Red Rallye resto

[Ben_w]

I suspect i could find a new centre console fairly easily. There will be spares and its not really a part which is replaced much. I think wed find one of we looked. Id agree with your point though, easy repaired with superglue....id be tempted to swap for new if it were cheap enough though.

The benefit of getting NOS parts is that dealers are keen to get rid at prices well below retail. These are parts for cars approaching 20 years old. Dealership parts business tend to be mainly for cars perhaps up to 6 years old, give or take. If someone comes along wanting the old bits, they jump at the chance to get rid and let them go....

[Mighty306]

If you do find a stock of the centre consoles at stupid prices let me know n I might get one!

Did you ever buy a rear brake load compensator btw? Tracked down one for the 16v XSi, which had the same rear set-up at the Rallye.  https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-XSARA-P...SwpDdVAvsz  ....so much cheaper than the Rallye-specific part. Just got one as pulled back the rubber boot on the old one n a load of brake fluid poured out.

I guess the difference between this n the rally part is down to the bigger master cylinder pushing more fluid? I can't see how that impacts on the load valve tho.

[Ben_w]

It's all to do with the piston size of the rear calipers. 30 or 32mm

The 6/Rallye had the larger I believe, hence needed a different compensator. If you read the table of vehicles it fits, look at the power ratings. Max it goes to is 136 which is the XU10J4 engine, not the XU10J4RS.

I've a lead on a Bosch, proper Rallye/6 one for £80. Thanks for the link anyway!

[Mighty306]

It's all to do with the piston size of the rear calipers. 30 or 32mm

Ah, yes, I'd forgotten there were rear calipers with 32mm pistons.

[cully]

the difference in the compensator is the Lb of the spring hence its colour coded I believe
i will dig out my new compensator and you tell me if its for a 6

[cully]

Peugeot part no is 4861 85

[Ben_w]

Yes, that looks correct Cully. Never seen the colour coding on the spring before.....probably because the springs are always rusty! Is that the one you had off Bigbadbowen? Bargain if it was.

[cully]

Yes, that looks correct Cully. Never seen the colour coding on the spring before.....probably because the springs are always rusty! Is that the one you had off Bigbadbowen? Bargain if it was.

yup bought it  maybe a year ago just in case

[Ben_w]

A small update from Saturday.

Picked up a pair of Rallye door cards locally from Carl G for a bargain £30. They were grubby and needed a clean but that was no issue...



G101, lots of water, a scrubbing brush and....









Came up really, really well. Happy with them. They are in very good condition. Dried very very quickly in the sun too.

So with nothing else to do until 3pm, I decided to make a start on the front carpet sections. Same drill, lots of water, G101, scrubbing brush and elbow grease. The front carpets had plenty of staining, mostly from rusty brown coloured coolant from the previous heater matrix blow. Once I'd finished scrubbing, I got the pressure washer out and got busy. The amount of crap that came out was unbelievable, especially rusty coloured old coolant.











Well get some better 'after' pics later and ill doo the rear section today too.

[Ben_w]

The parts collection continues to grow.

Part of original fat body rear shocks and ankther pair of side skirt clips...

[Ben_w]

Another bit of eBay shopping arrived yesterday.

Given I've a brand new door that will be going on, what better that a brand new, genuine Peugeot door fixing kit! £10 delivered from eBay. Very slightly cheaper than Peugeot so a bargain too!







In other news, the buggy engine sold, and it looks like the buggy has too (subject to it passing it's MOT) sold funds are now in place to progress this at hopefully a faster pace (subject to parts availability and the possible purchase of a Clio 197....����).

Finding this panel I need for the underside is proving tough. No one showing availability anywhere, numerous checks and asking hasn't turned up anything. What has turned up however, is the guy from New Zealand (who sent me those inner wing brackets) and the 306 shell he is breaking.........he dropped me a message asking if I'd be interested in the stiffener panels! The reply didn't take long to type.....

Pics sent through and they look like this.

Difficult to tell as they are still part covered in underseal but whilst they may be a little out of shape, they are solid, rot free and still have the little oval dimple on the part that wraps over the chassis leg.

More than good enough for me. Not sure if I'll replace the whole panel or just make a repair section but it's enough to replace the mess that is my current one with genuine metal. He's sending me both. 





Now, I just need to persuade that Lincoln Danny with offers of cash/alcohol/BBQ/food/the Mrs babysitting to come over and wave his magic welder wand at the car and it's game on....

