Pug 106 XSi - week long refresh
Discussion
I've got a week off between contracts, so I thought I'd dig out my 106 XSi and give it a refresh.
Long story short, it's a '95 M plate, I bought it from the original supplying dealer at a year old. I kept it for a few years, then I got a company car. So it passed into the care of SWIMBO who used it for a few years. Until we had our first baby and getting the baby in and out of car seat meant we traded it in.
Fast forward a few years and I spotted it for sale on ebay, chucked a cheeky bid in and won it. The lad who we bought it back from had bought it from the dealer we'd traded it into. He'd done a few "mods" to it, Lexus lights, big wheels, stupid mirrors and a big bore exhaust. However, included in the sale were all the original parts.
So we got it home and turned it back to (almost) standard (the back box isn't correct). Sold all the parts on ebay and ran it for a few years, until we had our second child. Again, no way we could get the baby in and out of the car seat in the back, so we bought SWIMBO a new motor.
Rather than lose it again, we had it stored for a few years. Anyway, it's now back in the garage and ready for a re-fresh. The aim is to get it ready for an MOT by November. So far I've found a blown headgasket, so going to do the cambelt, water pump and plugs / oil / coolant change.
Otherwise, I need a spot of welding on the inner wing. It used to fail it's MOT on emissions, so we'll have to have a look at the ICV and MAF sensors too.
Wish me luck.
Long story short, it's a '95 M plate, I bought it from the original supplying dealer at a year old. I kept it for a few years, then I got a company car. So it passed into the care of SWIMBO who used it for a few years. Until we had our first baby and getting the baby in and out of car seat meant we traded it in.
Fast forward a few years and I spotted it for sale on ebay, chucked a cheeky bid in and won it. The lad who we bought it back from had bought it from the dealer we'd traded it into. He'd done a few "mods" to it, Lexus lights, big wheels, stupid mirrors and a big bore exhaust. However, included in the sale were all the original parts.
So we got it home and turned it back to (almost) standard (the back box isn't correct). Sold all the parts on ebay and ran it for a few years, until we had our second child. Again, no way we could get the baby in and out of the car seat in the back, so we bought SWIMBO a new motor.
Rather than lose it again, we had it stored for a few years. Anyway, it's now back in the garage and ready for a re-fresh. The aim is to get it ready for an MOT by November. So far I've found a blown headgasket, so going to do the cambelt, water pump and plugs / oil / coolant change.
Otherwise, I need a spot of welding on the inner wing. It used to fail it's MOT on emissions, so we'll have to have a look at the ICV and MAF sensors too.
Wish me luck.
Love these little things!
A good friend had one many moons ago and ruined it by putting an S2 GTi engine in. lol
Quick little thing but somethings are best left untouched. Like that girl you see all the guys around in a club, you think yeah I'de like abit of that then realize she's probably got more STI's than JapFest
A good friend had one many moons ago and ruined it by putting an S2 GTi engine in. lol
Quick little thing but somethings are best left untouched. Like that girl you see all the guys around in a club, you think yeah I'de like abit of that then realize she's probably got more STI's than JapFest
Finally got her finished, insured, MOT'd (just a handful of minor advisories) and taxed. And found a set of replacement Cibie's on the 'bay, so she looks totally stock.
So today was the first day I got to go out for a drive. First impressions are that the car feels incredibly small compared to everything else on the road. Even modern Corsa's and Fiesta's dwarf her! It's odd, going back to a 22 year old car you haven't driven in years.
With no power steering, no electronic driver aids, it's a very analogue experience, which is great!
She's got lots of low down grunt and a decent turn of speed when the occasion allows. Probably more speed than brakes. So she seems underbraked, but with no ABS it's hard to tell if that is just the last of the rust coming off the discs or a genuine problem. I guess most modern cars are over servo'd with the ABS / EBD kicking in. Lots of pedal pressure does result in the front end locking up, but I guess it's something to get used to.
She seems to handle pretty well, but I suspect I need to spend some time / money on new top mounts, antiroll bar bushes and lower arms to refresh the front end as it all feels a little clunky over poor surfaces.
In the meantime, she's back in the garage, plugged into the battery conditioner and resting under covers until the next inopportune moment....
So today was the first day I got to go out for a drive. First impressions are that the car feels incredibly small compared to everything else on the road. Even modern Corsa's and Fiesta's dwarf her! It's odd, going back to a 22 year old car you haven't driven in years.
With no power steering, no electronic driver aids, it's a very analogue experience, which is great!
She's got lots of low down grunt and a decent turn of speed when the occasion allows. Probably more speed than brakes. So she seems underbraked, but with no ABS it's hard to tell if that is just the last of the rust coming off the discs or a genuine problem. I guess most modern cars are over servo'd with the ABS / EBD kicking in. Lots of pedal pressure does result in the front end locking up, but I guess it's something to get used to.
She seems to handle pretty well, but I suspect I need to spend some time / money on new top mounts, antiroll bar bushes and lower arms to refresh the front end as it all feels a little clunky over poor surfaces.
In the meantime, she's back in the garage, plugged into the battery conditioner and resting under covers until the next inopportune moment....
Nice to see a 106 being given some love. I've owned two ,both the later stage 2 shapes and have always looked for a nice gti, but somehow the stage 1 in any spec level just seems so well proportioned. Great little cars, I had lots of fun in mine, admittedly only the 1.1 engine as it was my first car, but great memories nonetheless.
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