Watch me make a stupid mistake - Peugeot 504 Break L

[rainagain]

On 12/03/2025 at 22:18, Supernaut said:

Why do strut tops need ground wires...?

I was wondering this too, is there something electrical mounted on the strut?

PS amazing work!

[meowmeow]

15 minutes ago, rainagain said:

I was wondering this too, is there something electrical mounted on the strut?

PS amazing work!

only thing electrical in that area is the brake level sensors in the pads - could be something to do with that?

to be honest they were there before and i had the wiring bits out so just popped new ones in

[jonathan_dyane]

It is indeed to provide an earth path for the brake pad sensors

[meowmeow]

23 hours ago, DodgeRover said:

If the crank pulley was changed between you viewing and getting it dropped off then someone must have had that nut undone,

Just realised I wasn't very clear about this - the nut spins but won't undo or do up - it's stuck on the crankshaft and won't bite on the threads to undo.

Not sure if I can lever the back of the pulley to push against the nut, and buzz it off with an impact, or if that'll mash the threads even more than they are already?

36mm nut splitter is silly money and I doubt it'd work on what I imagine is a hardened nut

 

I guess if the threads are totally destroyed I could drill out the middle of the crank, tap it and put a bolt in there, with a washer and spacer to hold the pulley in place? Or is that very stupid?

 

 

[DodgeRover]

Threads are probably pretty stuffed anyway, I would try a lever behind the pulley especially as it's been off recently anyway. 

Maybe try a ratchet rather than an impact to get it if as you will be able to feel what is going on a bit better.

[meowmeow]

small bits first - replacement handbrake warning switch as unfortunately the old one turned to dust so I couldn't fix it

 

Managed to source a fuel tank for £30 !!

To be fair has a small fibreglass repair on the seam, and there was a snail living in it, but it's a damn sight better than my completely rotten one

 

Time to see what's up with the crankshaft

As before the nut was just spinning, wouldn't back off and wouldn't tighten.

In the end had to get a bearing puller on the pulley as trying to lever it was causing me to put dents in the timing cover

eventually the nut started to back off...

Aftermath? Good news actually

Nut free with precisely zero threads in tact:

Looks horrid at first glance, but on closer inspection most of the threads are actually ok, just clogged up with all the material from the nut

Spent ages cleaning up the threads with a small file, came out alright

Replaced the woodruff key as well since it had a small nick in it

New gasket

And painted the pulley, tightened the new nut down - not to 126lb ft though - i'm a pussy - it's up to about 60lb ft with thread locker to help - we'll see how it goes, main thing is the pulley doesn't have any play in it now

 

Noticed when connecting the electrics up that I get no oil pressure light

Checked the bulb - all good

Ordered new sender

hmm something's missing off the old one?

Turns out the slide was proper jammed inside the oil filter housing

Spent ages trying to get it out, eventually had to drill a hole and drive a screw into it

then of course spend ages cleaning all the metal shavings out of the housing

all good though:

I like how for the 'L' spec dash they've just used the same oil can picture but shoved it in there sideways as it won't fit otherwise

On higher spec cars it's the correct orientation

Correct sized battery obtained:

Gave the starter a tickle with a screwdriver to coax it back into life, turned the engine over

Everything's sounding good

Left the oil pipe that connects to the head off for the first few revolutions to make sure oil was getting pumped around, and to purge any remaining old rubbish:

Then cleaned up and reconnected

Oil getting to the rocker shaft:

All this is good as it means my game of Russian roulette with oil filters has paid off and I've found one that actually works

 

Next, new eye socket welded in:

   

Managed to drill out and reuse the tabs for the wiring loom, then slapped on some 'good enough' paint and popped everything back in place

 

 

Painted the valve cover:

And more bits reassembled:

 

More importantly, found a £1 fridge to go with the £1 kitchen

Works ok, but was missing the freezer door, so made something very sketchy out of 2mm steel and grabbed some Fiat 500 paint from halfords to make it look halfway presentable:

 

Still need to somehow find/make a drip tray

Turns out there's one in the Science Museum - maybe they'll let me have it?

 

Next bits on the Peugeot - I'll reassemble the rest of the bits in the engine bay, then I guess it's just lots of fun fun welding

 

[Wibble]

Fantastic progress, as always👍

[N Dentressangle]

8 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Fantastic progress, as always👍

Especially the fridge.

Got to be time for some spam fritters, no?

[jonathan_dyane]

10/10

[meowmeow]

ite quick update

It runs!

 

Was missing the wire from the coil to the dizzy, and all of the associated washers, nuts etc...

