Beginners modding - Peugeot 307
Discussion
simonej said:
Triumph Man said:
My mum told me if I can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. So I'm not.
I agree, but let's help a fellow PHer and prevent him throwing good money after bad!
t and I wouldn't waste money on a heap like that. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh, but it's Monday, I'm grumpy, and I don't like fart cans.
Edited by Triumph Man on Monday 9th February 08:34
Save your money and get something decent, with more power at a later date.
I had a 307 with the same engine. You're never going to get much more power out of the engine, no matter what you do to it.
It's not a bad engine standard, to be honest. It behaves a bit like a diesel. All the power seemed to be lower down the rev range, rather than at the top. Revving past 5000rpm, just resulted in more noise rather then speed.
I had a 307 with the same engine. You're never going to get much more power out of the engine, no matter what you do to it.
It's not a bad engine standard, to be honest. It behaves a bit like a diesel. All the power seemed to be lower down the rev range, rather than at the top. Revving past 5000rpm, just resulted in more noise rather then speed.
Well it seems like your going to go full chav anyway so i suggest these mods
The biggest back box you can find on ebay
Some aftermarket drls glued to the front bumper
Stickers, and stloads of em. Idealy you want a shopping list on the doors so everyone knows what your car hasnt got!
Incorrectly fitted hid lights so that you blind everyone
The biggest alloys you can find, probably some stty wolfrace with shot tyres
Theres loads more but if u simply go to your local maccys at night time im sure you will find some more inspiration.
On a serious note learning how to be handy with a couple of spanners would be much better
Learn how to service the car yourself, refresh the suspension and get some good rubber on
I also woukd take the 306 over the 307 everytime its a much better car overall.
The biggest back box you can find on ebay
Some aftermarket drls glued to the front bumper
Stickers, and s
tloads of em. Idealy you want a shopping list on the doors so everyone knows what your car hasnt got!Incorrectly fitted hid lights so that you blind everyone
The biggest alloys you can find, probably some s
tty wolfrace with shot tyresTheres loads more but if u simply go to your local maccys at night time im sure you will find some more inspiration.
On a serious note learning how to be handy with a couple of spanners would be much better
Learn how to service the car yourself, refresh the suspension and get some good rubber on
I also woukd take the 306 over the 307 everytime its a much better car overall.
First cars are great fun. I did loads of work on mine and lots of little mods. Some that I look back and cringe about very much, others that I thought were quite worthwhile. Either way I wouldn’t have changed the journey at all. Not everyone on pistonheads thinks similar about such progression through their driving years, so expect a mixed bag of replies. Best advice is not to try and argue with anyone as they will have had more years of experience arguing and it usually gets out of hand.
Anyway, all in all it was a great fun experience tinkering with the car, whether that was from the aspect of learning how to service it properly and why that is important (change your oil, the air filter, the pollen filter, the oil filter, spark plugs, cam belt, aux belt and so on), to carrying out what seemed to be good modifications but in time you learn some were and others were not…
List of mods I did in the first while (to my mk4 escort estate, 1.3 Overhead valve, 59bhp car, which had been smoked in for it’s 90,000mile life)
1. Removed cylinder head and de-coked it, ground in valves, replaced all gaskets, belts and all the servicing items I mentioned above etc. This was a good bit of work, bringing it to fresh and standard and a great way to learn about an engine). Maybe a bit trickier to do on a modern car and maybe note quite so necessary. Either way you learn loads about it. Usually breaking a few items on the way
2. Learn how to clean it inside and out. I had to shampoo the seats and so on as it stank of cigarettes
3. I put VERY low lowering springs on it. This made me think it “looked cool” as it was clearly a bit unusual looking but the standard dampers/shock absorbers, could not handle working with such low springs so they were wrecked in a couple of thousand miles
4. I put a K&N replacement panel filter in the air box (pointless).
5. I messed around with the cold air feed leading to the airfilter. It was an older car so it had a carburettor not fuel injection, so I disconnected the part throttle hot airfeed trying to ensure it got as much cold air as possible (colder air = thicker air = possibly more power). This seemed to go fine till one cold day on the a74 on way down to England the carb iced up and the car lost all power. Amusing learn
6. I replaced the ruined new standard dampers with a proper spax lowering kit with 4 springs and dampers. This was a good mod and the adjustability that came with it, taught me a bit about handling.
