Impulse buy: Peugeot 205 GTi 16v
Discussion
PixelpeepS3 said:
CarlosV8 said:
Thanks, very kind of you to say. I had my first 205 almost 20 years ago, although I had 2 309s before that. That 205 was a white Dturbo that looked just like yours and I loved it, but unfortunately that came to a messy end involving a tree. GTis were dirt cheap at the time, but I couldn't get insured on one, so the Dturbo was replaced by an XS. After a wide array of different cars I eventually got a GTi (albeit a 309) 8 years ago and haven't been without one since.
was thinking back and remembered something funny...my airflow meter was screwed - i think a new one was £200 at the time. AA guy told me to break the casing open and give it a squirt of WD40 every few days.
worked a treat lol
t!CarlosV8 said:
The house number didn't even twig until we moved in!
Yes, I do have a 1.6 gearbox (the car was originally a 1.6). Although it does have an LSD now too. It gives nice close ratios, the only downside is that you're doing almost 4krpm at motorway speeds.
In fairness if it will still pull 125 in 5th then the shorter gearing is ideal.Yes, I do have a 1.6 gearbox (the car was originally a 1.6). Although it does have an LSD now too. It gives nice close ratios, the only downside is that you're doing almost 4krpm at motorway speeds.
My Integra is similarly seemingly short geared- but has an 8500 rev limit- which is good for 140+. People knock short gearing but when an engine is so smooth & revvy I honestly don’t notice it.
chrismc1977 said:
CarlosV8 said:
The house number didn't even twig until we moved in!
Yes, I do have a 1.6 gearbox (the car was originally a 1.6). Although it does have an LSD now too. It gives nice close ratios, the only downside is that you're doing almost 4krpm at motorway speeds.
In fairness if it will still pull 125 in 5th then the shorter gearing is ideal.Yes, I do have a 1.6 gearbox (the car was originally a 1.6). Although it does have an LSD now too. It gives nice close ratios, the only downside is that you're doing almost 4krpm at motorway speeds.
My Integra is similarly seemingly short geared- but has an 8500 rev limit- which is good for 140+. People knock short gearing but when an engine is so smooth & revvy I honestly don’t notice it.
PixelpeepS3 said:
chrismc1977 said:
CarlosV8 said:
The house number didn't even twig until we moved in!
Yes, I do have a 1.6 gearbox (the car was originally a 1.6). Although it does have an LSD now too. It gives nice close ratios, the only downside is that you're doing almost 4krpm at motorway speeds.
In fairness if it will still pull 125 in 5th then the shorter gearing is ideal.Yes, I do have a 1.6 gearbox (the car was originally a 1.6). Although it does have an LSD now too. It gives nice close ratios, the only downside is that you're doing almost 4krpm at motorway speeds.
My Integra is similarly seemingly short geared- but has an 8500 rev limit- which is good for 140+. People knock short gearing but when an engine is so smooth & revvy I honestly don’t notice it.
My mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
Simes205 said:
It was fashionable a few years ago to stick in a 5th fear from a diesel.
My mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
I had considered a diesel 5th as you can fit it without removing the box, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. The engine is perfectly happy at 4krpm and I can put up with the noise on the occasions where a motorway drive is required. Plus the previous owner kindly left some ear plugs in the centre console My mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
Simes205 said:
It was fashionable a few years ago to stick in a 5th fear from a diesel.
My mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
Sounds spot onMy mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
5 shortish but well spaced ratios make it much easier to keep the car on the boil, than 4 normal gears & a really tall 5th
You might lose a few mph top end being limited by RPM- but you don’t half get there quicker!
chrismc1977 said:
Sounds spot on
5 shortish but well spaced ratios make it much easier to keep the car on the boil, than 4 normal gears & a really tall 5th
You might lose a few mph top end being limited by RPM- but you don’t half get there quicker!
In the distant past mine has gone off the clock on ze Autobahn, I’ve not had a long enough at speed to bounce off the limiter in top, been close though!5 shortish but well spaced ratios make it much easier to keep the car on the boil, than 4 normal gears & a really tall 5th
You might lose a few mph top end being limited by RPM- but you don’t half get there quicker!
Solid engine mounts make for it being very noisy at motorway speeds. Many years ago myself and Mrs simes205 did 2800 miles down to the south of France and a tour and back up. I’d just got the Jenveys installed and my foot gave us an average of 25mpg! She doesn’t travel in this car these days.
On longish trips I wear earplugs.
Edited by Simes205 on Saturday 20th June 19:05
chrismc1977 said:
Simes205 said:
It was fashionable a few years ago to stick in a 5th fear from a diesel.
My mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
Sounds spot onMy mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
5 shortish but well spaced ratios make it much easier to keep the car on the boil, than 4 normal gears & a really tall 5th
You might lose a few mph top end being limited by RPM- but you don’t half get there quicker!
f
k off dave, shouldn't you get rid of that 20 year old Zafira diesel ?PixelpeepS3 said:
chrismc1977 said:
Simes205 said:
It was fashionable a few years ago to stick in a 5th fear from a diesel.
My mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
Sounds spot onMy mi16 reads 80mph on the clock spinning at 4000rpm.
Realistically that’s 73 or so.....
5 shortish but well spaced ratios make it much easier to keep the car on the boil, than 4 normal gears & a really tall 5th
You might lose a few mph top end being limited by RPM- but you don’t half get there quicker!
f
k off dave, shouldn't you get rid of that 20 year old Zafira diesel ?The 205 has just come back from an extended stay at Pug Racing. I now have a rebuilt rear beam with new shafts, bearings and seals. As it was all apart I also got the rear end raised slightly (about 20mm) to help avoid the tyres rubbing on the wheel arches when I have some weight in the back. Whilst at the garage I also had the belts and water pump done - they've done very little mileage but at about 8 years old I'd rather be safe than sorry.
I picked the car up on Saturday and had a leisurely drive across the New Forest to get home, which was quite pleasant. Here we are with the wife's French 'hatch':
2020-09-05_12-12-02 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
And then yesterday we took the 205 to it's first event of the year - Simply French at Beaulieu. A well thought-out, relaxed and socially distanced event. Here I am flanked by GTis:
2020-09-06_04-33-15 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Other gems include a Clio V6, a Talbot Matra Rancho, a few Renault Avantimes, lots of 2CVs, and a couple of GSAs. Lots of love for the 205 too, always nice to talk to fellow enthusiasts.
In not so good news I've discovered the 1st cooling fan no longer works, so I have to make sure I use the manual switch for the 2nd fan in traffic. No biggie, but annoying after just replacing the radiator fan switch, so I will need to investigate that at some point. Also, with the rear now raised up I also need to sort out the front to match, which is the ideal opportunity to swap the springs over. I may wait until we lose the nice weather before starting that though, so hopefully I can put a few more miles on the car this month!
I picked the car up on Saturday and had a leisurely drive across the New Forest to get home, which was quite pleasant. Here we are with the wife's French 'hatch':
2020-09-05_12-12-02 by CarlosV8, on FlickrAnd then yesterday we took the 205 to it's first event of the year - Simply French at Beaulieu. A well thought-out, relaxed and socially distanced event. Here I am flanked by GTis:
2020-09-06_04-33-15 by CarlosV8, on FlickrOther gems include a Clio V6, a Talbot Matra Rancho, a few Renault Avantimes, lots of 2CVs, and a couple of GSAs. Lots of love for the 205 too, always nice to talk to fellow enthusiasts.
In not so good news I've discovered the 1st cooling fan no longer works, so I have to make sure I use the manual switch for the 2nd fan in traffic. No biggie, but annoying after just replacing the radiator fan switch, so I will need to investigate that at some point. Also, with the rear now raised up I also need to sort out the front to match, which is the ideal opportunity to swap the springs over. I may wait until we lose the nice weather before starting that though, so hopefully I can put a few more miles on the car this month!
Due to other stuff going on it took a bit longer than planned to get started on the fan, but over the course of a few evenings I got it sorted out. Luckily I had a spare fan in the garage, so that was relatively quick to swap over (remove grille, slam panel off and fan shroud, remove 3 nuts and changeover fan).
However, I also made some improvements to the wiring - my car originally only had one fan, but I'd added a second for peace of mind. The original fan setup is fairly simple - a 12v source goes to the rad switch, then when a certain temp is reached the switch activates and sends the power to a resistor and then to a fan which turns it on at slow speed. If the temp keeps rising the second switch is activated and power is sent straight to the fan for full speed. Simple but flawed, as there is no relay meaning the full current (20ish amps) goes through the rad switch and can cause them to fail prematurely. I wired the second fan in with a manual switch, relay and some "temporary" wiring.
Fortunately, there is a more reliable solution available to this wiring mess - certain cars (diesels and those with air con) came with 2 fans controlled by a set of relays. Luckily the loom for this a completely standalone, so easy-ish to swap over. I acquired the loom and relays sometime ago but hadn't quite figured out how it would all work. With the help of the following diagram I finally figured it all out:
2020-10-15_04-20-30 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
For the first stage of the rad switch the fans come on in series, and therefore at a slower speed. For the second stage the fans are switched to be in parallel, thus come on at high speed. With some further Googling I discovered I needed a bracket to mount all this to the slam panel (which was found on Ebay) and then the only minor modification I needed was a 12v ignition live for the rad switch - something which my car didn't have (on some models Peugeot kindly left a connector tucked behind the headlight). To save hassle I've used a permanent live from the shunt box (now mounted on the same bracket) - it just means the fans may stay on briefly after turning the car off.
