106 turbo winter project

[Donny_Dog]

The saxo turbo is laid up awaiting some expensive parts and whilst looking for second hand bits - I found this car for sale on facebook.
It was local and I've not had a 106 before, but have experience with the sister cars. So have taken this one on as a winter project/xmas present.

Advert details (not my words!)...

106 quicksilver with 16v port and polished, pt51 kent cams
T25 turbo
Megane 225 injectors
Cooper s map sensor
Sachs clutch from questmead
Pugsport exhaust with sports-cat
SAS customs turbo manifold
morette headlights with cold air feed
Car was remapped by chip wizards was dyno’d at 170 at 3 psi should be 190/200 now running 8/9 psi
16” team dynamic monza r, powder-coated black with flake
Mr rear lights
306 gti6 brakes
Lowered around 60mm all round
Cambelt done when engine fitted 3 year ago only done 2000 miles
Not sure on exact mileage of shell as had the clocks changed and the engine was unknown
Done 1 track day in it and was mint think it could just do with swirl pot/uprated fuel pump to deal with corners
Paintwork not the best... 18 year old car
All welding to boot and inner wings been done sealed and painted
New lower arms tracks rod’s top mount and drop links
Car has developed some sort of intermittent misfire under load

@leeds_182 came to view it and it arrived with me the next day.

All in all, its a bit of a nail. It's been a homebrew project and I've no problem with that, however it's a little tired in places. It looks like he has rushed a few bits, just to get it over the line - I've certainly been guilty of that in the past, so it is, what it is.

The plan, is to get it MOT'd and cosmetically make it look OK. For example - the bonnet, morettes and front bumper.
It also doesn't need an oil cooler or that size/style intercooler, catch can, cold air feed, harness etc. So most of it can come off. Anything made from the sale of those, can go towards making it look presentable or MOT passable.

Have a look:

It did come with a couple of spares - original lights for example, but that's about it.

The mis-fire under load is likely it hitting boost cut. Since it was mapped, there has been the addition of a manual boost controller.
I'll just run actuator pressure (what it was mapped on) until it looks like it won't fall apart. Maybe look into increasing performance further down the rabbit hole.

First task - throttle cable
This had snapped by 'someone test driving it' when it was for sale. The car starts and sounds fine, just doesn't move!

I pulled the cable assembly out (it runs under the inlet) and found a minor homebrew modification.

The pedal end was taped and glued, as the nipple was too big for the plastic clip.

It came with a brand new cable assembly, so that's all replaced.
I had a spare throttle retaining tension clip, so that's back to OEM...

So at least, it starts and revs!

Next step is to sort the idle. It dies without throttle, so tomorrow I'll clean the throttle body and idle air control. I have spare IAC valve, so can swap that over if it doesn't improve.

Booooooost.

 

[Stay Puft]

Loved these when I started driving. That interior hasnt aged well 😂

 

[leeds_182]

Booooooost.

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

I do love a 106. Hopefully it won't cause too many headaches, but the throttle cable is a worrying start lol

 

[197.]

Very nice! What sort of power are standard internals good for? I bet you'll be surprising a lot of cars once it's up and running.

 

[bloke]

If it was mapped at 3psi and then upped to around 9psi chances are your misfire won't be a cheap fix sorry.

Believe stock internals can take a fair bit of stick. My lad has got one in for a build and the rods are monstrous!!

 

[Donny_Dog]

If it was mapped at 3psi and then upped to around 9psi chances are your misfire won't be a cheap fix sorry.

Believe stock internals can take a fair bit of stick. My lad has got one in for a build and the rods are monstrous!!

It's just boost cut. The load sites arent available, the previous owner thinks it was a Renault 5.

Varying degrees of reliability post 180bhp. Its a topic in itself.

 

[Starlet_gt]

Can't wait to see this progress, always wanted a 106 when I was 17 but couldn't bloody afford one!

 

[leeds_182]

Anderz.

 

[S-JM]

Booooooooooost.

 

[Donny_Dog]

Sorted the idle problem.
Cleaned the map sensor (+ found one for a tener on ebay - so now have a spare). There's a fine dusting of oil in the inlet tract and the map sensor is not a 'remote' one, connected via a vacuum hose (like mine). So I'm making an assumption it was coated in that.
Cleared the fault code and it hasn't returned.



However, in the process of diagnosing it, I swapped over my throttle body and ancillaries just to make sure.
I found that the throttle body it came with has been 'ported'. Not by a professional, I can assure.

