Jump to content

Help with some parts


Diesel Rd.

Recommended Posts

Hello everybody,

I bought an '82 505 TD sedan a couple of months ago and I need some parts to be able to put it back on the road. The car had an accident on the left front side: the left bezel is missing and the fender is pretty badly damaged. If I'd have the bezel, I'd be able -maybe- to repair the fender and if I would have the fender I can wait for the bezel, but -at least- I will be able to paint the car.

I started calling some junk yards more than a month ago and I ran into all kinds of people and stories: 1) "I have the bezels but we can't find them", 2) "I have the fender and we will send it to you today or tomorrow" -that was 3 weeks ago and after they already charged my Visa card which is still the case, MA company, 3) "Let me transfer you to my yard guy to talk directly with him" and then, bang, out of the line -it happend 3 times, Oregon company 4) "Give me your ph.# and I call you back" -2 times,Texas company 5) "We can only have the fender shipped on a wood pallet and the cost of shipping is around $250", Idaho company and the cherry on the cake 6) 2 weeks ago :"I have yet to master the technique of removing them without breaking any tabs" - talking about the bezels from a well known name on this forum!

I have an European background and I was SOOO happy to find a rare 505 TD -Diesel it's not a fuel, it's a way of life !-but now I'm getting frustrated about finding these parts.

By any chance any forum member can help me with finding the Left fender and at least the Left bezel if not both?

Thanks and best to you all Peugeot enthusiasts,

Gabe

PS I want to say that from what I saw online prices for the fender are between $35 to $75 for used ones and new one -from Argentina-is $150 !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome Gabe!

First order of business is to find out where you are?

Fenders are tough as they're glued on and you have to be quite good, and patient to avoid damaging them on removal.

Can you post a picture of the bezel you speak of? Is it the chrome bezel arounf the usdm headlight - or the headlight itself?

Rabin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your answer.

I read many of your helpful posts on the forum and oh,yes I already learned that the fenders are glued and you have to work on them on a sunny day-which I have plenty of, here in Tucson,AZ - using a heat gun and the rest. I found a topic about the fenders and useful information there.

Here is a picture of my car:

post-1953-0-58329600-1447645955_thumb.jp

I have the right bezel -with broken tabs- and it's plastic not chrome. Searching for parts, for my Peug I found this nice example, which serves me as an end goal !

post-1953-0-64882300-1447646368_thumb.jp

Thanks again for your reply and all the great work you're doing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Andre for the welcome and for the suggestions.

Brian said that he "unexpectedly" ran out of the bezels and he wants $140 for a fender. Not like I'm cheap, but in 10 different states across the US prices for the fenders are between $35 to $65 (one place $75) and I can buy a new one from Argentina for $150 (probably cheaper, if I try to negotiate a bit) and I have a feeling that the shipping will be less from Argentina than Vermont.

Of course, as you read in my previous post these scrap yard guys are not very reliable but that's another story. As a matter of fact, 5 min. ago I talked -again !- with that place in MA that charged my credit card 3 weeks ago for the fender and the guy said -again !-that they will ship it this week. As I said before if I would've had the bezel I could have fix my fender and have the car painted and in "driving condition". My only other option is to buy a good fender, have the car painted, be able to drive it on a daily/weekly basis and then buy some time for getting the bezel.

I wasn't able to find that ukit you suggested. Do they have a website / phone number?

Best,

Gabe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

as you've realized, i've sent ukit's contact information to you (he's a guy). i think you'll find his prices comparable to brian holms', though. both ukit and brian are not scrap yards, they are dedicated peugeot guys with lots of parts cars on hand. they're both reliable and generous with knowledge (which they have plenty). the same could be said for all of the regular peugeot vendors, including madhu and rob courtier (see our vendors section). another plus of dealing with them is that you can always be sure of getting exactly the right thing; that's not as crucial on a fender, but it can be important on some of the smaller engine and suspension parts.

all of us here have been through what you are going through -- generally speaking, scrap yards a great source of inexpensive parts if you are there in person, but there are so few peugeots left that it's often difficult to find a yard nearby that has what you need, then you are just a hassle on the phone to most of those guys. the uk, france and germany are great places to get parts, but shipping is not always available (sellers don't always want to ship to the US or Canada) and when it is available, it is expensive. argentina has lots of reasonably-priced parts, but shipping is difficult and/or expensive so let us know if you are able to get parts from there reliably as none of us have. some of us have even bought parts from africa, but you need a trusted contact there and even though the parts are dirt cheap, the shipping is slow and expensive.

once you know all that's involved with keeping a peugeot on the road & looking good in this part of the world, nice cars are that much more impressive.... :)

andré

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again for your support and understanding.