So, this is the single fan loom (left) vs the twin fan loom (right):
2020-09-30_10-32-27 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
And this all gets hidden away next to the washer bottle:
20201014_221243 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I've kept the switch in the cabin for the time being, which is now wired into to the relays. Eventually I'll remove this once I'm happy all is well. So with it fixed again we took it out for a drive in the New Forest. You can't drive fast (lots of animals about) but the scenery is lovely:
20201018_103201 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
We also stopped for a walk and parked next to something else from the early nineties. I was quite smitten.
20201018_150333 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
One thing the drive out confirmed is that the new exhaust is causing a very annoying resonance at 3krpm. To the point you would need ear plugs for a longer journey. Not good. So, the next job is to experiment with some sound dampening material. Firstly in the boot to see if it makes a difference, then possibly the rest of the floor pan if it helps.
However, I also made some improvements to the wiring - my car originally only had one fan, but I'd added a second for peace of mind. The original fan setup is fairly simple - a 12v source goes to the rad switch, then when a certain temp is reached the switch activates and sends the power to a resistor and then to a fan which turns it on at slow speed. If the temp keeps rising the second switch is activated and power is sent straight to the fan for full speed. Simple but flawed, as there is no relay meaning the full current (20ish amps) goes through the rad switch and can cause them to fail prematurely. I wired the second fan in with a manual switch, relay and some "temporary" wiring.
Fortunately, there is a more reliable solution available to this wiring mess - certain cars (diesels and those with air con) came with 2 fans controlled by a set of relays. Luckily the loom for this a completely standalone, so easy-ish to swap over. I acquired the loom and relays sometime ago but hadn't quite figured out how it would all work. With the help of the following diagram I finally figured it all out:
2020-10-15_04-20-30 by CarlosV8, on FlickrFor the first stage of the rad switch the fans come on in series, and therefore at a slower speed. For the second stage the fans are switched to be in parallel, thus come on at high speed. With some further Googling I discovered I needed a bracket to mount all this to the slam panel (which was found on Ebay) and then the only minor modification I needed was a 12v ignition live for the rad switch - something which my car didn't have (on some models Peugeot kindly left a connector tucked behind the headlight). To save hassle I've used a permanent live from the shunt box (now mounted on the same bracket) - it just means the fans may stay on briefly after turning the car off.
So, this is the single fan loom (left) vs the twin fan loom (right):
2020-09-30_10-32-27 by CarlosV8, on FlickrAnd this all gets hidden away next to the washer bottle:
20201014_221243 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI've kept the switch in the cabin for the time being, which is now wired into to the relays. Eventually I'll remove this once I'm happy all is well. So with it fixed again we took it out for a drive in the New Forest. You can't drive fast (lots of animals about) but the scenery is lovely:
20201018_103201 by CarlosV8, on FlickrWe also stopped for a walk and parked next to something else from the early nineties. I was quite smitten.
20201018_150333 by CarlosV8, on FlickrOne thing the drive out confirmed is that the new exhaust is causing a very annoying resonance at 3krpm. To the point you would need ear plugs for a longer journey. Not good. So, the next job is to experiment with some sound dampening material. Firstly in the boot to see if it makes a difference, then possibly the rest of the floor pan if it helps.
Life with the 205 (and in general) has been relatively quiet over the last few months. It flew through an MOT in November, and came out for some local trips out at the weekends. With some time off over Christmas I thought I better get on with ticking off some more jobs. As mentioned previously the new exhaust has created some annoying resonance around 3.5-4krpm - perfectly placed for motorway speeds. So I bought some of Amazon's finest sound deadening material and set to work.
The car is never going to be civilised so I wasn't interested in covering the whole thing in sound deadening, instead I have concentrated on the rear end, as this seems to be where the worst of the resonance if coming from (although it's quite hard to tell). The plan was to cover the boot floor and under the rear seats. So first of all the boot needed prepping:
20201206_153406 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Some minor rust spots were cleaned up and painted, but luckily the boot floor was in pretty good condition overall.
I made a start on the floor, but it was at this point things escalated a bit. The side of the boot has black carpet stuck to the wheel arches which was all looking a bit sorry for itself. And the plastic trim above this was dirty and sun faded - something that's annoyed me since getting the car. Spending a load of time in the boot just amplified this annoyance, so I decided to go all in and pull all this out:
20201231_115426 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
This will allow me to also add some sound deadening to the rear quarters, whilst also giving it a bit of a tidy up. But first of all I needed to remove the adhesive left by the carpet, which was a horrible job, made slightly easy by using this stuff:
20201231_124116 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Makes you a bit light headed after a while though!! Sticking in the sound deadening was like a big jigsaw where you were making your own pieces. Fairly therapeutic actually. Once stuck down you use a little roller to ensure the material has completely adhered to the surface. As originally planned I covered the boot floor, but then used a slightly different tactic for the other panels by various shapes of the material to add 'patches' which should dampen any resonance in the metal. It's a method used by another 205 owner which apparently worked well. So now we look like this:
2021-01-03_04-44-20 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I now need to recruit the wife to assist cutting some new trim pieces from a roll of black carpet - hopefully a job for next weekend. In the meantime I've been attempting to restore the black plastic trim. A thorough cleaning followed by some Megiuars trim restorer has definitely helped:
2021-01-02_09-47-15 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Doesn't show too well in the photo but it is better (although not perfect). Should make a noticeable difference when back in the car.
