02x03 & 02x04 - Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler Dealers, the
show with a passion for modern classics.

Once again we're on
the trail for cars that we

can save from the great
scrapyard in the sky.

This time we're on the
hunt for a Peugeot 205


return to Rude Health.

This time we're looking for a


With a total budget
of £2,000 we'll give it

a Gran Turismo makeover
before selling it on.

Hopefully for a nice tidy profit.

I'll be giving you the
lowdown on what to look

out for if you're buying
a second hand GTI.

And my grease monkey
Ed China is going to get his

hands dirty doing all those
essential mechanical jobs.

I can't wait because
I just love these cars.

Don't believe me? Here's why.

Cheeky good looks and
a wicked 1.9 litre engine

made this one of the


It went like a rocket and
handled like a race car.

It was the perfect motor to win the traffic
light Grand Prix in your local high street.

Some say the VW Golf
GTI was the best hot hatch

but I always had a
soft spot for this car.

It always gave me more smiles per gallon.

Now the 205 was a pretty enough
design when it was launched in 1983.

But the Pininfarina style
body really came alive when

Peugeot engineers gave
it the full GTI treatment.

Wheels got wider.
The suspension was lowered.

A lusty 1.9 litre engine was bolted
into the super lightweight body.

Half leather seats and a racing steering
wheel and a body kit completed the package.

Only trouble was every time you left the
house you were chased by a helicopter.

But that didn't put buyers off in the UK.

Nor did the asking price of


There was a 1.6 but the model to
have was a super fast responsive 1.9.

It was a shopping car in the morning
and a race car in the afternoon.

So let the search begin.

This time I'm going to flip
through the weekly Incas.

The best place for any


Right as expected there was plenty of 205's
to see through and lots of them 1.6's.

Only a few 1.9's in there but
this one sticks out the page to me.

It's in white. It's a 90 on a H.

It's £1295 but it has got 10 months MOT.

It's got 5 months tax
and I like what it says.

It says never damage
standard unabused classic.

I'm ringing about your car.

Are you the owner? 1.9 GTI?

What type of nix it in?

Right yeah I like what
you put in the advert.

Totally unabused classic.

You open to offers?

Well I was hoping to come over sometime
this afternoon if that was possible.

You must be Andy.

Hello Mike.

How are you fella?

Good mate.

Yeah what are you trying
to Polish money into the car?

I'm just smearing the
dirt around a little bit.

At least you're honest.

Well this is the one is it? The little 205.

What I was looking for is a car that
was as sweet and as honest as possible.

And you said it was a good little one.

I think it is.

Well can I have a good look
round for myself? Do you mind?

Have a look round. Feel free.

Ok well look the first thing I noticed
actually as I walked up to the car was

there's something wrong with the
geometry on the rear suspension

because I can get two fingers in
here but I can't even get one finger.

Well you've scuppered
me a bit there Mike because

I've never noticed a problem
with that I'll be honest.

Now I look at it it does
look a bit funny and I

couldn't tell you whether
that was standard or not.

Seems to handle fine.

Right let's have a
quick look at the interior.

Lovely innit?

Yeah it looks alright doesn't it?
The leather's in good order.

That steering wheel's non-standard.

I don't think that is standard.

Now you're probably
going to say this car's

followed character but
the gear knob is knackered.

But anyway not to worry let's
have a look under the bonnet.

I hope there's no nasty
surprises under here Andy.

It's all good Mike.

This is all good is
it? Right ok yeah that

looks alright doesn't
it? Nice and original.

I mean it is what it is really it's just a


All you can do is look out for oil,
leaks across the top of the engine.

Make sure the legs are nice and
straight because cars like this could

have seen the wrong side of a
hedge once or twice in their life.

And this one hasn't.

And the other thing to tell you people
I've been banging on for years about

looking at the slam panel on the front
of the car and making sure it's original.

Now when you lift up the bonnet on a 205
GTI this one is totally the wrong colour.

And you would normally
think the car's been in

a shunt but actually
it's not that is original.

It's probably the only car on the market
that has a different colour slam panel.

So then Andy it starts, it stops, it
goes and you say it drives like a dream.

Indeed it does.

Right well let's give it a spin then.

It's pretty frantic in
here. You don't get much

time to relax. I mean
it's just and you're off.

Driving a 1.9 is an event. I mean
going to the shops to buy a pint of milk

you're going to feel like you've done
a rally stage by the time you go home.

And that's what I like about it.
What a cracking car.

