TWHansen

Through a long and weird series of circumstances the '89 505 SW8 I traded for a moped two years ago is coming back into my possession, in better shape than it was when I parted with it. My brother-in-law needs a car and wants something he can tow a small fishing boat with, and since it's a second car for me I'm thinking of letting him have it. I'm noticing that basically all the hitches easily found for these car are through the '88 model year only. I know they changed the lower valances and everything for '89 but is there really nothing available for towing with an '89 Peugeot 505 wagon?

Estimate on a recore is $365. Which is daft. Found this: http://cgi.ebay.fr/RADIATEUR-REFROIDISSEME...p3286.m20.l1116 on eBay France - is this the correct radiator?

Pics would be great. I'm also keen on the manual. I will be passing through your way at least once during the summer, first around May 29th, not sure on later. Back on the subject of the radiator, I found this on ebay.co.uk: Peugeot 505 2.0 & 2.2 06/1984 -> "PEUGEOT 505 2.0 (1995ZEJ ENGINE CODE) & 2.2 (2165ZDJ ENGINE CODE) JUN 1984> RADIATOR NEW" If I've got my homework right the ZDJ engines weren't sold here until 1988 or so but this should be the correct radiator? If I can get it shipped to the US for $50 or less I'll still be coming out decently ahead over the best price I've found in the the country; on top of that most places I call can't get one for any price. Failing this, I'll have to get it recored, which will run at least $200...

Gosh, there's a whole list of stuff. What color is the car? I need tailgate struts, marker lights, a set of respectable wheels or wheel covers, a few interior bits, left front fender would be handy too. The lock cylinder on the gate has also completely failed. We can still open it from the inside but it's a pain. Given the rust on mine, if your gate is good I might just want the whole piece. What else...latch for the lower glove box (previous owner fixed this by putting a couple drywall screws through the lower glove box to hold it shut) Where in Ohio are you? I will be passing through the last week of May en route to the rally. We may or may not have the Peugeot with us. The turbo cars I'm assuming use a different radiator. Do you have photos of the turbo wagon? If you do wind up coming up this way I might be interested in the entire car. I like having a parts car handy for whatever I'm driving. Time was I stuck to Toyota Camry station wagons exclusively, but friends have intervened and put me in more interesting hardware, and spare Peugeots aren't exactly falling out of trees up here. Wonder where your friend was talking about? I have friends who've been camping up near Ashland way up by Lake Superior... -Tim Hansen

We're finally digging into the bits this car needs. Good advice on the ball joints, I'll try to find some to order. What's happened now is that the radiator is utterly corroded and apparently the later 505's like my '89 use a different radiator that is harder to source and twice as expensive as the earlier cars. I mean, seriously, $230 for a radiator. Wow. That's the cheapest price I've found. Do any of you guys have a good spare? On the other hand, my friends have taken a shine to the car and it's turned out to be quite the party wagon; just last Friday we threw eight people in it and headed down for a couple or three pitchers of Margaritas (Conejito's Place - best $5 chicken mole in Milwaukee). The consensus is that I should sell my Volvo ASAP and keep this for a daily, but the jury is out until I get the suspension sorted.

It looks to be a modified stock grille but the Sylvania fogs they installed (and wired to a factory foglight switch) are no joke! I got such a kick out of the setup that it was probably the deciding factor on the purchase. Anyhow, just got word back from the shop today - turns out there is no cable in the auto trans selector. It's a rod that attaches to a ball pivot - this rod is about 1/8" thick and apparently, it snapped. For an hour's worth of labor, my guy tack-welded the thing back together and it works but suffice it to say we'll be delicate with it until a replacement can be sourced. And the suspension issue looks to be 100% strut related. So, yeah, on my parts-car shopping list is an auto trans selector assembly and possibly another set of struts. I know they take cartridges but apparently they were already replaced within the last 4 years and have gone wrong again. I'm also going to need to supply my own repair manual. The shop I go to is exclusively VW/Audi by trade but Jake is willing to take a crack at anything if I supply a book. Normally I like working on my own stuff but we got 5 inches of snow today, and besides, a lift helps a lot with suspension work...

I may need the gear selector cable and some other pieces. Do you still have parts available? -Tim Hansen

That's quite a nice looking fleet, by the way. My 505 shares a driveway with a '91 Audi 200 Turbo quattro and a 1972 Mercedes 280SE 4.5 (And an '83 Volvo 240 Turbo, for that matter) Throw in the MGB and the Toyota cargo van I have stashed at my folks' place and that's six cars from six different foreign countries! Hmm...maybe it's time to buy an Alfa...

I don't think this one was in St. Louis; I bought it here in Wisconsin on a Wisconsin title. As of today the onus is really on me to get it fixed and fixed right; since I've committed to my friends to run my Audi 200 turbo on the BA/BE, I'm tentatively allowing four college coeds I know to adopt the Peugeot as their own for the rally. Which basically means I have until the last week of May to get this thing whipped into shape to put up with 3,000 miles of abuse. Yes, it's a bad idea. Yes, I'm doing it anyway. It is kind of a shame about the rust, but it's a Wisconsin car. Whatcha gonna do. Timing belt, temp gauge, shift cable, suspension, brakes. That's the list so far when I have it towed in on Tuesday. Half of it I'd rather do myself but it's seven degrees outside here right now. In fact, some of this stuff I might be able to get from parts cars if any of you have/know of them. Shift cable, gas struts for the hatch, and suspension parts are the obvious bits. (Also, what differences are there between sedan and wagon suspension? I'd imagine the rears are different...)

Bought on a whim as another BABE Rally candidate. If you haven't heard of it, the idea is to buy a car for $500 or under and drive from New York to New Orleans - Big Apple to Big Easy, hence BABE. It's basically an excuse to get in some fun mountain driving in between rounds of drinking in motel parking lots with like-minded cheapskate gearheads. I already have three other cars that qualify, but I've always wanted one of these. Saw it on Craigslist at noon, it was in my garage by 7pm. Man, talk about an impulse buy. Mind you, I've wanted one for a while. This one isn't -exactly- what I wanted in an SW8...not a turbo or a diesel, not a manual transmission. On the other hand, it does only have 132,700 miles on it and apart from the suspension needing some serious attention and a slightly loud exhaust, it works flawlessly. The only damage is the left-front corner, from an incident which totaled a Corolla. This thing is a tank. Oh, except last night, backing it into the garage, the gear selector cable snapped. I've started taking the console apart but have to dig out my Torx bits to finish the job. Is this something that happens frequently? How much am I going to have to replace? The more worrisome issue is the suspension - it's SCARY. Turn left at speed, and the car wants to continue turning left. It almost feels like the right rear wheel wants to fold under the car, but it could be front-end related. Previous owner said the guy who had it before him did all his own work on the car and had refilled the struts (is that even do-able on these?) The other issues I'm having are a temperature gauge that quit working yesterday, a stuck driver's door lock cylinder (still locks/unlocks from passenger door), and a right rear taillight that seems to work when it damn well feels like it; replacing the bulb didn't help - sometimes it's on and sometimes it's off. What else should I look at in terms of maintenance?