhead flexing thus improving pedal feel. Especially useful without a brake servo.

 

 

Bulkhead to floor. Considering the gap and the strain on the spot-welds this is a recommended weld.

 

 

Seat-frames and seat-belt mounting plates.

 

 

Close-up.

 

 

Pretty stoked with the progress thus far. Still a few minor bits and bobs before the shell can go off to be blasted.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Ron_Jaegers

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

While the shell is off to be blasted (due for pickup tomorrow), I had some time to think about the electric side of thinks. First of: I have an (embedded-)software background so that might explain my hang for new technology a bit better. Seeing most people want to get rid of modern technology like CAN-busses and the like when doing a conversion, I am going to retrofit a CAN system to my car. In the hope to reduce cable clutter and maybe save some more weight.

So what are the plans.

Fitting a Cartek battery isolator XS; this is a solid state kill-switch that can break the connection to chassis-ground and can send a signal to a PDU to shutdown all electric systems. This thing can be wired as a power switch for inside the car and has the option to mount several kill switches on the exterior of the car. A more modern replacement for the cable operated master switch.

Next to that I am going to fit the ISIS Power 3-CELL kit. This is an aftermarket PDU that operates in a decentral way; there is a MasterCell unit to which the inputs (i.e. switches) connect. And an arbitrary number of PowerCell units that switch on or off the loads. MasterCell and PowerCells connect via CAN. This reduces the load carrying cabling since you can place one PowerCell in the front and one in the back of the car.

I am currently drawing out the schematic for all components, I will share it when I complete it.

[jackherer 543]

I've been looking at PDMs but I'm still waiting for the prices to come down. What sort of cost are you looking at for this system with enough modules etc to wire a 205?

 

I've read their PDF that shows the hardware system but I can't see anything that shows the software, do you know if the software is available to download or at least the guide?

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

That's a bit of a problem with this particular system: there is no configuration software. In that respect it is much less feature complete than for example the Motec PDU's. So you have to plan in advance the input/output mapping and let the ISIS guys know, they will program the device for you. It is a possibility to also buy a programmer for when you want to change the configuration, (you tell them what you want, they create a new firmware file for the device, you can flash it with the programmer). For me not a big issue since assignments are well thought out and static. Looking at the programmer they sell it is powered by Microchip PIC's, so any compatible programmer would work I imagine.

 

With regards to cost for a full 205 wiring I don't know if you have enough channels on the 3-Cell kit (20 outputs). For me it is enough since I dumped all the unnecessary consumers, like rear wipers and such. But the 3-Cell kit is 1500 USD or thereabouts.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

And it's back!

 

It was blasted and afterwards fully sprayed with epoxy-primer.

 

 

 

Need to take some better pictures of the result soon.

[eddie bullit 37]

Excellent results there. You'd never know this was your first project.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

Thanks, I have built this car in my head numerous times now and I take my time. I guess that helps.

 

As promised some more pictures of the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty stoked with the result actually, good coverage with the epoxy. Only issue is there is still blasting grit coming from the cage tubing, that was not fully welded at the bottom.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

And I have found an engine! Rather high mileage (beware: it's in kilometers ), but had big service not long ago. And it's cheap for the entire engine with all ancillaries.

 

[McDude 33]

This project looks amazing - I'm always jealous of other's skill and even more of their commitment.

You say you are setting up a CAN which will be able to cut out the main ECU; what happens if the CAN drops out e.g. low voltage? Will the ECU shutdown in this instance?

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

Thanks, it's mostly commitment though. And knowing what work to delegate, still honing my skill .

 

As for your question: the kill switch is separate from the CAN system. On demand (at the push of one of the buttons) it will send a signal to the PDU. The PDU will then kill all power, in itself that system is robust against voltage spikes so I do not foresee a problem there.

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

Progress is still slow but steady, I am continuing with making all parts fit before going off to the paintshop.

Tailgate with lexan window (still with the protective foil on) and spoiler test fitting.

Nice detail: carbon side badges.

Vibra-technics engine mounts.

Nice ass.

Making the doors fit. As you can see the door does not line up with the side panels so that still needs some work. In this picture the side panel is not fixed to the sill so it's better in reality.

Starting to look more and more like a car again.

It opens and closes fine, still have to find a way to open the door from the inside. Probably some type of pull-cord.

Front bumper is fitted with mini-latches to be able to quickly get it on and off. Mostly "because I can" but it's a nice touch.

 

[Ron_Jaegers 10]

I've got a backlog of updates, so this post is going to be picture heavy.

The car is on it's feet again.

What is not shown on the pictures but is done as well:

- Refurbished 205 rear-beam mounted with BakerBM solid mounts

- Temporarily fitted the front suspension

- Fitted most of the rubbers (doors, boot)

From the local breakers I got the outer light cluster fitting from a base model, without the never working adjustment the GTi's have.

Also got me a set of fixed quarter panel rubbers for mouting the lexan windows.

Front is getting into shape with new indicators, still need to score some new headlights but temporarily fitted the old ones.

Fitted the wiper system, hopefully it will work since it is almost touching the cage at full extension. Maybe I need to bend the linkage slightly to get some more room. I also need to fill some holes to prevent water ingress.

Mounted fuel tank.

Cleaned up the gearbox

Dirty!

Clean!

Finally the goodies started arriving. The ISIS PDU system is sent so I will be receiving that soon (I hope, got to go through customs first). In the meantime I can work on mounting:

- Odyssey PC680 battery

- Cartek battery isolator XS (it really is XS, that thing is small)

Here you can see the size of the battery isolator, considering the size of the battery the thing really is small.

Globally determing the position of the battery (thanks to SwedishBob for the inspiration).

Oh, and also did some things on the front-end.

Eventual schematic routing of power.