[trackday_prep] 405 Mi16 Track Car

[JeffR 51]

Thought I'd add a couple of pics from the French Car Festival held in Melbourne last Sunday.

 

My Mi16 took out the 'Most interesting car' award and the 'Best 405' people's choice award.

 

 

 

 

 

It was almost a 'no show' because when I put the car on the trailer from the last sprint day at Sandown, a bolt which had vibrated loose from the flange holding in the ram tubes inside the airbox fell into the engine and was wedged under a valve.

I was convinced it would have bent a valve since it's got solid lifters or punched a hole in a piston! So engine out, head off and sent away for a complete check over. Diagnosis was that I'd dodged a bullet! It certainly would have been toast if it happened at 8000rpm on the track.

 

I've since swapped the caphead bolts for hex headed 8.8's, drilled & lockwired them with aviation spec s/steel wire.

 

Edited October 30, 2014 by JeffR

[Anthony 1,000]

That's certainly some luck to ingest a bolt and do no damage at all!

 

Keep up the good work - looks a great car and it's been a very interesting thread to read

[jackherer 543]

That's not dodging a bullet, it's more like catching a bullet with your teeth!

[JeffR 51]

Not the most professional lockwiring job since I didn't have the proper pliers for twisting the wire, but since it's in the airbox & out of sight all it has to do is retain the bolts!

 

I made some small tabs where one leg is bent over the flange with the other the anchor for the lockwire.

 

[calvinhorse 870]

Car looks lovely, did it get much attention at the show? Do Australians 'get' what it is and appreciate it?

[JeffR 51]

Peugeot enthusiasts tend to fall into 2 groups here.

There's the ones who haven't forgiven Peugeot for changing the architecture from RWD which had some of the most compliant suspension ever fitted to a car, to FWD and the difficulty in carrying out in-car maintenance and repairs.

Then there are others who do enjoy the later cars, but seem to turn them over fairly regularly. These people rarely service their own.

To be fair, Peugeot have produced some rubbish in recent years both in terms of handling & reliability and trashed their own brand.

Their FWD performance cars (205, 306, 405 although 206, 207 not to the same degree) are still well regarded though.

Oddly enough, I spent much of the day talking to guys from the Alfa club which is active in running motorsport events in all States here and had seen my car on the track and they seem to appreciate Mi16's where their kids are getting them, not Alfa's as first cars. (probably helps that their Clerk of Course drives a 306 XSI).

[petert 554]

So much deja vu. I had exactly the same problem a few years ago, same trumpets, same bolt, same cylinder, except I wasn't so lucky. Two bent valves and it locked up the engine. You should definitely invest in some decent lockwire pliers and wire. You can buy them quite reasonably from aeropart suppliers on ebay.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LOCKWIRE-KIT-SAFETY-WIRE-LOCKWIRE-PLIERS-/351173450140?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51c391999c

 

I use cap screws, only because they're easier to drill. I tie the two screws together, with a half wrap around the trumpet, if that makes sense. I can see that in your situation, the lack of access would make that near impossible, as you have glue the trumpet in later.

 

Great car. I appreciate it!

[JeffR 51]

Back to Sandown tomorrow. Sunny & 27ºC predicted. Rev limit extended to 8250.

 

I've been progressively dialling in the shocker bump settings (GAZ Golds) each meeting and will have the rears on max tomorrow. Had to re-evaluate everything again after finding the former front coils had gone coilbound.

 

Also, more than a little nervous whether any strain put on the valve that ate the bolt will have compromised its strength. Fingers crossed all will be OK.

[camgti 56]

How did you get on Jeff?

 

Cam

[JeffR 51]

Cam, Sandown proved a disappointment with another major oil leak.
I only managed the 5 lap practice session before my day came to an early end. Most of the oil was at the cambelt end and running down the firewall which had me puzzled as there's no oil lines other than my mechanical oil pressure gauge in that area.

So rather than cause possible damage or leave oil on the track I decided to spend the day as a spectator.

Back at home up on the stands this week with the cam cover off and engine running, I could see oil dripping down from what appears to be the exhaust cam oil seal area. It dripped down onto the driveshaft boot so when driving it got spread everywhere which would account for oil all down the firewall.

I also found one of the belt tensioners noisy, so at least something positive has come from the exercise!

Engine comes out (again) on Friday where I'll replace both cam seals, the 2 tensioners and fit the TTV flywheel now that I have the correct caphead bolts.

Another plus was that I've now found the optimal shock setting with the GAZ Golds. Max hard was too hard so I'll go back to my previous settings.

Now if only Snails Pace Products could deliver my dry sump kit, I could get that all fitted at the same time!

Edited November 27, 2014 by JeffR

[rallyeash 155]

Very smart looking 405. I'd say it's my favourite 405 I've seen!

 

Had some bad luck but it's all worth it in the end

[camgti 56]

Great to hear its only small issues. Disappointing that they can ruin the day out. Thems the breaks!

 

Also sad and just silly that Pace are taking their time. What are plans with the current oil setup once your done with it? Ill be looking to do something similar...

 

Ash, yea its my favorite 405 too. Im so glad its in OZ as Pugs racing here are very few and far between.

