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Ownership Diary | |
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Obviously now that the 205 RG has been sold, this section will not get updated (until such time as I get another one!!!) - It is left here purely as an historic document so you can see the ups and downs of my time with J193 MHA.
This diary is in reverse order, newest event first.
17 October 2006
Decided to unstick my sticky caliper - wasn't the best of ideas to start it at 3:30pm what with the dark nights drawing in!!! I'd decided to do it because at work on Friday it locked on almost fully and so I had nice plumes of smoke when I stopped! 2 grazed hands and some blue-air later I had it back on (thanks to my neighbour lending me a big bar to push the piston back in with!) - Gave it a try and... it was stuck solid, worse than before I started! So with the light fading, I set about taking it all apart again - Lots of WD40, brake cleaner and PlusGas (and more grazes) later I had it all back together (in the dark!) and so far it feels fine! I always have a paranoia for a few days after putting a wheel back on (is that just me?) - I *know* I tightened the bolts properly, but does the car know that?!?! 22 November 2003 Fitted the Lexus lights - they look pretty smart, especially at night. Will take some pictures in the next couple of days. I had to go and buy a whole new set of bulbs as they use combination bulbs for side/brake lights and of course, required orange bulbs for the indicators. I plugged the left hand light in the wrong way around so I had a flashing brake light and a static indicator!!! Oh well! 6 November 2003 Still awaiting that green carpet set I ordered - Starting to think the guy is either a scam-merchant or just plain lazy! I've also got a set of Lexus lights on order (should be here in the next day or two) - I ordinarily wouldn't go for these but having seen this particular set on another Roland Garros, I decided "what the hell!" 31 October 2003 Just won an auction on eBay for a replacement stereo (remember the backlight on mine doesn't work)
28 October 2003 The parts for the latest repairs arrive a couple of days ago from Neat Automotive Components (http://www.parts4peugeot.com) who incidentally I've found to be easier to deal with that EuroCarParts and so far have better quality parts. I've now got the following...
1x Bumper 205 FR 90>95 £ 23.50
2x Bumper Bolt Front £ 3.40
2x Bumper Bolt Side £ 3.62
1x Fitting Kit £ 12.00
1x Moulding 205 (Chrome) £ 8.00
1x Grille £ 11.75
1x Indicator (Clear LHS) £ 8.81
1x Column Switch £ 29.15
VAT £ 14.93
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TOTAL £100.23
All I've got to do now is fit it all!!! 10 October 2003     Reached the 130k mark today! Still running well. The cheque for the damage repairs has arrived and been paid into my bank account so I just need to order the new parts and get it done. Shame the weather is getting a bit squally. Will get it in for spraying as soon as I've done this stuff so should have a nice looking car again by the end of the month! 28 September 2003    Enlisted the help of my Dad to get a a couple of things done to the car this weekend - one made it worse to drive and the others made it better. The "worse" was putting way too much air in the tyres - I got it into my head that 31/29 (Front/Rear) would be good in 185/60/14's - it's not! Felt like I was driving a beach buggy! Dropped it down to 26/24 and it's much nicer now! One of the "better" things were finally putting the dizzy cap, rotor arm and leads on that I bought a few weeks back. It's like a new car!!! All the hesitation at low revs has gone as has a flat-spot I was getting around 2500 rpm. Brilliant! The other thing was unsticking the front right brake caliper. By the time I got to my Dad's there was smoke coming out of it as it had bound on! Removed the pads, covered everything in brake-cleaner, put copper grease on the piston and the backs of the pads and all is great again! Turned out to be the cause of some vibration I've been getting at speed lately (and also when braking hard). The Pug's gorgeous to drive again! 27 September 2003 Finally gave up phoning and visiting the garages for the quotes - I'd managed to get one garage to quote but it was too much. The woman who backed into the Pug had an excess of £350 and this quote was more so she said it may as well go through the insurance. Bah! I offered to get the parts myself and do the work myself for £250 - she's agreed so I'm just waiting for the cheque to arrive. 21 September 2003 You wouldn't think it would be so hard to get a garage to give you a quote for some work would you? I've been trying for the past fortnight to get 2 quotes for the required repairs after that last bump. One garage said that I can't have a written one for free, I'll have to cough up 25 quid. Neither of the two garages have got back to me with the quote yet despite leaving copious messages. You'd think they didn't want the money!!! I wouldn't mind, depending on how this job is done, one of them will be getting more work to finish the car off!!! Humpfh! 30 August 2003 You won't believe it! (I didn't) Someone backed into my car today! I need (yet another) new front bumper, headlight, indicator, chrome insert, bumper brackets, bumper bolts and new grille! What a complete arse! You've no idea how angry I was! They've agreed to sort it out without going through the insurance so I need to get some quotes to send to them. Pictures will be uploaded in the next couple of days. Thankfully I had a spare headlight (from the couple I bought the alloys off ages ago) so I'm at least road legal! 28 August 2003  Dropped the car off to have the roof fitted today! They make it there and then (which is why the car has to be there all day). Looks really nice (and very bright!!!) - I'll get the pictures up ASAP. 25 August 2003 Not had an update for a while so here goes. I've ordered some bits from Neat Automotive Supplies (http://www.parts4peugeot.com) as follows...
