Bargain Bucket 6

[gti6man]

This isn't gonna be a thread about stripping the engine and rebuilding the engine as I would have no idea where to start.. this is a project of being an absolute beginner with no clue what I'm doing and using purely the people who are kind enough to help me on this site as they have so far and what I can find on the internet.

I've wanted a 6 for a while now as my first car was a 1.4 306 and I loved it, just wish it had more poke, so this was the perfect opportunity in my eyes after I just rolled my £200 fiesta into some comfy bushes...

I bought a rough and ready Blaze 6 off ebay with no history, in the dark when it was raining with 2 months mot left on it. Think I was asking for trouble but got away with it sorta...





So got it an MOT within a week and it passed with only advisories, 2 front tyres, rear discs, rear axle minor play and front reg plate nearly unreadable. Phew! 

So stuck some new PS3's on the front and got some discs and pads for the rear and off I go.

Initial changes were easy, new interior light cluster as the switch was broken, new glove box as previous owner decided to use screws and araldite to keep it shut rather than just pop a new lock in... Door check straps were missing so fitted a new pair, new rear parcel shelf cause the boot connector was missing, new passenger foot well cover as again was missing and new reg plates . Most done from a single trip down the scrappy for £20 :thumbsup 

As the car has no history I had no idea when the cambelt was last changed, this is definitely not something I'm gonna do, so took it to the good guys at Pug1Off for a new cambelt and waterpump and service. I also asked them can you have a look around the car and just check there is nothing that is going to make me cry... And nope seems all good, the rear beam does need doing but not the end of the world So about £600 later new cambelt, waterpump, abs sensor, a new oil cap and fuel lines changed happy days. 

So after some clear side repeaters to she wasn't looking too bad...



Decided to fit an original gear knob and get the drivers seat re-trimmed to, makes a hell of a difference. This was the nasty smelly seat I took from an old phase 1 xsi I was driving around on for a week or so though...



This is the seat before the retrim



And this is it after and fitted, £80 well spent I'd say! Decided to fit an original gear knob to makes a big difference!





Starting to gather a few parts now to fit so hopefully get them on before FCS on the 3rd June some new alloys that need a clean and some new rubber on them before they go on:



Got a front splitter that needs a lick of paint before going on and still need to fit the rear discs... and some new clear front fogs she will be looking good soon hopefully!

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Got my alloys on, very happy with the new look  


Also gave it a bit of a clean with help from my mate and his now sparkling trophy 


Just a couple of things managed to swap out the rear discs and pads, never done that before on any car so was quite happy how simple it actually was and definitely needed it!



My new brembo discs and pads



And I swapped out my bulk head heat shield for a stainless steel one from pug_306, even though my engine bay is pretty filthy still lifts it a bit





Maybe but I think that may make the black look a little OTT but that may change

So I have fitted a spare wheel cage so I don't get a load of sh*t from my misses if I get a puncture and can't sort it, stuck one of my old cyclones in



Took out the old rubbish head unit to find someone had botched the install and twisted and taped the cables together so when I pulled it out everything came apart... :thumbsdown 



Managed to get that sorted by an autoleccy and got a new unit fitted



Swapped out the standard door speakers for some Alpine SXE-1275's which is 100% better especially as mine would cut out intermittently and buzz... 

Old:



New:





Got a manifold decal off of Rikky which makes the engine bay a little cleaner but next job is to give it a good scrub! 



Painted the calipers red with some hammerite, not a pro job and needs another coat but I think it sets off the alloys quite well

Before:



After:





Still need to fit a upper steering column, front fogs, front splitter and door wiring loom. 

Anyone know a good way of prepping the splitter to make it look original? Ideally I don't want to paint it cause I want it to match the colour of the grill.

Got a few pics from FCS where its looking pretty good if I do say so myself  

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So small update fixed a few niggly things that were bugging me, first of which was the up and down movement of the steering column, which seemed to be caused by the upper bearing. I bought a unit from another 6 on ebay, fitted it and it made the drive so much better! It felt a little like the car floated over the road but not in a good way, now you can get allot more feel off the road through the steering wheel... so old one out 



New one in



Looks like you can get a replacement bearing though as it says 'Nadella Deltaflex DG 138 PAT BTE' not sure where you would source this from though?:



Then I fitted an OMP upper strut brace with some slightly longer bolts from peugeot as suggested and it fit like a glove, but then I noticed the servo depression hose was looking rusty and crap and the oil cap was leaking again so replaced that to made a nice difference and an easy swap, happy days



Old hose out, new hose in



The the clutch cable clip snapped, so got to work replacing that, no pics as it is a horrible job where you can't see much anyway but the thread on here was a huge help with the replacement and it seems it was way overdue as it has made the clutch so much nicer and softer and no longer crunches into reverse! Woop! I also noticed a couple of subframe bolts were missing which was a bit of a worry as they seem pretty critical, got a couple of replacements and they went in smooth, was so happy I didn't hit a sheared bolt or something!! Also got some mist jets to fit fingers crossed I won't have any issues with the spray direction

Also picked up a free rear beam off of Dave (Gnrlee), thanks mate! Just waiting to find the monies to get it rebuilt will have to be after new year now as Christmas has skinted me :no but fingers crossed will be done soon! I am a little worried about giving it to Jord to refurb as it looks horrendous so tempted to offer it as a replacement for imaxles cause i don't care if I give them a knackered beam... 