Now as for this one,
well just listen to it.

Sounds fantastic.

But there are a couple of
problems with it already.

The gear selector is all
over the place. It feels like

it's stirring a spoon in a
bowl of soup at the moment.

And I'm dreadfully worried
about this rear suspension.

The rear suspension is bouncing
around all over the place and that's

probably why you're seeing me
jump up and down in your picture.

Because I can't help it, it's just
the nature of the car at the moment.

Somebody's had a fiddle and
they've made a pig's ear of it.

Now the guy's got it advertised for £1,295.

And by my reckoning, there's a
good £500 to spend on this motor.

Problem is, I'm not too sure if
it's going to take £500 less for it.

But you never know, I could only but try.

Well Andy, you weren't lying.
It does drive well, I'm surprised.

It's all good. Got a bit of character.

It's full of character, but
there are those things,

those niggly problems
that I'm worried about.

So I was going to make you an offer.

I'll take an offer on it.

Well you got it advertised for
£1,295. I was going to come

straight in with a size 10s
and bid you 800 quid for it.

More like size 12s.

Well what would you say now?

I'll knock you down to £11.

£1,100. You're coming
the right way. I like the

sound you're making,
you're coming the right way.

No, because of the amount of work
that he's doing, I'm going to stick to

my g*ns, £900, cash, I've got it in
my hand, I'll drive off and I'm gone.

Okay, £1,000 you can take it away.

£1,000.

Best I can do.

Guess how much money I drew out of the
bank today. Cheeky, innit? Exactly £1,000.

Look at that, on the nail.

There you go, well done. Nice one.

Lovely.

Well £1,000 is more than I
really wanted to pay, but with

Sophie on the market and he
knew, he had me over a barrel.

Now I just hope I can get Ed on my
side because he's got a lot of late nights

ahead of him in the workshop if our GTI
is ever going to get up and go once again.

Ed.

Hello mate.

How are you fella?

I'm lovely.

Good to see you. So what do you think, eh?
The trinket in the box. This is the one.

It's a nice car, but it's old.
Look at the suspension,

it's been through the mill.
It is very well knackered.

Well, I'm glad you noticed
that because it was one

of the things I noticed
straight away on the car.

I thought maybe it's quite
simple because it looks like

the geometry has just sort
of swung backwards on there.

You always think things like that. There is a kit for this,
I'll give you that and it's going to be a good few hundred

quid and it's going to take a lot of time so it's going to be
a bit of a big job and I guess there's more to come as well.

There's quite a long short
here. Well, there's the petrol

cap. Yeah, that's horrible.
That's got a broken lock.

Listen, Ed though, the stuff down at
the back here is fantastic because it's

a GTI, it could have seen the wrong
side of a hedge once or twice in its life.

And as you can see, no signs of accident
damage. It really is straight and original.

The only thing that is a bit of a
problem is... Nice parcel shelf.

Somebody's had a right
old go at that, haven't they?

Yeah.

I mean, they know death.
These kids are what today? I don't know.

But anyway, we need
to get a parcel shelf for it.

Down for the breaker's yard perhaps?

Yeah, down at the breaker's yard,
which is good. Mind your fingers.

This bumper at the back
has got a hole in it. It looks

like they've reversed up
to a tow hitch or something.

So while you're at the breakers,
perhaps we'll get some more.

Maybe I could get a bumper
because it sort of needs, you know,

put in bag. We need to turn
this into a proper GTI again.

Okay.

The alloys need a little bit of
tidying up round the outside.

They're not too bad.

They're not too bad.
Car pits are a bit of a mess.

Underneath the bonnet there, Ed, is the
Peugeot 1.9 GTI engine in all its glory.

It needs a bit of a tidy up.

It needs a bit of a tidy up.

It's missing a cam belt cover.

Well, there's an obvious
reason for that. It's to remind

me, to remind you, that you've
got to replace the cam belt.

Okay.

So a little bit of Polish, you
know, tidy it up, get it looking zingy.

You're turning it.

I am turning it.
I know because it's worth it, Ed.

Imagine what it'll look like when
it's finished. I mean, it'd be fantastic.

Inside, the steering wheel's Mickey
Mouse together with the gear knob.

And what this car really
needs is it needs the

original steering wheel,
the original gear knob.

We need to turn it back
into its iconic classic status.

The GTI.

Yeah. There is one
big problem that I am

concerned about, which
is the gear selector.

If you put this car in first
gear, it feels like it's in neutral.

That's a big problem, isn't it?

