1989 Peugeot 205 XE - First retro!

[jackmorris]

Well as a long time lurker i feel i should now introduce myself seeing as i now own something pre 2000 :') 

Here is my 205 XE with 100,400 miles on the clock that i bought from my brother a few weeks ago, (some of you may have already seen his belated thread on it..) it's my second car and frankly nobody in my life apart from the brother can understand why i've gone from a 2003 Mini one that cost 10 times more than this. But i absolutely love it! It's gutless compared to the mini (which wasn't exactly fast anyway) but it more than makes up for it by having tons more character and having unlimited 80's french coolness.

It's completely standard apart from the wheels which i believe are from a 106 and seats from an XS, which cost 10.99. when i bought it my bro was holding the windows up with screwdrivers so i replaced the window mechs to get some fresh air, which in this recent weather has been a massive bonus. 

it has a badly blowing exhaust, but that should be sorted within a week, the driveshafts knock a bit around tight bends but apart from that it drives brilliantly.  it barely uses any petrol and the seats are genuinely the most comfortable seats i have EVER sat in. it's so nice to have soft suspension and be able to drive over bumps without apologising to my back. I wanted it because it's cheap, reliable and i'm hoping i will learn a lot from working on an older very simple engine, as my mechanical abilities so far are pretty much installing a new air intake in the mini! XD  

Plans for it are to one day put full gti suspension and brakes on it, and pop a gti engine in it if possible but keep it looking like it is as far as humanly possible. 
But for now i couldn't be happier with it, cannot believe the condition the shell is in for the price/age, plus for 24 years old the paint is pretty damn good.

Anyway, for anyone interested here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. 

[Mike]

Looks like a good one, they are brill little cars (I have an XE too), your plans sounds interesting.

[grifterkid]

This looks like a right little gem... I have to get a 205 in my life some time very soon!!!

[jonxs]

Winner. There such cool cars, mine always puts a smile on my face. Even if I'm just thinking of it...
(is that weird)

[generaldogsbody]

What a tidy little motor. Well played. I always fancied one of these when I was younger. You did well to find such a good one

[jackmorris]

Thanks guys, only had it a few weeks but it's already my opinion that everyone needs one of these at some point. GTIs are great and all but i love how underated these poverty spec models are. Such good value for money!

[rlloyd91]

Love it!... I'm currently running a 95 TD 205, and loving it... I'm completely with you about preferring the under rated more base spec models! Keep the updates coming!

[breadvan]

nice looking clean machine

[xbo11ox]

LOVELY

[jackmorris]

Thanks everyone, its been a blast owning this so far!
Little update for anyone interested, finally managed to get the exhaust sorted a few weeks back! replaced everything and what an utter pain in the rear job it was as non genuine parts are just curse word and did not want to fit together easily! the car is finally quiet (ish) but I still question the seal between the manifold and downpipe so will take the manifold off and check everything again/run sealant around the flange.

Was quite happy with it as it was my first real mechanical job attempted solo (although had to call the brother in as i needed help with the *difficult* parts).


some of the old bits, (littered with holes throughout the entire system)


The downpipe bracket had sheared off from the gearbox housing, possibly contributing to the terrible cracks....


106 manifold thanfully fitted fine, (thank you internet)



Sodding parts would seal properly with any clamp used...


So it was welded! (solves everything)


i used a gti backbox thinking hmm one less part to buy when i do the conversion, irrelevant now because of the required welding....


so thats the update done, also attended the gathering which was my first show where i actually had something to show! was cheeky enough to move it when i saw another base model 205, (which i have come across on the forum) sadly i didnt catch the owner :/ 
Absolutely cracking show though, can't wait till next year, should be a completely different machine by then!

hope you don't mind the photo if you see this! 

[edwell]

Sept 8, 2014 23:32:40 GMT jackmorris said:

so thats the update done, also attended the gathering which was my first show where i actually had something to show! was cheeky enough to move it when i saw another base model 205, (which i have come across on the forum) sadly i didnt catch the owner :/ 
Absolutely cracking show though, can't wait till next year, should be a completely different machine by then!

hope you don't mind the photo if you see this! 

