The cursed Rallye
Discussion
You know what they say. Never buy the first one you look at.
It all looked so good: owned by a main dealer mechanic, 86k miles. Shiny, red and unadulterated. What could possibly go wrong?
Where it all started
I'd been running two cars for most of the time I'd had my licence. An awesome little Mini that only came out for summer, supported by a little 106 Graduate and then a 306 LX for the hard work. This had been going on since 2003 and both Peugeots been reliable enough for me to give the Mini the workshop time it deserved. But with demands of work increasing, and a permanent move away from the family home (and workshop), I started to think that two cars may be as unsustainable as it was unnecessary. So the decision was made to consolidate the fun aspects of the Mini and the practicality of a modern hatchback into one single car.
I'd always liked Peugeots, and had wanted a 106 Rallye since I knew they existed. But having run the Graduate for four years, I knew a 106 was just a little bit too little for an everyday car. I'd initially thought my 306 was a bit of a hog (because it was), but as its reliability increased along with the length of the list of replacement parts, I became quite fond of it, eventually concluding that the 306 was in fact a decent car.
So I started looking up 306 Rallyes - best of both worlds. Fast, nice handling, easy to fix (more on that later), and low on tech (so nothing expensive to go wrong).
The sale
I'd seen a few come up on the forum at 306gti6.com, but had not really had the time or inclination to go and look at any. Then one came up in St Austell, a mere 154 miles from my home in Bristol. I had a bit of spare time, and as I went to uni in Exeter and had spent 6 months weekly commuting from Bristol to Plymouth, I knew some half decent roads on the way down. The seller was starting to get twitchy and had dropped a grand off the (frankly unrealistic) asking price. Things were looking good. Contact was made and off I toddled one Sunday in Feb 2013 (possibly the 3rd (as in Sunday 3rd of Feb, not 3rd Sunday in Feb)) to have a look.
An uneventful journey was followed by a detailed examination of the car. But if I'm brutally honest, I'd bought it as soon as I saw it on the drive of the sellers house. There were a few things wrong with it (K&N was hanging off a bit, passenger window didn't wind down very well, tyres were s
te, not much service history) but on the whole it seemed OK. Drove OK, no rust, no stupid mods. All in all a nice little car.
I mentioned the defects to the seller and offered what I though it was worth (plus a bit because it well was below his asking price), but he didn't bite. In the end the promise of a quickly completed sale had him knock a whole £100 off, and it was mine for £2.5k. I knew at the time that this was a bit much (at least 20% too much), but as it seemed like a nice car and the difference was only a couple of monthly payments on a Kia or Golf (or some other such tripe
), I didn't let myself get worked up about it.
First drive
I picked it up a week later, after getting a train down from Bristol on the Friday afternoon. The trip back was memorable, but not all good. I took the A38 past Plymouth so I could head up the Teign valley and out onto the moor a bit for a run out. Not exactly a direct route but well worth it and a road I'd taken many times in the Mini, so good for a comparison.
I'd never really driven a quick car before. I was held up in traffic from St Austell to Plym, but even so, I could tell it had a bit of poke. The Rallye has twice as much power as the Mini (which started to run out of steam at about 85), so A-road overtakes were pifflingly easy. Even with the crappy tyres on, the pace at which it went round corners was something else. It didn't seem that fast compared to the Mini due to the size of the car, the relative comfort, and the height of the driver's seat above the ground, but bugger I did it cover the ground. Back on the main road, I didn't have the guts (stupidity?) to do a VMax run, but can well believe the quoted top speed of 130Mph. Either way, I managed not to have any hiccups, despite my exuberance and the quality of the tyres.
So at this stage it looked like a decent buy.
Unfortunately the other memorable bit of the trip left a distinctly bitter taste. After chomping on my takeaway pizza (not bitter-tasting) in Bovey Tracey, I noticed that the blower wouldn't clear the windscreen of condensation. I also noticed a funny smell in the air, but couldn't place it. So I wiped the screen and cracked on home. Only past Bridgewater did I manage to place the smell - old festy antifreeze, most likely coming from a popped heater matrix in the dash. Gave the windscreen a quick lick (via finger), and sure enough, that bitter ethlyene-glycol 'orribleness. Bugger.
What causes heater matrixes (matrices?) to pop, I hear you ask? Well, shoddy French engineering is what many people may say, but not I. I would say pressurised coolant. And what causes pressurised coolant? That's right, shoddy French engineering. (Specifically the design and specification of the head gasket seal.)
Mechanical interlude
The XU engines have been around for ever. I won't pretend to know what car this block went in first, but it's safe to say that it was before the invention of the wheel. I think I'm right in saying the block is very similar to that in the venerable 205 GTi. By the time it had made it into the XU10J4RS engine of the Rallye/GTi-6, they had raised the bore from 83mm to 86mm, compression ratio from 9.8:1 to 10.8:1, whacked a chunky 16V head on it, and tuned it to within an inch of its life to extract a further soixante-deux cheveaux. Impressive, but hardly a recipe for robustness.
The internet would have me believe that the other major flaw is the material that makes up the three layer mild steel head gasket. All steel gasket, good. Mild steel, bad. Apparently the gasket corrodes, and the corroded surface fails to maintain the pressure boundary between the cylinder and coolant.
Either way, it turns out popped heater matrixes and failed HGs aren't exactly uncommon on this engine. I should have known.
Home again
By the time I got home I didn't really know what to think. It was obviously a great car, but I was fairly sure it was in need of some pretty serious work.
The good news was that it hadn't boiled. The bad news was that in my bid to reduce car numbers and get something that was both reliable and fast, I had spanked £2500 on something that looked like it was only one of those things... and had increased car numbers to boot.
I ended up shifting the old 306 via the garage in the village where I grew up for a grand total of £700, but had to keep the Mini until the Rallye was reliable. Because of the leaking coolant and possible duff HG, the only driving I could do in the car was to do diagnostic runs to see if coolant really was leaking and the system really was pressurising. It really was, and it really was.
All in all, Feb 2013 was not my finest car month.
TBC...
Edit for speeling. I hate bad spelling.
It all looked so good: owned by a main dealer mechanic, 86k miles. Shiny, red and unadulterated. What could possibly go wrong?
Where it all started
I'd been running two cars for most of the time I'd had my licence. An awesome little Mini that only came out for summer, supported by a little 106 Graduate and then a 306 LX for the hard work. This had been going on since 2003 and both Peugeots been reliable enough for me to give the Mini the workshop time it deserved. But with demands of work increasing, and a permanent move away from the family home (and workshop), I started to think that two cars may be as unsustainable as it was unnecessary. So the decision was made to consolidate the fun aspects of the Mini and the practicality of a modern hatchback into one single car.
I'd always liked Peugeots, and had wanted a 106 Rallye since I knew they existed. But having run the Graduate for four years, I knew a 106 was just a little bit too little for an everyday car. I'd initially thought my 306 was a bit of a hog (because it was), but as its reliability increased along with the length of the list of replacement parts, I became quite fond of it, eventually concluding that the 306 was in fact a decent car.
So I started looking up 306 Rallyes - best of both worlds. Fast, nice handling, easy to fix (more on that later), and low on tech (so nothing expensive to go wrong).
The sale
I'd seen a few come up on the forum at 306gti6.com, but had not really had the time or inclination to go and look at any. Then one came up in St Austell, a mere 154 miles from my home in Bristol. I had a bit of spare time, and as I went to uni in Exeter and had spent 6 months weekly commuting from Bristol to Plymouth, I knew some half decent roads on the way down. The seller was starting to get twitchy and had dropped a grand off the (frankly unrealistic) asking price. Things were looking good. Contact was made and off I toddled one Sunday in Feb 2013 (possibly the 3rd (as in Sunday 3rd of Feb, not 3rd Sunday in Feb)) to have a look.
An uneventful journey was followed by a detailed examination of the car. But if I'm brutally honest, I'd bought it as soon as I saw it on the drive of the sellers house. There were a few things wrong with it (K&N was hanging off a bit, passenger window didn't wind down very well, tyres were s
te, not much service history) but on the whole it seemed OK. Drove OK, no rust, no stupid mods. All in all a nice little car.I mentioned the defects to the seller and offered what I though it was worth (plus a bit because it well was below his asking price), but he didn't bite. In the end the promise of a quickly completed sale had him knock a whole £100 off, and it was mine for £2.5k. I knew at the time that this was a bit much (at least 20% too much), but as it seemed like a nice car and the difference was only a couple of monthly payments on a Kia or Golf (or some other such tripe
), I didn't let myself get worked up about it.First drive
I picked it up a week later, after getting a train down from Bristol on the Friday afternoon. The trip back was memorable, but not all good. I took the A38 past Plymouth so I could head up the Teign valley and out onto the moor a bit for a run out. Not exactly a direct route but well worth it and a road I'd taken many times in the Mini, so good for a comparison.
I'd never really driven a quick car before. I was held up in traffic from St Austell to Plym, but even so, I could tell it had a bit of poke. The Rallye has twice as much power as the Mini (which started to run out of steam at about 85), so A-road overtakes were pifflingly easy. Even with the crappy tyres on, the pace at which it went round corners was something else. It didn't seem that fast compared to the Mini due to the size of the car, the relative comfort, and the height of the driver's seat above the ground, but bugger I did it cover the ground. Back on the main road, I didn't have the guts (stupidity?) to do a VMax run, but can well believe the quoted top speed of 130Mph. Either way, I managed not to have any hiccups, despite my exuberance and the quality of the tyres
. So at this stage it looked like a decent buy.
