#1: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:12 am ---- An exhaustive TODO list (pun intended):
☐ inspect headlights wiring: due to some aftermarket headlights wired in the past, the dipped beam of stock crystals always stays on, even when the stalk is at the "off" position (except side-lights), no matter the if light sensor is enabled or not!
☐ shuddering/pulsating noise coming somewhere from the cambelt when engine cold, need to localise the problem using stethoscope; possible cambelt change pending (couple of related 206info threads here and here) [update: sounds like it's gone, maybe Italian service helped after all? Aug '19]
☒ remove rolled-up felt from the seats to look like new (using lint shaver)
☐ bodywork patchups, alloys refurb, machine polish through and through
☐ exterior mods, brainstorming in progress
DONE:
☑ put back missing nut from the exhaust manifold heat shield (caused in massive rattle at 2k)
☒ got SP bonnet vents, waiting to go in
☑ rear axle rattling like hell and packing up (O/S/R wheel has so much camber that is about to start rubbing against the arch due to excessively worn out rear axle's trailing arm bush, seen clearly by manually rocking the jacked up wheel). Plans are to take it apart and see how bad a damage is, came worst just get a recon one [update: got recon one, Apr '19]
☑ inspect exhaust manifold: rattling/popping/beans-boiling noise on bends during engine/chassis flex suggests loose manifold bolts/cracked welds, since a thorough suspension check didn't reveal any causes for such [update: found it rubbing against fuel tank heat shield -- all thanks to the massive bodge of fitting the Scorpion. The boiling-beans rumble is still there though, read on..]
☑ finish the build of garage workshop to finally start work on cars! [update: this finally happened after 3 years of blood+sweat+tears+evenings+weekends in Jan '18]
☑ sort out Scorpion <-> cat coupler, so it stops rasp-blowing through and through [update: sleeve reworked, but some rasp is still audible. Jun '19]
☑ another massive rattle at ~4k RPMs, for now I blame the rasp [update: went away after spacing the 'xaust correctly and using proper sized rivnuts on the heatshield, Jun '19]
☑ Eibach ~15mm drop springs fitted Aug '19, stock 180 shocks, plans to eventually replace shocks with something damping+rebound adjustable
☑ discovered a collapsed RHS engine mount, that was the cause of rumbling noises through potholes, and loud clang bangs on the bigger ones [update: fixed Aug '19]
Greetings!
Been meaning to start a project thread as soon as I got the car -- nearly a year ago! better later than later than that
September 2015
Together with mates started looking for a place to work on cars, so it was time to find myself a project.
Being very happy with me 2litre diesel, seemed like a good idea to try out petrol as well, and how could I possibly skip on the most beefed-up 206
This happily came up just half-an-hour away! 109k being a bit of a mileage but sporting great potential and that Scorpion system Airbag+ABS/ESP faults and a fallen-off rear view mirror arrived at a bargain value (or so I thought )
Had to keep him SORNed on the lawn for several weeks...
...but couldn't bear to see all of the moisture and slugs creeping up, so swapped them round. Then the daily ride began to plough through the lawn and few months down it became a mud bath (to all those with a bit of gardener in you: the turf has cured by now)
October 2015
Jay got his faults read with PP2000, you'll read below when I set out to hunt those down.
Started working on that car barn, and went to the Crazy Golf 206info meet
November 2015
On a crammed driveway replacing Jude's wishbones dreaming about the day of having a sizeable workshop
December 2015
Had enough muddling the lawn, took Blue Jay to the unit. First a touch of soap
(sticker isn't mine, honest )
They do stand out in white!
One fine day I'll sort you out
It was the first journey on the motorway, man this car is awesome! Even after seemingly having been power-driven in the past (no surprise for a GTi), still went like clappers! Happily reached the dry storage for some time
January 2016
Jude was due for her MOT: passenger airbag light, rattling rear axle, and clutch on its way out -- quickly fixing any of these wasn't an option. Combined with desire to put Jay on road took the better of me, and so the works started.
