PeugeotPilot

Goce, I hope to make progress on all fronts this year. I may just put a new interior in the STX and get it roadworthy, and not worry too much about modifications until I have the engine built for it. At that time I might make a bunch of changes but for now the easiest thing to do is to just fix what needs fixing and have a nice, running car I can actually use. As for the 406Cs, I now have four, although one is still in Ontario and the other two are still in the UK. I eventually want just two for myself, so one will get sold, one will become a parts car, and two will stay. Until I get all four in the same place at the same time, I don't know exactly what I will do with each, but I have something of an idea now. The goal for this year is simply to fix and sell a few of the cars I already have, and bring home the four cars that I have stuck in other countries at the moment. That and have at least one Peugeot that I can drive daily during the summer months. If I get all that done, I'll call it a good year.

With spring solidly under way and the snow gone now, I have determined to make some significant progress on this car this year. The project has evolved into something that will be quite unique once it's finished, and I am at serious risk of "paralysis by analysis" particularly with respect to the interior choices. So I've decided to begin by removing what I know will come out - the worn-out carpet, the sun-baked dashboard, all that. With the car stripped down to its shell, I can then decide how best to proceed. The question of which dashboard to use may simply come down to whether or not the correct mounting points for the Phase I dash still exist or can be easily added in a Phase II car. I don't have an answer to that question yet.

It's actually quite inspiring to see this coming together, Mike. Your attention to detail is going to result in what is effectively a new car, and that's amazing. It also gives me the motivation to get to work on some of my own stuff.

You are quite right, Mike. My attitude is that there will always be someone out there with something faster. There is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to the horsepower wars, and honestly what is the point? The car will be plenty fast with around 200 bhp, and will still corner better in the real world than a lot of current cars. That's good enough for me. I think, as you say, an homage to the original Danielson V6, that respects the essential character of the 505, will be best. At some point it's not a 505 anymore. Thanks for your input, SRDT. From what I've read, the Danielson V6 achieved its 195 bhp in part by running the 2.8L (2849 cc) version of the PRV engine to 7000 rpm. That was with the standard 91 mm bore and 73 mm stroke. The horsepower peak occurred at 6500 rpm as I recall. I have a slightly different idea in mind, combining a 3.0L (2975 cc) Eagle Premier block and heads with the short-stroke crankshaft from a Renault 2.5 Turbo V6 (Z7U-T30). This will give a displacement of 2568 cc and the same piston speed at 7000 rpm as the standard-stroke engine experiences at 6000. The engine may or may not use forced induction - I haven't decided yet. Turbocharging or supercharging is nice where I live because of the high density altitudes we get in southern Alberta, but I'm attracted to the idea of a high-revving NA engine for this car. Apparently you can still get performance camshafts for this engine. I will need to do some more research.

From the Auto Hebdo article I scanned and uploaded elsewhere on this site: :

The "Danielson" 505 and the 604 will probably get similar treatments. Basically I want to use one of the D8 Coupes for this because they don't have multiplexed wiring harnesses, and so will be easier to rewire. Since the EMS will be new and standalone, and I am planning a new wiring system for the whole car anyway, I don't think it much matters if I replace a bunch of legacy equipment. In fact, the less stuff I re-use the more spare parts I will have for the other car. This includes the instrument cluster, many of the switches, etc. etc.... If I build the harness myself it will be less of a mystery to me when I encounter electrical issues because I'll understand how it's put together. As for diagnostics - the standalone EMS will allow troubleshooting and tuning by laptop. The ABS will require some thought, and its own independent harness. I am not completely sold on the instrument panel layout I showed above. Usually the tach gets a more prominent position in a performance car, as Bean pointed out. This panel is aircraft inspired, and so the "performance instruments" (speedometer in this case) take center stage while the "control instuments" (RPM and MAP) are on either side. An aircraft is controlled thus: Attitude (pitch/roll/yaw achieved with the flight controls) plus Power (engine output) equals Performance (airspeed, rate of climb, etc.). Expressing this idea in a car means that steering input (equivalent to Attitude) plus Power (RPM and Manifold Pressure) equals Performance (speed). The Speedometer is the primary performance instrument in this case, reflecting what is done with the throttle and quantified in the RPM and MAP. I'm not sure if I'm expressing this idea clearly, but it's the reason for setting the panel up as I did.