Hopefully all this will yield an improvement in comfort levels, at least so your ears don't hurt after a stint on the motorway!
The car is never going to be civilised so I wasn't interested in covering the whole thing in sound deadening, instead I have concentrated on the rear end, as this seems to be where the worst of the resonance if coming from (although it's quite hard to tell). The plan was to cover the boot floor and under the rear seats. So first of all the boot needed prepping:
20201206_153406 by CarlosV8, on FlickrSome minor rust spots were cleaned up and painted, but luckily the boot floor was in pretty good condition overall.
I made a start on the floor, but it was at this point things escalated a bit. The side of the boot has black carpet stuck to the wheel arches which was all looking a bit sorry for itself. And the plastic trim above this was dirty and sun faded - something that's annoyed me since getting the car. Spending a load of time in the boot just amplified this annoyance, so I decided to go all in and pull all this out:
20201231_115426 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThis will allow me to also add some sound deadening to the rear quarters, whilst also giving it a bit of a tidy up. But first of all I needed to remove the adhesive left by the carpet, which was a horrible job, made slightly easy by using this stuff:
20201231_124116 by CarlosV8, on FlickrMakes you a bit light headed after a while though!! Sticking in the sound deadening was like a big jigsaw where you were making your own pieces. Fairly therapeutic actually. Once stuck down you use a little roller to ensure the material has completely adhered to the surface. As originally planned I covered the boot floor, but then used a slightly different tactic for the other panels by various shapes of the material to add 'patches' which should dampen any resonance in the metal. It's a method used by another 205 owner which apparently worked well. So now we look like this:
2021-01-03_04-44-20 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI now need to recruit the wife to assist cutting some new trim pieces from a roll of black carpet - hopefully a job for next weekend. In the meantime I've been attempting to restore the black plastic trim. A thorough cleaning followed by some Megiuars trim restorer has definitely helped:
2021-01-02_09-47-15 by CarlosV8, on FlickrDoesn't show too well in the photo but it is better (although not perfect). Should make a noticeable difference when back in the car.
Hopefully all this will yield an improvement in comfort levels, at least so your ears don't hurt after a stint on the motorway!
CarlosV8 said:
Life with the 205 (and in general) has been relatively quiet over the last few months. It flew through an MOT in November, and came out for some local trips out at the weekends. With some time off over Christmas I thought I better get on with ticking off some more jobs. As mentioned previously the new exhaust has created some annoying resonance around 3.5-4krpm - perfectly placed for motorway speeds. So I bought some of Amazon's finest sound deadening material and set to work.
The car is never going to be civilised so I wasn't interested in covering the whole thing in sound deadening, instead I have concentrated on the rear end, as this seems to be where the worst of the resonance if coming from (although it's quite hard to tell). The plan was to cover the boot floor and under the rear seats. So first of all the boot needed prepping:
20201206_153406 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Some minor rust spots were cleaned up and painted, but luckily the boot floor was in pretty good condition overall.
I made a start on the floor, but it was at this point things escalated a bit. The side of the boot has black carpet stuck to the wheel arches which was all looking a bit sorry for itself. And the plastic trim above this was dirty and sun faded - something that's annoyed me since getting the car. Spending a load of time in the boot just amplified this annoyance, so I decided to go all in and pull all this out:
20201231_115426 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
This will allow me to also add some sound deadening to the rear quarters, whilst also giving it a bit of a tidy up. But first of all I needed to remove the adhesive left by the carpet, which was a horrible job, made slightly easy by using this stuff:
20201231_124116 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Makes you a bit light headed after a while though!! Sticking in the sound deadening was like a big jigsaw where you were making your own pieces. Fairly therapeutic actually. Once stuck down you use a little roller to ensure the material has completely adhered to the surface. As originally planned I covered the boot floor, but then used a slightly different tactic for the other panels by various shapes of the material to add 'patches' which should dampen any resonance in the metal. It's a method used by another 205 owner which apparently worked well. So now we look like this:
2021-01-03_04-44-20 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I now need to recruit the wife to assist cutting some new trim pieces from a roll of black carpet - hopefully a job for next weekend. In the meantime I've been attempting to restore the black plastic trim. A thorough cleaning followed by some Megiuars trim restorer has definitely helped:
2021-01-02_09-47-15 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Doesn't show too well in the photo but it is better (although not perfect). Should make a noticeable difference when back in the car.
