[Project] Starting My Xu5T Build

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Well the engine is fine, shame I can't say the same about the gearbox, on the way to watch the Dukeries 5th gear seems not to be there any more!!

 

I've yet to investigate and have the girlfriends mother here tonight, first plan of attack is to pop off the end cover and see what is what, there were no nasty noises though, it just seemed to pop out of gear, seems to engage back in, but no drive.

 

Other than that though, we've had a good day out today with Allans supercharged Mi, Henrys skip, Matts GTI6 and Calvins 405 Mi. The little 1600T did itself proud, it sounds fantastic from the inside on full chat, I'll have to get my mate to do a run past me on full chat as I'd love to hear what it sounds like!

[wracing 19]

i have been out in this today, all i can say is... very impressed, its a real drivable car its about as sleeper as you could get a 1.6gti to be. very impressive effort from tom, quick handles well and stops what more could you want!

 

thanks mate!

 

james

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Well I've mended 5th gear....for now. How long it lasts though is another matter.

205T by Tom Fenton, on Flickr]

 

Wot no splines??

 

205T by Tom Fenton, on Flickr

 

Wot no threads??

 

Strange thing is this box came out of this car, having been in use until it came off the road, the box then came out onto the garage floor, had the diff fitted, and now is back in the car.

[Cameron 16]

Nice!

That'll be all those extra torques.

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

I think that nut must have been loose for a while, and probably those splines were already on the way out, and then as you say, the extra torque has finished off the job....!

[danpug 1]

How does it compare acceleration-wise to say an mi16 or gti6 205?

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Its just a completely different delivery to be honest, from the torque figures its obvious to anyone that it isn't going to hang about, whether its ultimately faster than a Mi or GTi6 I wouldn't like to say, although I guess it might be just from having 20-odd bhp more and plenty torque.

Allan in his supercharged Mi16 and I had a squirt or two on Saturday, I don't know how much beans he was using, but he can probably judge how it goes better than me at the moment? Henry was following in his turbo skip and did call us both "bastards" at one point!

Edited June 15, 2009 by Tom Fenton

[danpug 1]

Ok thanks. Great result.

[M@tt 77]

and i was following Henry and referred to them all as "a complete bunch of bastards" as there was no way i was keeping with any of them up in my standard GTI6 when they all put their foot down!!

 

Thank god calvin was there in his 405 Mi16 3 up otherwise i would have gone home in tears

[Rippthrough 98]

I'd better not go out for a drive with you lot then or I'm gonna be sat at the side of the road crying

[lemmingzappa 75 1 Cars]

Just read this entire thread and your work is fantastic !

 

 

What I want to know is how you've managed to stop your downpipe from knocking against the gear rod in 1st and 2nd.

 

If you compare both our pictures, my manifold is in a similar position, but it grinds and knocks in the first couple of gears... mainly when turning.

I've been told I could try uprating all the engine mounts, but i'm not so handy when it comes to engine work so I'm afraid to try it !

(another suggestion was to actually bend the gear rod but I dont know if that's a good idea).

 

 

Edited June 16, 2009 by lemmingzappa

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Its close, but not touching is all I can say really. If you think about it you maybe have a cluster of 4 off maybe 1 3/4" pipes, I just have a single 2.5". Your cluster is a physically larger thing than mine, hence probably why you have an issue and I am getting away with it. For what its worth I would try moving the gear rod pivot across a bit by redrilling the hole and moving the (attached with a nut) pivot over. However if you do this you would also probably need to alter the gear cross rods length to even it all out.

 

Anyway, the mods continue on my car. It runs ever so slightly warmer than I would like, turning the heater on and the temp drops down to a nice point, so its not a terminal problem and just requires a bit more heat transfer out of the rad. The standard car is quite good at sealing the various gaps in the front up with the fan cowl to make the majority of the air go through the rad. My car with the lowered rad leaves a whopping great gap behind the grille where all the air can go over the top of the rad, see pic

 

205T by Tom Fenton, on Flickr

 

So I decided to make a bit of a plate to fill the hole and duct the air into the rad, all was going nicely until I blew two holes in it, oh well its not especially visible.

 

205T by Tom Fenton, on Flickr

 

So this is it fitted, hopefully it may make some difference, if it does I may make its twin for the other side. As always its not visible from the outside

 

205T by Tom Fenton, on Flickr

[taylorspug 7]

Funnily enough im about to make some similar pieces to channel air for my car, aswell as possibly a heatshield for underneath the filter.

