205 GTi Project Thread - PIC HEAVY!

[Vicky.]

We can't really progress any further until we receive the head back from the specialist so just collecting parts for now. Hopefully should be ready for collection next weekend sothe car can be rebuilt weekend after :approve:.

Parts all boxed up for transport:

Parts for the rebuild are being delivered on a daily basis so collecting up now. Have spent well over 1k on parts alone so far:

Until next time

 

[joeg40]

Ah u could have bought my 205 1.9 gti track car. Selling for 400 or 700 with buckets, cage, harnesses. Fully stripped, koni adjustables, toyo t1r,s, new clutch, water pump, head gasket, k'n'N and magnex b/b. Good luck with project, v good an fun cars!!!!!

 

[Vicky.]

Finally! Found some of the photo's from the cars more demanding days...

Painful to look at really.

It will be restored to it's former car glory and presentable enough for FCS, but maybe 2012 lol.

 

[MarcoB]

Vernier

 

[Dave..]

Cannot believe your female.

Ben, I'm jealous.

 

[davo172]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2319634.htm

Might intrest you Vicky

 

[Vicky.]

It seems as though the cylinder head has been away forever! (Around 8 weeks I think!) but the good news is it is now complete and will be ready to be picked up next week. The guy said it was a shame that it was going on a road car as in his vast experience with 205 engines it was one of the best flowing heads he'd seen!

Anyway, whilst we waited for news on the cylinder head we cracked on with one of the problems that almost made us give up and scrap the car...

The dreaded rusty quarter panel. Luckily for us Ben's brother is a professional bodywork technician and being that he's only ever owned Mini's a dab hand at anything to do with rust :approve:.

So here's what was acheived in a days progress...

From this:

To this:

As you can see the colour isn't a match as daylight ran out on us meaning there was only enough time for a few coats of primer.

Professional bodyshops assured that the repair would require a replacement panel but this was acheivable from an old Laguna door and apparently Ben's brother assures me the car is now 0.5% mini aswell lol!

Anyway pics along the way:

A sneaky shot of his immaculate Mini was a must :rasp:...

The new water pump was also fitted:

Another bonus (well sort of) was that we ordered a mint dash with 107k on the clock however when they arrived the journey had damaged the casing (as can be seen in the pic). One new case and a refund later and we have an uber cheap and fully working dash!

The other quarter panel can't be fixed until the cylinder head arrives and we can turn the car around.

So will update next week!

 

[Gray]

Nice update...

Are you just having the cylinder head re-built, or a little more than that? :approve:

 

[Vicky.]

I wish it was a lot more than that Gray, well we're having a tad more done to it but nothing greatly important for one we're changing the cams to those of the 1.9 Gti variety. Will update the full job when we've got it back .

Unfortunately the remainder of the engine is sitting in all it's crusty glory under the laquer faded bonnet lol!

 

[Vicky.]

Finally got the head back after 3 months! Excited to have it back though and very happy with the work!

What's been done:

- Skimmed to raise compression
- Valve guides changed
- Stage 1 porting in both inlet and exhaust valves which'll see a nice gain of around 8-10bhp
- Valve guides have been angle cut into new seats along with fresh stem seals
- 1.9 variant camshaft fitted for a little more lift which is said to provide a few more horses.
- All clearances shimmed correctly and the whole thing had been acid dipped.

Weighed in at £460 worth of work with a gasket kit for refitting.

Fitting very soon, so watch this space .

Also managed to pick up a MINT gti steering wheel with centre cap, becoming very rare in good condition which set me back £70 along with a new near mint tailgate in the correct colour which means no rust repair needed for the current tailgate. This will be fitted as soon as new hinges are received.

More updates soon!

 

[Scrooge]

Good progress Vicky. I love that mini!

 

[Eliganza]

Very nice, can't help thinking for that price though, you could have bought a GTI6 lump for it. Have you looked at the rear beam aswell? Will more than likely need a rebuild.

 

[Vicky.]

I see what you mean but apart from head work it's going to stay standard for originality. As they're a classic the plan is to restore more than anything.

Might be tempted to whack some carbs on though :evil:.

 

[MarcoB]

There was a cheap manifold for carbs on ebay!

