Peugeot 405 Mi16x4 Restoration

[SamTac]

Restoring a Peugeot 405 Mi16x4 1990:





I have made a series of videos of the progress to youtube, so I won´t be going into detail here but here is summary of the story so far:

When I bought the car in 2010 it developed a loud whining noise right away. I removed the engine and disassembled the gearbox and transfer case and found out that the noise came from loose center differential pins and that the transfershaft splines were nearly gone. I fixed those and a few other little ones while I was at it and got the car back on the road. That didn´t last long however as the rear differential started leaking oil. I took the rear suspension off the car and restored it. The rear part of the car also had quite a bit of rust that was taken care of. The underside was painted and the rear suspension installed.

The progress has been quite slow lately, but I am trying to find time for it. At the moment the rear differential is waiting in the corner of the office to be shimmed and assembled


Project video playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8G94bPmUCS...


Direct links to the videos:

Part 1 - The Beginning
https://youtu.be/s6fHhqQRqEY

Part 2 - Restoring The Rear Axle
https://youtu.be/hNRnSEA46zg

Part 3 - Rear End Rust Repair (1/2)
https://youtu.be/qn_NVq7lPZY

Part 4 - Rear End Rust Repair (2/2)
https://youtu.be/Zc2E7ExYqoE

Part 5 - Rear End Paint Job
https://youtu.be/cIencfXGZjI

Part 6 - Installing The Rear Axle
https://youtu.be/wZIZjvBPs4o

[bungz]

In!

Will have a mews through these with a beer this eve

[Leins]

Superb, and best of luck with it!

[Buff Mchugelarge]

A very cool car indeed
I imagine it's quite quick as even with the 4wd system it probably doesn't weigh as much as a 'modern' car?

ETA: a quick Google shows not a single Mi16 for sale in the UK!?
Did the 205 conversions eat them all up?

Edited by Buff Mchugelarge on Friday 19th February 17:27

[TooMany2cvs]

Buff Mchugelarge said:

ETA: a quick Google shows not a single Mi16 for sale in the UK!?
Did the 205 conversions eat them all up?

Probably, they've taken most BX 16vs and TurboCT Xants and XMs...

The BX/405 4x4s suffered massively from stripping the transfer splines - they seem to have been made of chocolate. Add in all sorts of unique parts around the back end, and it's no wonder they're scarce.

[PhillipM]

Buff Mchugelarge said:

A very cool car indeed
I imagine it's quite quick as even with the 4wd system it probably doesn't weigh as much as a 'modern' car?

ETA: a quick Google shows not a single Mi16 for sale in the UK!?
Did the 205 conversions eat them all up?

Pretty much, yes, stripped for parts of just plain scrapped, Mi16x4's are getting very rare indeed. Knats under 8s to 60, so perky but not fast by modern standards, enough to be fun.

[Howitzer]

Big fan of 405s, they had a wonderful chassis that used to get up on its toes and move about a lot, it was also hilarious the angles you could recover from when lifting off at speed.

I ended up with a 405 SRI, Hiflow head, 285 cam, lightened and balanced bottom end, modified group N exhaust system from a 205, big brakes from a 406 SRI and 45mm Jenvey Throttle Bodies.

A 405 Le-Mans is still on my "one day" list but that is very unlikely to happen.

Watching with interest !

Dave!

[turboteeth]

Very rare indeed - not seen one in years!
Loved my Mi16 back in 1999 - drove a knackered X4 once 😄

[SamTac]

Thanks!

I have two different 405 sales brochures that list the curb weights of different models, for Mi16 1110kg / 1140kg and for Mi16x4 1240kg / 1300kg. I don´t know which of the two is more accurate, but you could say that there is about 150kg difference in weight. Add to that the added losses in the drivetrain and it definitely isn´t as crsip as the Mi16 on tarmac (drove one daily for two years), but on the gravel and snow there is no question about which of the two is more fun to drive

Yes, they are getting quite rare. Stripping the transfershaft splines was probably the end for many of these 4x4 models.

Surprisingly the rear suspension isn´t that unique, it is the same as in the 4x4 Citroen BX and very similar to one in the fwd BX. Of course there are parts as the hydraulic pump etc. that you can´t find anywhere else, but the basic wearing parts are very common: Wheel bearings are the same as in the front, trailing arm bearings are generic tapered roller bearings, hydraulic cylinders and sphere can be found or adapted from Citroens etc.

[stichill99]

I have just watched the rust repair videos and you look like you are doing a fantastic job. Well done! Many years ago my mate had a 405 mi16 but I don't think it was 4wd. It must have been good because he used to change cars all the time but kept the Peugeot for years!

[morgrp]

Nice. Watching with interest - it's nice to see such a rare car being rescued from the brink - these really were the business back in the day when I was younger

[SamTac]

Thanks! Trying to do my best

I was tempted to buy the Mi16 (that was my first car) back when it was for sale a few years ago, to get some good body and interior parts from it for the Mi16x4. But when I went to take a look at the car and took it for a spin, I started thinking that I might not be mentally able to destroy the car and it would become a restoration project that I wouldn´t have time, storage space and money for

[el romeral]

Great looking and rare car. Must be in its element there in the snow.

[Jimmy Recard]

Any news on this or is it a bit early?

I love these things and the search function just threw me this thread