Another Noob, with Some Mouldy Frenchbread!
Discussion
Hello Everyone, only recently joined so i figured i would post a few pictures of my student runaround. It's an 89 205 GTI that i purchased in march 07 with 127k looking like this-
It crabbed all the way down the M4 home due to a knackered beam, and cost 30 quid in petrol in 150 miles, and so the work began...
Over the Easter period the car underwent a fair old amount of work, with a newer beam,AFM and other electrical bits, two new front calipers, braided hoses, a new clutch and driveshafts all going on. no looking back now... after a spit and polish she ended up looking like this...
It ran relatively faultlessly through the summer term, and with the summer holidays came work, work=money, money to waste on new bits...
Along with the polybushed front wishbones that were supplied on the car came a set of Gaz Adjustable Struts, with new top mounts, and a strut brace from a Euro Rallye. a set of refurbed speedlines with Eagle GSD3's went on. as the car does very little mileage and the final target was some track/sprint fun the rear was stripped out and in went some Cobra Monaco buckets and 3 point harnesses. budget stuff i know but i am still a poor uni student.
With the mileage being fairly high i decided to refurbish a cylinder head and change that over, along with all the usual belts and bits being serviced. a solid rubber lower engine mount went on along with alloy gear rods to sort the pudding spoon shift that it once had. with a few more bits done here and there the car was ready for its first track day, and Llandow with Wheel Nuts. It was great day and i will be back there soon.
If you are still reading at this point, then thanks for taking the time. hope to be passed by some of you on a circuit some time soon!
It crabbed all the way down the M4 home due to a knackered beam, and cost 30 quid in petrol in 150 miles, and so the work began...
Over the Easter period the car underwent a fair old amount of work, with a newer beam,AFM and other electrical bits, two new front calipers, braided hoses, a new clutch and driveshafts all going on. no looking back now... after a spit and polish she ended up looking like this...
It ran relatively faultlessly through the summer term, and with the summer holidays came work, work=money, money to waste on new bits...
Along with the polybushed front wishbones that were supplied on the car came a set of Gaz Adjustable Struts, with new top mounts, and a strut brace from a Euro Rallye. a set of refurbed speedlines with Eagle GSD3's went on. as the car does very little mileage and the final target was some track/sprint fun the rear was stripped out and in went some Cobra Monaco buckets and 3 point harnesses. budget stuff i know but i am still a poor uni student.
With the mileage being fairly high i decided to refurbish a cylinder head and change that over, along with all the usual belts and bits being serviced. a solid rubber lower engine mount went on along with alloy gear rods to sort the pudding spoon shift that it once had. with a few more bits done here and there the car was ready for its first track day, and Llandow with Wheel Nuts. It was great day and i will be back there soon.
If you are still reading at this point, then thanks for taking the time. hope to be passed by some of you on a circuit some time soon!
It has cost me more then i had originally expected to be honest, and i would never see that back if i were to sell it. The car was bought for 500, and everything done including an excessive amount of little bits changed for peace of mind probably comes to around 1300. It was a learning curve in many areas but i have yet to reach the point where i think 'yeah this is just ludicrous now'.
may avoid an mi16, its hard to find a good one cheap and the oil surge problems concern me. possibly a helathy 1.9 8v just for its strentgh and simplicity, or may look into a 1.8 16v unit as these are very cheap and with a few bits from a gti6 can make very good power and be tough also. just see what happens i guess
both 1.9 8v and 1.8 16v units are all alloy also and maintain good weight, i think the main attraction to the mi16 is its power to weight and the fact it doesn't take a mountain of work wiring wise to get one working in a 205. but everyone i have spoken to about them seems to think they are a bit flawed to be a good track engine. i would love a 2.0 8v turbo as a road engine, would be fun i think but i am not sure how well they take track abuse and also the fuel economy is meant to be pretty weak.
jup said:
both 1.9 8v and 1.8 16v units are all alloy also and maintain good weight, i think the main attraction to the mi16 is its power to weight and the fact it doesn't take a mountain of work wiring wise to get one working in a 205. but everyone i have spoken to about them seems to think they are a bit flawed to be a good track engine. i would love a 2.0 8v turbo as a road engine, would be fun i think but i am not sure how well they take track abuse and also the fuel economy is meant to be pretty weak.
