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Long time lurker here. Over the last eleven years, I’ve been slowly restoring a 1.9 GTI that I’ve finally finished this summer (are they ever truly finished?). The 205GTIDrivers forum has been invaluable throughout – there’s been an answer here to every problem and question I’ve had – so here’s a heartfelt thank you to all who’ve posted and answered because I don’t think I could’ve done it without you. So I thought I’d share the restoration and some photos to give something back. I’ll break the story into parts so I don’t overload you but let’s begin with a bit of background… Probably like many of you, I decided to buy a 205 because my dad had one when I was a kid, a red 1.6 GTI that was one of the first sold in the UK and that he claimed had previously been owned by the producer of the TV soap Crossroads (not sure about that – he rarely let the truth get in the way of a good story). It was his favourite car he ever owned and I loved it too. It seems it was scrapped in 2011 but, if you fancy a laugh, look up how many miles the DVLA says it had on it then. My plan was to find a 205 that I could work on. I’m personally not into show cars where everything’s polished to infinity but prefer the look of a survivor, a car that’s in great condition yet can be used because function has been prioritised over form – I’d rather have several layers of rust prevention than be able to eat of it. I also wanted to do as much of the work myself, only outsourcing the jobs I really couldn’t or shouldn’t do. I’d previously done up a Series IIA Land Rover and helped a garage with the restoration of an Audi so I wasn’t completely green but, all the same, I knew I’d need to learn a huge amount. But that was half the point. The car I found was essentially a non-runner – it had no current MoT and plenty of advisories on its last, wouldn’t start and, when it eventually did, immediately ran out of fuel. But, being a 1988 non-sunroof phase 1.5 1.9, it was what I wanted and, well, I was looking for one to restore. I bought it without having driven it… or any 205! It was December 2012. My Dad's 205 The one I bought

Hey guys. I’m about to put back the heater matrix unit into the car. when I took it out there was a pipe that had been cut off coming out of the bulkhead into engine bay. This pipe goes on the back of the heater unit ( not the 2 matrix pipes) just need to no where the pipe goes so I can get one ordered! many thanks

Did someone try GTI/CTI wheels on a 205 GL 1.1L? What are the consequences on handling and fuel consumption? Thank you

Hi, I have recently bought a 1.9 205 GTI. It is in very good condition but has been modified away from factory spec and I want to get it back to factory spec. The exhaust system is very loud and I hate it. Can anyone please tell me where I can get a standard exhaust system for a 1.9? It is a late model, 1989, G plate. Phase 1.5. Thanks

Anyone know what this sensor at the back (towards firewall) of the engine (1.9 Gti) is? Where are the connectors, wires likely to be? Any help greatly appreciated!

Hey, maybe someone could help me with a Problem that i have till months now and which i cant handle. I have Check Engine light from time to time on, and it readed the Fault Codes, it says 2 Errors about Throttle Position Sensor. I buyed 2 new and screwed them on, but that changes nothing. I installed it as in Haynes told and it changes nothing. Finally i drove it with disconnected TPS and that too changes nothing. Car runs very good, Idle is very good. Someone has an Idea? Its an 1991 205 GTI 1,9 DKZ.

Hi. I've come to you guys for help. My car ( 1993 205 GTI 1.9) started perfect the other day. I went to my house for 15 minutes, then when i walked down again and fired it up, it started running rough, like if it was on three cylinders, and started blowing a lot of white smoke from the exhaust pipe, especially when i gave it some gas. The only thing I did was: - Change the battery. - Change the HT leads. I suspected it might be that the leads are in the wrong order. I know Firing in this engine is 1-3-4-2. I've looked other 205 gti's and put the cables the way they have it, and it starts again, but same problem. (In other order the car doesn't start) I was wondering if anyone of you guys eventually had a problem like this and know of any solutions for this problem. - ¿Anyone has the order in which lead cables go into the dizzy cap? I have the orange dizzy cap. - ¿What can be the problem? i'm really desperate right now. I have a Video, but can't attach it. Anyone? Thanks

Hi Can anyone help me with the bolt torque/tightening specifications for my 205GTI especially the flywheel bolts, but if some one knows where to find the all engine specs it would be of help.

