First Car, First Project (205 gti)

[alanw89]

Bought myself a 1.6 205 gti just after new year. I had been looking for a car to work on for quite a while and when this one popped up i was at the point of just wanting something to get started with so decided to buy it unseen, and deal with any problems it had. It was pretty cheap due to having a cracked block, but as i was wanting to have a go at rebuilding an engine it seemed like it would suit me quite well.

It took a while to arrange getting it picked up due to the weather and me being busy but I eventually got it home. When it arrived, i had a quick look around and it looked quite solid body wise, it was then left for a couple of weeks and today i had a chance to have a proper look round it.

It seems like theres quite a few small jobs to be done to get it roadworthy and then a couple of bigger ones, most noticably the engine.

While having a good look around the car today, and starting to rub down some rust in the boot floor, i removed the back seats and lifted the carpet a bit to find quite a bit of what looked like tin worm. When buying the car I was more more interestd in learning about working on the mechanicals rather than the bodywork so this could be a bit of a problem.

The plan is to remove the front seats and the carpet so that i can get a good look at the complete floor and then take it from there. This could potentially be the slowest moving project ever as im still a student and have no money, but i want to learn to work on cars so think i'll probably stick with it and hopefully end up with something half decent at the end.

This is the car after it was dropped off.

Edited by alanw89 on Tuesday 13th April 12:43

[Beirut Taxi]

Check the rear end structurally. Nearly all of them have been backwards through a hedge at some point.

Edited by Beirut Taxi on Wednesday 20th January 01:48

[alanw89]

From what ive seen of the back end it looks pretty straight, only noticeable thing is some rust on the boot floor but apart from that it seems fine. The underside looks a bit rusty, my rough plan just now is to get it running atleast and then take it to a garage and up on a lift to have someone take a proper look underneath. Hopefully i can do that without spending too much money.

[happygoron]

Get on the forum on http://www.205gtidrivers.com - You need to do a bit to join up but it's not hard and is a superb resource.

[HereBeMonsters]

I've got a 1.9 GTI engine you can have for free - it's done 160,000 miles or so, was rolling roaded at 101bhp then sat in my garage for two years. Probably easier to rebuild it out of the car though.
Where are you?

[soad]

Should be a smashing car once fully re-built. Used to see a lot of them locally, hardly any left now.

[alanw89]

happygoron said:

Get on the forum on http://www.205gtidrivers.com - You need to do a bit to join up but it's not hard and is a superb resource.

Joined up on there and just started a topic in the topic starters section thingy, they do want a lot from you just to sign up but theres so much information on the board.

HereBeMonsters said:

I've got a 1.9 GTI engine you can have for free - it's done 160,000 miles or so, was rolling roaded at 101bhp then sat in my garage for two years. Probably easier to rebuild it out of the car though.
Where are you?

I would be interested in that but at the moment ive no real way of transporting an engine, would need to wait until i can get an engine hoist or something, and a suitable car to put it in. I'm guessing your probably at the other end of the country aswell anyway, Im near Glasgow.



Anyway, today i stripped out the front seats. Rounded off one of the bolts and ended up hacksawing it between the subframe and washer. I also dont have the right sized spanner to get the two nuts that hold the centre console off so could only lift half the carpet up.

What i found underneath doesnt look good, I've never seen this before as this is the first car ive worked on. Hoping that its just my inexperience and its nothing to worry about but i think its more likely the opposite.

Some pictures here.
http://img44.imageshack.us/g/jpeg0002.jpg/

[URL=http://img44.imageshack.us/i/jpeg0002.jpg/][/URL]

[HereBeMonsters]

alanw89 said:

HereBeMonsters said:

I've got a 1.9 GTI engine you can have for free - it's done 160,000 miles or so, was rolling roaded at 101bhp then sat in my garage for two years. Probably easier to rebuild it out of the car though.
Where are you?

I would be interested in that but at the moment ive no real way of transporting an engine, would need to wait until i can get an engine hoist or something, and a suitable car to put it in. I'm guessing your probably at the other end of the country aswell anyway, Im near Glasgow.

Ah, yes. I am in Southampton. Been trying to get rid of it for ages, had a few sniffs, but no-one's actually come round for it.
You don't need a hoist as it's an alloy block and head, can be easily lifted into the boot of just about anything (I've seen people move them in the back of other 205s!) by two people. In fact, I've picked it up myself just shunting it across the garage.
Getting it to Glasgow may be more of an issue. I'm sure you can find one up there if you want it, or even better - an Mi16.

[alanw89]

HereBeMonsters said:

alanw89 said:

HereBeMonsters said:

I've got a 1.9 GTI engine you can have for free - it's done 160,000 miles or so, was rolling roaded at 101bhp then sat in my garage for two years. Probably easier to rebuild it out of the car though.
Where are you?

I would be interested in that but at the moment ive no real way of transporting an engine, would need to wait until i can get an engine hoist or something, and a suitable car to put it in. I'm guessing your probably at the other end of the country aswell anyway, Im near Glasgow.

Ah, yes. I am in Southampton. Been trying to get rid of it for ages, had a few sniffs, but no-one's actually come round for it.
You don't need a hoist as it's an alloy block and head, can be easily lifted into the boot of just about anything (I've seen people move them in the back of other 205s!) by two people. In fact, I've picked it up myself just shunting it across the garage.
Getting it to Glasgow may be more of an issue. I'm sure you can find one up there if you want it, or even better - an Mi16.

No worries, ill be on the lookout for an engine as soon as i can save up some cash, not in any real hurry though as i dont need the car for anything.

[TEKNOPUG]

Am I being thick??? I can't see any rust in the photos!

