[project] 205 Mi32 Project - The Twin Mi16 Engined 205

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

 

well, it was about time i started a radical project really .

 

 

the project is now well under way, but i've really not had any spare time to properly post about it,

but now the time has come and i will quickly bring you back up to spec as the cold weather is not

really allowing for any serious work to be carried on the car anymore. i am going to present the

work in a few seperate phases as it has been / will be done in.

 

i am not going to hide "the juicy details" and things that have had a lot of mental energy put into, in order

to make it harder for other people to replicate. instead, i'm going to show every single documented step

to inspire and make it easier for anyone interested in doing the same type of project in the future!

 

 

first a little bit of background - the car started life as a 1987 205 1.6 GTI, my father bought it in 1997

after years and years of us daydreaming of having a 205 GTI one day . after a while when we got

used to the performance, we were sad it was only a 1.6 and not a stronger 1.9. but since i bought a 1.9

to replace my 1.6 (that we also got in 1998 or 1999) and after seeing a dutch story on Mi16 conversion,

we sat our heart on the Mi16. we had finally found a good engine and did the swap in the late 2000 (iirc).

 

the next logical step was to start using the car properly, which meant stripping it out, installing a custom

roll cage in, upgrading the brakes to the large 283mm Xsara VTS setup, replacing 205's suspension with

a complete set of 309 GTI's and only making a short gearbox with custom ratios. father then started

racing in hillclimb and trackracing championship as well as autoslaloms in 2002.

 

to cut the story short, after several years of actively participating in nearly every race and wining quite

a few trophies, that excercise had to come to the end, in 2005. we were left with a car that had seen

better days and needed a lot of work to be brought back up to it's former glory.

 

at the same time, the local StreetRace (drag racing) scene had started actively developing and got our

attention, so after some (read: a lot!) of thoughts and discussion, we came to a conclusion that our

205 Mi16 would be a perfect candidate... for something radical! it came down to an idea i've had about

5 years ago - the twin engine setup! back then it sounded really stupid and impossible and made me think

Turbo + 4wd was the way to go (hence why i got my 405 T16) but in early 2006 we started thinking about

the twin engine conversion very seriously!

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

Phase 1: Rear End Reconstruction

 

 

it took us a few months to carefully think of all the aspects of this conversion. apart from the obvious

conclusion that it's a massive amount of work, what was worrying us the most was would it work correctly

at all, as we had heard various stories. however, since over the years a few twin-engined cars had been

successfully construced in various parts of the world, ours would have to work ok too.

 

 

then we decided to check if it's actually possible to perform such a conversion on the little 205, so we took

lots of measurements, but most importantly - i created this concept by stitching several images (to get as

linear view as possible) and copying the front engine and suspension to the rear, while also try to visualize

the other elements, such as backboxes:

 

 

this showed us that, although it would be a tight squeeze, it would be possible to do it.

 

 

then we spent some time thinking of what's the best way to do it in terms of rear end construction.

after carefully examining pics of all the twin engine conversions we could find on the web, looking at the

good ideas and also mistakes other people had done, the two main options we ended up were a completely

new half-spaceframed rear end or a front end of another 205 insterted into the rear of our's, each with it's

positive and negative points:

 

- spaceframe would be easier to construct as we could do it exactly the way it suits us. but we'd also had

to get all the suspension and engine mounting exactly right.

 

- on the other hand, front end solution would be a lot trickier to carry through and strengthen, but all the

said mounting are there and ready to be used, plug & play.

 

in the end we decided on the later option purely as it would be a pretty much OE-looking solution.

 

 

from then on it was all systems go and luckily a local scrappy had just got a mint 205 XS in for breaking

very soon after. too soon though as we were yet to arrange where / by whom to get the welding work done!

the front end was promply chopped off and paid for though and about a month later it was time to get it

transported to the welder's place along with the car.

 

 

we've had a few moments to rethink the whole situation and limit the damage, but we decided to stay on course .

 

 

the process shall begin!

 

 

to follow the story, go to the 205 Mi32 Phase 1 Gallery where i've just uploaded 50 pics (for now, soon to upload more),

with descriptions that form a nice story. it's now up to the point where the 205 looses it's shopping cargo abillity .

 

 

 

stay tuned .