Unfortunately the other memorable bit of the trip left a distinctly bitter taste. After chomping on my takeaway pizza (not bitter-tasting) in Bovey Tracey, I noticed that the blower wouldn't clear the windscreen of condensation. I also noticed a funny smell in the air, but couldn't place it. So I wiped the screen and cracked on home. Only past Bridgewater did I manage to place the smell - old festy antifreeze, most likely coming from a popped heater matrix in the dash. Gave the windscreen a quick lick (via finger), and sure enough, that bitter ethlyene-glycol 'orribleness. Bugger.
What causes heater matrixes (matrices?) to pop, I hear you ask? Well, shoddy French engineering is what many people may say, but not I. I would say pressurised coolant. And what causes pressurised coolant? That's right, shoddy French engineering. (Specifically the design and specification of the head gasket seal.)
Mechanical interlude
The XU engines have been around for ever. I won't pretend to know what car this block went in first, but it's safe to say that it was before the invention of the wheel. I think I'm right in saying the block is very similar to that in the venerable 205 GTi. By the time it had made it into the XU10J4RS engine of the Rallye/GTi-6, they had raised the bore from 83mm to 86mm, compression ratio from 9.8:1 to 10.8:1, whacked a chunky 16V head on it, and tuned it to within an inch of its life to extract a further soixante-deux cheveaux. Impressive, but hardly a recipe for robustness.
The internet would have me believe that the other major flaw is the material that makes up the three layer mild steel head gasket. All steel gasket, good. Mild steel, bad. Apparently the gasket corrodes, and the corroded surface fails to maintain the pressure boundary between the cylinder and coolant.
Either way, it turns out popped heater matrixes and failed HGs aren't exactly uncommon on this engine. I should have known.
Home again
By the time I got home I didn't really know what to think. It was obviously a great car, but I was fairly sure it was in need of some pretty serious work.
The good news was that it hadn't boiled. The bad news was that in my bid to reduce car numbers and get something that was both reliable and fast, I had spanked £2500 on something that looked like it was only one of those things... and had increased car numbers to boot.
I ended up shifting the old 306 via the garage in the village where I grew up for a grand total of £700, but had to keep the Mini until the Rallye was reliable. Because of the leaking coolant and possible duff HG, the only driving I could do in the car was to do diagnostic runs to see if coolant really was leaking and the system really was pressurising. It really was, and it really was.
All in all, Feb 2013 was not my finest car month.
TBC...
Edit for speeling. I hate bad spelling.
Edited by bitwrx on Tuesday 22 April 20:02
I kind of glossed over how I found out for sure that the coolant was pressurising. Despite the fact that I definitely write too much, it probably deserves a bit of explanation.
I was certain the heater matrix had gone, but I just didn't want to believe that the HG was dead (or worse, cracked head or block!). And when I started looking into how to do the head, I thought I'd better make double trouble sure I'd diagnosed it right.
Cue some imaginative use of various household items...
Quick trip to the local home brew shop, and Sealey dealer to get some indicator solution gave rise to this contraption.
Jam it in the radiator with the engine cold, run the car up at fast idle, and as the engine heats up the gas from the cooling system bubbles up through the tube turning the solution yellow. Yellow = acidic = carbon dioxide, which is a product of combustion, which must've come from the combustion chamber... or so I understand it.
So, certain that I had a duff HG, I started amassing the required bits, including a fancy stainless HG, special bolts, new heater matrix, upper engine mount (while I was there), timing belt, idler pulley, adjuster pulley, water pump. All in all, farking expensive. (The first time I'd really noticed how cheap Mini bits are!)
Getting the head undone wasn't hard. A few grazed knuckles doing the cam belt, but nothing serious. Getting it off the car was a bh. Turned out I needed to drop the whole engine and box down off their mounts so that the manifold could get up past the block. Alternative was to use every extension I had to go up from below the subframe to take all twelfty six of the exhaust manifold studs out of the head. (By the by, the manifold is a work of art. Can't believe they put that much effort into a manifold on a tinny little hatchback!)
To be honest, the head was such a bugger to get off, I thought I'd cocked it up more than once by letting the valves hit on the face of the block. Had visions of getting it all back together only to find I'd bent a valve stem (should have taken the camshafts out before hand).
Once I'd got the head off I managed to discern that it had never been skimmed, so was still in spec for the standard HG thickness. I took it to my local engine people at Slark Race Engineering, who took the tiniest feather off for what I thought the thoroughly reasonable sum of £40 and a cake.
It went back together OK from what I remember (camshafts left out, so no banged valves). I didn't really read what the procedure was for putting the cambelt back on ('cos I is leet at mechanics, innit), but reckoned I had it right.
With some trepidation, I fired it up. It was rattly and lumpy and horrible. I was heartbroken. Absolutely fking fuming with myself... and anyone else who happened to be standing close by. (Sorry dad. And mum. And bro. And his girlfriend.)
French hatch folklore interlude
I've since spent a bit more time immersed in the GTi-6 forum (mostly the for sale bits) and all the adverts will say the head is a 'non-tapper', or a 'tapper, but been like that for ages'. What this means is that the engine has had a valve/piston interface moment, and has a few bent valve stems that could go bang at any time. The fact that most people feel the need to mention that theirs isn't knackered tells you all you need to know about how common it is... Or at least, is perceived to be.
Remeber what I said about the J4RS version of this engine being pushed quite far? Well one aspect of that is having very little clearance between valve and piston (max lift of 1.4 odd mm at TDC). One tooth out when refitting the belt, and you'll have a 'tapper'. Oh, and it turns out that the rubber bit in the crankshaft pulley can break down, which puts the timing marks out and if you didn't know that when you take the engine apart, there is no way to check until you fire it up (unless you can be arsed getting a dial indicator out).
Consequently, it's pretty easy to completely bork an engine... especially if you don't pay close attention to the cambelt fitting procedure.
Back to it
£2978.41 now (and four days work), and I all I had was a car with a brand new head gasket but what I thought was a soon to be fooked engine. I was convinced it was now a 'tapper'. So I thought I'd do my head gasket testing procedures (well practiced by now) to see if I'd at least got that bit right. Ran it up on fast idle and it seemed to get quieter... as the hydraulic tappets filled with oil. The cooling system didn't pump up either.Result.
So with everything back together I headed back from my parents' place to Bristol. First thing I noticed was that it was sloooooow. There's a big long straight just up from home, previously used by Evo and Top Gear for various bits of filming/photoshooting. I knew how fast a 405 GLX would go up this road. And how fast a 205 XS would do. The Rallye beat neither. My guess is at least 25% down on power.
Gave it a few weeks to let my knuckles recover (during which time the O/S rear brake caliper needed replacing), and tackled the heater matrix. This is 12 hours labour at a Peugeot dealer for a part that costs £47. It's a big job, so I made sure I had to do it only once.
While I was there I disassembled every bit of the cabin ventilation system and washed it. Twice. In hot water. With much Fairy liquid. I fking hate the smell of ethylene-glycol (or whatever it is they put in it to smell and taste so bitter).
In the end it took two days, but wasn't actually that difficult. Top tip: getting the old matrix out through the bulkhead is really easy, but only if you twist it in just the right way. With it just hanging there, push it to the off side and the pipes will just pop through the grommet. You have no idea how long it took me to figure that out.
So back to the lack of power. Did a bit more reading, a bit more thinking, a bit of compression testing (even, but lower than expected), some more reading and thinking and went back three weeks later to time the bd up properly, still half convinced I'd bent a valve. It was back to normal. Things were looking up.
So just the tyres, passenger window, shabby filter and a few other little things to sort out.
Doe
A deer. A prancing mother fking suicidal death wish bonnet ruining hole of a deer. It came off worse, but just a fortnight after I got my chevaux back, the Rallye was off the road.
That's when I decided it was cursed.
Total damage was:
I did take the opportunity to upgrade to a fabled Nissens rad though (Nissens part number 61252A in case anyone needs it).
Tyring business
The standard Cyclone alloy on these things looks OK, but only if you use the correct profile tyres - 195/55R15.
I guess in 1999 there were plenty of suitable tyres, apart from the standard Pirelli P6000 items. Nowadays 195/55R15 is the reserve of the family man's car - Picassos and the like - so choice of tyres that don't have "Energy" or "Efficient" in the name is limited. The Pirellis on the rear have an awful reputation, but not as bad as the Runways I had up front. They were first to go.
Pug mythology says Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 are the tyres to have, but they went out of production about the time I bought the car. The new received wisdom was to go to 195/50 or 205/50 Michelin Pilot Sport 3s. But 195/50s look ste, and 205 sounds too wide for a 6" rim. And besides, this is a road car. If I wanted a track car with stiff and low sidewalled tyres, I'd buy a track car. I want a car that handles nicely on roads, and that includes ride comfort. Now I know that everything is a comprimise, and I know from the Mini that low and stiff is great fun, but only in small doses. This was my only car (or would be if anyone wanted to buy the Mini, which by this time was up for sale), so it needed to retain acceptable levels of comfort.
Determined to plough my own furrow I eventually settled on a Bridgestone Potenza Adrenaline RE002 (where do they get these names from?), and had two fitted at my local F1 Autocentre. Good looking tyres I thought, and despite turning up first thing on a Saturday (prime time for a tyre fitter with a hangover to be operating sub-optimally), the rims went back on without a scratch...
But they did wobble like fk, which really overshadowed the vast improvement in ride quality and grip over the Runways.