Mine is on the left (normal)
the 'modded' one is on the right. Note how the grinder/tool has actually cut a deep groove into the throttle plate.
Lol.

So it now drives.. Went up the street and back, seems fine.

The rev counter doesn't work though.
Swapped over the dials/clocks from mine - however that didn't fix it.

The tacho feed is direct from the ECU, so I'll have to trace that back at some point or just run a new wire. I can't seem to locate an ECU pin out, for the 3 plug ECU though. This is not a big deal and I think I'll get away with in, come MOT time.

Only other thing to note, is that the handbrake light stays on. I disconnected both the brake fluid reservoir & handbrake switch, but it still illuminates.
Managed to find the pin out - from the instrument cluster, snipped that - it still stays on.

Then I remembered that both engine and interior loom were transplanted from a VTS that had ABS. I recall it leaving the light on, with an old VTS of mine that I stripped for track. Only issue is, the pin out for the back of the dials (Yellow plug above) isn't documented for any of the ABS wiring. So I'll have to go through all 26 of them, to figure out which one it is. A job for another night.

Discovered the headlights are HiD - and they're silly bright. Going to whip the bumper off and re-fit the originals. The morettes are totally paper mache and ruined.

I need to locate another bonnet - as this one has China's finest vents, that let the rain water in!

The short-term list of things to do, hopefully within this week:
- Sort handbrake light on dash
- Re-fit the lights
- New number plates (rear has been broken)

Try for an MOT next week.

 

[Daz.]

Love it already!

 

[Donny_Dog]

Making steady progress.
The MoT is 9 days away.

Continuing on from the list on the last post... the handbrake light.
This is definately to do with the ABS, which the car doesn't have. In order to turn the light off - I needed to destroy the PCB track to the ABS on the clocks.

Stripped them down - to find that someone has been here before, with tape! lol.

That's the airbag light!
Anyway, the handbrake light issue is now fixed - but i've left the clocks and wiring all hanging, as I'm still keen to try and rig up the rev counter directly from the ECU.

The new number plates have arrived, but they can wait.

Re-fitting the lights turned out to be a bigger job and it's still not finished.
The previous owner used a remote header tank (the original cars had it built into the radiator) and it was obstructing the stock lights fitting back in.

You can just see it to the left here.

I've got a diesel header tank from a saxo/106, so re-did the plumbing and moved the ECU. I need to make a bracket to mount it on the strut tower far corner.
Needless to say, it looks 100% better than before.

Before:

After:

I've removed the evap' tank wiring - so will remove the actual tank (inside the wing) later.

Also fixed the horn - as that didn't work (cable snapped).
Noticed that the car does not have a 'sports cat' in fact - any cat!
Removed the strut brace - which is super light. I can't imagine it adding any structural rigidity at all...

There's just a mass of cable ties...

...going to re-do all this with some spare harnesses and brackets I've got.
The front ones are for the oil cooler - so that's going to be removed anyway.

What is the with the green paint?

 

[Waitey]

How much was it? I want it.

 

[Donny_Dog]

The car is in for its MoT tomorrow. I spent a few nights on it & most of today.

I've managed to eradicate some of the green by spraying the cam cover and scraping off the remains on the inlet. I've also painted the windscreen wipers, as they were just bizarre.

Thankfully they're now black.

Other tasks included:

- removed the oil cooler - new oil filter put on
- painted inter-cooler hangers
- secured the wrapping of the downpipe
- re-wired the lights - they all work
- diagnosed the reverse light - reverse switch connected the wrong way!
- stock rear lights put on
- removed catch can - created a y-pipe breather
- wired the boost gauge into the A-pillar (had a spare mount)
- fit new number plates

and here it is now:

There are things to tidy, but I didn't want to put any more effort into it, before the test.

I have some Pro race 1.2's with R888's & spacers read to go on. it should look something like this, then:

but will just see what tomorrow brings.

 

[leeds_182]

Good progress mate. If you need a lift or anything tomorrow give us a shout as I’m off work.

 

[Donny_Dog]

I took the car for it's MoT just before xmas and it failed. But I'm ok with that.
The brakes are reason. It was hit and miss whether they'd make it through on the numbers. But I thought it would show some credibility if the rap sheet has things on that I can remedy and provide evidence I've sorted, for when I sell it. So the actual items it failed on are:

- Brake efficiency (I didn't touch the brakes, so they need a clean up)
- Headlights all over the place (I had to 'make' the wire spring clips, so thats understandable + the mounting tabs are all broken!)
- Exhaust backbox hanger is missing (just need to weld a new one on)

And what I learnt was:

- the fan is not big enough. It nearly boiled over just idling.
- the lamdba is fcked. It started hunting at idle, when warm.
- the thermostat is stuck open.

