Mike D's day of French Excess

[Mike D]

Ahoy Fellow Shiters!

I've had an adventurous day today, involving a lot of trains and my rubbish camera phone, to buy a 'bought blind on ebay on saturday evening, drunk in the pub' Peugeot 205 XS

 

My day started at 0730, hungover, in the wrong house.. Good Start there! Anyway, I pulled myself together, and by 0920 was here:

 

 

Mighty Mighty Grimsby Town train station. Bear in mind I've never been further than Lincoln on a train before please

 

Anywho, I boarded the train:

 

 

PLUSH! The one carriage rattler soon filled up, and took me here:

 

 

Lincoln Central station. Marginally nicer than Grimsby. There, I boarded another train, but with more carriages, but the same upholstery. Check the beast here:

 

 

This took me further into the Midlands, to here:

 

 

Beeston station. Smaller than Lincoln, but it was ok. I had to then get another, nicer again train, that took me to here:

 

 

Birmingham New Street station. This looked mega grim, as it was undergoing refurbishment. I then had a ten minute wait before the final train of my journey arrived, and electric one this time, that had nicer seats, and was near silent. No pics though cos I'm a 'tard.. anyway it took me to Northampton. Again no pics as this train had to stop, and I was in a rush to get out to the ebay seller who was waiting for me in his Land Rover. He drove me the ten miles or so out of Northampton to his workshop / yard, where I was greeted by a rather folorn looking 205. I had a quick look round, checked the fluids etc, fired it up, and brassed him up, being as i'd not booked a return train ticket

 

With that out the way, I jumped aboard and headed for the A14, and the start of my journey home. First impressions were good! It's a lively little thing, the temp gauge climbed up to half way, and stayed there! All the electrics seemed to work, apart from the clock is going haywire... then I hit 70mph, and it started shaking like a shitting dog I dropped back to a shade under and it chilled out a bit, so the wheels must need some hot balancing action. Well they would, if they weren't far too small and goppingly ugly. They'll be off in the bin and i'll source some steels for it.

 

The next 17 miles or so onto the M1 passed without incident, I even got the pleasure of some bangin' tunes off the stereo

 

 

OK, maybe not! Tight Bast!

 

At the M1 services near J21, I stopped off to fill it up, and get a bite to eat. Only then did I manage to notice the roof

 

 

Tasty!

 

Here's the rest of the thing:

 

 

Hmm..... I munched a Burger king burger, chucked 25 quids worth of unleaded in the tank, and set off again. I hit motorway speeds, and the shake was back, the rear view mirror also nearly came off in my hand, its out of something else, crudely sticky padded to the screen. I was beginning to think i'd bought a bit of a dog, so unlike myself, it has actually earned itself a name, le petit chien With these doubts beginning to set in, I was feeling a bit glum. Then I hit the A46, and buried my boot in the somewhat muddy and tobacco smelling carpet. It takes off like a howling little whippet! The carb fills the cabin with induction noise, the rev counter, and speedo, fly clockwise surprisingly quickly! 3rd gear, it's straight back on song, 4th and 5th are the same, the ratios are close, and it freaking hauls its shaky little ass up to 90mph. I back off a bit, and begin to smile, It's fun this little thing, rewarding your boot with angry noise and pleasant acceleration. Only then did I see this sticker, which lightened my mood further:

 

 

A bit further along the A46 we get to the twisties, and this is where it comes into its own, the little TU3S 1400 begs to be thrashed, mated to the close ration 'box it howls along, and even on the shocking budget 155 tyres it darts around corners magnificently. I begin to grin It's the reason I wanted a small hatch again, FUN I start to feel a bit better about the car, yeah, it's scruffy as hell, but with a bit of tweaking, it should be ok, the mileage is 89K, and it actually feels pretty genuine. Theres wear on the drivers seat, and it rocks a bit, but I can sort that. The interior will come up much better after a decent vac and scrub, and I shall DA off the roof, and try and tart it a bit. I think a new drivers wing and foglight will smarten it up too.

 

It got me home in a couple of hours compared to 5 on the train, so have some pics as it arrived:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully it will start looking better by the end if the week when I can get some better wheels on it and give it a good clean

 

Cheers all,

Mike

[Guest]

Foutre ma mère vieille! C'est le car du WIN.

 

As the recent purchaser of a certified oil burning ChuggaPug from one GarethJ of this Parish, I have to say that 205s are just too fabulous for words when it comes to the actual doing driving bit, and never mind any bits that break and fall off them. Hoorah for drunkBay!

[DVee8]

On the blue forum

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... ead=147920

 

Any good to you?

[vulgalour]

These do look like a lot of fun and that one looks like it'll keep you busy for a bit. Also, "pomper" is a funny word, for no good reason.

[Guest]

That dashboard is so high tech and fully featured that you could put it in a space Shuttle and Lt Commander Data would try to shag it, or something.

[dollywobbler]

Surely the XS is the Autoshiter's GTi? Annoys me how folk don't give anything but the 'fabled' GTi a look-in.

[Guest]

Find a GTi that has not been bumsexed by every Barry in Chav-ville, and that after being thrashed senseless by some yuppie when it was new, and you will be a lucky shiter indeed. They also go for substantial wonga these days. Povvo 205s are the ones to have, it seems.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

XS's make good money if theyre in decent nick. I remember an article in C+SC a year or two ago on the 205, where they tested an XS, a GTI1.6 and 1.9, a euro-spec rallye 1294 and some other one and they reckoned the XS was the 'hidden gem' with just as much appeal as the GTi's. I have seen decent ones make 4-figure sums on the bay.

[greengartside]

That looks a very good buy! Those engines are quite hard to beat on acceleration - I think the same engine was in the Citroen AX GT?

