Peugeot 405 GLD Yarp or Narp?

[gazjon]

Got the chance to own a 1994 Peugeot 405 GLD and don't know if I should bother. It's in fair condition and has a spoiler to keep the huge power of the non turbo XUD 1.9 planted!

What's peoples experience with these cars, should I clean it up and pass it on or stick with it and make my mark. How hard is it to turbo a non turbo diesel?

Looks a bit like this

[Tepper]

Go for it, I haven't had a 405 but I've had a few cars with the XUD lump and it's excellent. If you want it turbo'd, I would think you're better off just dropping in a turbo engine as I've read the N/A con rods aren't up to the job. You'll also need a turbo injection pump, the oil feed for the turbo and most had an intercooler as well, which would come with an already turbo'd unit. If it has a Bosch pump fitted at the moment it'll happily take veg oil, which is a nice plus.

[welshpug]

fantastic chassis, hardy engines, the non turbo isn't "that" slow...

however if you do want more go, just get yourself a complete engine and box from a 306 or a 405, with the aforementioned bosch pump if possible, this will be far simpler and probably cheaper and a hell of a lot quicker route to more power, motorway economy will be better with the turbo lump as its taller geared.

there is a fair difference between the turbo and non turbo XUD's, basic block and head are the same, however the turbo compression is lower at 21.8 instead of 23, the crankshaft is a forged item rather than cast, rods and pistons uprated, also piston oil spray jets.

non turbo will not have the oil feed tapped on the rear of the block, nor will it have the oil drain, most of the coolant pipes are different, and the turbo rad is thicker, though not a big issue unless you plan to tow.


my brother has a phase1 GLD, also has a spoiler, beware that the non turbo tends not to have the vented brakes that 99% of 405's did have, though is a straight swap, and if you run 15" wheels then a 406 brake caliper and disc will go straight on, many early low spec cars did not have PAS either, though my brother does have a sunroof and electric windows!!

[speedy88]

YARP

[welshpug]

mine is Alhambra red like that first one, but has 16 valves

[mikeymk]

I had a 405 1.9i 8v SRI 4dr and then a 306 2.0i 8v XSI 5dr. This around 13yrs ago when both were common as muck.

My experience of the two cars surprised me - the exchange for the newer car was a mistake. Yes, the 306 looked better (Especially at the time, '99-'01).
But the 405 ironically felt a touch smaller, more nimble, and certainly the 306 was no faster. The 306 might have been a bit flatter in handling, impressive as it was just as comfy, but i felt that the 306 just wasn't the better driver's car i'd hoped for.

Still, the 306 had more sex appeal at the time, and that was good for me (ah the days..)

[andyborris]

Yarp and if you go go with Narp, chuck it my way, it's a bucket list car and finding a nice one is getting hard!

Yes, I know, it's an odd bucket list!

[spandelly]

boring french and slow. but I don't know anyone who has had one that said it was curse word so it must be alright. And my uncle has had his estate for an age and that still works fine. Looks rough but it was rough when he got it and hasn't changed in about 10 years.

[billythekid]

Far from boring, and it may be slow compared to modern saloons, but after pump and boot tweaks mine keeps up traffic just fine.

this is mine
 
Still got the torsion bar to do then some 205 speedlines to go on, it is very comfy, roomy on the inside but small on the outside, well specced for what i want (air con, lecy windows, remote locking etc etc) currently averaging 48mpg, and runs on oil.

its had a few niggles (split intercooler, dropped door, window reg etc)  but nothing that's stopped me getting to work, and all fixed with spares from ebay.

i love it and have already had it longer than my last 3 cars put together.

[Smiler]

I had a turbo diesel model. Made of tin foil. All the door pillars had 2-3" splits in them around the door strap mounts. However, it does help keep the weight down.
Diesel made sense as an economic daily smoker but handling was rubbish and I found it hard to grasp the idea that they bothered to make a sporty version. However I have never been in a sporty model so can only go on my experience of the domestic version.
I seem to remember it being relatively comfortable with a nice enough dashboard.
So, from my opinion, good car for a cheap daily with an entertaining 'power-band' in turbo diesel guise. Not the worst looking car out there.

[faker]

Had a few donkeys years ago. Great yoke, and twice the car the 406 was. Same rear axle as the Picasso so you won't have any issues with a dodgy rear! 1905 td go really well, on par with a td 306. If I could find one now I would probably tackle one.

[mylittletony]

you could buy the top of the range version from the guy in the for sale section:- turbo, leather, wood bits and you'd stop it getting fragged...

[carledo]

Breaking a 306TD as of next week engine is terrific despite 175k miles and is "lucky" insofar as it survived unscathed a timing belt failure 2 years ago, the only XUD i've ever known to do it! CAV pump though, unfortunately.

Steve

[gazjon]

Thanks for the input guys, been having a look around it and am tempted. I couldn't leave it standard though lol I'm thinking '90s BTCC look

[MrSpeedy]

My mum ran one for about 10 years. GLXT Estate I believe.

I fecking hated that car. It was the bain of my life. (Well, not quite, but I still hated it)

Not one single parts supplier could supply the correct rear silencer box for it until we cottened on that we had to order one for an MI16 !!

I think in all fairness it was because she never really used it 'properly' and only did short trips. I'd be changing that back box every couple of years cos it'd rotted out or developed a rattle. And I must've changed the rear brake calipers 5 times cos the handbrake mechanism kept seizing up.

That said, the engine was never a problem (2.0 petrol) and the gearbox had quite a sporty close ratio about it, but I could never get comfortable in it.

In the end we had to weigh it in, cos we couldn't even sell it for scrap value. Believe it or not the only offers we got were actually about half what it made over the bridge!

The BTCC cars do look good tho, and I always thought the engine and box would be a good transplant into a 205/309

[Smiler]

It was deffinately one of those cars that when you went to do a job on it you psyched yourelf up for a possible world of pain (seized bolts, breakages etc...) and you were never quite sure it would all be quite the same again when you put it back together. It's certainly nowhere near as confidence inspiring as a similar vintage BMW