Hopefully all this will yield an improvement in comfort levels, at least so your ears don't hurt after a stint on the motorway!
I'd be interested to see how good the sound deadening is. I have to remove mine from my Williams and need to look at replacing it with something. Dynamat looks good just the price doesn't. The car is never going to be civilised so I wasn't interested in covering the whole thing in sound deadening, instead I have concentrated on the rear end, as this seems to be where the worst of the resonance if coming from (although it's quite hard to tell). The plan was to cover the boot floor and under the rear seats. So first of all the boot needed prepping:
20201206_153406 by CarlosV8, on FlickrSome minor rust spots were cleaned up and painted, but luckily the boot floor was in pretty good condition overall.
I made a start on the floor, but it was at this point things escalated a bit. The side of the boot has black carpet stuck to the wheel arches which was all looking a bit sorry for itself. And the plastic trim above this was dirty and sun faded - something that's annoyed me since getting the car. Spending a load of time in the boot just amplified this annoyance, so I decided to go all in and pull all this out:
20201231_115426 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThis will allow me to also add some sound deadening to the rear quarters, whilst also giving it a bit of a tidy up. But first of all I needed to remove the adhesive left by the carpet, which was a horrible job, made slightly easy by using this stuff:
20201231_124116 by CarlosV8, on FlickrMakes you a bit light headed after a while though!! Sticking in the sound deadening was like a big jigsaw where you were making your own pieces. Fairly therapeutic actually. Once stuck down you use a little roller to ensure the material has completely adhered to the surface. As originally planned I covered the boot floor, but then used a slightly different tactic for the other panels by various shapes of the material to add 'patches' which should dampen any resonance in the metal. It's a method used by another 205 owner which apparently worked well. So now we look like this:
2021-01-03_04-44-20 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI now need to recruit the wife to assist cutting some new trim pieces from a roll of black carpet - hopefully a job for next weekend. In the meantime I've been attempting to restore the black plastic trim. A thorough cleaning followed by some Megiuars trim restorer has definitely helped:
2021-01-02_09-47-15 by CarlosV8, on FlickrDoesn't show too well in the photo but it is better (although not perfect). Should make a noticeable difference when back in the car.
Hopefully all this will yield an improvement in comfort levels, at least so your ears don't hurt after a stint on the motorway!
What brand have you used?
M4CK 1 said:
I'd be interested to see how good the sound deadening is. I have to remove mine from my Williams and need to look at replacing it with something. Dynamat looks good just the price doesn't.
What brand have you used?
I've gone for a brand called Noico. Reviews are generally good and at £30 for 1.7m2 it's a lot cheaper than Dynamat. I'll update once I get the interior back in and go for a drive (although not sure when that will be now!). If it's made a noticeable difference I'll probably get some more and add it under the carpet and possibly to the door skins - the weight impact is minimal but some additional refinement for the sake of £30 will be welcome on longer drives.What brand have you used?
CarlosV8 said:
M4CK 1 said:
I'd be interested to see how good the sound deadening is. I have to remove mine from my Williams and need to look at replacing it with something. Dynamat looks good just the price doesn't.
What brand have you used?
I've gone for a brand called Noico. Reviews are generally good and at £30 for 1.7m2 it's a lot cheaper than Dynamat. I'll update once I get the interior back in and go for a drive (although not sure when that will be now!). If it's made a noticeable difference I'll probably get some more and add it under the carpet and possibly to the door skins - the weight impact is minimal but some additional refinement for the sake of £30 will be welcome on longer drives.What brand have you used?
My Clio can get boomy at motorway speeds, now I've taken the sound insulation up, it'll be interesting to see how more modern insulation helps.
With some help from the wife we managed to get the wheel arches re-trimmed in black carpet:
20210110_122414 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Very pleased with the result as it now looks far neater than it did previously. Next issue to overcome was the little trims clips for the plastic trim - after 30-odd years they had become very brittle and many had snapped or were already missing. As the car already has plenty of rattles I didn't want to add to this! I couldn't find an original clips to purchase online, so settled for some with a slightly different profile:
20210116_120809 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Right and centre are the originals, with the new one on the left. Despite the slightly different design I couldn't see any difference when actually fitted, and they certainly held the panel more securely than the original versions, At £3 for 10 I've made sure I've got a few spares in stock!
