1991 Peugeot 205 GTi Restoration
Discussion
Hi,
I’m about 2 years in to restoring a 1991 205 GTi.
A friend recommended that I join and upload some pictures, so I thought I’d share my journey, which started way back in early 2022…
I’ve made a lot of process since then, but I’ve still a long way to go.
The 205 GTi was my favourite car back in the late 90s. I purchased my first 1.6 GTi in 1998 when I was 18, with insurance costing more than the car, replaced it in 9th May 2000 with a Cherry Red 1.6, and purchased a 205 CTi ( which I MI16’d, still own and which also need restoring ) in 2002. In 2004 I also purchased a white GTi, which I turbo’d using the Peugeot 605 SRTI engine. I scrapped the Red one in about 2006 and sold the white one in about 2008.
By 2011 I was looking for another. I went so far as to draw the cash out of the bank ( days before banking apps ! ) for a Lazer Green one, then the buyer messed me about and I didn’t purchase (they we still selling for peanuts back then ). My first daughter was born at the end of 2011 and cars took a back step for a decade.
Coming out of Covid I started looking again –I wanted a well looked after / maintained Phase 2 Cherry Red or Lazer Green model.
I spotted one on eBay in April 2022. 1 previous owner, 12 months MOT and Cherry Red. The description wasn’t very detailed, but I exchanged some messages with the seller about maintenance etc and decided to bid.
EBAY Advert Pictures
I won the auction and me and my dad headed off from Cheshire to Colchester to collect that weekend.
The seller had owned the car since 2006, and prior to that, it belonged to his mother-in-law. Hence it had been in the family since new. Finding an 80s hot hatch with so few owners is pretty rare.
There were boxes of spares in the boot, including the original mudflaps. The owner also knew his way around a toolbox, so he had maintained the car very well. The paint work wasn’t great and the car had received an OS wing and front bumper replacement (wrong colour) back in the 2000s. I took the car for a drive but noticed an intermittent hesitation / misfire, but took a gamble and purchased the car at a reduced price due to the hesitation.
The trip back went fine for the first 70 miles, then the car started to misfire, temperature shot to max and head gasket gave up on the A14.
Poorly Peugeot on the A14
It turned into a long day / night waiting for the RAC. They picked me up 10 hours later, only to drive me to the next services as the RAC driver was coming to the end of his shift. RAC then said they had no recovery trucks available and arranged a taxi from the A14 back to Cheshire.They then delivered the car the following afternoon.
That’s the introduction over. The pictures from 8th / 9th May 2022. – 22 years to the day of purchasing my previous Cherry Red GTi
It got here eventually
Coolant explosion
When i got it home i found the owners pack and service history in the glovebox in mint condition, along with the original purchase receipt from 1991.
At this point, my plan was just to fix the engine, respray the exterior and enjoy..
More updates to follow
I’m about 2 years in to restoring a 1991 205 GTi.
A friend recommended that I join and upload some pictures, so I thought I’d share my journey, which started way back in early 2022…
I’ve made a lot of process since then, but I’ve still a long way to go.
The 205 GTi was my favourite car back in the late 90s. I purchased my first 1.6 GTi in 1998 when I was 18, with insurance costing more than the car, replaced it in 9th May 2000 with a Cherry Red 1.6, and purchased a 205 CTi ( which I MI16’d, still own and which also need restoring ) in 2002. In 2004 I also purchased a white GTi, which I turbo’d using the Peugeot 605 SRTI engine. I scrapped the Red one in about 2006 and sold the white one in about 2008.
By 2011 I was looking for another. I went so far as to draw the cash out of the bank ( days before banking apps ! ) for a Lazer Green one, then the buyer messed me about and I didn’t purchase (they we still selling for peanuts back then ). My first daughter was born at the end of 2011 and cars took a back step for a decade.
Coming out of Covid I started looking again –I wanted a well looked after / maintained Phase 2 Cherry Red or Lazer Green model.
