Mike T

I fixed the backwards spring first.... ...and then did the left front. Mainly disassembling the 2 wheel cylinders and cleaning them out after a light hone and polish and then reassembling with some assembly paste.

The rear spring in the second photo is mounted backwards so I will have to reverse it this weekend!

Got the RF brake reassembled after refinishing the bores inside the wheel cylinders. Next weekend: the LF. Then to make the new brake lines.... And just for fun, here is one of the modified pucks I used to lift the car on the sill with a hydraulic jack.

Whipped all brake lines off the car. The photo of the three fittings shows how ill-suited the fittings that I had used were. The middle one has mashed the double flare into nothing. No wonder the brakes would not bleed! Next task is to redo all the lines with the original Peugeot 404 fittings that I had replated.

In England and Scotland, we rented a 2025 model Peugeot 2008 in light grey metallic for the period of September 6 to 17, 2025. The car was a mild hybrid with a “Hybrid” badge on the tailgate. We drove it 2800 km during that period. It’s designed to look like a SUV but this is strictly a front wheel drive that is based on the 208 platform, in this application with an extended wheelbase (2.605 m versus 2.55). But the bottom line is this car still fails the “me behind me” test; with the driver’s seat set as best as I can manage (more on that later), there is not adequate legroom behind. The luggage space is also disappointing and in this case it’s not due to the hybrid battery like the 5008 SW Hybrid we drove for 7000 km in 2023. With two large suitcases and some hand baggage, one rear seat had to be folded down at all times. The look of the car from outside is OK in a modern way, with decent proportion and assembly. Inside is a bit worse. Here are the main concerns with ergonomics and the interior: The sills are VERY high like a SUV but the floor is not, so there is a bit of gymnastics required to get into the car, rather like a shallow bathtub. For the driver, with the tiny steering wheel and the VERY pointy dashboard corner conspire to nail your knee, which I did most times. It truly is awful for taller people. The front interior door panels are nice and padded on the tops next to the window, but the rear ones are rock hard Airfix model kit plastic. This “cheat” is used by so many carmakers there days….it is disgusting bean counter-driven cost cutting. The instrument panel is to be viewed above the steering wheel, which worked for me in the 508 but in this car, despite the height adjustable seats, the combination of the windshield size and the other factors meant that lower part of the instrument panel was invisible without a stiff neck stretch. Yes, that is a nice, rare Peugeot in the background...... About the driving characteristics: Even modern Peugeots usually have excellent steering feel and precision, but this one is not true to form. The steering required frequent corrections for road camber and other things. The suspension was very harsh and some passengers we were visiting commented on this when driving near Glasgow! The engine was powerful enough with clean acceleration, but it’s a 1.2 litre PureTech, so this car will not be a keeper. Even with camshafts driven by a chain, the longevity of the prime mover is suspect. This car was automatic (6 speed dual clutch, not an Aisin) and the gearbox operation was lumpy on low speed with downshifts occasionally being very harsh and exposing some driveshaft slack. Despite what is likely a reasonably aerodynamic shape, and the tiny engine with mild hybrid assistance, the fuel consumption is merely adequate, averaging 5.9 L/100 km overall, which is OK but no more. The 508 plug-in hybrid SW we had in 2023 achieved something near that despite being a lot larger, more comfortable, heavier and rarely being plugged in! The brake pedal and accelerator pedal are too close together. Maybe this is just a RHD quirk, but I found several times that my size 12 shoes were simultaneously pressing the brake pedal and the gas! Not good. This could be partly down to the “Italian Ape” driving position, where unless you drive with perfectly straightened elbows, the pedals will be too close to you. The menu system for the electronic controls is obtuse. Among the worst I’ve ever seen. Sometimes it would let Apple Car Play (and therefore our phone-based navigation) work and other times not. In my view, we are not missing anything at all by the absence of this model from North America. I’d be hard-pressed to say which Peugeot model we should be lamenting the absence of, though the soon-to-be-killed-off 508 SW Hybrid may be on that list for some. Perhaps the 208? Definitely not the 2008. Press reviews of the revised 3008 and 5008 have been reasonably savage, so maybe not them either.

Haha yeah!

Ha! I ordered a Vauxhall Corsa but they gave me a 2025 Peugeot 2008 automatic. Basic model with no heated seats, cruise control or navigation system. We wlll be using this for two weeks so I will do a report on it when we get back at the end of the month.

We have been running smart diesels for 20 years and also a 2008 Mercedes-Benz B200 5 speed, the latter to 361,000 km. We decided late last year to simplify life and get one new car and sell the last remaining smart to our youngest daughter, a BRABUS-modified first generation convertible model, white on white with leather etc. The B200 was sold to our nephew Cam for $1000 and the smart to Julia for $2000, the latter well below market value. The 404C stays and I hope to get it finished later this autumn, just about time! The replacement car isn't something I ever thought I'd own, it's what some call a SUV. 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC350e PHEV. We made a factory custom order in December and got the car in June, after it had been built in March in Bremen. It does over 120 km in electric mode and another 700+ on gasoline. Very comfortable, smooth. Quick too, though I usually accelerate slowly. Over 5500 km, the car has averaged 2.2 L/100 km, thanks to running mostly in E mode, and when in E mode, the consumption of electricity has been usually a bit under 22 kWh/100 km, which costs about $3.10. That would buy about 1.7 litres of premium fuel, so it's very cheap to power, if not to buy. Did a road trip to Penticton and even on the highway with no electric refill the consumption was amazing for a heavy vehicle with 4WD, at 6L/100 km in one direction via 100 km/h Hwy 3 and 7.5 L/100 km via the 120 km/h Coquihalla. We drove about 5-10 over the limit.

Heading back to Britain in 3 weeks and we will be renting a ....well let's see, not likely a Peugeot.

Hi Victor! Great article.

No, it was just a spare that I threw into the bin for replating, not thinking it's as badly rusted as it was. Most of the parts plated, apart from the brake fittings, are spares only.

Got them today, 21 excellent ones and 5 OK-ish ones. I also had one last batch of stuff replated, including some KF2 hardware. One of the large nuts looked like Swiss cheese after being de-rusted and plated!

The replated brake fittings should be back in my hands finally in a week's time. Work can resume around then.

Fuel consumption so far has been negligible - about 0.5 litre in 495 km of driving. This will change when we do a road trip in a month but for now it's encouraging.

Good news on both fronts: the plating shop has finished the job and the replated fittings etc will be dropped off at our place next Thursday....so the break line work can begin not long thereafter. Also, the new car came in yesterday and we will get it on June 7th, in 14 hours actually.