Jiffys 306 - DHY to D8B

[Jiffy]

Ok, I've got a lot to catch up on with this project thread. Let's go back in time to December 2009. Bye bye 406:


I got it at 123k miles and scrapped it at 197k. It ran superbly on vegetable oil so I decided to get myself a low mileage 306 with the same 1.9dt engine and got this:



It was just what I wanted! I needed a 5 door and wanted the Meridian spec. It was a 2 owner car with only 56k on it in excellent condition. The guy I bought it from had it for the last 9 years and did little mileage in it. It spent most of it's time in the garage and was really, really, clean. The owners son put a good coat of Colinite 476 wax on it which lasted almost 6 months. The colour is Platinum Silver Metallic YCM0.

It wasn't perfect though and I soon had a list of things to do to it. Body wise, there's a deep scratch on n/s/r door which has been touched up at some point and a wee dent on the o/s/f door which isn't really noticeable.

The most urgent thing was to upgrade the stereo from a 1 speaker tape deck system! Fitting the CD head unit from my 406 didn't solve the speaker issue so I did some investigate. I think the first owner had fitted an amp in it as there's still a bit of 8awg and a fuse coming from the battery. He changed the front speakers for some Wharfedale Valdus components but fitted them badly. He didn't cut the plastic mounting rim on the door card so the speaker doesn't fit flush and the grill barely covers it. The speaker wiring was done with Scotchlok connectors which gave a very poor connection and had stopped working on one side. I redid them so I've got stereo sound again. There's no rear speakers in the parcel shelf but the wiring's there so I think the first guys had some stereo in there and changed the parcel shelf for a stock one when returning the car to the company.

Other jobs I did were:

• Replace clogged up washer jets for some new Xsara mister jets
  
• Bin juddery Tesco wiper blades for Bosch Super ones
  
• Swap headlights for crystals
  
• Change side indicators for clear one
  
• Unplug EGR valve
  
• Fit Autoleads kit so the stereo stalk worked with head unit
  

Future plans:

• Replace fake wood dash for fake metal dash
  
• Change side strips for body coloured ones
  
• Fit Bosch pump setup
  
• Fit Hdi gearbox
  

I went on a shopping spree and bought the following:
-Phase 3 metal effect dash
-Phase 3 silver side strips
-Phase 3 light stalk
-Set of Swallow alloys
-HDi gearbox

The winter of 2009/2010 brought heavy snowfall but I love snow and so did the 306:



I need to sort some more pics for the next update but look out for my Saab project I've just bought too..

[Ruan]

One of the tidiest DTs I've seen in a very long time!!! Good work!!

[Jiffy]

Ok, I'm going to try get this up to date. We've got a long way to go though!

FEBRUARY 2010
Going through a patch of deep snow and the ABS warning light came on and wouldn't go off again. Grrr!

APRIL 2010
The price of diesel was rocketing up so the better economy of a longer ratio gearbox appealed to me. I picked one up for £50 from a guy who's HDi had died.

The other big change I wanted to make was to get back to running vegetable oil again. I had been running it in my 406 for years but my 306 had a Lucas fuel pump so it wouldn't cope with the thicker fuel. I managed to pick up a Bosch fuel pump with injectors from a forum. The pump was really clean but the injectors not so great so I got them reconditioned by Lawson Diesel in Edinburgh.

The list of things to do grew:
Fit HDi gearbox and while the gearbox is out fit a new clutch at the same time
Fit Bosch fuel pump and injectors
Fit new timing belt, tensioners and water pump
Replace cat with a straight through pipe
Get it tuned up

I had a few things I had to go down south for so I decided to call on the services of KrisB:



Kris did a great job. The only hiccup being when the car wouldn't start after fitting the new pump. The reason? I turned up with an empty tank! Many thanks to Kris' friend for getting me some fuel and saving the day.

My main concern was better MPG rather than outright performance and Kris set it up really well for me. On the way back I recorded 65.7 mpg so I was a very happy bunny.

MAY 2010
MOT time! As expected, it failed on the ABS. The stator ring on the driveshaft had come loose on the driveshaft. The only other problem was "Nearside Registration plate lamp not working (1.1.5c)". That's the third failure I've had with number plate light bulbs. I keep forgetting to check them before MOTs.

I took the car to my usual garage which is a one man operation. He removed the driveshaft, welded the ring back on and gave it a lick of paint. The driveshaft seals were also leaking on the new gearbox so he changed them too. A more serious leak was the one coming from the aneroid atmospheric bleed valve on the Bosch pump:

The valve is that black plastic tube thing sticking out the right hand side of the pump. The mechanic cleaned up the spilt fuel and I passed the retest with no problem. I switched back to diesel and the leak stopped so I just left it as it was.