I spotted one on eBay in April 2022. 1 previous owner, 12 months MOT and Cherry Red. The description wasn’t very detailed, but I exchanged some messages with the seller about maintenance etc and decided to bid.
EBAY Advert Pictures
I won the auction and me and my dad headed off from Cheshire to Colchester to collect that weekend.
The seller had owned the car since 2006, and prior to that, it belonged to his mother-in-law. Hence it had been in the family since new. Finding an 80s hot hatch with so few owners is pretty rare.
There were boxes of spares in the boot, including the original mudflaps. The owner also knew his way around a toolbox, so he had maintained the car very well. The paint work wasn’t great and the car had received an OS wing and front bumper replacement (wrong colour) back in the 2000s. I took the car for a drive but noticed an intermittent hesitation / misfire, but took a gamble and purchased the car at a reduced price due to the hesitation.
The trip back went fine for the first 70 miles, then the car started to misfire, temperature shot to max and head gasket gave up on the A14.
Poorly Peugeot on the A14
It turned into a long day / night waiting for the RAC. They picked me up 10 hours later, only to drive me to the next services as the RAC driver was coming to the end of his shift. RAC then said they had no recovery trucks available and arranged a taxi from the A14 back to Cheshire.They then delivered the car the following afternoon.
That’s the introduction over. The pictures from 8th / 9th May 2022. – 22 years to the day of purchasing my previous Cherry Red GTi
It got here eventually
Coolant explosion
When i got it home i found the owners pack and service history in the glovebox in mint condition, along with the original purchase receipt from 1991.
At this point, my plan was just to fix the engine, respray the exterior and enjoy..
More updates to follow
Of fabulous. First properly nippy car I went in was a Black GTi, second gen I think. My commute to work was along Ullswater - one colleague had big bumper Golf GTI 16v and the other the Pug. Picture a sunny July morning at 7am, an empty road, and two cars full of young sailing instructors.... That journey left an impression that while the Golf was chuffing fast, the Pug just took corners much, much faster.
Looking forward to you sharing more.
Looking forward to you sharing more.
miniman said:
Excellent, car looks great.
Definitely worth binning off RAC though.
They gave me most of my annual premium back - i laugh about it now, but it was a 22 hour round trip and i wasn't amused at the time - no food, no water and my battery gave up while waiting for them ! Definitely worth binning off RAC though.
blue_haddock said:
Totally agree - I love the lazer green and cherry red colours - Red polishes up really nice anyideas said:
Always liked the 205 and wanted a laser green one was I was younger.
Is that an RB5 I see in the background?
It was a lazer green one i wanted to buy in 2011. The guy wanted £280 and i booked a day off work / drew the cash out and then he decided he didnt want to sell it. Wasnt amused. Is that an RB5 I see in the background?
And yes - its an RB5 :-) - Black one is a JDM STi
The week before the car got listed on eBay I’d had 30 meter squared of Indian stone delivered, so that was my summer project sorted. My initial plan was to the car and enjoy it over the summer months, while sorting out the garden. Buying a car that needed work wasn’t what I’d planned for and sorting the 205 head gasket engine had to take a back seat until the garden was sorted.
In August 2022, i made a start on on dismantling the engine, the plan being to skim the head, sort the stem seals and give it a timing belt. The biggest shock was how every single nut and bolt undid without issue. The previous owner did say that the car was always dry stored, and it made a huge difference – Inlet and exhaust manifolds, jubilee clips, and all the other bolts – rust free and easy to remove. The head came off without a single problem or issue – then I discovered my first school boy error.
Rusty water ☹
I’d left the car where the RAC guy rolled it off the trailer and not touched it – The head gasket failure had allowed water into the cylinders, (causing the miss fire and eventually no compression ) and this water had sat on top of the pistons in 2 cylinders between May and August – the liners we well and truly pitted.
Fortunately I still had a spare 1.6 engine which I knew was a good engine / the history of, in Storage from the Red GTi I scrapped in 2006.
