RetroPug's Ph.1 Diablo Gti-6

[Pebbles167]

Liking the progress mate

[RetroPug]

Thanks guys.
Very little has really happened lately, been very busy with work and training and personal stuff on weekends, plus in all honesty the weather has been miserable and I'm a fair weather mechanic.

More things will be happening soon now that it is getting a bit less freezing! If I wait a bit I can get tyres swapped for free I think.

[RetroPug]

Got lots of good bits sitting around and more coming in the post for this, haven't done much to it for absolutely ages due to work and other things.

It got a sticker on the front grille and I got hold of some Ph.1 Headlamp protectors for it, not sure on them looks-wise really but I am an absolute geek about rare optional extras and upgrades.
Currently it desperately needs a wash and it looks like this:



Getting ready to swap on a rebuilt rear beam that's been lowered 30mm.



I have, however, in a moment of brilliance forgotten to undo the brake disc retaining screw on one side before removing the calipers. Can anyone think of a good trick for stopping the rotation of the disc without putting the caliper back on and having someone brake?





Also, a garage or a previous owner has been a total moron and jacked this up in completely the wrong place as has been done to so many of these cars. The other side has also been pushed in a bit but hasn't rusted. This one doesn't look great though:

[Toms306]

Put two wheel bolts back in and wedge a bar between them down to the ground. Will hold that hub solid while you remove the disc screws. That chassis leg doesn't look great though, have you poked it to see how bad it is?

[RetroPug]

Yeah someone on the gti6 forum suggested that as well. Thanks.

The other side is ok, a bit deformed but intact and not broken through the underseal. The side pictured looks rough and looks like it might have had more underseal put on it potentially...which has visible cup markings from jacks/rubber pads on ramps on it. I haven't poked it yet...really don't want to.

For a ph.1 the rest of the shell isn't too bad tbh.

[Toms306]

I've seen ph3s with massive holes there lol...was filled with newspaper and polyfilla as well!

[Niall]

Regardless of if the underseal is broken, rust can still get in. I suggest you have a really good poke around and be prepared to get the welding mask on!

[RetroPug]

Oh I'm not for a second suggesting that it is a good thing!
The fact that it looks original but has had a load of underseal slapped over it worries me a fair bit, as someone must have seen some sort of problem and decided to do that. I'm hoping that problem was damaged underseal and not a lack of good metal.

Both sides did seem fairly solid with some light tapping with hands and the ratchet I was holding but need to have a proper poke. It will eventually need repairing I'm sure.

[RetroPug]

Is there a trick to removing the rear shocks? Seem trapped behind the metal arms that mount to the boot floor. Haven't had aproper go at them yet but all the bolts are off. Did jack the hub up but didn't really help.

Edit: Nevermind.

[RetroPug]

The postman came and gave me this box today:



In this box were these:

[ezb]

whats the sticker off? 205? looks pretty cool, also got a set of ph1 headlight protectors, brand new sat on my wardrobe I darent use!

[Piggy]

not keen on the rallye stickers

the protectors are cool though.

Just jam a screwdriver through a bolt hole to stop the disc spinning

those Koni's adjustable? what spring you going for?

[RetroPug]

Yeah it's a reproduction 205 rallye sticker off the internet. IMO it looks better in the metal/vinyl than in pictures but oh well, I like it.

Yeah got the discs off, assuming I get out of work at a good time today I'm hoping to whip the old shocks and old beam off today!

Yes they are adjustable, as are the new old stock yellows for the front. I'm going to leave front and rear on the softest setting for now as that should be firmer than standard and I'm not uprating torsion bars. Going for eibach springs up front.

[Matt-Rallye]

Its not a 'rallye' sticker as such, its the peugeot talbot sport colours and i think it quite lends itself to the ph1 straight lines

brilliant progress fella, looking forward to seeing it again soon!

[RetroPug]

Thanks! Finally managed to get a bit of free time over the easter weekend and then during this short week. That's going to disappear as things go back to normal though!

It would be good to see the rallye again. Really want to make it to pugfest or something this summer as I couldn't last year but I'm holding off getting tickets in case I have to work abroad.