Firstly there was no power arriving to the horn itself via connector -- taking it apart showed green-oxidised terminals. Contact spray and some scrub sorted that, but it still wouldn't honk when pressing on the airbag. Read on
Brake pedal would spongily travel all the way to the floor (efficiency though mildly affected), no wonder why
Quickfix attempt to weld a nut, kept eating more and more of that seemingly cross-threaded bleeding nipple
Sourced the whole caliper from the land of sporty Pugs, will go in at a better day, and the naughty old one will get some boring.
MFD kept coming up with "Airbag fault" and "ESP/ASR not functioning" since the day I got the car, relevant faults read with PP2000 back in October were as follows:
Airbag ECU:
Permanent fault. Level of driver module trigger 1. Short circuit .
Permanent fault. Level of driver module trigger 2. Open circuit.
Remote permanent fault. Flywheel angle sensor. Incorrect value received.
Got me all worried that some of those errors will remain even after I get an unscathed COM2000 stalks unit. Barely anything was left of the old one (no airbag/horn ribbons, couldn't switch full beam on, ESP steering position sensor ring shattered; I heard from Pezhdi that such cases happen often after e.g. a quick job to fit a boss kit)
Airbag lights and faults went away, horn and high beam came back! But ABS/ESP error was still on the dash... In despair, I started looking for the flywheel angle sensor replacement, but to have the COM2000 swap complete, I had to re-calibrate steering wheel sensor.
Done that via PP2000, drove some few meters in a straight line, and ..... VOILÀ! All ABS/ESP faults had gone; good job I didn't go down the flywheel sensor route Happy days
A bit misleading them faults though..! Maybe Frenchies say "flywheel" when they actually mean "steering wheel"
Unsure by what forces of nature this had popped out of its socket in the car's previous life
Could be closely related to the fact that the front drop was adjusted so low, even tyres would shred them plastic arch linings on full lock, and previous keepers wouldn't do anything about that
I've adjusted the front suspension to a reasonable ride height, got healthy wide arch liners from the same pugperformancemotorsport (hard-ish to come about otherwise), and yet it was still a pig of a job to put new droplinks, without fiddling in various ways to jack suspension parts
Never nice to find a snapped off cat heatshield, held by cables.. But better than hanging by a thread [sic] I guess
No wonder it snapped -- an oversized cat back coupler pipe had been fitted some time ago, warping from the heat, leaving a cavity for the exhaust to blow through up against sink welds and Scorp's resonator (imagine that horrid rasp exhaust sound too, the first thing to cross of the list once I'm properly at it)
Even stock cat's downpipe bulge-deformed from all that pressure...
New pair-a-shoes at the rear! (replacing cord-exposed oldies, this car seemingly had a lot of handbrake-turned fun)
And lastly, having donated a few bulbs by Jude, Jay was ready for the MOT!
February 2016
Yet it failed
Rear view mirror was in the glovebox, and I thought it's ok to keep it there for a while, since MOT requires TWO mirrors to be on the car. However, there is a clause, that one of those two HAS to be the rear view argh!
Time was running out, but when you're glueing metal to glass, ensure not to rush and hopefully not during winter, otherwise you need to keep windscreen warm for the best adhesion (I used hair dryer, but one more heat lamp from outside would've helped better)
Also ensure you clean the old glue bits properly, use a mono blade and acetone
But look at that appalling logo! Ugh! Thinking of transplanting one from the original key, will need to nicely carve/mould the plastic out though
April 2016
Brought another EW10J4S from Pezhdi (cheers buddy!), clocked in at 79k miles, will be a good candidate for replacement and generic study of these beastie lumps
June 2016
Noticed excessive camber on O/S/R wheel (actually, I should thank them muddy roads around the unit -- made me hear the dirt-stuck tyre scraping the inside arches), and decided to immediately stop driving the poor car.
Good job I was given this Jag as a freebie, quickly put it on the road, happy for now (2400mm and 3000mm lengthy building materials fit into it perfectly -- brings the completion of our unit quicker )
Arrghhhh can't wait to get back to me Pugs! Last edited by Sim on Wed Aug 14, 2019 9:39 pm; edited 5 times in total
#2: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Edward, Location: In the garagePosted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 3:02 pm ---- Sometimes I think it would be good to buy a standard Gti 180 but if the others have little problems like yours has it puts me off!
