Life Long 205

[Porter87 18]

Hi all, 

 

This is going to be an ongoing thread about my 205 Gti I’ve just purchased. The idea is to have a tidy fast road car that I can use on weekends, to teach my little lad about “old” car mechanics and to give him the car once I’m too old and broken to drive it. I’m unsure whether to go down the 16v route or go for a tuned 1.9 8v set up, either one will be on carbs or throttle bodies. 

 

I got permission from the boss (the mrs) to buy another 205 after I sold mine in 2011 to fund a house purchase. I couldn’t believe how much the price had gone up! I sold my track prepared 205 mi16 running around 200bhp for £3,500, looking now for a similar none tracked version I was shocked to see how much they were going for. 

 

Anyway i I went to see 4 cars, one Gti 6 lumped version and three 1.6 versions. The last one (which I bought) looked and drove pretty well compared to the rest when I went to see it so ended up buying it for £3,700 (in the rain, this will apply later) It needed a few things doing like the back end raising up and a drive shaft from what I could tell. It came with 1.9 alloys, 1.9 rear beam, full leather front seats, full stainless exhaust with four branch, all of which i wanted (except the exhaust) and looked pretty good body work wise.

 

 

 

I drove it back from Manchester to Nottinghamshire and it didn’t miss a beat. 

Then the weather dried up, so I decided to give it a polish...... what a mess! The body work was riddled with little dents, paint imperfections and just down right a bad paint job! I was gutted, never buy a car in the rain or trust a picture! A full respray will be coming this summer I think 

 

anyway after a couple of runs out I noticed a smell of fuel, the lines that run down the side if the tank had split, first issue found, easy resolved with some new fuel lines and some cut fingers.

 

I then noticed a few more issues! 

 

>gear selection was beginning to be a pain (new linkages now on ordered from miles)

> driving lights not working

> air hose split

> oil leak on distributor

> passenger rear light cluster playing up

> smoke after idling for a while (valve stem seals

> self tapping screw in the wing Mirror???

> cracked front bumper

> drive shafts

> needs new centre caps for the wheels

> rear light cluster playing up

 

I now  turned my attention to getting the rear beam raised, time to get the torsion bar headache tablets out!

 

To my surprise they came out pretty easy! I was well pleased. I’ve decided to keep the ride height standard.

 

 

 

Really happy with how it now sits. 

 

With the rear beam and fuel lines sorted I spent a bit of cash on my old favourite mods. Yellow fog lights and bulb covers. I just love them! I also ordered a o ring for the distributor, a new wing mirror, new peugeot rear badge and a new air hose from baker bm

 

once delivered I cracked on fitting the fog lights, wing mirror, Peugeot badge on the rear and o ring. 

 

The o ring was a doddle, but the old one was in a bad way, no wonder the distributor leaked.

The driving lights required a bit of problem solving and tracing back the wires to find the issue, the wiring had been snagged both sides and required repairing. Once the soldering had been done the driving lights came to life. Happy days.

I removed the old faded Peugeot badge on the tailgate trim to find all the clips had broke. So I ordered a full set from Peugeot.

 

 

 

Chuffed how it coming on, I’m a long way off what I want out of it but it’s getting there slowly.  I’m mainly on the look out for a front bumper and either a 1.9 8v or mi16/gti6 lump now. 

 

The next task task will be swapping out the split hose, fitting the gear linkages and generally tidying it up.

 

I look forward to what it will bring and becoming a local with you guys! Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Porter87

[SootySport 23]

Same car and similar story to my 205 buy, although I bought mine just over a year ago.

A few dings and paint mis-matches don’t bother me, adds to the patina I tell my self, same with the seat covers.   Mine is now in bits and I’m doing a full mechanical rebuild,  lucky with the body shell as in no rust. I’m sticking with the original engine and keeping everything OE. 

Ill be keeping an eye on your progress and see how it developes, good luck.

[Porter87 18]

Thanks sootysport, 

 

Well i I thought I’d pop a video up of the tired gear linkage. If you listen carefully you can hear my little lad asking me to watch his tools haha. I Also noticed today that the bolt for the oil filler to the inlet is missing. I “borrowed” a m6 from work but it turns out it needs a m8. Only a little extra job to add to the list haha!

 

What do you guys think to the short shift mod? I’m unsure about it to be honest. 