Well, it's not that big a
problem. You can get a

kit for it because obviously
it's a common problem.

So, hopefully, a bit of work
on that will sort that out as well.

Oh, fantastic.

Wait until you drive it. It goes
like it's on rails, this car is fantastic.

Cool.

Enjoy it, Ed.

Thank you, sir.

I'll catch up with you halfway
through it and see how you get it on.

All right, we'll see you later.

See you later.

Now, usually, Ed's drive back to the
workshop is a straightforward affair.

But just look what happened
as soon as my back was turned.

Oh, no, it's clouds of
smoke from the engine.

And, oh, dear, that really
does look expensive.

Getting this car back to the
workshop was a real nightmare.

And it seemed to come
down to one of two problems.

Either the clutch was at
fault or it was the gear linkage.

Now, on closer inspection, it turns
out, thankfully, it wasn't the clutch

because that would
have been a real pig to fix.

It looks like it's the gear
linkage that's the problem.

And that starts over there.

Now, first of all, this little chap
here is the bottom of the gear stick.

And you can see on that,
you've got the push-pull rod.

And we follow that all the way along.

And then suddenly you
can then see the left-right

rod, both of them coming
out of the gear stick.

And they go all the
way along to the engine.

And they kind of connect
to their little mechanisms,

which then connect to two more
rods, which go to the gear box.

Now, straight away, I can see our problem.

The left-right linkage has
actually come off the ball.

So no wonder I couldn't get any gears.

Now, I could do a
quick fix on this linkage,

but chances are, because it's so old,

it'll just break again in
a couple of weeks' time.

So what I'm going to do, for peace of mind,
is refurbish it with some brand-new bits.

Now, it's actually very
easy to remove these rods.

You just pop the ball joint, like so.

And I just have two more to do.

Here's our brand-new gear linkage.

And here, of course, is
our manky old second-hand,

nasty, loose-fitting linkage.

But I think the problem is with this.

What's happened, once upon a time,

somebody else has
been playing with this car,

and mechanic number one
has come along, taken all this off,

put the nut and the washer onto here,

thinking that's a good,
safe place to keep them.

Mechanic number two comes along, thinks,

ooh, they should probably stay on there,

does them up, puts them on the car,
adds the second nut, and then, of course,

you end up with a wobbly linkage.

The linkage drops off, we have no gears.

The best way to fix
this, lose the second nut,

put this on properly, attach
our brand-new linkage,

and then we're going to end
up with a really crisp gearbox

and a car that drives
like a proper sports car.

Now, the easy bit is getting
the ball joint into position.

It's slightly more tricky to
get the nut on the bottom of it.

It has to go through the chassis.

Just a case of feeling your
way and taking your time.

Well, that's that tight. Now for the rods.

Always remember to put a little
dab of grease into the sockets

because it helps with the wear and also
makes it a lot easier to get onto the ball.

And now, for the cause of all our troubles,

a centre ball joint.

Job done.

Perfect.

Next, I'm going to change the cam belt.

Now, you often hear
people talking in a very

blasé way about doing
that, but don't be fooled.

It's a really tough job, not
one for the faint-hearted.

So if it's such a lot of hard work,

why do I think our GTI
needs a new cam belt?

As we all know, in an engine,
you've got pistons whizzing around

and you've got exhaust coming
out and you've got fuel going in.

Now, what controls that flow are valves,

and those valves are controlled
by the camshaft, which is in here.

Essentially, a camshaft's a big
stick with a load of lumps on it

and those lumps spin around
and move the valves up and down.

Now, all that is driven by the crankshaft,

which is just down there
on the bottom of the engine.

Now, what connects these
two shafts is the cam belt.

Now, if it's in good
condition, everything's fine,

but if it breaks, then
what you might end up with

is all your valves getting
smashed up by the pistons,

so you end up with a very
expensive build to fix your engine.

So, as we have no idea
of the history of this thing,

we're going to change it.

This might seem a bit odd,
but to get to the cam belt,

I need to take off the front wheel and remove
an observation panel in the inner wing.

Then, I can get proper
access to the oily bits.

With that panel removed,

I can now get at the engine
parts that need to change,

but the first thing I'm going to have
to do is slacken off the alternator belt,

and I have to do that from
the top side of the engine.

I'm going to free off the alternator,
which is simply held on with a few bolts.

Then, it's a straightforward
job to remove the fan belt.

Okay, well, now my
fan belt is nice and loose.

I'm just going to feed it off here.

