[car_restoration] My Longwinded 1.9 Laser Project

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

 

 

#bornready #itstime #resassemblyisthereverseofremoval

 

 

So I've dusted the cobwebs off the old shed (barnfind dust, so it's probably already devalued...) done a bit of a stocktake, organised the garage (including tweaking the spanners..) and made a list for a proper BH weekend of making (hopefully) significant progress. 

 

I've also realised that I've actually made quite a lot of progress I haven't documented here (I say a lot, it's all relative, bear with me.. ) I even made a list, and ticked quite a few things off!

 

 

"Pro" Tip - please do check your seam sealer on the shell. Mine was all present and correct, as you would expect. But at some point it had gone brittle and let/trapped moisture behind it. Considering I've already had the carpet and insulation out literally countless times, in addition to adding all of the sound deadening, plus a couple of resprays.. You would have thought I would have noticed! I poked and prodded the 'surface rust' and this is what I uncovered!

 

 

 

 

Quite concerning this had developed and the seam sealer looked absolutely fine! Especially as underneath is a bit of a water trap with the fuel tank below and seatbelt mounting is nearby as well as letting moisture into the entire length of the cill. 

 

So I gave the entire floor pan a good once over, exposed, chemically treated and fabricated a good old fashioned CAD (cardboard aided design) reinforcing plate transcribed onto a sheet of zintec, welded it on from underneath and zinc primed, smothered it in 3M seam sealer (above and below). Followed by stonechip & ChassisBlack paint. Then a liberal coat of underseal. Belt and braces and all that.. While the fuel tank was dropped I re-run the brake pipes for the ABS and fitted the rear load compensator to the beam:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiny shiny, panic over... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the tank was dropped (again..) I took the opportunity to replace the fuel lines with pre-formed stainless ones from BakerBM

 

 

Question to the folks out there: Clearly Peugeot didn't envisage a car being assembled both with the later engine management (M3.1) which removes the AFM for a much smaller flow sensor, fitted in a car which also had PAS, as the sensor plug fouls the PAS reservoir. Any thoughts/suggestions?! I could try and nudge the reservoir slightly (although when the battery is back in there isn't much wriggle room!), so I'm thinking maybe reposition the sensor boss on the plastic pipe..? Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Please stand by. More updates incoming.... 

[AndyCrom 64]

Glad you still keeping at it cRaig, makes me wonder if I should finally drag mine back home from its long standing barn storage in Wales.

 

I must admit however my 10yo son is now more passionate about getting my Lazer back on the road again than I have been these past 10 years, and if yours has devalued any with a minor bit of dust I'm wondering where actual farm barn dust and hay values mine at. 

Edited August 23, 2024 by AndyCrom

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

Oh, I think with that genuine dust and straw, you could retire on the funds from selling it as-is...! 

 

It's amazing that actually finding the motivation (for me, anyway) is by far the most difficult part... (I guess it's easier to say that at the moment before a long weekend of head scratching trying to remember how the bastard thing goes back together..)  and just how few actual defined 'jobs' can completely stall a project. 

[welshpug 1,714]

I would be inclined to try the zx/306/xsara/partner/berlingo pas bottle and location, though you would lose the oem jack location, that's easy enough to stash in the CTI location,  the pipework for the PAS is a lot neater on them though the cooling loop is on the front panel not under the floor.

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

Good thinking Mei! I've already lost the OE jack screw for the A/C dryer so I will investigate further!

[Leslie green 155]

Great to see you cracking on with this Craig , id imagine the rust was a bit of a surprise on such a mint looking car 

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

Well, I channeled the Peugeot spirits and put on my uniform..:

 

 

Was waiting outside the local supermarket first thing for supplies (freezer bags & cake...)

 

 

We started by unearthing all of my various spare parts from where I'd stashed them..

 

 

My mate made a start on the brake piping while I did what I do best... Filing and organising.. 

 

 

Anyway, on to the more important (and interesting..) stuff:

 

 

We had the 306 bracket (I had previously adjusted it to fit in the 205 engine bay utilising the same mountings as the original ABS bracket that sits behind the battery on the chassis leg)

 

 

Fortunately the Bosch pump/ controller (no separate ECU in the boot!) is pretty logically labelled, as long as you know (or can deduce) the French for front & back and left and right. So he made a start running the pipes:

 

 

The four wheel feeds were all sorted (at least as far as the nest that is the load compensator on the beam..), it turns out that the feed from the front and rear from the master cylinder to the ABS block uses a different union (Male M12 x1.0) and we assume a larger bore pipe (3/8ths rather than 7/16ths?) which I didn't have, so we moved on to pulling the ABS loom into place. Fortunately it's entirely self contained, and if you start at the ABS block, point the feeds and plugs at the relay box at the front, the rest of the loom essentially falls into place. Again, we chucked the rear wheels under the car and will tackle later when we sort the rear plumbing.