All in all, not bad.

Whilst it was in the air, I had a good poke around. The front and rear common rot areas have been plate welded and sealed - which i knew, but they have actually been done to a good standard. The sills are spot on, so the shell is actually pretty decent.

As I've discovered it's not a lost cause and won't cost the earth to put all the things right, based on the MoT result, I could now starting buying parts to make it half decent.

Replaced the front lambda & sleeved the second one (bottom right - same as that) (£20)
Replaced the thermostat (£8)
Replaced the top rad hose with a genuine one (£5)
Bought some not knackered headlamps (£15)
Bought a Saxo VTR fan + wiring loom - only need the wiring, but just got it all (£25)

Bought another bonnet & boot from Ebay (£80)

and got a price and timeframe on having both bumpers painted.
Pretty busy purchasing stuff over xmas.

Whilst going through my spares, I kept finding little things to tidy the car up. Like a fuse box cover.

Whilst I'm waiting on the bonnet and boot to turn up & the bumpers being refurbished, I've made a start on the cooling issue.

The cooling fan, is just some cheap ebay thing and its too small on it's own. Also, the size of the pipe run and intercooler is just too big for me. The T25 turbo thats on there, has to fill all that void and I've made more power than this thing, with just a simple twin pass. The inlet temps were still low, so I think it is unnecessary.

I've got a new intercooler and radiator combo to go on the turbo saxo, so I have no use for the existing setup. So off it came.

This is my plan. To use my old fan & retain the tiny ebay one.

I'll rig up the VTR wiring loom to my old fan (left one), so the ECU can control it. Then leave the tiny ebay fan (right one), as an additional switch controlled fan, in the car (which it was anyway).
I'm also going to paint the Peugeot Expert van inter-cooler black, so it doesn't stand out as much. Likely replace the emptiness in the bumper with black honeycomb, to look a bit better when the bumper is painted.

I've used today, to tidy up the wiring under the bonnet and remove anything with a scotch-lock connector or similar. There were amp wires just forced in behind fuses and stuff, just proper short cuts.

Just before I called it a night, I've wired up the fan ends, for their connection to the loom. So i can mount them on the rad tomorrow.

Then, it's a look at the inter-cooler plumbing & a bracket to hold it on. This weeks challenges.

 

[Gouldy]

I enjoyed reading this and your progress with it

 

[Donny_Dog]

The list of things to remedy is now getting very short, before the next attempt at the MoT. I've been doing the odd hour here and there along with a full day last Sunday.

I'm waiting on a bit of hydraulic pipe to remedy this oil return from the bottom of the turbo to the sump. It's kinked at the turbo end as well as kinked again at the sump end! It's also gone very soft, so obviously not cut out for the heat and oil.
I've got a couple of brass 90degree elbow to sort it out, but lacking the pipe - but will sort it this weekend.

Boost control was previously using the old ball and spring bleed valve, which I've no doubt was fine.

However, I used a turbosmart boost tee on my build and it was reliable and has the pre-load gate ball/spring for initial overboost, so found one on FB marketplace for £15. Plumbed that in, to see what it can do before hitting boost cut. It's also a little easier to adjust at the roadside!

The replacement bonnet and boot have arrived, but haven't fitted them due to a lack of resource! My old man is coming round at the weekend to lend a hand.
The black electrical tape / racing stripe is coming off!

The small jobs that have taken time, have been the wiring. The washer bottle was removed, when the inner wing was plated, so the previous owner opted for the colostomy bag approach. This mean trailing wires and quick crimp connections. This was also the same for the radiator fan etc.

I rewired the above work & all the fan and loom where any wires were exposed. Using cable tidy and using clips to mount it all out of harms way. Hopefully you can see the extent of the work in the engine bay picture at the end of this post. It's a bit of a thankless task.

The large fan, is now controlled by the ECU and works the small fan, is a manual switch as it was before.

The intercooler pipework has been reduced to 2" from 2.5" and the intercooler replaced for one from a Peugeot van! The route, no longer goes over the top of the exhaust.

