[trackday_prep] 205 Gti Track/fun Car Build

[jtek 0]

Well I have probably done this in exactly the wrong way, taking pictures as I go along and finally uploading them in a big pile, but seeing as the car is currently in probably it's heaviest state of disassembly, there is lots to still be done, so I will try and keep it updated from here

 

Base Car- 1989 1.6 GTI non sunroof, 130k

Brief- Build a car that will be strong/fun enough to last me a few years of sillyness, whilst on a budget (running a daily car and trying to get on the property ladder as well you see)

Spec Before the summer- Group N engine mounts, polybushes, braided brake lines, fairly stripped interior, Group N gear Rods, Gaz adjustables, 1.9 hubs and shafts, 266mm 306 HDi calipers and discs, 306 S16 MC

 

It started like this-

Went to this-

During this time the car was run as a daily drive at uni, but that finished in June, and the car was taken off the road due to a new job meaning that I would need a more serious daily hack. Over the summer, I decided to get a cage and floor bars in-

Stripped completely, and a bit of angle grinder love

Floor Bars and sill plates fitted (Way OTT I know but the steel was offered to me for next to nothing )

Floor painted with Black Hammerite, here I learned I can't paint. At all. But it's a functional job and it works. Oh and the cage feet were in by this point

Weldstig

Deciding how much of the dash I actually wanted to keep was tricky

'Step away from the touch up pen!'

So that has to fit in there. Right.

[jtek 0]

Job done. Ready to be driven up to its new home.

In the new crib with all of the horrendously large spiders

It was here I noticed some surface rust, luckily nothing too severe, so this was to be the first port of call with the engine out

Then, the morning after the night before, I decided it would be a clever idea to take the engine and gearbox out. Without breaking anything. Except maybe myself.

So close, but the inlet manifold was just restricting taking it out.

Job done.

Rust treated

Putting the first thing back in the car for ages.

Front Gaz coilovers to replace the fixed height Gaz adjustables that were all round

 

Although I have no pictures of the rest of the work, the loom, fuel lines, and MC is out along with the front brake lines to have some new ones made up.

 

Remaining work-

Get Engine

Get LSD and 1.9 BE3 box, and clutch pedal

Fit braided fuel lines

Fit battery in back

Get hold of Whiteline 'add-on' rear ARB (if they still make them?)

Sort out some rear harness points for some 4 point harnesses and fit second seat

Get stupid sheered wheel bolt out of hub

Fit the whole lot and go and have some fun!

 

Target is to have it done by sometime in the spring, but that may not quite happen.

 

Sorry for the lack of great detail so far, all of the fiddly stuff is coming up though, so I shall try to keep this updated! Thanks for reading.

[jtek 0]

A quick update, unfortunately i am still using my crap phone camera but you get the idea

 

Xsara VTS engine is here, I have stripped all of the belts off and the FEAD bracket to decide what I want to do with that. Exhaust manifold is off and will be re-angled (By an Ex-F1 manifold welder i believe ) in the new year. Tracking down a water distribution block also, just need to find coolant pipes to suit this aswell, and figure out the best way to make the engine dodge the MC also.

New and Old-

 

205 and Xsara engine looms, Christmas is going to be fun

 

If anyone has any measurements to suitably re-angle the manifold then I would be glad to hear!

Edited December 17, 2008 by jtek

[jtek 0]

Right, went down to GSF yesterday with a big shopping list and got most bits I need. Good. Then there was today. Bad. It was one of those days where I really should have just stayed in bed. It started well, degreased the front of the block and tidied most bits off, got the flywheel off and changed the crank seal at that end. Then went to the other end of the engine and did this:

Not good, seeing as GTI-6's like to throw cambelts at any chance I figured it would be asking for trouble to put it back in like that. Anyway one is now in the post from a fellow forum member now. Being christmas that could slow progress a fair bit but s**t happens. and about 4 minutes later it happened again.

Taking the oil seal ring off at that end I managed to drop its woodruff key into the sump. Seeing as I don't currently have an engine stand, taking the sump off is going to be tricky. Could this be the saviour?

99p, I love Wilko. Tomorrow I shall probably spend silly amounts of time effing around with this to no avail but we shall see. Also I am thinking of ways to get rid of this-

Besides that I have been doing some research into the wiring side of things, which admittedly won't be done until the engine is in the car, but I wanted to get my head around it. See this here.

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=99041

[Craigo 0]

looks quality mate, keep us updated!

[projectpug 0]

Looking sweet good work!

[jtek 0]

Time for an update I think. After a week of tracking down bits I could finally put them all together over the past few days. The Quaife ATB went into the 1.9 BE3 box, and swiftly onto the engine. All of the tomfoolery with the broken belt pulley was sorted (Thanks Turbosam!) and the engine was ready to go in-

 

I borrowed an engine crane with the intention of just test fitting the engine to sort out the MC clearance and Manifold Re-angle. The engine and box went in with that usual blend of chaos and near death experience, but all in all it was fairly quick. When standing back and admiring our work, my friend who was lending a hand mentioned taking out the subframe instead of constantly buggering around with a crane. Bingo, 7 bolts later i had all the access i need, and I actually find the engine easier to work on now then it was on the floor. Laughing. For now anyway.

 

Of course, the initial clearances were an issue, the MC being the first port of call-

 

Two fairly decent sized spacers were placed on the bottom two bolts of the servo and a bit of angle grinder love later and there was a bit a more space (Not sure why the photo has that 'wedding glow')-

 

Still not sure if this is quite enough, and the cambelt cover has been mauled to make up the clearance but we shall see.

Then I started playing around with a few coolant pipes, seeing what I need to buy and what I could put together with the God-send £2.41 B&Q table legs. I'm all for doing the perfect job but these thermostat adaptors seem to be price a bit steep, so I though I would see what I could do with the current pipes. I ended up doing this-

 

The only issue with that is I can't tell if that thermostat is molded into that pipe or whether i can just swap it out for a new one. It seems to be stuck fairly hard, and I fancy changing it. Anyway, this is the cooling circuit I will be using, with my 1.9 D-turbo Water distribution block (Thanks Spiky) I will be blocking off one port with a bung from Peugeot, 0245 16 I think. The header tank will probably be bunged with the end of a broken screwdriver or something-

 

I have chosen to keep the metal pipe in the equation as all of these rubber hoses near an exhaust manifold make me nervous. One final thought. Peugeot may claim to be a 'green manufacturer', what with all their FAP's and stuff, but they could afford to be a bit more efficient with packaging-

 

Tomorrow I am going to buy a few more bits and start the wiring. If anyone wants to prevent me from setting myself on fire then I could do with someone who's done it before looking over my wiring thread.

Cheers.

[platty 1]

Nice work, one thing I have found, go to Citroen to buy engine parts/gaskets, they are cheaper than Peugeot!

[Craigo 0]

looking great, keep up the hard work!!