Bean

Well - a lot of this car's bad rep has to do with incompetent mechanics, and owners that don't or can't spend the money to look after them properly. I've never had a head gasket fail on me, but I've bought cars with failed head gaskets... Sadly the sunroof cable dig is pretty accurate - but often times the cable sheath has just split so it's a fairly easy fix. Again - proper lubing and cleaning of the tracks would help prevent it, but it's an admitted poor design prone to failure... Personally I'd like to devise an elegant manual solution as the old 504 sunroofs rock! Back to your desired car... It sounds like what you're after is the evolution body kit that was a factory option... I'd guess that they're probably more rare than the 89's! I have seen the kit offered, and I believe there was a post in the classifieds way back for the kit - but it was pretty $$$. Admittedly the Peugeot crowd is known as being kinda thrifty, but it is hard to justify big money on cosmetics for a lot of owners since the cars themselves are such bargains. Personally - I like the minimalist early euro 505's with the smaller bumpers, no side moldings, and the shallow rear tail lights. So I think you're best options would be to look for the 86 - 88' Turbo's, and then try to source a evo kit or make one up like one of our members from across the pond. Catalin's 505 The 86+ cars have the newer dash - which is why I suggest that range. It should be noted that the 88+ cars have electronic boost control (The A in N9TEA engine code), but they have an open diff. The 86 - 87's have LSD, and the 89 has the Torsen diff. You'll be limited to the minty ones that are left - but there are definitely some very nice ones left, and they are HUGE bang for the buck. Good luck on the search and keep us posted! Rabin

Welcome to the forum Aaron! And nice stable of cars... (The 308 GTSi is one of my all time favorite cars.) What you've described with the "factory body kit" pretty much means the 89 Turbo and they are VERY rare indeed. There's currently an 89' 505 Turbo auto for sale for cheap that needs tranny work - but you wanted a 5-sp in minty shape - and that's going to be a rare find. There's a couple owners on this site that have them - but I doubt they'd sell - but then again there's always a price... Maybe do a search on the site and PM owners direct if you really want to see what's around. There's also a yahoo group called Peugeot-L that has a strong membership - so it might do well to post there as well. Good luck with the search! Rabin

The strut bearing has two functions - it supports the top of the spring, and it allows the rotation of the strut when you turn. So the bearing itself can fail and leave some play, or the rubber isolation of the bearing might have failed causing play... I'd call the usual suspects in the states before resorting to England - but make sure it's the strut top before buying stuff. Surprised it wasn't noticed when they did the struts - it's common practice to make sure the strut bearing is on good shape before reassembly. Rabin

Sorry - can't tell you if they're ABS specific, but I doubt they are. I believe the same insert works in both the older one piece struts and the newer 2pc ones - and if that's the case they should be the same. Let us know if they're still available or not. I've been trying to spec out some adjustable strut bearing plates with replacable spherical bearings but not having a lot of luck. I did part out an 88' car with the newer ABS style struts, and the car only had 140000 km on it... So they should be OK with some servicing. (I think they can be re-greased.) (disks are OK too if anyone else needs them.) Rabin

If the struts were rebuilt the strut bearings would have been obviously shot... And if the struts were done - can I assume the ball joint was replaced as well? I've experienced really weird sensations when the ball joint was shot on my first 505 Turbo - but the tire wiggle test didn't show any signs. It wasn't till I put a pry bar in there before I could see movement, and there was huge movement! Probably close to half an inch of play. If you suspect the strut bearings, pop the hood and bounce the car slowly while looking at the strut tops... Should be able to see movement in there. The only other suggestion is to do a spanner check - that is check all the suspension bolts for tightness. Even wheel lug tightness. Let us know what you find. Rabin

Yep - definitely try the reverse method as it's pretty slick. There are two ways that people do it. 1st is to use the left front caliper bleed screw - just connect the nipple from the caliper to the slave nipple, crack them both, then slowly pump the brake till fluid comes into the resevoir. I completely flush the brakes prior to this to ensure clean fluid is being used to flush the clutch. Method 2 is to use an pump oil can to manually feed brake fluid through the slave back up to the resevoir. Either way - you'll need something to empty the resevoir when it starts to get too full. I bought a cheap turkey baster for this purpose. If you do this and it's still soft - then I'd suspect the clutch master - but when they go, they leak into the car where the rod enters it. If it's not leaking there - it's probably fine. Rabin

