205 Si Race Car/excuse to blow money and work on a car for no good reason

[Easty]

Good evening all, new to this forum, not to the world of French cars though.

Previously owned various French tin sheds and I always seem to end up buying another after swearing off them! Previous chariots include:
A bright red LHD French import 205 1.0 Dixie
a rusty blue 106 1.1 Zest
2 106 series 2 Rallyes, one Indigo blue and one Bianca white
2 306 dTurbo sports, one China Blue and one Diablo Red
a China blue series 3 306 GTi 6 (my favourite)

Now I find myself attempting to build a track/hillclimb/sprint/who knows what 205 using an Si as a base.

So it started back in April and has gone from a standard Si with a knackered thermostat housing purchased for the princely sum of $450, to a stripped out, half built, race car.....of sorts!

So far it's running:

306 XSi front brakes
205 pepperpots painted white
A stripped interior
Constella race shift
Short shift and rose joint linkages
Solid lower engine mount
Suede dished OMP steering wheel
Lowered springs

Has loads of other bits, bonnet pins etc.

Currently waiting for bike carb to arrive to go onto the high comp 1600 gti head I have spare and I'm half way through making an exhaust. Seat and harness needs to go in and I've fabricated some lightweight door cards, just time needed to assemble it all!

Well that me for now, feel free to comment etc, thanks for having me!

Dan






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[cammmy]

Welcome along, that's a cool build

[Easty]

Thanks mate, it's getting there. Always fancied having a crack at building a race car. Learning all the ways not do things at the moment but that's the fun of it! Ha ha!

[RS]

Needs a cage!

Welcome, great project, was looking at a mint white SI a couple of months back on a ausi web page.

[Biff Tannen]

Hi welcome aboard,  looking forward to watching the build.
We have lots of people on here who are clued up on the race side of things who will happily pass on knowledge/lend a hand!

[2052NV]

Welcome along sweet build mate! are you planning a cage?

[Easty]

Thanks guys! A cage was in the plans, still undecided. I work with a guy who used to build them for a living back in the late 80's so I was going to get him to make me a half cage. Trouble is finding a decent pipe bender!

As with most things it's on the "To Do List". So far the entire build owed me less than $1000 so I'm also trying to make this the Worlds Cheapest Race Car! Ha ha!

[CaM]

nice!!!!

[RS]

Thanks guys! A cage was in the plans, still undecided. I work with a guy who used to build them for a living back in the late 80's so I was going to get him to make me a half cage. Trouble is finding a decent pipe bender!

As with most things it's on the "To Do List". So far the entire build owed me less than $1000 so I'm also trying to make this the Worlds Cheapest Race Car! Ha ha!

Good effort!

Cages are expensive but you cant put a value on your life and if you are racing your car competitively you would need to prepare for a crash, have been in a fast 205 race car and even with a cage I still felt it would fold like a paper cup if it hit something remotely solid! You also get the benefit of a stiffer chassis.

from what I can remember it is harder to get a car road legal with a cage in Australia though, see plenty of guys with Clio's running cagless "race cars"

Best of luck.

[Easty]

Yeah I'll agree with the paper cup comment! Ha ha!

Main aim is to get the thing running nicely. It's never going back on the road, gone way too far to go back now! Cages are impossible to find over here, so it's going to have to be a bespoke job.

[Mungous]

I've just completed a bespoke cage for my BX - tubing cost NZ$600, new mandrel to bend the larger size main hoop was $400, new hole saws plus jig for cutting tube joints cost more as well. Then there was the time cost and frustration factor (which is hard to underestimate). Many times I cursed myself for not starting with a 306 and buying a kit.

My very strong advice is to buy a kit. Even adding freight costs these are not bad value:

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/roll-cages/car/peugeot/205-gti/1990/1-9

[Easty]

Yeah think that's the way I'm going to end up going with it. Luckily a mate of mine imports Cosworth engines and anything rare and Ford from back in the UK so might tap him up for a bit of space in his next crate he brings over. Trouble is I can see that turning into my own crate packed full of 205 parts!

As with most things the frustration factor for me is way worse than the cost! I suppose at the end of it you can at least look at it and say "I built that!" Even though it's probably cost you a few nights sleep and your sanity!

[Carpentry]

Cool car.

I like the clean look of the SI; none of that chocko plastic with the trim that ALWAYS falls out

[Easty]

Yeah I'm a big fan of the lines too. Never really been a GTi guy, too cluttered in my opinion.