It's very crispy, so we're going to
have to change this one as well, I think.

There we have it.

My next job is to undo this
bolt on the centre of this pulley,

remove the pulley, and then I
can get at the lower cam belt cover.

Okay, I'm nearly there.

I'm just going to remove
the lower cam belt cover.

It's actually in two pieces,

held on with a load of 11mm bolts.

So, I'll just undo these,

and eventually, I'm going to
be able to get to the cam belt.

This is what engine mechanics is all about.

As with most jobs,
there's tons of prep work

before you even get to the
thing you want to work on.

Luckily, I'm a patient kind of guy.

And now I can see the cam belt.

So, just get the lamp there

and move the water hose out of the way.

So, here is the cam belt running
around the bottom of the crankshaft pulley,

and you can see somebody who's
very kind of left me some tiling marks.

So, if I line this Mark here,

with that Mark there on the crankcase,

and also this little tiling
Mark should then line up with

the bolt there, and, of course,
we've also got the Mark.

on the camshaft at the top lined up.

Then, when everything's in position,

I can release the tension of the
cam belt and actually remove it.

An easy way to align the timing
marks is to use the pulley bolt,

put it back in the crankshaft,

and then wind it round with
either a spanner or a lever,

and you can get them in
exactly the right position.

Okay, well, that's my
timing marks lined up.

So, I'll just have to
check the top one now.

There you go.

You can see this Mark
down here on the pulley

lines up with that
one on the top there.

All I've got to do now is
undo the belt tensioner,

and the cam belt should slip off.

It pays to have long arms for this
job because it's kind of tricky to get to.

Well, that was trickier than I
expected, but the cam belt is finally off.

While I'm here, I'm going to
change the water pump as well.

Why?

Well, a new, properly tensioned cam belt

will put the old water
pump under more stress.

If it fails, which often happens,

then I'll have to strip the
engine down again to replace it.

So, I'm playing it safe,

and the new part only costs 25 pounds.

Well, there's the water pump,
that horrible dirty thing just in there.

I'm going to replace it
with a nice shiny new one.

As this is the water pump,

you're going to get a lot of water,
so grab a bucket and be prepared.

The actual fitting of the
cam belt is simplicity itself.

Just feed the teeth into
the grooves on the pulleys,

then be sure to fit a cam belt cover.

Our car was missing this key part,

which meant fast-moving,

dangerous parts of the engine were exposed,

a real safety hazard.

There you go, that's one new cam belt.

While Ed's been doing
vital surgery on the engine,

I've been on the search
for a few bits of external trim,

which are vital to the
car's future sailability.

Now, you can still get
most bits for your Peugeot

from the manufacturer
or even from specialists.

However, there's those bits and pieces
that are really, really difficult to find,

and you're more likely to find
them in a place like this, a scrapyard.

And if you look over my shoulder,

there's a 205 1.9 GTI
that they're breaking,

and I'm sure in that car are
the bits that I'm looking for.

Only problem is, it's right up in the air.

I'm going to have to find a man
who can put it on the ground for me.

Right, you see this breaker of
a 205 GTI sitting behind me?

Well, believe it or not,

that is a treasure trove of goodies.

Get a load of this.

First of all, we've
got one 1.9 steering

wheel and gear knob
in lovely condition, mint.

But it gets better because
I've managed to find this,

a parcel shelf with no holes in it.

Fantastic.
All right, I know it's the wrong color,

but we soon give that
an air of soul in black,

and nobody will be any the wiser.

Just got to find out how much
I've got to pay for it all now.

Excuse me. You all right?

Sure, mate.

Well, I've had a rummage around.

I found a parcel shelf, steering wheel,
and gear knob for that 1.9 Peugeot.

How much for this lot?

ba*ls on, mate.

ba*ls on, 50 quid?

Yeah, mate.

Will you take 40 quid for it all?

No, 50 quid, mate.

Just 50 quid?

Yeah, mate.

Come on, you can do a bit cheaper, surely.

Oh, and as it's a nice
day, 45 quid too, mate.



Done. I'll have that lot.

OK.

Ed, how are you, fella?

I'm fine, sir. You all right?

Good to see you. Yeah, not bad at all.

Mate, I thought you said you were busy.

I have been very, very busy, actually.

You're standing there over by your toolbox.

Cleaning my tools, because
I've been very dirty, yeah.

but you haven't been
doing anything to her car.

You could at least clean the car.

It's all under the bonnet.