SEPTEMBER 2010
The pump started leaking on straight diesel just before a trip to the south of Ireland. I was concerned about driving a car with fuel dripping from it onto the ferry so I fixed up a jamjar and a bit of fuel pipe and no more dripping fuel!

Ok, just another 3 years (and several other cars!) to go to bring this up to date lol.

[mcvite]

Excellent project and lovely looking dt you have there mate,good work keep it up

[mikey b]

Nice read so far get updating

[Chris_90]

Them injectors look very shiny

[Jiffy]

They're rusty injectors now! lol

WINTER 2010/2011
Another severe winter:


Since I had 2 sets of alloys, I decided to fit winter tyres to one set. I picked up 4 nearly new Gislaved Nord Frost 3 tyres off Ebay:

I usually stay away from strange makes I've not heard of but Gislaved started making tyres in Sweden in 1893 so they know a thing or 2 about winter tyres. I was really impressed by them. This hill below got really icy and I seen 4x4s unable to make it up. The 306 just breezed up it:

I got 2 winter tyres fitted right away but the tread was still good on the back wheels so I left them on. This made things interesting when the ABS packed in again. Combined with the brake adjustor thing on the rear beam sticking, I had problems with the back tyres locking before the front in icy conditions! I know you should stick the better tyres on the back wheels but traction was the biggest priority so I just drove carefully.

[Jiffy]

I will get this up to date one day! Here's the first updates for 2011.

The car was used a lot and the list of things needing attention began to mount up:

1. The fuel pump stopped leaking if I used diesel instead of vegetable oil so I did that for a while but it eventually started leaking with diesel too
   
2. Both wishbones needed new bushes
   
3. Both droplinks were knocking
   
4. Brakes got very poor so I suspected the master cylinder needed replaced
   
5. I broke the battery box squeezing in an oversized battery from my 406
   
6. Exhaust was blowing badly
   
7. Rear beam mounts were banging away over bumps
   
8. Rear beam was showing some camber
   
9. Drivers door lock seized up
   
10. N/s driveshaft stator ring for the abs was broken
    

I really liked the car and wanted to keep it a long time but didn't want to pay lots of garage bills so I decided to do the work myself. I've done my own servicing and small jobs on cars for years but shied away from stuff like suspension. However, the excellent guides on the 306 forums encouraged me to go for it.

My 406 was always needing suspension parts replaced and I'd tended to buy cheap stuff which turned out to be a false economy as they didn't last. Since I wanted to keep the 306 a long time, I decided to invest in OEM or better quality. Then I thought about just replacing the whole lot in one go and upgrading the whole suspension to the HDi DTurbo spec which is the same as the GTi-6 except for the springs. I managed to pick up original Peugeot shock absorbers on ebay at a bargain price. AllGermanParts were very helpful and I got new Lemforder top mounts, bump stops, track rod ends and droplinks along with Meyle HD wishbones from them at an excellent price. I had to go to Peugeot though to get the 5002 P7 springs.

All I had to do now was fit the stuff...

[Jiffy]

First step was out with the old:


I decided to take the opportunity to clean and rust proof the car as I went along. I was pleased at how tidy the arches were:


There was some rust though:


I covered the hub with a tarp and got the jet washer out:


I sprayed it with some Stardrops apc, gave it a good wash and it cleaned up well:


The rust was clearly exposed:


I cleaned up the rust and painted it with some Bilt Hamber hydrate 80 rust converter. The arch was coated in Dynax S50 anti-corrosion wax:


Special attention was paid to nooks and crannies where rust can develop like around the strut mount:


The arch liner got a quick clean too:


This was the bit I really hated the most:


Fortunately it went ok but I'd like some better spring compressors if I have to work with springs again.
The dust cover thing was manky:


But cleaned up nicely:


Then the new strut was built up:


I need to find more photos to continue this but you won't have to wait years for the next update! There is progress being made so I want to get this up to date.

[bashbarnard]

love the attention to detail. always good to see. i try to do stuff like this as i go along where i can.

[MY95]

Looks great mate!
Get yourself at least some 266mm Brakes though, they are pretty good for general use.

[Jiffy]

I picked up a set of 266mm brakes for it. The winter tyres are on 14" rims so I can't go to 283mm.

[205dtub]

Clean and tidy work! Anymore updates?