Distributor Cap £ 6.00
Ignition Lead Set £15.00
Rotor Arm £ 1.50
Licence Plate Lamp £ 0.34
Panel Lamp x 2 £ 0.30
SHIPPING £ 6.50
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TOTAL £35.18
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All nice and cheap and arrive within 24 hours! Excellent! I'll get them on ASAP which should sort out a bit of hesitation I've got at the mo'.This all came about because I fitted the dizzy, cap, rotor arm and leads that I bought second hand ages ago and discovered them to be worse than the ones already on the car! Oh well!!! :-) 10 August 2003 Not much happened lately (on the car front anyway) - I've seen quite a few 205 bargains go through eBay lately (including a hard-top Roland Garros). The XS dials should be here tomorrow, they were posted on Friday I've been told. I've bought these off eBay to use as templates for checking the white dials that I'm making. I've also found a supplier of a fade-resistant coating for them so they won't fade in the sun. 29 July 2003 Changed this diary around so the newest items are at the top. 26 July 2003  Passed the MOT first time - only had 1 recommendation on the sheet, one of the bulbs on the rear licence plate had gone!!! Makes all the recent work worthwhile! 25 July 2003 Spent the evening cleaning the last of the oil out of the engine bay (from the oil leak the other week) and re-aligning the headlight for tomorrow's MOT. 23 July 2003 Ooooh, 128k miles. Just booked the car in for an MOT for this coming Saturday - I think it should be ok with all that's been done lately! 11 July 2003  I've finally got around to booking my car in for its new roof. White cabriolet vinyl with a life expectancy of over 10 years. Sounds good to me! It's from Prestige Auto Trim. The material is a good match for the existing one (in colour) - I tested it on the only part of my roof that is still the original colour, the back zip-out screen! The pattern on the material is different, but I've picked one that's not too fussy. The soonest they can book it in for fitting is 26th August(!) so I've got 6 weeks to wait! I've put pictures of the current hood and the material samples for the new one in the gallery. 10 July 2003 Well I've had the car back a couple of days and all is great - The new battery (a Bosch Silver) is great - my windows wind up and down faster, the central locking is more consistent, the power hood opens and closes better and the car runs better at low speeds. 08 July 2003 The garage has got my car again - They've rung me to say that it started fine for them but from the sound of the symptoms I gave them, the battery is shot. Whoop-de-doo - more expense! 06 July 2003 Decided to use my Sunday to do a couple of jobs on the car. I started out by giving the spotlights I've had sat in the garage for ages a clean up. I sprayed them black, cleaned all the glass, put them back together. I removed the old ones from the enclosures and did a test fit of the replacements. Damn! They don't fit! The GTi ones (the replacements) are more rounded than the XS ones I took out and the enclosure isn't deep enough. Then I realised, they fit the other way up! The XS ones have the bolt going through the bottom of the enclosure whereas the GTi ones go out through the top. So I'll have to drill a new hole. I figured I'd best test them first, so I connected them up. Hmmmm, more differences! The XS ones are fed individually from a lead behind each headlight. The GTi ones are connected together and fed just from one side. I tried them anyway by connecting to the leftside lead. Nothing. Tried with the right-hand-side lead and they worked, or at least one did - The bulb blew in the other. I've put them back in the garage! I'm going to change the wiring over to feed them separately like the old ones were. On the plus side, I got the bumper and the valance fitted - It's all starting to look like a car again now! I'll add pictures to the gallery over the next couple of days. Another downside though. Since I picked the car up from having the head gasket done, it's had problems starting. The starter goes very slow and sounds like there's a resistance to it. It's going back to the garage on Monday night for them to fix it as it's something that happened while they've had it. 30 June 2003 Got the car back from the garage. Here's the bill... To Remove & Replace Cylinder Head Gasket As Required...