7. I stripped the car out completely and added two sparco bucket seats and willans 4 point 3” harnesses. Being strapped down to the car really helped with feeling how the car was moving around and was a great mod. The stripping out added novelty but made the car much louder and colder inside. Amusing but possibly not that clever. The seats were ace though
8. Replaced the standard 13” wheels which had 155 dunlop tyres with 15” 195 yokohama tyres on Compomotive MO wheels. This was a good mod. Probably heavier than the standard wheels by quite some margin but great for looks and some extra traction.
9. I then replaced the standard front brakes with a set of 4 piston calipers and 308mm cross drill n grooved discs on alloy bells. This gave the car loads of strong bite on the brakes and I realised at that point that good brakes were such a confidence booster that really helped you make faster progress. As of that day, I always like having really good brakes and if the car needs modifying in that dept, I go for it. In some cases you need to also upgrade the rear brakes to keep the balance of the braking sensible. Sometimes you can make adjustments to the standard system that add some compensation for extra strong front brakes
10. Amusingly the lack of bhp with that engine and the lack of worthwhile modifications (it was based on the 1.1l engine so really not worth any modifying at all) meant I started getting more extreme with the weight reduction. I recall cross drilling the window winding handles and laughing at the time about how bad and pointless a modification that was and I still agree.
11. Adding better speakers In the standard location added a slightly richer sound to the stereo and well worth doing
I am not sure if you will take anything away from the above post, however, to try and sum up… you can attempt to learn from other peoples mistakes when it comes to cars, however, half the fun is getting involved yourself, making your own decisions, not letting others point of view force you to conform to their version of what is sensible and just enjoy the experience. Most of us look back at our first cars and even with all the heartache and nightmares they gave, we remember the fond memories of learning about our passion for cars that remains with us to this day.
Get in there and give it ago. Stay safe and good luck.
Steven_RW
Anyway, all in all it was a great fun experience tinkering with the car, whether that was from the aspect of learning how to service it properly and why that is important (change your oil, the air filter, the pollen filter, the oil filter, spark plugs, cam belt, aux belt and so on), to carrying out what seemed to be good modifications but in time you learn some were and others were not…
List of mods I did in the first while (to my mk4 escort estate, 1.3 Overhead valve, 59bhp car, which had been smoked in for it’s 90,000mile life)
1. Removed cylinder head and de-coked it, ground in valves, replaced all gaskets, belts and all the servicing items I mentioned above etc. This was a good bit of work, bringing it to fresh and standard and a great way to learn about an engine). Maybe a bit trickier to do on a modern car and maybe note quite so necessary. Either way you learn loads about it. Usually breaking a few items on the way
2. Learn how to clean it inside and out. I had to shampoo the seats and so on as it stank of cigarettes
3. I put VERY low lowering springs on it. This made me think it “looked cool” as it was clearly a bit unusual looking but the standard dampers/shock absorbers, could not handle working with such low springs so they were wrecked in a couple of thousand miles
4. I put a K&N replacement panel filter in the air box (pointless).
5. I messed around with the cold air feed leading to the airfilter. It was an older car so it had a carburettor not fuel injection, so I disconnected the part throttle hot airfeed trying to ensure it got as much cold air as possible (colder air = thicker air = possibly more power). This seemed to go fine till one cold day on the a74 on way down to England the carb iced up and the car lost all power. Amusing learn
6. I replaced the ruined new standard dampers with a proper spax lowering kit with 4 springs and dampers. This was a good mod and the adjustability that came with it, taught me a bit about handling.
7. I stripped the car out completely and added two sparco bucket seats and willans 4 point 3” harnesses. Being strapped down to the car really helped with feeling how the car was moving around and was a great mod. The stripping out added novelty but made the car much louder and colder inside. Amusing but possibly not that clever. The seats were ace though
8. Replaced the standard 13” wheels which had 155 dunlop tyres with 15” 195 yokohama tyres on Compomotive MO wheels. This was a good mod. Probably heavier than the standard wheels by quite some margin but great for looks and some extra traction.
