French Car Faffing

This blog has charted a profound change in my car buying demeanour of late.

Firstly, big straight  RWD barges have been replaced by a 4cyl FWD green blooded monster, and stoic Skoda derv drinkers have been usurped by the most Gallic of conveyances.

At the start of today I was concerned that I’d bitten off more than I could chew. The dream seemed very far from reality.

Glorious but causing me to be grumpy!

The CX remained an almost unknown quantity even after several months of trying to get going on the project, and the Peugeot 205 had been pressed into service without even a cursory glance over.

With the assistance of Maister Fowler, I’d seek to understand just how far I am from merging dream with reality.

Firstly, we tackled the CX.

The task was simple – understand just how much work would be needed to get the car in a fit mechanical state to take to the road. I’d previously had the front end apart, and had a good clean of the underside to understand the condition of the inner wings.

The LH front needs some work at the rear near the bulkhead, but otherwise seems solid enough. We already knew the disc is ok, but the pads will be replaced.

The RH front brought better news – no obvious issue with any of the brake lines, and the suspension looks decent, bar the crust of road dirt.

Application of a jet wash brought about the ability to see solid inner wings, in decent condition, and suspension that was operating well with no visible leaks.

Time to move to the back. Despite having had the car since October last year, this was the first time I’d really had a look at the rear.

Both rear wheels came off relatively easily, and the car seemed solid where jacked at both sides- a good start. The solid brake lines looked good after we carried out come archeology to free them from 30+ years of dirt in the rear arms.

It has also had recent pads at the rear – still with the super shiny paint on -they looked almost fresh out the box. The discs, however, looked to be fairly heavily worn.

Additionally, there seems to be a significant amount of fuel leaking from the filter at the rear of the car – this will need addressed asap!

In essence then, the CX needs the following on the running gear:

Front Pads

LH Front solid brake line

LH Front Flexi brake line

Rear Discs

 

For the engine/fuel:

Oil filter

Oil change

Rotor arm/Dizzy Cap

Spark Plugs

Coolant top up

Radiator fans tested

Alternator and charging circuit checked

 

Bodywork:

Hole in LH front Inner wing to be welded

Door skins to be repaired or replaced

Bonnet untwisted and straightened

Front wings tidied or replaced

 

Interior

A bloody good clean

Blower Fan fixed

 

With that done she’ll be back on the road. It may seem a lot, but with minimal parts required, and some assistance from friends, it should be easy enough!

LHM wash out time..

The 205

Back to convention for this one – pleasingly boring in comparison to the CX. We have coil springs and dampers. We have normal brake fluid and we have a manual gearbox. Simple, unsophisticated and light. Well, light if you discount the lump of Pig Iron that is the NA XUD that powers this beast..

Having bought it 6 days previous, its baptism and introduction to the fleet has been swift and brutal.

Could you get much different?

I have pressed it into daily driver service, covering over 700 miles already with no issue. It is now on its 2nd tank of fuel, and running a 40% WVO mix. Prior to the WVO going in, I saw fit to treat her to a new fuel filter.

Swapping these on an XUD is very simple, with the filter being exposed once 4 small allen bolts are removed. The filter then just pops out, and the new one can be swapped in. Once the top is refitted, it is just a case of squeezing the priming bulb to fill the filter housing with fuel, and away you go.

At the Scotoshite meeting on Wednesday evening, my mate Brian gave me an oil filter for the Pug gratis free. Today I took the opportunity to capitalise on his generosity by also splashing out a whole £10 on oil from Tesco, and treating the 205 to an overdue change.

Total spend so far £12.64.

We took the opportunity to approach the 205 review in a similar manner to that used on the CX.

Passenger front – took the wheel off to reveal a fairly heavily worn outer pad, an inner pad that had done little work, and a warped brake disc. Looks like we are on for new front discs and pads for both sides.

In the interim, we cleaned up the sliders and gravity bled the caliper to improve pedal feel.

The front dampers on both sides looked past their best, so I’ll decided whether the car is a keeper, and if so, I will get new dampers.

The driver’s side front had much better pad wear, and no obvious disc/braking force issues. However, it did have a broken bleed nipple. It is snapped off flush with the caliper, so I think a new caliper may be the most prudent repair method.

Next up, the rear of the car was investigated – this seems in reasonable condition with little cause for concern – again, the preference would be to refresh the suspension, but it appears serviceable for now.

All 4 arches seem in great condition, and the sills look to be in solid shape – I’m really pleased with the condition of the bodywork and interior, and most of the stuff that needs replaced could be considered service items due to the mileage of the car.

It has also had copper brakelines fitted, so no need to be concerned about failing the MOT with any rust on them.

Coppery goodness!

Lastly, we saw fit to wire brush and rust treat the wheels before spraying them black with pound shop paint (a cost of £2 for 2 cans). despite this not being the most thorough of jobs, and the prep being less than perfect – they turned out well, and the car is turning into quite a little looker!

Stylin!

Anyway, enough chitchat – time to get part ordering!