niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Oct 24, 2019 12:14:34 GMT
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I've had this little motor for a few months now, but until recently I didn't have a smart phone or a camera. Well, I finally rejoined the 21st century, so I thought I'd take a couple of photos and write a little about "Lemon", my '92 Peugeot 205.  This used to belong to my SO's parents. They had owned it from 2007, but in 2014 it failed it MOT on dodgy brakes and a holey exhaust. At the time, both of them were really quite ill, so they bought a 2004 Honda Civic and parked this in the car port at the end of the garden until they got around to fixing it. They never got round to fixing it and they quite liked the Civic, so they offered it to me. I was more than happy to take it off their hands. I am a freelance musician/actor/arty type person, regularly working in multiple locations in one day and often needing to transport a lot of equipment, and while I could occasionally borrow my SO's Mondeo estate I didn't have a car of my own at the time. I'd also spent a lot of time driving an old ex girlfriend's 1.0 4 speed 205 a few years ago, which I loved! The thought of an extra 10hp and another ratio was VERY exciting, so I grabbed a few hours here and there to get it ready for an MOT and in July it passed!  Since then I have straightened the front a little (it was in a minor accident at some point and, while not structurally damaged, looked a bit cross-eyed) changed all the fluids and driven it a little over 1500 miles. The tyres it came on were ancient, so I got a set of nearly new (though pretty dreadful) Ceat Spiders, attached to some quite attractive steel wheels from a 106, for £20. Since then I have bought these Capri pepperpot wheels, which may be making an appearance at a later date, along with a healthy drop and a trick front valance I got for £3.50.  Annoyingly the car has started to show a few issues. The input shaft bearing was noisy before, but recently started honking loudly when accelerating or decelerating. I recently picked up a box from a 206 to swap over at some point. There is a very disconcerting knocking noise coming from the rear. It sounds like the wheel bolts haven't been tightened properly, but they have. I haven't had much time to look into this yet, but its not very pleasant to drive when you are worried about the rear wheel falling off. The brake pedal has started creaking ominously. I'mg guessing a noisy return spring or something somewhere? It also is a little reluctant to start from cold, struggling to idle at first and running pretty lumpy until its well and truly warm. No idea why. I think its running rich after looking at the plugs, but no idea if that has anything to do with the poor cold idle. I'll keep this up to date as I get things fixed and then break it again, but for the time being, that's about it! |
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Last Edit: Nov 13, 2020 15:33:01 GMT by niwid
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ovimor
North East
...It'll be ME!
Posts: 934
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Oct 24, 2019 12:58:22 GMT
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Joy of Sheds* *not wooden ones lol... Cracking rod there and, as you love 205s, then worthwhile investment  OVIMOR |
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Knowledge is to know a Tomato is a 'fruit' - Wisdom, on the other hand, is knowing not to put it in a 'fruit salad'!
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Apr 18, 2020 13:27:02 GMT
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So during this lock down I have finally got round to doing some jobs on this little zipper. I thought I would just get a couple of small things done, such as get the horn working again and fix the exhaust hole, but upon inspection, I found a bit of oil had made its way into the coolant. This, along with the slight wisp of white smoke when under load and subtle coolanty smell from the exhaust, told me the headgasket was probably on its way out. So my pal Jason and I whipped the head off. The first thing we noticed was that the pistons moved in the bore quite a bit. I posted it on social media and had mixed opinions, some people saying that a little movement was normal, others saying that it looked like the gap front to back looked a touch wider than the gap side to side, meaning the bores may be ovalled. This might explain the spots of oil making their way into the intake and seemingly excessive blow by with the oil cap removed when running. Hmmmm. We then took a look at the head to see if it needed skimming.     Yeah... quite a bit of corrosion on the head around the water jackets and the pitting was deeper than a skim could get rid of. Again, mixed opinions on social media. Some people saying it was fine as it was just around the water jacket, others saying it may be worth looking for a cylinder head. I was tempted to get the head skimmed as much as possible, slap it back together with a new headgasket and see how long it lasted, but I came across another 1.1 205 engine on ebay with 52k on the clock and all ancilliaries still attached. I offered £100 for the lot and to my surprise they accepted! So off we went to collect it. The chap at the breakers seemed quite surprised when we turned up in Jason's shiny 3 month old Mercedes A-Class company car and proceeded to load the filthy dirty engine into the boot! We decided to simply drop the whole engine into the car without swapping anything over, and if anything wasn't up to scratch we could use the known good parts from the previous engine. I gave the engine a quick clean with a pressure washer and some gunk, chuked a new timing belt kit and water pump on and fitted the gearbox I was previously running. I checked the valve clearances, threw in some new(ish) spark plugs that Jase had lying around and called it done. I also repaired the dented and split front pipe while it was out. My first welded exhaust repair!  