This is when I learned about centreless wheels. Turns out very few places have the kit (or the inclination to set up the kit) to balance wheels without a hole in the middle. My will to have a nice car was flagging a bit by this stage, so I just put up with it, and got on with my summer.
So that takes us up to Aug 2013. A decent cricket season, and the amount of hassle I'd had with the car meant I'd barely driven it for fun, and done just 4500 miles in total.
Cursed, I tells ya. Little did I know.
I was certain the heater matrix had gone, but I just didn't want to believe that the HG was dead (or worse, cracked head or block!). And when I started looking into how to do the head, I thought I'd better make double trouble sure I'd diagnosed it right.
Cue some imaginative use of various household items...
Quick trip to the local home brew shop, and Sealey dealer to get some indicator solution gave rise to this contraption.
Jam it in the radiator with the engine cold, run the car up at fast idle, and as the engine heats up the gas from the cooling system bubbles up through the tube turning the solution yellow. Yellow = acidic = carbon dioxide, which is a product of combustion, which must've come from the combustion chamber... or so I understand it.
So, certain that I had a duff HG, I started amassing the required bits, including a fancy stainless HG, special bolts, new heater matrix, upper engine mount (while I was there), timing belt, idler pulley, adjuster pulley, water pump. All in all, farking expensive. (The first time I'd really noticed how cheap Mini bits are!)
Getting the head undone wasn't hard. A few grazed knuckles doing the cam belt, but nothing serious. Getting it off the car was a b
h. Turned out I needed to drop the whole engine and box down off their mounts so that the manifold could get up past the block. Alternative was to use every extension I had to go up from below the subframe to take all twelfty six of the exhaust manifold studs out of the head. (By the by, the manifold is a work of art. Can't believe they put that much effort into a manifold on a tinny little hatchback!)To be honest, the head was such a bugger to get off, I thought I'd cocked it up more than once by letting the valves hit on the face of the block. Had visions of getting it all back together only to find I'd bent a valve stem (should have taken the camshafts out before hand).
Once I'd got the head off I managed to discern that it had never been skimmed, so was still in spec for the standard HG thickness. I took it to my local engine people at Slark Race Engineering, who took the tiniest feather off for what I thought the thoroughly reasonable sum of £40 and a cake.
It went back together OK from what I remember (camshafts left out, so no banged valves). I didn't really read what the procedure was for putting the cambelt back on ('cos I is leet at mechanics, innit), but reckoned I had it right.
With some trepidation, I fired it up. It was rattly and lumpy and horrible. I was heartbroken. Absolutely f
king fuming with myself... and anyone else who happened to be standing close by. (Sorry dad. And mum. And bro. And his girlfriend.)French hatch folklore interlude
I've since spent a bit more time immersed in the GTi-6 forum (mostly the for sale bits) and all the adverts will say the head is a 'non-tapper', or a 'tapper, but been like that for ages'. What this means is that the engine has had a valve/piston interface moment, and has a few bent valve stems that could go bang at any time. The fact that most people feel the need to mention that theirs isn't knackered tells you all you need to know about how common it is... Or at least, is perceived to be.
Remeber what I said about the J4RS version of this engine being pushed quite far? Well one aspect of that is having very little clearance between valve and piston (max lift of 1.4 odd mm at TDC). One tooth out when refitting the belt, and you'll have a 'tapper'. Oh, and it turns out that the rubber bit in the crankshaft pulley can break down, which puts the timing marks out and if you didn't know that when you take the engine apart, there is no way to check until you fire it up (unless you can be arsed getting a dial indicator out).
Consequently, it's pretty easy to completely bork an engine... especially if you don't pay close attention to the cambelt fitting procedure.
Back to it
£2978.41 now (and four days work), and I all I had was a car with a brand new head gasket but what I thought was a soon to be fooked engine. I was convinced it was now a 'tapper'. So I thought I'd do my head gasket testing procedures (well practiced by now) to see if I'd at least got that bit right. Ran it up on fast idle and it seemed to get quieter... as the hydraulic tappets filled with oil. The cooling system didn't pump up either.Result.
So with everything back together I headed back from my parents' place to Bristol. First thing I noticed was that it was sloooooow. There's a big long straight just up from home, previously used by Evo and Top Gear for various bits of filming/photoshooting. I knew how fast a 405 GLX would go up this road. And how fast a 205 XS would do. The Rallye beat neither. My guess is at least 25% down on power.
Gave it a few weeks to let my knuckles recover (during which time the O/S rear brake caliper needed replacing), and tackled the heater matrix. This is 12 hours labour at a Peugeot dealer for a part that costs £47. It's a big job, so I made sure I had to do it only once.
While I was there I disassembled every bit of the cabin ventilation system and washed it. Twice. In hot water. With much Fairy liquid. I f
king hate the smell of ethylene-glycol (or whatever it is they put in it to smell and taste so bitter).In the end it took two days, but wasn't actually that difficult. Top tip: getting the old matrix out through the bulkhead is really easy, but only if you twist it in just the right way. With it just hanging there, push it to the off side and the pipes will just pop through the grommet. You have no idea how long it took me to figure that out.
So back to the lack of power. Did a bit more reading, a bit more thinking, a bit of compression testing (even, but lower than expected), some more reading and thinking and went back three weeks later to time the b
d up properly, still half convinced I'd bent a valve. It was back to normal. Things were looking up.So just the tyres, passenger window, shabby filter and a few other little things to sort out.
Doe
A deer. A prancing mother f
king suicidal death wish bonnet ruining hole of a deer. It came off worse, but just a fortnight after I got my chevaux back, the Rallye was off the road.That's when I decided it was cursed.
Total damage was:
- Bonnet
- Headlights
- Slam panel
- Radiator
- Fan
- Fan shroud
- Grille
- Headlight 'hockey sticks'
- Bumper
- Bonnet stripes
I did take the opportunity to upgrade to a fabled Nissens rad though (Nissens part number 61252A in case anyone needs it).
Tyring business
The standard Cyclone alloy on these things looks OK, but only if you use the correct profile tyres - 195/55R15.
I guess in 1999 there were plenty of suitable tyres, apart from the standard Pirelli P6000 items. Nowadays 195/55R15 is the reserve of the family man's car - Picassos and the like - so choice of tyres that don't have "Energy" or "Efficient" in the name is limited. The Pirellis on the rear have an awful reputation, but not as bad as the Runways I had up front. They were first to go.
Pug mythology says Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 are the tyres to have, but they went out of production about the time I bought the car. The new received wisdom was to go to 195/50 or 205/50 Michelin Pilot Sport 3s. But 195/50s look s
te, and 205 sounds too wide for a 6" rim. And besides, this is a road car. If I wanted a track car with stiff and low sidewalled tyres, I'd buy a track car. I want a car that handles nicely on roads, and that includes ride comfort. Now I know that everything is a comprimise, and I know from the Mini that low and stiff is great fun, but only in small doses. This was my only car (or would be if anyone wanted to buy the Mini, which by this time was up for sale), so it needed to retain acceptable levels of comfort.Determined to plough my own furrow I eventually settled on a Bridgestone Potenza Adrenaline RE002 (where do they get these names from?), and had two fitted at my local F1 Autocentre. Good looking tyres I thought, and despite turning up first thing on a Saturday (prime time for a tyre fitter with a hangover to be operating sub-optimally), the rims went back on without a scratch...
But they did wobble like f
k, which really overshadowed the vast improvement in ride quality and grip over the Runways.This is when I learned about centreless wheels. Turns out very few places have the kit (or the inclination to set up the kit) to balance wheels without a hole in the middle. My will to have a nice car was flagging a bit by this stage, so I just put up with it, and got on with my summer.
So that takes us up to Aug 2013. A decent cricket season, and the amount of hassle I'd had with the car meant I'd barely driven it for fun, and done just 4500 miles in total.
Cursed, I tells ya. Little did I know.
Edited by bitwrx on Tuesday 22 April 23:14
storminnorman said:
Great writeup.
You really did get unlucky with the deer, I ploughed into one at NSL in the HDi and got away with a slightly broken bumper and wonky fog light. Over a year later it's still connected to the car.
Surprised it's managed to cling on, what with those silly little hooves and spindly legs it's got. You really did get unlucky with the deer, I ploughed into one at NSL in the HDi and got away with a slightly broken bumper and wonky fog light. Over a year later it's still connected to the car.
I hit a muntjac with the LX not long before this. It cracked the bumper, but nothing a couple of zippies didn't fix.
Couldn't believe the amount of damage with this one, especially as it was only a junior deer. Headlights looked fine, but could be removed without so much as opening the bonnet.
Was doing less than NSL as well!
Really lucky I it it square in the middle though. Managed to keep both wings unmarked.
ETA, thanks for the kind comments all. Hopefully the updates should get a little shorter as we catch up to the present.
Too late for another tonight, but I'll get the next one up as soon as I can.
Edited by bitwrx on Wednesday 23 April 23:00
Edited by bitwrx on Wednesday 23 April 23:03
Black Friday
August 16th 2013.
No point dwelling on it because, as Richair said, I've covered some of this ground before. In summary:
Yowzers.
It looked like a truck had put its wheelnuts through the tyre, rim, and wheelarch, and given the bumper and mirror a bit of a rub as it went past. As you can see, it's only ever such a slight mark, which is probably why the driver didn't notice. Either that or he was a dishonest who cared not one jot for someone else's property. Either way, I was left in need of a car the next day with an extremely flat P6000 and a very bald P6000 to go on as a spare.