Parts @ MLP
1 Set Head Bolts £ 17.06
1 Gasket Set £ 34.40
2 Ltrs Antifreeze £ 6.00
Specialist Charges £ 45.00
(Head Skim)
Labour £123.75
(4.5Hrs @ £27.50)
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Net Total £226.21
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VAT £ 39.58
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Invoice Total £265.79
=======As an added bonus, the head has been decoked and degreased (done as part of the skim) so everything is nice and clean in there now!Runs nice and smooth - nice even tickover too. 26 June 2003 Car in garage for a couple of days having the oil leak fixed - It is leaking from the front corner of the head gasket (Cambelt end of engine). It will be in there for a few days. The head will be sent off for skimming. Total cost (including Labour & VAT) will be £265.79! Erk! 16 June 2003 Gave car to a local garage - they put the cambelt back on properly! :-) Unfortunately, we didn't solve the oil leak - looks like a small leak from the front corner of the head gasket (cambelt side of engine) which runs down and drips out of the bottom of the cam cover (which is what lead us to think it was the crankshaft seal!!!) Oh well! The plus side is that as part of what we were doing, we changed the cambelt and the rocker cover gasket (2 things that have been sat in the garage waiting to be done for ages!) 15 June 2003 Spent this weekend (with the help of my Dad) trying to solve the oil leak. We'd traced it to the crankshaft seal (we thought!) - So, off came the cam cover(s) then the cambelt, then the crankshaft sprocket then the seal - replaced the seal, put the sprocket back on then realised we'd managed to spin the crankshaft and didn't know by how much - A day and a half of buggering around trying to figure out the valve timing and we've given up! 12 June 2003 Got myself a replacement soundproof/heatshield layer for the underside of the bonnet from a scrapped XS - Something else to add to the pile of parts to fit!!! :-) 07 June 2003 Hello again! Been away on holiday (hence no update) so here's what's happened since the last update. I got Eurocarparts to replace the bumper a few days after the last update - unfortunately, they came on the wrong day and I didn't have the other one ready for the courier to take back, so I've still got two bumpers (because they've still not come to take it away!!!) - They've also charged me for both - I'll have to sort that out! So at the moment (due to being away) the car has a black wing and bonnet on - the old broken bumper and no bottom valance. I'm going to swap the spotlights over for the set I've had in the garage for ages before I put it back on as it's a sod of a job to do with it all attached to the car. There's been a slight hic-up in the financial department so things will progress slowly for a while so the pannels are likely to stay black for a while until I can afford the paint job again. I can get all the other bits on in the meantime though and try and solve the oil leak which should keep me busy. I've got quite a few bits in boxes in the garage that I've been meaning to put on for ages (new dizzy, the spots, new lock set etc) so I can get going with them soon. A word of warning about "pattern pannels" - they are crap - don't expect to be able to fit them easily - be prepared to have to do some work on them to make them fit. At some point in the (very) distant future, I'd love to swap the engine for a 106XSi engine - Aparently it's a straight swap (or you can make a hybrid out of the two) - It's a pie-in-the-sky idea - maybe one for retirement!! ;-) 11 May 2003 End of the weekend and what have I managed to get done? Well, the replacement wing is on (although the panel fit with the door is crap, some adjustment needed) - the indicator is on - headlight bulb replaced - bent bumper brackets straightened. And that's about it! Combining to slow me down was the rain and the fact that the bumper I've ordered appears to be the wrong one even though it's the one Eurocarparts said was suitable for the XS. Unfortunately, the sides are too short and have holes in for GTi wheel arches! So the old bumper is back on (without the valance) so the car looks a bit "toothless" at the moment! I've emailed Eurocarparts to find out what the deal is with the bumper - lets see how I get on! 10 May 2003 The parts I ordered from Eurocar parts on Monday were delivered on Wednesday (well, they would have been if we were in) so today we collected them from the delivery company. Full of enthusiasm, I started work on the car at around 12:30. The enthusiasm ran out about an hour later!!! Lost a couple of bolts that were corroded in the process but nothing too drastic. I lost the enthusiasm due to the damn pig of a job it was to get the bumper off!!! It then poured down just as I was about to finish putting the wing on, so the job's on hold until tomorrow. See the Gallery for what the car looks like right now!!! 01 May 2003 The car still has its slow oil leak (albeit less since I put in the new dip-stick). While it no longer barfs out most of the oil, it does drip after a good run. It's definitely a top-end leak but doesn't appear to be the rocker-cover gasket - Possibly the camshaft seal? If you've got an idea let me know!!! I may have to put it into a garage to get it checked. I don't think it's the rings (despite the car's mileage) as there's no crap coming out of the exhaust. 13 April 2003 Okay! The wheel bolts finally arrived (As did my dip-stick) - Unfortunately the bolts were too long so thanks to my brother-in-law who went and borrowed an angle-grinder off his dad, we cut them down to size. It was only the ones for the front that were too long so only 8 to cut!!! Put some locking nuts on too. Check the gallery. 05 April 2003 Went to pick up the wheel bolts only to find that the delivery didn't contain them! Great - should be here on Tuesday. Did order a new dipstick from the local Peugeot dealer though - £5.57 Went to a local scrap yard to look for a good wing/bonnet - only 1 knackered 205XE there. Whilst there I did find one of my old cars! Bit strange seeing it! :-) 29 March 2003 Went to find some wheel bolts to fit the alloys I got (23 March) - Halfords don't do them (or rather wouldn't check if the ones they did have would fit in AEZ alloys) so I went to an independent accessories shop. They've ordered me a set. 28 March 2003 Put the car in to have the brakes looked at - My handbrake light was on constantly (which also doubles as a fluid warning light) - Turns out one of the rear brake cylinders had burst and peed most of my fluid out all around the inside of the drum (ruining the shoes in the process)! So, new shoes on the rear, new discs and pads on the front, new cylinder, new fluid plus labour and VAT comes to £250. Ouch. 23 March 2003 Got a total bargain today! Thanks to a great couple I bought a dizzy off eBay from (for 3 quid incidentally) I now have an excellent set of AEZ 5-spoke alloys and a spare original alloy. The AEZ wheels have Pirelli P600/P6000 tyres on them which are like new. How much you say? £65!!! Also a bag of misc spares (headlight, fuel pump, coil etc) for an extra 12 quid! Cheers! I am putting them on this Friday (or rather the garage is as I'm at work!) so I'll get some pictures up! 17 March 2003 I love nice weather! Nothing beats the "Grin Factor" you get from a cabriolet! With the sun out I've had the top down a couple of times coming back from work and there's nothing better for blowing the work-cobwebs away! 13 March 2003 No more oil loss - I checked the pipes and there's no blockage so I've cleaned up loads of the oil so I can see where any appears from (if indeed any more does). Could be the rocker cover gasket. I've also straightened out the wing, bonnet and bumper a bit using some big pliers just so it looks better while I wait for a chance to fit some new parts. 08 March 2003 Hmmmm... The Pug has decided to belch out half of it's oil in the supermarket carpark! It's done this once before (just after the bump) but in between it has not lost a drop of oil. I think it may be either the rocker cover gasket or blocked breather pipes building up presure. The oil is all down the alternator side of the engine - Great! :-/ 10 February 2003 Had a conversation with the insurance again! The "Payment In Leu" of £240 to get the car fixed turns out not to be as good as I was lead to believe! It is not their estimate of the repair cost, it is a "one-off, go away now please" payment! It is based on a percentage of my cars' value. They valued the car at £400!!! I had a heated discussion with their "Car Guru" who decides the worth and he finally agreed to let me send him proof of it's value. He said that to come to the figure of £400, he looked at the car and said... 1. Roof needs replacing : -£1000 2. It's winter so cabrio's are worth less : -£??? I have a price list and a full replacement roof, with zipper back window (including fitting!) works out around £350!!! So the lesson is to crash your convertible in the summer as you get more for the car then! How f*ing stupid is that!?!? I've got together valuations and also a little "factoid" from the Parker's Guide book - the Roland Garros Cabrio is worth 15% more than the 205CJ for the same year. Oh good, I have several adverts for CJ's that are older than mine and are going for >£1000. 07 March 2003 Posted the form back to the insurance company for the payout. Let's see how long it takes to arrive! I also got a list of prices from Euro Car Parts for the things I need as follows... 821735031 BUMPER FRONT 205GTI & XS £21.95
801735011 BONNET 205 X-AUTOMATIC BONNET £39.50
802735261 WING FRONT RH 205 90- W REPEATER £10.59
473735090 INDICATOR RH 205 90- CLEAR £ 7.50
820735000 BUMPER BOLTS 205 Bumper Bolts Inner £ 1.39
820735010 BUMPER BOLTS 205 Bumper Bolts Outer £ 1.39
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£82.32
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+ VAT £14.41
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£96.73
======I'll obviously need to add spraying and fitting to that amount before the car is back to normal. 03 February 2003 Yesterday the insurance company rang to say they were going to write the car off as the repair costs were over 60% of the value of the car! How much has this garage come up with?! I rang the garage to find out... Here's their report... Total Bill = £1661.84 (!!!!!) Labour = £708.40 Paint & Materials = £235.59 Parts = £541.78 +VAT and with an insurance discount(!?!?) taken off! I asked them what parts they were charging for... Bumper Bumper Moulding 2 Brackets Bonnet Wing Indicator (With them so far) Grille (eh?) Peugeot Badge (excuse me....) Headlight Frame (*ahem*) Front Skirt (*AHEM*!) Door Protector (for Christ's sake....) Taking the p*ss slightly here! I've reported them to the insurance company for adding things on that aren't damaged - they've inspected it themselves and said that £240 should cover repairs. So I've got my car back - it's not repaired - bloody garages! 03 February 2003 The insurance company have sent the garage to take my car away for the estimate - I've been left with a Ford Ka(k) - Pictures in the Gallery - Should find out in the next couple of days what the estimate is and what the insurance company have said 19 January 2003 The white Lockwood GTi dials won't go on my car as they go upto 140mph and mine shows a max of 130mph so I am planning on designing my own. I have started measuring up and will make template files that you can download and print off as soon as I get them done. (See the Projects page) 18 January 2003 The dials and the sill protectors arrived, and very nice they are too, especially the sill protectors, I'd recommend them to anyone (they are Lockwood also). Today is now officially "Oops" day - due to no fault on this side, my Pug now has a slightly rearranged front. Pictures to follow! The damage isn't too bad, but it doesn't add much in an aesthetic way! 16 January 2003 Finally got around to getting the spare tyre looked at - I'd noticed that it was flat under the car. Took it to ATS but unfortunately the side wall had perished too much to be saved. One new tyre, valve and balancing later and I'm one spare up and £32.38 down. 12 January 2003 Ordered some white Lockwood GTi dials and some stainless steel Sill Protectors from CC Motorsport 2 December 2002 The new plates arrived - Very nice! :-) Very good service from A1 there! 29 November 2002 Ordered some new licence plates from A1 Style Graphix. They are euro plate style with standard new-style lettering, a Pug picture under the Euro flag and have my URL along the bottom. 07 October 2002 Bought replacement Nearside driveshaft (didn't manage to fit it for a few weeks due to weather) 01 August 2002 First MOT with me Nearside Outer CV Boot Clip Replaced Nearside Rear Wheel Cylinder Replaced 15 July 2002 Oops, sheared off two wheel bolts on front Offside wheel after changing it Taken to garage who removed the remains of the bolts and gave me two new ones, funds are now £56.40 lighter 29 June 2002 |
