michael_ozzie's 205 GTi6 Build

[michael_ozzie]

Happy New Year (only 2 months late) to everyone.

Took the 205 out last weekend to Ballarat's Autocross event. Back on Road Tyres, I was a little unsure how to pilot the 205 with the lack of usual grip that rally tyres give. Really shouldn't have worried too much. Finished 4th overall out of 55 cars, fastest 2wd.

Otherwise, the 205 will just keep with regular upgrades, as the refurbished beam and 306 disc rear end will be installed this week.

 

[Morlo4]

Watching this little beast tear around. was partly what motivated me to get one ☺. Keep up the good work!

 

[michael_ozzie]

Time for a small update!
Car has been competing on and off throughout the year, and was going pretty well.
Graham Wallis and I went up to Brendan Reeves' personal gravel track for some tuition, and while he made Graham's car faster with a few suspension tweaks, he really thought my car needed a Trans X LSD, not the Quaife it currently has. Anyone want to trade?

Anyway, July's autocross event threw up the first gremlin in this car, in that the rear brakes appeared too biased, and a few hairpins, when I went heavily for the brakes, the car looped around. On the day, not really sure what it was, so I just finished the event, put it on the trailer and went home. And on the trailer it has stayed until October, when I took it off, and had a quick look at all the components. Nothing has failed obviously, so I will need to do a bit more testing to see that the cause is.

Finally, the car is in a position to receive a few rally mods, because it hasn't run since July, and wont need to be ready until March 2017. Got a sump guard, tank guard, seat mount lowering, reinforced strut towers, and a few other small projects being worked on by a fabricator friend, who loves something different. And by different, he autocrosses a 6.6litre supercharged V8, AWD Toyota Lexcen, so I know his fabrication work is excellent!

Look forward to getting into some introductory rally events in 2017.

 

[Bowie]

Good on ya Michael.

 

[michael_ozzie]

Happy new year to all fellow froggers. Had the car back for a few weeks now, with the sump guard, tank rock deflectors, reinforced front strut tower and lowered seat mounts now completed. With the car back home, I spent a few days working on a new centre console for the switches, battery isolator etc. also fitted a suede steering wheel for a bit extra grip while racing.
Finally, I have stripped the trims off the car (only broke 1, and luckily I have a spare), and after my first foray into car paint preparation, completed a closed door respray, to allow the entire car to be 1 colour again.

Just got to sort out what I'm doing with the trims, either paint, dye or leave as is, as well as replacing the front bumper (just need to pick it up from Graham) and it's ready to get put back together, hopefully in time for the first VCAS event at Pakenham.

Time for some pictures.

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[cam85]

Awesome! Shes looking rear purposeful!

 

[michael_ozzie]

Thanks Cam, hope to put it to good use this year in a few intro rally events, should be fun!


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[Bowie]

I'm jealous of your shed.

 

[michael_ozzie]

My dads actually, but a rare occasion you want to do something and the right tool isn't there.
Whether I know what the right tool is, and how to use it, is another matter entirely.


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[michael_ozzie]

Time for a quick update.

Ran out of time/luck/patience etc to get the car ready for Pakenham VCAS, so I ran in Graham's 205 SI, and were very competitive first time out in that car (until I took 2 flags in the first run anyway). Thanks again Graham!
Getting the 205 sorted now, so all the trims are back on the car, the front and rear valances have been painted (and came out better than the rest of the paintwork live and learn!)
Went to tackle the front spring installation, remove the front ARB, and reset the rear ride height. What should have been 5-6 hours easy going, ended up as 11 hours of torture, as I made a few schoolboy errors:
1. Couldn't get the top piston bolt off the shock absorber. Many tools, levers, vices later, got there eventually.
2. Putting the shock back in, couldn't get the angle right for the hub carrier. Thought 'just undo the lower balljoint' and that lead to the driveshaft coming out of the gearbox, leaking oil over the floor. With oil lost, I cut my losses, and replaced the driveshafts as well, as mine had splits in the boots, and have been split for years, so they will need refurbishing.
3. Measured the ride height once front springs were in. Front was 330mm from hub carrier to top of arch, rear was 350mm.
Using a very basic rule of 3mm height for 1mm bar length, I shortened the dummy shock from 312mm to 300mm.
The pictures tell the story, but once back on the ground, a measurement of 295 was never going to cut it.

So back at work today for a rest, will need to have another go at setting the ride height, aiming for around 320mm.
Then just a fluid check, nut and bolt check, some protection for the lower sills to be organised, and it will be ready for this Sunday at Deniliquin VCAS event. Road tyres only event, and even though Graham Wallis had lent me a set of soft road tyres on C5 steelies, I cannot use them because I now run wheel studs, not wheel bolts.

Anyway, more pictures.

 

[GRAHAM WALLIS]

I should have a set of early Peugeot wheel nuts you can borrow for the steel wheels.
Always just take out the complete strut along with hub etc when working on the front end!