 

I’ll be going to a local spray shop soon to get a quote for the full respray! Wish me luck

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by Porter87

[Porter87 18]

Had a few parts delivered today

 

proper centre caps, new badges for the tail gate and new clips for the trim on the tail gate 

 

I started with centre caps as the wheels had some weird looking caps on them 

 

Pulled the caps out to find that they had used what look like an old spray can lid with a Peugeot sticker on them?! Who does that! 

 

 

New caps look 10 times better 

 

 

Once these were fitted I removed the badges on the back. They just looked tired. As I suspected the clips were pretty much Brown dust 

 

I removed all the left over sticker pad and put the new clips on 

 

 

Next was to put the badges on, looks loads better on the back now. Just need some new light clusters I think. 

 

 

With all that done I git around to putting the m8 bolt back in the inlet manifold. 

 

 

The car runs better now but also idle’s about 1500rpm now! Bugger 

 

wrapped it up for the night as I have no more parts to fit, the mrs then decided to take it out for a spin, she’s now moaning her leg hurts from the heavy clutch haha! 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Porter87

[jackherer 543]

That gear rod definitely needs changing! I wouldn't bother with a quickshift though, get everything else working first. You need to make sure all the bolts are tight, mainly the ones going onto the subframe as they tend to go loose and make the gearshift feel awful. Once it's all tight see how you feel about a quickshift then. If you still want to try one you can make your own with a 50p balljoint and a drill.

 

If your idle has gone up the bolt isn't sealing up right, what was in there before?

 

Those hubcaps are hilarious, I can see why you changed them

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Those hub caps are some of the funniest pug related randomness I've ever seen! Brilliant and also very crap.

[Porter87 18]

10 hours ago, jackherer said:

That gear rod definitely needs changing! I wouldn't bother with a quickshift though, get everything else working first. You need to make sure all the bolts are tight, mainly the ones going onto the subframe as they tend to go loose and make the gearshift feel awful. Once it's all tight see how you feel about a quickshift then. If you still want to try one you can make your own with a 50p balljoint and a drill.

 

If your idle has gone up the bolt isn't sealing up right, what was in there before?

 

Those hubcaps are hilarious, I can see why you changed them

 I'll check the bolts are tight when the linkages come, they are on a 2 week back order from miles at the mo.  the bolt wasn't in there before and idled ok, I'm guessing the previous owner had set it up without the bolt in?  it was such a hard decision to get rid of the centre caps

 

10 hours ago, Telf said:

Those hub caps are some of the funniest pug related randomness I've ever seen! Brilliant and also very crap.

I honestly could believe them when I pull them out the wheels! best thing each cap was a different lid haha!  stuck in with silicone

 

 

I'm just about to order some wishbones, drop Links, tie rod ends, top mounts, anti roll bar bushes and engine mounts to give the front end a tighten up. looking at GSF for the parts (wishbone, drop links, tie rod ends) is it worth the extra cash these guys charge? wishbones coming in at around £110 each, where I've seen some for around £50 but I want the quality. Cheers

 

[Porter87 18]

Just a quick update ive managed to find a discount code and got the wishbones, drop links and tie rods ends for £161.92 delivered. Good stuff! now for top mounts and engine mounts.

 

I also need two drive shafts do you know the best place to get them from? I keep finding horror stories about rubbish shafts, wrong chamfer, too long ect...

 

Cheers

[welshpug 1,657]

best bet on shafts is oem or gkn, both aren't so easy to find these days.

 

if its just the boots then do them, as the oem joints do last a very long time, notwithstanding lack of lubrication from perished/damaged boots.

 

stick to brands like gkn, corteco, glaser, possibly one or two others I would trust, 100% avoid anything that is an universal stretch fit even if listed for the vehicle.

[Porter87 18]

38 minutes ago, welshpug said:

best bet on shafts is oem or gkn, both aren't so easy to find these days.

 

if its just the boots then do them, as the oem joints do last a very long time, notwithstanding lack of lubrication from perished/damaged boots.

 

stick to brands like gkn, corteco, glaser, possibly one or two others I would trust, 100% avoid anything that is an universal stretch fit even if listed for the vehicle.