I picked up the engine along with my old engine crane and set about recommissioning the car, using the best parts from the 2 engines along with a selection of new parts – clutch kit, timing belt, plugs , oil, filters, gasket set etc.
The head from this car was sent off to be skimmed and stem seals replaced, and the bottom end from my old GTI was tidied up.
I purchased a new black bumper ( The one on the car was the wrong grey Phase 1 bumper ) and some Lanoguard. With the engine out I cleaned up the engine bay, subframe and inner arches – then gave it a coat of Lanoguard – second school boy error.
The block, head and other parts got cleaned up or degreased and coated in high temperature paint.
The exhaust manifold was cleaned up and sprayed with a heat resistant black paint.
New gaskets, water pump, timing belt and fluids were fitted / added.
Sump was cleaned and painted
The engine got refitted in December 2022, but i spent several weeks trying to start the engine.
It had good compression, fuel, spark etc and it tried to fire up, but never did.
I did suspect the battery, as it lay unused between May and December, but it charged up fine and it tried to crank the car over – It just wouldn’t fire into life. I even tested the battery in my Impreza and it fired up first time, which threw me a bit of a red herring.
I ended up purchasing another battery anyway, as a friend suggested that the lower compression on the Impreza might be why that starts, but the 205 wont. – The 205 fired first time with the new battery.
I didn’t tax it for a couple of months, as I didn’t want it exposed to the winter roads, so taxed from the 1st March 2023.
It had been 15 years since I last drove a 205 “properly” and I loved it – Happy that my purchase wasn’t a “nostalgic whim” I decided the next job would be to “freshen up” the car with an exterior paint job.
Running car and new front bumper
Along with the paint job, I wanted more power. I love the revy 1.6 engine, but times have moved on since the 80s / early 90s. A lot of bog standard family cars have more power than the 1.6 GTi had. I had owned both Mi16 and Turbo’d 205s 20 year ago and personally preferred the xu10j2te turbo conversion over the Mi16 transplant ( I also have a CTi project with the MI16 engine ).
Hence I started looking for a Xantia, 406, 605 engine. 20 years ago there were plenty knocking about in scrappies, but they didn’t appear on eBay very often.
I put the feelers out anyway – The best things come to those who wait ;-)
In August 2022, i made a start on on dismantling the engine, the plan being to skim the head, sort the stem seals and give it a timing belt. The biggest shock was how every single nut and bolt undid without issue. The previous owner did say that the car was always dry stored, and it made a huge difference – Inlet and exhaust manifolds, jubilee clips, and all the other bolts – rust free and easy to remove. The head came off without a single problem or issue – then I discovered my first school boy error.
Rusty water ☹
I’d left the car where the RAC guy rolled it off the trailer and not touched it – The head gasket failure had allowed water into the cylinders, (causing the miss fire and eventually no compression ) and this water had sat on top of the pistons in 2 cylinders between May and August – the liners we well and truly pitted.
Fortunately I still had a spare 1.6 engine which I knew was a good engine / the history of, in Storage from the Red GTi I scrapped in 2006.
I picked up the engine along with my old engine crane and set about recommissioning the car, using the best parts from the 2 engines along with a selection of new parts – clutch kit, timing belt, plugs , oil, filters, gasket set etc.
The head from this car was sent off to be skimmed and stem seals replaced, and the bottom end from my old GTI was tidied up.
I purchased a new black bumper ( The one on the car was the wrong grey Phase 1 bumper ) and some Lanoguard. With the engine out I cleaned up the engine bay, subframe and inner arches – then gave it a coat of Lanoguard – second school boy error.
The block, head and other parts got cleaned up or degreased and coated in high temperature paint.
The exhaust manifold was cleaned up and sprayed with a heat resistant black paint.
New gaskets, water pump, timing belt and fluids were fitted / added.
Sump was cleaned and painted
The engine got refitted in December 2022, but i spent several weeks trying to start the engine.