Both of us were a little apprehensive. An engine swap, even in something as simple as the 205, is a fairly big job for hobbyists such as us, and we only had the breakers word that it was a decent engine. We needent have worried though. We got the old engine out in about 2 hours and fitted the new one in about 5, with everything plumbed in and wired up. The time had come to turn the key and see what happened... It fired up on the second turn of the key, and it sounded sweet as a nut! The white smoke was just from transporting it on its side and the oil I'd put down the bores while working on it and it cleared up shortly after. Result! While the car was in bits I thought it would be rude not to take the opportunity to fit a pair of 30mm Apex lowering springs I had picked up cheap months ago. Now to put the wheels back on and see how it sat...  That sits SO much better than standard. Its dropped a lot more than 30mm as the springs are for a GTi, which are about 20mm lower from the factory. Time for a test drive!  The smile on my sweaty, oily face is indicative of how well it went. It drove beautifully! I'm guessing that the old engine may well have been ok to throw back together and run for a while, but the difference in throttle response and smoothness of the power delivery told me that there was probably a lot of things not quite right with the old lump and that it was worth doing the swap. After flushing the coolant and tidying everything up we gave it a good wash. I took it on a long drive to take a whole bunch of equipment from one place to another, and with all my stuff in the back the rear ride height looked just about spot on. I reckon lowering the rear beam by between 20-30mm will be about right, but thats for another time.  The long drive proved that the engine was as tight as could be, and that the new springs were much firmer, but not at all uncomfortable, even on very bumpy roads. The gearbox is not happy though. Its noisy and it became quite difficult to get it into 1st, 5th or reverse. I'd recently swapped it out for another, as the previous one was making some pretty janky noises. I'm hoping that its just low on gear oil. I reused the old stuff as it had only done around 300 miles since being changed, so I'm wondering if I lost a little more than I thought from spillage and residue. Fingers crossed a top up will sort it. For now though, I'm happy. I have fallen back in love with the car and reminded myself that I really do need to make time to work on it, as it keeps me slightly closer to sane than I otherwise would be. |
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Last Edit: Apr 18, 2020 13:44:04 GMT by niwid
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Apr 25, 2020 23:14:02 GMT
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I changed the gearbox oil today. The old staff had gone cloudy and creamy, so I'm guessing some water got into it when I reused it. Lesson learned, don't reuse gearbox oil. The gear change is now much better, but the rumbling noise hasn't gone away. It doesn't go away when you press the clutch or engage a gear, so I don't think its the box itself. I'm slightly worried that it may actually be the engine, maybe a crank bearing? But the engine seems so smooth and runs really well. Its definitely coming from around the clutch end of the engine though, so Jason and I had a chat and went through what we did when we put it back together. I loosened the clutch pressure plate bolts to check that it all moved freely, which it did, however I don't remember putting any thread lock on the bolts and they are only torqued to about 15 lbft. I'm gonna get the box off (again!) this week and have a look. I don't want a bolt coming out while its running and shooting a hole through the bell housing. Its a bit of a pain to have to go through that for the third time, but if that's the issue then its worth doing. I've ordered another 2 litres of Total BV :/ Can anyone think of anything else that I should check? In other news, I trial fitted the cheapo aftermarket front valance I picked up ages ago! The first 2 pics are photoshoped to see how it might look colour coded.       I really like the look, especially the first photoshop. Its retro, sporty, a bit boy racer without being 'Max Power', however I think it would look better on someone elses car. Its not really 'me' and I'd rather do something a little more subtle. I'm going to stick with the standard bumpers, probably colour coded, and maybe I'll have a go at fitting one of the smaller MK1 Golf splitters for a subtle touch. |
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,617
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Apr 25, 2020 23:46:27 GMT
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Can't say I like the look of the Frt valance at all. Too wide & square.
A lower lip/splitter on the original valance would look much better, especially with the valances colour coded.
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Apr 25, 2020 23:57:26 GMT
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I am sorry, but I am not liking that valance/spoiler thing much at all. However I do like your car and I like that you are really looking after it and trying to get it spot on!!
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75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,052
Club RR Member Number: 181
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I'm going to go against the grain and give the lower valance a big thumbs up. Would I put one on a gti, a rallye, or a low milage minter? No. But, this isn't trying to be any of those things. I can see this as a nice, late 80s/early 90s pre max power modded look, appearing on the electric boogaloo thread resprayed white with some side strake graphics and the pepperpots done in graphite.
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75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,052
Club RR Member Number: 181
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Actually I just looked at the photo of the pepperpots and with the polished lip they can stay black. Keep up the good work!
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,274
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Could the noise be a spring on the pressure plate or a thrust bearing?
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Great work on yours, looks good. Love the stance. I had a 1.1 that had the same rumble: I convinced myself that it was the diff, but sold the car (scrapped, sadly) before investigating further.
