[body_work] 1988 Cherry Red 1.6 Gti Restoration

[richpowell 0]

Hi all,

 

Thought it was about time that i started a project thread, after having joined up to the site over a year ago after having my first ride in a 205, which was my mates mi16 powered Gti, and as soon as i heard it going threw the revs knew i had to find a little more about these special hatchbacks. So after joining up to the site and spending countless hours reading through the mass of interesting threads regarding all aspects of a 205 gti, i finally decided that i wanted my own project and a 205 gti seemed like the perfect car. So to start with went straight onto ebay and pistonheads to see what was out there. There was a few on each of the sites that took my fancy but none that quite what i was after, which was first and foremost a project for me to soak up some of my spare time. Eventually whilst searching pistonheads late month i spotted a 1988 Cherry Red 1.6 Gti, located locally, within 10 minutes i had been on the phone to the owner asking all sorts of questions trying to get a better idea of the general condition. I decided to ask to come and view it and to my surprise it was only a mile down the road in the next village i could'nt have found a closer one if i had tried. Now i did the worse thing and the one thing that i was told never to do, i brought the first example i had gone to see, i could not wait to get it home and start tinkering so after going to the nearest cash point and handing over the cash i trailered it home.

 

Sorry for the long winded introduction, ill try and keep the rambling to a minimum and start the project write up with a photo of the car once i got it home.

 

 

I brought the car as a non runner, the previous owner had replaced the engine as the old one had a crack in the block and was leaking coolant. Since the replacement engine had been fitted i was told that it would start once out of 5 attempts. I would crank over fine and showed no problems but it wouldn't catch and fire up. The day after i got it home i thought i would spend a few minutes that evening to see if that was anything obvious. I checked all the ignition leads, checked the spark plugs and various electrical connections that were in view. Then just out of luck i spotted a loose blue connector not connected, a few seconds later i found its sensor connected it all up cranked it over and it fired up. I was grinning from ear to ear to find that it was something so simple, i now believe it to be the coolant temperature sensor that was disconnected.

 

As soon as it was running it was clear to hear there was a problem it was idling at 2000 rpm and would steadily rise to 2500 within a few seconds. I thought that there was an air leak so went on to check all the air intake pipes for splits and holes. I didn't find any holes etc but did notice that the throttle butterfly was open slightly. I then thought a good starting point would be to give the throttle housing a good clearealisedn realized that the throttle butterfly was open because it was sticking slightly. Cleaned it all up and blew the coolant inlet and outlet, vacuum hole out with compressed air. Fitted it all back on to the engine fired immediately the idle was much better.

 

Of course with many French cars you fix one problem and another one comes along shortly after. Although in my case two first off i now had a small decorative pond in my passenger foot well, secondly a loud screeching which i believed to be the starter motor not disengaging. I first looked into the water leak, and after reading various topics on here narrowed it down to either the heater matrix leaking or a water leak from the sunroof seal. I then decided to take this opportunity to take the carpet out to dry it and giving it a good clean. I then noticed that it was leaking from near the heater motor, i then again looked on here to see where the water could be getting in and saw that the air that enters the cabin via a flap in the scuttle panel. I took the plastic grill off and instantly noticed standing water around this flap and pressed the flap and released the water straight into the passenger foot well. I then taped up the air inlet to stop any water getting in for the time being.

 

 

Ill finish my first post here for now i appreciate that theres a lot off reading to get through, so in future will try and keep it more consise.

 

Thanks Rich

[dave_gti 0]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with the restoration. It can be a nightmare as I have recently discovered but it’ll be worth it.

[p1234 22 2 Cars]

Stick with it, even if you feel like bashing your head against the wall at times!

[richpowell 0]

Welcome to the forum, and good luck with the restoration. It can be a nightmare as I have recently discovered but it’ll be worth it.

 

Thanks, i will definatly be sticking with it, i will know when im doing something right when it comes to bolt parts back on.

 

Stick with it, even if you feel like bashing your head against the wall at times!

 

In my short time of ownership ive already unintensionally banged various limbs on the car, i cant see myself becoming bored with it anytime soon, the deeper i delve the more intrigued i become.

 

Time for another update,

 

In the process of stripping the carpet back to give it chance to dry out i got a bit carried away with stripping the interior panels. The main reason for this was when i took the lower centre console interior bit out it unearthed many electrical wires cut in half and just left loose. I decided to check out the rest of the wires in the passenger cabin. A short while later i ended up with this being the end result, conclusion being the wiring definatly needs a much greater rework than i first thought, whilst i manage to find a detailed wiring diagram ive decided to assess other areas of the car.