I got a spare Xantia Activa kicking about, Engine needs looking at, but if you want it (with the car!) it's yours!!!Oh, if you make the 2lturbo work, about 20mpg! but easy to get 200bhp out of!
Well, thought I would resurrect this thread as I have been busy on the 205 lately and it has taken a fair change in form. I'm not so good with project threads as i tend to forget to take pictures while i am doing stuff, but I will try and keep it updated. With the addition of the Puma as my daily hack the 205 can now be my focused track car. This started by removing basically all of the remaining interior and making up some more solid seat rails instead of using the tin foil standard seat mounts-
Many thanks to the trusty angle grinder for its relentless effort
Some say he breathes pure Argon, and his hair is actually 0.8mm mild steel welding wire.....All we know is, he is the WeldStig!
Managed to find a decent seating position, and proceeded to nearly fall asleep in it
Painted the entire floor with Hammerite, unfortunately there isn't a Graphite Grey shade available, but it's more of a function then form jobby. Also practice fitted the OMP 10 point cage, the front section of which will have to be replaced as its quality is 'questionable'
With this finished focus will move onto the rear beam, engine, and all those other little niggly over-expensive jobs that make up a track car build
Many thanks to the trusty angle grinder for its relentless effort
Some say he breathes pure Argon, and his hair is actually 0.8mm mild steel welding wire.....All we know is, he is the WeldStig!
Managed to find a decent seating position, and proceeded to nearly fall asleep in it
Painted the entire floor with Hammerite, unfortunately there isn't a Graphite Grey shade available, but it's more of a function then form jobby. Also practice fitted the OMP 10 point cage, the front section of which will have to be replaced as its quality is 'questionable'
With this finished focus will move onto the rear beam, engine, and all those other little niggly over-expensive jobs that make up a track car build
Well its been a chaotic month, and as a result of no longer being a student, the 205 has become a weekend task. After the issues with the cage, it was swiftly replaced, thanks to the great service of Peter Lloyd Rallying in South Wales. Here is a few pics of things moving along, sorry for the quality; photos are always an afterthought.
Seat rails finished, and attacked with Hammerite
NO WELDSTIG! That's the bodywork, we don't want to weld that!
Note to self-Stop dicking around with touch-up pens
The dash was easy enough to strip weight from
I laughed when a kid walking down the street with her mum asked why we had a climbing frame in the front garden
[Gordon Ramsay] Cage- DONE![/Gordon Ramsay]
In its new home
Saturday Afternoon Boredom...
Is a bad thing...
Not as bad as waking up on Sunday with a hangover and thinking its a clever idea to take the engine out without a crane on your own
But sure enough, out it came.
Tidying up the engine bay at the moment and doing all the fiddly little bits over the next month ready for the new engine and box
Seat rails finished, and attacked with Hammerite
NO WELDSTIG! That's the bodywork, we don't want to weld that!
Note to self-Stop dicking around with touch-up pens
The dash was easy enough to strip weight from
I laughed when a kid walking down the street with her mum asked why we had a climbing frame in the front garden
[Gordon Ramsay] Cage- DONE![/Gordon Ramsay]
In its new home
Saturday Afternoon Boredom...
Is a bad thing...
Not as bad as waking up on Sunday with a hangover and thinking its a clever idea to take the engine out without a crane on your own
But sure enough, out it came.
Tidying up the engine bay at the moment and doing all the fiddly little bits over the next month ready for the new engine and box
Nice project.
Bit of a soft spot for 205's... track day a 1.9 8v on Jenvey's which goes well enough. Always in the need for more power though !
Brother just bought a 1.9, and stuck twin 45's on it, along with my old race cam for his track motor. Will be interesting on our next track event !!!
Have you decided what the engine of choice is going to be ?
Bit of a soft spot for 205's... track day a 1.9 8v on Jenvey's which goes well enough. Always in the need for more power though !
Brother just bought a 1.9, and stuck twin 45's on it, along with my old race cam for his track motor. Will be interesting on our next track event !!!
Have you decided what the engine of choice is going to be ?
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