Hi Guys,

Thought I would share my project with you all.

I have a 1992 Phase 1 405 SRi. I had this car for several years as a daily driver whilst I was at university but it has now been off the road stuck in my grans driveway for 6 years!

When I took it off the road it burned 1 litre of oil a week. I have since been tinkering away with it on and off with varied success.

Presently I have got the engine running again with a refurbished cylinder head (£70 from ebay!!!). It still has a fault code on it though so I will need to find out which one and rectify it.



As you would expect all the brakes were siezed so I have purchased caliper overhaul kits for every corner. I have bead blasted the calipers and painted using black hammarite. Still got this lot to finish off.

I have had some good results so far and as it is off the road I can spend time getting it back to a reasonable condition.

Anyway, here are some pics. I will psot more as I go but its slow progress due to work commitments.




Some lovely green moss growing there!!


Some before and after of caliper bits.




Thought it was starting to look reasonable here again.

I may choose to replace the springs, shocks and some bushes etc at the front depending how they look.

Also toying with the idea of getting the wishbones painted up too.

Will keep you all posted. Having fun doing this though!

Its nice to see some restoration projects instead of destruction.

Keep up the good work an the updates

Get some black hammerite down those sills!
Being J reg I expect it's motronic MP3.1? Good set up that - no AFM and no dizzy cap.

Keep up the good work fella.

Another Edinburger!! We'll have to get an Edinburgh meet sorted. We'll only need somewhere big enough for two cars

Great to see people bringing 405's back to life. If you need parts I just got back from the scrappy at Newbridge and theres a few 405's in various states of disassembly there.

Excellent work so far Nice to see something a bit different to an Mi16 too

Nice one, keep up the good work..

Well im just outside Edinburgh - Linlithgow. Im a student in Dundee but ill be about most of the summer. As for sporties at newbridge, ive been in and had a scout about the 405s as well

Space for 3 cars then

SCB at Newbridge is a great scrappy. Tend to go there when I need bits but at the moment I am replacing most broken bits with new.

Up for an Edinburgh meet at some point but will have to come in my 406 probably. It may be a month or so before this 405 is back on the road. Got lots on at work unfortunatly.

Anyway, today I managed to sort the fault code. Turned out I had not plugged the temperature sensor back in, Doh ! The engine is still rough though, will rev of but idle is pretty dire.

Got the front drivers side caliper on today too. Looks great! Shoud have done this when the car was on the road. Also got the rear drivers side one finished and ready to go back on the car. Sorry for the poor quality pics. Never had my camera today so I had to use the phone.


Caliper ready to go back on.


Caliper back on the car. Looks great! Shame upbout the rusty spring.


Rear Caliper ready for fitting on my next free day.

Next I have to remove the calipers on the passenger side to get them refurbished. Also got a bottom ball joint to do and the rear hubs ro replace. Have to do the hubs as the axle was replaced about 11 months before it wnet off the road. The new axle did not have ABS hubs and so the car failed its last MOT on the ABS not working. £46 each from GSF, Ouch.

Here's a quick pic of my 406 for you to drool over

The 406 Coupes are going soooo cheap now!

I love 406 coupes, very nice looking cars

Well, after a while with nothing happening I have finally got round to doing some bits and bobs on this car again.

I decided afterall to replace the suspension (after I got some cheap new bit from ebay!). I have bought new bearings, struts, droplinks etc. I am also in the middle of refurbishing the hubs with new bearings and ball joints. These will look great when they are painted up. Will post pics later.

Still on the lookout for a set of new springs for the front. The old ones are rusty and I would preffer some nice shiney new ones. Unfortunatley all thats on ebay is lovering springs. Not sure if I want to go down this road? Any thoughts on this guys?

At the moment the car is stitting with no suspension on the front. I still need to get the droplinks off. How do I do this? The bolts do not have much of a shoulder to bite into with a socket and it keeps slipping off. Appreciate any advice or experiance people have in getting these off.

Next steps then are to finish refurbing the hubs and get the suspension built up ready to go back on the car.

Also looking at getting the anti roll bar off and getting it powder coated. It looks terrible next to all the new bits!

Finally, anyone used an electric impact wrench? Saw them recently and wondered if they would be any goof for use on the car? Not got any air tools and these seemed like a good alternative. Any thoughts people?

Will return with some pics later on.