[lemmingzappa 75 1 Cars]

Your cluster is a physically larger thing than mine, hence probably why you have an issue and I am getting away with it. For what its worth I would try moving the gear rod pivot across a bit by redrilling the hole and moving the (attached with a nut) pivot over. However if you do this you would also probably need to alter the gear cross rods length to even it all out.

 

Are the 'cross' rods the shorter ones which run sideways rather than lengthways along the car ?

 

If so I have the full adjustable kit from miles so i'm guessing I should be ok ?

[Baz 421]

Only just caught up with the thread, awesome result Tom, surprised me as i was in the 170ish bhp guestimation camp!

 

Judging by the graph the torque's delivered very nicely rather than being quite peaky as i'd have expected, probably makes it alot more drivable in any condition?!

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Its fair to say I'm pleased with it, its certainly nice and driveable, and will also quite happy pootle about at slow speeds without being too highly strung and tempramental, off boost it is just the same really as it was before, it just has the boost there "if needed"!

Went out two up earlier for my mate to have a ride, ended up following an Astra VXR, was pleasantly suprised to be able to keep up quite well, until matey started pulling stupid overtaking manoevers so then let him go. However I bet he had rather a shock that the old 205 was staying with him!

[24seven 104]

haha, good stuff! this thread's been a good read, and the outcome is impressive, quite a bit more than I was expecting it to make considering the whole build is nice and modest.

[Mark205 1]

Does the 406 sri turbo exhaust manifold fit the 1.9 8 valve head.

 

What did you use on yours Tom.

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

Yes, it does:

 

http://www.205gtidrivers.com/articles/e1-gti19turbo1.html

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

Allan in his supercharged Mi16 and I had a squirt or two on Saturday, I don't know how much beans he was using, but he can probably judge how it goes better than me at the moment? Henry was following in his turbo skip and did call us both "bastards" at one point!

 

I'd love to be able to say that my 205 would urinate all over toms........... in fact, f*** it I will. "mine will piss all over yours tom" seriously though, joking aside its a very quick motor and was by no means holding me up when we decided to 'press on a little', even lacking a fifth gear!!!.

As always very immpressive work from tom and hes really hit the nail on the head and made an excellent, fun useable road car. hats off to you sir

 

Hopefully you can take me for a run out next time tom. al

 

P.S the exhaust note under boost is awesome and as for the rear stance

Edited June 19, 2009 by allanallen

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Yes matey no probs I'll have to let you have a go in it. I went out with a mate of mine the other day and got him to drive it past me, it does sound bloody excellent from the outside, it makes just the kind of noise I hoped it would from hearing other turbo cars in the past.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

Yes matey no probs I'll have to let you have a go in it. I went out with a mate of mine the other day and got him to drive it past me, it does sound bloody excellent from the outside, it makes just the kind of noise I hoped it would from hearing other turbo cars in the past.

 

 

excellent f***in juicer ay!!!

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

I think I might christen this f**kin bad boy bloody juicer two isn't it, who's coat is that jacket??

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I think I might christen this f**kin bad boy bloody juicer two isn't it, who's coat is that jacket??

PMSL! Get some tinfoil on your clocks as that will sort your rev counter out!

 

As Al said, the stance at the back is huge, and as for you saying you were trying to keep the exhaust note quiet... bo11ocks!! I could hear it over Als car, and that howls like a coyote with its foot in a bear trap!

 

0.5 bar is just not enough for me now. 1.1 seems to be the future!

 

Interesting that you are making this power on the "poor" design PSA T25 turbo on the "bad design" exhaust manifold! as James R said, it is the torque delivery that is superb for a road car and that makes it fun and fast. People forget that the XM was badged a 2.0 CT because of its "Constant Torque".

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Well it should have been quiet, twin silencer system plus there is the turbo to take some of the noise out. It must have been horrendous on an NA car before I got my hands on it! Good job I didn't junk the centre exhaust box really, as I got very close to doing so at one point.....

 

I'm also pleased to report that the air deflection plate above the radiator seems to be doing a sterling job, sits just that bit lower on the gauge now, although I have to say that I went for a run the other day with the laptop plugged in, and it seems the gauge is reading higher than maybe expected- 4th line on the gauge is about 80 degrees, not excessive at all.