My Rally Project

WHAT AN ANTI-CLIMAX!

I hardly ever venture into Motors as I'm not a car person at all, but I do like to read these project threads.... hours of becoming thoroughly engrossed and it comes to this...

:mad: DAMN YOU LOPEZ! *shakes fist whilst choking on discontent*

:p
 
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Hope you get it finished. I used to have a 205 gti with a 1.6 16v saxo vts engine in. Was very fast until the gearbox let go and had to get rid of it.
 
After not really touching the 205 for about 2 years I decided at the weekend that I'd have a crack at it.
After buying the Manta I've not really felt the need for a project but something was nagging away at me to do some work on it.

I bought a new battery, a compressor, an airgun, some impact sockets, a set of spark plug leads, a dizzy cap and headed down the garage.

Now since the engine went in I've not been able to get it to run well - but I've never really done any troubleshooting as such - just swapped various items and hoped for the best.
So this time I did it properly.

First off, fit the new battery.
Then, removed the injector rail and held it in the air whilst cranking the starter to check I was getting fuel to each cylinder. 4 nice constant jets told me that yes, I was.
Then I checked the coil was giving out a decent spark - yes, it was.
Engine started and ran, but very rough. Although that said, it's only fitted with a 4 branch manifold - no exhaust system. So I hooked up a temporary exhaust system made of bits of 205 and Manta to give me half a chance of hearing any misfires properly.
Replaced the injectors and did a compression test. Even across all 4 cylinders so not head gasket (unless the liners had dropped and all 4 had gone - unlikely as pressure was decent on each bore)
Check for spark - yes, sparks on 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Put it all back together - still missing like a **** :mad:

Tried swapping a few leads around, only made it worse.

With the engine running, pulled each lead in turn. Confirmed not firing on 1 and 2 but both were getting spark out of the block. Considered buying spark tester to see if output was sufficient.
Got annoyed, scratched head, consulted the old man.

If you eliminate the impossible (no spark, no fuel, no compression) then what remains, however improbable (firing order, unchanged from the donor engine and matching my tech diagrams) must be the truth.

So swapped plugs 1 and 2 on the dizzy cap and tried again.

BINGO :cool:

Mojo restored, tonight I stripped some bits off my replacement beam to clean them up and began to dismantle the one on the car currently (which is shagged)
God I love my compressor, I'd forgotton how much easier everything is with air tools when you are dealing with big, rusty nuts and bolts.

Updates and pics to follow, making the most of my renewed enthusiasm while it lasts :D
 
Lopez - When I drove through Llangadog on my A4069 run I posted about a while back I saw a white 205 GTI, with a half cage, bucket seats, mud flaps and steel wheels, parked up outside some house at the start of the mountain road, and it made me think back to this project! Glad to see some work is being done :)
 
-westy- said:
How I would have loved air tools when I had my 205!
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It makes such a difference. It would have taken loads of brute force and hammering to get those big rusted bolts out by hand, but with an air gun even the most rusted ones give up eventually and without wearing me out or skinning my knuckles.

Will said:
Lopez - When I drove through Llangadog on my A4069 run I posted about a while back I saw a white 205 GTI, with a half cage, bucket seats, mud flaps and steel wheels, parked up outside some house at the start of the mountain road, and it made me think back to this project! Glad to see some work is being done :)
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I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of running 205s in Wales were road rally cars these days, they're ever so popular on night events.

I've ordered some more Bilt Hamber Deox-C so I can clean up the brake drum backing plates, each end will need standing in a bucket of solution for a few days to get it back to clean metal.Then I can repaint, fit new shoes and wheel cylinders, new brake lines and then swap the beams over. After that the windscreen needs refitting, finish off some wiring, sort all the breathers, refill the gearbox oil and maybe take a test drive.
 
Nothing worth photographing until my fresh batch of Deox-C turns up, both hubs will need a good soak in that for a few days to get them half decent and then I can paint and reassemble the hubs and pop the lot back on the car.
 
I didn't realise the 205 was across this way, some reason thought it was in a garage quite a long distance (I seem to have wales in my head) away. Good to see it is coming back to life, when I've driven a 1.6 GTi it really was a lot of fun. :D You getting it going for road rallying?
 
Lopéz said:
Nothing worth photographing until my fresh batch of Deox-C turns up, both hubs will need a good soak in that for a few days to get them half decent and then I can paint and reassemble the hubs and pop the lot back on the car.
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Mind out, my 4kg was burst iside the cardboard box. Not packed very well but I did just tip it all into a whey protein container.

Just hope my bro doesn't start eating it!
 
DRZ said:
Can I reserve some sort of trip out in it if it ever gets back on the road please?
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No.

saitrix said:
I didn't realise the 205 was across this way, some reason thought it was in a garage quite a long distance (I seem to have wales in my head) away. Good to see it is coming back to life, when I've driven a 1.6 GTi it really was a lot of fun. :D You getting it going for road rallying?
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Yeah, RR or sprints/hillclimbs. Just want to get it running and roadworthy first!

-Ad- said:
Mind out, my 4kg was burst iside the cardboard box. Not packed very well but I did just tip it all into a whey protein container.

Just hope my bro doesn't start eating it!
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Deox-C looks like it might taste nice.....


Just ordered new rear wheel bearings, handbrake cables, brake shoes and brake hoses for the back end.
With the cable set up to satisfy the MOT tester and the hydraulic for "real" use she should lock up like a beaut!

Once the beam is painted and on next up will be the exhaust (need a 30 degree bend I think to mate the Magnex back box to the front pipe) and then I need a new windscreen rubber. Not looking forward to putting the new screen in, done a few before but it's one of my least favourite jobs.
 
Okay, now I have an exhaust so that's one less job to do. It's a proper ***** effort this one, [TW]Fox would be appalled.

Magnex 4-branch stainless manifold connected to a straight length of 2" exhaust tubing, 30 degree bend cut off the old (rotten) centre box and then straight into a (rather massive) 309 GTI stainless Magnex back box with the too-long-for-the-205 tailpipe cut off so it doesn't protrude from the bumper (to be replaced with a universal round rolled tailpipe trim)

Sounds good, raspy and isn't too loud. I'll make a video when I can find my old camera as the sound distorts a bit on my Galaxy S.

One rear hub is currently soaking in a bucket of Bilt-Hamber Hydrate80 solution - the corrosion is quite severe so I'll leave it over the weekend and then agitate with a wire wheel before a final soak to finish off.
Then I can do the other side.

Need to find my new brake shoes too, they're in "storage" somewhere.
 
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