Here is the beam in question:



Whats peoples thoughts on the beam?

So had my MOT and sorta went as expected failed on the trailing arm play, rear fog light out, head light aim and parking brake efficiency... So replaced fog bulb, turns out I put the headlight bulb in upside down :whistle, so spun it the right way up, tightened the handbrake cables under the centre console and then onto the beam... So Ryan (pug_306) had a low milage vts beam for sale and a trip down to chambers for fitting:
New beam going in



Gotta say a big thanks to those two!! Life savers!!! And very knowledgeable lads!!

Then time for the retest and other than a close call on emissions nearly a clean sheet  

So looking to get a new CAT soon and a couple off ball joints should fly through the next one, but wanna look at getting a full stainless system this year and replace the sportex kit as it's a bit too loud at the mo.

Replaced the door pins to stop the doors clunking open and shut and still a few more bits to do but got a years more motoring to get it all sorted happy days!! :thumbsup 

Cheers mate, yeah the blaze is my favourite colour tbh I also like how it stands out in the car park compared to all the blue/silver/white cars everyone else has. Thought I'd do a small update been slow progress as just moved, but I now have a drive woop!!!  

So managed to get a door leak after replacing the drivers door,  had to replace the wiring within the door as the replacement door was ph2 and my door was wired for a ph3 or something like that... Ended up removing most of the inner door membranes so decide to patch up the holes with dust sheets and happy days, leak cured! Doesn't look the best but atleast its hidden and functional... :whistle 



Got some new metal pressed plates, the old were okay just thought they looked good and couldn't resist...



Also got some shiny bits! Picked up a second hand scorpion backbox and a nearly new Klarius centre section from DeeTurbo (thank you!)and an OEM cat from Carl Chambers, so new system ready also picked up all new OEM clamps and CAT fitting kit from the local dealer... Will hopefully, once its on, be able to drive for more than half an hour without needing a handful of anadin...

Gotta love shiny bits...



This a pick of the klarius section (bottom) against OEM (top) pretty good match id say but guess ill know once it's fitted



Also fitted those little white hockey stick clips as both mine were broken and it was annoying and looked crap when they kept popping out, while I was at it sorted the drivers side headlight beam aim, turned out to be a load of green crap over the connectors so gave them a good clean and happy days



Then thought I best give it a bit of a clean

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So I haven't done a huge amount since the last update but thought I would update anyway...

I gave the 6 a service, oil, oil filter and plugs and changed the pipercross foam cone filter for a k&N and think this was well over due! 



The plugs were looking good after 20K



I also cleaned the ICV as the engine kept dieing when using the clutch to come to a stop, it seems the revs dropped too low and the ICV wasn't catching the revs before it died... Hasn't really made a huge amount of difference. I think because it was a little rusty. So my new ICV arrived today and hopefully will fit it later on if it doesn't rain





I have replaced the ebay cat with an OEM cat and the sportex backbox with a scorpion system the car sounds so much nicer now! No more headaches and I can actually talk to the passengers I also sprayed the rear wiper arm as it was looking a little tatty







I've replaced the bonnet with a moonstone bonnet which I've sticker bombed with around 700 stickers.. I also painted the badge black. This is only temporary till I get the original bonnet repainted. Think it is very much a marmite look... I quite like it though













So did a few bits at the weekend. Finally got round to fitting the new fogs and changed the gearbox oil for total 75w/80 gear 8. Much needed I'd say now the gear change between 1st and 2nd when cold is now allot smoother. 



Nice new fogs






And still got some nice shiny bits to go on soon  





Took a trip to trax which was good fun, only 306 on show that I could find which was a bit of a shame...



Hoping to do Bedford Autodrome on the 20th Nov first track session so fingers crossed all goes well!!

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So small update thought as I was replacing the injectors may as well tidy up the fuel rail so old ones out and new ones in







So had a bit of a car day last weekend and managed to get front powerflex wishbone mounts fitted and rear partner p bushes. Defo needing doing as the old pbushes were knackered! Espeicially drivers side, this could have been from not having the subframe bolts in when I bought the car...

So old Pbushes off



And replacement fitted:



Powerflex mounts fitted, were much more of a pain than expected but got there eventually




Need to replace the passenger side ball joint, but looks like it is riveted on so that could be fun, I have ordered the 16mm replacement and will also need to order a drill and angle grinder...



Also replaced the lower engine mount bush a sthe old was very perished and had a slight tear, you could see the mount was sitting towards the bulk head to, so old one hacked out and new one nice and snug





Also removed the front brake lines and fitted braided replacements, the union was bit of a bugger drivers side but managed to undo with the help of vice grips :whistle 

So nice new braided lines, used the gunsons easybleed kit to which worked a treat



So bedford has came and went after all the work on the front end feels like I may have overlooked the rear, the front felt like it was on rails but the rear was a shopping trolley as some of you may have seen the vid on facebook...

Bedford November Oh dear...

Taken from a diy cam mount that worked perfectly btw, also attached it to drivers head rest to reduce the risk of stabbing me in the face and added plastic moulds on the end which isn't in the pic



Got some good pics though





You can just see Simons Rallye about to fly past me in the last pic

So on the to do list:

- Rear braided lines and new brake fluid
- Passenger side ball joint
- New tyres all round
- Kam racing gear linkages
- Clutch and cambelt + waterpump