 

[marcushookdale]

i love 205's 1.6 or 1.9

i nearly went for 1 before i bought my bg 182,

there still might be time yet

great work vicky

 

[TimR26]

Good work Vicky

My first car was a 205 (only a 1.1l though) and I'd like to own a GTi one day!

 

[Vicky.]

Right here we go, the weekend!

Saturday was spent doing a 420 mile trip up to Sc**thorpe and back to pick up a mint half leather interior for the 205 to replace the shredded old ones. Good interiors are becoming very rare and I've been searching for months so this was a great find! Pictures coming soon .

Anyway that was Saturday gone. Sunday we were up at 7am and had the bonnet up by 8 with the intention of making a start on the mammoth task of rebuilding the engine.

Here's how it's stood for 3 months waiting for the rebuilt cylinder head to be returned:

First job was to clean the block and liner faces up so the gasket could make a good seal. A tedious job, took me sodding ages but it was a job worthwhile. Then the fresh gasket was lined up:

Next we'd got hold of some fancy and very expensive stainless studs to replace the old rotten ones. They'll look smart under the bonnet and hopefully aid any future removal of the manifolds:

Then we bolted the newly painted exhaust manifold on. Also becoming a rarity for the GTI as they commonly crack and spares are running out, luckily ours is in great condition:

Starting to look abit more like a cylinder head again now! We also got the thermostat housing bolted onto the side of the head:

Next was to mount the cylinder head up with its old friend the block:

I took a last minute chance to spray up the rocker cover as he doesn't favour the messy jobs lol. Turned out better than expected - until....

He cracked it in half whilst fitting it . Super thin alloy needs a light touch:

Replacement via ebay is already en route

.

Head was bolted down in 3 stages with increasing torque settings. In 24 hours it has to be completely wound off and then tightened again, to aid bolt stretching and gasket compression:

New plugs fitted:

Now timing up, got a fancy new vernier pulley for the new 1.9 spec camshaft, this will come in handy for timing adjustments in later months when some twin webers are planted in there :evil:.

Lower pulley assembly put back on and spring tensioner setup to accept cambelt. The belt was then slipped on, tension setup, 2 full rotations and reset:

Inlet manifold built back up with throttle body and injectors:

Then refitted to the head:

The arch lining was put back on, wheel refitted and after 3 long months it has finally been dropped back onto 4 wheels. A day we werre doubting we'd ever see. It was a good moment !

Thanks for reading! Next time silicone hoses, interior and new tailgate being fitted .

 

[sideways danny]

guessing the rocker cover didn't have the right stud under the center to support it Should have asked me, I've got lots of 205 bits (oh and I have my 1.6 at the workshop now )

Headbolt tightening sequence is fun isn't it........ Scary as hell first time you do them. Those who think a clio uses stretch bolts needs to see an XU5/9 to know what stretch bolts actually are

 

[Joe#]

Great read so far, I'm sure you'll keep up the good work!

 

[Kam.]

guessing the rocker cover didn't have the right stud under the center to support it Should have asked me, I've got lots of 205 bits (oh and I have my 1.6 at the workshop now )

Headbolt tightening sequence is fun isn't it........ Scary as hell first time you do them. Those who think a clio uses stretch bolts needs to see an XU5/9 to know what stretch bolts actually are

My 205 is heading to our new unit too

I've not seen anyone crack a cam cover before. I've never had an issue in 15 years of playing with the cars..who got angry with it

 

[Vicky.]

guessing the rocker cover didn't have the right stud under the center to support it Should have asked me, I've got lots of 205 bits (oh and I have my 1.6 at the workshop now )

Headbolt tightening sequence is fun isn't it........ Scary as hell first time you do them. Those who think a clio uses stretch bolts needs to see an XU5/9 to know what stretch bolts actually are

Lol, I thought it was scary! The creaks the head was making at the second stage of tightening was enough to make me wince. If we're up your way with the 197 soon we'll get to see the infamous 1.6

Oh btw....those berry sweets are amazing aren't they LOL! !

Great read so far, I'm sure you'll keep up the good work!

Thank you!

My 205 is heading to our new unit too

I've not seen anyone crack a cam cover before. I've never had an issue in 15 years of playing with the cars..who got angry with it

Any pics of yours?