The cooler will be painted black. It also will sit behind some black honeycomb ABS plastic sheeting I've ordered to cover the void in the bumper.
Funding permitting, I'll replace the inter-cooler top pipes with black ones, but as it's a cosmetic thing that I could tackle at the very end, I guess.

The run from the turbo is a lot shorter, as you can see above. It previously went over the manifold in the other direction and was thicker diameter.
It did mean, relocating the power steering bottle, above. but I made a quick bracket to hang it from the battery tray

Coil pack replaced, as it is just slightly still hunting on idle. The new lambda has resolved it about 90%. It only does it when the car gets warm, so thought it could be the pack breaking down with the heat. We shall see. Otherwise, it's a minor annoyance.
Note: the colour of the plug. Despite both being Sagem branded, the silver plug coilpack can do sequential fire. Whereas the black plug, can do batch. Not that it makes any odds at this power level, but it was something I learnt a couple of years ago at the tuners.

This is the current state of the engine bay. Which I'm pretty pleased with. A smaller air filter, some new exhaust wrap and black silicone reducer will make it look a lot neater, but already a vast improvement for very little outlay in my opinion.

When it first arrived:

The bumpers and front wing have now gone for paint, so it looks mega asbo on the drive!

check out the incorrect cut out for the back box....

Whilst the bumpers are away, the next tasks are:

Brakes - strip them, check out if they need a refurb and paint them. This was the main issue on the MoT.
Weld an extension onto the exhaust hanger, as it's a little too short to hold the back box properly.

It'll then be a case of installing the new bonnet, boot, headlights and the replacement wheels and spacers

 

[Donny_Dog]

Steady progress.

New oil return pipe to replace the double kinked one a few photos ago. Although it doesn't look it, I've covered it in a metal sleeve as it is very close to the exhaust. If I was keeping this long term, I think I'd check the ends and have something made up. However, it is not as close as before and actually oil rated pipe, which is an improvement.

Took the brakes off, to get rid of the green paint and potentially refurbish them. Here's what I had to work with.

Got the wire wheel out, even did all the nuts and bolts. Turns out, the pistons and dust seals are in excellent condition. So it's just a paint refurb and reinstall.

These are the Lucas calipers from a 306 GTi-6.

Paint isn't dry yet on the caliper itself, but you get the idea.

The drum rears hold the handbrake fine. I've found alot of sediment in the brake fluid reservoir. Going to bleed the lot and see where we are. The failure on the MoT was down to the rear efficiency, so I'm thinking it could have been air. The pedal was pure sponge until half way down.

The previous owner painted the hub and then applied the wheel, before the paint was dry. FFS.

At least they won't stand out as much now. The wire wheel has never been so busy.

When I installed the new fan (that the ECU controls - thank god), I retained the tiny fan, that the car 'came' with. However, when I wired it back in, it didn't work. I pulled the switch out and found the cables just wrapped around the spade connectors. Worse still, the LIVE wire, went to the main engine fuse box and had a fuse, squashed on top, to force it in. Mental.
Added some spade connectors properly and a fuse jumper. Another item ticked off.

The Peugeot van intercooler needed painting, as I don't want it to stand out, behind the bumper - when it is back from paint.

Before:

Used wire wool, to bring back the surrounding edges and also remove the top layer of damaged fins.

Pretty pleased with how this turned out.

Looks a bit shiny, but it has turned a nice matte shade now.

Managed to land on a set of these belt covers. Those in the know, will understand that these are like rocking horse poo for a 16v.

Those who don't know what they are for, can see for yourself:

That's a picture from when it first came, but you can see the danger. Most fan boys remove the covers, but I scares me to death. A stone could fly up, or something fall in and it's game over. Technically I swapped the old inter-cooler for the covers, so it's net zero.

Once it's running and I've ironed the niggles out - I'm sure there will be some.... - The plan is to take the belt off and re-seal the cam covers/ladders. So I'll leave the covers until then.


The bumpers and one of the wings are at the painters. I dropped the mesh off, that will go in the bottom of the front bumper.

I think it was £11 and is as close as I could get it, to what the rear bumper mesh (stock) looks like.

Interestingly, he has sent me some photos of the work in progress on the bumpers.
They had voids cut into the side, to allow for the old intercooler pipe work to fit. This was the same at both sides. Some plastic welding has taken place.

And the rear bumper, where the previous owner had just guessed/hacked at where the exhaust sat! (Before picture in previous post at the bottom):

Excited to start putting it back together when they are finished. It should (fingers crossed) look pretty good. Although slightly worried about the wing, as that might stand out being freshly painted....