Jim

Glad to see this thread resurrected. The more pictures of clean and shiny bits i see, the longer I suspect my car is going to be off the road

Have you priced springs from euro car parts? They are usually pretty good on prices, and convenient enough for you. Sorry cant help with the drop links, not got mine off yet so not sure.

As for electric impact guns, they are great. Ive got a dewalt one and it makes things so much faster on anything you can use it on. I think it's worth spending the money and getting a good one though, ive heard stories that some of the 'bargain' ones are a bit lacking in torque, so worth shopping around and comparing figures etc. Machine mart had one of their own brand ones on offer recently, iirc it was about £80 with case and two batteries, and their stuff is usually pretty decent in my experience. Worth a look possibly.

Stuart

Euro Car Parts is probably where I will get the springs. They had to order them in though so I never got them when I was round last week. Will get them ordered and get them Sat morning. Well reminded!!

Well you asked for shiney bits so here you go !!

Here are a few pics of the work I have been doing on the hubs.


Hubs with new wheel bearings and ball joints.

Those ball joints are a Bword to get out!!! Lots of heat and they eventually came though


Wheel carriers pre and post cleaning.


Painting in progress


The finished product!!


And another gratuitous shiney bits shot !!


Tonights job.

Thats one side masked up for painting. Got to do the other side then get them painted. Will do these black I think

Jim

On impact wrenches the dewalt units look quite good. What model do you have? I was looking at a dewalt or makita one.

Forgot to mention. I talked before about a rough idle and very little power, well I may have an answer finally. Seems there was two tensioner types used on the XU9J2 engine. I have the earlier type with the spring. Now there is a difference in timing belts for the two engine types (one with 113 teeth for the older model vs 114 teeth for the newer!). So I belive the engine apears to be timed correctly but it may in fact be out by a tooth as I may have the incorrect belt.

I have bought a new belt (113 toothed one) and intend on fitting it next chance I get where its not raining. Fingers crossed the engine will run well after this.

Still not going anywhere until the brakes and suspension is back on though

Jim

Not sure what model it is as I'm up in Dundee just now and it's in Linlithgow I know its an 18V one though, if it helps.

Hope you're correct on the timing issue, you be a nice simple fix!

Some latest pics of refurbished parts.


The painted hubs (Still maked up) with some painted strut supports


The finished hub waiting on the wheel carrier to be pressed in.

I have the other hub drying presently and I intend on taking the two of them to work tomorrow and get them pressed back into the hubs.

This weekends job (if the weather lets me) is to strip the remaining strut and get the strut supports to be cleaned and painted. Following this I will rebuild one strut and hub assembly and get it on the car if I have time.

I am watching the weather with interest.

Well, I have frustratingly made little progress since my last update. Mainly due to the incompetance of Euro Car Parts. I will not be using them again.

Got my wheel carriers pressed into the new hub bearings and they looked great. See below.


Shiney painted hubs!!)

Unfornatley one of the bearings is wobbley. This was pressed in proffessionally using a hydraulic press by a mechanical fitter at my work so we certainly did not damage it. Took it back the ECP and they accused me of hammering the bearing in . Cheeky Bwords !!!! They agreed to replace it but would not replace it again if it happened again.

But thats not all. I had ordered some nice new front springs to pick up at the same time. Again they managed to bugger that up by only ordering one! Idiots. What am I going to do with one spring. They assured me the other would be in soon so I took the one they had back to the car (40 miles away). To my horror I found that they had supplied the wrong spring !!!


Old rusty spring vs new but wrong spring.

The diameter was totally wrong and as it was saturday they were shut. After much swearing etc I calmed down and proceeded to remove the anti roll bar so it can be blasted and powder coated. Did not get it fully out though as I could not get the droplinks off. I was not having a good day. Decided I would call it a day and cut the drroplinks off next time.

So today I went to ECP to pick up my replacement springs and guess what, after ordering them monday they had not arrived. There had been another mix up. Additionally they still showed there only being one on order. I am so fed up with them I asked them to cancel the order and give me my money back. I will not be using them again.

So easter weekend and I have lots of shiney suspension parts and no springs to finish it off.


Shiney bits (- vital new springs)

Think I will set the dog on ECP.


Ben gaurding the parts and looking highly fierce

I am trying to maintain my sainity

Thought I would also post some pics of how the car looks just now just to give you an idea of what I still have ahead of me.

