1987 Peugeot 205 GTi track toy

[barneys66]

My wife knocked me for six when she told me she'd like to buy me a 205 GTi for my 40th birthday last year - a car I've always hankered after since my uncle owned a brand new one when I was an impressionable lad. So after saying I was after a stock one, I ended up with one that was anything but. That said, take away all of the (reversible) mods and I'm left with a nice, straight Phase 1 with a decent history

I already knew of the car but had never considered it; it belonged to one of the neighbouring workshops and I contacted the owner with a view to tapping his considerable knowledge about the marque, as I also remembered he had a nice-looking grey/black example. That was long gone unfortunately, but as he was showing me all the key points to look out for on this car, I started to realise what a good example it was. I also thought it would be a good way to get into local amateur motorsport (autosolos, club track days, etc) and a deal was done

So, it's a 1.9, rebuilt, with twin 45s, worked head, cam, custom dizzy / ignition, uprated clutch, top spec adjustable dampers, thicker ARBs, rebuilt wider-track rear beam, Citroen C5 (lightweight) steels with new Toyos, six-point cage, etc, etc. Also came with loads of spares including a full megajolt engine management system for future upgrades. Was dyno'd after rebuild at 166bhp

Needs a little bit of tidying, but it's a track toy so to be expected. Andrew cut me an amazing deal, given the amount of invoices he presented me with, plus ongoing offers of help and spares sourcing though his contacts, etc etc. To say I'm happy would be an understatement

Pics as unearthed









Going to take it back to stock(ish) externally, keeping the fun stuff inside/underneath


Here it is, cleaned up and fettled a bit, in the middle of Bury St Edmunds recently, helping the West Suffolk Motor Sport Club promote an event




And here it is temporarily sat on the Speedlines I bought (which turned out to be 1 x Speedline and 3 x SMRs..)

[barneys66]

Oh, and yes, the stalks have already been replaced with Phase 1 items, and the Phase 2 steering wheel also has to go !

[pittaway]

looks a very nice example, i drove one of these a few years ago, couldn't believe how lively they are!

[retroade]

Wow, now that's a 40th present.

Best hot hatch money can buy, I have many fond memories of mine.

I'll keep an eye out for you if you're around Bury, up there a couple of times last year for the Bury Car Show and a Bury Retro Car Club meet.

[barneys66]

Feb 26, 2015 9:16:14 GMT retroade said:

Wow, now that's a 40th present.

Best hot hatch money can buy, I have many fond memories of mine.

I'll keep an eye out for you if you're around Bury, up there a couple of times last year for the Bury Car Show and a Bury Retro Car Club meet.

Thanks retroade - yep, my favourite present ever ! What did you have ?

I was at Cars on The Green last couple of years with my truck - good show so I'll be back.

[retroade]

Feb 26, 2015 13:57:52 GMT barneys66 said:

Feb 26, 2015 9:16:14 GMT retroade said:

Wow, now that's a 40th present.

Best hot hatch money can buy, I have many fond memories of mine.

I'll keep an eye out for you if you're around Bury, up there a couple of times last year for the Bury Car Show and a Bury Retro Car Club meet.

Thanks retroade - yep, my favourite present ever ! What did you have ?

I was at Cars on The Green last couple of years with my truck - good show so I'll be back.

I had a red 1.9 on an F plate, but it was nearly 20 years ago! It was a 40k one owner car and cost me £2500, the most expensive car I've ever bought with my own money. Apart from the 3" back box I fitted (it was the 90s) I ran it stock. Ended up stacking it into a ditch, bent the shell, made it look pretty and sold it. I know, I'm a bad man. I even made a profit, I really am going straight to hell!

I'll pm you my mobile, if there's anything on in Bury I'll come and say hello, would love to see that Pug in the flesh.

[barneys66]

Feb 26, 2015 14:14:24 GMT retroade said:

Feb 26, 2015 13:57:52 GMT barneys66 said:

Thanks retroade - yep, my favourite present ever ! What did you have ?

I was at Cars on The Green last couple of years with my truck - good show so I'll be back.

I had a red 1.9 on an F plate, but it was nearly 20 years ago! It was a 40k one owner car and cost me £2500, the most expensive car I've ever bought with my own money. Apart from the 3" back box I fitted (it was the 90s) I ran it stock. Ended up stacking it into a ditch, bent the shell, made it look pretty and sold it. I know, I'm a bad man. I even made a profit, I really am going straight to hell!