[Hilgie 16 2 Cars]

Very cool project!!! Well done

[huxley309 0]

Ooh nice, wonder how the front end will fit, this would be perfect for a 309 with it's ample bootspace

 

Damn it's tempting, ive been itching to get my hands dirty after finding the mi16 conversion a doddle

 

Most definetly keep us posted and good luck

Edited November 8, 2006 by huxley309

[Jonmurgie 2]

, can't believe your chopping upi YOUR 205... I suppose that's comitment for you and well done for giving something crazy a go!

[Alastairh 47]

Nice one mate. Keep up the work

[James_m 0]

Such a big project to undertake :thumbsupsmiliewedonthave: good luck with it!

And cool logo/avatar

[tom_m 0]

mmm 320bhp and all wheel drive, sounds like fun!

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

Nice one, you kept this quiet.

 

I'm just waiting for the "Fit phase2 rear lights" though.

 

It'll certainly be an interesting project, are you going to use the XS front bulkhead as the rear panel on the project?

 

Graham.

[skeggyrik 3]

I can't wait to see this one progress. I like the fact you've got started before letting anyone in on the project, no banding the idea about for a months. You are straight in with " look at the big hole in the back of my 205"

 

I hope it goes well, excellent stuff.

 

 

Rich

[NOsMAN 10 1 Cars]

Looking great The speed you working at it will be done by next week

[tom_m 0]

lots of lovely cactus's

 

*cacti*

 

*unless you meant posessive, in which case cactus' *

 

*and cactus' what?*

 

[Martin@PRD 0]

Yay! Fanstatic! Im so Glad someone else is looking further past ther own nose, about time there is some serious peugeots being modified.

 

Loads of questions

 

I take it this wide arch Kit I'm supplying you is for this project?

 

Are you going to go with cable operated Gearlinkages?

 

Where are you planning to install the raditors and Fuel tank?

 

 

Hope you like welding!

 

All the best

[sonofsam 5]

WOW! This is going to be class And a very impressive Title you have there

 

Hope all goes well

[findlay 0]

Cool I'll keep an eye on this one

[Baz 421]

Oooh!! Proper project!! Good work!!

[Paintguy 0]

Wow!

 

Impressive start, and an ambitious project. The best of luck with it, and keep the updates rolling in

[Edp 67 3 Cars]

f***stick that looks impressive, a proper project!

 

like said keep us updated with plenty of decent pictures!

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I like the fact you've got started before letting anyone in on the project, no banding the idea about for a months.

Im so Glad someone else is looking further past ther own nose, about time there is some serious peugeots being modified.

 

Couldn't agree with the quotes any more! Just when things were getting stagnent, out pops Nik with the angle grinder! We just have to get it to Santa Pod to run against Martin's car when finished!

[huckleberry 0]

I didn't know they started building 206s in 1987 already in Banja Luca

 

Very nice project!

 

Tim

[boombang 2]

Like it!

 

One big question - how are you sorting the rear engine turning the wheels the right way?

[inferno 1]

Quality start to a mental moter there! would be intrested more in how you plan on keeping the engines in sync, but as far as the engine bay in the boot, imo thats the only way a rear engine car should be built, i dont like the whole space frame setup,too much room for error for my liking!

 

Keep the piccys coming!

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

I'll watch this one too - very impressed. Should be a b&stard of a fast motor!

 

Incidently, at a recent Pug owner curry night I suggested that, IF I won that whopping £100million Euromillions lottery thingy, then I would attempt to commission Prodrive and Noble to help create a twin (flat 8!) subaru STi engined Noble - that would/could be an awesome, mid-engined, 4x4 quad turbo 800bhp uber vehicle n'est pas?? Quite feasible too.

 

Good luck Cybernck - P.S. I spent 6 months in Banja Luka in 1999-2000, I think you cut me up once

 

DrS

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

huxley> yeah i think a 309 would have been a better choice due to it's extra length.

 

 

jon> if you read the first post you'll see that it was a perfect shell for the project really.

 

and having had a front mi16 engine already installed, there was less work to do.

 

 

pugtorque> i think the lights might stay ph1 on this one (clear).

 

 

skeggyrik> well i didn't want to even have a remote chance of becoming one of those

who "talk the talk, but can't walk the walk". rather, i decided to actually start the job

and then start writing about it.

 

 

boombang> eh? the bay and engine are going in the "right way", not reversed .

 

 

inferno> they get sync'd automatically, helping eachother. like when someone helps

you push your broken 205 - it gets easier and you've no objections, don't you?

 

 

drsarty> lol, are you serious about cutting up?

 

 

thanks for all the comments - updates coming in very soon!

[Guest pim]

verry nice project ill be following this:)