Just registered :)

You say without the muppets..... but they do have to put up with me, and my "Pug" disasters !

Sorry guys - but LAD did an amazing job on my AX GT - albeit about 6 years ago... they turned it into a monster :D

Why the bad rep?

Jza

I know personally of 1 guy who sued LAD and got a full refund for his LAD 2000 converted 205 gti 1.9, (160bhp, big brakes etc).

I went to a rolling road with 2 lad tuned Saxos, 160 and 180bhp conversions, one made 135 the other 140bhp...

a std 205 gti made 130bhp and a std clio 172 made 170bhp as points of reference.

I know of someone who sued LAD for fitting dodgy suspension to his 206...

Theres many more horror stories out there.

Oh.

Hello Mark !

sold the scooby, feel quite sad now (bit richer though)

just need to get the pug picked up now!

any advice on improving the stereo would be appreciated

Hi Nick :D

Yup - tis a good webby the gtidrivers forum :)

As for LAD - they may well have been fine with an AX but they have been slated for Pugs as long as I can remember (even back to when I had my first 1.9 in 1995) and they are developing the same rep for Saxo's now too...................

I have just gone the otherway from 1.6 205GTI to MY95 WRX. I agree the steering will be a bit heavy with 15inch wheels. I kept the 14 inchers and never had a problem with handling, they are an excellent car, tried to convince the miss's to keep it as well but unfortunately it has to go.

Just another voice to echo what people have already said regarding LAD's bad reputation. If you want the best in 205 improvements, be it servicing, engine/suspension conversions, or race/rally preparation, you'll be doing well to find better than Skip Brown Cars in Cheshire. Assuming they're not stupidly far away from home.

Just in case you needed any more advice.....

The 14" wheels are much better unless you change the hubs and drive shafts as well as they are a different offset on the 1.9, and it's the smaller wheel that gives the 1.6 slightly more nimble handling. I've just put goodyear eagle f1's on mine and they seem to be great, a better wearing tyre than toyo proxies or yokohama's but the same level of grip, they cost me £38+vat each! Strange the seats gone so soon, mine's done 100k and theyre ok if a little bit rocky!

new shocks are always a good idea, you could have it re-bushed if you wanted with poly based ones to sharpen it a bit more, If it's that old you'll want to change the cambelt etc, if you want less power buy an aftermarket exhaust, as the original one was designed correctly for the car in the first place, has tuned lengths and is very good. Otherwise keep everything standard, my brakes work fine and l've got an Mi16 in mine, uprated pads seem to have cured the fade and looking like a standard 1.6 suprises more than the odd person!

Mi16 is definately the way forward though, worth the hassle.

enjoy!

trigger03 - thanks for the advice all really useful, will try and get the f1's (had them on the scooby and was impressed).
i think the seat has gone because the woman had a bad back and used the seat bolster has a hand rest to get in/out.
will check if the cambelt's been done.
i am going to try and keep the car standard (i can hear the mi16 calling already and i dont even pick the car up till friday!!!)

thanks for the advice, all welcome

Great cars :D
Mine needs more work doing, but slowly it's getting there.
The 1.6 gearbox in it is fantastic for mad revs and instant torque but a pain in the arse for long motorway journeys ;)

Dead cheap motoring, I get around 80 miles out of £10 :D

I BOUGHT 1 FROM NEW 87 D PLATE 1.9 GTI HAD IT 10 YEARS SEAT LASTED 2 YEARS RUST STARTED BETWEEN THE QUARTER PANEL @ SILL AFTER ABOUT 7 YEARS HEY WHAT A MACHINE THE NEW 206 ISNY A PATCH IN IT WISH ID KEPT IT WOULD HAVE RESTORED TO ITS FORMER GLORY 10 YEARS 85000MILES NEVER BROKE DOWN ONCE AH THE EIGHTIES

help please, picked up the pug and its got a few niggly problems. can anybody help with either someone to take it to for help (live in warrington/work in manchester) or simple things i can try:-

speedo needle wobbles around at any speed, not to bothered but would prefer it not to.

clutch pedal is extremely stiff to push in, cars not been used much in the last 10 months. does the cable need lubricating or is it more serious?

the car does not idle very well when cold and keeps cutting out.

the joys of old cars, how i've missed them.

also a couple of small patches of rust, anybody recommend a bodywork repairer in the manchester/warrington area.

all advice appreciated

Hi,

I've had 3 205 GTI's, all of them have had a wobbly speedo, its where the cable gets twisted or kinked though the bulk-head.. Not alot you can do really, just try and live with it!!