Luckily there was something resembling a fibre washer in the bits of the old disintegrated ceiling light:

and correct sized nuts in the box of spare wiring loom that I robbed off the regulator.

another lesson in never throwing anything out there for me

 

Ran a new wire to the terminal on the distributor

Bit of easy start down the carb and off it went - actually surprised me how quickly it started

No video unfortunately because I don't have three hands

 

Got a weird issue where once the engine has fired I can't trigger the starter from the key anymore - it just clicks

Bridge the terminals with a screwdriver quickly and you can crank with the key no problem... will check the connections and see what's up there

 

But anyway that's some pretty good motivation to crack on with the horrible welding

 

[jim89]

On 25/05/2025 at 16:42, meowmeow said:

small bits first - replacement handbrake warning switch as unfortunately the old one turned to dust so I couldn't fix it

 

Managed to source a fuel tank for £30 !!

To be fair has a small fibreglass repair on the seam, and there was a snail living in it, but it's a damn sight better than my completely rotten one

 

Time to see what's up with the crankshaft

As before the nut was just spinning, wouldn't back off and wouldn't tighten.

In the end had to get a bearing puller on the pulley as trying to lever it was causing me to put dents in the timing cover

eventually the nut started to back off...

Aftermath? Good news actually

Nut free with precisely zero threads in tact:

Looks horrid at first glance, but on closer inspection most of the threads are actually ok, just clogged up with all the material from the nut

Spent ages cleaning up the threads with a small file, came out alright

Replaced the woodruff key as well since it had a small nick in it

New gasket

And painted the pulley, tightened the new nut down - not to 126lb ft though - i'm a pussy - it's up to about 60lb ft with thread locker to help - we'll see how it goes, main thing is the pulley doesn't have any play in it now

 

Noticed when connecting the electrics up that I get no oil pressure light

Checked the bulb - all good

Ordered new sender

hmm something's missing off the old one?

Turns out the slide was proper jammed inside the oil filter housing

Spent ages trying to get it out, eventually had to drill a hole and drive a screw into it

then of course spend ages cleaning all the metal shavings out of the housing

all good though:

I like how for the 'L' spec dash they've just used the same oil can picture but shoved it in there sideways as it won't fit otherwise

On higher spec cars it's the correct orientation

Correct sized battery obtained:

Gave the starter a tickle with a screwdriver to coax it back into life, turned the engine over

Everything's sounding good

Left the oil pipe that connects to the head off for the first few revolutions to make sure oil was getting pumped around, and to purge any remaining old rubbish:

Then cleaned up and reconnected

Oil getting to the rocker shaft:

All this is good as it means my game of Russian roulette with oil filters has paid off and I've found one that actually works

 

Next, new eye socket welded in:

   

Managed to drill out and reuse the tabs for the wiring loom, then slapped on some 'good enough' paint and popped everything back in place

 

 

Painted the valve cover:

And more bits reassembled:

 

More importantly, found a £1 fridge to go with the £1 kitchen

Works ok, but was missing the freezer door, so made something very sketchy out of 2mm steel and grabbed some Fiat 500 paint from halfords to make it look halfway presentable:

 

Still need to somehow find/make a drip tray

Turns out there's one in the Science Museum - maybe they'll let me have it?

 

Next bits on the Peugeot - I'll reassemble the rest of the bits in the engine bay, then I guess it's just lots of fun fun welding

 

They might* measure up the drip tray for you if you asked em?

[meowmeow]

1 hour ago, jim89 said:

They might* measure up the drip tray for you if you asked em?

Possibly, to be fair it's just a rectangular tray that rests on two wire rails, so I can probably just measure the gap and either search eBay for something similar-ish sized, or just bend a piece of steel into a rough 'tray' shape and weld some ends onto it

[meowmeow]

bit more progress

Other side of the front panel had ripped apart when the car was crashed, so drilled new holes, straightened it up a bit and plug welded back together:

 

Then because I am sad I spent £8 on a sticker

Ran the engine a bit longer and suffocated myself - photo is about 5 minutes after and you can still see the haze

i imagine the many animal nests in the exhaust are no longer

Ajusted the carb, replaced the spacer as the one I bought had a chip in it and was leaking a bit

Idle adjustment screw was seized, then snapped:

Soaked it for the rest of the week in penetrant, and eventually with some persuasion it backed out:

Replaced with a bolt so that it's easier to turn

Throttle is still a bit sticky, I'll go back and sort this at some point

 

Silly me cooked the battery - expensive way of finding out that the regulator isn't working

 

Either way we're getting there now I think - at least looks a bit better than when I bought it:

  

Alternator was letting things down a bit, and the bearings weren't in the best shape, so sent it off to get rebuilt.