I've done the cam belt, I've done the
water pump, and a cold start valve as well.

Fantastic.

So you've done all the mechanical stuff?

Yeah.

To help you along, I have been out
shopping and got you a couple of bits.

Got you this nice GTI
steering wheel, the original one.

That's fab.

OK, cool. Thank you for that.

Good.

Lovely.

And I've got you this parcel shelf as well.

Yeah, which is a grey parcel shelf.

It's a black interior.

Yeah, but just one of the little things
that I used to do when I was selling cars.

It's a little bit of a cheat,

but you just get a tin of
aerosol black and paint it black.

Nobody knows the difference.

That is so dodgy.

Right then, fella.

Did you sort out this gear shift?

I have indeed.

I've done a lot of work on this.

I've completely
refurbished the gear linkage

right from the front to the back of
the car, so now it is really sweet.

You ready for this?

Yeah, go on.

First, second, third,
fourth, over here, fifth,

and then over there, reverse.

Fantastic.

So it feels like a proper GTI.

It's really tight.

Just a couple of things
let it down like this.

Horrible gear knob.

Look at the state of that.

I know, but that's the
only thing we've got.

No, it isn't, fella, because
when I went out shopping for you,

I only got you another little present.

That is very true.

Nice shiny gear knob.

Go on, I'll let you crown the car.

Is that original?

It's original.

That's great.

Ed, my mechanic, has already
tackled the can belt and water pump.

Now that's a big job on
this sporty 1.9 litre engine.

Then there was the
small matter of that smoke.

This could have spelt
disaster for our project,

but luckily, Ed tracked down the
problem to a broken gear linkage.

So the whole lot came out and was
replaced by new rods and ball joints.

But selling a car like
this is as much about the

gleam on the body as
the punch from the engine.

And this car is a right state cosmetically.

So Ed's got his work cut out if he's
going to re-GTI this pretty Peugeot.

So fingers crossed Ed can get
all the work done on that little pug

before the end of the show, because I reckon
I can turn this one into a tidy profit.

But before that, I'm going to
meet a guy called Tony Fallon.

Now Tony's got a peach of a
pug and he's done all the work on it.

And I'm going to see if I can
Nick a few ideas off of him.

Tony, thank you very much for bringing
this cracking-looking 1.9 GTI down.

I really appreciate it.
It must have been a real labour of love.

Yes, a lot of hard work through the winter.

A lot of pennies, a
lot of time spent on it.

But worth it, obviously, cos
of what you've ended up with.

So what have you done to this one?

Stripped it all out,
waxed all the whole car,

alloy wheels refurbished, new
tyres and generally a bit of TLC.

I love the way you people say, I just
stripped it all out and stripped it down

as if it's something you
do on a Sunday afternoon.

Obviously that's going
to take some time, isn't it?

Yeah, three months.

Have you done anything under the bonnet?

Yeah, car's completely standard.

The only thing I've done is
refurbished parts, crumbed the parts up.

If I was to buy one today,
what do I need to look out for?

Head gaskets, wheel bearings, gearbox.

Head refurbishment would be £300, £400.

You'd need to go to a dealership to get
that done, same as the wheel bearing.

The cars don't normally rust,

but if they do, it's
normally in the rear quarter.

in front of the rear wheels.

And what about parts?

Do Peugeot still stock parts

or do you have to tap into a
big network of other enthusiasts?

Myself, I've gone to Peugeot for the parts,

but you can get them on the
Internet through dealerships.

Now, what's it like to live with
in terms of modern motoring?

Because cars today all have fuel injection,

they all get away from
the lights quite quickly.

Do you think this still cuts the mustard?

Well, it's raw, it's harsh,

but it's the handling and the power.

It's all good fun, real driver's car.

And do you still find
yourself winning the sprint

away from the lights
with the modern-day GTI?

Well, I'm a bit too old for that,
but it could do it, yeah, no problem.

Well, it certainly puts smiles per
gallon on anyone's face who drives it,

and I was hoping to put
a few gallons on it myself.

If you trust me, would
you let me have a go at it?

Reluctantly, I will.

Reluctantly, you will. Thank you very much.

You're a gentleman.

Now, like Tony, the owner of this car,

I'm a real 1.9 enthusiast,

and I absolutely love these cars.

The way that they drive, even today
by modern standards, is stunning.

The throttle response is there.

All the time you want
it, put your foot down,

and this car really does push
you into the back of your chair.

Now, the owner of this car is very
fortunate to find one in this condition.

