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Ghostly Goings On - over the moon


Ghosty

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Well bought! 

I remember What Car? magazine doing a brief 'new cars' write up of the 205 D Turbo around 30 years ago. I think it was maybe the first turbo diesel supermini and it wasn't cheap to buy new iirc. 

I kinda had my eye on used 205 n/a diesels back in 2001, having crashed my Fiat Tempra. Back then I never knew about the legendary reliability of the xud engines. 

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Did some things today. 

20200628_133342.jpg?width=508&height=677

 

Investigated the tracking, just the osf wheel needed a little adjustment. It's better now but not perfect. 

 

20200628_155537.jpg?width=508&height=677

 

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Found the missing bit of the dash/clock surround and glued it back on. Beats having it missing, and saves having to find a replacement (that's a part shared with the GTI). No idea why it looks like it's a different colour?

20200628_162609.jpg?width=902&height=677

I was going to swap the tailgates, but the wiring looked like a nightmare, and I realised my spare tailgate had worse paint, and a clear glass rear window, when the car has brown tinted glass. Removing brown tinted glass is a crime. 

So I tightened up the wiper and stuck the D Turbo badge on. 

20200628_150309.jpg?width=508&height=677

 

The reason the driver's window stopped working is this wire going from the switch to a nut on the door was hanging on by a single strand at one end, and was just loosely shoved into a female spade connector at the other. I made up a proper wire, replaced it, and the window now opens. 

Only so far though - if you open it too far the regulator fouls on a black box of some sort (window motor?) and the window then jams open. I marked how far you can open the window on the glass with a permanent marker. More investigation needed into that one, and also I need to find out why the passenger window doesn't work at all.

Pretty successful day, really. 

20200628_154122.jpg?width=902&height=677

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2 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

How did you go about setting the tracking?

Erm, string. Put two axle stands at the front corners of the car, and a long piece of string is sent around the back of the car, and tied to the axle stands. It's pulled taut and set so the string goes past the centre point of each wheel on its way around the back of the car. 
You then look down the side of the car and see that there are even gaps from the string to the tyre either side of each wheel, and that none of the tyre edges are acting on the string unevenly. 
I found that the nsf wheel was pointing ever so slightly to the left, so used the TCA to level it out. Eyeballed again, tested, and there was an improvement and the steering wheel is way closer to central when you're driving in a straight line now. 

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19 hours ago, ProgRocker said:

Well bought! 

I remember What Car? magazine doing a brief 'new cars' write up of the 205 D Turbo around 30 years ago. I think it was maybe the first turbo diesel supermini and it wasn't cheap to buy new iirc. 

I kinda had my eye on used 205 n/a diesels back in 2001, having crashed my Fiat Tempra. Back then I never knew about the legendary reliability of the xud engines. 

Wouldn't surprise me that they weren't cheap, they were the top spec diesel aside the STDT, that was the 'Special Trim D Turbo', the same car but 3 door, a hearing aid beige interior, and 14" 405 GTX alloys and a full GTI bodykit as opposed to just the front bumper. Basically a diesel Gentry without the leather. Also, they don't hang about at all. There's a very good reason the intercooled XUD wasn't put in a 205 from the factory...

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3 hours ago, Isaac Hunt said:

You might want to put one of these on your Christmas list Gunson G4008 Trakrite Wheel Alignment Gauge GUNSON https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0012M9KEC/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_t1_7lA-EbSWR9PWY 

I use mine quite frequently.  It checks the ‘toe’ setting dynamically from a ‘rolling’ measurement.

 

I got one of these as well. Whilst they work really well I find having to drive over it a couple of times, adjust the tracking, driving over again a bit of a pain. Also you then need to go for a quick drive to check the steering wheel is central, if not you have wind thread in and out opposite sides and then...check again. 
 

I quite fancy that cheap laser set you can get but I can’t justify ~£100 for something I use about once a year. 
 

A good positive though is I always find using the Gunson I can make a better job of the tracking than the fast fit places I’ve used in the past. 

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Agree.  I always test drive first and ascertain if there is any steering wheel offset from centre.  Then this can be factored in to the adjustment.  I always end up having to calculate the variable in my head and look at my notes. If there is toe in and steering wheel to left adjust x side.  If there is tow in and steering wheel to the right, adjust y side.

i just roll the car over the gauge.  Can get it all spot on, but as you say it sometimes takes a bit of time.  I always think less time than taking it down a garage, waiting, then test drive, then waiting again whilst the steering wheel  squif is corrected.  And there is no parting with cash at the end of it all.

OK, you don’t get a print out, but i’ve heard some great stories of operators spacing the wheel clamps out using 1p coins to get the print out correct

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Here’s an AA magazine test of the Dturbo when it came out.

It’s critical of the PAS in that there’s almost no assistance above a certain speed. I used to punt mine all over the North Pennines, Lakes and Yorkshire Dales for my farm surveying work around 2009-10 and I did used to find that it was quite heavy going on your upper body driving very challenging roads (like constant racetrack for 100 miles a day).