9. I then replaced the standard front brakes with a set of 4 piston calipers and 308mm cross drill n grooved discs on alloy bells. This gave the car loads of strong bite on the brakes and I realised at that point that good brakes were such a confidence booster that really helped you make faster progress. As of that day, I always like having really good brakes and if the car needs modifying in that dept, I go for it. In some cases you need to also upgrade the rear brakes to keep the balance of the braking sensible. Sometimes you can make adjustments to the standard system that add some compensation for extra strong front brakes
10. Amusingly the lack of bhp with that engine and the lack of worthwhile modifications (it was based on the 1.1l engine so really not worth any modifying at all) meant I started getting more extreme with the weight reduction. I recall cross drilling the window winding handles and laughing at the time about how bad and pointless a modification that was and I still agree.
11. Adding better speakers In the standard location added a slightly richer sound to the stereo and well worth doing
I am not sure if you will take anything away from the above post, however, to try and sum up… you can attempt to learn from other peoples mistakes when it comes to cars, however, half the fun is getting involved yourself, making your own decisions, not letting others point of view force you to conform to their version of what is sensible and just enjoy the experience. Most of us look back at our first cars and even with all the heartache and nightmares they gave, we remember the fond memories of learning about our passion for cars that remains with us to this day.
Get in there and give it ago. Stay safe and good luck.
Steven_RW
^^ Great post that.
I inwardly groaned when I read the title. As Wolfy says, a thread like this on PH rarely goes the way the OP wanted.
However, it's really nice to see some decent, and constructive replies - well done all, there might just be hope for us yet
OP - in particular, take onboard R U Local's suggestion - he's in a better position than most to comment to that effect
I inwardly groaned when I read the title. As Wolfy says, a thread like this on PH rarely goes the way the OP wanted.
However, it's really nice to see some decent, and constructive replies - well done all, there might just be hope for us yet
OP - in particular, take onboard R U Local's suggestion - he's in a better position than most to comment to that effect
I spent a lot of time (and money) modifying a Fiat Barchetta. It was great fun, and really helped me learn a lot of skills.
Would fully recommend doing so.
Some of my mods: H&R Springs • Bilstein B6 Shocks • SuperSprint stainless exhaust • Momo steering wheel • full Alpine ICE install • drilled and grooved brake discs • Green Stuff pads • Goodrich braided lines • Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 tyres • GSR Induction kit
Would fully recommend doing so.
Some of my mods: H&R Springs • Bilstein B6 Shocks • SuperSprint stainless exhaust • Momo steering wheel • full Alpine ICE install • drilled and grooved brake discs • Green Stuff pads • Goodrich braided lines • Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 tyres • GSR Induction kit
First thing I'd probably do would be to get a Haynes book & start building up a decent toolkit. Decent tools will last a lifetime & will pay back the investment many times over. Start by sorting out all those annoying little niggles that beset any 2nd hand car, trace all the rattles etc.
Next, spend a bit of time getting it properly cleaned & maybe get familiar with using a machine polisher, steam cleaning, applying carnuba wax etc. You'll be surprised the attention a clearly well looked after, perfectly standard, cooking car will get at a show. Max Power bling seems to be out these days, as others have said, fitting bits, e.g. the interior/ICE from a higher spec car of the same type will probably be a better move than fitting the loudest stuff you can get from Halfords.
This is purely IMHO by the way - I used to show my perfectly standard Focus CC in the late 2000s & from what I saw, the gleaming Focus LXs used to get more attention than the fancier, but less well presented motors.
Next, spend a bit of time getting it properly cleaned & maybe get familiar with using a machine polisher, steam cleaning, applying carnuba wax etc. You'll be surprised the attention a clearly well looked after, perfectly standard, cooking car will get at a show. Max Power bling seems to be out these days, as others have said, fitting bits, e.g. the interior/ICE from a higher spec car of the same type will probably be a better move than fitting the loudest stuff you can get from Halfords.
This is purely IMHO by the way - I used to show my perfectly standard Focus CC in the late 2000s & from what I saw, the gleaming Focus LXs used to get more attention than the fancier, but less well presented motors.
OP - ignore all of the miserable old gits! 
(except R_U_Local - good advice that. If you can become a better driver, you'll be faster and safer, and it's always good to see an average car driven well, i.e. briskly 'making progress' without affecting other road users).