 

 

Since signing up to the forum and reading the many topics about rust, most of which seem to be about rusty headlight panels i thought i would see how mines was fairing. Needless to say the front bumper didnt come off easily, it took me a while to work out how it was attached etc. Many of the bolts sheared straight off so looks like i will be buying plenty of new bolts when it comes to reassembling the car. Once i got the front bumper off and headlights out it didnt surprise me that the headlight panels were rusty, with quite a few places that have rusty through.

 

 

 

 

 

So next step is to find out the best method for repairing/replacing these panels. By the looks of it i need to brush up on my welding skills.

 

 

Will update as soon as i make any more progress, any comments/advice will be greatfully recieved.

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

oooh that looks nasty, i thought mine had some rust but you beat me hands down

 

i think the best plan for the front end (as most have done it) is to cut the whole panels out either side and weld either good second hand ones in or (not sure if you cans till get them??) new ones.

 

if i were you i would be prepared for not driving the car for some time

 

good luck tho and stick with it

[richpowell 0]

oooh that looks nasty, i thought mine had some rust but you beat me hands down

 

i think the best plan for the front end (as most have done it) is to cut the whole panels out either side and weld either good second hand ones in or (not sure if you cans till get them??) new ones.

 

if i were you i would be prepared for not driving the car for some time

 

good luck tho and stick with it

 

Its definatly impressive lol.

 

Yeh i think your right, reading through what other people have done they seem to have cut all the rust out and then fabricated the panels. It will keep me busy for the forsable future.

Ive just priced up some genuine peugeot headlight panels on servicebox and they came out at £75 a piece, but whether they still stock them or are able to get them could well be another matter.

 

Ive yet to drive it anywhere yet so im not in too much of a rush to get it back on the road just yet, id rather take my time and make sure its how i want it. Plus the longer i wait the more resonable the insurance should be.

[205BigTosh 0]

Its definatly impressive lol.

 

Yeh i think your right, reading through what other people have done they seem to have cut all the rust out and then fabricated the panels. It will keep me busy for the forsable future.

Ive just priced up some genuine peugeot headlight panels on servicebox and they came out at £75 a piece, but whether they still stock them or are able to get them could well be another matter.

 

Ive yet to drive it anywhere yet so im not in too much of a rush to get it back on the road just yet, id rather take my time and make sure its how i want it. Plus the longer i wait the more resonable the insurance should be.

 

hi there yeah i had this problem when i stripped mine down although mines wasnt as bad as yours unfortunitly for yourself.

you still get these panals to buy, after market copy i got from autopaint in thornton,scotland, and its a very good fit aswell. i got the whole front slam panal for 59 quid, as peugeot wantd 70 odd quid for just one corner for the headlight, they dont have any full slam panals left allegidley.

his wasnt suitable as i wanted to replace the whole slam panal.

 

here is a picture of mine after it was fitted/welded and then primed.

Edited August 14, 2011 by 205BigTosh

[richpowell 0]

Decided to see how bad the rust was on the front panel this afternoon, was amazed how easily the screwdriver went through at places. Managed to get a few better pictures showing what rust i can see at the moment, not sure why theres KB in writing on the driverside headlight panel.

 

 

 

 

Going to phone up a few local companies in the morning to see if they still make the replacement panels, and get a few prices if they do. Then get some advice on the best method of repair, as i started this project my aim was to smarten/fix and problems, as it is now though its turning into a more thorough restoration, only downside being as its my first restoration im bound to make a few mistakes but as they say you learn through your mistakes. So ill bound to be spending yet more hours searching the forum for advice and help.

 

More updates to follow as and when i make progress.

[ally7th 7]

get stuck in there! once you get going and have the rust cut out it wont seem as bad

[richpowell 0]

Well nothings changed lately, been trying to sort out some undercover space for it to be stored before i start attacking the rust on the front. As how it is now theres not much room around the front of the car and also not to close to the nearest electric socket.

 

Im also waiting for a replacement starter to arrive, i took the old one off to check the overall condition and as i did noticed two out of the three mouting holes had cracks/split. Also the insides looked like they has seen better days. Managed to find a slimline starter off a 306 as a replacement for 99p on ebay so for the price im not expecting too much but thought it was worth the punt.

