1978 Peugeot 104 GL
Discussion
I’ve been trying to find a Peugeot 104 for the last few months as my old man used to have one. I’ve always liked them and especially the earlier models.
I sold my 1981 Ford Capri ‘L’ two years ago and have been trying to find something reasonably cheap that needed work, and something that you don’t see often if at all on the roads anymore.
Then this 1978 Peugeot 104 GL popped up on Facebook Marketplace for not a lot of money, that needs a fair bit of bodywork repairs to get it back into a road worthy condition - but the engine still runs and the brakes still work so it has some positives. It’s an early model with the chrome bumpers / mirror which I love the look of.
I only bought it on Sunday gone, the fella that sold it is a Peugeot 104 guy and has another in better / more road worthy condition. Very helpful/knowledgable on 104’s and parts etc.
It has two holes in the boot floor, couple holes in the floor pan, rear valance needs replacing, I think both rear wheel arches and will need some work on the A pillars.
I’m keen to get it back road worthy although might take some time. Having said that parts are not easy to come by so if anyone knows anywhere that might have panels for a 104 any information is much appreciated.
Will aim to post more updates as/when the welding begins, until then I’ll be searching for panels!
Also interested to know if there’s any other 104 owners on here?
I sold my 1981 Ford Capri ‘L’ two years ago and have been trying to find something reasonably cheap that needed work, and something that you don’t see often if at all on the roads anymore.
Then this 1978 Peugeot 104 GL popped up on Facebook Marketplace for not a lot of money, that needs a fair bit of bodywork repairs to get it back into a road worthy condition - but the engine still runs and the brakes still work so it has some positives. It’s an early model with the chrome bumpers / mirror which I love the look of.
I only bought it on Sunday gone, the fella that sold it is a Peugeot 104 guy and has another in better / more road worthy condition. Very helpful/knowledgable on 104’s and parts etc.
It has two holes in the boot floor, couple holes in the floor pan, rear valance needs replacing, I think both rear wheel arches and will need some work on the A pillars.
I’m keen to get it back road worthy although might take some time. Having said that parts are not easy to come by so if anyone knows anywhere that might have panels for a 104 any information is much appreciated.
Will aim to post more updates as/when the welding begins, until then I’ll be searching for panels!
Also interested to know if there’s any other 104 owners on here?
Edited by Ryan104 on Tuesday 30th March 17:54
I forgot to take any of my own photos of the interior but these are from the sale listing:
The back seats are in good condition, the front seats as you can see will need some Re-upholstering or replacing. Hoping to restore this 104 to how it looked when it rolled off of the production line over the next few years.
The back seats are in good condition, the front seats as you can see will need some Re-upholstering or replacing. Hoping to restore this 104 to how it looked when it rolled off of the production line over the next few years.
Good to see.
My first car when I passed my test in 1986.
URN166V in burgundy.
My parents told me to sell it when the king pin failed just after I’d got off a busy dual carriageway.That’s an experience I still remember,the front wheels were facing outwards when I got out to look.Not good.
Looking forward to following this!
My first car when I passed my test in 1986.
URN166V in burgundy.
My parents told me to sell it when the king pin failed just after I’d got off a busy dual carriageway.That’s an experience I still remember,the front wheels were facing outwards when I got out to look.Not good.
Looking forward to following this!
Hello from another 104 owner! I've a thread running on here, a few pages back, about my exploits with my 104S. There's at least one other 104 owner active on pistonheads. I also bought mine as my dad had one... believe it was the first car I was ever in shortly after I was born though I have no memory of his one.
I did consider buying the one you've just bought but you're braver than me (or you can weld, whilst I cannot!). A-pillars look like a tricky repair but nothing is impossible
Get on to the facebook group - the UK 104/Samba/LNA/Visa Forum. There's a good bunch of us on there and probably the best single source of info and parts unless you can speak French. For yours doors and wings are sourceable without too much difficulty. Other panels might be trickier. Sourcing the correct replacement front seats I'd say will be another tricky job. Most mechanical things can be got fairly readily.
I did consider buying the one you've just bought but you're braver than me (or you can weld, whilst I cannot!). A-pillars look like a tricky repair but nothing is impossible
Get on to the facebook group - the UK 104/Samba/LNA/Visa Forum. There's a good bunch of us on there and probably the best single source of info and parts unless you can speak French. For yours doors and wings are sourceable without too much difficulty. Other panels might be trickier. Sourcing the correct replacement front seats I'd say will be another tricky job. Most mechanical things can be got fairly readily.
