1991 Peugeot 106 - let the Un-bendification commence!

So it seems after 6 years since my last post the 106 can actually be defined as retro....

lots have happened to the "Flying Blackboard" has its now been dubbed i'll give a potted history of what I can remember!(sorry there are no pictures)
I designed, developed and fitted a spherical bottom ball joint conversion in early 2009 following a spate of the car eating balljoints due to ovalised balljoint holes. To say I’m pleased after 6 years of being used and exposed to the very worst Derbyshire whites (farm tracks) have to offer, pressure washed after every event for only one of the spherical joints has a very slight play is an understatement.

So on with this merry tale...

En route to the Jackson Trophy rally in 2009 a horrendous knocking from the engine occurred under power, wasn’t a big end knock, got it back to the 'shop and subsequently discovered one of the little end bearings had nipped up.

Then came the lay up for most of 2010 lack of rallying funds dictated this.

finally fitted a 75k mile 106 Gti 16v engine i picked up for what was then cheap (£175 iirc)

Fitted it to and got back into road rallying. Now the MA gearbox fitted to 106 / Saxo's etc isn’t known as the cadburys gearbox for no reason, IF you rebuild them at the 1st sign of whining, struggling to get in gear with new bearings, balk rings etc then they seem to last at least a season or two of abuse. however my pockets didn’t run that deep so my gearbox’s were rebuilt from sweepings up from the workshop from varous MA gearboxes that were acquired and stripped over time.

Got fed up with this and gathered the bits and appropriate info to do a BE4r conversion from a picasso with a hybrid gearset that gives a very good close set of ratios that transform the car, from something relatively quick into something perfect for the lanes that surprises a lot of other crews. Not to do thing by half it was decided that since we had the front end in bits id convert my coilovers to take 306 hubs, and proper inverted bilstein gravel dampers.
The car competed like this regulary with mixed success for a few years (2nd in class on the Clitheronian rally with a broken engine mount)


That brings us more or less to this year, decided to retire the car and me for a year to concentrate on some other projects. (206 gti Rally car build, house DIY etc.)

Decided the engine bay was looks very Grotty, the Extrior paint was Grotty and had been getting more and more on my nerves over the last few years but because of the rallies we were doing, moving house, moving workshops and life generally getting in the way I never got round to sorting it out.
Whipped the engine out to be faced with this.







Pressure washed and Stripped the accumulated gloss paint (yes yes I know but It was free and I didn’t know any better) with Langlow Prostrip which is a brilliant product. Smells properly potent and stings if you get in on your skin, (I got it from Sheffield Refinishing supplies).

Mighty pleased with the lack of rot after the last 8-9 years of being rattled around the lanes and whites.



Then it all went tits up a bit….. The front suspension was getting tired and needed new dampers and a spot of paint…..so decided to convert some new struts currently gathering parts.

ACTUAL RETRO CONTENT!!!
Was given this.







1971 Reliant Scimitar GTE SE5 it’s been sat outside since 2009 it’s got the original Essex v6 in, has the Laycock overdrive fitted, very damp black interior, it’s pretty complete, missing a few odd bits of trim on inside, a 3 litres badge on the Pass side and a I from the scimitar badge on the back.
Nothing much going to happen with it for 6 – 8 months as ive got far too many other car and workshop related projects to get finished / moved on.

but looking / prodding its going to be a full body off resto..

Progress has been made.



Welded these up, removed the conversion tubes from my old struts, (they were welded on and have been cut off hence the shortness, but its not going to be a ground hugger, Tig'd (badly) in a ring of stainelss exhaust tube I had laying around.

fitted them to my previously grit blasted, converted to run inverted bilstein inserts and painted struts. Just waiting on the hubs to be turned down so I can fit them. (air exit holes need to be drilled in the bottom plate to stop them pumping up)



I really need to match the threaded tube length up, not seen them together till I took this photo, its now doing my head in.


Engine bay fully stripped, De-curdded, sanded down. Then last night etch primed it after breaking my large spray gun (was an El-Cheapo one that has done quite a bit of work, Over zealous tightening of a air connector split the handle), luckily Ive got a small detailing gun which was better for getting intp the nooks and crannies. Then hit it with the gloss black.