Not at all! here is the thread 205 Junior. Poverty spec FTW!

[novocaine]

yey an XE. had a red one as my first car, cost me 140 quid and a lot of pain but was great, got written off by a bloke in a white van. replaced all the parts but it never made it back on to the road, I bought a new car, a white xe this time. lol

loved that car, sold it to my girlfriend, she killed it shortly after we broke up.

keep on with it, they are great fun and the little motor is a stonker.

[rlloyd91]

I seen yours at the gathering.... In person looks smart as! Keep up with the updates!

[jackmorris]

Thanks for the comments lads, really has been a great car and is continuing to surprise!
edwell i have to say yours was great to see, glad i saw a standard one lowered, gave me faith that they look just as nice without gti bumpers!

Back in uni soon so hopefully will have sufficient funds to crack on with the suspension plans. Plan is a 1.6 gti rear beam, new bilstein gti shocks all round and run it at standard gti ride height. Gti subframe will be done when it comes to the engine swap, save fussing with gear linkages etc.
MOT is coming up so fingers crossed....

[jackmorris]

Quick update: MOT passed second time, only due to brake efficiency issues which was a great result in my eyes. Some rear brake parts had seized pretty bad but sorted and passed now.
Currently on the hunt for a 1.9 GTI donor to salvage parts from. Really excited to make a project out of this, if all goes to plan what I'll end up with is essentially a Poverty spec XE shell running GTI suspension, brakes, engine, gearbox everything basically! wont be much left of the old car to be frank....

small rust issues need dealing with as well, small patch on the boot floor but other than that the shell is doing well for its age! Hopefully more updates and work soon..

[THE_Liam]

Great to see non-GTI models getting some attention. There's so much hype about the GTI that I think people forget just how good the standard cars are. The diesels are particularly brilliant, and the XS is the best handler of them all without the heavy XU engine.

[jackmorris]

Update!taken the first baby steps toward my gti plans, the car desperately needed new brakes as the offside caliper was sticking quite badly. So two birds with one stone and all that, I rebuilt a set of 1.6 gti calipers and added new pads, then paired them with 1.9 discs. After some searching on 205gtidrivers i found this setup has been known to fit under 13s so yippee!

Quick after photo:




Caliper is essentially the same bendix unit as the base model just with a wider pad carrier I'm told, but the brakes are far better now, very glad to have some better vented discs as well! Best part is i can keep 13s for a while

[stevietuck]

Any updates?

[jackmorris]

Ah yes apologies for slacking with updates on this! A few months back I destroyed the big end bearings on my way back from Cardiff, my fault as i didn't top the oil up knowing it had a leak problem!! I was looking at an engine conversion soon anyway so this just spurred me along! Now as for engine choice i changed my mind on what i wanted to do so many times it was stupid. Originally I wanted to go XU, with either a standard 1.9 or a gti6 engine... then thought no I want an XS engine, but it took way too long to find one!!

I then decided i wanted a TU and 16v so had this off a friend for free -


the tu5j4 1.6 16v from a 106 gti! Fairly bare when I had it as you can see but it's low mileage and was free so no complaints here!

I've slowly built it up and it is basically ready to be transplanted into the car :3




I need a more recent pic as it has JP4 covers and other little bits fitted now.

[jackmorris]

I was aiming to get it done for the gathering but unfortunately i need garage help to actually get it in as I don't have the space or equipment sadly! I'm aiming to finish it before uni starts in october, which at this stage is easily achievable (touch wood).

Suspension wise I bought a rebuilt 1.6 gti rear beam from the 205gti forum and collected it from Pugfest-



Just need a complete damper/spring setup and thats suspension done for now, will fit a gti subframe in future when the funds allow it!
also have some 1.6 wheels to refurb once she's back on the road!

that's it for now, expect progress in the next couple months, needless to say i'm dying from anticipation :3