It's like somebody's just
peeled the cellophane off of it

as it rolled off the
factory production line.

To go and find a car in
this condition is a real rarity.

Most of them, unfortunately,
were owned by younger people

who had the habit of thrashing
them between sets of traffic lights,

and as a consequence,
have had a very, very hard life.

This one is absolutely stunning.

The gearbox is crisp and precise.

The steering is direct
and beautifully weighted.

It feels nimble. It feels light.

It feels like a brand-new car.

I almost feel guilty about driving it.

It should almost be in a museum.

If ever there was a car that was
made for me, I think it was this one.

It says a lot about a personal car,

and this one says that I've
got a very low centre of gravity.

I'm wide, which I certainly am.

I've got a low stance,

but I've got bags of character,

and I go like a train.

Potentially, the biggest problem with
our pug is the suspension ride height.

The rear axle has been
lowered by some boy racer.

It looks mean and moody, but the
reality is the car handles like a dog.

In principle, this should
be quite a simple job.

All I have to do is take
these two torsion bars,

pull them out, rotate them
round a bit and bosh them back in,

and there you have it,
instantly raised suspension.

Only trouble is, there's a manky
old exhaust system in the way.

So what I'm going to do is take that out.

It's blowing anyway.

Fix the suspension, and
once everything else is done,

bosh in a brand-new exhaust system.

With the exhaust gone, I
can now see the suspension,

and it looks as though the shock
absorber's going to have to go.

And also, once the torsion bars are undone,

they're going to need
a little bit of persuasion

to get them off the car
so I can rotate them.

Everything's undone,
so I now get to persuade

out the torsion bars
from their splines.

And my choice of persuading tool is this.

It's actually a slide hammer.

It's kind of like a hammer
that works backwards.

So rather than banging
something into a hole,

you bang something out.

All you have to do is attach this
end to whatever you want to remove.

It's simple, but very effective.

And there we have it, one torsion bar.

It's very simple, it's a piece of
metal with splines at each end.

But how it works is
actually quite ingenious.

Here's one I made earlier.

Now, this is our torsion bar.

This end, the splined
end, goes into the car,

and this is our suspension arm
with a wheel on the end here.

So you're driving along,
bouncing over the bumps,

and you can see that the
bar is actually getting twisted.

And because of the strength of the steel,

there's a resistance
which works like a spring.

It's actually very simple, but
also because of the splines,

you can actually unplug it and actually
locate it in any position you like.

So that's how we're going to
change the ride height of our car.

Earlier on, I measured the
original ride height of this car

by using the top of the wheel arch and
the bottom of the stub axle as a reference.

I got about 50 centimeters.

So now that the torsion bar is free,

I can actually move the
suspension arm to its new position.

Here it goes.

Okay.

Well, I've got about 40 millimeters
of extra height, which is great.

So all I have to do now is put the torsion
bar back in, and then this side is done.

But of course, the other side
has to be exactly the same,

otherwise this car is
going to look very odd.

It's shiny, it's new, and
it's going to go on the car.

If you've got a basic tool kit,

then changing the exhaust is one of
the jobs you can easily do at home.

It's just a case of
loosening a few mountings

and lining up the gaskets
on the replacement parts.

But make sure that if
you're using axle stands or

ramps to get access to
the underneath of the car,

they are well secured.

The exhaust is done, the suspension's done.

It's about time I got the car on
the ground and checked it out.

The moment of truth, and
the ride height looks spot on.

Mike's going to be well chuffed with that.

That's more like it.

This little 205 is
beginning to come together,

but I've still got a whole
load of jobs I've got to do

to bring it back to its
former hot hatch glory.

I'm going to start on the
inside and work my way out.

Check out this joke of a steering wheel.

It doesn't do this car any favours at all.

It's going to have to go.

And with the help of this,

that's exactly what I'm going to do now.

This is an aftermarket steering wheel.

It's attached by six screws
which locate onto a central boss.

To replace it with an
original steering wheel,

this will have to go too.

Look at that.

Now that is a proper GTI steering wheel.

Utterly original.

All I've got to do is undo this
boss and replace it with this.

Lovely.

Now, it looks like this
has been here for quite

a while and it's been
done up really tightly,

so I'm going to have to
use a lot of brute force here.

I'm just making sure
that my wheel alignment

on the steering wheel is the
same as the wheels on the road,

so when I'm going dead
straight, so is the steering wheel.

Floor mats.

Guess which ones are going to go in the bin
and which ones are going to go in the car.