#3: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 4:56 pm ---- No wonder it's a project high mileage and had a couple of boy racers in its past by the looks of it.
I got it for £700, it's probably worth £600 as they still tend to keep their price, even ragged ones.
If you want a looked-after/decent one, they go about £1000-1500 these days.
#4: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: David1156, Location: East LondonPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 3:48 pm ---- Looks like the 180 has kept you busy! Masked headlights and fogs are a must imo, they give the car a so much more aggressive look. Any plans for putting a turbo or ITBs on the spare engine?
#5: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 3:33 pm ---- Cheers David! Not as busy as the unit has (I sometimes wonder where my project would be, had all the time and money gone into the Pug instead), but things are to change for the better
Good idea on masking them lights and fogs, got a few spare, won't be a loss to cook some in the oven
Then long term plans would be to get some Angel Eyes and make them actually shine (maybe drill some xenons within the rings), will see once I source some shoddy Angels to play with
#6: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: MrWhite, Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 6:30 pm ---- i have some angels sim with 10k Hids if you want them inbox me £80 also ill send you some pics of Merlot and my new project if your on the Facebook
#7: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:00 pm ---- Hey Mate! Good to hear Pugs are keeping you busy too
Thanks for the offer! I reckon your Angel Eyes are black and yet I'm after silver ones. How about you sell them to good hands, and we'll instead write up a "How to.. make some actual HID Angel-Lights-the-road", as I'm curious in the DIY bit Such post would then become a great piece of info for any future 206 owners
#8: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: pAvax, Location: EssexPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 4:31 am ---- Sim, my brother and I are looking into this as well. If we find the best approach without cutting the loom, will post here a how-to as well. Would be nice to give people some different options.
#9: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: VorTechS, Location: Gloucestershire, UKPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:03 pm ---- No wonder you are spending so much time at the Unit! That's one heck of a list to be getting on with!
#10: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: MrWhite, Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:11 pm ---- I dont need Halos anymore now I have these Sim. what do you think?
#11: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:50 am ----
pAvax wrote:
Sim, my brother and I are looking into this as well. If we find the best approach without cutting the loom, will post here a how-to as well. Would be nice to give people some different options.
Looking forward to your findings!
Could you post some pics as you go (actually that's worth a separate project thead, just like Shadowstalke did for his Ouragans ;), even if you do need to cut the loom?
I'm curious what clearances there are and bulb/HID/projector locations/sizes. Will be able to see the level of tinkering it will be about
MrWhite, how did you do yours?
#12: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:53 am ----
VorTechS wrote:
No wonder you are spending so much time at the Unit! That's one heck of a list to be getting on with!
We sometomes motivate each other whilst building that neverending nonsense mansion, that only a nicely done workshop provides the best car tinkering environment you want to keep coming back to
#13: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:54 am ----
MrWhite wrote:
I dont need Halos anymore now I have these Sim. what do you think?
Looks proper evil! Can set to match your mood any day And with proper tweaks, Merlot could grow a middle name
#14: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 10:19 pm ---- Whoa it's been two-and-a-half years and I've finally gotten round to bringing the GTi 180 back to life again. Things done over past two months:
Race Glaze Alcantara Cleaner, smells bit like ammonia killing that mould
IronX and snow foam make a French flag on that Aegean Blue lol
Replaced door seal I got from PezHdi when he was breaking a 180 in Aden Red years ago.
Had hopes this would be less weathered and prevent water ingress in the everyone's-known weak spot
What distilled vinegar and a watered shoecare brush does to mould befores and afters (beware not to soak the head lining too much or it will shrivel!)
Only had to tidyup the ribbon cables and this sorted the weird "stretching" noise on the right-hand full-lock
Finally the replacement for the culprit that I stopped driving Blue Jay back in 2016 altogether
Axles from IMAxle arrive with a thin film of what they call "paint", which starts converting itself to surface rust already on the workshop floor (happened to HDi recon axle)
Following the path of experimenting that I always take, decided to prep the paint (clean, degrease with IPA, then finally with cling cloth) and coat it in Hammerite Metal Paint (in satin black, sadly they didn't have matte, which would've resembled an axle made of plastic -- is what they are anyway!)