Dear All, Well, it's taken me a while, but I have finally managed to lay my hands on a nice 'Cherry Red' (currently orange!), phase 2 GTI. She runs pretty nicely (although the idle is lumpy - nothing a good clean out won't sort), and she's just shy of 100,000 miles, so not bad! Unfortunately, she's been defiled by a baseball cap wearing boy racer, and has a few, less than original modifications. Namely: Stupid jet nozzle exhaust back box. Ridiculous myopic eye headlights. Perspex sunroof bubble! An abundance of carbon fibre effect vinyl, and to top it all off, An invincible class aircraft carrier ski jump spoiler, cunningly fashioned from foam rubber and sikaflexed onto the rear hatch (I curse you for that!) I now plan to strip her down (removing all of the abominations), give her a general tidy up. and get her a full respray. The only mods will be the triple air-horn and klaxon out of my now defunct GTX (god only knows where I'm going to put them!) and a modest CD player. Here's some pictures. She actually looks much tidier in these shots than up close (but it was an incredible day today!) Can anyone tell me the story behind this type of reflective boot trim? Obviously it's very different from the more common black slatted type, but does it have any significance? I can't decide whether I like it, and as the bloody stupid spoiler is going to be such a bitch to remove, I did wonder whether it would be easier just to switch the entire tailgate for another? Is this sacrilegious, opinions please!? And look at this abomination! There's a bit of rust forming around the rear passenger's wheel arch, which I need to get on top of in a hurry. This appears to be where the panel is coming away from the arch, and there's a bit of water getting in. Fortunately, I don't think it's gone too far yet, so I was planning just to clean it down to bare metal and treat it with rust killer. I was then going to re-attach the panel with tigerseal and clean-up, prime and paint. Would you agree that this is a suitable approach? Any advice is welcomed. Shot of the damage from inside. As I said, I think it's quite early on, so I should be able to kill it without chopping anything out! If you're reading this, and the below is your handiwork, my apologies, but you should be ashamed of yourself! And here's the noisemaker! All round I'm pretty chuffed, she's in pretty good nick. I've owned her for just over 24 hours, and already two people have tried to buy her from me! I have never been this cool! Any advice, tips or just comments on the above would be most welcome. Cheers, Mike

Hi all, I thought I should document my build as a reference for myself if no one else J First some history: I brought the car several months ago intending to use it as my daily car. I’ve always liked the 205 GTI and looking around I found this online: This is my little 205 gti bought it about 5 years ago has not had much use with me as its just been a toy I got the front seats reupholstered and they are very tidy (half leather type) I changed the motor bout 4 years ago for the130bhp motor and did the head gasket,timing belt tensioners and water pump back then it was done around 194 500kms. It has Spax adjustable suspension all round and is certified for this. Its just collecting dust in my garage would prefer it went to an enthusiast no timewasters as im very busy with work. nice tidy classic hatch Of course buying a car online – sight unseen – is a bad idea, but the price was right and having certified suspension was a plus. The pictures looked ok, so ….. I won the auction! I flew down to the South Island to pick it up (I live in Auckland, New Zealand), and was happy to see that the owner was a mechanic who owned a garage. On a test drive the car rattled, the clutch grabbed and I couldn’t fit in without the sunroof interior cover back – but …. it was my scruffy 205 GTI J I knew it needed work and thought I’ll drive it around for a few months while it figure out what was needed. First I needed to drive it the 15 hours or so back home, so I started off slowly and carefully listening to each creak and groan, but completely deserted winding roads (the South Island has spectacular roads!) led me to drive the car in a ‘spirited fashion’ late into the night. What a car! Suddenly I heard a weird noise, watch the oil pressure collapse and then the back stepped out alarmingly. I quickly pulled over to the side of the road and saw a big puddle of oil. Oh dear. I was in the middle of nowhere. In the morning I reassessed the problem and was just about to start hitching when I local farmer came along and was gracious enough to give a hand: My new car was literally being held up by #8 wire which he had cut out of the nearby fence! After examination the oil cooler feeder hose from the block to the cooler/filter was split, so we tried to MacGyver a new hose out of some old bulldozer hydraulic hose and jubilee clips – we also crossed threaded the bracket as it is made out of a metallic alloy of cheese – but the pressure was too much…. Very luckily I had ticked the mechanical breakdown option when I had brought insurance the day before, and the kind lady said that it was policy to return the car home! So after a couple of weeks faffing around the car was trucked up to Auckland and fixed (several times they suggested I scrap it, as it would be the same price. They also said they would fix the hose (and spoiler: the #8 wire caused damage), but would not start the car, or guarantee the engine. After picking it up I drove it about 300 meters and then it overheated. At this point many bad words were used……many, many bad words. Especially when I realized the *kind* mechanics had removed the bottle of brand new oil from the front seat and placed it in the boot, rather than the engine where I had thought it was. The engine was billowing smoke out the exhaust and some in the engine bay itself. After a couple of days calm down I realized that it was just an opportunity to move the rebuild earlier than anticipated. CESM Build Parameters: The car is a 1989 graphite 1.9 8V non-cat (Phase 1.5?) – which is the most desirable to me. This is a road car, so I want to keep it fairly stock – certainly looks wise – and keep the 8V engine. It will be my daily driver, so I am looking to create a reliable, well sorted car that drives great and keeps the spirit of the original. I would also like to keep the keep the BE1 gearbox, although the synchros are suspect. I have access to a well stocked garage over the university holidays, so I began to strip the car a couple of week ago. I have worked on bike engines before, but this is a significant step up and I have limited time – so I am hoping for some advice as I move forward: Current known issues: 1/ The complete exhaust is rusted through. 2/ The radiator is decrepit ‹3/ All the coolent passages are covered in rust and perhaps some weird algae (!!?!?) 4/ The cylinder liners are pretty rusted and have a decent notch at the top. 5/ The conrod and big end bearings are very worn 6/ The head may be cracked and is certainly very pitted. 7/ The driver’s side universal joint disintegrated whilst removing the engine block. 8/ I’m pretty sure that the BE1 synchros are toast. 9/ etc, etc, etc..... Tally ho! Ben