It had good compression, fuel, spark etc and it tried to fire up, but never did.
I did suspect the battery, as it lay unused between May and December, but it charged up fine and it tried to crank the car over – It just wouldn’t fire into life. I even tested the battery in my Impreza and it fired up first time, which threw me a bit of a red herring.
I ended up purchasing another battery anyway, as a friend suggested that the lower compression on the Impreza might be why that starts, but the 205 wont. – The 205 fired first time with the new battery.
I didn’t tax it for a couple of months, as I didn’t want it exposed to the winter roads, so taxed from the 1st March 2023.
It had been 15 years since I last drove a 205 “properly” and I loved it – Happy that my purchase wasn’t a “nostalgic whim” I decided the next job would be to “freshen up” the car with an exterior paint job.
Running car and new front bumper
Along with the paint job, I wanted more power. I love the revy 1.6 engine, but times have moved on since the 80s / early 90s. A lot of bog standard family cars have more power than the 1.6 GTi had. I had owned both Mi16 and Turbo’d 205s 20 year ago and personally preferred the xu10j2te turbo conversion over the Mi16 transplant ( I also have a CTi project with the MI16 engine ).
Hence I started looking for a Xantia, 406, 605 engine. 20 years ago there were plenty knocking about in scrappies, but they didn’t appear on eBay very often.
I put the feelers out anyway – The best things come to those who wait ;-)
You did a cracking job on rebuilding that engine, looked perfect as did the the bay when it went back in.
any joy with finding the engine you were after? is that coming in the next update
Bought my old 89 sorrento green 1.6 back after 15 years and 8 owners in 2021, found 300 miles away, currently languishing in my mates work, hopefully get started on it this year, although a few others in queue
any joy with finding the engine you were after? is that coming in the next update
Bought my old 89 sorrento green 1.6 back after 15 years and 8 owners in 2021, found 300 miles away, currently languishing in my mates work, hopefully get started on it this year, although a few others in queue
rickygolf83 said:
You did a cracking job on rebuilding that engine, looked perfect as did the the bay when it went back in.
It didn't last long - i coated the engine bay in Lanoguard and it made a right mess of the engine bay once i started to drive the car - pics to follow in a few updates.rickygolf83 said:
any joy with finding the engine you were after? is that coming in the next update
Maybe ;-) keep checking back lolrickygolf83 said:
Bought my old 89 sorrento green 1.6 back after 15 years and 8 owners in 2021, found 300 miles away, currently languishing in my mates work, hopefully get started on it this year, although a few others in queue
Best of luck - loads of places are selling new parts these days.. Just not cheap. Definitely a money pit lolAmazing to think I part exchanged an F reg (F765 FEA) 205 GTi 1.6 in 1997 (It was 8 and a half years old at the time) for £995......
I just wanted shot of it at the time for the next shiny thing, I would never have guessed what they would be worth today. I also had an immaculate Subaru Impreza Turbo that I sold and an Uno Turbo that I literally gave away.
Would love to have all three of them still today.
I just wanted shot of it at the time for the next shiny thing, I would never have guessed what they would be worth today. I also had an immaculate Subaru Impreza Turbo that I sold and an Uno Turbo that I literally gave away.
Would love to have all three of them still today.
3rd update – which actually won’t contain a lot of progress of the actual 205, but its part of the cars journey.
Since 2011 I rarely picked up a spanner, but knew I would want to tinker with cars again once the kids got older ( i had the 205 CTi that needed restoring). When our new build was being built in 2016/2017, after speaking to the site manager I knew that the garage wouldn’t have adequate power for any serious car projects in the future. There was no way the 13amp socket that ran from one of the rooms in the house would be up to running a compressor, heating and lighting in one go. In January 2017 I managed to sweet talk him into letting me into the site after 15.30pm on a Friday, when most of the builders had gone home. I managed to lay 50m of armored cable under the garden from the main electricity box to the garage (opposite side of the property), before the patio and grass got laid. It made a lot more sense to lay the cable now, as opposed to when we had moved in and the lawn and patio were laid. The cable lay there unused ( ends protected ) from 2017 until 2023!.