Time for a quick update.

Ran out of time/luck/patience etc to get the car ready for Pakenham VCAS, so I ran in Graham's 205 SI, and were very competitive first time out in that car (until I took 2 flags in the first run anyway). Thanks again Graham!
Getting the 205 sorted now, so all the trims are back on the car, the front and rear valances have been painted (and came out better than the rest of the paintwork live and learn!)
Went to tackle the front spring installation, remove the front ARB, and reset the rear ride height. What should have been 5-6 hours easy going, ended up as 11 hours of torture, as I made a few schoolboy errors:
1. Couldn't get the top piston bolt off the shock absorber. Many tools, levers, vices later, got there eventually.
2. Putting the shock back in, couldn't get the angle right for the hub carrier. Thought 'just undo the lower balljoint' and that lead to the driveshaft coming out of the gearbox, leaking oil over the floor. With oil lost, I cut my losses, and replaced the driveshafts as well, as mine had splits in the boots, and have been split for years, so they will need refurbishing.
3. Measured the ride height once front springs were in. Front was 330mm from hub carrier to top of arch, rear was 350mm.
Using a very basic rule of 3mm height for 1mm bar length, I shortened the dummy shock from 312mm to 300mm.
The pictures tell the story, but once back on the ground, a measurement of 295 was never going to cut it.

So back at work today for a rest, will need to have another go at setting the ride height, aiming for around 320mm.
Then just a fluid check, nut and bolt check, some protection for the lower sills to be organised, and it will be ready for this Sunday at Deniliquin VCAS event. Road tyres only event, and even though Graham Wallis had lent me a set of soft road tyres on C5 steelies, I cannot use them because I now run wheel studs, not wheel bolts.

Anyway, more pictures.
View attachment 93595View attachment 93596View attachment 93597View attachment 93598View attachment 93599

 

[SilverGTi_6]

Looking good mate. What size tyres are fitted? They look to be 195/55s maybe? Amy rubbing?

 

[michael_ozzie]

Looking good mate. What size tyres are fitted? They look to be 195/55s maybe? Amy rubbing?

The tyre size? I have no idea, they are just the leftover tyres when I parted out the 306 Gti6 for its engine.
And yes, they are hitting the rear balance on both sides, so I really need to raise it.


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[SilverGTi_6]

Oh ok, yeah they'd be 195/55 if from the GTI6. You'll have a lot more space with 195/50 or 185/55.

 

[michael_ozzie]

Thanks mate. 15s are too wide for a 205, look forward to getting my 14's back on the car.

Should be ok for the weekend.

Graham, if you can bring the applicable bolts to allow the steelies to bolt to the studs, that will be great.


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[GRAHAM WALLIS]

I'll take a look tomorrow and see how many I have.
The wheels will hit no matter how high the car is, but maybe not at the smooth Deni track.
Carve the plastic away like I did, even harder on an Si, but I managed to get 185 60 15 rally tyres to clear.

 

[michael_ozzie]

I've not had any issues with 175/65/r14 hitting anywhere, so I will stick with them for the moment, but only have rally tyres on those rims.

Yes, Deni should be smooth enough to keep away from the valance.

Back tomorrow to fix up my mistake with the rear, fill up the trans fluid, and a few test drive/stops to make sure the brakes are all good, because that's what put me off the road last time.


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[michael_ozzie]

Had a second attempt at setting the rear ride height. Now set as 320mm in the rear, and the front has settled at 330mm. The quick test drive I took it on suggests it should be ok for the event this weekend.
Filled the gearbox with oil (then remembered I wanted to get the reverse gear switch changed, and the speedometer gearbox sensor installed. Will have to drain the fluid again to attempt them!
As I said before, quick test drive reminded me how loud the car is, may have to get that looked at before the first rally, but apart from a clean of the car, (especially the glass), the car is ready to load up tonight, and head to Deniliquin.

Will post pictures after the event, all going well

 

[GRAHAM WALLIS]

No need to drop the oil for those jobs, on top of the gearbox.
What are doing for rally rego? I'm thinking of the new M club permit.

 

[michael_ozzie]

No need to drop the oil for those jobs, on top of the gearbox.
What are doing for rally rego? I'm thinking of the new M club permit.

I too would like to get onto Club M plates, in preference to the more restrictive rally rego. The main issue I foresee is that my roll cage impedes entry and exit because it is more than 140mm from the bottom of the seat.
But that's my reading of the scenario, once I get everything roadworthy, I will take it to a 'friendly' RWC guy to see what they think.

In regards to the speed sender, it has never worked since i installed the gearbox, thinking it might not have the right set of adapters to turn the sender (either the driveshaft or the gears attached to the sender) lucky my spare boxes should have those parts. As a result, I have a huge flat spot down low in the rev range, but I don't really want to be there anyway.

Michael.


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