Hi all again,Just spent whole day rewiring the plugs on rear of dash display..all warning lights and gauges now working correctly - someone had wired-up the plugs incorrectly prior to me purchasing the car ! But still have an issue with left hand indicator .. all indicators work fine via 'hazard switch' and right hand indicator functions ok via stalk switch. Problem is when I try left hand indicator there is a buzzing noise from either the fuseboard ( brandnew) or a relay above it..Thought that the stalk/switch was maybe 'shorting-out internally' ? I have tried an alternative stalk and still have same problem..Any ideas please ?? Loom and switch gear is phase one 205... anyone have a new stalk or one in good working order - need it sorted asap for MOT test next week...

Evening all, So dont know if any members know me on here from my posts on facebook and pscuk. recently acquired a beauty of a 205 GTI 1988 1.6 everything looked ok on arrival and sounded a slight bit tinny with the engine having idling problems but came with a full years test. so naturally you think well there cant be much wrong if it passed it test! well the brake servo was shot and had to use my left foot to release the brakes when pulling away from junctions the car had a misfire and the power seemed down. 1 new dizzy a ignition amplifier a retracked afm and new custom HT leads and she was purring like a kitten with every cylinder holding 11.5 bar with no leaking not bad even with 121k on the clock i was recently having issues with the central locking and decided to go looking for the problem, it turned out to be weak earth a the earthing block in rear arch passenger side. the reason it was a weak earth was evident when i found there was only rut in that area and little or nothing of an arch. Got to hand it to Peugeot the underseal really makes a panel look solid and holds the rust just in place. i then decided to go on a rust hunting mission. then off came the rear beam for a strip down and service and sand down ready for repainting Found the rear of the sills were shot and the drivers side sill was rotten in strange places then going off a hunch i remembered my last 205 had rot in the rear footwell due to a leaky window seal and a missing floor plug so up came the carpet instantly i felt damp and smelt the smell of rotting water. determined in my stride to find all the rust i discovered the front well was a swimming pool luckily with no rust but the rear footwell was rotten in places as you can see i have outlined where i need to cut i then got bored so decided to sand down the rear arches to remove the rust from round the trim holes. surface rust can soon turn into rot so decided to try and cure it while i can. so cant complain for a £650 project that was not meant to be a project. cutting footwell out tomorrow and grinding back any other rust i find. the thought of resheling has crossed my mind but i want to restore this one at the end of the day shells are not the cheapest and easiest things to come by. the car will be getting used for hill climbing and a few track events so most of the interior is now surplus to requirements and so will the engine in the future to make way for a xsara vts engine. might as well hold on to it or put it on ebay.

Hi everyone, As the title describes I'm currently in the process of rebuilding my first Mi16 engine to drop into my 1.9 Gti. So far I have stripped down the engine to the block and have found a few problems including perished hoses and rather bad pitting caused by corrosion on the head. Am I correct in saying that the head face could be welded and then machined or is it just a case of scrapping it and finding another? After doing a bit of research it looks as though its recommended to renew the following: Gasket set (top & bottom) inc. head gasket Headbolts Thrust washers Main & big end bearings Cam belt water pump Is there anything else that I should look into buying? Any help with this project would be great! Cheers

Hi there I'm a freelance journalist working for Autocar, and am currently working on a three-page buying guide for the magazine on 205 GTis. The guides are usually on newer stuff, so this is a bit of a departure and should be an interesting one. I need some help finding an expert on 205 GTis to interview for the piece some time next week. Just GTis has moved away from the model and I've called/emailed Auto Five, but without response so far. The source needs to be a specialist who can quote prices for parts and general maintenance, and discuss the issues that tend to arise with these cars and what to look out for on used examples. A feel for the current market for GTis would be handy too, but not essential. Striking distance from London would be ideal, but a phone interview is a possibility too. Suggestions welcome... Thanks Richard