Mi16 From 1990 1.6 Gti

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Having had a major bodywork failure on THIS little rocket, I've had to grab another Pug to house the best bits and bring the fun back.

 

Picked this up for a song a few weeks ago. 1990 1.6 GTi, 147k all original. Solid all round and quiet on the road but nervous at the front when I picked it up.

 

 

Currently in getting it's MOT with shocks, ball joint and drop links getting replaced.

 

Will run it for a couple of months and get to work on some of the interior mods and cosmetic works before it goes back in for the transplant. I have a set of 15" speedlines (from a battered old track car) which are all putty'd up and ready for sand and primer, this is the before;

 

 

I'll get to work on the exterior trim after the wheels, it's in serious need of help, currently hanging from blobs of silicone - nice.

From the old car I'll take the engine - Mi16, rebuilt 6k ago with Catcams fastroad inlet, really strong unit - the Koni -25mm dampers, the 306D brakes from the front and the 1.9 gti brakes from the rear. Not sure about migrating the ABS, possibly not worth the hassle.

 

I'll pretty much replicate the old motor with addition of aftermarket ECU, brace, new linkage and quick shift and hopefully leave behind the water leaks! It'll be used for the odd commute and when weekend driving doesn't demand something more family friendly....

 

Maybe just before winter it'll go back in for TBs and slip diff, not sure about what type yet though. Finally into the paintshop for a tart up. Interior original as possible but with some up to date ice and other tricks.

 

Current headache is choice of gears. I obviously have the 1.6 gearbox option, but in the donor car there's a 1.9 box with a 1.6 diff, which is probably what made the car so box-of-frogs but also made the upper revs pretty unusable in the lower gears, and has no sort of sensible cruising speed. On the table is an option to put a 1.9 diff back in, or keep 1.9 box with 1.6 diff and use a 5th from a diesel. My ropey gearcalc program reckons fifth would start at 4,800 rpm, 700 shy of what it did previous, but that's at ~100mph so maybe wouldn't be a common concern!

 

Thanks for checking it out, I'll get more pics once it's back from MOT if there's folks keen to see. Any input greatly appreciated, 'specially if you've anything similar or come up against any issues. Keep an eye out for me in the Wanted section, there's a budget to burn....!

 

Cheers

Edited September 8, 2013 by PeterGriffin

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Wheels finished - nice coating of lacquer on my lungs

 

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Extra gleam added to wheels with a wee polish, ready to be sealed in the morning. Shine maybe not noticeable too much on the photos...

 

 

Decided to re-use the 306D front brakes from the old motor, and leave the drums on the rear.

 

And for the time being, sticking with the 1.9 box using a 1.6 final drive from the donor. Will likely customise a box next year sometime, once I know what the new power curve looks like.

 

The -25 springs are fitted at front with the koni dampers, but the steering rack has more play than a Sky Sports super sunday so it's still not much fun to drive, and gear linkages are so far gone it needs holding into reverse....!

 

Tomorrow I'll scrape off the 2lbs of silicone holding the door trims on, onwards and upwards.

 

R

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Not much to update with, still waiting on return of the car from scotland's finest, but have been working on restoring the trims while I wait.

 

Driver's side trim has come up really nice (80/20 mix with black/grey plasticare), but I have a very light coloured boot lid trim which point blank refuses to take the plasticare, it just kind of sits on top of the plastic.

 

​

 

I'm not even sure it's from a GTi at all, the back end looked a bit thrown together to be honest.

 

I have a black-ish boot trim so might as well use that. Or might try to rough up this one, see if it's able to take the dye any better.

 

Hoping to get the motor back in next week or so, as I really don't want to buy 19" 255 winter tyres, I always thought the 205's were quite good in the snow.

 

Next needed is a set of tyres, have until the motor returns to find a good 2nd hand deal but if not looking at going for a set of Proxes or PS3's

[309jazzpanda 39]

Did you get this from Crewe?

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

No mate, I picked it up in Edinburgh, had been used as a commuter car for few years, hence the miles.

 

Unusual colour but it grew on me quite quickly

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Not much progress to report unfortunately, and could use some help. Car still in the garage, engine has been in for some time but couple of niggles preventing me getting my dirty hands on it.

 

Last word I had was that the engine was in, but starting poorly and stuttering unless being pushed hard, but when I visited it didn't start at all.

It's running a 3 row ECU, same as it did in the previous 205, and in there it was a sweet engine. (Garage even tested it in old car so as not to waste time removing if it was duff). I've been advised it will run, but will idle very badly and stutter unless the foot is down, and hence they recommend a programmable ECU. New ECU was always in the plans, but not quite yet, and it's confusing why it doesn't run like it did. Only major difference is that old donor shell was 1.9, this one is a 1.6.