Goce, that's some great information, if they will swap. That would go far towards my weight reduction goal, and it's weight removed from the area I most want to lighten. I will ask about this on the UK 406C forum and see if anyone has done such a swap. On another subject, as most of you know I am a professional pilot and I love most things associated with aircraft. I am contemplating some changes to the instruments and switchgear, as well as an aftermarket engine management system that I can tune easily. Rabin has suggested a local (Calgary) company that makes a nice EMS for experimental aircraft and race cars. It's one option, but of course there are a few others. I plan to run coil-on-plug ignition on the ES9J4, which was only fitted to the later ES9J4S. On the electrical end of things, I am thinking about a greatly simplified wiring system using aircraft-style buses and circuit breakers in place of fuses. Done right, it should be simpler and lighter than the OEM wiring harness. I'd also really like to fit a custom instrument panel using mainly aircraft instruments. Here is the current setup, with the Nardi 350mm steering wheel: I've been designing a new panel that incorporates only one automotive gauge - a 4-3/8" Speedometer in the centre, flanked by RPM and Manifold Atmospheric Pressure (vaccuum/boost) gauges as well as six smaller gauges. The circle represents the diameter of the Nardi wheel, which of course being somewhat closer to the driver should not obstruct the view of any of the instruments. Dashboard lights will be kept to a minimum - running lights, high beam, signal lights (just one, like a 604) and fog lights. There will be just two warning lights: an "EMS Fault" light indicating a problem with the engine management system, and a "Master Caution" light that can be triggered by any one of the engine instruments exceeding a critical limit. Basically, if that light comes on then the driver checks the engine instruments to determine what the problem is and takes the appropriate action. I will build in some safeguards too. For example, if the oil pressure drops below a critical value the EMS will be programmed to shut down the engine. These are a few of the ideas I'm working on right now. Since the cars aren't actually here yet, I might as well dream, right? If I attempt to do all this at once I will wind up with a car that I can't drive for a very long time, so I'll probably just start driving it first, then tackle one of these sub-projects each winter while the car is off the road. Or drive the other one while I build this one. At this point I just don't know exactly how I'll proceed.

I haven't, but the Phase I dash is pretty light and simple, plus really easy to remove and reinstall. Never considered fitting a 405 or 406 unit. Interesting idea. I bet it would be a lot of work though even if the width is the same. I know that 604 dashboards, for example, are several inches wider.

Yeah, I know this is all going to be a lot of work, and very expensive. But I think the results will be worth it. You're absolutely right about the insulation. I won't remove that. I like hearing the engine but I'm not trying to create a race car. Carpets will stay as well. I'll give you some examples of the kind of thing I'm thinking of though; the electric seats are quite a bit heavier than the manual ones, so I'll use the manual ones instead to save weight. Leather is heavier than cloth, so cloth seats. I'll use the "S" bumper without the headlight washers and eliminate the weight of that system too. I'm looking at lightweight battery options. Those are the kind of things I'm looking at. Your idea of switching the front subframe and control arms to 407 units is really interesting. What is the difference, and will they interchange?

The two possibilities I'm considering for this project are shown below, although it should be noted that the Phase I interior would be in dark blue like the Phase II dash. The third picture shows yet another idea, using the Grant wheel with the Phase II dash. This is going to be a tough call, as I like both dashboard styles. The Phase I dash is most in keeping with the spirit of the Danielson V6 car, so that is the way I'm leaning at the moment. But damn...it's a tough call.

