PEUGEOT 205 GTI

Hello and welcome, you are looking at my 1990 Limited Edition Peugeot 205 GTI. This car is one of only 600 Limited Edition Miami blue models ever sold in the UK (300 1.6L & 300 1.9L). The 205 GTI has extremely well balanced handling with excellent turn in and cornering capabilities. It takes some time to master though as lift off mid-corner and chances are it'll oversteer. Thanks to the well engineered chassis they drive like their on rails and a little controlled oversteer turns into a lot of fun! They can cover ground on any road like a far more powerful car and nothing come close on a quiet B-road. They came with varying levels of equipment but the Limited Edition models came with the most as standard: power steering, electric windows, cental locking, metallic paint, sunroof, full black leather interior and either a 115bhp 1.6 litre or 128bhp 1.9 litre 8-valve engine. When I bought mine it was completely original, in showroom condition with only 90k on the clock and a FSH. I couldn't believe how much fun it was to drive and often found myself taking a longer route along country lanes to work! However with mine only having the 1.6 litre engine I knew I could be having alot more. One day the engine started leaking coolant and after a difficult time tracking it down, it turned out to be a small crack in the cylinder block. One option would be to try and repair the crack but sooner or later it would fail again. This meant I needed to start looking for a new engine as there was no way I was selling my GTI. I looked at converting to a Mi16 or GTI-6 engine but decided to stick with 8 valves as they're still a very good engine, easily modified and a lot less money. I ended up buying another 205 GTI to use as a donor car, the shell was a write off due to a rear end shunt. Coincidentally it was also Miami blue and originally a 1.6L though not a limited edition. The engine was a 1.9L which had been rebuilt less than 10k miles before and ran like new. As I took apart both old and new engines, I decided to get more performance parts over their original counterparts and to improve the functionality and cosmetics under the bonnet. Generally speaking engine bays are pretty boring to look at, I wanted to make mine that little bit different. I painted bits, polished others and added colour here and there to really enhance the overall effect.
The 205 GTI has been widely regarded as one of the best hot-hatches ever made. This short video presented by Jeremy Clarkson proves my point! However I believe there is always a little room for improvement and I have made subtle modifications to the engine, suspension, interior and other general restoration to ensure she behaves like she should, yet look as original as possible.

Page 1 - My car specifications
Page 2 - Engine swap
Page 3 - In depth look at modifications
Page 4 - Future plans
Page 5 - Photoshop pictures
Page 6 - 205 GTI information
Page 7 - The 205 T16
Page 8 - Useful links

Liv's page - My girlfriends Fiat Punto S 55

EXTERIOR

- Original and perfect metallic Miami blue paint
- Restored plastic trimming; bumpers, wing-mirrors, bump strips, rear boot panel etc., with back-to-black
- New driving lamps with blue xenon bulbs wired in to work with foglamp switch
- Upgraded to clear front indicators and phase 2 rear clusters with seperate reversing light
- HID effect halogen super white headlight bulbs and white LED side-light bulbs
- Clear repeater lenses
- Bee-sting aerial
- Modified radiator air intake
- Lightly tinted windows
- Sliding sunroof

INTERIOR

- Full black leather upholstery with contrasting red stitching
- Rear black leather head rests
- Lockwood white dials
- Kenwood headunit
- Vibe FLY 3-way 5 ¼” speakers
- Remote controlled central locking with immobiliser and alarm
- 12v~240v power inverter
- Datatool RevLight mounted on dash top
- White LED festoon interior light bulb

WHEELS AND BRAKES

- Professionally refurbished 6.5J x 15” Speedline GTI alloy wheels
- 195/50/R15 tyres
- Locking wheel bolts
- EBC greenstuff performance brake pads currently with standard vented discs
- Spare set of 15" SMR's and 14" 1.6 GTI alloys for track use
- Calipers painted red using VHT paint

SUSPENSION

- Pi 35mm lower front uprated progressive springs
- Polished alloy adjustable strut brace
- New standard front and rear dampers
- Front and rear anti-roll bars

ENGINE

- Fully rebuilt XU9JA-(DKZ) 1.9 litre cylinder block
- Lightened and balanced pistons, con-rods, crankshaft and flywheel
- Fully rebuilt 8-valve cylinder head painted red with black powdercoated cam cover
- Enlarged and polished cylinder head inlet ports
- Inlet and exhaust manifold ports matched for size and position to cylinder head
- Enlarged and polished throttle body
- Standard 1.9 high-lift camshaft and pulley
- Re-designed induction system with sealed K&N filter, air scoop and blue silicone ducting
- Modified Air Flow Meter
- Performance silicone HT spark leads and NGK spark plugs
- Standard Arvin/Timax exhaust system with Janspeed silnecer (3” tip)
- 4-2-1 exhaust manifold
- BE3 1.6 GTI gearbox
- Modified gear linkage for short throw
- Oil-water cooler
- Pug-Performance re-mapped ECU with rev-limiter removed
- Castrol GTX Magnatec oil
- Battery relocated to the boot