Sorry - there's a guy on Aussie Frogs with a V6 car so I assumed you got them... There was also talk on that forum of importing an engine and tranny to do the swap on a car there - but the cost of shipping was really prohibitive. I remembered them saying there was an issue with the RHD - but Koll's right - the UK had them so it can't be too bad... The newer V6's would be a bugger to fit longitudinally, as well as to mate it to a tranny, but where there's a will there's a way. What about doing an engine swap like a SR20DET? Metako has done that to his 505 and he's in Austrailia too. If you really want to keep the Peugeot DNA, then you'll have to turbo an existing engine, or import one... The latter being a very pricey option. Check out the aussiefrogs site though - there's one guy that is turbo'ing a V6, and has mated the motor to a W58 Toyota tranny, and the tranny to the torque tube. It's not built yet last I checked - but should be insane when it is. Rabin

Hey Rob, If the colour change is done properly - and you can't tell that it was Claret Metalic before then red might be an option - but doing it properly is usually quite a bit more costly. (Door jams, trunk, under hood etc etc.) I would suggest doing the OEM Claret red or trying to find a really nice modern dark red that's VERY close to it... Close enough that the difference to the Claret isn't that noticable when you open the doors and such. I had an 86' 505 Turbo that was the dark red and when it was waxed it was stunning. If the paint guy is good he can even tweak it some with a subtle pearl or something to give it nice modern touch. Should look very nice with all the new parts on it though! Are you going to get the headlight housings painted to match the body? (That might look cooler than the silver - especially if the grill is getting painted too... Probably need to p'shop it first though to see what it would look like.) Rabin

Welcome to the forum... Can you detail how you bled the clutch? They really need to be 'reverse' bled to ensure there isn't any air. (Fluid pushed up through the slave through the master into the resevoir) If that was the way it was bled - then it's very likely the clutch master is at fault, as it really is the only other component in the system. Other areas to check would be the clutch rod itself, and the hole it mounts to in the pedal as some have mentioned wear in that area that caused issues. Rabin

Hi Jason, You'll have your work cut out doing the 505 Turbo in a rt hand drive car as the stock N9TE turbo bits occupy the same area as the steering bits. I'm sure you could fab around the issue, but it'd be tight at the very least. The box that bolts up is the BA10/5 which is another rare box for you guys from what I hear on the Aussie frog site. If I were you though I'd start with a V6 505 since you did get those, and if you really wanted to have some power just turbo it! There's a lot of power to be had normally aspirated, and a HUGE amount if you do the work to turbo the V6. I too want to build my 505 Turbo into a rally car, but my process will be on the slow side with me building it for slalom, time attack, road racing, then finally to rally it. John Lane is a guru of turbo V6's and he's currently working on a price for pistons, rods, and the rest of the rebuild bits for me to supercharge an even fire 2.8 V6 I have... If the price is close to what the turbo 4 will cost to build, and parts are readily available, I may just swap out the turbo 4 and put in the supercharged PRV. Long term build for me though... Rabin

Hey Rob, If you want to send you me your full name and your e-mail address I'll create your own account in the gallery and you can upload them yourself into your own gallery. I'll then move them or create permanent galleries to suit the pics. Thanks! Rabin PS: Tried to PM you but your inbox is either full or it's disabled...

I drove one when I was in Victoria BC - went to the dealer to check out the $14K 504 diesel wagon and ended up taking the Lancia for a scoot. It ended up being a really nice driver, but after doing more research, you really want to spring for the Evo II versions. They're very $$$ cars to maintain, but the hottest version of the lot ends up costing the same to own as the lesser versions according to the quick research I did when contemplating it. Fantastic road holding and very sure footed... Beautiful car though if it goes for a good price. Rabin

Actually - if they are crated and shipped via sea then it's not that expensive at all... All things considered. Can you tell me what port you'd be closest too and I'll do some checking on line - more so out of curiosity than anything else... If you happen to find duplicates - I'd be interested in the front and rear bumpers, front spoiler, and the rear tail lights with centre section... I'd much rather do a euro swap then custom if possible... But if they're rare to come by then no worries! A while back I was also thinking of changing the fuel tank to the euro style under the trunk - but I think I'm now going to go with a fuel cell in the future anyway... Keep us posted on the progress too! Rabin