I'll pm you my mobile, if there's anything on in Bury I'll come and say hello, would love to see that Pug in the flesh.

Ha! I haven't really driven mine in anger yet, but have read all the horror stories about lift-off over-steer..! Hope to get to know it better on the Autosolos, once I've sorted a few minor issues.

Replied via pm - welcome anytime

[lewis]

Brilliant car, looks cool and a little different on the painted steels.

[barneys66]

Feb 26, 2015 18:59:10 GMT lewis said:

Brilliant car, looks cool and a little different on the painted steels.

Thanks lewis - super-light things off a C5 (think they're actually made of aluminium and only weigh 4.7kg each, so great for unsprung weight).

I like the look too and ran around on them until I found the originals, but was getting paranoid about wearing out the Toyo R888s, so now in storage for track days.

[ChasR]

Wow, that looks lovely if I am honest! I shall be keeping an eye on this.

I have to ask, what top spec dampers is it sitting on? I am intrigued .

As for Lift off oversteer it is down to a few things on these IMHO:

-knackered rear beam
-tired beam mounts (Going Group N, Genuine (if you can) or Group A (solid mounts) really helps here).
-Tyres (cheap tyres will not help and certain tyres can be tricky customers).
-Rear dampers (IME only genuine Pug or Bilstein B6s will do ; the Boge 'OE' dampers on mine made the car lethal!).

My 205 on a refurbed beam along with Group A mounts, Toyo CF1 tyres and Bilstein B6 dampers was anything but snappy. Sure the back would come out but it certainly was not unexpected. I cannot say the same for others or mine when I initially had it (and that was on the Boge dampers and refurbished beam).

[barneys66]

Thanks ChasR - from memory it's an AST set-up; in hindsight my description may have been a bit misleading on the dampers themselves being adjustable (the vendor believed them to be when I wrote this originally last year) but the ARB and uprights certainly are. To be honest I've not been properly through it yet as been busy with other things - will post more info as I find it!

The rear beam was rebuilt with 309 trailing arms, AST dampers again, uprated ARB, solid mounts, etc, and it came on Toyo Proxes R888 and certainly seemed to handle well, but I was far from the limit..

Here's an old vid of her being followed - f/fwd to 4 mins and she'll come into view

[darrenh]

i really like it, infact i go as far as to say the white steels really suit (in a kind of pseudo rallye way)

[barneys66]

Feb 27, 2015 15:41:11 GMT darrenh said:

i really like it, infact i go as far as to say the white steels really suit (in a kind of pseudo rallye way)

Thanks darrenh

[jmsheahan]

What an awesome car! Looks clean and tidy and proper purposeful.

My best mate has a 205 GTI and its still my favourite car I've ever driven to date, such a rewarding drive.

Echo the comments about fitting solid mounts.

[barneys66]

Feb 27, 2015 18:18:50 GMT jmsheahan said:

What an awesome car! Looks clean and tidy and proper purposeful.

My best mate has a 205 GTI and its still my favourite car I've ever driven to date, such a rewarding drive.

Echo the comments about fitting solid mounts.

Thanks JM - it sure is a lot of fun so far..!

Pretty sure it's got the solid mounts at the rear (and maybe more..?) so good to know it's been done right

[loudandproud205]

Once you master the lift off steer its great and a trait that is sadly missing from modern days Pugs

I want a black OE one for track to have along side my white Dimma.

[barneys66]

Very minor update from the weekend - fitted a pair of used Sparco seats (not as comfy as the old ones, but will see if they grow on me), replaced blue harnesses with red and installed cheapie suede wheel and boss to tide me over until I get my ideal Momo two spoke.

First autosolo event on Sunday 17/05 so, assuming I can sort a couple of minor wiring issues, looks like I'll be good to go. However, just the minor inconvenience of moving into a bigger workshop in the meantime.. Sounds easy, but not much free time and loads of junk to shift..!

So, from this..




..to this

[barneys66]

Another little vid of the car I came across

[barneys66]

Been a while since I updated this!

Long story short; blew the head gasket on first autosolo, then lots of life stuff got in the way, but have pressed on in any spare time over the last couple of months.

Pictures paint a thousand words, which is great as I type reeeeal slow;

[barneys66]

Swapped a 4.4:1 CROWN wheel & pinion into the gearbox..