 

 

 

Next up was the interior/dash loom. A lot of the (with hindsight, largely pointless..) 'enhancements' I made were added after the dash & loom were fitted, so my mate had to do a hell of a lot of unpicking and re-routing before he could make sense of where everything went. We introduced a few more connectors for things that made sense to be removable, fortunately I had a spare loom (or two...) and bucketloads of male & female pins for the colour coded connector plugs.

 

 

And that's pretty much up to date! Which I don't think is bad progress for a couple of days with two of us. 

I'll tackle the rest of the stocktake & organisation, as well as ordering the few parts to finish plumbing in the brakes. I'll make one 'good' heater box out of the two that I have (both A/C equipped) ready to refit as part of the continuation of the wiring fettling. 

 

 

 

 

Until next time...

20 hours ago, Leslie green said:

Great to see you cracking on with this Craig , id imagine the rust was a bit of a surprise on such a mint looking car 

 

Yeah, very true. I mean, originally it was pretty rusty in all of the typical Phase 2 places (inner wings, rear quarter bumper mount/buffer, behind the wheel arch water pipe etc) but it was surprising (at least to me) that the body seam sealer had failed so significantly, particularly on the interior protected by the insulation & carpet as to let moisture creep in..

Edited August 27, 2024 by cRaig

[welshpug 1,714]

The abs still uses 3/16 (4.75mm)   pipe in the M12x1 unions.

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

37 minutes ago, welshpug said:

The abs still uses 3/16 (4.75mm)   pipe in the M12x1 unions.

 

Is there any 80s-90s Peugeot related fact or detail that you don't know!?!  I think you could do worse than pick it for your specialist subject on Mastermind...

Amazing, thanks! 

Edited August 27, 2024 by cRaig

[welshpug 1,714]

You Would have the same unions in the original brake pressure limiters on one side from memory

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

We are looking to plumb in the master cylinder - There are two larger inputs on the ABS block are marked MC1 and MC2. Is it logical to assume that MC1 is the front circuit and 2 is the rear from the Master Cylinder? 

Edited September 21, 2024 by cRaig

[welshpug 1,714]

I would follow that logic too, however I don't think it matters as its the outputs that are regulated.

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

A bit of an update, I've finally got around to pressure testing the evaporators for the A/C system. All of them passed! There was a bit of a worry where the chap couldn't get them to hold pressure, but apparently it was a damaged thread on his test ports which he didn't discover 'on site', so took them home for a fettle. 

 

 

As "the plan" is to only refit the dash one more time..  Next up was testing the thermistor in the heater box. According to this very useful thread the temperature responses we were looking for were:

 

"Resistance at room temperature is around 5k ohms. 
In a glass of melting ice it is around 18k ohms."

 

Both of them responded in a very similar fashion, well within an acceptable margin of error, given their age. One of them was a dud, so absolutely worth checking!

 

 

Next up was a brand new expansion valve, and then reassembled the heater box for (hopefully...) the last time..! Replaced the decaying foam on the cold side of the evaporator (basic pre-filter for any car air filter off eBay), appeared close enough. Also installed my NOS fan and heater resistor & heater matrix- it's likely as good as it's going to get, performance-wise!

 

 

Then once it was all clean and dust free, it was all slung into the car and plumbed in using new A/C seals.

 

 

Next up was a bit of Autosol anal detailing... I know the long pipe is alloy, so will not stay shiny, but while it's out, I thought I'd make it shiny for my peace of mind! 

 

 

 

Next up was the moment of truth..! The mobile tester came to the house to finally test the whole system in situ. A super knowledgeable & patient chap, who as it turns out used to be a Peugeot tech in Monmouth in a past life!

 

 

 

Apart from one deliberate mistake on my part (completely missing an o-ring on the pressure switch on the receiver dryer..) it actually held pressure!!