Thanks WelshPug,

 

I've got some serious knocking coming from the front now so I'm not sure if I can salvage them. I'll be on the hunt for some GKN or OEM shafts now. Cheers

 

While I'm on does anyone know where I can find a bumper? only thing I've found is some reproductions ones from either France or Portugal  

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

I bought a pair of new shafts for my 1.6 GTI from J&R in Birmingham, been on there 5 years now, no issues, even with the odd emergency start! My only minor complaint was that they came in bare steel finish, so I primed and painted them black so they didn't go manky.

[Porter87 18]

1 hour ago, Tom Fenton said:

I bought a pair of new shafts for my 1.6 GTI from J&R in Birmingham, been on there 5 years now, no issues, even with the odd emergency start! My only minor complaint was that they came in bare steel finish, so I primed and painted them black so they didn't go manky.

Great stuff cheer, They're a good price too!

[SootySport 23]

I was a bit wary of the JR driveshafts but at £40 each I might just go ahead and buy a pair.

[Porter87 18]

41 minutes ago, SootySport said:

I was a bit wary of the JR driveshafts but at £40 each I might just go ahead and buy a pair.

I’ve read a few bad google reviews, I’m not sure still

[Porter87 18]

A small update nothing major as I’m waiting on parts 

 

decided to replace the old scabby keys I got with the car (only got one set) 

 

before 

 

 

After 

 

 

Only cost me £15 to get four keys cut at timpsons, I didn’t think that was too bad. 

 

My owners manual pack arrived, I’m a bit of a sucker for stuff like this 

 

 

Also the radio never worked so I pulled it out to see what was going off, I need to do a bit more research before I tackle this haha! I want to put an original cassette player back in if I can find one

 

 

Gear linkages, bushes and L bracket should arrive next week. I’m looking forward to not stirring porridge every time I want to change gear haha

 

i just need to order some anti roll bar bushes, top mount rubbers and decide on b6 or group n Bilsteins now

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Keys, get hold of Colin, he can re tumble your locks so they all work off one key.

 

Original tape player, honestly, don’t waste your time or money. The sound to modern stands is awful. Unless it’s a true concours car. 

[Porter87 18]

53 minutes ago, Tom Fenton said:

Keys, get hold of Colin, he can re tumble your locks so they all work off one key.

 

Original tape player, honestly, don’t waste your time or money. The sound to modern stands is awful. Unless it’s a true concours car. 

That sounds like a plan! All door locks and petrol cap are the same key, it’s just the ignition. How do I go about getting in touch? 

 

Ill try try a stereo to see if it’s just the head unit that is knackered. I’ve found a original plug on the bay, is it worth soldering the original plug back on and buying a conversion lead? 

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Colin is Leet205 on here.

stereo wise if you want my honest opinion buy an iso plug kit off eBay and crimp that onto the 205 loom, then plug in a modern stereo. The originals are now expensive to get hold of but still s*ite.

[Porter87 18]

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 7:14 AM, Tom Fenton said:

Colin is Leet205 on here.

stereo wise if you want my honest opinion buy an iso plug kit off eBay and crimp that onto the 205 loom, then plug in a modern stereo. The originals are now expensive to get hold of but still s*ite.

Thanks Tom, I'll get the multi meter out to see if its the stereo that's broke or something to do with the wiring

 

whilst I'm on I've found myself pondering over getting a set of 1.6 gti alloys back on the car, ive always been a massive fan of the 1.9 wheels but something is just tempting me to put the original wheels back on..... what do you guys think?

[MrAndy 10]

I think that 1.6 needs 1.6 wheels also.

 

-A-

[Porter87 18]

I had a drive to work it the 205 today, love every minute although it does need tightening up. Top mount bushes arrived today although I’m dubious that they are correct. Gear linkages and bushes will arrive next week, thats when the fun will start 

 

 

  

[MrStock 5]

looks good! I drive mine everyday to work, and i enjoy every second.

[Porter87 18]

Wired up the original red plug connection for the radio today, just waiting on the stereo to turn up now 

 

 

also removed the limited edition goodwood fuse box clip and replaced it with a original 

 

 

And replaced the  top hat hose connection thing to the AFM as my old one had seen better days 

 

 

Gear linkages arrived, just waiting on bushes and short shift. That’s the next task. 

 

[Porter87 18]

My gear linkages, short shift and bushes arrived today! Happy days. Just got to get around to fitting them now. Any tips for removing the L bracket would be greatly appreciated 

 

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

It just unbolts from a recessed bolt accessed from the underneath of the subframe