Rust repair

"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
08/20/2014 at 18:10 • Filed to: None

As you might know I bought this Peugeot 205 GTi last week. Two rust spots on the passenger side were thrown in for free! Lucky me. Anyway, they've been dealt with and it seems they were merely surface rust. (pictures below) Next thing on the list: painting the passenger side below the trim and fixing the mechanicals.

Before (sorry about the crappy pictures):

After:

Who said 26 year old French cars are rusty heaps?

DISCUSSION (17)

Jedidiah > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 18:12

Looks pretty solid actually.

thebigbossyboss > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 18:12

I have just a lil surface rust on my rockers I was hoping to take care of. What did you use to do? the more details the better!

Bandit > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 18:19

You have no choice, turn it into a Group B car.

duurtlang > Bandit
08/20/2014 at 18:22

No way, the car is far too nice. I'd rather turn a crappy €300 Peugeot 205 with a worn out 1.1L engine into a Group B monster. Yank out the engine and back seat and install a nice 6 or 8 cylinder engine behind the front seats.

jkm7680 > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 18:26

Seems like it's in pretty nice shape now, Good luck with it!

Saracen > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 18:29

ooooh, nice. such a lovely thing.

duurtlang > jkm7680
08/20/2014 at 18:29

Well, the mechanicals do need a bit of work as well. Both drive shafts will need to be replaced for example. The car is a solid starting point though.

Klaus Schmoll > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 18:37

Good to take care of it sooner than later! But are these early signs of car hoarding, do we have to stage an intervention?

jkm7680 > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 18:54

Yeah, it is a good starting point as you said! Make sure to post many updates!

duurtlang > Klaus Schmoll
08/20/2014 at 18:59

Maybe. I still only have one car parked next to my apartment though, the 406 coupe. The BMW is in Texas, the Golf has been in a shed for over a year and the 205 is with my mechanic. I am lusting after two Ebay auctions though, both of Citroëns from the second half of the 80s but the cars couldn't be more different.

Dusty Ventures > duurtlang
08/20/2014 at 19:02

Man, that's some great luck on it just being surface rust! Loving the progress updates. Don't forget to send the car to Dusty when it's all fixed up ;)

Also, is that your truck in the first photo? A big 'Murican pick-up like that must be a bit of a rarity over there as well. Do you get many comments on it?

Ferrero1911 > duurtlang
08/21/2014 at 00:18

I've wanted one of these for a while now. Congrats on the purchase and I'm glad the rust wasn't too bad.

duurtlang > Dusty Ventures
08/21/2014 at 01:09

It's not my truck. I shot that picture on the farm property of the parents of the previous owner, before I actually bought the 205. The PO replaced the 205 with that Chevy as this kid's DD, amazingly. The contrast is huge. Like I mentioned, he lives on a farm so it makes some sense. I did ask him about it as it indeed is quite the rarity. He mentioned it's horrendous to park and the fuel economy is, well, interesting.

I will post more updates and like you might know it actually is plausible I ship this to the US, eventually. The car I bought earlier this year, a BMW E30 Touring, is in Texas now. This 205 is 26 years old...

duurtlang > Ferrero1911
08/21/2014 at 01:16

You can. Weren't you setting up a car importing business? The Peugeot 205 was introduced in 1983. Further more, although on a small scale I've actually started exporting cars to the US. A BMW E30 Touring was the first, and is in Texas now.

Dusty Ventures > duurtlang
08/21/2014 at 01:48

Haha yeah, I'm familiar with the challenges of a big truck. We use a F350 dually for the rally team. It's 20 feet long and close to eight feet wide on it's own, with a fuel economy of about 15 miles per (US) gallon. Add the enclosed trailer and it's just short of 50 feet and 11 mpg.

It'll be a bit before I'm in a situation where I can handle a car of that rarity, but maybe. My biggest concern is handling the maintenance. Parts will be tough to find, short of having them shipped across the ocean.

duurtlang > Dusty Ventures
08/21/2014 at 03:20

Parts for these are cheap and easy to find... on this side of the ocean. With the internet nowadays it should be easy to source them. They're popular in the UK too, so there shouldn't be a language barrier. It helps that these cars are both reliable and easy to work on.

Ferrero1911 > duurtlang
08/22/2014 at 15:18

I am setting up a car importing business, and because of that I can't really get a toy right now. Most of the ones I've seen for sale have been 1991 and later for some reason. I'll definitely let you know when I'm looking for one. I'm sure you can find a better example than I would be able to!