Next steps require my old man to help. I've been ill and he's been busy. They're two man jobs unfortunately.

- Bleed the brakes
- Fit the bonnet and boot
- Weld an exhaust hanger extension (my welder has died!)

 

[Donny_Dog]

Nearing the finish line now
I've been ill & the weather has been crazy, so not much happened for a couple of weeks.

However, I did fit the 'replacement' boot door - which is fcking worse than the original one. The seller neglected to mention the spoiler was attached using bathroom sealant - which boils my piss, when it was described as mint. I've instigated a return on EBay, so if anyone has an idea how I'd return this piece of scrap metal on the cheap - please do let me know.

So I'll be getting the original boot door refurbished, I suspect.

Positively the bumpers are back from paint and they look good. Too good.

Gone for black gloss plastics - as the wheels (not on it yet) are the same. Hoping it isn't too much... but will find out in the next week or so.

The mesh and bumper repair hide the intercooler and it doesn't look too far from OEM+.

As mentioned and as I'm sure you are aware, the weather has been gash. It had put me off finishing this, so I wheeled the Saxo out, so I can crack on.

Will get around to that in the summer.

Brakes fully assembled & bled with some fresh fluid. Pedal is now right on point - which was part of the MOT failure!
Spacers fitted also.

New airfilter (£6!), bought a little Peugeot sticker for the rocker cover (£1).
Also replaced the inlet silicon reducer with a black one - rather than alien green.
New/replacement headlights - with all the brackets! makes a change they're not broken.
Re-installed the drivers side front wing.

After spending an ice age aligning the wing, headlights & front bumper, it is about 80% of the way there!

From that angle, you can't even see the intercooler....

Nor that angle. (bonnet isn't on the catch btw... hence the gap).

It's almost not visible, but there is a little black plastic lip at the bottom of the bumper and I've been thinking about maybe putting a splitter on... not sure though. Will see how it sits fully when it's down the ground. If you have any thoughts or previous experience of them, let me know.

Still at the front end, the cam covers and ladders are weeping oil. This is a common issue on the TU5's. The front and back cam ladders have different coloured sealant, so someone has been at them before.

In order to remove them, you have to remove: Aux belt, engine mount, Cam belt, Cam pulleys and cam covers. I thought about not doing these, but I do have to take the aux belt off to put the belt covers on, so I'm half way there.
I'll get onto that, at the weekend.

I've also removed the exhaust wrap. It was massively sh*t. I'm half tempted not to bother at all, but I do have some black wrap, that I might have a go at. It's going to be a pig to do, with it still in place... so I'll see!

So, next time out...the jobs to complete:

- Cam sealing ( + take a picture of the cams as they are supposed to be 'performance' versions)
- Exhaust hanger welding - still not done this!
- Put the back bumper on
- Make a decision about the boot...
- Put the new wheels on - to determine if the rear axle needs spacing more than 20mm

 

[Donny_Dog]

Front end current & before!

 

[Louis]

Front end current & before!

View attachment 1457827

Miles better OEM!

 

[frayz]

Wow some amazing progress on this. Makes you wonder how some people are let loose near a car!
Some of that stuff was truly awful.
You've done a great job at tidying what initially looked like a right dogs dinner.

Looking forward to more progress

 

[Donny_Dog]

Hope you're all fit and healthy in these unprecedented times.

Not had a great deal of time to work on this, but still plodding along, ticking things off and then adding to the list.

I bought some new exhaust wrap, decided to remove the old stuff and give it a go. For some reason, forgot this is made of fibreglass and ended up with itchy hands for a day!
I've never wrapped an exhaust before, would certainly find it easier if it was off the car, but I managed to get it done. Not a pro finish, but it looks more presentable, in my opinion!

After & before:

Downpipe was a little easier.

From the last update, the cam ladders and covers needed sorting.

The cams obviously sit in the head and they have a ladder sandwich plate which bolts and seals to the head. This has a cam top cover/breather sat above it, which subsequently seals to the ladders. They have a habit of leaking, over time, which is why most of the top end of the engine bay has a mist of oil about it.

Below is a picture of the front ladder.

To remove these, it is a bit of a mission. It involves removal of the Aux belt, engine mount, cam belt, cam pulleys and rear belt cover. I have a set of belt covers to go on anyway, so off I went.