Banged the spare on that night (still fuming), and the very next morning, headed down to Brunel Tyres to buy one of their finest Matadors.
For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to claim off my own insurance. They naturally tried to minimise their loss by offering to write the car off, based on a 'market value' of £700. The assessor at the bodyshop (some bloke who was more interested in the value of the remanining VED than the condition of the car) decided it would be £1400 to repair the rear quarter, rim, and bumper. He didn't notice that the rear axle was no longer parallel to the front.
I managed over the course of a month to get the valuer to agree that the car was worth £1850 (some £650 less than I'd paid for it six months earlier
), so I was hopeful that the car may be repaired. Turns out I shouldn't have mentioned the axle to him.
Eventually the car was deemed uneconomical to repair, and is now recorded on the V5 as "substantially repaired and/or accident damaged". I understand that makes it a categorty C write-off. Good news was it passed its identity check, so at least I knew I'd not bought a ringer.
While I waited for the cheque to arrive I thought I'd have a go at figuring out why it wasn't driving straight. With the 6 speed box hampering right-hand lock, these things aren't great town cars at the best of times. Add in three inches of crab and I was finding it difficult to parallel park.
This is the offside rear axle (beam) mount.
This crack should not be there.
As an engineer it was interesting to see how the metal had necked down before undergoing ductile fracture in tension. As the owner of the car it came off, I only really saw that the of a lorry driver must have known he hit it, and was therefore, a .
Anyway, with the a beam mount back on, the old girl at least felt straight, even if she looked a little frayed/gouged around the edges. Point to note (jord924 will corroborate), 306 beams are fking heavy. And fall very hard. Fortunately no crush injuries, but I did manage to use the mass of the beam to fold my thumb back against my forearm. Had to have a sit down for that one. In fact, the only other time I've been in as much pain was when I fed the same thumb to the angle grinder. I have pics, but I won't post them.
Looking back through the history and receipts (yes I am sad enough to keep them all, and write this all down), I notice that I must have already made the decision to keep the car well before I got my insurance settlement. In between the incident and getting the payout, I had the wheels balanced (really nice job for £12.50 each
by the local main dealer), fitted a HX bypass hose (still not sure about the head gasket), refitted the standard air filter, developed a means of pressure testing the cooling system, made up a super awesome cooling system bleeding header-tank-filler-upper thingy, and generally just expending far too much time, effort and money on a written-off 15 year old French hatchback. But more on that later.
When the cheque did arrive, some quick arithmetic revealed that the £30 odd I spent on the First-Line beam mount, and £50 odd on the Matador came to much less than the £1193 insurance settlement. Back under the £4000 mark.
Parental pity combined with a birthday to reveal a full set of genuine Peugeot rear beam mounts. I don't have the receipt for that one, and I don't want to know. But the guy at the parts counter did shake his head in disbelief that anyone would spend that much on an old 306. And he didn't even know it was a write-off.
So on they went. And this is when I realised all was not as well as I had hoped. The broken beam mount was bolted to the car with two big studs that went up through a box section in the boot floor. As the beam shifted forward under the weight of they lorry driver's lorry, the mount managed to crinkle the bottom of the box section, so that the mounting surface was no longer the same shape as the mount. I ummed and ahhed quite a bit about this one. Thought about pulling it back down with judicious use of some spot welded bolts, but decided against it on grounds of certain future corrosion. Thought about getting someone else to fix it, but reckoned I had better uses for the remaining insurance money. So I just banged some epoxy metal in there, did it up, and left it over night. Seemed OK in the morning, so put the beam back on and forgot about it. To this day, it's my only bodge. I promise I'll fix it properly one
Ignoring the bodge, changing the rubbers noticeably changed the car. Much quieter, smoother and generally just much nicer. This is when I started thinking what else to spend the insurance money on...
Time for some new tyres. Matadors do not inspire cornering confidence. Two more Bridgestones went on the rear (including the rim with the big gouge in it).
And that's how I left it. I did look around for a bodyshop to make it look right again, but after the experience with the shop that repaired Bambi's effect on the front end, I wanted to be very confident they'd do a decent job. After quite some time and many quotes no one had given me enough confidence. They either seemed a bit too insurancey (replace whole panels), or a bit too cash in hand (don't even take arch liner out). I need a panel beater. A proper old fashioned bodywork repairer. And someone who can colour match a Cherry Red Rallye that has been resprayed at some time in its 15 year life. If anyone knows of a suitable establishment within 100 miles of Bristol, please let me know...
August 16th 2013.
No point dwelling on it because, as Richair said, I've covered some of this ground before. In summary:
Yowzers.
It looked like a truck had put its wheelnuts through the tyre, rim, and wheelarch, and given the bumper and mirror a bit of a rub as it went past. As you can see, it's only ever such a slight mark, which is probably why the driver didn't notice. Either that or he was a dishonest
who cared not one jot for someone else's property. Either way, I was left in need of a car the next day with an extremely flat P6000 and a very bald P6000 to go on as a spare.Banged the spare on that night (still fuming), and the very next morning, headed down to Brunel Tyres to buy one of their finest Matadors.
For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to claim off my own insurance. They naturally tried to minimise their loss by offering to write the car off, based on a 'market value' of £700. The assessor at the bodyshop (some bloke who was more interested in the value of the remanining VED than the condition of the car) decided it would be £1400 to repair the rear quarter, rim, and bumper. He didn't notice that the rear axle was no longer parallel to the front.
I managed over the course of a month to get the valuer to agree that the car was worth £1850 (some £650 less than I'd paid for it six months earlier
), so I was hopeful that the car may be repaired. Turns out I shouldn't have mentioned the axle to him.Eventually the car was deemed uneconomical to repair, and is now recorded on the V5 as "substantially repaired and/or accident damaged". I understand that makes it a categorty C write-off. Good news was it passed its identity check, so at least I knew I'd not bought a ringer.
While I waited for the cheque to arrive I thought I'd have a go at figuring out why it wasn't driving straight. With the 6 speed box hampering right-hand lock, these things aren't great town cars at the best of times. Add in three inches of crab and I was finding it difficult to parallel park.
This is the offside rear axle (beam) mount.
This crack should not be there.
As an engineer it was interesting to see how the metal had necked down before undergoing ductile fracture in tension. As the owner of the car it came off, I only really saw that the
of a lorry driver must have known he hit it, and was therefore, a .Anyway, with the a beam mount back on, the old girl at least felt straight, even if she looked a little frayed/gouged around the edges. Point to note (jord924 will corroborate), 306 beams are f
king heavy. And fall very hard. Fortunately no crush injuries, but I did manage to use the mass of the beam to fold my thumb back against my forearm. Had to have a sit down for that one. In fact, the only other time I've been in as much pain was when I fed the same thumb to the angle grinder. I have pics, but I won't post them.Looking back through the history and receipts (yes I am sad enough to keep them all, and write this all down), I notice that I must have already made the decision to keep the car well before I got my insurance settlement. In between the incident and getting the payout, I had the wheels balanced (really nice job for £12.50 each
by the local main dealer), fitted a HX bypass hose (still not sure about the head gasket), refitted the standard air filter, developed a means of pressure testing the cooling system, made up a super awesome cooling system bleeding header-tank-filler-upper thingy, and generally just expending far too much time, effort and money on a written-off 15 year old French hatchback. But more on that later.When the cheque did arrive, some quick arithmetic revealed that the £30 odd I spent on the First-Line beam mount, and £50 odd on the Matador came to much less than the £1193 insurance settlement. Back under the £4000 mark.
Parental pity combined with a birthday to reveal a full set of genuine Peugeot rear beam mounts. I don't have the receipt for that one, and I don't want to know. But the guy at the parts counter did shake his head in disbelief that anyone would spend that much on an old 306. And he didn't even know it was a write-off.
So on they went. And this is when I realised all was not as well as I had hoped. The broken beam mount was bolted to the car with two big studs that went up through a box section in the boot floor. As the beam shifted forward under the weight of the
y lorry driver's lorry, the mount managed to crinkle the bottom of the box section, so that the mounting surface was no longer the same shape as the mount. I ummed and ahhed quite a bit about this one. Thought about pulling it back down with judicious use of some spot welded bolts, but decided against it on grounds of certain future corrosion. Thought about getting someone else to fix it, but reckoned I had better uses for the remaining insurance money. So I just banged some epoxy metal in there, did it up, and left it over night. Seemed OK in the morning, so put the beam back on and forgot about it. To this day, it's my only bodge. I promise I'll fix it properly one Ignoring the bodge, changing the rubbers noticeably changed the car. Much quieter, smoother and generally just much nicer. This is when I started thinking what else to spend the insurance money on...
Time for some new tyres. Matadors do not inspire cornering confidence. Two more Bridgestones went on the rear (including the rim with the big gouge in it).
And that's how I left it. I did look around for a bodyshop to make it look right again, but after the experience with the shop that repaired Bambi's effect on the front end, I wanted to be very confident they'd do a decent job. After quite some time and many quotes no one had given me enough confidence. They either seemed a bit too insurancey (replace whole panels), or a bit too cash in hand (don't even take arch liner out). I need a panel beater. A proper old fashioned bodywork repairer. And someone who can colour match a Cherry Red Rallye that has been resprayed at some time in its 15 year life. If anyone knows of a suitable establishment within 100 miles of Bristol, please let me know...
Thanks for the replies all. Glad someone is reading.
Really feel for you Matt. I remember how it felt when I binned the Mini (similar enthusiasm >> driving talent, leading to a loose back end).