 

Popped the car up on skates and pushed all the way over to one side of the garage - the door opens really wide and the only way to get to the hinge fixings is to fully open it

All to sort this initially small-looking hole

Which of course grew a fair amount

Also found some more issues under the running board trim

All welded up and resprayed- will drill the new hole for the bolt at the bottom of the wing when I test-fit everything

 

New door time

Much better than the original, but was still a bit crusty in places:

So more welding in order...

 

 

And new door installed. Also replaced the hinge pins.

Door is sagging a bit (as was the old one), so if I can't whack the bottom hinge a bit I'll look into making some shims to sort the panel gaps

 

Finally, took advantage of the hot weather to unroll and wash the driver's seatbelt

 

The driver's door card needs a new backing. I've got some suitable board laying around somewhere, but not sure how to attach the vinyl, as I think it's heat-pressed to the board at the factory

 

[Landy Mann]

Nice work as ever

[meowmeow]

got the reconditioned alternator back from the shop, and installed the rad to avoid me accidentally stepping on it in the pile of Peugeot bits I have in storage:

 

Found some appropriately sized plastic rivets and reinstalled the running board trim:

 

Guy who I bought the fuel tank from seemed to be having a clear-out of bits, so snagged this very useful repair panel

No idea what I'll do for the other side as nobody makes these anymore and the fluted bit will be a pain in the arse to make, but take your wins where you can i guess

Mission creep as always:

Cut away the rubbish, think there's about 5 different layered panels to make, will come back to this when the weather isn't so horrific for welding in

 

Stripped back all the paint on the driver's door to find that of course the bloody thing's full of filler

Spent the rest of the day trying to get it as flat as possible, then spraying some epoxy on and adding some of my own filler...

Painted the door - the finish is about as good as you'd expect in a dusty garage with no light to see what I'm doing

Not too fussed it's just to get it on the road until the day that I miraculously find £4k for a respray

Also the entire car has a shit repaint that looks as if it was applied with a paintbrush, so it'll probably blend in quite well

Popped all the door fittings back on

To be fair the welded repair looks pretty ok to me, though in hindsight should've probably filled the small screw holes from the old mirror

Pretty sure the new mirror will cover these anyway but hey

 

Made a very crude spacer to fix the door gaps, and adjusted the striker.

 

Must've been messed up for a while as it gave me a bloody massive metal splinter when I tried to brush the dust off with my finger

But much better now:

No door chrome as it's an L model - the chrome is still on the replacement rear door as it's the only thing holding the window frame in place! Completely rusted away at the corners...

 

Next sorted a new door card. Old one was pretty crunchy:

Cute message for the next person to take the vinyl off

The contact adhesive I used initially made the vinyl look like a wrinkled ballsack, which was concerning

But short session with the iron and putting loads of heavy stuff on it for 24hrs seems to have sorted things:

Still a bit wobbly at the bottom, but that was the most damaged part of the old door card anyway - so long as it doesn't flap around I'm happy

 

New regulator arrived from Italy, after quite a while of looking for something compatible, and trying to work out why there are so many different alternators listed in the parts catalogue:

 

 

Finally, the key had decided it didn't want to work in either of the door locks anymore

Lubricating the lock did nothing, nor did soaking in penetrant, so apart it came:

Ah yeah that's not gonna turn is it. Key didn't want to go in all the way whatever I did.

Luckily both replacement doors I bought still had the lock cylinders in them, so took them all apart, switched over the barrels and shuffled around the pegs to get a set that worked properly

All good and working now

Hopefully there'll be enough scraps left to fix the passenger lock too.

 

[meowmeow]

yet more proof that I need a bigger car (and probably some motivation to actually finish the Peugeot otherwise I'll be having to lift even more stupid rubbish onto the roof-rack)

1.5hr drive home down country lanes and gravel tracks to avoid the M25 was fun

 

Those dents were caused by my pissed ex-neighbour who managed to accidentally roll a big reel of telephone cable off his drive and into the side of the car, then lied to my face and say it was kids who did it

[junkyarddog]

You're doing it wrong.

Most rat-look Mk2 Golfs should have a pineapple on the roof-rack!🫣

 

[meowmeow]

20 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

You're doing it wrong.

Most rat-look Mk2 Golfs should have a pineapple on the roof-rack!🫣

 

If only it was intentional - it's just been utterly ragged and used as a van for 9 years

Once I've finished the Peugeot they'll swap places and I'll finally sort it all out - should be quicker as it's nowhere near as rusty

Actually looked alright when I first did all the work to get it back on the road all those years ago...

Still have the plates somewhere I'll restore them somehow and put them back on - was never able to find the correct font to make new ones