Removing the engine mount, to discover the rear bolt was loose...to then find it was cross threaded! I think back to before xmas and when I drove it, it did make a slight clunk when setting off...
Managed to get it out, with brute force. Discovered the engine mount was knackered anyway. Luckily had a spare, which is actually new! no idea where I got that.

The pulleys have a keyway, so locked the inlet cam in the correct hole, with a long bolt.

The exhaust cam has been advanced. I remember Wayne at ChipWizards doing the same to mine, when it was mapped.

Next incident... when the pulleys came off, the bolts holding them in, were different. With different sized washers. Turns out, neither of them are the right length or pitch. FFS.

Again, delving into the spares (the top one is the correct bolt!) they've been replaced.

With the pulleys and belt removed, the rear belt cover came off and the ladders could be removed.

The reason for them leaking in the first place, was the fact that someone has been lazy:

There is a groove in the head, for sealant to sit in. Once upon a time, this was white sealant. Then someone re-sealed them with orange instant gasket. However, they neglected to remove the old white sealant from the groove! So new sealant sat on top of old. Never going to work.

Used the correct stuff this time, nice bead:

Quick check to make sure it had 'Kent cams' - which it does. Albeit not PT51 as the previous owner said in the advert. These are in fact, PT50's.

Then the cam covers could be sealed and re-installed, along with the rear belt cover.

Pulleys and belt added, timed back up, new outer cover (was missing before) installed, engine mount back on & Aux belt put back.

Looks far better. That was the last task to complete under the bonnet, barring topping up the oil.

Engine shot now.

Looks like the headlight is a funny colour, but it's the reflection of light from my bench.

It was like this, when I got it...

Did a compression test, open throttle, dry. All cylinders were uniform:

130 PSI on all cylinders is similar to my other engine, which is slightly oversized with pocket pistons. So I'm happy with that!

The front end, is technically complete for now, so I could put the wheels on. It's using 20mm spacers and new extended wheel bolts.
The wheels are Team Dynamics Pro-race 1.2's in 15". The Toyo R888's are my old track tyres from a few years ago.

Wheels were refurbed a few years ago and never used. The should now match the black plastic inserts, which are also gloss black.

Still sitting a bit high as the rear is still in the air. Wonder if it will all look OK when it's ready....

Other tasks completed ,but no photos:

- Rear exhaust hanger resolved (part of the MOT failure)
- Boot door has gone off to be repaired and re-painted.

Next tasks...

- Fit rear bumper
- Fit rear wheels (see if 20mm spacers are enough... hope so!)

 

[leeds2592]

Love this! You've done a great job on it so far, much better.

 

[Donny_Dog]

Love this! You've done a great job on it so far, much better.

Thanks dude.

 

[Cookson]

Look at that under the bonnet now, sooooooo much cleaner. Could be OEM apart from the cone filter. Bet you're chuffed.

 

[-Rob]

Enjoyed reading this, goes to show how butchered a car can get in the wrong hands. Glad you’ve rectified 95% of the issues and it looks fantastic now!

 

[Donny_Dog]

Look at that under the bonnet now, sooooooo much cleaner. Could be OEM apart from the cone filter. Bet you're chuffed.

The photos make it look better than it is, but it is better I agree. Many thanks.

 

[cat171]

The engine bay before, I do wonder what some people are thinking!? It's miles better now!!!

 

[Conor03]

always fancied a 106, youve made it look 1000x better than it was

 

[Donny_Dog]

mini-rant: EVERYTHING on this car is broken or bodged. I expected most things would be, but its silly things now. You've seen it above, but its constant. It's annoying me now. Every little thing takes ages, when it looks straightforward. sigh.
Anyway...

Following on from the last update:

Fit rear bumper:

I did so. Unsuprisingly the rear left mounting bolt was cross threaded. So that took an evening
Anyway, it's on.

The paint guy had to estimate were the recess would be for the exhaust, based on a photo I'd sent. He's done well.
The exhuast has been lowered slightly so it doesn't hit the bumper by the way, after purchasing some new hangers.

Before:

Following on from the last update again:

Fit rear wheels (see if 20mm spacers are enough... hope so!)

I'd say, it could do with another 10mm, but I'll make a better judgement when it is out in the open. Problem with these axles is the drum axle sits 10mm more each side more inboard than a disc axle. If I was keeping it long term, I'd stick a disc axle on the rear.