Really did feel like chucking it all in when the truck did the back end, but after spending so much on the head and deer damage, it just didn't make any sense to let the insurance co have it. I could have broken it for parts, but it just didn't seem right. Less than 200 left on the road now.
Next update is in draft. Don't think I'll be giving too much away by saying I'm nearing the bottom of the dip.
Really feel for you Matt. I remember how it felt when I binned the Mini (similar enthusiasm >> driving talent, leading to a loose back end).
Really did feel like chucking it all in when the truck did the back end, but after spending so much on the head and deer damage, it just didn't make any sense to let the insurance co have it. I could have broken it for parts, but it just didn't seem right. Less than 200 left on the road now.
Next update is in draft. Don't think I'll be giving too much away by saying I'm nearing the bottom of the dip.
I had planned on getting up to date with the story by now, but I've not managed to find the time - hence the placeholders. Hopefully one day I'll get round to doing the prequel. But as it is, tomorrow me and the Rall-y-e will be taking the 0936 Eurotunnel to la belle France.
I love France. Food, wine, roads, countryside, people (yes I even like the attitude); it's a great place to visit. I did a big trip in the Mini this very week in 2012, heading to Dijon (where Ma was taking part in Coupes Moto Legende, and then on all over the place (as far as Toulouse, Modena and Austria) over the subsequent two and a bit weeks. A bit less ambitious this time, and a bit less focussed on driving, but still looking forward to some cracking roads.
Plan is to head to Dijon again (or thereabouts) tomorrow in convoy with a couple of mates, drop their car off somewhere, all pile into the Pug (3 of us and 3 bicycles!!!) and head south. I know a little place in what Parisians snootily call 'la France profonde' (probably best translates as 'deepest darkest France'), where a warm welcome is assured. Gonna drop the car there, and cycle back up to Dijon to see the motorbikes next Saturday. I then have to make my way back to the Rallye (6hr train ride then 50km through the hills) before heading on to see a mate in Aix en Provence.
So in preparation I got the wheels balanced (again). Bit of a fiasco involving incorrect application of clip-on weights, improper use of an impact driver, and one buggered locking wheel bolt. After watching the tyre guys spend the best part of an hour making a complete hash of what appears to be a relatively simple job, I had the pleasure of being told to ditch the lockers as they just break, and that they wouldn't be doing any more centreless wheels ever again as it takes too long. How it takes a pro with all the tools ten minutes to fail to achieve what I can in 30 seconds with a 400mm breaker bar, I do not know. To be fair, the wheels did run a lot smoother, and hopefully I won't have to go back for a while so it's not the end of the world.
Next job was to get some split seats. Only way in hell we'll be able to get three of us plus bikes in... and I'm still not really sure we can. A housemate runs a 306 estate with split rears, which he'd agreed to lend me in return for a spot of dinner. Turns out not all Ph3 306 seats are the same. Didn't find this out until Wed eve. Was moderately concerned. The two of us were thinking of ways round the problem for 20 mins before I realised that a former housemate also ran a 306 hatch. And she'd come round for dinner that very day. And her car was outside. 20 mins later, the problem was solved. Quick trial run with one bike. Will let you know how we get on with three.
IMG_20140523_211550 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
Anyway, next on the list was tracking. I'd recently had it done properly (for reasons that will become clear when I get round to filling in the blanks), but it felt wrong. Just a bit dead. So I bought myself some brick line and a couple of bits of batten, and got busy in the garage. It took a while, but I eventually got to 2mm toe out... with the wheel about 30deg off to the left. :doh: But it drove much better. That was last week. Today I did it all again with the rain pissing in through the garage door. Not very nice, but got there in the end.
As I pulled out of the garage a series of sounds alerted me to the fact that not all was right. The first a dull thud. The second, the sound of the bootlid shutting. The third was a pretty serious crash. Looked up to see the garage door sitting on top of the car. I'd pulled away with the boot open. To my unmitigated surprise and delight, there appears to be not one jot of damage to the car. The same could not be said of the garage door. Didn't take long to fix, but was a bit tricky extricating the car without causing any further damage. Would have made a good photo, but I was a little panicked at the time so didn't think to stop and take a snap.
Quick wash and a fluid level check and she is ready.
IMG_20140523_211535 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
As you can tell, I think I've hit the bottom of the bad luck (although only time will tell if it's a true minimum, or just a point of inflexion!).
I love France. Food, wine, roads, countryside, people (yes I even like the attitude); it's a great place to visit. I did a big trip in the Mini this very week in 2012, heading to Dijon (where Ma was taking part in Coupes Moto Legende, and then on all over the place (as far as Toulouse, Modena and Austria) over the subsequent two and a bit weeks. A bit less ambitious this time, and a bit less focussed on driving, but still looking forward to some cracking roads.
Plan is to head to Dijon again (or thereabouts) tomorrow in convoy with a couple of mates, drop their car off somewhere, all pile into the Pug (3 of us and 3 bicycles!!!) and head south. I know a little place in what Parisians snootily call 'la France profonde' (probably best translates as 'deepest darkest France'), where a warm welcome is assured. Gonna drop the car there, and cycle back up to Dijon to see the motorbikes next Saturday. I then have to make my way back to the Rallye (6hr train ride then 50km through the hills) before heading on to see a mate in Aix en Provence.
So in preparation I got the wheels balanced (again). Bit of a fiasco involving incorrect application of clip-on weights, improper use of an impact driver, and one buggered locking wheel bolt. After watching the tyre guys spend the best part of an hour making a complete hash of what appears to be a relatively simple job, I had the pleasure of being told to ditch the lockers as they just break, and that they wouldn't be doing any more centreless wheels ever again as it takes too long. How it takes a pro with all the tools ten minutes to fail to achieve what I can in 30 seconds with a 400mm breaker bar, I do not know. To be fair, the wheels did run a lot smoother, and hopefully I won't have to go back for a while so it's not the end of the world.
Next job was to get some split seats. Only way in hell we'll be able to get three of us plus bikes in... and I'm still not really sure we can. A housemate runs a 306 estate with split rears, which he'd agreed to lend me in return for a spot of dinner. Turns out not all Ph3 306 seats are the same. Didn't find this out until Wed eve. Was moderately concerned. The two of us were thinking of ways round the problem for 20 mins before I realised that a former housemate also ran a 306 hatch. And she'd come round for dinner that very day. And her car was outside. 20 mins later, the problem was solved. Quick trial run with one bike. Will let you know how we get on with three.
IMG_20140523_211550 by bbitwrx, on FlickrAnyway, next on the list was tracking. I'd recently had it done properly (for reasons that will become clear when I get round to filling in the blanks), but it felt wrong. Just a bit dead. So I bought myself some brick line and a couple of bits of batten, and got busy in the garage. It took a while, but I eventually got to 2mm toe out... with the wheel about 30deg off to the left. :doh: But it drove much better. That was last week. Today I did it all again with the rain pissing in through the garage door. Not very nice, but got there in the end.
As I pulled out of the garage a series of sounds alerted me to the fact that not all was right. The first a dull thud. The second, the sound of the bootlid shutting. The third was a pretty serious crash. Looked up to see the garage door sitting on top of the car. I'd pulled away with the boot open. To my unmitigated surprise and delight, there appears to be not one jot of damage to the car. The same could not be said of the garage door. Didn't take long to fix, but was a bit tricky extricating the car without causing any further damage. Would have made a good photo, but I was a little panicked at the time so didn't think to stop and take a snap.
Quick wash and a fluid level check and she is ready.
IMG_20140523_211535 by bbitwrx, on FlickrAs you can tell, I think I've hit the bottom of the bad luck (although only time will tell if it's a true minimum, or just a point of inflexion!).
Edited by bitwrx on Wednesday 18th June 22:40
Day 1 cycling complete. Pretty good day until the last 30km. Altitude gain and dropping temp combined with relentless rain.
Rallye was faultless on the way down. Balancing and tracking pays dividends. Motorway cruising very comfortable at approximately the speed limit . Could have done with A/C for a bit though!
(Managed to lose the other half of my convoy on the motorway. We had the ticket, his wallet and phone. Luckily, the tool was just less than the 20euro he had in his pocket. And we eventually meet up again just south of Reims )
Had the pleasure of driving one of my favourite roads 3 times on sun eve, down the Gorge du Lot from espalion to entraygues sur truyere. It was fun in the mini, but that road is just perfect for the Rallye. Constantly on cam in 2nd/3rd/4th. Some rally nice well sighted corners to practice balancing it on the throttle, a brand new road surface and, importantly, very little traffic!
Getting up into the mountain lanes was a bit of a revelation as well. Where the mini would bounce from bump to bump, the Pug just seemed to take it all in its stride. Perfect amount of compliance for a road car
All in all, very happy with it.
Rallye was faultless on the way down. Balancing and tracking pays dividends. Motorway cruising very comfortable at approximately the speed limit . Could have done with A/C for a bit though!
(Managed to lose the other half of my convoy on the motorway. We had the ticket, his wallet and phone. Luckily, the tool was just less than the 20euro he had in his pocket. And we eventually meet up again just south of Reims )
Had the pleasure of driving one of my favourite roads 3 times on sun eve, down the Gorge du Lot from espalion to entraygues sur truyere. It was fun in the mini, but that road is just perfect for the Rallye. Constantly on cam in 2nd/3rd/4th. Some rally nice well sighted corners to practice balancing it on the throttle, a brand new road surface and, importantly, very little traffic!