I have seen cars in scrappies looking in better condition ! Still this is my car and it will look great when I am finished.


The 405 in all its moss covered glory!!


Gratuatous badge shot


Lacquer peeling. Don't know how to fix this??


Filthy under wheel arch

Euro Crap Arts! Those springs almost look like the type for Vauxhalls.
Nice looking dog. I'm not much of a dog person really but yours is kinda cute.
Oh and can you measure your old SRi springs for me please?

I had SRI before Mi16x4, what a nice car. I lowed that small rpm torque.

By the way, I paid 40€ for original Psa hub bearing, bought it from citroen.

Keep at it! Poor show by euro car parts as well. Maybe they just have problems with suspension... they ordered front arms for me twice when I just got the car, and got the wrong ones both times, couldnt explain why the balljoint they sold me didnt fit the arm "the computer says its right". If its becoming a regular occurence I might start looking elsewhere for parts.

P.S. Cool dog

Looking good This going to be one tidy motor when you get it finished!

I've never used ECP, only GSF. Think I'll stick with GSF!

Springs measured as requested. See pics. Sorry its imperial, never had a metric tape measure. Let me know if this gives you what you need.


Length


Detail of length


Diameter

Today I finally got the Anto Roll Bar off (after cuttng off the droplinks !!). Looked pretty manky. I have cleaned it up and am toying with the idea of having it powder coated. Will depend on how much it costs. I have new ARB bushes (a part that ECP actually got right!) and intend on ordering new screws etc from peugeot. They are very cheap apparently. Last problem is I still have to get the ends of the droplinks off the ARB. Some application of heat should help but that might be difficult at the moment with all the wind and snow !!

Tried to get new springs today. Was quoted £43.71 each from Penland Componant Parts . Will try a few more places. Its annoying as ECP were about half this price but I refuse to give them any more business. Will look about after the easter break. everything is shut sadly. This is the only thing stopping me getting it back on the ground! Does anyone have any suggestions where I can get them and not break the back.

Maybe I can get the old ones blasted and powder coated.......?

Thankyou! Pics as well!!
I know it sounds a bit amateurish but I found the smooth finish red Hammerite to be great for painting my springs. It's actually more durable than the factory paint that was on my old lowering springs.
I recently tried to fit new drop links and gave up, well for now. Where they attach the the wishbones was easy to undo but where they attach to the arb is a right paint, it's like they are welded on!

How strange, exactly same length as my gti6 springs, though these GTI6 springs have 6 coils and your Sri's have 7. Does extra coils give less stiffness?

YES!
7 coils will give a softer ride (less stiffness) and 6 coils will give a harder ride.
That is assuming the wire used in both springs is the same diameter etc.

Not had a hugely productive weekend due to my parts supply problems and the weather but i have made some progress. Managed to get my ARB droplinks of the ARB !! Had to saw them off though with a junior hacksaw. That was hard work. Put a grinder on my list of things to buy

Anyway they came off ok but I will require two new bolts from Peugeot as the originals were badly corroded (and are now sawn through).

Pt No. 509104 - £1.68 each if anyones interested. (Although thats a servicebox price and the dealer tends to be a wee bit more expensive).

Anyway progress pics.


Sawed off the remains of the rubber bush to get access


The remains of the bolt and bush. No wonder it was hard to get off. Look at that rust!!


ARB free of droplinks ready to go to the powder coaters

So I am off to the powder coaters with the ARB tomorrow. Hopefully I will get a good price. I have been struggling to decide if I should get the springs done or not. Otherwise the best price I have is roughly £40 each a spring for new ones. Will give GSF a ring tomorrow but they do not list any on thier website. Tried Dingbro in edinburgh. They said they could not help. Trade only. Bwords. I have a pal who works in the trade and he said he would try them for me.

Watch this space.

Oh nuggets, I wonder if mine are rusted on too.

The problem I think is that the nuts are half height. I could not get anything on and make it stay on to let me get enough torque onto the thing to make it turn.

Get the grinder on them and get some new bolts from peugeot. Much easier. Or you could soak it in wd40 it get some heat on it. I am just impatient sometimes

never had a problem with 6 sided sockets

I had a six sided socket on it but it just kept slipping off. Only using a rachet though. Don't have an impact wrench (Although I have ordered a nice dewalt one:)

You were lucky getting it off. Mine was very rusty but again as I mentioned maybe if I was not so impatient I would have had it done without cutting.

