Willsy's 309 GTi - Latest update 04/09/2018 - Page 15 - Saxperience

chinkostu · 15th December 2014, 17:16

The matrix definately a dash out job ALA xantia? Good job you're doing it now!

willsy · 17th December 2014, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by MartinObviously

Who'd have though.

so many new parts still able to obtain! lol

Lol you'd be amazed what's still available. Just because it's noted as NFP on the Peugeot service box (same with Citroen) doesn't mean it's not there, it's just most dealerships can't be bothered to look further afield to help out enthusiasts. Most of the parts which I've got courtesy of a modern day Santa contact have come from within Europe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinkostu

The matrix definately a dash out job ALA xantia? Good job you're doing it now!

Apparently on the 309s it can be removed easily without taking the dash out, much rather the ease of doing it now though that's for sure, nice & gentle without risk of damaging any fins trying to squeeze it in through a tight gap.

chinkostu · 17th December 2014, 20:20

Try having a v6 xantia, apparantly most parts are listed as NFP lol

Luckily mines a derv so parts coming out of my ears

willsy · 7th January 2015, 17:28

Well a long overdue update but so far it comes with good news.

Spent the day on the 309 yesterday with Eddie (309ownersclub) who kindly offered to change my cambelt and water pump for me & spend the day hoping to get it's first startup in my ownership & at least the previous 2 years prior to it.

With cambelt and pump changed by Ed, I finished the easier tasks of changing the remaining basic service items of oil/filter & spark plugs & cleaning up bits which he'd removed along the way before it was refitted. I'd already fitted NOS ignition leads, coil, ignition amp. We also fitted the new centre section & backbox

Then stage 1 of pre key turn checks went well - cranked over nicely and we had a good spark
Then stage 2 check we've got fuel - we had nothing.

Tried a direct feed to the pump, still nothing, then checked with a multimeter which provided us with a nice signal. So after some head scratching we decided to lower the fuel tank slightly enough to be able to remove the pump assembly retaining collar and extract the pump, If it was dead it would have needed to come out anyway, the plan being to give it a tap and provide some power directly to from the battery again, the tap came first after accidently dropping it which seemed to do the trick nicely, now seems to run perfectly fine.

Refitted it, fuel came nicely through the rail, and then went for it....... and if fired up first time. Ran perfectly well for a few minutes before we discovered a leaky fuel return hose which had cracked a little & perished. I've been and bought some replacement hose today so hopefully tomorrow I'll swap that & get it up to temperature with coolant system bled etc.

So far so good & I can't thank Ed enough for his help. With the engine now running it's certainly helped boost the motivation which is easy to lose over winter with the cold weather.

Alanapone^p · 7th January 2015, 18:49

Great news Willsy!! bet you can't wait for the drier weather to get it out for a test drive now!?

willsy · 8th January 2015, 09:14

Definitely can't wait for my first drive of it. Hopefully today I'll have time to change the perished fuel line, pick up a new alternator belt and fit that with the new alternator then let it run some more and see whether the clutch & gearbox are in reasonable order. If so I may change the brakes next & take it for a cheeky MOT to see how it gets on before I start on the suspension

Andre21 · 8th January 2015, 14:01

Great news willsy! That type of engine are really very reliable! The idea of first service the engine was very good. I don't remember, but, do you change the thermostat? With that age could not work nicely. Congratuations.

willsy · 8th January 2015, 20:25

Thanks Andre :-) I have fitted a new thermostat, I also have new genuine coolant hoses, and a new heater matrix. The only original coolant based bit at the moment is the radiator which seems in pretty good condition.

Got a little more done today, replaced the leaky fuel hose, this'll be the culprit

Then removed the old alternator, it seems to be in good order but I already had a new one

Fitted the new one with a new belt. Here's the engine bay as it stands.

To do list over the next few days involves refitting the dash wiring and clocks so that I can plug stuff in and check that it all works before refitting the dash, also with the clocks fitted I can ensure that the temperature is all good whilst the engines running & bleeding the coolant.
Sort the leaky joint between the exhaust manifold and the centre section, seems the new fitting kit varies slightly to the old one and I'm not able to tighten the bolts sufficiently to seal the gap.
Once that's done get in and see if the gearbox/clutch is operating as it should so I can drive it in & out of the garage

Andre21 · 9th January 2015, 10:02

More good work! You did well in changing the cooling system parts. It's very important, and usually people don't give to mutch importance. Keep up the good work!

willsy · 13th January 2015, 13:13

Well it's getting close to a years ownership already, plenty done in that time that's for sure.

Still havn't done the 'to do' list detailed in the previous post, that'll be my plan towards the end of the week on my days off.
In the meantime though I've started to reassemble the front end and continued to tidy bits up.

Drivers side lighting associated wiring

To this

Looks a fair bit better than it originally did at least; before and progress so far pics as follows

Just need the good warm weather to return now so that I can paint the engine bay

Cleaned up some rubber trim that fits below the headlights next, the originals were full of muck and moss

I did buy some new genuine ones to fit but the design has changed a little at some point and the new fitting is shite in comparison & they don't stay on. So I set about cleaning up the originals

Moved onto cleaning up the fan housing after that

Refitted the slam panel

Reapplied one of the new stickers that I've got

A quick reminder of how it was a year ago

And a final picture of how I've finished up for the day.

holdawayt · 13th January 2015, 14:15

I love this thread.

I'm not a fan of French cars of this era and I'd certainly never choose a 309 Gti. So I don't think it's the car that's drawing me into the thread. It's the outstanding level of detail that you're going to. I get a sense of satisfaction every time I check this thread and see that you've tidied up another part of the car to a better than new standard.

Please keep it up, it's the only thread on here that I'm still subscribed to. Fingers crossed you can put some miles on her this summer and really enjoy it.

Tom.

willsy · 25th January 2015, 20:16

Cheers Tom, glad you're enjoying the read :-) I try to be as thorough and interesting as possible with the posts too

I made some more progress today, plugged in the dash loom and clocks etc and left it running for about 15 mins, it's idling consistently at 1200rpm, however it should be under 1000rpm. I need to give the throttle body a clean and fully fit the induction assembly and hopefully it'll be where it should be after that.

I've also fitted an 82degree thermostat rather than the 89degree one that was in there, service box says that it should be 82degree for pre90. Coolant systems bled and fan kicks in nicely.

I had been getting a fair bit of vapour from the exhaust upon startup, more than you'd expect to see upon startup from cold. However the NOS genuine exhaust has been sat doing nothing for years and the longest I'd ran it up until today was about 5 minutes, not long enough to clear. It seemed to completely clear after it had been running for a while. Crucially no blueness and no unburnt fuel smells.

Other bits and bobs for me to check include checking the oil pressure sensor & connections (it does look pretty filthy) the oil pressure gauge operates quite low on the gauge, manual suggests midway is ideal
Here's a pic, it didn't go any higher than the first bar

The low coolant light that's on was an easy fix, the terminals on the sensor on top of the expansion tank were a bit green, cleaned those up with some contact cleaner and wet&dry paper.

Lastly I decided to see if I could drive it out the garage & it does go forward and backwards ok, gears go in easily although clutch pedal was quite stiff but it did seem to free up a bit after I'd pumped the pedal a few times, stiff through lack of use perhaps. I do have a NOS cable to fit if required

willsy · 1st February 2015, 12:03

Just keeping up appearances today. Quite pleased to have found a little gem in the way of a NOS genuine bonnet :-) for once I didn't have to travel far to get it either, just 20 miles