[Ben_w]

So, i might have lobbed a deposit at this ....



Ph1 Xsara VTS. 133k. MOT until september this year. Will be getting broken and I'm keeping the rack for myself before anyone asks....

And then, Update from my New Zealand guy....

The panels are about ready to send....

[Ben_w]

So,

Not a huge amount to update! Still waiting on the bits from NZ.

In the meantime, I finished breaking the Ph1 Xsara. Made about £400 over what I bought it for AND kept the rack so a well worthwhile exercise.

So I then went and bought another!



2 owners, 57k and incredibly clean. Keeping this one to run around in.

[Mighty306]

Really good find Ben. There aren't that many left now, n I suspect good ones are rarer than hens teeth!

[Ben_w]

This is still bubbling away in the background.

So, the NZ panels finally arrived! Means I now have a good pair. Must find me a decent welder type person...





The parts man got in touch recently, regarding a find in Italy.

A set of original, single button key fobs with the appropriate transponder, brand new still in the package.

[Joep83]

Really cool project! Hope I can do something similar one day.

For me it is now just getting the GTi6 properly repainted and welded. But what you are doing is just way more awesome!

[Ben_w]

Whilst the Xsara has been a nice distraction, the Rallye still sits in the roll over jig, I imagine glaring at me, every time I lay a finger in the other french lady in my life.......

I have every intention of picking this back up this year and continuing it. There are a few things I need to pay for first though (holiday, boiler ). I have been put in touch with someone who is a very good welder indeed who is going to come and have a look at the stiffener panels at some point soon.

The parts genie keeps popping up periodically with more parts. This being the latest:





Another long unavailable part and another bit that mine was missing from when I bought it, the underbonnet sound deadening panel. This one was in Europe somewhere....

I may well yet hold off on getting the Xsara bits plated and make up a much bigger batch and include a lot of the Rallye parts (nuts, bolts, brackets etc). It's not much money to have stuff plated anyway so it might make more sense.

I have a load of old pallet racking to bring home from work and put in the garage which I need to do soon. Once that's done, I should have more room, my parts laid out in a much more organised fashion and have more room to get on with what I need to. I really, really do need to make a complete inventory of all the parts I have, especially the new ones.

I'm also considering taking the dash out of the Rallye. I will get a second opinion on that first as the bulkhead may be able to be welded without doing so but, if I want to replace the sound deadening panel that's been hacked to bits, which I do, the dash will need to come out as it's all tucked up behind it and looks like it's fitted before the dash at the factory. It's probably also backed up by the fact that it makes putting a new heater matrix in much, much easier and I can properly clean up the brown stainy mess in the heater ducts from the last failure. Lots to consider.

I do miss working on the Rallye. Another few months and I should be in a better position financially with a couple of loans etc coming to an end, which should hopefully speed progress along.

Whilst the Xsara has been a nice distraction, the Rallye still sits in the roll over jig, I imagine glaring at me, every time I lay a finger in the other french lady in my life.......

I have every intention of picking this back up this year and continuing it. There are a few things I need to pay for first though (holiday, boiler ). I have been put in touch with someone who is a very good welder indeed who is going to come and have a look at the stiffener panels at some point soon.

The parts genie keeps popping up periodically with more parts. This being the latest:





Another long unavailable part and another bit that mine was missing from when I bought it, the underbonnet sound deadening panel. This one was in Europe somewhere....

I may well yet hold off on getting the Xsara bits plated and make up a much bigger batch and include a lot of the Rallye parts (nuts, bolts, brackets etc). It's not much money to have stuff plated anyway so it might make more sense.

I have a load of old pallet racking to bring home from work and put in the garage which I need to do soon. Once that's done, I should have more room, my parts laid out in a much more organised fashion and have more room to get on with what I need to. I really, really do need to make a complete inventory of all the parts I have, especially the new ones.

I'm also considering taking the dash out of the Rallye. I will get a second opinion on that first as the bulkhead may be able to be welded without doing so but, if I want to replace the sound deadening panel that's been hacked to bits, which I do, the dash will need to come out as it's all tucked up behind it and looks like it's fitted before the dash at the factory. It's probably also backed up by the fact that it makes putting a new heater matrix in much, much easier and I can properly clean up the brown stainy mess in the heater ducts from the last failure. Lots to consider.

I do miss working on the Rallye. Another few months and I should be in a better position financially with a couple of loans etc coming to an end, which should hopefully speed progress along.

An example of just how good Deox-C is.

