604 STi The story unfolds.

[Pete-M]

 

Now, I know most of you have seen this thing before, but I figured that I may as well start a proper thread about it to go with Jon Watanabe's '604 Collection (avec Pete-M)' thread.

 

It's partly because I'm planning on documenting all the work that goes into the bloody thing, and partly to get it back to number one on Google images search for the 604 STi.

 

My love for the 604 began as a kid when my dad was a Peugeot dealer back in the early '80s and we used to go for days out in 'em. This gave me an irrational soft spot for the big old French barge and it's not an easy itch to scratch as short of a trip to France to buy one, there aren't many at all of the old buggers left in the UK. Somewhere around 15 seems to be the accepted number. A trip to the NEC classic car show last year and a go in DieselNutJob's 604 SL just caused merry hell with my wanting a 604 just for the fun of it.

 

To make matters worse, he mentioned that there had been one advertised on the Pug owners club website for a while, but it needed welding. A couple of days later the malicious bugger sent me the advert. Ta Phil. One day my wallet will recover enough to thank you . For now, it's in too much pain.

 

Anyway, I rang the chap, we did a deal on the phone in October, and the country was instantly hit with a snow storm that seemingly lasted until February. In the meantime I bought a Jeep to tow the bloody Peugeot from deepest East Anglia back to Liverpool.

 

A couple of pics from the collection thread just to set the scene as to wtf a Pug 604 is for our younger, less easily frightened readers.

 

 

As collected from the garage that had serviced it since 1985...

 

 

 

Mmmm, brown velour. Tasty.

 

We loaded it onto the trailer to drag to The Unit of Shite (a top secret, highly guarded location with it's own private test facilities). It only just fitted onto the trailer.

 

 

Week or so later myself and M. Inimad Cinq went up to have a closer look at the old barge.

 

 

The handbook makes Jon chuckle. One day I'll scan some of it in.

 

 

Anyway. It's been waiting patiently at the welders until this week, but they've finally had a chance to get started on it.

 

This is what was under a load of underseal and crud in the n/s/r wheelarch.. The nut on the left is the rear seatbelt mount and the plate visible at the lower left of the pic is one of the few MOT bodge welds that it's had in the past.

 

 

This is the view a bit further up inside the arch... you're not meant to see inside the car from here..

 

 

And you definately shouldn't be able to see the headlining around the sunroof through the wheelarch..

 

 

This is what you see when you look in the boot towards the n/s/r wheel arch once the bog and shite had been scraped away from the arch.

 

 

The arch looks like this at present.

 

 

At the front of the same wheelarch, this is what remains of the original middle sill. Another MOT bodge plate visible..

 

 

The fine art of bodging has also been applied to the inner wing, someone's obviously used a welding cannon in the past.

 

 

Anyway. It's not as bad as initially feared, so in a short while the extent of bog in the o/s/r arch should come to light.. I'll keep you all posted.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

marvellous! Good to hear that it's not as bad as you'd been fearing...

[dollywobbler]

Ace. Must admit, rotten monocoque cars scare the wot-nots out of me, but that's looking pretty solid!

[Angrydicky]

^^^ You would have had a heart attack if you had seen my A55 when I bought it then!

 

Thanks for the update Mr_M, really looking forward to seeing this old girl back on the road

[Station]

That doesn't look bad, will the STD pass another MOT without work?

[Danblez]

No doubt about it that's a fine looking piece of tin!

[HillmanImp]

If that's about it, that's a right result. Can't wait to see it.

[AeroNautiCal]

Nice!

 

I always liked big Pug's of that era, and this looks to be a good one, I'm looking forward to seeing the WIP.

[Anglevan]

good luck with the rebuild. I'm sure i have an old Majorette model of one of those in the same colour. Will keep my eye on this one.

[dieselnutjob]

sorry

[dieselnutjob]

by the way I got both front electric windows and the electric sunroof working really well this weekend

this was prompted by me slamming my own fingers in the sunroof at la Vie on Bleu. Luckily the "open" action on the switch was still working

just the back ones left to do now

It's all done with relays which means that the switches (made of unobtaineum) now only have to switch 0.08 of an amp which is all that a relay coil needs.