 

 

It was touch-and-go to begin with, as it appeared to be leaking when it got to 80/90 psi, as it wouldn't take any more pressure, but after repeating it a few times, he concluded that it was just the 'vintage' rubber pipes which were expanding- each subsequent pressure test held more and more pressure until he was satisfied that it was good to go. This shouldn't be an issue as they are steel banded and the rubber is in surprisingly good condition. (the pipes either came from Japan or Aus, so are all crack-free and unperished, as least to the naked eye).

 

As I drained the oil out of the compressor when I fitted it (as it had been leaking in transit and I was unsure as to how much remained) he can't gas it up until the engine is running (as the oil is injected at the time time with the refrigerant, and without the compressor running there is a strong possibility that the fill port/lower pipe will get blocked).

 

Still, onward and upward, can now continue to refit the dashboard and try and work out where all of the a) factory wiring goes and b) where all of the various "mods" and "improvements" (dash clock etc etc...) are supposed to be routed!

 

In other news, I finally have my physical driving licence back! (it's only taken the DVLA 9 months.....) Fortunately I have been driving since last June using an obscure piece of legislation (Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act if anyone is interested...!), but it's still a huge reassurance that everyone involved, the DVLA doctors, my consultant etc. are all satisfied that I pose no risk to the general public. Plus I can now consider driving abroad!! While obviously going through cancer treatment, chemo, radiotherapy etc. was pretty dreadful, actually losing my licence was arguably just as bad- I live somewhat rurally, and public transport is non-existent! Plus, driving myself is a huge source of my independence and autonomy- I quite often go for a drive for a little quiet mindful therapy! 

 

 

Hopefully getting the A/C in and tested will give this project the injection of momentum it clearly needs, time will tell....!

Edited February 1 by cRaig

[Leslie green 155]

Great update ! there can't be many 205s left with aircon now  and congrats on getting the ok to get  back on the road .

[petert 630]

9 hours ago, Leslie green said:

Great update ! there can't be many 205s left with aircon now  and congrats on getting the ok to get  back on the road .

Lol, every 205 in Australia has AC.

[petert 630]

The compressor fitted to Australian 205’s was always a bit too small for the job, struggling on hot days. Fitting a 405 size compressor was an easy upgrade.

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

7 hours ago, petert said:

Lol, every 205 in Australia has AC.

Don't forget the 25 1FMs in this country, plus the late models exported to Japan, bizarrely included A/C on the CTIs as well!  Link

[cRaig 277 1 Cars]

On 2/1/2026 at 1:31 PM, cRaig said:

In other news, I finally have my physical driving licence back! (it's only taken the DVLA 9 months.....) Fortunately I have been driving since last June using an obscure piece of legislation (Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act if anyone is interested...!), but it's still a huge reassurance that everyone involved, the DVLA doctors, my consultant etc. are all satisfied that I pose no risk to the general public. Plus I can now consider driving abroad!! While obviously going through cancer treatment, chemo, radiotherapy etc. was pretty dreadful, actually losing my licence was arguably just as bad- I live somewhat rurally, and public transport is non-existent! Plus, driving myself is a huge source of my independence and autonomy- I quite often go for a drive for a little quiet mindful therapy! 

 

 

......aaand now I've lost it again. 

 

Unfortunately I had a nocturnal seizure yesterday morning while I was asleep. Ended up in A&E - fortunately no abnormalities on my ECG and the CT scan appeared fairly stable and comparable to my most recent MRI (although that apparently isn't the easiest of comparisons.) Potentially a small bit of edema on the CT scan- my consultant/specialist nurse is disputing that fact, but they are going to work to bring my upcoming MRI scan forward, it was due in less than four weeks anyway, so that will be good- as obviously after another disturbing and painful seizure (even though I did not wake up, I've still pulled various leg & back muscles and also bit down on my tongue...) I'm naturally very concerned about the tumour growing/changing..

 

The largest and most painful irony is that yesterday was the day that the bung in Scotland sold, and the money was transferred into my bank account. New fun day car was very much on the cards. So now the 12 month clock resets before I can drive again. Ho hum. Still, gives me another year to get the 205 "finished"..maybe I'll start dismantling & polishing it more again... 

[Leslie green 155]

That's a cruel setback with the licence ,hope that's the last seizure  but don't take the 205 apart again keep it in one piece now as we all know something else will break off or that's what i find every time i touch a piece of dash plastic ! or every time you take a screw out of plastic the thread comes out with it lol

Edited February 20 by Leslie green