Lol I haven't a clue how he managed it I just heard him go "Ah, now that's not supposed to happen" lol! I think it may have been that the guy who did the headwork put the stud in loosely so as not to lose it when transporting the head and as Ben tightened it up it didn't have any of it. Oh well, £20 later and a new one is on it's way!

 

[mace¬]

Someone has written on your foot?

 

[Vicky.]

I know, crazy huh?

 

[durmz]

will you marry me?

 

[mace¬]

I know, crazy huh?

Just checking you knew!

will you marry me?

You can't just jump the queue there is a waiting list!

 

[LIL B]

Nice garden.

 

[Eliganza]

I have a 1.9 engine in the garage, kicking its heels ...just sayin' lol. If you need any bits, try me, I've accumulated a fair amount

 

[sideways danny]

Lol, I thought it was scary! The creaks the head was making at the second stage of tightening was enough to make me wince. If we're up your way with the 197 soon we'll get to see the infamous 1.6

Think i've always done it to a different sequence, 60Nm plus 300degrees rings a bell (been 3 years since i did one now)

Oh btw....those berry sweets are amazing aren't they LOL! !

I ate far too many on an empty stomach, gave me chest pains lol. Bring me moaaarrrr!!!!!

 

[sideways danny]

Just looked, not sure why i got no pictures, but it's in the background of these

 

[Zonda]

Really coming along.. good work

 

[daddycool]

a shot in the dark, but i've got something you might be interested in, an original peugeot brochure for the 205 from 1985 (i think, i can check) in great condition. it covers the range including the gti. i bought it 10 years ago from a car show when i had my gti but obviously not required anymore! you can have it for a fiver if you want. bit random i know.

car looks great by the way, especially that repair to the rear arch!

 

[Vicky.]

I have a 1.9 engine in the garage, kicking its heels ...just sayin' lol. If you need any bits, try me, I've accumulated a fair amount

Sounds good to me, parts wise what are you talking about...just engine parts or a bit of everything? Currently having to hunt down quite a fair bit of interior plastics...dash etc.

a shot in the dark, but i've got something you might be interested in, an original peugeot brochure for the 205 from 1985 (i think, i can check) in great condition. it covers the range including the gti. i bought it 10 years ago from a car show when i had my gti but obviously not required anymore! you can have it for a fiver if you want. bit random i know.

car looks great by the way, especially that repair to the rear arch!

Thanks! Might take you up on that actually, is it in good condition? PM over your paypal details if you can .

Update to follow....

 

[Vicky.]

Well over a month since any updates! Honestly the whole summer show season has been so hectic this year we've been spending too much on the clio's ( as usual ). So put abit aside this month for the GTI and got some goodies.

10 piece silicone coolant hose kit to replace the old tired originals:

Oil breather silicone hose kit, to compliment the above:

Uprated engine mounts, old units were unservicable and originals are no longer avaliable:

And the intercooler for the turbo conversion we're doing... Only joking! :evil: alloy radiator to replace OEM item. These cars are prone to overheating, this should help keep temps down and it'll look good .

I love buying new shiny stuff for an old car!

They'll be fitted asap! Hopefully next weekend for you all to see. Then with a bit of luck it won't be too long until we get the old girl started again !

Thanks for reading.

 

[cliobritt]

ace keep it coming!

 

[Will.]

New stuff ftw.

Keep up the good work. I <3 you btw.

 

[Scrooge]

Oooo shiny.

 

[Eliganza]

Looking good, bbm hoses? I've got some for mine. Unfortunately I haven't got any interior bits, do have an (almost) complete 1.9 8v engine and box, gti6 box, and various odds n sods like headlights, slam panels and such. Will also have my old front brakes for sale once I swap them over for the gti6 ones.

 

[Poopensharten]

Looks good Vicky, im impressed your doing most of the work yourself!

 

[Vicky.]

Thanks All!

Yes those are BBM hoses and I reckon they'll look cracking once they're on !

LOL ben wishes danny! He does an awesome job and we have a good understanding that if I'm unable to help with something then I'll watch and learn for next time lol.

I'm going to go home and rip the old crappy interior and plastics out tonight so he'll get a surprise to see that somethings out of the way when he gets home from work .

 

[Djw Dave]

Coming along (slowly)