After mostly 4 coats everywhere, while some areas left only in 3 to see which will wax and which will wane
WIP
The oldie was worse for wear
Experiments with sway bars, since Hammerite boasts to be "straight-to-rust"
Back on track (queue people with adenoids to tell IMaxle off for painting 20mm torsion bars in red but I like it gives more sporty look and left it that way)
Gone stealth with the brake disk protectors, same rust-overpaint experiment as with the sway bars
Brake disks would need changing ideally, but these+pads still got some meat in them, will scrub up until I reach the MOT station (hm maybe worth driving with handbrake on for a bit)
Also as well, managed to replace the rear brake caliper (the one with the Snap-off-it's-French bleeding nipple), let the replacement one trickle the brake fluid through after fitting, and now the brake pedal is no longer spongy! Didn't even have to bleed the system yet.
Got camber? Old knackered axle vs new recon axle
Next up: sorting out the exhaust bodge of the century
#15: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 9:56 am ---- As per the first post, exhaust "custom" coupler had been too big, pictures speak for themselves
Missed a bit above, had a minute leak [sic], then went generous with the fibre paste
the inner coat hadn't cured for a week due to no contact with oxygen, and from the heat would swell like a balloon what a laugh! Made strategic incisions -- rock solid now and no more leaks
System had been "aligned" to see the Scorpion logo showing on the exhaust tips, at the expense of fouling the heat shield
All sorted now
The shield's become loose also because some hard plastic rivnuts had been replaced by these black bungs
A drop of oil on the filter kicked off the hunt for its source
Washed everywhere around the area, replaced oil and filter, and finally identified the leak: the top of the oil cooler housing. The seal had been mangled, most likely due to over-tightening the oil filter
oil cooler seal looks suspiciously like a simple filter's one, only with rounded edges
Befores and afters when you look through the intake manifold down at the cooler (it was gunked up!)
Had the torsion bars temporarily greased up to prevent the exposed bare metal from rusting (that's how the axle came in), the time came to coat them properly, found some red oxide spray kicking about
Final assembly:
And not forgetting the fuel tank strap that had been held by the fuel tank
talking about supersession, can no longer find the aftermarket stainless ones on fleabay
While eliminating more rattles, replaced the lower arms with MOOGs from ECP. The most noisy even had its metal bushing part missing.....
Once I was at it, replaced the old rear engine mount, however I couldn't wait for parts, so just grabbed one Lemforder I had readied for the HDi, let's hope the rubber params are close!
Cheers to VorTechS for going that extra mile and bringing the GTi wing splash guard from, who we later discovered was MrWhite! Thanks both
Big debate on whether the stock front ARB does you any favours when you're on static suspension (read adjustable shocks'n'springs, mostly tailored for track, not potholes ).
I reckon the ARB has to match the stiffness of the strut, and factory's 21mm is nowhere near that.
I had done away with ARB on the HDi, including the bushes and brackets, and it flew through MOT no probs.
This time I left the bushes to prevent exposed subframe parts from rusting, and it'd flagged up during the test. So I had to put the whole shebang back, threw in some polys that were kicking about unused in a drawer, and more MOOG drop links, a brand that ECP seems to be pushing.
No change in cornering, I wonder what it does during the potholes
Denso Hybrids onto an experiment, they look ok, but already had to shave off a few mill [sic] to stop catching right-hand-side windstrip:)
Decided to push the envelope and MOT before the PugFest, it passed!
Say hello this Sunday when you see us roaming about with the 206info shirts
#16: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 9:45 pm ---- Holidays done and dusted, time to get back on and in the cars!
Last time we left off at Pugfest where we had a blast, a pic after prepping VorTechS' 308 GTi and a hibernating Flamenco Red 180 in the background
Earlier that day Chris Mullins decided to do a quick job outside their workshop, so I didn't have to wait the whole queue!
