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

[willsy]

Frustrating day today, had full intentions to get the gearbox off, swap the clutch, reassemble and maybe have some of the front suspension back on again at last.

But.... As ever nothing is that simple. My displeasure in the XU setup has only been enhanced, I really do miss the ease of TU that I've been accustomed to in the past. Eventually after plenty of arsing around negotiating the gearbox removal past the nest of wiring, hoses etc the gearbox eventually came off.

Now those who have read through my progress will remember how much of an oily state the underside of the gearbox was, and that with so much gunk and dried oil buildup I had no chance of identifying where the cause of the problem was. Well the top of the gearbox and inside the housing was the same.

Really did need seeing to prior to refitting




Nuts anyone?


And the clutch fork (thank god I did decide to do the clutch now) was actually semi broken. The rear of the clutch fork that fits onto a pivot point ball had begun to detach with one of the welds having broke.

So until a replacement can be sourced I've started to clean up the gearbox. About 3 hours later and here's where I've got to





Still room for improvement. So very much feeling like 1 step forward but 3 steps backwards after today. *sigh*

[chinkostu]

I know the feeling man, it'll be worth it in the end. Mine needs a clutch ideally and im dreading it as they're a pig to do. You're almost there


At least it hasn't decided to leak fuel everywhere!

[jpsaxo]

Much tidier now Willsy

[willsy]

So the other day I got round to replacing the dizzy o ring which was brittle and already in 3 pieces. Replaced the vacuum advance for a new one. Cleaned off all remaining traces of oil spillage.
Then moved on to the steering rack, started off by replacing some very worn bushes in the PAS ram





Then fitted new bellows, clips, track rods and track rod ends & cleaned the rack up





All of the remaining new suspension bits have now arrived, mounts, ARB bushes and all new genuine nuts & bolts. Partly assembled the subframe to make sure everything is there prior to refitting.





New clutch fork arrived yesterday, this one was due for imminent failure



New rear bumper also arrived, fitted the new red trims and number plate lamps





Got as far as resting it in place on the car for now. Will whip it back off again to spruce the rear end up before MOT





And finished a few other odd jobs. Fuel filter, PAS reservoir brackets plated and finished the horn assembly with some new tubing, along with a replacement dizzy cap and rotar arm.









Next job back to refitting the clutch & gearbox so the front end can finally be reassembled

[lincolndanny]

cracking update

[rushy_23]

Matt, cars coming along so well. Need to sort another get together so we can catch up. I can introduce your OCD to my cars too.

[willsy]

Cheers Rushy, and yes we do it's long overdue again. I wish more people would let me loose on their cars, it's a shame there's no market in it to go into such detail on other peoples cars & do this as a job- I'd love it though

[willsy]

Finally I have all the remaining parts to crack on with refitting the gearbox.

I've had plenty of time to clean the gearbox up, degreaser and metal polish were used in abundance.
I've fitted a host of new (Genuine Peugeot) parts by way of; new seals to the input shaft, the old ones were fine but for the sake of a few quid it's worth doing whilst the gearbox is off. Failed clutch fork replaced, the additional clutch lever found on the BE1 box has been replaced, that was virtually seized with the rusty bolt and bushes passing through it. New clutch cable fitted, reverse sensor replaced too.





I'd had a new starter motor sitting as one of the first things I bought for the car. The old one still works but again with the gearbox off it was an ideal opportunity to fit the new one. The old one is quite a lot heavier and more bulky.

[iSlayeR]

Gearbox looks great compared to what it looked like before

[willsy]

Slow progress at the mo, mainly due to the heat being unbearable.

I have started buying all the bits to do the brake system with. I've invested in a flaring kit.
Here's my tester. Combination of A4 Marine Stainlesd fittings and cupronickel lines

[willsy]

Just a couple of photos from the last few days.

New master cylinder fitted along with the brake lines which I made up. Cleaned out the brake fluid reservoir and cap which were pretty grubby too

This is the best 'before' pic that I have



And a selection of 'So far's' Servo can wait til I strip out and respray the engine way







And gearbox refitted. From this;


To this


New clutch lever bits


Other than that I've just been trawling through all the wiring checks.

[Brettles1986]

Fairplay I love reading your restoration threads.

Epic work, wish I had (a) the money and (b) the time to do things like this.

[willsy]

Originally Posted by Brettles1986

Fairplay I love reading your restoration threads.

Epic work, wish I had (a) the money and (b) the time to do things like this.

Cheers mate, it is a huge labour of love. Even the simplest things take a lot of time and patience to resolve.... As my next update demonstrates

[willsy]

I've made a return to the electrical checks today, starting with the front wipers and washer neither of which were working.

I'd already replaced the wiper arm spindles which are well renowned for seizing up on these. Next up was replacing the relay, still nothing.
Then took the wiper stalk apart, cleaned up the connections a few of which were definitely in need of it, still nothing.
Next up I wired the motor up directly and it worked fine, as did the washer motor which was new.
So that just left the wiring and connections
Out came the rotary tool with a small brass wire brush, electrical contact cleaner and metal polish.

Turns out they clean up quite well. Cleaned up the outside aswel as the inner surface for no reason other than it was quite satisfying




As good as new


And the hard work paid off. Front wipers and washer are now fully functional :-)

Next up was the rear wiper. On the Phase 1 309's the power travels through the boot gas struts (Good old peugeot) with a spade terminal on either end. I'd already fixed the lower ones as the wires had snapped at the terminal, I've got exact OE terminals so they were an easy fix. The rears work off a button on the dash rather than the stalk. Washer motor worked fine but no life from the wiper.
Took the motor and spindle apart, fitted a new motor. The old one did work after all so it'll retire to being a spare. Remembered to refit the upper terminals on the gas struts and still had nothing.
Eventually realised that the boot has to be fully closed for it to work. Job done

Apologies for the essay anyway. Just goes to show how long it can take to complete some of these jobs. It's taken me 6 hours of diagnosis and tinkering to get the wipers and washers fully functional so I'm now relieved and feeling quite pleased.

[chinkostu]

Suprised you didn't just suspend the plug in a pot of contact cleaner. Although i'm not sure how much fuzz it would have removed!

[willsy]

Finally turned a corner, all MOTable electrics (lights, washers etc) are now fully functional. I just have a few final switches to check and then I can get the dash and remaining interior refitted.

It's been so time consuming and it's not really anything that I can take some pics of without boring everyone to death.

Rest assured though, progress is good just need to finish the brake refurb and then hopefully the big day will soon arrive

[MartinObviously]

All MOTable electrics?

That means a bulb will blow at the MOT

[willsy]

Originally Posted by MartinObviously

All MOTable electrics?

That means a bulb will blow at the MOT

That would be just typical :-)

[willsy]

Been trying to get some key front end bits cleaned up and treated that have contact with new suspension bits before fitting them. The rest will be done when I respray the engine bay etc at a later date.

The upper suspension turret had some surface rust where the contacts been with the old top mount


Got as far as cleaning all the rust off with drill & wire attachment. Any remains have been treated with Bilt Hamber rust removal gel to ensure it's a perfectly clean surface. Then two coats of Bilt Hamber electrox high zinc primer as my base



Onto the front subframe mounting points. Again minor surface rust to contend with



Cleaned it all up and again treated with the Bilt Hamber stuff to ensure it's perfectly clean. Zinc primer applied straight after this pic



And a final pic after some paint and lacquer has been applied

[chinkostu]

hope you'll be doing the same to that brake pipe bracket

I don't think anyones car will match this level of detail!