I snapped a wire off of the starter motor though, and I've got an exhaust blow on the left bank somewhere

[Pete-M]

No worries, Phil. I wouldn't have traipsed down to Brum to not have a go in your one.

 

Oh, mine's got a slight blow from the left bank as well, since the starter was replaced. Should be an easy enough fix... I've got to do the steering rack gaiters anyway. According to the MOT fail sheet from Aug 2010 - There's an identical one from 2008 when it came off the road initially...

 

 

 

Offside front suspension has excessive play in a lower suspension ball joint

 

Which was replaced not that many miles ago, it just needs greasing properly I should think. They appear a bit dry.

 

Nearside steering rack gaiter split

 

He wasn't joking, it's truly fubar.

 

Exhaust has a major leak of gases

 

Well, yeah. It's weldable though.

 

Offside front (CHASSIE X2}* Suspension component mounting area is excessively corroded

 

Not managed to find where yet.

 

Nearside rear (wheelarch) has a sharp edge caused by corrosion

 

That will be the hole in the door jamb in the photos above. Not an issue.

 

Nearside headlamp not working on full beam

 

Bulb.

 

Nearside rear (inner / outter* sill) Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded.

 

Yeah, I'll give him that one.

 

Offside rear (inner / outter* sill) Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded.

 

and that one..

 

Nearside rear (inner wheel arch) Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded

 

Can't argue, but he's rubbing it in a bit about that nearside arch.

 

Offside rear (inner wheel arch) Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded

 

Dammit, the man hates wheel arches, but if one side is getting done, may as well do the other.

 

Offside outter* sill seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded

Nearside inner sill seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded

 

It's getting sills anyway. It's 27 this year, so not done bad for the first set of sills on a car of it's era.

 

Front brakes imbalanced

 

It'd done bugger all mileage since the previous MOT fail in 2008 so I'm not too worried.

 

Advisories

 

Nearside rear brake pipe slightly corroded

 

Fair enough, I'll clean it up and see if it needs new pipes.

 

Offside front floor corroded

 

That's getting done whilst the thing is in bits, it's not far from the sills anyway...

 

Nearside rear hub noise

 

* Denotes MOT tester who couldn't spell. Not rare. The MOT computer system must be riddled with spellage mishtakes.

 

It'll need wheel bearings all round probably, thing has been sitting for yonks. I'll probably have to do a fair few bits to sort it properly, but I think it's worth doing.

 

All the 'lecky window motors work, as does the sunroof and the global closure device. The remote locking still does its stuff - provided the car has been running in the last 10 minutes or so, so there'll be a leak somewhere in the pipework for the locks.

 

Window motors could do with relays fitting, if you can pass on any handy hints Phil, they'll be happily received.

[boobydoo]

Peugeot 604s register off the scale on the DROOL-O-METER.

 

Fine work Sir!!

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

The 604 is one of my favourite cars. I would love to own one at some point, but there are so few left.

[504GL]

 

Anyway. It's not as bad as initially feared, so in a short while the extent of bog in the o/s/r arch should come to light.. I'll keep you all posted.

Nice Makes me feel a lot better about the Subaru, though i'm sure there is rust that's not yet been found, it doesn't look as bad as that, and yours is entirely fixable and well worth it for such a lovely bit of french metal.

 

Incidently, I quoted this photo because it looks a lot like the rear suspension on the 504? Does it share the same semi trailing arm suspension that the 504 has?

[Pete-M]

Does it share the same semi trailing arm suspension that the 504 has?

 

Yup, it's basically a widebody 504 V6 and a few cunning tweaks.

[Guest]

We really need to get the 604 and 305 parked up together, especially as they're similar in colour. There's also a strong design resemblance around the grille \ bonnet area.