And finally with everything back in place:
20210116_131428 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Looks much better, but the real test would be a drive out on the road. So we took the 205 on our government-approved-exercise-outing today, and despite only going a few miles there was definitely some improvement in the resonance - it's not completely gone but it doesn't vibrate your eardrums quite so much. I need a longer run on a motorway to check properly, but for now I would call that a partial success. Next step is the pull the seats and carpet out and give the floorpan the same treatment, but unfortunately I haven't got room in the garage to do that so that will be a job for the spring when the weather improves.
20210110_122414 by CarlosV8, on FlickrVery pleased with the result as it now looks far neater than it did previously. Next issue to overcome was the little trims clips for the plastic trim - after 30-odd years they had become very brittle and many had snapped or were already missing. As the car already has plenty of rattles I didn't want to add to this! I couldn't find an original clips to purchase online, so settled for some with a slightly different profile:
20210116_120809 by CarlosV8, on FlickrRight and centre are the originals, with the new one on the left. Despite the slightly different design I couldn't see any difference when actually fitted, and they certainly held the panel more securely than the original versions, At £3 for 10 I've made sure I've got a few spares in stock!
And finally with everything back in place:
20210116_131428 by CarlosV8, on FlickrLooks much better, but the real test would be a drive out on the road. So we took the 205 on our government-approved-exercise-outing today, and despite only going a few miles there was definitely some improvement in the resonance - it's not completely gone but it doesn't vibrate your eardrums quite so much. I need a longer run on a motorway to check properly, but for now I would call that a partial success. Next step is the pull the seats and carpet out and give the floorpan the same treatment, but unfortunately I haven't got room in the garage to do that so that will be a job for the spring when the weather improves.
With a bit of spare time I decided it was time to get a few easy jobs ticked off... things didn't quite go to plan though! First job was the rear dampers - I'd known for some time they need replacing and they've been getting worse with the rear end getting sloppier. No big deal - 2 bolts for each one and I had options for replacements on the shelf:
20210221_101703 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
The Gaz ones (middle) came off and felt very slack with the adjuster knob doing very little. On the left is the standard Boge option and on the right a used Koni. The Konis felt extremely stiff, so decided to go for the middle ground with the Boge for the time being. Off side was done fairly quickly, but the upper bolt on the near side fought me, turned out it looked a bit gnarly once out:
20210221_112256 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Wasn't happy putting that back on, so downed tools and went and ordered a new set of bolts. This is where things started going wrong for my wallet, as it gave me time to think. The Boge dampers, although new, would be mismatched to the stiff front Gaz coilovers. And if the rear Gaz dampers were shot, the fronts are probably past their best. After weighing up options this eventually led to ordering a new set of Gaz coilovers for the front, and matching dampers for the rear. Gaz have been great so far - I gave them specs of the car, modifications, intended use etc and they will build the set to suit. I opted to save a bit of money I keep much current eccentric top mounts, so I hastly needed to get these measured for Gaz. I thought this would be easy enough, but it soon became apparent I couldn't get the top nut off the coilover, so another purchase required:
2021-02-26_06-29-49 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
It's only a cheap Amazon jobbie, but it made short work of the nut, and soon I was left with the following:
2021-02-27_02-56-04 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Top mount was measured and dimensions sent over to Gaz. It's now around a months wait for them to be built and shipped. Which has given me time to tidy up the wheel arches and strip down the near side. Once again the near side suspension fought me, this time the pinch bolt to attach the coilover to the hub carrier had rusted in place. Managed to get the coilover out, but the bolt refused to come out despite some heavy duty persuasion. In the end I had to remove the entire hub to get in on the bench for better access. The bolt in question:
20210322_181414 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Amazon to the rescue again, and with some heat from my new blow torch and some further persuasion it finally popped out:
20210322_182354 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
And that's where we are today. Hopefully the new suspension will be here in the next week or 2, which gives me enough time to finish tidying the wheel arches and sorting some minor rust. And then back on the road in time for restrictions being lifted, and then hopefully off for a remap to fix some dodgy fueling and find out how many of the 200 horses are still left!