I can imagine that all/many/most of the Peugeot owners in the US were/are/will go through the "valley of the shadow" like myself. I bought that Peug 505 on an impulse because I wanted to give it a chance but not even in my darkest dream did I imagine that it will be so hard to find a bezel. I was able to buy/find all the new belts,brake hoses and pads,vacuum pump,the brake booster,filters,original workshop manual,the diesel Haynes manual,the Ac filter dryer,the timing chain,injectors,etc. but not the "US market only, Mr.Bezel" !

I tell you what, if I will be able to put my hands on a couple sets of bezels, I will send one set to a friend of mine in Europe who's selling/servicing the welding laser machines for a big molding company and ask him to make 2 molds and make 100 sets of bezels ! I will also talk with a friend of mine -he's English but lives in France -to start looking for Peugeot parts.

Hope dies last,

Gabe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

additional suggestions:

join the yahoo group peugeot-l; there are lots of long-time peugeot owners there with parts they might not mind parting with. to join, send a message to the group admin telling him you are a new owner.

join the facebook group we have. joining is the same type of deal, just message the admins explaining that you're now an owner.

there's lots of overlap between the facebook group, peugeot-l and this forum, but (IMHO) each has a slightly different focus and it's own advantages/disadvantages. if you belong to all three, though, you'll certainly hear about people parting out cars, cars showing up at pick-n-pulls, etc.

also, let us know if you decide to make any repro parts. i myself sell some of the US-only decals, with the hope of offering more in the near future....

andré

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An easier option is to update the 505 using 84+ USDM headlights (single 5x7) in one piece surrounds - or you could upgrade to euro lights. (Both options require the matching grill though.)

The quad headlight set ups are rare, so the easiest option is the path of least resistance.

Btw - problem with getting parts made is that the market would only support selling 5 sets max... :)

Rabin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is some hope in getting the fender and the bezel but until I have them in my hand I don't want to say more ...My car is now in Phoenix inside a friend's body shop and I'll go there tomorrow for 2-3 days to work on the brakes (pedal brake is very hard and at this point I suspect either the vacuum pump or the brake booster),want to replace the brake fluid and pads, replace a broken CV boot, replace all 5 belts, install a new tie rod end, fuel filters and maybe some prep work for having the car painted in a week or two.

Andre, I don't have a Facebook account and, at least for now, I'll stick to this forum which I think is very informative, with friendly users and admins.

Rabin,believe me, I was contemplating the idea of Euro lights but I kind of like the quad lights and as I said there is some hope on the horizon...when I said about 100 sets of bezels I was a little metaphoric just to make a point that nobody will run again into my problem. Another thing is that a mold is pretty expensive to build and if you make only 5 sets, they can cost- let's say-$2-$300 vs. $10-$20 if you make 100 sets.

Thanks again and best to all of you,

Gabe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with you on the quad round look, I quite like them myself and have tried a few times to get complete sets with no luck...

'Course my intention is to modify the outside lights to be 7" lights to replicate the Morette look - plus the light output would be as good/better.

kit_mo10.jpg

Rabin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I just wanted to post a status update on my 505 project.

I've replaced the left fender and the headlights, installed a new tie rod assembly, new master cylinder, a rebuilt brake booster -thanks, Brian Holm- replaced all five belts, a lot of cleaning and prepwork using about one ton of elbow grease.

Yesterday, I was able to finish painting the engine compartment area and I hope to paint the whole car on my next three-day trip to Phoenix.

I can't believe I discovered a fellow 505 owner in Tucson, Arizona. I hope I can meet him next week.