Glad you got the car fixed Koll! Any chance you can take a pic of the relays you replaced for future problem seekers? As for finding a car that does as well as the 505 Turbo - I think the issue is cost. When we were looking - nothing new for > $30K came even close. Sure - get into the +40K market and things start to look promising - but holy crap it's still $40K dollars +! We ended up going with a high end car that's few years older, spent half the money, and got 10 times the car as anything new for the same cash. That said - this 00' V70R still doesn't drive as nice as the 505 Turbo in steering and ride quality - but it's on par for seat comfort and it is a very well insulated car with triple door seals and such. It's also way faster in stock form - but the 505 will kill it after I'm done. The only reason my 83 504 wagon didn't get a complete restoration for the family car was AWD, and the wife just wanted something newer that could be fixed at a dealer should I not be available... With a baby on the way - I gave in... Very happy with the car though - and they're a steal in the states if you can find a good 00' MY... Rabin

It's amazing how much nicer the euro bumpers and small side moldings make this car look... It's not feesible to find and have that kind of stuff shipped over, but I'm hoping to be able to get close with some custom fabrication for bumpers and rear tail lights... It's just so much neater and compact looking. Even the front spoiler looks better! The car does look familiar though - I think V-M's Turbo project car is the same colour... Rabin

In case you guys missed the announcement... The new gallery!

Excellent addition to the family Brownie! Glad to see financial issued didnt prevent you from attaining it - and I agree completely that they're the best driving Peugeot of all... They really are fantastic performance sedans that do everything well. Rabin

Yep - I'd have to agree with August - I was just using a generic formula from that site that stated 500cc/min = 100 HP. Purely theoretical I think... Rabin

To point you where the info is - then the place I'd recommend is the AussieFrog Forum... Australia gets the newer Peugeot's - and they have quite the performance scene there so there's a lot of info on engine swaps and such. The latest one I was reading was swapping a newer engine from a 306 GTi6 (?) (Same as - it was out of a Cit) into an older 205! Guy doing the work (Magik I think) is doing a fantastic job... As for your dilemma -it's hard to be specific as there are no other details about you or the car. That being said - I think you are MUCH better off finding and fixing the issues than to embark on an engine swap. Not only will it be far more expensive, but the value of the car is usually diminished unless it looks OEM after the swap, and has really transformed the car. Also - if you don't have the technical background to find and fix the issues - you'll have to pay a shop to swap and that will likely not be viable either. The issues you mention don't sound bad at all - but I don't even know if it's gas or diesel. Rabin

Hi and welcome to the forum, The place you want try is a yahoo group called Peugeot-L - there are a few guys running WVO and if you search the messages there's a lot of good info. If you want to mod it to go faster, and handle better - then this is more suited to that end of things. There might be some knowledge here that would be helpful - but your best bet is with Peugeot-L group. Thanks! Rabin

Found this on a rally forum and it looks quite promising... WB02 I think I may have to pick up the DIY kit as it seems to be a pretty good deal... Shouldn't be too hard to do up either I don't think. Rabin

Hi Kriss, In your first topic there was some discussion about possible injector sizes... So V-M called it correct with the 200's. That means they're 300 cc/min and can theoretically support ~240 HP. So if everything is tuned up properly the car should be able to support 1 bar safely I'd think - but others will confirm. Again though - you need to make sure the car is tuned properly before increasing boost or bad things can happen. Rabin

Good to hear you got it running nice... As for the fan - it's accessible from the engine bay. The water leak you speak of if coming from behind the glove box is likely your windshield leaking. If you haven't verified the leak water can also come in from the door seals, and possibly the sunroof drain line if the hose isn't routed or plugged... Rabin

Sadly you are correct - sounds like a worn clutch disk for sure. I checked an online resourse that was created on the yahoo group list called Peugeot-L, Service Centres, and there looks like there's one in DC, but that might be a bit far. Check the list though - maybe there's one closer since I'm in Canada and have no clue... Failing that list - my suggestion to you is to join the yahoo group Peugeot-L and post there to see if anyone can recommend someone closer to you. Hope that helps! Rabin

Welcome to the forum... Does the clutch pedal still feel alright? If so - when you let it out when it's in first can you hear it engage and it just doesn't move? As for getting it fixed that shouldn't be a problem - but your profile isn't filled out and you don't mention were you are. There's some very good shops around the US - so once we know where you car we can make some suggestions... Rabin