These bits have been in since about 3pm. All of them were pretty heavily crusted with rust. As I closed up the garage tonight, I had a rummage.









Happy with that!

Right, after just about 18hrs soak, I had the bits out and gave them a wash off. Helps remove and rust that's been loosened. The results speak for themselves...











Back in the tank for more soaking......

These were the state of some of the brackets Saturday morning...



Almost there. I've left them in whilst we are away for the weekend.....see how they look when we are back on Monday.

[andrej.pilipovic]

Awesome topic! I've read it in a "single breath"....

Congratualations for the works done so far and keeping m my fingers crossed to see it on the road soon.

Also topic about Xsara is great, I adore that car. My first car was 1.6 16v estate and my father still owns one 2.0 110hp hdi.

Sent from my moto g(6) play using Tapatalk

[Ben_w]

Thanks Andrej......I appreciate the feedback.

[Eeyore]

good work as ever. Where are you finding all the NOS parts. Ebay or have you got a contact?

[Ben_w]

good work as ever. Where are you finding all the NOS parts. Ebay or have you got a contact?

Mostly, I've a parts contact finds them. Occasionally, I'll find stuff via Facebook, forums or eBay myself.

[Mighty306]

Thanks for this update & thumbs up from me.  I had no idea you could get such good results with Deox-C.  I've read you shouldn't use electrolysis to clean rust off high tensile parts so the Deox-C looks like a good alternative.

[Ben_w]

Deox-C is great for doing lots of small parts like this. Electroysis is better for bigger stuff although I've never heard it being an issue with high tensile stuff? Anyway, I'd say the Deox-C has done its job...



Next job for the Deox-C, the rear disc backing plates. I've not seen a pair of these last any kind of distance and usually, by the time people get to them, they are properly rotten and come off the car in a number of pieces. Not sure why they suffer so badly, I guess that being at the rear of the car won't help but perhaps made from cheap metal etc. A new pair from Peugeot/Citroen is circa £45 so I'll see if I can clean these up to an acceptable state first.

The worst bit about removing them is the fact they are fitted to the hub using torx head bolts, which are usually as rusty and crusty as everything else. They are a real pain and I still don't understand why Peugeot chose these over a hex head bolt for a lot of the external fittings. Still, they did.

The right size torx bit in an extension bar, hammered into the bolt head, along with the use of an impact gun made short, clean work of removing them. Only one proved stubborn and the head of that one is a little chewed up. I will probably end up replacing all of them, although at £2.09 each from Peugeot, I won't be going there for them! They appear to be, from service box, an M6 bolt with a 100-16 thread size. Does that mean anything to anyone?

I've Googled it but can't find much info. I'm not much up on screw threads. There are plenty of stainless steel M6 bolts available with a variety of heads (an M6 hex head is looking favourite at the moment) but stuck on the thread. Coarse/fine/metric/Imperial...I've no idea!

Anyhow, the pics because that's what you came here for!:

Backing plates removes. Pretty rusty. One on the left has been attacked with the grinder and wire brush, one on the right hadn't at this point, although both have now been and are happily soaking away.



The rubbish bolts I mentioned..





I shall pull them out a little later today and see what's what.

[Mighty306]

Hi Ben.  Shiny parts ….nice!

Servicebox has an odd way of describing screw & thread sizes.  DIAM 6x100-16 refers to a 16mm long bolt with an M6 x 1.0 thread.  (Thread pitches are normally described as 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 etc, NOT the way they are shown in Servicebox).

Good ol' Wikipedia gives you a list of the pitch sizes for standard & fine threads for each metric bolt/nut size.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_metric_screw_thread There are also such things as extra fine threads. A thread pitch gauge is a useful tool & only cost a few quid on eBay.

Stainless steel caps head bolts would probably be fine for the dust shields but most stainless steel isn't as strong as a high tensile 8.8 grade bolt which is generally considered the minimum for automotive use.  I ordered some zinc plated socket head cap screws from here for the shields https://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/BZP...ap_M6.html . They do them in 16mm length, are 12.9 grade (overkill!!!) and only £3.31 for 30! (although they charge for postage).

As for electrolysis, it can apparently cause hydrogen embrittlement but it's only really an issue with higher tensile steels.  I did quite a lot of reading about it and some of the texts are way too technical and went over my head.  You may want to look for yourself, but essentially high tensile parts should be heat treated after electrolysis to drive the hydrogen out of the metal.  This applies to rust removal and electro-plating.

[Ben_w]

Cheers fella. Very useful info there.