 

Cam

[JeffR 51]

I'll probably sell the bottom end and accumulator. I reckon with an Mi head, J4RS inlet manifold & t/body and management it'd make a really good combo-especially in a 205.

With 11.5:1 CR and oil problems under control (w/tray, XU10 pump, b/sump, etc) and any of Peters cams it'd be quick!

[camgti 56]

Why are you selling the bottom end? Are you upgrading what you have now?

 

Cam

[JeffR 51]

I'll swap the bottom end over for the iron block with diesel crank that I have, getting forged pistons & rods made & swap the dry sump over (if it ever gets here) and put the big valve, solid lifter head that I'm now using on it.

[JeffR 51]

Update-

Having removed the engine to determine where the leak came from, I've replaced both belt tensioners, both oil seals behind the cam gears and even resealed the gallery plugs to the lifters.

Still not entirely convinced that the exhaust cam seal was the culprit but can see no evidence anywhere else where the oil was coming from.

Cam cover to head was dry and leak appeared above the head gasket, so I can eliminate those two. No splits, cracks or leaks from the block.

All I can do now it re-fit and hope!

BTW- I made a new much larger degree disc recently & it makes timing up the cams using the Lobe Centre Line method heaps easier.



If anyone wants a copy I can upload a jpeg version into Misc/General Technical. I had mine laminated then glued it onto a sheet of aluminium and trimmed it to circular.

And thanks for all the positive comments on the car-much appreciated.

[GilesW 41]

Jeff - my mates pace pump arrived today. Might be worth you chasing yours up as they seem to have had the parts in now......

 

Oh - I'd be interested in a disc jpeg please.

[JeffR 51]

Thanks for the heads up Giles. I was beginning to wonder which year I might get it!

 

I'll send off an email today.

[JeffR 51]

Christmas update-

 

Well after the major cock up I made when re-connecting the wiring loom, I thought I should address some of the other outstanding issues.

I needed to investigate what was the cause of major brake shudder I experienced in the practice session at Sandown-actually my only bloody session on the day due yet another oil leak!

I hooked up my dial gauge to check for warpage on both front discs finding about 0.003" runout on the drivers side. Since the 4 piston calipers are hard mounted to the hubs unlike most single piston calipers which have sliding guide pins, I figured it was the most likely culprit for the vibration. The outer tie rods & lower balljoints had been replaced and were relatively new so I ruled them out.

I decided to try some different discs to the Brembos since they seemed prone to warping, (actually they were fairly dark blue in colour, so overheated) so purchased a set of Valeo 305mm discs. Then with those fitted I found the passenger side hub showed runout of about 0.004" with these new discs FFS! Since I had spare hubs, I swapped over that side along with a new lower balljoint. Runout dropped to 0.001".

Next was to track down the fuel smell. The gauge which sits in the tank and accessed via the hole under where the rear seat would be was leaking. ServiceBox showed the rubber seal was also used on 306's (not Xsara) so off to the wrecker for a newer/better one.

Problem fixed or so I thought. A detailed look around the seams of where the tank had been cut down from 70 to 45 litres showed another leak from the seam. Removing the fill hose into the tank to drain the 35litres it held makes for a messy & dangerous job. I had to put the car on the trailer to give me enough height to get under without saturating myself with spilled fuel. If only Peugeot fitted a drain cock to their tanks the job would have been a lot easier. So anyway, tank out and taken to Advanced Plastic Repairs up in the hills behind Melbourne for a while-you-wait repair today.

Dry sump update-

Pace informed me last week that my dry sump kit & tank would be leaving at the latest by Tues 23rd Dec, but no further mail from them whether it did or not. Beats me how they are still in business with the indifference they demonstrate towards their customers.

[JeffR 51]

Creative Vinyl (http://www.creative-vinyl.co.uk) does a variety of outdoor quality vinyl signs for most of the Peugeot range.

Since they had a version of the Robb Gravett '92 BTCC 405, I wondered how it might look on my track car.

The problem with it being grey has its issues but having been in contact with them, they are prepared to change all the black wording to white.

So before committing to anything I thought I'd have a go in Photoshop to get a better idea of how it might look.



It looks OK, but I can't say I'm totally impressed as I also like the car unmolested and a bit of a sleeper.

 

Anyone care to comment?

[stu8v 68 1 Cars]

Would be tempted to do it in monotone colours, in keeping with the base colour.

 

Or go metallic finish on the colours :-)

[petert 554]

Handy Photoshop skills Jeff!

 

I'd keep it plain also.

[camgti 56]

Although the decal would be cool. I really like it the way it is. Its very subtle and stands out a perfect amount in my opinion.

 

Cam

[JeffR 51]

I think if the car was white a Gravett replica might have looked OK. If I was to put any signage on it I'd base it around the grey.

 

I hadn't used Photoshop since my newspaper days so it was good to revive some old skills and kept me out of the garage for a few days!

 

The cost of the decals paid the import duty on my dry sump kit too, so money better spent on the things that matter.

[JeffR 51]

What the hell, while I had the kitbag open I thought I'd do a monotone version! Stu8v is right. It looks better this way than in colour.