So, I have another project underway, a rather selfish one, as it's being carried out on my 'new-to-me' "daily drive'.
It's a car that I have always promised myself, ever since i was a lad! A Peugeot 1.9 205 GTI. Ever since I rode in one as a young rally mechanic, when the 205 GTI was at the height of it's powers it's been on my "must own one day' list, back in February I achieved that goal!
The car was bought knowing full well that it would need some fettling. The intension being to take on "bite sized chunks" and spread the work over a period of time.
Having driven the car 240 miles home after buying it in Bury near Manchester I identified the first "chunk" would be the front suspension, including a makeover of the bodywork under each front corner, this and a simple swap of the rear dampers, to keep things balanced.
Well, that was the intension! Now.... have you ever heard of the term "project creep"? You know, when circumstances cause some changes to your plans, and things take on a more, errr, substantial stance! Well, see if you can follow my logic.....
Once the wheels were off, It was clear the car was "very original", a nice fact but at 22 years old the other term i could use would be "very tired"! Including the discovery of some reasonably extensive rot on the right chassis leg (see pic below), that would need to be welded, certainly before the next MOT, but really as part of the "front corner" restoration. Now, this is where things start to creep....
It's a car that I have always promised myself, ever since i was a lad! A Peugeot 1.9 205 GTI. Ever since I rode in one as a young rally mechanic, when the 205 GTI was at the height of it's powers it's been on my "must own one day' list, back in February I achieved that goal!
The car was bought knowing full well that it would need some fettling. The intension being to take on "bite sized chunks" and spread the work over a period of time.
Having driven the car 240 miles home after buying it in Bury near Manchester I identified the first "chunk" would be the front suspension, including a makeover of the bodywork under each front corner, this and a simple swap of the rear dampers, to keep things balanced.
Well, that was the intension! Now.... have you ever heard of the term "project creep"? You know, when circumstances cause some changes to your plans, and things take on a more, errr, substantial stance! Well, see if you can follow my logic.....
Once the wheels were off, It was clear the car was "very original", a nice fact but at 22 years old the other term i could use would be "very tired"! Including the discovery of some reasonably extensive rot on the right chassis leg (see pic below), that would need to be welded, certainly before the next MOT, but really as part of the "front corner" restoration. Now, this is where things start to creep....
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As you can see the engine sits very close to the area that needs welding and it will clearly be a serious restriction for any grinding / cleaning up etc, so...... with the agreement of my very understanding wife "we" have decided the engine needs to be removed and....... the engine clearly had a few leak issues, mainly from perished hoses but also from various gaskets and seals as well so...... having made the decision to remove the engine, clearly there is no point putting it back without fixing the leaks, whick will require the purchase of a gasket set and..... if stripping the engine to fit new gaskets, clearly it makes sense to check over the rest of the engine mechanicals too, so..... the engine might as well be stripped and checked "properly" and...... (finally), it clearly would not make sense to put a nice shiny rebuilt engine back into a dirty engine bay, so...... the concept of "Bulkhead Forwards" restoration has been born. I plan to take you through my journey in the next few blog entries!
Please watch this space! (and follow me on twitter if you would like notification of my next blogs)
Please watch this space! (and follow me on twitter if you would like notification of my next blogs)
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