Forward thinking (January 2017)– Cable laying on a wet winter day
In late 2017 my workplace did a major refurb. I had saved a lot of 2x4 timber, plywood sheets, strip lights and even 2mm Perspex sheets from the skip, knowing I would find a use for them one day.
Between 2017 and 2019 the material just sat there, and family life carried on, until I split up with my partner. Only having my children 50% of the time meant I suddenly had a lot of free time, which I’d not had since 2011.
The first project was to freshen up my Impreza RB5.
This was the garage before ( 13amp fuse box to the right )
Using the salvaged materials, I built a small booth to paint most of the Impreza underside parts and wheels. Air flow in this booth came from the kids bouncy castle blower, which pushed the air towards the front of the booth into the filters. No extraction fans on this booth, but it did the job.
Lighting came from strip lights I’d saved from the skip, protected by the 2mm Plexi glass that I acquired.
Small booth build in progress
Impreza looking worse for ware
Parts refresh in the small booth
Looking loved again
Alloys waiting for the new tyres
The 205 got taxed and a fresh MOT in March 2023 and I spent the next couple of months enjoying the drive, while I started to redo the interior of the garage. If I was going to do an exterior respray, I needed a full size booth.
The existing exterior walls of the small booth were removed, and the framework / boarding were put in place for the larger booth. It was 1 half of the double garage and 1 metre into the other side. So approx. 5m x 3.5m. The roof on the other side had to slope to allow the door to open. All the interior walls were panelled with spare plywood to stop overspray covering the walls (in case I ever move house) and to stop any dust from the cement coming into the booth – They were sealed with calk and painted. I can also just give the garage a whitewash with emulsion after each project to keep the booth clean and bright.
Picture showing how the booth extended out onto the other side – This is before I fitted extractor fans.
The wood isn’t clean or pretty – the ply sheets were previous used as a raised floor in the office (hence the rectangular cut outs where the desk wire boxes were fitted and what’s left of the carpet tiles) – but they were free and serve their purpose well.
I ordered a couple of 20” extractor fans as well as air filters, paint filters and carbon filters to minimum overspray and fumes onto my other cars / neighbours.
A small amount of airflow came from the rear, which was drawn in from the other side of the garage using the bouncy castle blower and some desk fans that work had throw out.
The extractor fans drew the booth air out, filtering through paint filters ( to reduce overspray ) and carbon filters.
The strip lights which I acquired from the office refurb were boxed in and covered with Perspex to protect from overspray.
Internal walls boarded – you can also see the outline of the small booth based on the flooring colour
Inlet fans and lighting - I did try to paint the floor, but it was a pointless task. The overspray would cover that very soon.
The garage only had a 13amp supply, and I noticed while painting the Subaru parts, that the compressor, bouncy castle fan and the heater would occasionally trip the power when using my small booth.
The next job was to wire up the armored cable which I layed in 2017 and wire into its own distribution board – independent to the house fuseboard.
The inlet fans, extractor fans, lights and booth sockets would all be wired up to a new fusebox and controlled from switches outside of the booth.
Switches for the booth – lighting, compressor, booth 13amp sockets, inlet and extractor fans can all be controlled from outside
Fitting one of the 2 extractor fans
The booth isn’t pretty – But it serves its purpose. With the exception of the electrical parts, a few boxes of screws, filters and extractor fans, everything was free.
Not much on the 205 in this update, but I will be starting bodywork in the next update.