If you want to modify your car, go and enjoy yourself. You know you won't get the money back, but it's good fun making a car more personal to you.
(except R_U_Local - good advice that. If you can become a better driver, you'll be faster and safer, and it's always good to see an average car driven well, i.e. briskly 'making progress' without affecting other road users).
If you want to modify your car, go and enjoy yourself. You know you won't get the money back, but it's good fun making a car more personal to you.
wolfy1988 said:
Asking Pistonheads how to modify a 307, is like asking Mumsnet 'How to beat the wife without bruising', its never gonna go your way....
Funkstar De Luxe said:
I spent a lot of time (and money) modifying a Fiat Barchetta. It was great fun, and really helped me learn a lot of skills.
But you started with a fun little sports car rather than a bland, bloated Eurobox with no redeeming features.As others have said, save your money and get shot of the 307 when you can, then buy something actually worth spending time and money one.
Edited by Mr2Mike on Monday 9th February 14:16
One thing I've learnt from buying, selling and modifying cars is that you should never, ever start sinking money into something unless you know you're going to keep it for a very long time.
The case in point was my Audi A4, I bought this at 18 and as all good 18-year-olds do, I decided it was sitting far too high and the wheels were far too small. The result was a car that looked awesome, but destroyed all its suspension bushes in about 5000 miles and then became totally intolerable over any surface rougher than a snooker table. I'd spent perhaps £700 "improving" a £950 car, which I managed to sell for - you guessed it - £950.
Now my muse is a BMW 328i, but this is different. It's my second car and used only for track days and competition, so I have genuine reason to modify it - my usage is not the same as BMW intended - and it's an excellent car for this purpose, so I won't be selling or replacing it any time soon. This means the modifications are genuinely worth spending the money on as I'll continue getting the benefit for years to come.
We won't sway you from doing whatever you please, and hey, it's your money. But my (very strong and learnt the hard way) advice would be to leave this car alone, maybe spend a couple of quid sorting things that really annoy you eg. woefully inadequate audio system, but otherwise save up for something which is better and that you'll keep for longer.
I'm now 23 and I replaced that Audi with a car I've kept completely standard for the three years and 20,000 miles I've owned it. I love it, and it's still great because it was great when it left the factory.
The case in point was my Audi A4, I bought this at 18 and as all good 18-year-olds do, I decided it was sitting far too high and the wheels were far too small. The result was a car that looked awesome, but destroyed all its suspension bushes in about 5000 miles and then became totally intolerable over any surface rougher than a snooker table. I'd spent perhaps £700 "improving" a £950 car, which I managed to sell for - you guessed it - £950.
Now my muse is a BMW 328i, but this is different. It's my second car and used only for track days and competition, so I have genuine reason to modify it - my usage is not the same as BMW intended - and it's an excellent car for this purpose, so I won't be selling or replacing it any time soon. This means the modifications are genuinely worth spending the money on as I'll continue getting the benefit for years to come.
We won't sway you from doing whatever you please, and hey, it's your money. But my (very strong and learnt the hard way) advice would be to leave this car alone, maybe spend a couple of quid sorting things that really annoy you eg. woefully inadequate audio system, but otherwise save up for something which is better and that you'll keep for longer.
I'm now 23 and I replaced that Audi with a car I've kept completely standard for the three years and 20,000 miles I've owned it. I love it, and it's still great because it was great when it left the factory.
If you want to make a 307 stand out, how about making it the absolute best it can be while remaining standard? Make it spotlessly clean, learn to machine polish it so it looks better than new. Fix every even tiny cosmetic fault. Get all the little dents fixed. Get all obsessive about water beading. Get the exhaust tip gleaming. Before long you will be joining Detailing World and having long conversations about the exact products to use.
It would stand out to me, anyway.
It would stand out to me, anyway.
Got a lot of people to reply to, so bare with me!
First and foremost: what the actual fk? I've put a lot of time ant thought into deciding that the 307 is the car for me for many reasons, mostly bang-for buck related though - and I'm not interested in people telling me "what I should've done" that isn't the pretext to this thread. I get people bash others on the net, but there is no point saying "oh I wouldn't do this" when no one, to be frank, asked you what you would do.