Not sure how to do a decent detail/colour correction on the entirety of the car. The front wing was painted, so it looks fresh, compared to the remaining panels. TBF the remaining panels are still silver, but almost have a yellow tinge to the paint. Will have to see what it looks like with a heavy cut. Any suggestions welcome.
Does remind me of the Clio plastic front wings!

Despite saying under the bonnet was finished, this lock-down made me think about the windscreen washer bottle setup. I've always thought to just leave it, but stumbled on an FB chap selling an original washer bottle and motor, so thought I might as well do it (I have enough to do BTW, just impulse again).

Here is the previous owners kit-car colostomy bag washer bottle setup:

The reason he adopted this bag concept, is because both front wings have been 'plated'. The inner wings on these are prone to rot. Underneath the fuse box in the picture above (right hand side) and symmetrically on the other side, where the ECU goes + washer bottle.

When I got the car, it had this arrangement:

On the standard VTS/GTi, the washer bottle is hung from the underside of the drivers front wing. It's filler neck appears right where that expansion tank sits.
The former owner had the wings plated over, so there was/is no hole for the filler neck (without drilling back through) but he also used a Saxo/106 Diesel radiator. Those radiators do not have an integrated header tank - so he used one from a Corsa and put it in the location above. The diesel saxos also don't have an ECU in the same location as the 16v petrol engines, so run a header tank where the ECU is pictured above (which is what I fitted some weeks ago).

Anyway, it meant cutting a hole in the inner wing for the filler neck & making a bracket for the bottle to hang from. Suprisingly the bottle is held in place by it's plastic filler neck thread + a plastic hook! seems a bit flimsy to me.

Hole drilled

Tested the new motor, with a yoghurt pot of water. water on the windscreen suggests it works ok!

Original mounting bracket = broken (no suprise).
Made a new bracket out of an old exhaust gasket. New bottle location:

No more colostomy bag:

I'll say it again (for now) but that should be the last of the under bonnet stuff.

------------------

I left the JDM quick-release bands on the front bumper and wing - as holes were already drilled. The bands had weathered, so for 99p thought they could do with swapping.

----------------------

I'm waiting on the boot door being painted, which is obviously delayed with what is going on. I've only got that to fix back on and re-wire the lights. So exterior wise, its cleaning and detailing really. But whilst the car is inside, I turned to the interior, as it is awful.

During the renovation of the car (if you can call it that), I just left the interior until last. The neglect has allowed a lot of fungus to mutate from various species of animal slime.
The carpet has mould everywhere (pictured a bit below if you can see it), it stinks of dog & balls. The seats have mould on the cloth and the leather. The rear bench is like an abandoned laboratory bench.

First step was to put back/fix anything.

Gear stick & gaitor = broken & bodged (plastic insert was glued then the entire knob was glued to the stick)

Just bought an entire new setup for 313.

Put the clocks back in. Again, only 3 screws where there should be 4. Wrong screws used previously etc.

Evidence of slime, McDonalds & disease is everywhere. I've cleaned anything that I put back, which I won't get access to later.

Used auto-finesse 'revive' for some trim and its ace. Think it is meant for exterior panels.

Found a stereo I had in a 182. Also put some of that anti-slip matting stuff on the dash top. To cover the previous owners drilled holes for a boost gauge.

Only 3 speakers worked though - FFS.

The classic twist & tape:

How hard is it, to just put a connector on!
Anyway, sorted now. We can listen to Enya.

There were wires to tidy, a broken vent, door cards with 3 out of 4 screws again, dashboard fitted incorrectly... but I think the interior is ready for cleaning.

The seats are coming out for a proper clean as well as to access the carpet. My mate told me to use a razor on the cloth sections, which have worked great. Albeit, it is time consuming.

Just did the top section of this seat before I realised I was breathing in other peoples arse fibres. + the razor was already blunt.

Ordered a 20 pack of BiC's!

I bought some car mats in readiness.

Next tasks:

- Interior (seats out, carpet cleaner, can't wait to see the colour of the water )
- Interior (disinfectant EVERYWHERE)

 

[cat171]

My old mate had a 4" Powerflow stuffed out the back of his. You could hear him coming about two miles away. Poor car was virtually new too!
He had that put on and an induction kit, gave it death everywhere even from cold and basically fucked it up.

 

[Donny_Dog]

My old mate had a 4" Powerflow stuffed out the back of his. You could hear him coming about two miles away. Poor car was virtually new too!
He had that put on and an induction kit, gave it death everywhere even from cold and basically fucked it up.

He wasn't the only one. The scene for Saxos and 106's was very 'estate'.