This month was a no-brainer to sort out the harsh ride.
Seeing how stiff the previous owner's FK adjustable suspension was, I've put the blame of the unbearable rattle and clanging even on the slightest of potholes to the offside shock absorber, it was as if a rod's been welded in place of the suspension strut, so I'd thought the shock was shot (read dry).
Also coming from the experience of having fitted AVO adjustables on the HDi, one can barely do the "rock the boat" move, car's front just moves side-to-side when on such static suspension.
The missing wishbone's bush metal housing (see previous post) only reinforced my theory, and so I finally splurged out on the long-ago planned Eibach springs
They're even TÜV approved, but I still wouldn't be able to cross into Germany because of this C'mon Germans, why are you clamping down on the modified scene?
The 30mm difference translates to the promised 15-20mm drop once in situ
(If you ask why I didn't go with a 30mm drop at front -- GTi 180 already comes lower from factory compared to others)
Discovered top mount bearings were barely holding themselves together
The turret itself has given some confidence in the car not being k-rusty
A bit of German
With a bit of German
(this plastic ABS cable holder bracket is actually from Pez many months ago, as you see everything eventually finds its use, cheers buddy!)
And yet the rumbling didn't go away..... Silver lining: I planned on fitting Eibachs regardless, and in an unforeseeable future complementing them with some damping+rebound adjustable shock absorbers.
It was something else grumbling in the engine bay, was so inconclusive, that all sorts of explanations were going through my head, from a loose driveshaft intermediate bearing, to broken off exhaust manifold -- tests revealed that the grumble is pronounced only on potholes when the engine is running!..
Then after a lot of headache experiments, at certain point I could reproduce it while slightly pressing down on the engine, the rest of the car starts to shake -- engine mount it is! And whaddaya know...
I should've looked there in the first place! (lesson learned )
Revealed some surface rust underneath
Sanded it off and treated with
Some say, it's the best applicant for such places, the rust would never come back. We'll see about that!
All's well what ends well
The car drives like a dream now, and if I'm honest, the first time in my ownership!
#17: Re: Blue Jay Way: Sim's GTi 180 "Back to Life" Author: Sim, Location: West CountryPosted: Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:41 am ---- As I was enjoying daily rides with Blue Jay, a high-pitched whine/whistle appeared, that went along with RPMs and seemed to originate from the drive-belt/cam-belt area.
Automotive stethoscope suggested the culprit was the power steering pump. Removing it revealed a slow leak which I readily cleaned up
Decided to experiment further and got one of these 60quid aftermarket brand new ones
It turned out to be whiny as hell (same noise when a car is in reverse due to the gears meshing fully): youtu.be/26lQ8-xyO_0 (talking about youtube video IDs O_0)
Alas the high pitched whistle remained, and I turned my head (and got bad neck) to the drive-belt tensioner pulley, cursing and using the stubbiest tools I still lost hours while refitting it
Small cars + big engines = love + hate relationship, after bruising your arms you yet again forget the rage once the job is done
The old pulley had some gunk accrued on it in a dotted fashion, maybe cleaning that off would've just helped the whistle to go away? Who knows now! It didn't have too much play or rumbling while turning.
All in all, the new Gates tensioner pulley surely is quiet now.
Did a power steering fluid flush (in case the ebay seller tells me it's the source of their PAS whine), didn't want to disturb the low-pressure hose clip (as those tend to develop a leak like it does on the HDi and CC.
The madness was made up of plumbing the the old pump to the high pressure side, spinned it with a drill as the engine turned another pump:
(another reason to go this mental is because it's a pain to get to the bottom hose in a 180!)
And with extra pair of hands we got the fluid flushed!
The brand new el cheapo PAS pump whine was still there with a fresh fluid!!
Went and bought a remanufactured Elstock one for £440 (yep, you read that right)
Well that's not to say GSF do these price tricks with 60% discount thereafter.. Which becomes £260 which then drops to only £120 after you bring ye olde pump to them!
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[update: this finally happened after 3 years of blood+sweat+tears+evenings+weekends in Jan '18]
better later than later than that 
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