1992 309 Goodwood impulse buy
Discussion
Not too much to report on the 309, just gradually getting some minor jobs ticked off before deciding how to proceed with the bigger stuff.
I started off inside...
The photo may not look very impressive, but it's the first time everything shown has worked at the same time! Work included re-wiring the stereo/speakers, replacing the clock, replacing switches, removing broken tweeters and replacing the front speaker grills. The clock has subsequently broken, so need to source a(nother) working one.
In the back the rear selt belt plugs have always been a bit manky - faded and rusting. On my third attempt I've finally found a suitable replacement set. Just to give you an idea of the difference:
Much better!
In the boot I've managed to sort out a decent parcel shelf by combining the parts of 2 different shelves I had in stock. One had 6x9 speakers in (I'm not interested in this sort of thing for the 309) and the other was hole-free but one mounting point was snapped. After a bit of surgery I managed to make one good shelf:
Unfortunately the shelf was a bit sun faded so looked out of place with the black interior. After remembering Ed China doing the same on Wheeler Dealers I dug out a can of black spray paint:
My phone hasn't picked up the change particularly well, but I'm really impressed with how good it's come up. Looks much better than it did before.
Finally at the back end I needed to swap the boot lock so everything would then work off one key. A bit fiddly, but not too difficult - just needed to drill 4 rivets out, disconnect the old lock from the boot latch and central locking motor then replace. I replaced the rivets with bolts just to make things easier:
With a bit of tinkering under the bonnet I then wanted to go out for a drive with my newly acquired tax disc. Unfortunately, upon checking the oil I discovered it stank of fuel. Just driving the car in and out of the garage for the last year clearly hasn't done the oil any good, so that brought my plans to a halt. Will sort out some new oil and then get out on the road and put a few miles on it.
So next on the to do list is an MOT - can't believe it's been a year since I got it through. Embarrassingly it's probably only done about 100 miles since then, so I'm hoping that with an Italian tune-up it will pass again. The only iffy part is the rust on the sills which I still haven't done anything about
And then I really must get the front suspension fitted. That's kind of in hand, and should be happening shortly. I'm also considering getting the rear beam rebuilt - on checking it again today it's worse than what I remembered. Hopefully the engine will survive until that's all done!
In other news, the 309 has a new stable mate, I think they go together quite well:
I started off inside...
The photo may not look very impressive, but it's the first time everything shown has worked at the same time! Work included re-wiring the stereo/speakers, replacing the clock, replacing switches, removing broken tweeters and replacing the front speaker grills. The clock has subsequently broken, so need to source a(nother) working one.
In the back the rear selt belt plugs have always been a bit manky - faded and rusting. On my third attempt I've finally found a suitable replacement set. Just to give you an idea of the difference:
Much better!
In the boot I've managed to sort out a decent parcel shelf by combining the parts of 2 different shelves I had in stock. One had 6x9 speakers in (I'm not interested in this sort of thing for the 309) and the other was hole-free but one mounting point was snapped. After a bit of surgery I managed to make one good shelf:
Unfortunately the shelf was a bit sun faded so looked out of place with the black interior. After remembering Ed China doing the same on Wheeler Dealers I dug out a can of black spray paint:
My phone hasn't picked up the change particularly well, but I'm really impressed with how good it's come up. Looks much better than it did before.
Finally at the back end I needed to swap the boot lock so everything would then work off one key. A bit fiddly, but not too difficult - just needed to drill 4 rivets out, disconnect the old lock from the boot latch and central locking motor then replace. I replaced the rivets with bolts just to make things easier:
With a bit of tinkering under the bonnet I then wanted to go out for a drive with my newly acquired tax disc. Unfortunately, upon checking the oil I discovered it stank of fuel. Just driving the car in and out of the garage for the last year clearly hasn't done the oil any good, so that brought my plans to a halt. Will sort out some new oil and then get out on the road and put a few miles on it.
So next on the to do list is an MOT - can't believe it's been a year since I got it through. Embarrassingly it's probably only done about 100 miles since then, so I'm hoping that with an Italian tune-up it will pass again. The only iffy part is the rust on the sills which I still haven't done anything about
And then I really must get the front suspension fitted. That's kind of in hand, and should be happening shortly. I'm also considering getting the rear beam rebuilt - on checking it again today it's worse than what I remembered. Hopefully the engine will survive until that's all done!