(rant over)
I am not looking to get a return on the cash I put in. This will be my 2nd car, after letting my '04 hyundai getz go. This car is only intended to last me until Winter 2016/17 at which point I will be in my year in industry and will have saved a large sum of money to go towards a much nicer car - to which I've made another thread and decided on. But that's a chat for a different thread! I will only be driving this car in winter, and when I'm not abroad in summer, so I doubt I'll clock more than 2k miles on it. When buying this car, I expect to get nothing back for resell, so I know full well the mods won't help and my cash is going to waste. I'm not going to be spending hundreds, I'd say my cap will be about £300 for some cheap small mods, maybe £500 it's not fixed, time will tell
REPLIES:
Aesthetically just get Osram bulbs. Your money for other things would be better spent on decent quality tyres and brakes.
Just speaking from a been there, driven a 90bhp hatch for a year, scenario.- love this suggestion for induction kit / air intake! I had only read about cold air intakes before this and didn't know about short ram. As far as I can see, they're cheaper and more ideal. The extra horses I clock from the mod are secondary, I'm after the noise.
I plan on getting the aftermarket steering wheel that has a built in airbag, for the design.
Although I've made a bit of a bad impression from the sort of mods I was initially after, I 100% think brake discs, pads and a new set of tires is a good shout. And seeing as how I like a bit of speed, it's the responsible thing to do, considering. Thank you especially for taking the time to write all of that, I will inquire and read up on what I didn't know from the rest, so time not wasted!
Young petrolhead, excited about his new motor and wants to tweak it a bit?
Most of us have been there, done that and can understand exactly where he's coming from.- ^^^ he gets it. Why would ɪ waste peoples time posting a pointless threadʔ
ɪ'm not going to waste time replying to people with negative st to say, ɪ'm asking for help and advice, no need to be bashed for that because ɪ have a different taste (or lack thereof har har) to you
First and foremost: what the actual f
k? I've put a lot of time ant thought into deciding that the 307 is the car for me for many reasons, mostly bang-for buck related though - and I'm not interested in people telling me "what I should've done" that isn't the pretext to this thread. I get people bash others on the net, but there is no point saying "oh I wouldn't do this" when no one, to be frank, asked you what you would do.(rant over)
I am not looking to get a return on the cash I put in. This will be my 2nd car, after letting my '04 hyundai getz go. This car is only intended to last me until Winter 2016/17 at which point I will be in my year in industry and will have saved a large sum of money to go towards a much nicer car - to which I've made another thread and decided on. But that's a chat for a different thread! I will only be driving this car in winter, and when I'm not abroad in summer, so I doubt I'll clock more than 2k miles on it. When buying this car, I expect to get nothing back for resell, so I know full well the mods won't help and my cash is going to waste. I'm not going to be spending hundreds, I'd say my cap will be about £300 for some cheap small mods, maybe £500 it's not fixed, time will tell
REPLIES:
North3rn Monk3y said:
Sound system - better speakers from halfords etc
Interior - 1/2 leather from a better spec 307 - try eBay
Steering wheel - dont bother. If you remove the airbag it wont go through the MOT.
Noise - as mementioned, consider an induction kit for cheapness. Before getting an exhaust, make sure you are sure. I've known people that have regretted it as a poor cheap system can be very boomy and horrible to drive day to day.
Interior - 1/2 leather from a better spec 307 - try eBay
Steering wheel - dont bother. If you remove the airbag it wont go through the MOT.
Noise - as mementioned, consider an induction kit for cheapness. Before getting an exhaust, make sure you are sure. I've known people that have regretted it as a poor cheap system can be very boomy and horrible to drive day to day.
Oceans said:
jay44 said:
1.4L - 90bhp
If you're after an improvement on noise, just (if you must) get a short ram eBay intake. Don't (IMO) bother with the exhaust.Aesthetically just get Osram bulbs. Your money for other things would be better spent on decent quality tyres and brakes.
Just speaking from a been there, driven a 90bhp hatch for a year, scenario.
I plan on getting the aftermarket steering wheel that has a built in airbag, for the design.
Steven_RW said:
First cars are great fun. I did loads of work on mine and lots of little mods. Some that I look back and cringe about very much, others that I thought were quite worthwhile. Either way I wouldn’t have changed the journey at all. Not everyone on pistonheads thinks similar about such progression through their driving years, so expect a mixed bag of replies. Best advice is not to try and argue with anyone as they will have had more years of experience arguing and it usually gets out of hand.
