Impulse buy: another 205 GTi Mi16
Discussion
My TVR lives in storage over the winter with a local guy who runs some great events & trackdays and races at Castle Combe, and also sells interesting cars for people. If you did the PH Sunday Service at Castle Combe last year you would have seen the amazing Lola race car that he looks after. Anyway, my inebriated Christmas internet ramblings led me to an interesting listing of his that I had to explore further.
Our family car in the 90s was a 309 GL which I used a lot once I'd passed my test, and the first car I bought myself was a 309 SRi before moving on to a 106 GTi. I never had a 205 and have always fancied one. So under the guise of "going to check how the TVR is doing", I popped up to the unit yesterday to have a look and although I really don't need or have space for another car, I now own this:
Apparently the mods list includes forged pistons & conrods, fast road cams, baffled sump, 309 GTi6 brakes, Bilstein shocks and twin 45s.
First job will be deleting the "f
k It Edition" badges 
and getting rid of the nasty fake carbon bonnet.
Overall it's remarkably solid, no rust of any significance and the interior is excellent, no rips or major wear to the seats.
Undecided yet whether to return it to standard injection, or to go throttle bodies, but I will do a couple of track days before deciding. There is a carb whisperer up at the local garage (at Castle Combe circuit) so I'll get him to tune it up nicely. It has the 1.6GTi gearbox so should be amusing on the B-roads and horrible on the motorway. It will stay living in the storage unit for a couple of months and then I'll alternate it with the TVR over the summer. The TVR is too noisy for most track days so it will be good to have something to thrash around again.
[Heads off to eBay to get some yellow driving lights, a Feu Orange air freshener and a retro 90s Sony head unit]
Our family car in the 90s was a 309 GL which I used a lot once I'd passed my test, and the first car I bought myself was a 309 SRi before moving on to a 106 GTi. I never had a 205 and have always fancied one. So under the guise of "going to check how the TVR is doing", I popped up to the unit yesterday to have a look and although I really don't need or have space for another car, I now own this:
Apparently the mods list includes forged pistons & conrods, fast road cams, baffled sump, 309 GTi6 brakes, Bilstein shocks and twin 45s.
First job will be deleting the "f
k It Edition" badges and getting rid of the nasty fake carbon bonnet. Overall it's remarkably solid, no rust of any significance and the interior is excellent, no rips or major wear to the seats.
Undecided yet whether to return it to standard injection, or to go throttle bodies, but I will do a couple of track days before deciding. There is a carb whisperer up at the local garage (at Castle Combe circuit) so I'll get him to tune it up nicely. It has the 1.6GTi gearbox so should be amusing on the B-roads and horrible on the motorway. It will stay living in the storage unit for a couple of months and then I'll alternate it with the TVR over the summer. The TVR is too noisy for most track days so it will be good to have something to thrash around again.
[Heads off to eBay to get some yellow driving lights, a Feu Orange air freshener and a retro 90s Sony head unit]
I like it too and agree about getting rid of the black bonnet and 'F**k it Edition' badge. You'll also have to peel the 'Yokel' sticker from the grille - it's similarly naff.
Just out of interest, why not keep the carburettors? They were the business back in the day and still look mean attached to your engine.
Just out of interest, why not keep the carburettors? They were the business back in the day and still look mean attached to your engine.
Glitzy Mitzy said:
I like it too and agree about getting rid of the black bonnet and 'F**k it Edition' badge. You'll also have to peel the 'Yokel' sticker from the grille - it's similarly naff.
Just out of interest, why not keep the carburettors? They were the business back in the day and still look mean attached to your engine.
Have already ordered a new grille as I don’t like the stripes either. Just out of interest, why not keep the carburettors? They were the business back in the day and still look mean attached to your engine.
May well keep the carbs, but a bit of me would like it to be a GTi
miniman said:
Glitzy Mitzy said:
I like it too and agree about getting rid of the black bonnet and 'F**k it Edition' badge. You'll also have to peel the 'Yokel' sticker from the grille - it's similarly naff.