 

During a rainy saturday i decided to google the registration plate, im not sure what i was hoping/expecting to find, but found a few photos off it taken by a previous owner before he brought it. Got chatting on flickr to him and found out a little bit of the history that he knows of, so starting to build up a better picture of its life. As the pictures show, it wasnt looked after by previous owners very well and helps to explain why there is so much rust on the front end.

 

 

 

Will have more updates soon when i get a better space to work on it, in the meantime i will continue to read the countless helpful topics on the forum, if nothing else gives me a better idea of what ive let myself in for

 

 

Thanks for reading

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

There's TP on my front panel, ain't got a scooby what it means

 

Nice project

[richpowell 0]

Thought id keep this up to date no matter how small so here goes.

 

Not done too much recently finally gave the carpet a clean and from first impressions it came up great, even with no fancy products used just water a brush and some carpet cleaner. Just got to clean the lower center console now. Before i fit the carpet back in ive got to find a replacement for the 23 year old underlay/sound proofing as when i removed it fell apart in my hands as you would expect.

 

Also dismantled the nearside front suspension to get a better idea of what parts are needed, the conclusion is:

 

• new top mount bearings + bushes
  
• Shock absorber shaft dust guards
  
• Possibly eibach pro kit springs - to replace cheap springs on at the moment
  
• Wishbone bushes (yet to check balljoint condition so could be new wishbones)
  
• Anti roll bar drop links (may aswell replace for new considering how cheap they are plus the boots are split and the joints seem to be rough)
  
• Anti roll bar bushes (again for the price they are i may aswell replace while im renewing other suspension components)
  

 

I was planning on replacing most of the above anyway, including shocks all round but i see that they already have what appear to be bilstein b4's in good condition. This obviously could change once i remove the springs and check the condition of the shocks better.

 

Whilst i was at it i had a quick glance over the brakes, from the brief look i had im going to replace both discs and pads, the pads due to the friction material cracking and the discs due to scoring.

 

Thats about all for now, im still trying to find a supplier for the front panel that consists of rust but i wont start rust repairs untill i can have the car inside so i can work on it at night and during bad weather.

[MiniGibbo 142]

Good on you for trying to bring this back to life, must be quite exciting finding old pictures of it and pieceing togther its "former" life..

 

Id love to find more history on mine, good luck with it!!

[richpowell 0]

Good on you for trying to bring this back to life, must be quite exciting finding old pictures of it and pieceing togther its "former" life..

 

Id love to find more history on mine, good luck with it!!

 

Thanks once i had found the previous owner i had within an hour of being in contact been asked if i would give him first refusal if i was to sell it on the future. I never expected to find anything let anyone be in contact with a previous owner. The other day i tried to check its MOT history but nothing came up so i know that its not had an MOT since before 2005 which ties in with what i was told when i brought it. So when i do finally get it back on the road it will be nice to know that its back in roadworthy condition for the first time in 6 years.

 

To update the project thread ive sadly not done more than tinkering at weekends, ordered some parts that i said i needed in my previous post so that i have them at hand for when ive done the rust repairs, also going to pick up a fairly decent sized list of parts on tuesday from peugeot so that i can get on with rebuilding suspension etc in the shed on these dark nights.

[Antix 0]

Well done on your continued restoration Rich :-)

 

I hope you get it back to its former glory soon!

 

Good luck mate :-)

[richpowell 0]

Well done on your continued restoration Rich :-)

 

I hope you get it back to its former glory soon!

 

Good luck mate :-)

 

Thanks you and me both

 

Random question are you the same antix that used to be on 206info?

 

 

 

 

Not much to update really still trying to source a replacement front panel from somewhere but most places local to me are all out of stock and cant give me a definitive answer as to when they will have them back in stock.

 

IM stilltrying to find somewhere indoors/undercover around the place to store it where it wouldnt be in the way so i can tackle the rust. In the mean time im slowly buying parts ready for when i get round to renew the brakes, steering and suspension. But one thing that i will be doing when i get a bit of free time this week is take the brake calipers off and strip them down ready for rebuilding/refurbishing, not overly exciting/stretching but will give me something to do in the shed on these cold and dark nights.

Edited December 5, 2011 by richpowell

[Antix 0]

Thanks you and me both

 

Random question are you the same antix that used to be on 206info?

 

 

 

 

Not much to update really still trying to source a replacement front panel from somewhere but most places local to me are all out of stock and cant give me a definitive answer as to when they will have them back in stock.