It's easy to say and by no means do I class this as rare, but because of the above abuse & rot, there aren't many left. 336 road going Quiksilvers out there, if that website means anything.

 

[dann2707]

This is my kind of thread entirely! Awesome work matey

 

[Donny_Dog]

It's outside again. Wanted to see if I'd fixed a few things:
- Idle
- Oil leak

Needless to say - I've fixed neither could be worse.

----------

New issue: (FFS)

- clunk when turning the wheel when stationery, sounds like the spring is making a massive twang!

Suspect this is the top mount. Back to the spares again!

Doesn't look too bad though, does it?

Bit more rear spacer needed for my liking, but not bad.
Not cleaned the outside yet either.

Bit deflated the idle isn't right. Disconnected the map sensor (primary load sensor) and it it reverts to TPS (secondary). It wouldn't idle and then backfired on light throttle, so that definitely isn't right. The TPS should allow the car to drive, in the event of MAP failure. More spares to try out!

The leak from the cam covers is fixed, but the rocker cover is leaking - I reused the gasket, which was a mistake. So had to order a new one

-----------

-----------------

Been doing the interior.

Razor blades on the bobbles, carpet cleaner, leather treatment, plastics etc.
Disinfectant on everything.

Got the carpet cleaner out today, what with the weather being decent.

After (no more mould!):

The exhaust wrap looks worryingly discoloured on one section of the header. It smokes pretty bad as well. I've no experience with exhaust wrap, so hoping it clears up. Otherwise I'll just take it off.

----------
Was kind of hoping I'd be over the line with it by now, so I could focus on detailing it etc. But they're always teething problems.

More stuff to do. :

- Fix rocker cover gasket leak
- Change TPS
- Re-fit interior
- Investigate the top mount

 

[dann2707]

Looks great dude.

Not sure if this is what you meant about the exhaust wrap but that discolouration could be the oil dripping onto it and burning? Were you suggesting that it's discolouring due to a running issue like it's getting too hot that side due to a fuelling issue etc?

 

[Donny_Dog]

Still not finished this

The idle issue, is a combination of knackered components. I replaced the TPS:

And the hesitation when applying the throttle has gone. Thank god.

However it still idles very strange.
So whilst it was running, I disconnected the MAP sensor and it idles and revs perfect. F*cking MAP sensor again. No more 2nd hand stuff though, it's having a new one this time & genuine. With two issues on the throttle side, one can mask the other, really frustrating.

Also frustrating (more infuriating) is the cam ladder that I re-sealed. My bit worked OK, but the the rocker cover sitting on top, started the leak.
Removed it to replace the gasket and this happened:

The threads are so weak on these ally ladders, I think each bolt hole has been helicoiled. Problem is, they are line bored for the cam. Putting on a new ladder, will likely not fit. So that really pissed me off. I have a spare head, but I'm not prepared to part with it, if this will just seal up with a new gasket and some bonding agent. Typical.

Moved onto sorting the rear lights. The twist and tape method had let the previous owner down again. They're a cut and shut, as the 106 light cluster has different connectors than a saxo - and this has a saxo interior loom.

Used actual connectors!

Turned (pun not intended) my attention to the clunking noise when stationary and moving the steering wheel. Had thoughts it was the top mount bearing. So took the first strut off.

To find the damper just disappears inside it's collar! WTF.
Applying any pressure and it just shrinks away and doesn't return. Same on both sides.
The top mount bearings are OK, but as the springs are so short - they are unseated when extended, so the bearing sometimes doesn't align and sit in the top mount properly.

New dampers anyway:

Topped the gearbox oil up, which was good - there was at least a litre missing.

Magnet art.

The interior is back in properly, just a couple of bits to do there. Hoover & apply some leather dye.

Awaiting a replacment MAP to once and for all fix the idle problem and check my leaky cam cover is fine, then hopefully the next update will be the detailing of the bodywork whilst I wait for the boot door to be painted.

 

[Donny_Dog]

Looks great dude.

Not sure if this is what you meant about the exhaust wrap but that discolouration could be the oil dripping onto it and burning? Were you suggesting that it's discolouring due to a running issue like it's getting too hot that side due to a fuelling issue etc?

Sorry mate, totally missed this when you posted!
I managed to stop the oil before it got to dripping. But I think I dropped brake fluid or something on the manifold before I wrapped it. I can't find any photos I took, but something in the back of my mind says it might have been contaminated... Hoping it just burns off soon!