205 Trio, long term hillclimb project

[kee 22]

Evening all, been a while since I've been in the car fettling game but I'm back into it and picked up a very very basic 205 trio. Found on Facebook marketplace and still with MOT so snapped it up. Bodywork is tatty but it's covered only 57k miles since 1991, being own by an old boy in sefton for the last 30 years and garaged. Looks solid enough almost everywhere. 

 

Long term plans is to get it hillclimbing with a 1.9xu and all the associated improvements. For now it'll be strip down, probably remove the engine and box - 954cc TU - then get the loose dirt off the whole thing and sort out the rust. Then it'll be onto rebuild from that point, and collecting all the bits. No doubt I'll have questions, owned a Rallye in the past but never done this to a 205 (I did practically fully rebuild a MK1 fiesta though). 

 

 

[kee 22]

Finally actually started doing some work on it this weekend too. I had thought about sorting the suspension out, it's awful to drive as is, and pottering around with the little TU. A spot of mayo in the filler cap hints at head gasket, though probably just condensation as it's not done many miles when it was driven. 

Any excuse, time to start stripping it apart. 

 

Of course the bumper brackets under the wing crumbled in my hands. I don't really know why I need these for what I'll be doing, but undoing that nut on the wing is proving to be a pain! Inner wing side sheared off too

[Leslie green 116]

Nice little car that looks like it has the green seatbelts too , cut the nuts for the bumpers or you will bust the bumpers once they spin round .

[kee 22]

It's got all but the drivers green seatbelt. But I won't be needing that eventually. 

Little bit of work done this morning, attacked the bumper nuts with a Dremel and got them off. One of the front bolts managed to snap too, rusty rusty. But the front panel looks ok, mostly little patches of surface rust which I'll clean up and paint over. 

 

[kee 22]

Bitta work done recently. 

Removed seats, carpets and had a nosey in the rear 1/4s. Previous owner lived by the sea and mainly used this for taking his dog to the beach. As a result, it stinks and has a LOT of dog hair and sand, so working on cleaning it all up.  Floor is absolutely solid everywhere. Passenger rear 1/4 has some rot though. 

 

Seats are going as is the carpet, not needed for the future of this car. Back seats are tatty but need to keep them. Ultimately I may end up getting proper seat mounts but for now I'm keeping the seat rails just in case. 

[kee 22]

Also done a bit on the front panel, cleaned and primed. Only rattle can, as long as there's no rust it doesn't matter. 

 

Currently I'm contemplating putting a turbo on little 954 as an exercise in learning about turbo systems and also just because. 

Edited August 18, 2024 by kee

[Leslie green 116]

Floor looks mint on it