Edited by TEKNOPUG on Wednesday 20th January 14:45

[alanw89]

No, it was me being thick. I didnt know what the seam sealer was having never seen it before and just thought it didnt look right. After a bit of research and looking more closely at pictures of other cars stripped out i realised it was actually normal.

First car and first project so there will probably be a few more silly questions.

[Somnophore]

Lol, i'm a bit drunk and i was sat there scratching my head looking for what was wrong with that photo, haha, i admit when you see it for the first time it does look a bit of a mess but its normal. looks in pretty good shape tbh

[JimexPL]

alanw89 said:

What i found underneath doesnt look good, I've never seen this before as this is the first car ive worked on. Hoping that its just my inexperience and its nothing to worry about but i think its more likely the opposite.

I expect that your floor is about as good as an old 205 could be. Are you confusing the seam sealant as a rust problem?

[CarlosV8]

Good choice of project car! I've owned quite a few 'warm' 205s and 309s but still never got round to buying a GTi. Always enjoyed them though, even the crappy old n/a diesel we had a few years back.

Rust isn't normally too much of an issue as the cars are galvanised. However water can get through the rear light seals and end up in the boot or under the rear seats and can eventually eat through if left untreated. But from the pics yours looks pretty much OK.

Ideal time for an engine upgrade too - the 1.9 engine with your 1.6 box is a good, cheap combo. Or go crazy and fit the Mi16 as someone else said (I had a BX with this engine in and it's great). Most importantly, enjoy doing it though!!

[grim_d]

Looks a clean little example (aside from the duff engine) should be a good project for you, what ae your plans? My best bud is 205 crazy and is looking to get a 205 project soon so i'm sure he will be interested in this!

Where abouts near glasgow are you? Im down next to Kilmarnock. I'm currently using my project car as a daily driver

[OlberJ]

Hi Alan, that looks a nice wee project. Bit partial to them myself.

When you say close to Glasgow, anywhere near Hamilton? If so you can drop by the garage and have a look at where these cars can go rusty. I've got my white project i'm about to completely sort and GTi6 next month.


Cheers,
Olie

[HereBeMonsters]

OlberJ said:

Hi Alan, that looks a nice wee project. Bit partial to them myself.
When you say close to Glasgow, anywhere near Hamilton? If so you can drop by the garage and have a look at where these cars can go rusty. I've got my white project i'm about to completely sort and GTi6 next month.

Got any V6 MR2s on the go at moment, or are you converted to Pugs now?

[OlberJ]

I do both chief. Have my own Mk3 V6 Mr2 ( http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...) here at the minute and just about to start on this GTi6 project.

I started out with 205's many moons ago. Had a Charcoal Grey Mi16, loved it to bits (even though it went through 2 blocks) so had to get myself another one.

Doors always open for anyone to come in and say hello.

Edited by OlberJ on Friday 22 January 11:29

[alanw89]

grim_d said:

Looks a clean little example (aside from the duff engine) should be a good project for you, what ae your plans? My best bud is 205 crazy and is looking to get a 205 project soon so i'm sure he will be interested in this!

Where abouts near glasgow are you? Im down next to Kilmarnock. I'm currently using my project car as a daily driver

I'm actually moved up to glasgow now for college, but the cars at my parents in kilwinning, going to just go back the odd weekend to work on it, planning just to get it on the road for the moment but want to do a trackday so it will probably end up going down that route.

OlberJ said:

Hi Alan, that looks a nice wee project. Bit partial to them myself.

When you say close to Glasgow, anywhere near Hamilton? If so you can drop by the garage and have a look at where these cars can go rusty. I've got my white project i'm about to completely sort and GTi6 next month.

Cheers,
Olie

Nah, not close to Hamilton, dont have access to a car when im in glasgow either but thanks for the offer. I would really like to be able to get an MI16 or GTI6 but it would be too expensive at the moment, and thats not even thinking what the insurance would be. You going to write up your build?

JimexPL said:

alanw89 said:

What i found underneath doesnt look good, I've never seen this before as this is the first car ive worked on. Hoping that its just my inexperience and its nothing to worry about but i think its more likely the opposite.

I expect that your floor is about as good as an old 205 could be. Are you confusing the seam sealant as a rust problem?

Yeah pretty much, i lifted the carpet and the first thought was that it didnt look right.

CarlosV8 said:

Rust isn't normally too much of an issue as the cars are galvanised. However water can get through the rear light seals and end up in the boot or under the rear seats and can eventually eat through if left untreated. But from the pics yours looks pretty much OK.

Theres a small bit of rust on the boot floor but nothing more than surface rust, i plan on sorting it next time i get a chance to do some work. Theres some rust on one of the sills aswell where the paint has come off. Depending on how my repairs look in the boot i'll have a try at that aswell, but that would be pretty much all the rust i can see sorted.

I really need to try and seal the sunroof somehow though, especially as its coming up to whats usually the wettest time of year.

[OlberJ]

alanw89 said:

OlberJ said:

Hi Alan, that looks a nice wee project. Bit partial to them myself.

When you say close to Glasgow, anywhere near Hamilton? If so you can drop by the garage and have a look at where these cars can go rusty. I've got my white project i'm about to completely sort and GTi6 next month.

Cheers,
Olie

Nah, not close to Hamilton, dont have access to a car when im in glasgow either but thanks for the offer. I would really like to be able to get an MI16 or GTI6 but it would be too expensive at the moment, and thats not even thinking what the insurance would be. You going to write up your build?

Indeed, i'll be updating it constantly once it's actually on the ramp and am working away at it.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

Yeah it's not really feasible for a 1st car to get an engine swap in there like that but if you do up your standard engine and make it as good as it was when it came out the factory then you learn a lot about the car itself along the way.

You then end up so attached to the car you are straight in and about the engine swaps as soon as you are able