In other news, the 309 has a new stable mate, I think they go together quite well:
M4CK1 - thanks for praise. The photos make it look a lot better than it actually is, it's definitely a 20 yard looker 
I'm not sure if the suspension from a later car is compatible or not, but the GTi6 engine option is definitely the favourite when funds permit. Need to get the rest of the car sorted before throwing extra power at it!
hoppo4.2 - if you could pass on his details that would be great. Cost for a rebuild look to be from £350 to £500 with a specialist. I'd rather drive my car in and drive out with it sorted, but could unbolt and send off my rear beam if necessary. I don't fancy rebuilding it myself.
I'm not sure if the suspension from a later car is compatible or not, but the GTi6 engine option is definitely the favourite when funds permit. Need to get the rest of the car sorted before throwing extra power at it!hoppo4.2 - if you could pass on his details that would be great. Cost for a rebuild look to be from £350 to £500 with a specialist. I'd rather drive my car in and drive out with it sorted, but could unbolt and send off my rear beam if necessary. I don't fancy rebuilding it myself.
can offer a drive in drive out service if that's what you want. I guess it depends on where you are based.
They are in Leicestershire speak to daz or ben
at spoox motor sport to see what they can do for you. They could also fit you a gti6, mi16 or turbo engine
ps im sure the gti6 rear beam is different.
The number is 0116 2751414
They are in Leicestershire speak to daz or ben
at spoox motor sport to see what they can do for you. They could also fit you a gti6, mi16 or turbo engine
ps im sure the gti6 rear beam is different.
The number is 0116 2751414
Bit more progress to report on the Goodwood. Last weekend I set about getting it ready for an MOT, which meant new oil/filter, check lights plus strip down and clean all the brakes (as it's barely moved in a year). Apart from the battery being flat, that all went quite well, only minor issue was the electric windows weren't working. So it went back in the garage on a trickle charger so it'd be ready for an MOT on Wednesday.
Tuesday evening I decided to make sure the battery was OK and try and fix the electric windows. Surely it'd just be a fuse??! Started up first time, but on reversing out the garage the was a sparking noise coming from under the dash. Pulled the trim panels off and found this:
The little white wire at the bottom of the photo is a live feed from the ignition switch and it was earthing against the steering column. Joy, the evening before the MOT and it was time to do some re-wiring. I knew the ignition switch loom needed changing as it had been messed about with but I didn't quite anticipate it would be this bad:
So, the white multiplug had been messed about with, causing this wire to pop out, but on top of this the main 12v feed had been cut and badly soldered back together (then covered in insulation tape), 2 of the other ignition lives were joined with a connector block (not pictured as it need to come off to be removed) and one multiplug was missing altogether and replaced with crimped spade connectors. What a disaster!
Luckily a few weeks back I picked up a cheap ignition switch and wiring - it was u/s but I was hoping this was due to the barrel/key, not the wiring. I was wrong. On the barrel end of the loom there's a rotary switch that connects the live feed to the appropriate outputs and this wasn't working (discovered after fitting it and lots of head scratching). At first I started to repair the old loom, but decided this wasn't a good idea and decided to take the rotary switch apart instead. I'd tried this once before and lots of swearing followed as I tried to get the small components back together, but thought I might do better second time round.
It was clear after taking it apart the little spring that holds it all together was knackered, so I robbed this from the old switch and after about 5 minutes of messing around I managed to get it all back together (with the help of a bit a vaseline - versatile stuff....!). These are the simple looking, but fiddly components of the switch:
With it all back together, everything worked as it should! And it could be my imagination but I'm sure the electric windows move it a bit faster!
So with the car as ready as it was ever going to be I took it down to my local MOT station on Wednesday. To my complete surprise it passed with just an advisory on one of the front wheel bearings. No mention of rust at all. Result! And it felt a excellent to drive, the tinkering over the last year has certainly made a difference. Happy snap on the way home:
Next thing to tackle is the suspension, which should be sorted this week!
Tuesday evening I decided to make sure the battery was OK and try and fix the electric windows. Surely it'd just be a fuse??! Started up first time, but on reversing out the garage the was a sparking noise coming from under the dash. Pulled the trim panels off and found this:
The little white wire at the bottom of the photo is a live feed from the ignition switch and it was earthing against the steering column. Joy, the evening before the MOT and it was time to do some re-wiring. I knew the ignition switch loom needed changing as it had been messed about with but I didn't quite anticipate it would be this bad:
So, the white multiplug had been messed about with, causing this wire to pop out, but on top of this the main 12v feed had been cut and badly soldered back together (then covered in insulation tape), 2 of the other ignition lives were joined with a connector block (not pictured as it need to come off to be removed) and one multiplug was missing altogether and replaced with crimped spade connectors. What a disaster!