 

Lose the wanky 90's alloys and sort the roof and that will B A STUNNAR.

[Mike D]

I actually prefer this to the GTi, you get a sense of achievement for giving it a good wringing To be fair to the poor thing, it still has dealer stickers and plates, and doesn't seem to have been cut about, I think it's a fairly honest old thing that has sadly fallen into the 'just a cheap car' stage. With the roof and drivers wing sorted, new front fogs, and I'd really like to swap the wheels for some S2 106 Rallye steels, plus a good linseed oiling and interior clean, it should look half tidy It'll never be a minter as it's fairly dented all round, but if it was i'd not want to use it as I intend There doesn't seem to be any rot on it

[Guest]

Here's a good tale, well embellished:

 

http://colonelmullet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/history-lesson-1986-peugeot-205-xs.html

[Mike D]

I need to sort some centrecaps, but I picked some new wheels up locally earlier, needs to settle a bit as it's just off the jack, but it's a massive improvement on the shoddy 5 spokes!!

 

 

 

I've hovered the interior too, and off to my mates later to try and improve the roof a bit!

[Partridge]

This is better than any crap you’d read in a car mag I reckon some TLC and the roof, a bloody good clean and some back to back on that big chunk of ribbed plastic on the back will have it looking pretty smart. Good to see those nasty alloys are gone. But how about some XS steelies? Keep us posted

[carlo]

XS's make good money if theyre in decent nick. I remember an article in C+SC a year or two ago on the 205, where they tested an XS, a GTI1.6 and 1.9, a euro-spec rallye 1294 and some other one and they reckoned the XS was the 'hidden gem' with just as much appeal as the GTi's. I have seen decent ones make 4-figure sums on the bay.

 

That was a great article, I remember it. You could really feel his love for these cars come out, and the despair that modern cars had become so bloated and funless.

[Guest]

The wheels make a huge positive difference to the look of the car. It should shape up to be a little plum.

 

The 205 in my garage is a credit to GarethJ, who has just sold it to me for my wife to drive. It's a well used but also well looked after example of the humble diesel version. Not as nippy as an XS, but great fun to smoke around in, and it scrubs up OK.

[vulgalour]

An excellent decision regarding the wheels. OEM wheels are rarely trumped by aftermarket designs.

[Timewaster]

Surely the XS is the Autoshiter's GTi? Annoys me how folk don't give anything but the 'fabled' GTi a look-in.

 

You clearly dont remember 1994!

 

I was 21 and the insurance premiums on performance stuff had gone utterly crazy. Any XS I went to look at was already sold while Gtis sat on the forecourt.

It wasn't unusual to see an XS marked up £1000 more than a Gti of the same year.

 

Obviously I bought the Gti and spent the saved grand on insurance. I've used a similar logic many times since

[Shep Shepherd]

You should try to find a set of original XS steel wheels, as they look GR12

[Mike D]

I am on the case for the original steelies However they're proving elusive and these were nearby and enabled me to get rid of the horrid 5 spokes. I've just been and given it a quick tart up at my mates, however the roof seems to be too far gone to do much about, so i'm going to DA it all off and give it a swift covering of satin black, it'll not look the best, but it'll be far far better than it is now, and shouldn't be too noticeable against the gunmetal of the rest

 

Pics then! It actually shines! Also, I gaffa taped over the broken and knackered fog lights in a true shiters bodge, it tidies the front end up a bit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've also got my Dad on the case of darning the drivers bolster back up.. The interior has come up really well!

[Shep Shepherd]

Looks like a really nice car and worthy of further improvement. The 1.9 GTi wheels look fine on it

[garethj]

Looks nice! Mine was a late 205 with bigger anti-roll bars but it still leaned through corners when thrashed hard, it's the French car way.

 

Have you considered some steel wheels from an old Peugeot Partner or Expert van? Choice of 15" and 16" so fill the arched nicely, and because they're steel with drilled holes they'll look like the Rallye wheels if you paint them and squint hard.

[Mike D]

I looked at those berlingo style rims, however (and I know I've just fitted some ) I didn't really want 15's on it! I'll see about some XS or preferably S2 rallye steels if some happen to come up, as I think smaller lightweight cars ride better on something with a bit of sidewall

[greengartside]

Re: broken front fog lamp. I'm pretty sure the Phase 1 Pug 306 fogs are near enough a direct fit should you have problems sourcing some original units.

 

Great wheel choice too. I've had 2 205's but neither of them actually became roadworthy

[hairnet]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEUGEOT-14inc ... 3f23b39dd4

[Partridge]

Looking good my man! Compliments. And are you after a set of dartboard steelies for it?

[Mike D]

I am indeed after a set of dartboards for it

 

More improvements today, one of the front tyres decided no to play anymore so I swapped it out for a good used one, I nicked the rear view mirror and tailgate washer rubber bung from a spares 205 and chucked them in / on, and I also fitted a stereo to fill the hole in the dash It's starting to come together now, I'm going to try and get a rear quarter trim and that should be the picky bits done pretty much!

 

It's having a trip out to Newark tomorrow to a retro meet off the blue forum

[Timewaster]

I always thought that these wheels:

Look very much like These wheels:

[greengartside]

Saw one Peugeot dartboard steel at a local scrappers today. Forgot to ask if there was a full set though! Gah!

[shedvan]

They are well tasty cars, top purchase man, and I always think they look far better with the orange indicators, but I can't work out why. I was reading that there are now only around 14k 205s on the road in the UK from a peak of some 350,000, that is sad

[Partridge]

I love dartboard wheels, me. And yes, I’ve always thought they look like the old Ford steelies.