 

IM stilltrying to find somewhere indoors/undercover around the place to store it where it wouldnt be in the way so i can tackle the rust. In the mean time im slowly buying parts ready for when i get round to renew the brakes, steering and suspension. But one thing that i will be doing when i get a bit of free time this week is take the brake calipers off and strip them down ready for rebuilding/refurbishing, not overly exciting/stretching but will give me something to do in the shed on these cold and dark nights.

 

Hi Rich - yeah, ex-206info ex-206 owner [black GTi 138 + red GTi 180, both 'S16 PEU'] ... now Golf GT TSI 160 and 205 CTI 1.9 owner :-)

 

Planning on my [Atlantic blue] CTI being at Pugfest 2012 if I can get it ready LOL

[richpowell 0]

Hi Rich - yeah, ex-206info ex-206 owner [black GTi 138 + red GTi 180, both 'S16 PEU'] ... now Golf GT TSI 160 and 205 CTI 1.9 owner :-)

 

Planning on my [Atlantic blue] CTI being at Pugfest 2012 if I can get it ready LOL

 

Ah thought it was, its not a typical username.

 

Ah i should be at pugfest aswell but sadly doubt in this peugeot, what plans have you got for your cti?

Edited December 5, 2011 by richpowell

[Antix 0]

Ah thought it was, its not a typical username.

 

Ah i should be at pugfest aswell but sadly doubt in this peugeot, what plans have you got for your cti?

 

I'm planning on getting it resprayed the original colour and a bit of tarting-up ready for the show season :-)

 

[richpowell 0]

Not a update as such but was hoping to get some work done on this over the christma/new year break, but unfortunately my 206 has had a suspected head gasket failure so as my daily drive ive got to get it sorted asap, instead of progressing with the project.

 

 

On the good side i think ive found a spot undercover to store my 205 and so i can work on it, the downside is my 206 is now there while i fix it. Ive been steadily gathering parts though ready for when i start to make serious progress.

[richpowell 0]

Not a update as such but was hoping to get some work done on this over the christma/new year break, but unfortunately my 206 has had a suspected head gasket failure so as my daily drive ive got to get it sorted asap, instead of progressing with the project.

 

 

On the good side i think ive found a spot undercover to store my 205 and so i can work on it, the downside is my 206 is now there while i fix it. Ive been steadily gathering parts though ready for when i start to make serious progress.

[Lowercase 56]

you dont make life easy for yourself do you mate! good luck tackling the rust at the front, makes me think i should get my bumper off and see what lies beneath.... :\

 

whats next on your job list?

[richpowell 0]

you dont make life easy for yourself do you mate! good luck tackling the rust at the front, makes me think i should get my bumper off and see what lies beneath.... :\

 

whats next on your job list?

 

Haha thanks, dont worry ive been told the amount of rust on mine is very rare, normally its just a few spots, but i assume its been in a front end crash and from what i can work out was left on a forecourt for about 18 months for it too just get worse.

 

In terms of the list of jobs for it:

 

• Engine out to tackle front end and engine bay rust
  
• Drop the front subframe to overhaul the steering brakes and suspension
  
• Start from scratch again and make a better wiring loom.
  
• Whilst engines out i strip it down to get idea of its condition as i have no history
  
• Basically strip shell down to bare minium to tackle any more rust spots
  
• Re run brake lines and wiring
  
• Strip and rebuild the rear axle
  
• Refurb the wheels + new tyres
  
• bolt everything back on
  
• Last jobwhen funds allow will be a respray
  

 

Fairly safe to say that it will keep me busy for the forseeable future, but then again thats why i got it to keep me busy in my spare time.

Edited December 31, 2011 by richpowell

[richpowell 0]

Right finally an update.

 

Seeing as the weather has been great today i cracked on with starting to strip the front end/ engine bay down ready to tackle the rust. Obviously still got to take the engine and gearbox out but waiting on somewhere to put it before i remove it.

 

 

Also removed passenger side wing, glad that im replacing the wings as the passenger side wing is even more bent, buckled and dented than i expected after removing it. Anyway that left me with this:

 

 

As i first thought its clear the car has been in some sort of front end bump as when i removed the bumper support brackets theres one quite out of shape. Better get another pair ordered.

 

 

Once ive striped the front end down im going to work my way backwards to get a better idea of the rest of the shells condition.

 

Im still yet to get a front panel, and im unsure whether to go for a complete front panel, or buy the panels in separate panels as ive been told non genuine panels can often need a little tweaking to get them to fit properly, so any suggestions will be gratefully received.

 

More updates coming soon so long as the good weather stays.

 

Thanks