Luckily a few weeks back I picked up a cheap ignition switch and wiring - it was u/s but I was hoping this was due to the barrel/key, not the wiring. I was wrong. On the barrel end of the loom there's a rotary switch that connects the live feed to the appropriate outputs and this wasn't working (discovered after fitting it and lots of head scratching). At first I started to repair the old loom, but decided this wasn't a good idea and decided to take the rotary switch apart instead. I'd tried this once before and lots of swearing followed as I tried to get the small components back together, but thought I might do better second time round.
It was clear after taking it apart the little spring that holds it all together was knackered, so I robbed this from the old switch and after about 5 minutes of messing around I managed to get it all back together (with the help of a bit a vaseline - versatile stuff....!). These are the simple looking, but fiddly components of the switch:
With it all back together, everything worked as it should! And it could be my imagination but I'm sure the electric windows move it a bit faster!
So with the car as ready as it was ever going to be I took it down to my local MOT station on Wednesday. To my complete surprise it passed with just an advisory on one of the front wheel bearings. No mention of rust at all. Result! And it felt a excellent to drive, the tinkering over the last year has certainly made a difference. Happy snap on the way home:
Next thing to tackle is the suspension, which should be sorted this week!
Two updates in a week, things must be getting serious!!
I brought in some help for this next job as I didn't fancy doing it myself, so the 309 went for a short break to see Rich at Southways Automotive
And we now have this fitted:
So that's Bilstein front struts, Eibach springs, OEM strut top bearings/rubbers and new drop links. I suspected the old struts were the originals, and Rich confirmed that they were date stamped 1991 - haven't done bad for 23 years and 145k miles! There wasn't anything immediately wrong with them, but the springs were of unknown origin and it's a first step in getting the suspension setup exactly how I want it. First thoughts are that the front end feels a little more compliant, so it's definitely going in the right direction. Next things on the list is a proper geometry check and then think about the rear beam.
Rich also pointed out that the car has a solid bottom engine mount fitted, which I hadn't twigged. Probably a bit over the top for my use, so need to get hold of a standard mount in the hope it will get rid of some of the vibrations felt through the cabin - I'd put this down to driving a 23 year old car, but I'll be happy if it can be improved on with a simple mount swap!
With the car now in relatively good order I'm looking forward to using it some more over the coming months and getting out to a few events!
I brought in some help for this next job as I didn't fancy doing it myself, so the 309 went for a short break to see Rich at Southways Automotive
And we now have this fitted:
So that's Bilstein front struts, Eibach springs, OEM strut top bearings/rubbers and new drop links. I suspected the old struts were the originals, and Rich confirmed that they were date stamped 1991 - haven't done bad for 23 years and 145k miles! There wasn't anything immediately wrong with them, but the springs were of unknown origin and it's a first step in getting the suspension setup exactly how I want it. First thoughts are that the front end feels a little more compliant, so it's definitely going in the right direction. Next things on the list is a proper geometry check and then think about the rear beam.
Rich also pointed out that the car has a solid bottom engine mount fitted, which I hadn't twigged. Probably a bit over the top for my use, so need to get hold of a standard mount in the hope it will get rid of some of the vibrations felt through the cabin - I'd put this down to driving a 23 year old car, but I'll be happy if it can be improved on with a simple mount swap!
With the car now in relatively good order I'm looking forward to using it some more over the coming months and getting out to a few events!
Kitchski said:
Tappets sound like they need re-shimming and your idle is all over the place, BTW
Cool car though!
Meant to ask you about that. Re-shimming tappets sounds like fun, time to get the Haynes out I guess! Believe it or not the idle is much better than it was, it's still a work in progress though!Cool car though!
TBH I'm still undecided about the engine. The 8v is much improved now I have it running a bit better, but i can't help thinking a GTI6/Mi16 conversion would make it so much more (the French got the Mi16 engine in a 309, so it'd be keeping in line with how Peugeot intended the car to be powered). Unfortunately, with an impending house move, this is probably off the cards for now, so I'm thinking a top end rebuild of the original lump might be a good project for the winter. I've also got a full Magnex exhaust sat in the garage so ideal opportunity to fit that too!
M8rky - I'm a member on CXOC from when I had my VTS so will check it out.
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