Getting up into the mountain lanes was a bit of a revelation as well. Where the mini would bounce from bump to bump, the Pug just seemed to take it all in its stride. Perfect amount of compliance for a road car
All in all, very happy with it.
chevronb37 said:
We recently suffered a bust heater matrix, which was fixed. It still gets smelly in the cabin and wonder whether this is the result of residual detritus in the ventilation system? I wonder about getting the HG checked out sometimes but Mrs Chev seems happy enough and it still absolutely flies on the right road. It's as quick across country as just about any car of my acquaintance.
Despite taking all the vent unit apart and cleaning it in hot soapy water, I still get the very occasional whiff of glycol. Think it's something you (and I) will have to put up with.And agree, it is fast across country. It was no embellishment to say I kept it on cam in 4th. Do the sums. By any measure, that's fast.
Have just finished a second hard day's cycling, and have really enjoyed it, but am counting the days until I get back to the car.
Back with the car now. Packed the bike in the back this aft and tied it down well. The trip from Entraygues to Aix tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun.
Interestingly (or not, if you are less boring than me), in seven days in France now, I've not seen a single gti-6 (or s16bv6 as they were known over here). Plenty of late/high spec hdi versions though. Looks like the frogs didn't sell many hot hatches in their own domestic market. Is this why the Rallye was a UK only special edition?
(Still can't get over the number of 205s still soldiering on over here. Saw a 'sacre numero' special edition earlier, and an XS, along with the obligatory brace of glds. Nice to see proper respect being shown to all examples of the best car ever made.)
Interestingly (or not, if you are less boring than me), in seven days in France now, I've not seen a single gti-6 (or s16bv6 as they were known over here). Plenty of late/high spec hdi versions though. Looks like the frogs didn't sell many hot hatches in their own domestic market. Is this why the Rallye was a UK only special edition?
(Still can't get over the number of 205s still soldiering on over here. Saw a 'sacre numero' special edition earlier, and an XS, along with the obligatory brace of glds. Nice to see proper respect being shown to all examples of the best car ever made.)
Belated trip report:
The off
Hit the road at sixish, and got to Folkestone in time to catch the train before the one I was booked on... which was subsequently cancelled. Once on the train, I just had time to give the windscreen a quick clean, and fit this:
IMG_20140524_100658 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
Peages aren't too bad in the Mini, with no centre console and only 4ft to slide across. Didn't fancy the same in the Pug, so got myself a bip and go from SANEF.Looks a bit turd with no black patch to hide it behind, but at least I couldn't see it from the driver's seat.
Rest of the trip sous la manche was uneventful. Even managed to sneak in a quick photo of the car in front. Definitely deserves to go on the worst numberplates thread.
IMG_20140524_092501 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
The meet
Found the other two bimbling around the town of Vimy. Managed to assemble a very nice little picnic before taking a tour of the trenches up on the ridge. They couldn't - and I think still don't - believe how close together the front lines were. No more than 50m in places. However, there was no avoiding the scale of the memorial, and the loss of life that it commemorates.
IMG_20140524_131929 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
After lunch we got our collective toes down and made progress in the direction of Dijon. As a journey, only memorable because we managed to lose each other at a toll booth. With my bip and go chip, I went sailing through at 30km/h. As I did so my passenger realised that he had the ticket for the other car. And the driver's wallet. And phone. We didn't meet up again until about an hour of 40mph on the motorway had passed, and that was only after we stopped at a rest area. Not sure what we would have done if we'd not met up again. The French motorway network is a big place.
Anyway, back on topic:
Turns out a 306 can take three bikes
IMG_20140525_085415 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
IMG_20140525_085434 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
Made it all the way down south by the end of day two. Well, not quite all the way, but far enough. As I've already posted, the trip out to get pizzas was a real treat. Late Sunday evening down a river gorge in rural France. Brand new road surface, good visibility and a car that really is sorted now. I will get round to posting about it properly sometime, but now might be a good time to mention I had time for a couple of upgrades before. DS2500 pads and new discs at the front, and a Xsara quick rack.
To be honest, the pads are a bit much for normal driving; it's pretty hard to slow down gently. On a hoon though, they are absolutely cracking. Not only a high friction coefficient, but really good modulation as well. The Xsara rack completely changed the car. Can't believe it wasn't like that out of the factory. With the litte bit of toe out that I'd dialled in, the turn in is sharp, but not unstable. Well, maybe a little unstable when hard on the gas in 2nd.
The pause
Had a little cycle for 5 days. Some cracking roads, for cycling and driving. Highlight was the Col du Beal, where Froomey has since won the second stage of the Criterium du Dauphine.
IMGP0015 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
Surprisingly, nowhere to stay at the top of a minor French mountain, so we had to head downhill. 25km of butter smooth swooping grey downhill, that would only have been better had the Rallye been there!
Got to near Dijon on the Friday, and had plenty of time to get the Fiesta packed up with three bikes (slightly more disassembly required this time), and head to the bike show on Sat. Always good to see the old girl out on track:
Mod_IMGP0034 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
Took the train back down south on the Sunday, and hooked up with the car again on Monday evening. Just had time to do some washing, clean the screen, put the bike in the back and grab some dinner before bed.
Back on it
Lazy start for Espalion to Aix en Provence in a day. Google says 3h26. I managed to make it take all day.
Over the Millau viaduct before a little trip through the Cevennes, where exists a mind boggling number of corners. I actually made myself a little nauseous constantly sloshing around in the seat. Despite that (and a bit of broken up tarmac) I had a great time. Really slow progress though. Hard to get above 50mph and constantly travelling not-in-the-direction-you-really-want-to-go really does slow you down.
I took s m's advice and headed for the N106 hoping to do it and the road that runs roughly parallel on top of the plateau. In the end I didn't have time for both, and plumped for the latter, as it was less likely to be heavily traficked. It's a shame I can't do a direct comparison, but I can say that if the N106 is better, it must be mind blowing! This had a great twisty ascent, opening up to fast flowing straights and curves on the plateau, before tightening up again down towards Nimes. And nary a <<niche a cons>> in sight.
Was a bit fried when I got to the motorway, and managed to turn towards Montpelier, instead of Aix! Doh!
Picked a mate up from work before heading into town for dinner and drinkies.
IMGP0120 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
See that building over there. Behind that there's a hill. In the hill theres a hole. In the hole they're building a fking great Tokomak. I know fusion is perenially 25 years away, but it's still pretty exciting.
La retour
Couple of days in Aix and it was time to come home. I knew I had to leave early to get home in good time to go to the supermarche (and a nice little marche in Normandy), so I decided on a 0515 wake up call. Right up until the last minute I was undecided on the route: head towards Grasse, and take in the Route Napoleon; or head for Mont Ventoux and crack out a decent sized col on the bike.
Sitting in the car, still a bit bleary, I typed in directions for a little town north of Grasse, and pressed the go button. Time to see if it lived up to the hype.
IMGP0155 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
It did.
That road has everything, even in just the section between Grasse and Digne. Big open fast bits, scary twisties stuck to/cut into the side of a cliff, hairpins, chicanes, the works. What little of the scenery I could see in my peripheral vision was pretty stunning as well.
I came off the route at Digne to head over to the Drome valley, back through Gap and Die towards Valence. I'd noted it as a good road when I passed this way in the Mini, so wanted to try it again. I'm sure it is a good road, but with heavy afternoon traffic and the context of what had just gone before, I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed.
Managed to pick up a few nice bottles of Cremant and Clairette on the way through the Diois though, so all was not lost.
After a bit more shopping for saucisson, I finally hooked up with the motorway just south of Valence.... at about five in the afternoon. After a long day already, I was pretty beat. Option of turning off and finding somewhere to stay was pretty appealing. But the market in Bernay is pretty good. And I'd never make it if I stopped this far south. Just as I was mulling over the options, I was rudely interrupted by a pretty sonorous V8 rumble from behind. Looked back to see something that looked like it was heading for Le Mans under its own steam...
IMGP0160 by bbitwrx, on Flickr
This thing had some serious road presence. As you can imagine I was trying to make some progress at this point, but for the first time ever in France, traffic was getting in the way. I let Mr 24hrs through, latched onto his twin tailpipes and outrageous centre fin, and off we went. It was like a battering ram. If anything didn't spot him, he dropped a cog or two until they noticed (about 2 seconds later), and they immediately got out the way.
Eventually I had to concede that there was no way I could keep up with this thing long term (and I think I missed one or two exits I was supposed to take!), so I let him get on with his day.
A fellow car nut at work figured out today what the car was - an Ultima, but a little special.
Powered on through the night and after a few false starts at plastic hotels of the ibis budget nature, I found a campsite with a free pitch. Managed to put the tent up without waking anyone (it was 0100 by this time), and get a decent night's sleep. Was first in the shower and packed, paid and away before any of the caravanists knew I'd been there.
Had an easy day buying charcuterie, cheese, cider and wine before getting the afternoon ferry back from Le Havre.
Miles at start: 101202
Miles at end: 103562
Days' driving: 6ish
So 2360 miles at around 400 miles/day. Good number of driving days, but a few too many miles in total.
Car didn't miss a beat. Used a little oil (to be expected after 8hrs running at 4krpm!), and was a treat to drive. The only real issue was the amount of lateral support on some of the real twisties. I found myself bracing against the steering wheel to avoid pitching over the centre console. I wonder how hard it is to fit a decent set of Recaros.... Anyone breaking a RS Clio at all?