This is a cheap fix.

£35 to transform the interior.

I'm trying to bring back
this car's purposeful look

and I could Polish the
bodywork all day long, but it's

always going to be let down
by these manky body panels.

The best thing to do
is just to replace them.

Don't tackle this job unless you've
got at least a day to spend on it.

It's fiddly and frustrating.

The red piping comes away pretty easily.

The grey plastic panel
kit is more difficult.

It's held on by studs on the panels
which clip onto pop rivets on the car body,

so you'll need a screwdriver
to gently prise the two apart,

but be careful.

Go at it too fast and
you'll dent the delicate

steel body and pull
the rivets away too.

Now, these panels are a prime
place for the rust worm to get started.

If you're unlucky, removing the
plastic will reveal loads of corrosion.

Thankfully, we've been lucky,
and with a bit of a clean-up,

the body will be as good as new.

I'll Grant you that our 205

looks a little bit worse-aware at the
moment, but just wait a little longer.

Once the new plastic models
are on, it's going to look fantastic.

My body kit comes with a new front bumper,

but to fit it,

I first need to free off
the old white spoiler.

Once that's off,

I can mount my new bumper to it,

and hey, presto.

And there we have it.

Don't be tempted to try and find this
replacement trim at a salvage yard.

The 205 GTI has plenty of
dedicated parts suppliers,

and you'll find it's quicker
and easier to buy new.

This lot set me back 240 quid,

but it'll make that money
back when we sell it.

The bodywork on our GTI is
really coming together now,

but there are still a few little
niggles that I'm not happy with.

One of them is this fuel cap.

Now, it looks okay,
but if you look closely,

you can see that the lock has been
damaged by an undesirable character,

so I'm going to change that
for this lovely shiny new one.

This petrol cap came unpainted,

so I gave it a quick once-over
with some spray paint.

Remember this?

Mike very kindly brought it
along for our little Peugeot.

Trouble is, we have a black interior,

and quite clearly, this is a grey one.

Now, he assures me
there's a real dodgy car

dealer fix that you can
do with one of these.

You know, I think I owe
Mike a bit of an apology.

This is actually working.

I'm really impressed with this.

And there you have it, a brand-new-looking
Peugeot 205 GTI partial shelf in black.

Lighting is an important
safety feature on a

car, and it's also an
important style issue.

Now, these lenses have been round the mill.

They're cracked, they're glazed,
they're going to have to go.

I'm going to replace them with
these crystal-clear new ones.

It's just a matter of a few screws,

and that's why boy
racers often swap these

for smoked units, which
they think look cool.

But I'm not going to go down that route.

We're sticking with originality with
this car, so coloured clusters it is.

As with the rear lenses, the fronts
have also seen an awful lot of miles,

and you can see here
they're cracked, they're glazed.

They're just well past it.

They're going to have to go.

To get to the side indicators,

you have to take the headlamp out first,

and actually, it's in
surprisingly good condition.

A cracked light lens is
an instant MOT failure

because it means
the light from the bulb

isn't correctly directed
at other road users.

With all the final details done,

it's time to bolt the lion
back where it belongs,

onto the front of our reborn GTI.

One last screw, and the car is complete.

This car had a huge, long list
of things that had to be done.

There was the cam belt,
there was the steering wheel,

the gear shifter, the floor
maps, the exterior panels,

the rear axle, it was almost endless.

I never thought I was going to
get it out of the workshop door.

But now, finally, it's actually finished.

This car is showroom fresh.

In fact, it used to be semi-skimmed,
it's now full fat once again.

When I bought this car for a grand,

it looked solid, but a bit worse for wear.

But days and nights of hard work had
paid off with this street-smart hot hatch,

and now it's like opening the door
of a Peugeot dealer back in 1986,

and catching sight of
the GTI for the first time.

The car didn't have much service history,

so Ed's first job was to sort the cam belt.

It was time-consuming,
but an essential job.

While he was there,

he fitted a new water
pump just for good measure.

The gearbox linkage was
next up for Ed's auto treatment.

A completely new system
was fitted front to back,

making the 205's gear change
crisp and clean once again.

My big worry was the rear axle alignment.

Ed knew this was going to
be a pig of a job, and it was.

The torsion bars were adjusted,

and now the car sits
well on its rear axles.

He even fitted a new rear exhaust
box while he was down there.

Last, but definitely not
least, was the rear GTI in job.

Body trim was stripped and replaced.

The aftermarket steering wheel
was changed for a leather original.