20210221_101703 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThe Gaz ones (middle) came off and felt very slack with the adjuster knob doing very little. On the left is the standard Boge option and on the right a used Koni. The Konis felt extremely stiff, so decided to go for the middle ground with the Boge for the time being. Off side was done fairly quickly, but the upper bolt on the near side fought me, turned out it looked a bit gnarly once out:
20210221_112256 by CarlosV8, on FlickrWasn't happy putting that back on, so downed tools and went and ordered a new set of bolts. This is where things started going wrong for my wallet, as it gave me time to think. The Boge dampers, although new, would be mismatched to the stiff front Gaz coilovers. And if the rear Gaz dampers were shot, the fronts are probably past their best. After weighing up options this eventually led to ordering a new set of Gaz coilovers for the front, and matching dampers for the rear. Gaz have been great so far - I gave them specs of the car, modifications, intended use etc and they will build the set to suit. I opted to save a bit of money I keep much current eccentric top mounts, so I hastly needed to get these measured for Gaz. I thought this would be easy enough, but it soon became apparent I couldn't get the top nut off the coilover, so another purchase required:
2021-02-26_06-29-49 by CarlosV8, on FlickrIt's only a cheap Amazon jobbie, but it made short work of the nut, and soon I was left with the following:
2021-02-27_02-56-04 by CarlosV8, on FlickrTop mount was measured and dimensions sent over to Gaz. It's now around a months wait for them to be built and shipped. Which has given me time to tidy up the wheel arches and strip down the near side. Once again the near side suspension fought me, this time the pinch bolt to attach the coilover to the hub carrier had rusted in place. Managed to get the coilover out, but the bolt refused to come out despite some heavy duty persuasion. In the end I had to remove the entire hub to get in on the bench for better access. The bolt in question:
20210322_181414 by CarlosV8, on FlickrAmazon to the rescue again, and with some heat from my new blow torch and some further persuasion it finally popped out:
20210322_182354 by CarlosV8, on FlickrAnd that's where we are today. Hopefully the new suspension will be here in the next week or 2, which gives me enough time to finish tidying the wheel arches and sorting some minor rust. And then back on the road in time for restrictions being lifted, and then hopefully off for a remap to fix some dodgy fueling and find out how many of the 200 horses are still left!
Well, that was a long 2 weeks! Severe delays in getting the dampers, put eventually they arrived:
2021-05-10_01-56-08 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
If you look closely you may spot a problem... the top spring plates will not fit my top mounts. Great. More back and forth with the supplier and a further wait for the new spring plates to arrive. In the meantime I got on with some other jobs. The rears went on without too much bother:
20210529_141938 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Whilst the front end was up on axle stands I thought I might as well change the track rod ends. They looked fine, but knowing I would need to get the geometry setup I thought it was worth putting a new pair on to make sure everything was free. Glad I did, as the near side was a pig. I actually ordered a new track rod as I didn't think I was going to get it out. Eventually after lots of heat, 2 x mole grips and stilsons it finally unscrewed:
20210529_143907 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
The track rod end was definitely knackered by the time I was finished with it:
20210529_144226 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
But both are now on, and freely move ready for the tracking to be aligned.
With that done I was still waiting, so decided a mini service was in order. I mentioned in my previous post that the car is in need of remapping as the fueling is a bit suspect. Just to prove this, this is the state of the spark plugs fitted last summer:
2021-06-08_11-10-08 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
So, another new set of plugs have gone in and I also changed the oil as it was due (and had a whiff of petrol about it!). I did some other basic checks on the ECU and ignition system but didn't find anything obviously wrong. One other thing I did do though was to change the ECU temp sensor, as it's quick/cheap and rules that out as a problem. Once the car is back on it's wheels I'll take it out to do some datalogging to check what the ECU sees and then will book it in somewhere for a mapping session.
My final job was to test fit a new slam panel. When the 205 was originally converted to 16v the original slam panel was chopped up to give clearance for the air filter. Although functional it made the slam panel fairly weak and causes it to flex. Not good for rigidity or for the bonnet which locks in place in the middle of the panel. When I changed the air filter I went for a slightly smaller version in the hope I could revert to a standard slam panel, and after a bit of metal manipulation I'm glad to say it fits:
20210605_113459 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I'll get it tidied up and painted before fitting properly in the near future.
And finally today, after a 3 week wait the replacement spring plates arrived. I was eager to get everything bolted back together to make sure it all fits, and so far so good:
2021-06-08_10-52-19 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
I'll get the other side done tomorrow, then the car back on it's wheels Thursday, test drive Friday and hopefully the geometry setup on Saturday. If all that goes to plan then I hope to take it for a trip to Caffeine and Machine on Sunday. Fingers crossed!
2021-05-10_01-56-08 by CarlosV8, on FlickrIf you look closely you may spot a problem... the top spring plates will not fit my top mounts. Great. More back and forth with the supplier and a further wait for the new spring plates to arrive. In the meantime I got on with some other jobs. The rears went on without too much bother:
20210529_141938 by CarlosV8, on FlickrWhilst the front end was up on axle stands I thought I might as well change the track rod ends. They looked fine, but knowing I would need to get the geometry setup I thought it was worth putting a new pair on to make sure everything was free. Glad I did, as the near side was a pig. I actually ordered a new track rod as I didn't think I was going to get it out. Eventually after lots of heat, 2 x mole grips and stilsons it finally unscrewed:
20210529_143907 by CarlosV8, on FlickrThe track rod end was definitely knackered by the time I was finished with it:
20210529_144226 by CarlosV8, on FlickrBut both are now on, and freely move ready for the tracking to be aligned.
With that done I was still waiting, so decided a mini service was in order. I mentioned in my previous post that the car is in need of remapping as the fueling is a bit suspect. Just to prove this, this is the state of the spark plugs fitted last summer:
2021-06-08_11-10-08 by CarlosV8, on FlickrSo, another new set of plugs have gone in and I also changed the oil as it was due (and had a whiff of petrol about it!). I did some other basic checks on the ECU and ignition system but didn't find anything obviously wrong. One other thing I did do though was to change the ECU temp sensor, as it's quick/cheap and rules that out as a problem. Once the car is back on it's wheels I'll take it out to do some datalogging to check what the ECU sees and then will book it in somewhere for a mapping session.
My final job was to test fit a new slam panel. When the 205 was originally converted to 16v the original slam panel was chopped up to give clearance for the air filter. Although functional it made the slam panel fairly weak and causes it to flex. Not good for rigidity or for the bonnet which locks in place in the middle of the panel. When I changed the air filter I went for a slightly smaller version in the hope I could revert to a standard slam panel, and after a bit of metal manipulation I'm glad to say it fits:
20210605_113459 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI'll get it tidied up and painted before fitting properly in the near future.
And finally today, after a 3 week wait the replacement spring plates arrived. I was eager to get everything bolted back together to make sure it all fits, and so far so good:
2021-06-08_10-52-19 by CarlosV8, on FlickrI'll get the other side done tomorrow, then the car back on it's wheels Thursday, test drive Friday and hopefully the geometry setup on Saturday. If all that goes to plan then I hope to take it for a trip to Caffeine and Machine on Sunday. Fingers crossed!
Amazingly, all went to plan... ish! Got the near side suspension fitted and the car was back on it's wheels on Thursday for a first test drive round the block. Apart from the tracking being out, all felt pretty good. Tracking was sorted on Friday:
20210611_123504 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Checked and adjusted at Wheel Alignment Solutions in Southampton, who did a great job. Also got the camber set to -1 degrees (standard 205 GTi is 0). Unfortunately, about half a mile from home it started running like a bag of nails - just didn't want to run at part throttle leading to lots of revs and pops/bangs to get going. Must have looked a right tool! I drove it straight in the garage and st the door, feeling a bit dejected.
Went back out Saturday to have one last try sorting out it. As there was a major misfire at part throttle I thought I'd have a look at the TPS. No issue with the connector or voltages, so hooked up the laptop and checked the ECU. Pushing the throttle showed a smooth movement in the TPS, but when the throttle was fully open the ECU only logged 97% open. Fortunately it's a 2 minute job to recalirbate the TPS via the Emerald software so did that and headed on our a drive:
20210612_150520 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
Luckily no "Danger to Manifold" warning! But, it seemed to be running nicely. Spent 30 mins driving fast and slow roads and no misfire appeared. Time to get home, get it washed and ready for a few hundred miles on Sunday with the family in tow!
Happy to say it's driven like an absolute dream today, and all the odd jobs done over the last year have added up to a huge difference: the nasty resonance has just about gone at motorway speeds, engine temps are stable and well controlled by the fans (even in traffic on the hottest day of year), suspension is less crashy and steering appears to be lighter. All in all, I'm a very happy boy. Even managed to blag a plinth for our early breakfast at C&M:
20210613_090651 by CarlosV8, on Flickr
20210611_123504 by CarlosV8, on FlickrChecked and adjusted at Wheel Alignment Solutions in Southampton, who did a great job. Also got the camber set to -1 degrees (standard 205 GTi is 0). Unfortunately, about half a mile from home it started running like a bag of nails - just didn't want to run at part throttle leading to lots of revs and pops/bangs to get going. Must have looked a right tool! I drove it straight in the garage and s
t the door, feeling a bit dejected.Went back out Saturday to have one last try sorting out it. As there was a major misfire at part throttle I thought I'd have a look at the TPS. No issue with the connector or voltages, so hooked up the laptop and checked the ECU. Pushing the throttle showed a smooth movement in the TPS, but when the throttle was fully open the ECU only logged 97% open. Fortunately it's a 2 minute job to recalirbate the TPS via the Emerald software so did that and headed on our a drive:
20210612_150520 by CarlosV8, on FlickrLuckily no "Danger to Manifold" warning! But, it seemed to be running nicely. Spent 30 mins driving fast and slow roads and no misfire appeared. Time to get home, get it washed and ready for a few hundred miles on Sunday with the family in tow!
Happy to say it's driven like an absolute dream today, and all the odd jobs done over the last year have added up to a huge difference: the nasty resonance has just about gone at motorway speeds, engine temps are stable and well controlled by the fans (even in traffic on the hottest day of year), suspension is less crashy and steering appears to be lighter. All in all, I'm a very happy boy. Even managed to blag a plinth for our early breakfast at C&M:
20210613_090651 by CarlosV8, on FlickrGassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff