Keith's 205 GTi Re-Build: The Starting Point

Well here begins my blog...

As I was nearing completion of my AC Cobra replica build, I was on the look out for a new project and I happened to stumble upon a beat up old Peugeot 205GTi 1.9 Phase 1 on eBay for £650. On the positive side it was local, had a clean HPI check (which I was quite surprised about given the amount of these that were either stolen or written off back in the 90s) and it was unmolested and relatively rust free. On the negative side however, the paintwork is shot, the drivers seat is knackered and most importantly the engine has a crack in the block.

My rebuild plan looks like this...

Take the engine out and have a quote for a rebuild. If the engine is salvageable I will attempt to rebuild the car to near showroom condition. If the engine needs to be replaced I will build a track day car but it will be fully refurbished, freshly painted rebuilt track car not an ugly banger.

My logic behind the two rebuild options is that I don't think the car will ever be worth much if the engine isn't the original. At the moment the whole car is original with all serial numbers matching V5 and the car even has the factory fitted Radio Cassette player in it.

Here's what am I starting with...