New floor mats for old.

A new petrol cap replaced the old one.

A quick aerosol spray,

and we had a good-as-new parcel shelf.

And a nice new CD plugs a
nasty hole in the dashboard.

And then there were the lights.

The old lenses were bent
in favour of smart new units,

improving safety and looks.

The gear linkage kit was £36.

Body trim was £240.

New exhaust £130.

Cam belt cover and water pump, just £77.

And all the cosmetic stuff, £170.

Overall, our gorgeous
pug owes us around £1,650.

Not bad.

Look at that!

How are you doing?

Ed, how are you, father?

Look at those hands.

You've been working
really hard, haven't you?

God, Ed, what a...
What a transformation.

Well done.

Well, thank you very much.

Well, actually, all the real work has been
underneath the shell and the bodywork.

It's actually all the mechanical
stuff I've been doing,

and that's where it's
really, really at on this car.

So it's going to make a real
difference when you get to drive it.

Oh, I want the keys.

Now, be careful.

This is the first test drive, all right?

Right then, Ed.

Have you done a good job?

Absolutely cracking.

I feel like I'm a kid again.

Ed, you've really done the business.

You've completely
transformed our little 1.9 GTI.

The gearbox feels fantastic.

Look at that.

Fourth gear, fifth.

Oh, it slides in the gear beautifully.

And that's what this car's all about,

slamming it in the gear,

racing between sets of traffic lights,

down-changing on these tight, twisty roads.

Brilliant.

And the handling, well,
the handling's fantastic.

It now sits beautifully
on the road thanks to all

that work that he's done
on the rear suspension.

Nice, tight little bends coming up.

Oh, yes!

So it's come to the time
where we've got to knock

this car on and we've
got our own profit out of it.

Now, I could be really greedy here,

and I could go all the way,

because we have turned this
car back to its original GTI self,

and people do hanker
after these cars still today.

We could ask up to £3,000,

but that's being a bit too greedy.

So I was thinking more like £2,500,

and that's where I'm
going to pitch this car.

And I guarantee the
first person to turn up,

to see it, to look at it, to drive
it, to feel it, to smell it, that buy it.

I bought this car through the weekly Incas,

and I think that's the best
place to advertise it once again.

Always pay for a picture advert.

People like to have a good
idea of what they're getting.

In your ad, stress important
stuff like service history,

money spent, MOT and tax,

and give the old heave-o to lines like

new car forces sale and
never been raced or rallied.

Who cares?

As expected, the phone has rung
off the hook with our little Peugeot,

and the young lady standing
behind me, her name's

Emma, she's the first to
come and have a viewing.

She's already had a test drive and
she knows how to handle the car,

but the thing is, can I close
her down in terms of a deal?

Wish me luck.

Emma, you've already had a test drive.

So what do you think of the interior?

I think it's lovely.

Yeah, it had some sort of stupid
aftermarket steering wheel on there,

so I managed to find a proper
original GTI steering wheel.

It's made all the difference.

Oh, right, yeah.

You like it?

Yeah, I love it.

Yeah, it's all there, it's all original.

It's even got a parcel shelf
in the back with no nasty

holes in it, so you can
put your own speakers in it,

your bequest, I'm sure.

Bodywork's nice and straight.

I like it in white, I think it makes
such a difference to this car in white.

It's got the factory-fitted sunroof.

So there you go, what do you think?

I mean, you've driven it,
you like the way it drives,

you like the way it looks.

Yeah, I love it.

All it needs is you to drive it away,

so they give me the money,
we wouldn't all go home.

Well, I advertised it
for two and a half grand.

I was thinking more two.

Two grand?

You're having a laugh.

No.

I was going to advertise it
for three and a half grand.

Yeah, right.

No, honestly, I was.

It's worth two and a half grand to anyone.

I'd take 2300 quid for it.



Two free, come on, have a deal with me.

No.

What about two two for cash?



Yeah.

Do you promise to look after it?

Yeah.

You do?

Yeah.

You're not going to ruin it, are you?

Hold out your hand.

You're bolting.

Well done.

Well, I almost felt like
keeping this one for myself,

but I'm glad we've
managed to save this 205 GTI

from a long slow slide
towards a rusty grave.

So, there you go.

Our little pocket rocket
has found a new owner

and I'm sure it will continue to tear
up our streets for many years to come.

That's it for this show.

Make sure you join us
again on Wheel Of Dealers

when we'll have some more
motoring icons for revival.

We'll see you soon.

Sala.