So I've given considerable thought to the way I'd like to build the high performance 406C. There are three basic elements to performance - acceleration, braking, and cornering. I plan to enhance all three, and I've put together a four-point plan to achieve this. Weight reduction. The simplest way to enhance all three performance elements is to reduce weight. To this end, I'll remove unnecessary equipment (without gutting the car, mind you) and centralize mass as much as possible. As one example, I am planning to replace the electric sunroof (if the car I choose for this has one) with a simple fixed skylight or manual tip-up sunroof. This car will have cloth seats with manual seat adjustments, and minimal power options. If I can shave 200 lb from the empty weight of the car I'll be very happy. This may be ambitious, but I'm aiming for that. More power. Here's a link that describes what I'd like to do with the engine: https://www.dp-engineering.nl/projects/peugeot-406-v6-turbo No internal modifications required, which is great. In this case they managed 317 bhp with mild boost levels. I'll base my power goals on what the ML-5T manual transaxle can reliably handle, but 250-300 bhp would be more than adequate. Big power is fun, but not if you're replacing your gearbox every few months. Brakes. The 406C V6 already has four-piston Brembo calipers up front, and these have plenty of power. What I'll do is fit slotted and/or drilled rotors and replace the rubber brake hoses with braided stainless-steel ones. I think these minor changes will be more than enough, especially coupled with the reduced weight of the car and the wheels and tires I plan to fit. Cornering. The 406C V6 already comes with a factory strut brace, but given the extra weight of the V6 engine it is basically an understeering car when pushed hard. My goal is to achieve higher cornering speeds while also making the car's behaviour more neutral at its limits. I plan to reduce the front-end weight bias by relocating a few items and focusing most of my weight-reduction measures on the engine bay. As well, I am looking at possibly fitting coilovers (306 GTI-6 units can be made to fit, apparently) so that I can tune the preload and damping rates etc. as well as play with the suspension geometry. The whole car will be lowered by about 25 - 40mm for CG reasons as well as aesthetics. I am also planning to fit 17" or 18" wheels, with lower-profile high-performance tires. The two wheel choices I like best at the moment are the Sparco Tarmac (discontinued but still available from some retailers) and the OZ Racing HyperGT HLT. The Sparco wheel is my first choice, but the HyperGT HLT also looks great on a 406C, as shown below: A few interior enhancements (the Nardi steering wheel, an improved shifter, and some aircraft-style instruments and switchgear for example) and this car will be complete!

That's good advice if I've ever heard it! At 44 years old now, I've become aware that I probably only have a couple of such projects in me, and I'd like to finish them while I still have some energy and time to enjoy them. Your own project is inspiring, Mike. Your level of attention to detail is very, very high and that 404C of yours is going to be something really special once it's done, even among its peers. It's great that you had the foresight to hold on to it.

Thanks for the tip, Goce. I will do so. The fact that they're relatively cheap is the best news I've heard all day. I don't expect it to be easy to find a good one.

I just took a look at that one. It's really nice. I'd buy something like that to drive. Also, I should mention that I already own two cars with ES9J4 engines, so it's not like I'll miss out on that experience. I have heard they're great, and I can't wait to drive behind one.

Goce, I have heard the same thing from others, and I don't doubt you are correct. But I know exactly what I want for my collection, and any Phase I 605 SV24 that is still around today will have had most of its issues ironed out. I am not looking for a daily driver, or I would definitely do as you suggest. I have been driving behind PRV V6 engines ever since I got my licence, and even with all its issues I think of the ZPJ4 as the ultimate development of that engine (Well, almost. The 24V DOHC PRV version used in the Oxia concept car is the ultimate, but I will never be able to afford that!). Basically I fell in love with the 605 SV24 the first time I saw it in a brochure. I love the turbine wheels. I love the individual exhaust header pipes on the ZPJ4. I love the look of its intake runners. I love the non-airbag steering wheel. I love the look of the Phase I bumpers, before the Phase II versions that look bland and generic to me. Everything about the Phase I SV24 appeals to me. My interest in Peugeots is not a rational thing. So I will spend whatever I need to, one day, to find a nice one just like I first saw two decades ago, and bring it across. And I'll drive it from time to time, but mainly it will be one of the jewels in my collection, alongside a pristine 406 Coupe and my mint Eagle Premier. If I ever have a bunch of money I might buy a Phase II to drive regularly, but I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and I know what my goals are. They may not make sense to most people, but they are right for me.