Just out of interest, why not keep the carburettors? They were the business back in the day and still look mean attached to your engine.
Have already ordered a new grille as I don t like the stripes either. Just out of interest, why not keep the carburettors? They were the business back in the day and still look mean attached to your engine.
May well keep the carbs, but a bit of me would like it to be a GTi
Agree with everything said about getting rid of the badges and horrible bonnet!
Probably worth seeing how it runs on the Webers as they usually sound fantastic, although FI or throttle bodies might perform as well or better, run smoother and be more economical.
Anyway hopefully it will be a load of fun.
Probably worth seeing how it runs on the Webers as they usually sound fantastic, although FI or throttle bodies might perform as well or better, run smoother and be more economical.
Anyway hopefully it will be a load of fun.
Congrats on the new car! With that tat removed and cleaned up it will look great in white. If its running OK on the carbs then why not keep it as is for now - it will sound great! I'd go for throttle bodies in the long term, but I'm biased 😉
Interestingly, I also had a 309 SRi (in white) in my late teens. I loved it, but even then in the early 2000s they were a rare car. I made them a little bit rarer when I discovered the meaning of lift off oversteer.
Interestingly, I also had a 309 SRi (in white) in my late teens. I loved it, but even then in the early 2000s they were a rare car. I made them a little bit rarer when I discovered the meaning of lift off oversteer.
CarlosV8 said:
Congrats on the new car! With that tat removed and cleaned up it will look great in white. If its running OK on the carbs then why not keep it as is for now - it will sound great! I'd go for throttle bodies in the long term, but I'm biased ?
Interestingly, I also had a 309 SRi (in white) in my late teens. I loved it, but even then in the early 2000s they were a rare car. I made them a little bit rarer when I discovered the meaning of lift off oversteer.
Mine was broken into more times than Katie Price. Interestingly, I also had a 309 SRi (in white) in my late teens. I loved it, but even then in the early 2000s they were a rare car. I made them a little bit rarer when I discovered the meaning of lift off oversteer.
missing the VR6 said:
miniman said:
Apparently 200hp but I will get it on the rolling road at some point.
Nice, about what I was thinking. That'll be lively. ITB and injection will reap big rewards.
Although the car is still in storage and I don't plan to do much until I can bring it home (probably early March), I have started the important job of sourcing components.
I have found a bonnet which hopefully will get here this week then I can take it somewhere to be painted. I also picked up this front grille as the existing one has the Rallye colours painted on it, although it's a lot tattier than it looked on eBay so it will need painting or perhaps just selling on.
I have some GTechniq C4 trim restorer ready to go, and a big set of trim clips on its way so I can do the bits off the car as inevitably some of the clips will break. I've also ordered a DA polisher to tackle the paint which is pretty good and should hopefully polish up nicely, and some Furniture Clinic jollop to tidy up the seats a bit.
Other important parts ready to go:
I have found a bonnet which hopefully will get here this week then I can take it somewhere to be painted. I also picked up this front grille as the existing one has the Rallye colours painted on it, although it's a lot tattier than it looked on eBay so it will need painting or perhaps just selling on.
I have some GTechniq C4 trim restorer ready to go, and a big set of trim clips on its way so I can do the bits off the car as inevitably some of the clips will break. I've also ordered a DA polisher to tackle the paint which is pretty good and should hopefully polish up nicely, and some Furniture Clinic jollop to tidy up the seats a bit.
Other important parts ready to go:
sixor8 said:
Since it's already non standard, and meant for track days, personally, I like the bonnet. 
If it's vinyl, pulling it off will likely ruin the paint so a replacement is probably best, you can sell it on, or keep it as a potential necessary spare.
It's fibreglass with low quality "carbon" wrap. I will certainly give it a go flogging it on but don't hold out much hope If it's vinyl, pulling it off will likely ruin the paint so a replacement is probably best, you can sell it on, or keep it as a potential necessary spare.
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