My Rally Project

Lopez - looking good :)

Just wondering if you had any good sites for me to look at regarding 205GTI's and what to look for etc. I'm thinking of getting a 1.6GTI as my next car and I'm totally clueless about them and I hate buying cars without doing my homework!

Most of the ones I see available are tipping 150k - are these coming to the end of their lives?

Cheers,
Mark
 
I've never had one with less miles than that :)

There are only 2 "OMG" jobs that can really go wrong on them.

1) Rear axle collapse (this is gradual, not sudden)
2) Bottom end failure

The rear axle collapse can be fixed in the short term by just replacing it with one off any old 205 - you should get a beam for £50 or so, and it really is quite easy to do - 4 bolts IIRC. The engines are noisy but shouldn't rattle. If they rattle badly the bottom end is going. Suspension knocks are normal, and never expensive to sort out. Smoke on startup is normal, the valve stem oil seals harden easily but most people don't bother fixing it.

BTW, just found the Cibie box for my Oscars and it describes the lens types:

21.jpg
 
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I was pleasantly surprised by how cheap they are at the mo - that cant continue for too long!

Any good sites/forums for me to look at? 205gti owners club or anything?

Mark
 
Top work there. A friend of mine is finishing a championship in a couple of weeks in his 205. He's spent most of the season beating privateers in Subarus and Evos :D
 
have enjoyed reading this thread so far, keep up the good work :)

i will await more updates and of course lots more photos ;)
 
burns is right, 205 GTi Drivers is a very good forum, been lurking there for a while.

I wasn't going to do anything today, the wind outside is crazy strong and all the dust outside the house is whipping into my eyes and generally frustrating me. Plus I can't find my drill which I need for the next part of the interior work (mounting switches)

So I took the diagonal of the roll cage which looks bloody terrible thanks to the measly coat of hammerite it received 3 years ago:

22.jpg


After a few minutes with the orbital:

23.jpg


When it's all back to bright metal it gets a few coats of primer followed by a LOT of white Hammerite smooth. Being inside the car doesn't mean it won't rust, I've learned from experience that whilst cages don't really rot, they certainly pick up an unhealthy coat of surface corrosion if they aren't thoroughly painted. This is one reason people tend to favour Safety Devices if money is no object - the cages come powder coated from the factory.
 
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Whilst waiting for the paint to dry I found my drill. So, I decided I may as well mount the battery cut off switch.

First thing I discovered - jesus christ, carbon fibre is VERY hard to drill! Tried a few bits but sheer pressure seemed the only way through in the end.
When I'd made some holes in it, I widened them into a slot using a jigsaw. Remember to tape over the surface you are cutting or it scratches to holy hell.

After a lot of widening, I managed to get the thing to fit, drilled the mounting holes, and bolted in place:

24.jpg


And test fitted into the console:

25.jpg


Happy with the fit, so when it comes to the wiring I can simply hook it up and then superglue the panel in place. If it needs removing at any point, it can be done so by popping the panel out with a good hard belt from behind.
 
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Lopéz said:
(there are LOTS of my mates in the area who have built rally cars, it's a popular sport in Wales)
Click to expand...

It is indeed, I remember when I was a lad the standard catchphrase was..

Yay ass, broadside, goin' like a ****!

This was to be used in such tales as "there I was, in the escort, and we got to <notorious corner> and I though "I ain't slowing down!", so round we went, yay ass, broadside, goin' like a **** I was! <friends name> nearly **** himself! I need a pint now!"

Or "we were up the forestry roads last night, Oh we had some fun, every corner yay ass, broadside, goin' like a **** you know? It was fabulus!" ;)

Ah, them were the days, lunacy in a steel box. I remember coming back from Pembroke in a mates MkII Cortina 2000E. It must have been about 16 years old or so at the time. By the time we got back to Saundersfoot we all had our heads out of the window because the car had filled up with smoke from the burned out engine :)
 
Bit OT but how do these rallies work? I went to a night one down Carmarthen a few years back and couldn't understand it.

It was pitch black and wet, maybe 2am, the roads appeared to be open, every now and then there was an oncoming car but there was a rally in progress. I watched a co-driver scream at a woman to reverse her Nova out of the way, even the crowd started to get involved because she was blocking him. She couldn't move because she had met him at a blind junction, he had come around on the handbrake and she was coming up the road he was turning onto. She was so scared it was hilarious!

If the roads are open how can you drive like this? :D

Any link to a guide? I'd love to give this a go!
 
The roads are still open and the public have full access as per usual. All selectives are timed. For example if it's timed to 30 mph, you could have a 30 mile selective which would give you an hour to do it in. So, if you did it in 1 hour 45 seconds, your overral time would be 45 seconds. If you did it in 59 minutes you would receive one fail for arriving to early (speeding! ;))
I know what your thinking, anyone can drive at 30 miles per hour it's easy, but throw in control boards, junctions, white's, triangles, hairpins, mistakes, farm yards, badgers, mud etc... it soon becomes clear that you have to go like hell for leather on the fast bits to make time up. The trick is to arrive at the time control smack on your time.
If car number 00 (course car) starts at 12.00 at TC1 and his arrival at SF1 is 12.22 then they have allowed 22 minutes to complete the selective.
If you are car number 24 you then start at 12.24 (1 minute intervals) and your due time at SF1 would be 12.46. If you are late arriving by a minute you then need to make sure that you arrive at the next time control a minute later than your original due time (not always the case though)... I tell you, driving is the easy part ;)
 
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lol! That is pretty much what google said (30mph etc) but I didn't understand because these guys were going hell for leather! Appreciate the explanation, thanks.

So I guess you can be booked by the police for speeding? dangerous driving?
 
300 quid for the car? Woah, I need to push ahead with my own version of this project. It's just sorting out all the race licence stuff that holds me back. I know I've personally asked you about it before lopez.. look at the site, got confused and then said 'I'll come back to it later' and then don't.

This is making me think about it again more and more :D
 
Nice to see a proper project on the go :)

Always been a fan of the 205 gti, Would love to have one but insurance is still a bit silly for me on cars like that :(
 
Suprised Deadly hasn't posted in this thread. He's got quite a nice little 205 :)

Pics from the Manchester Meet. Hope you don't mind me posting them mate.







Anyway, looks like you're coming along with the project nicely Lopez. Lovely little runner you picked up there. Looking forward to seeing what else you've got planned for it.
 
Matteh said:
Would love to have one but insurance is still a bit silly for me on cars like that :(
Click to expand...

Thank you for your enquiry. Our quotation of £257.50 is valid for 30 days and consists of the following:

Annual Premium including:
Insurance Premium Tax at 5%
: £210.00
Breakdown Cover
: £25.00
Legal Cover
: £15.00
Policy Charge
: £7.50

Vehicle Make: Peugeot Model: 205 GTI Value: xxxx

Comprehensive Cover Subject to a £150 Excess.

Use: Social, domestic & pleasure, excluding commuting. Mileage Limitation: 1500
(Any unused mileage may be carried over to the following year - on application)
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:)

While I was ripping my ailing PC apart some more stuff came. Battery box, strut brace and extinguisher/battery pull cord from Rally Design.

The battery box is tough but a truly awful finish - all crazed and tatty, so I might rub it down and spray it before fitting.

The pull cord will be mounted underneath the screen and connected to my battery master switch. Not a hard job, but one I want to do neatly.

The strut brace is OMP, nicely finished, but it's for a 205 Rallye so I won't be able to retain my original airbox. Which fits my plans perfectly, because I want to fit my Cosworth filter in the space where the battery currently is, and the battery goes nicely in my new battery box which will live in the boot. :)
 
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