Some don't seem to tick over that well and the revs go up and down quite a bit, usually air-flow meter.. just get it serviced and tuned up, see how it runs then.

one of mine had a really stiff clutch pedal, think the cable was really old, just replaced it when I had a new clutch put in, should be able to lube the cable up though to loosen the padal up a bit..

ali, thanks for the advice.

Clutches go stiffer as the miles and years pile on in any car. Lubricating the cable won't really help.

I suffered the same problem on my 1.9. The only solution was to replace the clutch, which I did myself (O/E item £60 odd quid, Euro Car Parts). I thought I had forgotten to connect the thing up the first time I tried it, the difference in weight was unbelievable.

Pugs go off tune fairly quickly, usually starting with lumpy idle and poor town driving, mine does. Solution is to entrust it with someone who knows what they are doing with a set of rollers. For me its always £50 quid well spent, the car ALWAYS runs smoother, uses less fuel and usually ekes out another couple of BHP.

Pug speedo needles usually bounce, get a ride home in a 405 minicab one night if you don't believe me. Oddly my old 1.9's needle bounced like hell (19k miles), yet my 75000 mile current car doesnt.

Cold starting/running is always a prob on these!

I've gone through plugs, leads, dizzy, rotar, oil, oil filter, ecu temp sensor etc etc which all helped a bit more in their own right but only cured when I had it properly tuned by my local Pug specialist for 60 quid :D

all, thanks for the comments

olly, can you recommend anybody in the manc/warr area for servicing and also bodywork repairs, dont intend to keep taking it to peugeot.

how difficult is it to change the clutch?

My 1.9 speedo needle bounces all over the shop too :)
Does that give me and excuse when caught speeding? ;)

"Hello, sir. Do you know what speed you were doing back there?"
"Yes officer, 30,40,30,40,30,40" ;)

I did the clutch on my 1.9. Parts were about 60-70 quid from German Swedish and French - all OEM parts. It was an absolute bitch of a job but we didn't have enough room to work in and couldn't get the car up high enough! If you're reasonable mechanical though you should be able to do it. Just follow the Haynes and look on 205gtidrivers.com.

In all honesty I got a quote from Pug to fit one and it was 180 quid - next time I'll just pay that!

i think i'll pay the money, do i have to go to pug or can i use one of these places which just changes clutches? or should i stick with oem parts?

Avoid Mr Clutch like the plague. Make sure whoever fits a Valeo clutch - its the OEM clutch. To be honest I phoned Peugeot and Mr Clutch (just to see) and the dealer was only a few quid (literally) more expensive. Either that or go to a local knowledgable Peugeot specialist :D

I use Mike Gilman (Mikeanics 01260 297115) in Congleton, an ex Skip Brown guy and 205 fan. He has looked after my car for the last 10 years.

He also has a set of rollers, and does Mi16 conversions for reasonable money...

Picked my Mi16 up from Kramer in London last night, even though the alternator had gone this week, then drove it back up to Lancs last night - managed to get home with one battery swap at Donnington.

Mint body and interior, but the engine needs a bit of work as yet. It has Group N or A Poly engine mounts so is very stiff in town driving and on idle tends to shake the whole car to bits.

Also need new alternator and valve stems doing urgently. Power delivery is odd, all about being in the right gear, as the power comes in at 4500rpm, then flies up to 7000rpm.

Taking it to my mechanic later this week to get all the jobs done and should be sweet then.

Hey :) glad you've got it :D

The power delivery is very strange to start with - very average below 4.5k revs then just keeps pulling after that. Very dramatic.

It seems an odd sensation - it doesnt feel hyper speed, but then you look down and the speedo says 110mph, and it feels like 80mph. Will have to keep an eye on that.

The shaking idle needs sorting asap - anyone any ideas why the whole car would shake on tickover, including the glass?

I had that big time when I got mine - see this thread over in the 205 forum.

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=7625&hl=

AFM needed playing with.

Richard.

Nice one Simon - be sure to give us a full report when your mechanic has had a fettle mate :D

Will do, had a small play with a 330ci coupe on the way back last night.

Came off a roundabout near Stoke (A50) behind him in second and he thought I was trying to push him, so he booted it. Luckily I was holding at 4k rpm so followed. He had to move over after a short distance :D:D He wasn't happy about it :D

Quick shift feels odd at first.