 

Then there's the brakes. As it's 1.6 it runs drums on the back, but the front calipers are again from the old car and are from a 307 Derv, with the 283mm discs. He said they're stopping the car fine, but full braking effort wasn't until the end of the pedal travel. I looked into it and sent him a 23mm master cylinder but it has made little to no difference.

 

He's a good lad and doesn't want to hand the car back until it's ready to roll. If anyone has any experience with either issue they think might help then I'd appreciate a shout. It's been in there too long by half....!

 

Thanks folks

Edited February 13, 2014 by PeterGriffin

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

anyone?

[welshpug 1,626]

it ran fine before being moved right?

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Indeed it did sir, like a purring tiger...

[Anthony 1,000]

Won't make any difference being a 1.6 or 1.9 shell.

 

Mi's work fine on the original management with a mild inlet cam, as obviously yours did in the donor car.

 

Best guess is that either something isn't connected properly or there's an airleak somewhere, assuming that nothing more has been done beyond removing the engine and management from one car and fitting it into the new one. Hard to diagnose over the internet unfortunately!

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

I know mate, major straw clutching. I may give him a visit tomorrow.

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

It's BACK!

 

After to-ing and fro-ing with ignition modules (cheers welsh), I have her back again, finally. All the good bits transferred, lowered 20mm all round on progressive springs, Derv big brake conversion, Kent cams fast road perched in a strong mi16. The alignment and tracking are bang on. It uses a 1.9 box with 1.6 FD, so pulls like a madman but runs out of gears quite quickly.

 

I stuck on the pieces of trim that I dyed before christmas, and they look very good. Hopefully finish rest of trim this coming weekend.

 

In tomorrow to get a set of michelin ps3's put onto the wheels I did above, so should look quite nice to see it through the summer before bodywork commences.

 

Just to remind me that she's a high maintenance bird though, a water leak seems to have put paid to my sony xplod, and the driver window is stuck fully open....

 

Onwards and upwards, I'll try get a couple of pics up tomorrow.

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

After having to replace window switch and damned boot lock this morning, finally got the new wheels and tyres fitted

 

 

You can see the difference in the dyed trim on pass door, will look good once dyed all over

 

 

Haven't cleared the gunk off but new PS3's and shiny wheels applied.

 

Car has a small unidentified leak, likely sunroof, so bought one of THESE as I don't like looking for leaks and won't be driving in the rain

 

And a bonus pic of the clio with new 182 wheels and new Exaltos...

 

 

Will be on the rust 205's rust patches at the weekend hopefully.

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

Snug as a pug in a rug

 

[309jazzpanda 39]

Excellent work, good to see a topaz blue one as well. I love that colour

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

yeah the colour has really grown on me, going in for touch up / re-spray end of summer

[Edp 67 3 Cars]

Nice Topaz, it must be one of the rarest colours.

[309jazzpanda 39]

Its a shame I cant keep my gtx, topaz blue on white pepperpots it looks very nice

[BERTMAN 40 1 Cars]

You can keep it jazz! Man up haha.

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

With the brakes fixed I put some more time into the trim. Looking good from the driver's side, passenger side and front bumper to do.

 

Also considering some touch up paint and a buffer

 

 

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

so, it's been a while since update, but that's cause nothing has happened, until recently. I put it into the bodyshop before the bad weather, gave the guy a budget and a wish list, and he did the lot and more and came in under budget. Legend. So the door pins are fixed on drivers door had that annoying drop when it was opened.

Had all the rust taken care of on rear arches, underbody waxing / paint protection. The the full mofo respray. He painted the slam panel which is a bit of a shame, he thought it was a replacement from diff car but hey ho, he wasn't to know. Still a couple of body trim parts to be dyed but getting there...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

not the best of pics I know, were just taken for the agreed value with insurance cpy...

 

Today I had the pleasure of replacing the drivers seatbelt, (thanks to amusingdan for the replacement belt). The fun started when clippy bit wouldn't fit in the slot, turned out to be different... doh. So I cut out the old one and filed the belt opening a little wider so it would slip over the fold and stitching in the new seat belt. Didn't want to remove the assembly all over again so I just lopped the proper clip onto the belt and now have the incorrect one still dangling like a spare * at a wedding, but I'll figure out a nice way to cut it off...

 

Had it on a nice long run today and it's an angry little puppy out on the b-roads, sometimes all the TLC needed for these cars bugs me and I think of getting rid, but then the mi16 winds up and I remember why I'm in it for 4 times what it's worth....

 

I also think I've cross threaded one of the bolts securing the passenger seat, I've totalled a torx driver trying to twist it in (hic...) was gonna look for a replacement bolt of some sort but it looks like it needs to be either torx or allen so it clears the wee runner valley, if anyone has one give me a shout...!

 

Cheers

Edited February 21, 2015 by PeterGriffin

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Car looks great! Well done.