Lifted the rebuilt and lowered rear beam onto the car, which was a bit tricky as it is a little heavy:




I then repaired the compensator, as instead of the standard sprng assembly it had a piece of threaded SS rod and two tiny springs bouncing around on it. I didn't get a picture of the old 'compensator'.

I test-fit the shocks. I think I may have put too many washers in though, I've got one either side of the shock (at the bottom), but I'm beginning to think that there are none either side of the shock here and there should be just one between the nut and the brackets for the compensator and flexi hose?




Likewise, on the other side, should there actually just be one washer between the flexi hose bracket and the nut instead of one either side of the shock?
Also, pretty sure the flexi hose bracket needs turning backwards as I don't think the brake line should be hanging down like that:




They are only on loosely as I didn't have time to keep tweaking to get everything lined up perfectly and in the right place as the light was fading.

It is good to be at a stage where the rear is just about done! I'm hoping that the fronts will be fairly straightforward.

[Poodle]

Those brake line brackets should line up pointing towards the front of the car. Washer goes between the bracket and the nut.

[RetroPug]

Thought so. Thanks.

[RetroPug]

Tweaked brake lines etc. and mounted shocks correctly. Anyone know the shock mounting bolt torques, also rear brake caliper torques while we're at it? Could do with picking up a Haynes manual really.

Also, I painted up some stuff:





I gave the rear calipers their first coat of paint as well, need to finish them off today. Also need to wind the rear caliper pistons back in which I'm not particularly looking forward to as I've heard it can be a pain, but I'll give it a go!

Also been struggling to remove the cat, just a bit of a pain getting a spanner on the top of the bolt.

Got new Lemforder droplinks in the post, and SKF topmount kits.

[RetroPug]

Outsides of rear calipers painted. Just need to wind pistons back in and reassemble them. Then I can carry on with the front and the cat.



Brand new Eibach springs have been ordered.

[RetroPug]

Brakes put back together but the rear discs are very warped:



The discs and pads seem to be very cheap, low quality ones so I've ordered brembo discs and pads all round.

While I was away for the weekend the postman turned up with more brand new shinies.

[ozonehostile]

Ooo genuine strut cup thingys? How much and where haha

[RetroPug]

Yes. They were from a peugeot dealer, £16.something each I think. Not too cheap but ah well.

I'm wondering whether to fit bumpstops and dust covers on these? I think I'll need std. bumpstops.

[Poodle]

I would, just to protect the shockers.

[RetroPug]

Yeah I'll stick a pair on.

[ozonehostile]

For the 60mm drop on my 6 I trimmed 20mm off the original bump stops and that seems ideal tbf

[RetroPug]

I see, thank you. This will be the 25-30mm drop that eibachs usually give so half that. I'll have to have a look and see whether or not they'll look like they need 10mm taking off when I come to install them.

[RetroPug]

Been attacking this today. Took me all day to get the front left strut off the car due to being rained on fairly frequently and having to pop to town.

Began building up new strut for the front left but the spring compressor popped off and the spring hit my hand pretty hard so lost a bit of confidence, I'll resume very gingerly tomorrow.

[ozonehostile]

I use two compressors staggered on each side of the spring to try minimize the risk of it coming off. How did you get on with winding the rear calipers in?

[RetroPug]

Yeah I've two compressors just one popped off luckily.


Rear calipers wound back in fine as far as I can tell and seem to operate normally. Need to replace discs, pads and flush all the fluid through though. Rear discs are visibly warped! I think they were the absolute cheapest 7 pound ones from a factors/ECP judging by the quality.

Things to do:
Fit new rear beam with new rear shocks
Paint rear calipers and other bits

Fit front suspension
Paint front calipers
Fit brakes front and rear and flush fluid
Refit all the now repainted things I removed earlier
Remove cat and get the outlet pipe welded (cat 75% off but bolts not budging any more )
Wait for new steering wheel in the post and fit it
Get tyres swapped onto TD wheels
Fit new steering wheel and boss
Give it a really good clean

In the future I'll tidy up the engine bay a bit and swap engine looms as well but I'd like to drive the thing for a bit first.

[Dum-Dum]

Still a fair bit to do then mate.