Best to all Peugeot enthusiasts.

Gabe

paint_1.jpg.be2abd5249a399f51ec6186ab45fpaint_2.jpg.d8cca5daf2f1318dcea10b0aa55b

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rabin, unfortunately it's auto... I would've loved a manual one! Do you own a diesel?

Yeah, last week I was able to meet Scott and take a look at his 505 wagon. The body is in pretty good shape, a one Arizona owner=NO rust at all but of course needs some TLC from an Peugeot enthusiast. The engine needs some attention too, I believe a fuel problem not with the injection part. I told him that personally, I love the wagons and it crossed my mind to buy his and install my diesel engine and trans. I have to find somebody though, to explain THIS to my wife...

Gabe

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Gabe...  

I'm not exactly the voice of reason - But I've got two diesels.  86' 505 TD wagon /4sp auto, and sedan w/5sp manual - both the same colour. 

Sedan will be a donor car for the 86' wagon body parts wise - but both seem to run well.

I've done a ton of research on diesels, but I'm quite new to owning and driving them, but I love them already. :)

Rabin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the diesel family!

Back in 1990 I bought my first "western" car , a Renault 18 on gas,then in 1992 a Passat wagon on gas too and after that, through the years until 2001 when I came to US, I owned 6 Passats,all wagons and TDI and the last one was an absolutely fabulous car a 1997 Citroen XM with a Peugeot 2.1L TDI. O tempora...THAT was the reason I bought this 505 TDI.

On all these diesels that I owned I never had to do any engine work; basically if you give them some respect meaning regular oil change,fuel filters,new glow plugs and injectors from time to time they run for ever. You know it's not uncommon to find diesel cars with 500k-600k Km. with no engine work done.

Best,

Gabe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Hello everybody reading my updates,

I attached some pictures with the actual status of my 505.Almost there but besides having to re-install some parts on the car, I'm stuck now with the drive axles.The outer boot on the right axle is cracked and greasy and the left one is not looking too well, either. I found different places in Europe that sell the rubber boots - inner and outer - but I'm not sure that I can replace them...the original ones look somehow glued/molded in place, different than the "regular" axles that I know.By any chance can someone give me some input about this? What are my options? I don't like the the idea of buying some old used axles but else can I do?

I believe I own now ALL Peugeots in Tucson...a couple of weeks ago I bought the station wagon from Scott...I attached a picture also.

Thanks and best to everybody,

Gabe

 

IMG_1684.JPG

IMG_1687.JPG

IMG_1688.JPG

IMG_1700.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Gabe,

The axle boots come with "tin cans" attached to the boots.  The tin cans need to be un peened off the axles and replaced.

Southern cars tend to have trouble with boots from the dry heat, but northern cars don't have that issue so used axles from a Northern car should be fine.

Rabin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Rabin,

I was-and still am-a little confused about this. If the "tin can" is attached to the boot why do they sell the rubber boots only? Can the rubber boot -easily,difficult,very difficult or impossible- be replaced, keeping the old steel can OR is it a MUST to buy the whole kit (rubber boot and tin can)? I'm pretty sure that after I'll do the work on the first one, I won't have to ask these silly questions...My hope was that I can cut open the old boot and using one of "those" plastic cones, I can slide over the new boot and deal done.

Best,

Gabe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Gabe,

If you scroll down on page 9 of this thread you can see how the axles come apart. 

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/peugeot-forum/85137-my-504-daily-driver-project-9.html

It might be possible to replace just the boot, but you'd have to remove and reuse the can part.

Rabin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let me know how you make out - the later ABS cars have a different axle design, and I bought some boots that look close - but need the reuse of the cans as well.  Ended up buying some used spares in the meantime - but I still want to rebuild mine.

Rabin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Rabin,I'll do that. It will be in a couple of weeks though,when I'll go back to Phoenix. I ordered some seals also and I hope they'll fit...one of the things that I hate is when I buy something by the book/description and when I open "something" hard to get to, the parts actually won't fit and then you start making calls and running around to find local, a part for a 1982 Peugeot...

Gabe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...