Yes its a bit non slip in places, but my workshop is a bit of a dusty place, AND its goingt o spend the rest of its life mottled in whatever particular shade of mud:
brown / Beige - Derbyshire
Weirdy brown orange that when its baked on is the hardest substance known to man...ahem - Lincolnshire
Sticky lumpy brown - Yorkshire.

Yes i could have painted the scuttle panel - but thats going satin black.

I'll paint the lower bits of the chassis rails etc in Stone Chip before the rebuild begins.

(i really should have damped down the floor, but i got excited about making progress and got carried away. when i get round to painting the shell ill get a cheap Geezbo and make a hillbillybooth.

So Naked loom.

it seems some muppet has been here before me or even before it got converted to work in an S1 106 (many moons ago by Cobblers of this very parish)



bit more hunting around the looms, repairing odd bits, went to look for a bit of wire in the Big-Box-of-Many-Many-Peugeot-Looms. to my suprise found a very very clean 106 Gti loom i purchased ages ago and had started to convert it to an S1 106. delved into it and it has not been curse word around with in any way.

HHhhhuuuzzzzzahhh!

que a few hours of me unpicking both looms and finding what goes where.
hopefully more loom solderyness this eve after ive finished thebrakes off on my brothers Modern Swift.

Well done at keeping up with the project it can't be easy with all issues you've had. You don't like to keep things simple do you.

Keep the faith my son

So after a perlonged general car / workshop based project pause. missed deadlines (rallies car shows etc), due to DIY / Building work, weddings (both of which wern't mine)empty wineglass induced finger injury which required stitches and nerve re-attachment, the usual irregular and irratic progress can resume.

Problem.

My Navigator has a pechant for occasionally booting the fusebox as he climbs into the car, this fusebox bracket was a masterpice (ahem) crafted from the finest Saxo fusebox brakety thing and given a healthy dose of cutting and welding. (it actually mounted the other way up)


Solution.
do a bit of CAD mockery uppery, forget to take foto's of said grubby bit of carboard.

Reproduce from a bit of aluminium I had laying around.




and offered up with a spare std relay plug (yes welshpug i know its a engine bay realy plug and i have a S2 106 hazzard switch... ) and fusebox in, the Aux fuse box and captive nuts will be added later this week at some point (I hope)




Hopefully this will clear his Size 10's - if not he's going rallying in flip flops.
Aftera bit more fettling and filing of the relay mounting slots I can then carry on with operation - tidy-the-curseword-wiring-up.
Then check the mechanical side of things are right,
Set up the suspension & steering.
Drive it up the road, decide the gear change is pants, take it apart again fix it,
MOT/

Rally the wheels of it.

So, another update,

before the truck bed paint based fiasco another bracket was made to stiffen up the panel against the dash - this should result in a lack of dash mocement as we go over jumps..

installation commenced.



This was after much swearing, tidying up of wiring - Have I mentioned I HATE Wiring, well actually doing fresh custom made wiring, going where you want it is quite pleasent once you have got over the inital fear of it never actually working again. what i do infact HATE with a sodding passion is modifying / rerouting OEM wiring, - however time and thurther procrastination avoidance constraints have caused me to use what ive got.

just need to wiring in the Aux bits abd bobs, fit a cover for the Buzzbar, Oh and sort out the engine loom and ECU mounting....did i mention my Mild dislike of OEM wiring?

Looks like some good progress you're making man. Nice to see one being used for its intended purpose!

sorry all the stock hatch bits are long gone

Oh the 106 is a never ending cycle of repair & improvement, but light on rallying recently.

lastest saga involves:

- me buying and fitting a plate differential
- driveshaft destruction,
- the shortest competitive distance I have ever done, ever
- much going backwards and forwards on powersteering set ups
- modifying the bulhead to fit a powersteering setup of a S2 106 * Saxo, making the bracket for the pump work, and then removing it all
- finding and fixing more rust.
- building and fitting an EPas column and it works


Details and pics to follow....