[Pete-M]

Can't get Rallye wheels for the 604 though

[dieselnutjob]

504 --widened+lengthened--> 604 --shortened--> 505

 

Almost all of the greasy bits are interchangeable between a 604 and an early 505.

The wheelbase and hence torque tube are longer than other pugs though

 

I'm betting that the 604 is a fantastic tow car

[Guest]

Can't get Rallye wheels for the 604 though

 

I bet if I search for 'JANTES GOTTI' for long enough on leboncoin I could find you summat suitable.

[504GL]

Does it share the same semi trailing arm suspension that the 504 has?

 

Yup, it's basically a widebody 504 V6 and a few cunning tweaks.

 

Thanks for the info. Being from Australia I never saw a 604 back in OZ so don't really know much about them Wider and longer 504 sounds fantastic

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Does the change to two separate exhausts from one twin exhaust actually make any difference? I have wondered about this on and off for 25 years. I have only ever been in the earlier model.

 

Incidentally, the way the exhaust tips are finished is one of the features of the 604 that I love. Sad I know, but I love the cut out they have which directs the fumes gently downwards whilst still looking like a standard exhaust. I blame this on my very limited height when I first noticed it. Similarly, I am partial to the Series 2 Jaguar exhaust finishers and the way they curl is so appealing. You tend to see things low down when you're a kid. You hardly ever saw them even then, but the 604's optional light wipers were amazing. Four of them. Ah yes, I love the 604.

[Pete-M]

Does the change to two separate exhausts from one twin exhaust actually make any difference? I have wondered about this on and off for 25 years. I have only ever been in the earlier model.

 

I haven't got a clue. I've given mine a quick blezz down the UoS testing facility, and it appears to be pretty nippy for what it is. Does have remarkable initial acceleration, not super quick, but amusingly so. Thing is, DNJ's manual one although I only tickled it around the NEC car park also felt like it would be pretty nippy. As that's the only other one I've driven, and it's one of the very few that are actually roadworthy in the UK, it's hard to get a comparison.

 

If you remember after only driving low power cars and then the first time you tried something with a big V engine and the first time of touching the thottle pedal made it surge forward, then the 604 does a good impression of it. I think it's just a case of the throttle linkage being sensitive at light openings, but it makes me grin. It's how cars used to be.

 

We'll have to get them both together. That'd make some insane pictures at an AS track day.

 

Mine sounds a bit throatier, but it's blowing like a fat bird blows hot soup so I'll have to wait for it to be sorted.

 

Can't wait to actually give the thing a proper run out.

[Pete-M]

It's getting closer.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

That's exciting! Are you having it resprayed too, or are you just having metal work done?

[Pete-M]

Just getting the sides painted initially, just to get it presentable enough to use.

 

The rebuilding work on the inner wings is pretty special, and the wheel arches are being replaced with fresh metal too. It''s not going to be mint but it should be good enough to take to Chodmongely etc.

[garethj]

Lots of the welding seems to be in hidden areas, that's much easier to do than externally visible parts.

 

the switches (made of unobtaineum)

Can the switches be repaired when you take them apart? I bought some replacement Lucas switches for my 1958 Peerless and found they were worse than the old ones, so I just rebuilt the old ones instead. I spent the first two years after university designing car interior switches so give me a shout if you need some help.

 

GO-PETE, GO-PETE, GO-PETE, GO-PETE

[dieselnutjob]

Can the switches be repaired when you take them apart?

I didn't need to. The switches weren't healthy enough to power a big motor but they are good enough to trigger a relay.

So I put relays on all five circuits.

Problems solved.

[Pete-M]

 

The welders are a dab hand at engraving. Upon discovering the o/s/r 1/4 is about an inch deep in filler they sent me this...

 

Still, work continues, which is good.

[sporty-shite]

The welders are a dab hand at mischevious piss-taking . Upon discovering the o/s/r 1/4 is about an inch deep in filler they sent me this...

 

EFA*

 

 

 

 

I know the welders, and I know this is pretty tame for them. They are, however, a top pair of guys!