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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I'm going to go against the grain and give the lower valance a big thumbs up. Would I put one on a gti, a rallye, or a low milage minter? No. But, this isn't trying to be any of those things. I can see this as a nice, late 80s/early 90s pre max power modded look, appearing on the electric boogaloo thread resprayed white with some side strake graphics and the pepperpots done in graphite. It would look the absolute nuts tbh, but I haven't got much cash to spend on non-essential stuff for it at the moment. I'll be putting the valance on eBay in the coming months, which will help to pay for the brake job it really needs. |
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Could the noise be a spring on the pressure plate or a thrust bearing? Hmmm, how would I check the springs? I can't imagine it's the thrust bearing. Had a noisy one on it before, it been replaced, and the sound would stop when you pushed the clutch in. |
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Great work on yours, looks good. Love the stance. I had a 1.1 that had the same rumble: I convinced myself that it was the diff, but sold the car (scrapped, sadly) before investigating further. Aw poor thing ! The gearbox that was on before had a noisy diff, which is one of the reasons I swapped it out. This is different though :/ Stance will be changing slightly in the coming months when I bring the back down to match the front, it is a little rakey atm |
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,274
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Could the noise be a spring on the pressure plate or a thrust bearing? Hmmm, how would I check the springs? I can't imagine it's the thrust bearing. Had a noisy one on it before, it been replaced, and the sound would stop when you pushed the clutch in. I am only aware of it being a visual check - looking to see if they are out of alignment. do you have a stethoscope? sound could perhaps let you know if it was coming from the engine or transmission. |
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Hmmm, how would I check the springs? I can't imagine it's the thrust bearing. Had a noisy one on it before, it been replaced, and the sound would stop when you pushed the clutch in. I am only aware of it being a visual check - looking to see if they are out of alignment. do you have a stethoscope? sound could perhaps let you know if it was coming from the engine or transmission. I don't have a stethoscope, but did the old long screwdriver to the ear test. Definitely seems to be coming from the clutch area, though could still be a bearing right at that end of the engine I suppose |
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jpsmit
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,274
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So even though I really am a very stable genius :0 I do at least know what I don't know and (mostly) keep my mouth shut about it.
I am not a mechanic and I don't play one on TV. But, was pondering this most of the day and I am now wondering if it is the engine?
Here is my logic. If you depress the clutch you essentially disconnect the transmission from the engine. So, the gears aren't turning, the clutch isn't grabbing and therefore it isn't spinning either as it is separated from the flywheel. So, this should in theory eliminate the thrust bearing and the spring. With the clutch depressed the only thing really turning is the engine, therefore....
I guess the question is, what then? and it might be as simple as turning up the radio and joining the auto club. If the car is running and it cost, what 100 pounds for the engine it might be worth just driving it as any repair is likely to exceed the cost of the engine. Another might be some chemical therapy - not sure if an additive would help here? I use Lucas oil additive with every oil change and it seems to make things run quieter and smoother - and oil pressure is higher. Not sure if there is a UK alternative.
Feel free to disagree as I really don't know a lot about such things but....
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I really like it in this photo... It looks nice and subtle with the lows and standard wheels and clean condition so it’s like a well looked after old car without screaming out it’s modified. I think the valance could work with the pepper pots but if you clean it up, repaint and sell it you could make a bit of money off it. As for noise it’s not something as simple as engine mounts or transmission mounts is it? Maybe worn bushings rather than loose bolts as I guess you’ve redone all those as part of the swaps. |
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Apr 28, 2020 11:43:25 GMT
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Here is my logic. If you depress the clutch you essentially disconnect the transmission from the engine. So, the gears aren't turning, the clutch isn't grabbing and therefore it isn't spinning either as it is separated from the flywheel. So, this should in theory eliminate the thrust bearing and the spring. With the clutch depressed the only thing really turning is the engine, therefore.... Yeah, this is increasingly my worry too. The only thing I can think of is the clutch to flywheel bolts, which I know I didn't locktite. Next week I will get the box and clutch off and run the engine to see if there is still a noise. If there is, I will know it's a dud engine and will probably have to just run it into the ground and scrap it, which would be a shame. |
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niwid
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,754
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Apr 28, 2020 11:50:20 GMT
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It looks nice and subtle with the lows and standard wheels and clean condition so it’s like a well looked after old car without screaming out it’s modified. I think the valance could work with the pepper pots but if you clean it up, repaint and sell it you could make a bit of money off it. As for noise it’s not something as simple as engine mounts or transmission mounts is it? Maybe worn bushings rather than loose bolts as I guess you’ve redone all those as part of the swaps. I know what you mean with the subtle OEM look. It does look kinda stylish and almost sophisticated. I don't think the pepperpots, painted silver, will be too in your face though. The other option is having a 1" band on the existing steels, which would work, but is maybe a little predictable haha. Hmmmm, bushings all seemed pretty good when we dropped it in and it definitely sounds like a rotating noise. We will have to see... |
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Apr 28, 2020 12:44:35 GMT
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The Phase 1 106 steels really suit it, even more so with a 1" band. I bought Capri wheels for mine, but can't find anyone local(ish) who wants the job of opening up the centre bore.  |
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