Never got any work done today and this was my last day off. Still, had a very enjoyable day out at the skid pan at Knockhill 8)

Excellent! I've always wanted to have a go at some of their 'experience day' things, never quite found the time/money though. Maybe over the summer ill look into it.

It was great fun !! Really enjoyed it. The instructor was very knowlegeable and managed to teach me a thing or too! Definatley will do some other things there. Maybe rally experiance next......

Dropped my ARB at the powder coaters today. He rekons about £20 should about do it. He is going to use 2 pack appoxy primer and paint instead of powder coating though. He rekons its a more durable and better finish. Some some other work he had done. I was very impressed. My ARB is going to look new Too good to put on the car almost!

Are angle grinders the thing to use for getting bolts sawn off quickly then? Faster than a hacksaw right?

I think so. Never used one though. I would imagine that you would need to take great care not to cut more than you want. Hacksaw took ages to cut these bolts off and gave me sore arms !

My new springs arrived today from GSF. Only ordered them yesterday! They were about £25 each when you include the postage. I have very pleased with thier service and will be using them again.

I will rebulid the suspension this weekend and get it on the car if the weather is nice to me. Fingers crossed

I'm after a set of standard springs as well, looks like ill be giving GSF a call tomorrow!

Put my new springs up against my old ones today and found a height difference They have the same no of coils and have the same diameter of spring but just are about an inch taller.

Could this be because my old springs have sagged after 16 years compressed on the car or could it be that they are the wrong springs?

Any thoughts people? No pics at the mo. Maybe later on.

On the plus side I got my Dewalt impact wrench today. It looks the business. Cant wait to try it on some rusty bolts

Things like that just make you wanna pull ya hair out don't they! Wouldn't surprise me though if old springs do end up lower.

Old springs do sag over time. I'd go on and fit them and see how it looks

Thanks for the replies guys.

Given that they have the same no of turns on the springs I think they may have sagged. I will try fitting them as you say. They look like they will fit ok so I am sure they will do. GSF did say they were the correct size for my car.

Glad I bought them now if that's how much 16 yr old springs sag.

Will get some pics tomorrow hopefully.

Looking forward to seeing how your car looks with these on! Going to call GSF tomorrow and get mine ordered, been putting it off for a few days but just going to bite the bullet and get the expense over with. I don't have standard springs to compare them with once they arrive, so just going to have to stick them on and see.

I've got something probably worth mentioning. A while back I bought some springs that had come off a 306 GTI6 and noticed one was taller than the other - one spring had snapped and been replaced with a new one fron Peugeot.

Thats quite interesting that they would replace one spring and not both. The fact that they were different heights shows why you should do an axle set.

It may have been OK with the weight on them though.

I will fit the springs at the weekend and see how they look. This is weather dependant unfortunately and its not looking good so far

Thats a bit dodgy if they are prone to sagging, shouldn't both be changed at the same time!!

Yeah I agree but maybe either the owner or Pug (if it was still under warranty) were trying to save money. Snapped springs seem to be par for the course on the 306 range, judging by what's said on the GTI6 forum.
What I can't fingure out is why they supply different springs according to options a car has like PAS, Aircon etc. Surely a few extra kilos here and there isn't worth a different spring. I bunged XU9J2 springs on my first Mi16 and that did ok.

Today I attempted to fit the new replacement bearing I got from ECP to the hub in preparation for this weekends suspension rebuild. Guess what. You guessed it. Its not right either

Its very strange that 2 bearings would fail. I am fitting it as per the Haynes manual and using a proper press. Yet there seems to be excessive play between the outer and inner races. Very strange.

I am not taking it back to ECP. I damaged it when I was trying to determine what was going on. They said they would not replace it a second time anyway. The first hub is fine though

So I have ordered another off ebay. That will arrive next week and will try again then. If I fail again I will give it to a garage and get them to do it. Then I will have someone else to blame if it goes wrong

Nothing is going my way with this at the moment.

Have you noiticed the play in the bearing before the driveshaft was bolted in? Because I have had the same thing a couple of times with 405 front bearings, and when the hub nut has been done up correctly rhe play has disappeared. I was thinking the same as you but my dad said it is quite common for this to happen