My "Garage Find" Pug 205 GTI
Discussion
Well, kinda. After waiting about 3 years to buy it from its original owner I finally have the pug of my dreams.
This is a very modified - and very dirty - one owner, non-sunroof 1990 1.9 205 Gti.
This is where she has sat for the past 11 years or so:
Modified over a 20 year period by that owner and having covered over 100k on track alone, this little thing is my perfect specification.
The (very) brief specification is as follows:
A fully built longmans engine and box, the engine made 188bhp/165lb ft. The gearbox is a fully built 1.9 with 1.6 crownwheel and quaife LSD. The radiator is enlarged for better cooling, a larger 10 row oil cooler features as does a larger altinator pulley due to its time spent in the higher end of the rev range.
The front hubs and rear axle/torsion bars were custom by Skip Brown for extra camber. Bilstein shocks feature, alongside the front strut brace, larger ARB and stronger drop links.
The brakes are 4 pot on front with two piece discs and adjustable brake bias in the car.
The Safety devises cages was fitted by safety devices and is FIA approved, as while the car hasn't raced, it was built to corresponding specification.
The sump is baffled and the tank features a swirl pot.
The spec goes into every nut and bolt, so I won't bore you with it all, I'll just say that every angle of the car has been improved.
I have every invoice (including bill of sale) and every modification carried out, alongside a fully stamped service book, original book pack and hundreds of photos of the car on track.
It wad parked up some 11 years ago in their attached garage as a Lotus Exige; then Exige S took over track day duties.
My plan is to recommission her over the next few weeks and put a plan together for some slight updates, before getting her back out on track and road.
Excited isn't the word!
I will aim to keep this updated, as well as a YouTube channel to document it alongside my Instagram- russ_fitch (alongside lots of supercar content due to my day job)
This is a very modified - and very dirty - one owner, non-sunroof 1990 1.9 205 Gti.
This is where she has sat for the past 11 years or so:
Modified over a 20 year period by that owner and having covered over 100k on track alone, this little thing is my perfect specification.
The (very) brief specification is as follows:
A fully built longmans engine and box, the engine made 188bhp/165lb ft. The gearbox is a fully built 1.9 with 1.6 crownwheel and quaife LSD. The radiator is enlarged for better cooling, a larger 10 row oil cooler features as does a larger altinator pulley due to its time spent in the higher end of the rev range.
The front hubs and rear axle/torsion bars were custom by Skip Brown for extra camber. Bilstein shocks feature, alongside the front strut brace, larger ARB and stronger drop links.
The brakes are 4 pot on front with two piece discs and adjustable brake bias in the car.
The Safety devises cages was fitted by safety devices and is FIA approved, as while the car hasn't raced, it was built to corresponding specification.
The sump is baffled and the tank features a swirl pot.
The spec goes into every nut and bolt, so I won't bore you with it all, I'll just say that every angle of the car has been improved.
I have every invoice (including bill of sale) and every modification carried out, alongside a fully stamped service book, original book pack and hundreds of photos of the car on track.
It wad parked up some 11 years ago in their attached garage as a Lotus Exige; then Exige S took over track day duties.
My plan is to recommission her over the next few weeks and put a plan together for some slight updates, before getting her back out on track and road.
Excited isn't the word!
I will aim to keep this updated, as well as a YouTube channel to document it alongside my Instagram- russ_fitch (alongside lots of supercar content due to my day job)
Those images, that car... immediately tales me back to Knockhill Hot Hatch weekends in the late 90's and early 00's where things like this were pretty much the weapon of choice. Then again back then you could probably get change from £500, have a weekend of not caring then get your £500 back on the Monday. That's probably why these are so rare and so dear these days, so based on that alone that's a cracker of a find and a superb project!
Thanks guys, appreciate the kind words.
We're changing the cambelt later; the engine has done maybe 2000 miles since its rebuilt and the belt looks brand new, however with it sitting for over a,decade I'm taking no chances and changing it out along with the water pump.
The inside is so clean I can read the spec off the top of the pistons!
We're changing the cambelt later; the engine has done maybe 2000 miles since its rebuilt and the belt looks brand new, however with it sitting for over a,decade I'm taking no chances and changing it out along with the water pump.
The inside is so clean I can read the spec off the top of the pistons!
First casualty! The good news is the new cambelt is on, however on further investigation this pipe was as bad as it looked. I took it off (including the radiator pipe to the right of the photo) and fought to get them apart. I hoped the pipe would clean up - and to be fair most of it actually did - however the other side to what you can see in the photo blew a hole in it right away. Good job it was spotted now.
Pug1off to the rescue and have a new pipe with hose coming tomorrow. I'm doing the oil change tonight in preparation of its first start in 11 years - wish me luck for that
Quick update - She's clean!
As much as I loved the dusty patina look I just had to get the old washed today.
This comes after a good few days of work which included:
Engine oil and filter change
Gearbox oil change
Cambelt change
Although the engine had dome very little miles since its last service I wasn't taking any chances and everything perishable or fluid has been changed.
We're at the point where we can try and get her running now. Just fresh fuel to go - update to come
As much as I loved the dusty patina look I just had to get the old washed today.
This comes after a good few days of work which included:
Engine oil and filter change
Gearbox oil change
Cambelt change
Although the engine had dome very little miles since its last service I wasn't taking any chances and everything perishable or fluid has been changed.
We're at the point where we can try and get her running now. Just fresh fuel to go - update to come
Update: She runs!!
I put 35 litres of Tesco 99 in the tank (there was a smidge of old,fuel still in it but given how little the gauge moved I didn't see a point in trying to fight it), unplugged the injectors and cranked - slight hesitation then span well.
I can tell you though it has a crazy amount of compression; I will comp test it just to see but it feels well north of 200 (no idea what it's supposed to be, given the spec).
Injectors plugged back in and she fired up after only a few moments - I genuinely couldn't believe it.
It doesn't enjoy idling at the moment but I'm yet to swap out the fuel filter. I'm sure once I've done that and driven her it'll be fine.
So the plan now is tyres changed this week then off for it's MOT at the weekend!!
I put 35 litres of Tesco 99 in the tank (there was a smidge of old,fuel still in it but given how little the gauge moved I didn't see a point in trying to fight it), unplugged the injectors and cranked - slight hesitation then span well.
I can tell you though it has a crazy amount of compression; I will comp test it just to see but it feels well north of 200 (no idea what it's supposed to be, given the spec).
Injectors plugged back in and she fired up after only a few moments - I genuinely couldn't believe it.
It doesn't enjoy idling at the moment but I'm yet to swap out the fuel filter. I'm sure once I've done that and driven her it'll be fine.
So the plan now is tyres changed this week then off for it's MOT at the weekend!!
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