Since 2011 I rarely picked up a spanner, but knew I would want to tinker with cars again once the kids got older ( i had the 205 CTi that needed restoring). When our new build was being built in 2016/2017, after speaking to the site manager I knew that the garage wouldn’t have adequate power for any serious car projects in the future. There was no way the 13amp socket that ran from one of the rooms in the house would be up to running a compressor, heating and lighting in one go. In January 2017 I managed to sweet talk him into letting me into the site after 15.30pm on a Friday, when most of the builders had gone home. I managed to lay 50m of armored cable under the garden from the main electricity box to the garage (opposite side of the property), before the patio and grass got laid. It made a lot more sense to lay the cable now, as opposed to when we had moved in and the lawn and patio were laid. The cable lay there unused ( ends protected ) from 2017 until 2023!.
Forward thinking (January 2017)– Cable laying on a wet winter day
In late 2017 my workplace did a major refurb. I had saved a lot of 2x4 timber, plywood sheets, strip lights and even 2mm Perspex sheets from the skip, knowing I would find a use for them one day.
Between 2017 and 2019 the material just sat there, and family life carried on, until I split up with my partner. Only having my children 50% of the time meant I suddenly had a lot of free time, which I’d not had since 2011.
The first project was to freshen up my Impreza RB5.
This was the garage before ( 13amp fuse box to the right )
Using the salvaged materials, I built a small booth to paint most of the Impreza underside parts and wheels. Air flow in this booth came from the kids bouncy castle blower, which pushed the air towards the front of the booth into the filters. No extraction fans on this booth, but it did the job.
Lighting came from strip lights I’d saved from the skip, protected by the 2mm Plexi glass that I acquired.
Small booth build in progress
Impreza looking worse for ware
Parts refresh in the small booth
Looking loved again
Alloys waiting for the new tyres
The 205 got taxed and a fresh MOT in March 2023 and I spent the next couple of months enjoying the drive, while I started to redo the interior of the garage. If I was going to do an exterior respray, I needed a full size booth.
The existing exterior walls of the small booth were removed, and the framework / boarding were put in place for the larger booth. It was 1 half of the double garage and 1 metre into the other side. So approx. 5m x 3.5m. The roof on the other side had to slope to allow the door to open. All the interior walls were panelled with spare plywood to stop overspray covering the walls (in case I ever move house) and to stop any dust from the cement coming into the booth – They were sealed with calk and painted. I can also just give the garage a whitewash with emulsion after each project to keep the booth clean and bright.
Picture showing how the booth extended out onto the other side – This is before I fitted extractor fans.
The wood isn’t clean or pretty – the ply sheets were previous used as a raised floor in the office (hence the rectangular cut outs where the desk wire boxes were fitted and what’s left of the carpet tiles) – but they were free and serve their purpose well.
I ordered a couple of 20” extractor fans as well as air filters, paint filters and carbon filters to minimum overspray and fumes onto my other cars / neighbours.
A small amount of airflow came from the rear, which was drawn in from the other side of the garage using the bouncy castle blower and some desk fans that work had throw out.
The extractor fans drew the booth air out, filtering through paint filters ( to reduce overspray ) and carbon filters.
The strip lights which I acquired from the office refurb were boxed in and covered with Perspex to protect from overspray.
Internal walls boarded – you can also see the outline of the small booth based on the flooring colour
Inlet fans and lighting - I did try to paint the floor, but it was a pointless task. The overspray would cover that very soon.
The garage only had a 13amp supply, and I noticed while painting the Subaru parts, that the compressor, bouncy castle fan and the heater would occasionally trip the power when using my small booth.
The next job was to wire up the armored cable which I layed in 2017 and wire into its own distribution board – independent to the house fuseboard.
The inlet fans, extractor fans, lights and booth sockets would all be wired up to a new fusebox and controlled from switches outside of the booth.
Switches for the booth – lighting, compressor, booth 13amp sockets, inlet and extractor fans can all be controlled from outside
Fitting one of the 2 extractor fans
The booth isn’t pretty – But it serves its purpose. With the exception of the electrical parts, a few boxes of screws, filters and extractor fans, everything was free.
Not much on the 205 in this update, but I will be starting bodywork in the next update.
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