The off
Hit the road at sixish, and got to Folkestone in time to catch the train before the one I was booked on... which was subsequently cancelled. Once on the train, I just had time to give the windscreen a quick clean, and fit this:
IMG_20140524_100658 by bbitwrx, on FlickrPeages aren't too bad in the Mini, with no centre console and only 4ft to slide across. Didn't fancy the same in the Pug, so got myself a bip and go from SANEF.Looks a bit turd with no black patch to hide it behind, but at least I couldn't see it from the driver's seat.
Rest of the trip sous la manche was uneventful. Even managed to sneak in a quick photo of the car in front. Definitely deserves to go on the worst numberplates thread.
IMG_20140524_092501 by bbitwrx, on FlickrThe meet
Found the other two bimbling around the town of Vimy. Managed to assemble a very nice little picnic before taking a tour of the trenches up on the ridge. They couldn't - and I think still don't - believe how close together the front lines were. No more than 50m in places. However, there was no avoiding the scale of the memorial, and the loss of life that it commemorates.
IMG_20140524_131929 by bbitwrx, on FlickrAfter lunch we got our collective toes down and made progress in the direction of Dijon. As a journey, only memorable because we managed to lose each other at a toll booth. With my bip and go chip, I went sailing through at 30km/h. As I did so my passenger realised that he had the ticket for the other car. And the driver's wallet. And phone. We didn't meet up again until about an hour of 40mph on the motorway had passed, and that was only after we stopped at a rest area. Not sure what we would have done if we'd not met up again. The French motorway network is a big place.
Anyway, back on topic:
Turns out a 306 can take three bikes
IMG_20140525_085415 by bbitwrx, on FlickrIMG_20140525_085434 by bbitwrx, on FlickrMade it all the way down south by the end of day two. Well, not quite all the way, but far enough. As I've already posted, the trip out to get pizzas was a real treat. Late Sunday evening down a river gorge in rural France. Brand new road surface, good visibility and a car that really is sorted now. I will get round to posting about it properly sometime, but now might be a good time to mention I had time for a couple of upgrades before. DS2500 pads and new discs at the front, and a Xsara quick rack.
To be honest, the pads are a bit much for normal driving; it's pretty hard to slow down gently. On a hoon though, they are absolutely cracking. Not only a high friction coefficient, but really good modulation as well. The Xsara rack completely changed the car. Can't believe it wasn't like that out of the factory. With the litte bit of toe out that I'd dialled in, the turn in is sharp, but not unstable. Well, maybe a little unstable when hard on the gas in 2nd.
The pause
Had a little cycle for 5 days. Some cracking roads, for cycling and driving. Highlight was the Col du Beal, where Froomey has since won the second stage of the Criterium du Dauphine.
IMGP0015 by bbitwrx, on FlickrSurprisingly, nowhere to stay at the top of a minor French mountain, so we had to head downhill. 25km of butter smooth swooping grey downhill, that would only have been better had the Rallye been there!
Got to near Dijon on the Friday, and had plenty of time to get the Fiesta packed up with three bikes (slightly more disassembly required this time), and head to the bike show on Sat. Always good to see the old girl out on track:
Mod_IMGP0034 by bbitwrx, on FlickrTook the train back down south on the Sunday, and hooked up with the car again on Monday evening. Just had time to do some washing, clean the screen, put the bike in the back and grab some dinner before bed.
Back on it
Lazy start for Espalion to Aix en Provence in a day. Google says 3h26. I managed to make it take all day.
Over the Millau viaduct before a little trip through the Cevennes, where exists a mind boggling number of corners. I actually made myself a little nauseous constantly sloshing around in the seat. Despite that (and a bit of broken up tarmac) I had a great time. Really slow progress though. Hard to get above 50mph and constantly travelling not-in-the-direction-you-really-want-to-go really does slow you down.
I took s m's advice and headed for the N106 hoping to do it and the road that runs roughly parallel on top of the plateau. In the end I didn't have time for both, and plumped for the latter, as it was less likely to be heavily traficked. It's a shame I can't do a direct comparison, but I can say that if the N106 is better, it must be mind blowing! This had a great twisty ascent, opening up to fast flowing straights and curves on the plateau, before tightening up again down towards Nimes. And nary a <<niche a cons>> in sight.
Was a bit fried when I got to the motorway, and managed to turn towards Montpelier, instead of Aix! Doh!
Picked a mate up from work before heading into town for dinner and drinkies.
IMGP0120 by bbitwrx, on FlickrSee that building over there. Behind that there's a hill. In the hill theres a hole. In the hole they're building a f
king great Tokomak. I know fusion is perenially 25 years away, but it's still pretty exciting.La retour
Couple of days in Aix and it was time to come home. I knew I had to leave early to get home in good time to go to the supermarche (and a nice little marche in Normandy), so I decided on a 0515 wake up call. Right up until the last minute I was undecided on the route: head towards Grasse, and take in the Route Napoleon; or head for Mont Ventoux and crack out a decent sized col on the bike.
Sitting in the car, still a bit bleary, I typed in directions for a little town north of Grasse, and pressed the go button. Time to see if it lived up to the hype.
IMGP0155 by bbitwrx, on FlickrIt did.
That road has everything, even in just the section between Grasse and Digne. Big open fast bits, scary twisties stuck to/cut into the side of a cliff, hairpins, chicanes, the works. What little of the scenery I could see in my peripheral vision was pretty stunning as well.
I came off the route at Digne to head over to the Drome valley, back through Gap and Die towards Valence. I'd noted it as a good road when I passed this way in the Mini, so wanted to try it again. I'm sure it is a good road, but with heavy afternoon traffic and the context of what had just gone before, I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed.
Managed to pick up a few nice bottles of Cremant and Clairette on the way through the Diois though, so all was not lost.
After a bit more shopping for saucisson, I finally hooked up with the motorway just south of Valence.... at about five in the afternoon. After a long day already, I was pretty beat. Option of turning off and finding somewhere to stay was pretty appealing. But the market in Bernay is pretty good. And I'd never make it if I stopped this far south. Just as I was mulling over the options, I was rudely interrupted by a pretty sonorous V8 rumble from behind. Looked back to see something that looked like it was heading for Le Mans under its own steam...
IMGP0160 by bbitwrx, on FlickrThis thing had some serious road presence. As you can imagine I was trying to make some progress at this point, but for the first time ever in France, traffic was getting in the way. I let Mr 24hrs through, latched onto his twin tailpipes and outrageous centre fin, and off we went. It was like a battering ram. If anything didn't spot him, he dropped a cog or two until they noticed (about 2 seconds later), and they immediately got out the way.
Eventually I had to concede that there was no way I could keep up with this thing long term (and I think I missed one or two exits I was supposed to take!), so I let him get on with his day.
A fellow car nut at work figured out today what the car was - an Ultima, but a little special.
Powered on through the night and after a few false starts at plastic hotels of the ibis budget nature, I found a campsite with a free pitch. Managed to put the tent up without waking anyone (it was 0100 by this time), and get a decent night's sleep. Was first in the shower and packed, paid and away before any of the caravanists knew I'd been there.
Had an easy day buying charcuterie, cheese, cider and wine before getting the afternoon ferry back from Le Havre.
Miles at start: 101202
Miles at end: 103562
Days' driving: 6ish
So 2360 miles at around 400 miles/day. Good number of driving days, but a few too many miles in total.
Car didn't miss a beat. Used a little oil (to be expected after 8hrs running at 4krpm!), and was a treat to drive. The only real issue was the amount of lateral support on some of the real twisties. I found myself bracing against the steering wheel to avoid pitching over the centre console. I wonder how hard it is to fit a decent set of Recaros.... Anyone breaking a RS Clio at all?
storminnorman said:
Great thread. I really want to buy one now - what are the price ranges?
I don't think I'd be too put off by high miles, my HDi is on ~130 and has been very reliable (of course, if you ignore the suspension).
Such clean looking cars.
They do look good still. There's that line that runs from the bonnet all the way along the bottom of the windows and loops round the c-pillar and back towards the b-pillar. Shared with the 205, 106 and a few other hatches of the era, it's pretty timeless I think. I don't think I'd be too put off by high miles, my HDi is on ~130 and has been very reliable (of course, if you ignore the suspension).
Such clean looking cars.
You're right about high mileages though. In the same way Trigger's broom has lasted him well, I'm confident mine is good for another 100k...
Prices. Well. I paid £2500 for mine which would have been about 500 too much I think, were it not for the head gasket and heater matrix. As it was, it was about a grand too much, if not more. I know one in similar (unmolested) condition changed hands for about £2k last august/sep.
If you're not to worried about originality, you could pick one up for much less probably. I'm sure you have to watch out for a fair few dogs though. I expect these things come into the surprisingly-expensive-to-run category so may not always have had all the looking after a prospective owner may hope for!
Edited by bitwrx on Monday 30th June 19:35
Haven't spent much time with the car recently; in fact I don't think I've even had a chance to wash it since France. Reason being that the Saturday before the France trip I put an offer in on a house. Coupled with a busy period at work and the middle of the cricket season, my feet have barely touched the ground. Last week I realised it'd been over 10k since the last oil change, so I gave her a quick service.
Oil, filter, fuel filter and plugs were all replaced over last weekend/early this week. I did a compression test, and all were within a gnats eyelash of each other at 11.5bar, so pretty good health I think. However, it seemed the compression test did bad things to the battery, so it didn't have enough go to, er, go. I got it on the trickle charger over night, and topped up the electrolyte (thought all batteries were maintenance free these days?). It seems OK, but has obviously been venting a lot down the front end of the battery box. Since winter is coming, and the battery is the wrong size anyway, it's probably wise to stick a new one in. It's just a question of how lucky I'm feeling... And the fact that all four tyres are down to 4mm, and the exhaust has developed a bit of a blow.
Busy week at work, and another coming up, but the three day weekend has given me a chance to do this:
One garage, emptied of decades of junk... which is now in the back of the car. Not only does this demonstrate the versatility of a hatchback, but it's also a good opportunity to try out the lowered look:
Junk cleared, it's time to get the Rallye in its new home:
It's pretty tight, but if you go in at a bit of an angle you can get far enough to one side to get the door to the first stop, so getting in and out isn't too bad. It's not as wide as the lockup I had rented, but there is another garage to the left of the photo. Together, they will make a decent workshop one day (when I save enough to replace the roof and get a big wide door, and summon the energy to knock down the dividing wall).
Plan for tomorrow is to get the junk tipped at the dump, then get busy with bucket, sponge and hoover.
Oil, filter, fuel filter and plugs were all replaced over last weekend/early this week. I did a compression test, and all were within a gnats eyelash of each other at 11.5bar, so pretty good health I think. However, it seemed the compression test did bad things to the battery, so it didn't have enough go to, er, go. I got it on the trickle charger over night, and topped up the electrolyte (thought all batteries were maintenance free these days?). It seems OK, but has obviously been venting a lot down the front end of the battery box. Since winter is coming, and the battery is the wrong size anyway, it's probably wise to stick a new one in. It's just a question of how lucky I'm feeling... And the fact that all four tyres are down to 4mm, and the exhaust has developed a bit of a blow.
Busy week at work, and another coming up, but the three day weekend has given me a chance to do this:
One garage, emptied of decades of junk... which is now in the back of the car. Not only does this demonstrate the versatility of a hatchback, but it's also a good opportunity to try out the lowered look:
Junk cleared, it's time to get the Rallye in its new home:
It's pretty tight, but if you go in at a bit of an angle you can get far enough to one side to get the door to the first stop, so getting in and out isn't too bad. It's not as wide as the lockup I had rented, but there is another garage to the left of the photo. Together, they will make a decent workshop one day (when I save enough to replace the roof and get a big wide door, and summon the energy to knock down the dividing wall).
Plan for tomorrow is to get the junk tipped at the dump, then get busy with bucket, sponge and hoover.
Quick update on the trials and tribulations of running a 15 yr old French car as a daily...
Forgot to mention in the last post that during the compression test, I managed to run the battery flat. I stuck it on the Optimate, and topped up the fluid with some deionised water, but it was a bit sluggish still. Procured myself one of these bad boys. Turns out the old battery was 15mm shorter - could have been part of the problem.
Next job was to plug a few pin holes in the exhaust. The obvious ones were at the rear of the mid section. The less obvious ones were the cracks where the pipe meets the mid box. Something tells me a new 'zorst will be on the shopping list before long.
While I was under there, I remembered about the surface rust at the rear of the OSF arch which I had always meant to sort out after last winter. That was last Saturday, just before I headed up to London to see an old mate and help him strip wallpaper (a trip the Rallye took in its stride, despite awful traffic heading back across town on Sunday eve).
So last night I jacked her up and started scraping the loose underseal off. There was a bit more than I thought (as always). It was also a bit more than surface rust.
I started peeling at where the floorpan meets the arch. Upwards, there's not too much:
Backwards, there's quite a bit:
It's actually rusted through in a couple of places. It's weird though; the rust seems to be well confined to just that panel. I can see another panel right next to this one through one of the holes - I guess it's part of the sill box section. In the Mini this would be the rustiest bit. Here, it's impeccably clean, with the factory undercoat/primer/anti-corrosion coat still fully intact (which is encouraging).
Similarly, the rust seems to stop very suddenly (which kinda shows up in the photos). So despite having a few more holes in my car than I thought, I'm not overly concerned. Long term, it's going to need welding (will add that to the list of bodywork to do...), but for the moment, I'm going to carry on with plan A - DeOx Gel, Hydrate 80, Electrox, underseal.
Cordless drill batteries are probably charged by now. Better get back to it!
ETA: Oh, and I noticed the tyres are down to 3mm all round, so it's time to get the C5 steeloys I have ready to accept some Michelin Pilot Sports. I like the Cyclones, but getting them balanced is such a headache, they've got to go. Only trouble is, the C5 wheels are black. And if I'm putting steels (or wheels that look steel) on a Rallye, there's only one colour they can be! (Does anybody know the correct shade of white? Paint code would be handy. Will be spraying with a standard (i.e. non HPLV) gun.)
Forgot to mention in the last post that during the compression test, I managed to run the battery flat. I stuck it on the Optimate, and topped up the fluid with some deionised water, but it was a bit sluggish still. Procured myself one of these bad boys. Turns out the old battery was 15mm shorter - could have been part of the problem.
Next job was to plug a few pin holes in the exhaust. The obvious ones were at the rear of the mid section. The less obvious ones were the cracks where the pipe meets the mid box. Something tells me a new 'zorst will be on the shopping list before long.
While I was under there, I remembered about the surface rust at the rear of the OSF arch which I had always meant to sort out after last winter. That was last Saturday, just before I headed up to London to see an old mate and help him strip wallpaper (a trip the Rallye took in its stride, despite awful traffic heading back across town on Sunday eve).
So last night I jacked her up and started scraping the loose underseal off. There was a bit more than I thought (as always). It was also a bit more than surface rust.
I started peeling at where the floorpan meets the arch. Upwards, there's not too much:
Backwards, there's quite a bit:
It's actually rusted through in a couple of places. It's weird though; the rust seems to be well confined to just that panel. I can see another panel right next to this one through one of the holes - I guess it's part of the sill box section. In the Mini this would be the rustiest bit. Here, it's impeccably clean, with the factory undercoat/primer/anti-corrosion coat still fully intact (which is encouraging).
Similarly, the rust seems to stop very suddenly (which kinda shows up in the photos). So despite having a few more holes in my car than I thought, I'm not overly concerned. Long term, it's going to need welding (will add that to the list of bodywork to do...), but for the moment, I'm going to carry on with plan A - DeOx Gel, Hydrate 80, Electrox, underseal.
Cordless drill batteries are probably charged by now. Better get back to it!
ETA: Oh, and I noticed the tyres are down to 3mm all round, so it's time to get the C5 steeloys I have ready to accept some Michelin Pilot Sports. I like the Cyclones, but getting them balanced is such a headache, they've got to go. Only trouble is, the C5 wheels are black. And if I'm putting steels (or wheels that look steel) on a Rallye, there's only one colour they can be! (Does anybody know the correct shade of white? Paint code would be handy. Will be spraying with a standard (i.e. non HPLV) gun.)
Edited by bitwrx on Saturday 11th October 16:14
One week later and she's still on blocks...
I was hoping to get all the rust off with De-Ox last weekend, but it wasn't playing ball. Had to work away for most of the week so needed to find a way of keeping the gel wet for three or four days. Came up with the cunning plan (that I think I stole off someone else on the internet) to apply a liberal coating and then covering it in plastic.
After five days it looked like this:
Which cleaned up to reveal this:
I reckoned that was as good as it will get, so on went the Hydrate 80.
As Mr Hamber indicates on the instructions, a dramatic colour change did occur. Looks like a magnetite film forming where the bare steel is, but I'm not really a materials bod, so that's only a guess. Probably a bad one at that. Anyway, that was just before lunch today. I now have to wait 24 hrs before I can paint over it so have been on stop all afternoon. Very frustrating.
Tomorrow the primer is going on. Have to wait 2 hrs between coats, and then 96 hrs before going over the top of that, so there's no way the underseal is going on this weekend. I need the car next weekend, so it looks like it'll be November before it's finished. I bloody hate bodywork.
Dug one of the steelies out earlier and gave it a wash off. Now just Googling the best way to key into existing paint. I can rub down most of it, but there are bits I won't be able to get to. If I was just blowing over with the same colour, it wouldn't be too much of an issue, but seeing as I'm going from one end of the spectrum to the other, I think I need to do a good job. I bloody hate paintwork.
I was hoping to get all the rust off with De-Ox last weekend, but it wasn't playing ball. Had to work away for most of the week so needed to find a way of keeping the gel wet for three or four days. Came up with the cunning plan (that I think I stole off someone else on the internet) to apply a liberal coating and then covering it in plastic.
After five days it looked like this:
Which cleaned up to reveal this:
I reckoned that was as good as it will get, so on went the Hydrate 80.
As Mr Hamber indicates on the instructions, a dramatic colour change did occur. Looks like a magnetite film forming where the bare steel is, but I'm not really a materials bod, so that's only a guess. Probably a bad one at that. Anyway, that was just before lunch today. I now have to wait 24 hrs before I can paint over it so have been on stop all afternoon. Very frustrating.
Tomorrow the primer is going on. Have to wait 2 hrs between coats, and then 96 hrs before going over the top of that, so there's no way the underseal is going on this weekend. I need the car next weekend, so it looks like it'll be November before it's finished. I bloody hate bodywork.
Dug one of the steelies out earlier and gave it a wash off. Now just Googling the best way to key into existing paint. I can rub down most of it, but there are bits I won't be able to get to. If I was just blowing over with the same colour, it wouldn't be too much of an issue, but seeing as I'm going from one end of the spectrum to the other, I think I need to do a good job. I bloody hate paintwork.
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