@sjabrown good to see another 104 owner! Have just seen your thread about yours, fingers crossed I can get mine into something close to that condition over time. I’ve joined the Facebook groups you’ve mentioned and also messaged Group Peugeot UK who gave me some good advice on sourcing a few parts (mentioned Dean Hunter and gave me his details)
They also explained parts are pretty hard to come by for these cars as they’re so rare now in the UK, many probably scrapped a long time ago. I did message a couple French sellers on Facebook market who had some very rough looking 104’s for sale, but I was heavily relying on the use of Google translate, so they probably thought I was a muppet.
I don’t actually weld but I have a friend who does, he kept my capri on the road for several years and has restored his mk1 escorts from the ground up - he also now fabricates panels for mk1 escorts himself and seems to be doing pretty well with that. Very talented welder, and doesn’t charge me ridiculous money of course so that helps. I bought this 104 very cheap so that also helps me with the cost for the work.
I’ve also been emailing the guy who is selling that mint looking blue Peugeot 104 GL on eBay right now. Before I got this project I was considering trying for that at 3.5k.
@breadvan72 the interior is definitely “patina” much like the rest of the car! But we will get there.
They also explained parts are pretty hard to come by for these cars as they’re so rare now in the UK, many probably scrapped a long time ago. I did message a couple French sellers on Facebook market who had some very rough looking 104’s for sale, but I was heavily relying on the use of Google translate, so they probably thought I was a muppet.
I don’t actually weld but I have a friend who does, he kept my capri on the road for several years and has restored his mk1 escorts from the ground up - he also now fabricates panels for mk1 escorts himself and seems to be doing pretty well with that. Very talented welder, and doesn’t charge me ridiculous money of course so that helps. I bought this 104 very cheap so that also helps me with the cost for the work.
I’ve also been emailing the guy who is selling that mint looking blue Peugeot 104 GL on eBay right now. Before I got this project I was considering trying for that at 3.5k.
@breadvan72 the interior is definitely “patina” much like the rest of the car! But we will get there.
Just to emphasise the level of bodywork repairs needed for this 104, I took some photos of the real problem areas.
Drivers side floor pan:
Boot corners:
Rear valance:
Drivers side Rear quarter:
And last/worst, the A pillars:
Safe to say will be a long old journey to get this all sorted, particularly the A pillars which unless I can source the panels from a donor 104 is going to be extremely tricky/costly.
I’m looking at the positives though, the engine runs and the brakes work? It would also be a shame for it to be broken up / scrapped as 104’s are so few and far between at this point already.
Not thinking with my head on this one that’s for sure (old Peugeot’s definitely do not carry the financial return of an old Ford when it comes to spending on restoration)
Have managed to locate a few parts that I need will try and update this as and when some progress is made, my plan is to get the floor pan, boot floor and rear quarter sorted first.
Being optimistic - the sills are solid / have already been done and the passenger side floor pan looks ok as far as I can tell.
Drivers side floor pan:
Boot corners:
Rear valance:
Drivers side Rear quarter:
And last/worst, the A pillars:
Safe to say will be a long old journey to get this all sorted, particularly the A pillars which unless I can source the panels from a donor 104 is going to be extremely tricky/costly.
I’m looking at the positives though, the engine runs and the brakes work? It would also be a shame for it to be broken up / scrapped as 104’s are so few and far between at this point already.
Not thinking with my head on this one that’s for sure (old Peugeot’s definitely do not carry the financial return of an old Ford when it comes to spending on restoration)
Have managed to locate a few parts that I need will try and update this as and when some progress is made, my plan is to get the floor pan, boot floor and rear quarter sorted first.
Being optimistic - the sills are solid / have already been done and the passenger side floor pan looks ok as far as I can tell.
Very similar rust to mine although mine was worse in the bulk head and front turrets. Apart from filler and goodwill I’m not really sure what was holding it together!
I only saw that restored blue one eBay today when a friend sent me the link. just as well it had ended as I would have probably bought it. Is there a 104 UK forum as I would be quite keen on reliving a bit of my youth?
I only saw that restored blue one eBay today when a friend sent me the link. just as well it had ended as I would have probably bought it. Is there a 104 UK forum as I would be quite keen on reliving a bit of my youth?
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff