Ive Brought Another Toy!

Alright fellas,

Well ive finally realised a boyhood dream and got a Peugeot 205 GTI! Ive still got the ST so im a very lucky guy to have the ulimate original GTi and an ST to play with. Thought id share a little about the 205 just incase anyones interested.

I was intending to strip the 205 down as much as possible, put a cage and a bucket seat in and track it, but the interior is so tidy and the car has charmed me too much to do that, so im going to go somewhere in between and have it as a useable driver and a track toy as well.

I got the car from eBay as a runner with 6mths T&T for £750. Not a bad price, but all the bushes at the front end are shot, so it wonders around a bit and has a bit of play in the steering. nice easy fixes to all the problems though, and the engine pulls sweetly, no smoke, doesnt use water or oil and goes well.

The interior is really mint, no wear on the seats at all which is unusual, and the back seats look like new

Ive driven about 250 miles since ive had it and its awesome! People say you shouldnt ever meet your idols and as ive wanted a white, 1.9 since i was about 15 i was slightly worried i would be disappointed, but now ive got one i love it, and think i should have had one years ago!

So the plans are,
Phase 1:
All new bushes on the front end, new cam belt, water pump, tensioners etc. full service, new tyres, have a look over the rear beam ( a whole minefield i know nothing about and am slightly apprehensive about!) new brakes, braided hoses, change gearbox fluid. After this im gonna drive it for a while and see how it goes, do a couple of track days etc.

Phase 2:
Roll cage, (may keep the rear seats) new carpets, maybe some plush bucket seat, harnesses. upgrade the brakes (if needed) to GTi-6 setup or simular.

Phase 3:
Maybe... GTI-6 conversion, thats a way off yet but something i like the look of.

Anyway, step one starts tomorrow, lower wishbones off, new bushes. Cant wait.

Cheers.

UPDATE 2nd JAN 2010.....
Cheers for all the replies, much appreciated. Thought id give a little update as ive spent the morning in the workshop.



Today's task was wishbones off, new bushes in, new anti roll bar bushes in, but didn't quite go to plan!



Got the lower wishbones off without too much bother, but noticed that the ball joint gaitor was split and the joint a bit notchy, so rather than fit the bushes I brought, im going to buy some complete OEM wishbones with bushes already fitted. Ive read some advise that the bushes I brought were not that great anyway, so it's probably best to stick to the OEM parts. So, new wishbones needed (internet shopping here I come!)



Next was the anti roll bar. Was a tricky s0d to remove, but eventually dropped the subframe slightly and took the whole thing out. Then we noticed the new bushes I brought are slightly different to the originals. It seems the OEM part has a groove cut out of one side and on the ARB there is a raised notch to stop the bar/bush sliding. The new bushes I had didnt have this groove and therefore won't fit. I read the manual (should have done that to start with!) and it says the are 'sided' with an orange one with the groove mentioned above, and a yellow/white on without. So the 'new' bushes are in the bin, and im going with OEM parts once again. A trip to my local pug dealer is needed!



Also noticed that both trackrod ends have split gaitors, so need a couple of those aswell



Feeling a little deflated, we decided to have a good look over the rest of the car. There is a bit of rust on the passenger side front arch, but nothing too nasty, only surface, so we will sort that out. Also some nasty 'scotch locks' in the wiring which will be gone soon, and the headlights are not original (they are etched with the reg number of a D reg car, mines an E and has a different reg number) so I will replace these too. They move about alot anyway as the plastic arm that holds them to the adjuster has broken.



So all in all not very successful! But atleast now I know the old girl a bit better, and there were no nasty surprises, just a long shopping list of things to buy! Im definitely sticking with OEM parts from now on though, and DO NOT recommend the Polysport stuff I brought from Rallydesign. Bit gutted the ARB bushes don't even fit, that's just poor quality.



Anyway, here are some pics, i'll update again once the next shipment of parts arrive!



cheers.



Ross