Anyway, all in all it was a great fun experience tinkering with the car, whether that was from the aspect of learning how to service it properly and why that is important (change your oil, the air filter, the pollen filter, the oil filter, spark plugs, cam belt, aux belt and so on), to carrying out what seemed to be good modifications but in time you learn some were and others were not…
List of mods I did in the first while (to my mk4 escort estate, 1.3 Overhead valve, 59bhp car, which had been smoked in for it’s 90,000mile life)
1. Removed cylinder head and de-coked it, ground in valves, replaced all gaskets, belts and all the servicing items I mentioned above etc. This was a good bit of work, bringing it to fresh and standard and a great way to learn about an engine). Maybe a bit trickier to do on a modern car and maybe note quite so necessary. Either way you learn loads about it. Usually breaking a few items on the way
2. Learn how to clean it inside and out. I had to shampoo the seats and so on as it stank of cigarettes
3. I put VERY low lowering springs on it. This made me think it “looked cool” as it was clearly a bit unusual looking but the standard dampers/shock absorbers, could not handle working with such low springs so they were wrecked in a couple of thousand miles
4. I put a K&N replacement panel filter in the air box (pointless).
5. I messed around with the cold air feed leading to the airfilter. It was an older car so it had a carburettor not fuel injection, so I disconnected the part throttle hot airfeed trying to ensure it got as much cold air as possible (colder air = thicker air = possibly more power). This seemed to go fine till one cold day on the a74 on way down to England the carb iced up and the car lost all power. Amusing learn
6. I replaced the ruined new standard dampers with a proper spax lowering kit with 4 springs and dampers. This was a good mod and the adjustability that came with it, taught me a bit about handling.
7. I stripped the car out completely and added two sparco bucket seats and willans 4 point 3” harnesses. Being strapped down to the car really helped with feeling how the car was moving around and was a great mod. The stripping out added novelty but made the car much louder and colder inside. Amusing but possibly not that clever. The seats were ace though
8. Replaced the standard 13” wheels which had 155 dunlop tyres with 15” 195 yokohama tyres on Compomotive MO wheels. This was a good mod. Probably heavier than the standard wheels by quite some margin but great for looks and some extra traction.
9. I then replaced the standard front brakes with a set of 4 piston calipers and 308mm cross drill n grooved discs on alloy bells. This gave the car loads of strong bite on the brakes and I realised at that point that good brakes were such a confidence booster that really helped you make faster progress. As of that day, I always like having really good brakes and if the car needs modifying in that dept, I go for it. In some cases you need to also upgrade the rear brakes to keep the balance of the braking sensible. Sometimes you can make adjustments to the standard system that add some compensation for extra strong front brakes
10. Amusingly the lack of bhp with that engine and the lack of worthwhile modifications (it was based on the 1.1l engine so really not worth any modifying at all) meant I started getting more extreme with the weight reduction. I recall cross drilling the window winding handles and laughing at the time about how bad and pointless a modification that was and I still agree.
11. Adding better speakers In the standard location added a slightly richer sound to the stereo and well worth doing
I am not sure if you will take anything away from the above post, however, to try and sum up… you can attempt to learn from other peoples mistakes when it comes to cars, however, half the fun is getting involved yourself, making your own decisions, not letting others point of view force you to conform to their version of what is sensible and just enjoy the experience. Most of us look back at our first cars and even with all the heartache and nightmares they gave, we remember the fond memories of learning about our passion for cars that remains with us to this day.
Get in there and give it ago. Stay safe and good luck.
Steven_RW
- solid post mate. Yeah I want to make mistakes, otherwise how will I learn? I want to put money into the car and later learn 'this' was a mistake or 'that' was a mistake. For point 4) I wanted to get a short ram intake (suggested by another user above) after googling them, they can be relatively inexpensive compared to a cold air intake. Definitely liking the idea of a small sound system, and the brakes and tires.Anyway, all in all it was a great fun experience tinkering with the car, whether that was from the aspect of learning how to service it properly and why that is important (change your oil, the air filter, the pollen filter, the oil filter, spark plugs, cam belt, aux belt and so on), to carrying out what seemed to be good modifications but in time you learn some were and others were not…
List of mods I did in the first while (to my mk4 escort estate, 1.3 Overhead valve, 59bhp car, which had been smoked in for it’s 90,000mile life)
1. Removed cylinder head and de-coked it, ground in valves, replaced all gaskets, belts and all the servicing items I mentioned above etc. This was a good bit of work, bringing it to fresh and standard and a great way to learn about an engine). Maybe a bit trickier to do on a modern car and maybe note quite so necessary. Either way you learn loads about it. Usually breaking a few items on the way
2. Learn how to clean it inside and out. I had to shampoo the seats and so on as it stank of cigarettes
3. I put VERY low lowering springs on it. This made me think it “looked cool” as it was clearly a bit unusual looking but the standard dampers/shock absorbers, could not handle working with such low springs so they were wrecked in a couple of thousand miles
4. I put a K&N replacement panel filter in the air box (pointless).
5. I messed around with the cold air feed leading to the airfilter. It was an older car so it had a carburettor not fuel injection, so I disconnected the part throttle hot airfeed trying to ensure it got as much cold air as possible (colder air = thicker air = possibly more power). This seemed to go fine till one cold day on the a74 on way down to England the carb iced up and the car lost all power. Amusing learn
6. I replaced the ruined new standard dampers with a proper spax lowering kit with 4 springs and dampers. This was a good mod and the adjustability that came with it, taught me a bit about handling.
7. I stripped the car out completely and added two sparco bucket seats and willans 4 point 3” harnesses. Being strapped down to the car really helped with feeling how the car was moving around and was a great mod. The stripping out added novelty but made the car much louder and colder inside. Amusing but possibly not that clever. The seats were ace though
8. Replaced the standard 13” wheels which had 155 dunlop tyres with 15” 195 yokohama tyres on Compomotive MO wheels. This was a good mod. Probably heavier than the standard wheels by quite some margin but great for looks and some extra traction.
9. I then replaced the standard front brakes with a set of 4 piston calipers and 308mm cross drill n grooved discs on alloy bells. This gave the car loads of strong bite on the brakes and I realised at that point that good brakes were such a confidence booster that really helped you make faster progress. As of that day, I always like having really good brakes and if the car needs modifying in that dept, I go for it. In some cases you need to also upgrade the rear brakes to keep the balance of the braking sensible. Sometimes you can make adjustments to the standard system that add some compensation for extra strong front brakes
10. Amusingly the lack of bhp with that engine and the lack of worthwhile modifications (it was based on the 1.1l engine so really not worth any modifying at all) meant I started getting more extreme with the weight reduction. I recall cross drilling the window winding handles and laughing at the time about how bad and pointless a modification that was and I still agree.
11. Adding better speakers In the standard location added a slightly richer sound to the stereo and well worth doing
I am not sure if you will take anything away from the above post, however, to try and sum up… you can attempt to learn from other peoples mistakes when it comes to cars, however, half the fun is getting involved yourself, making your own decisions, not letting others point of view force you to conform to their version of what is sensible and just enjoy the experience. Most of us look back at our first cars and even with all the heartache and nightmares they gave, we remember the fond memories of learning about our passion for cars that remains with us to this day.
Get in there and give it ago. Stay safe and good luck.
Steven_RW
Although I've made a bit of a bad impression from the sort of mods I was initially after, I 100% think brake discs, pads and a new set of tires is a good shout. And seeing as how I like a bit of speed, it's the responsible thing to do, considering. Thank you especially for taking the time to write all of that, I will inquire and read up on what I didn't know from the rest, so time not wasted!
monthefish said:
OP - ignore all of the miserable old gits!
(except R_U_Local - good advice that. If you can become a better driver, you'll be faster and safer, and it's always good to see an average car driven well, i.e. briskly 'making progress' without affecting other road users).
If you want to modify your car, go and enjoy yourself. You know you won't get the money back, but it's good fun making a car more personal to you.
- So happy someone can see where I'm coming from...(except R_U_Local - good advice that. If you can become a better driver, you'll be faster and safer, and it's always good to see an average car driven well, i.e. briskly 'making progress' without affecting other road users).
If you want to modify your car, go and enjoy yourself. You know you won't get the money back, but it's good fun making a car more personal to you.
wolfy1988 said:
Asking Pistonheads how to modify a 307, is like asking Mumsnet 'How to beat the wife without bruising', its never gonna go your way....
Mansilla said:
If you want to make a 307 stand out, how about making it the absolute best it can be while remaining standard? Make it spotlessly clean, learn to machine polish it so it looks better than new. Fix every even tiny cosmetic fault. Get all the little dents fixed. Get all obsessive about water beading. Get the exhaust tip gleaming. Before long you will be joining Detailing World and having long conversations about the exact products to use.
It would stand out to me, anyway.
- Solid point! I noticed with my last motor, a little care and attention goes a long way. Especially a good scrub and wax. Thank you for reminding meIt would stand out to me, anyway.
TheJimi said:
scarble said:
*sigh*
I hope Op is a troll.
Why?I hope Op is a troll.
Young petrolhead, excited about his new motor and wants to tweak it a bit?
Most of us have been there, done that and can understand exactly where he's coming from.
ɪ'm not going to waste time replying to people with negative s
t to say, ɪ'm asking for help and advice, no need to be bashed for that because ɪ have a different taste (or lack thereof har har) to youjay44 said:
Got a lot of people to reply to, so bare with me!
First and foremost: what the actual fk? I've put a lot of time ant thought into deciding that the 307 is the car for me for many reasons, mostly bang-for buck related though - and I'm not interested in people telling me "what I should've done" that isn't the pretext to this thread. I get people bash others on the net, but there is no point saying "oh I wouldn't do this" when no one, to be frank, asked you what you would do.
(rant over)
I am not looking to get a return on the cash I put in. This will be my 2nd car, after letting my '04 hyundai getz go. This car is only intended to last me until Winter 2016/17 at which point I will be in my year in industry and will have saved a large sum of money to go towards a much nicer car - to which I've made another thread and decided on. But that's a chat for a different thread! I will only be driving this car in winter, and when I'm not abroad in summer, so I doubt I'll clock more than 2k miles on it. When buying this car, I expect to get nothing back for resell, so I know full well the mods won't help and my cash is going to waste. I'm not going to be spending hundreds, I'd say my cap will be about £300 for some cheap small mods, maybe £500 it's not fixed, time will tell
Save that money, even if it is only £500, remember you will have to declare the mods to your insurance company, and use the saved money towards your new car. First and foremost: what the actual f
k? I've put a lot of time ant thought into deciding that the 307 is the car for me for many reasons, mostly bang-for buck related though - and I'm not interested in people telling me "what I should've done" that isn't the pretext to this thread. I get people bash others on the net, but there is no point saying "oh I wouldn't do this" when no one, to be frank, asked you what you would do.(rant over)
I am not looking to get a return on the cash I put in. This will be my 2nd car, after letting my '04 hyundai getz go. This car is only intended to last me until Winter 2016/17 at which point I will be in my year in industry and will have saved a large sum of money to go towards a much nicer car - to which I've made another thread and decided on. But that's a chat for a different thread! I will only be driving this car in winter, and when I'm not abroad in summer, so I doubt I'll clock more than 2k miles on it. When buying this car, I expect to get nothing back for resell, so I know full well the mods won't help and my cash is going to waste. I'm not going to be spending hundreds, I'd say my cap will be about £300 for some cheap small mods, maybe £500 it's not fixed, time will tell
jay44 said:
I will only be driving this car in winter, and when I'm not abroad in summer, so I doubt I'll clock more than 2k miles on it. When buying this car, I expect to get nothing back for resell, so I know full well the mods won't help and my cash is going to waste. I'm not going to be spending hundreds, I'd say my cap will be about £300 for some cheap small mods, maybe £500 it's not fixed, time will tell
2k miles. So let's say 50 hrs at 40mph average. So £10 an hour in mods.I wouldn't bother. If it's winter, then a good set of tyres, a service and a decent valet and save your cash; make more back on the car (modding it will cost you more in insurance and reduced resale)
What mods could give you £10 an hour of pleasure on a 1.4 4pot?
I'm not knocking mods, just your man maths. Save it for a car you will do decent mileage in and get the benefit.
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