I now have a roffle-win Mardi Gras TD and assume it has the same setup but would be nice in some ways to have the same as the naturally aspirated diesel as it would be even more agile.

PEUGEOT_205_1.8D_TURBO_R9122A.pdf

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The title of this thread doesn't involve the 205. 

That's because there's the distinct possibility of me replacing my Volvo with another manual car. 

Flashback a few days. 


Dad has registered that I can drive a manual just fine, and as such he came to me with a proposal. 

A long time friend and business partner of his that I'm vaguely familiar with has a car as a weekend toy, and wants shot of it as he also has an Insignia and a Qashqai. He's a very busy man working in aviation, the car is stored on my dad's old stomping ground, Stansted Airport. Dad is semi retired now, but still does some consulting for the guy. 
Dad asks if I'd be willing to sell said car on behalf of this guy and cc's me into an email with him.  
I oblige, as it's a bit of fun to drive something new and interesting, if nothing else. I'll go and get the thing on day insurance, stick it on the drive, clean it up, sell it. Dad thinks about going on Saturday just gone, nah that's pub opening day it'll be mental, how's Tuesday? 
Okay, Tuesday I say and start replying to the emails.
I do some research and see that the car is worth £1500-2000 on Auto Trader, eBay etc. Not far off the C30's worth. 

Day insurance? Nah, the guy's only gone and put me as a temporary named driver on his policy. Fucking winner. Also, that means I could take people on test drives etc, handy salesman stuff. 

Being a bit pie in the sky, as I know the C30's insurance is £daft (just into four figures, £800 best case), I run an insurance quote for myself on the car I'm tasked to sell, and, defying all logic, it's £500.
For context, that's £bargain for me, especially on what the car is (bear in mind my 850 T5 was £650/year).
 

There'd be a slight hit to fuel economy and tax, but the Volvo's gearbox has been acting up and with the 205 in the picture now, economy and practicality are lesser concerns, as the 205 is as much an occasional workhorse as a go-kart. 
I think about selling the Volvo and buying the other car as the values aren't that far apart (£1500-2000 region). 

The next day, dad comes in and says he's asked what fella wants for his car. 

£800, and if I make more I can keep it. 

Suddenly, I'm thinking of putting the Volvo up for 2k, cashing in the insurance, giving the guy £800 and fucking off, as it makes a lot of sense, and more than I'd make for selling the car, as well as large potential long term savings on insurance. 

Everything is arranged so a couple of days pass with little happening. 
Then, I remembered a little something and managed to conjure up a build sheet for the car. 

holy fuck the original buyer left no box unticked

I'm suddenly very, very intrigued to see what I'm working with, and even more inclined to keep it. 

More on Tuesday... 

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7 hours ago, Jimbob McGregor said:

Here’s an AA magazine test of the Dturbo when it came out.

It’s critical of the PAS in that there’s almost no assistance above a certain speed. I used to punt mine all over the North Pennines, Lakes and Yorkshire Dales for my farm surveying work around 2009-10 and I did used to find that it was quite heavy going on your upper body driving very challenging roads (like constant racetrack for 100 miles a day).

I now have a roffle-win Mardi Gras TD and assume it has the same setup but would be nice in some ways to have the same as the naturally aspirated diesel as it would be even more agile.

PEUGEOT_205_1.8D_TURBO_R9122A.pdf 983.88 kB · 4 downloads

Interesting reading, is this. My DTurbo has all three optional extras - windows, sunroof and PAS. 
I quite like the steering and don't find it too heavy at all, I actually massively appreciate the feel and feedback I get from the weight, it makes for a much more inspiring drive. 
I see why it'd be an unpopular choice new, but I bet it's stood the test of time a lot better than its competitors. 

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7 hours ago, Ghosty said:

Interesting reading, is this. My DTurbo has all three optional extras - windows, sunroof and PAS. 
I quite like the steering and don't find it too heavy at all, I actually massively appreciate the feel and feedback I get from the weight, it makes for a much more inspiring drive. 
I see why it'd be an unpopular choice new, but I bet it's stood the test of time a lot better than its competitors. 

I think Peugeot got the weighting just right on their sportier* dervs. I've read various accounts of them being too heavy and always think wtf are they on about? At parking speed you've got power assistance and at driving speed you can't even tell it's assisted but like you say have feel and feedback that adds to the driving experience. DTurbo's are a hoot to drive, you've done well to find a decent one as they seem to be very thin on the ground indeed.

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It's going well. There are some niggles to fix ( (no sound from radio, needs an expansion tank, something about the Aircon (condenser cooling fan?), outside temp sensor, lambda, MAF) and the paint needs serious attention, but it drives spot on. Trip computer says I'm getting 42mpg and the GPS works! It's absolutely fully loaded with toys, and is an absolute hoot to drive. 

The private plate is going, it's a 53 plate

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