1999

The slow build up.

After a fit of insanity I searched for and purchased a Citroen BX 16 valve vehicle some eight years ago for £1500. This became my only form of transport for maybe four years. It was reasonably quick giving good mpg and having loads of electric goodies; in fact you could say a good old family car! Maintenance was easy and cheap with no problems from the engine at all. Then the ECU went haywire. I located one for £100 and we were off again.
It was relegated to the garage for a couple of years as a new family car took its everyday roll. A Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth. Well, four doors leather, etc. etc.. That's how I sold the idea to the wife anyway. (ex wife now) It worked, only breaking my trusty old Citroen out when the cossie's head gasket failed. (twice) chipping and lots of throttle use possibly. Any way due to a divorce losing everything apart from my vehicles and some light fingered b*st*rds relieving me of my Cossie, (gutted or wot, I couldn't speak for a week, it was worse than losing my wife, home and kids) out came the trusty Citroen again. Unfortunately a couple of years not running had taken its toll on the body, exhaust system and brakes, so a Peugeot 306 1.4 was purchased to get me around cheaply.
Still having a slightly worn out Citroen with an absolutely stonking engine I started thinking about it becoming a donor car for a little project I had been developing in my head. ( well it would go well in a 306 family boring saloon) This germ grew enormously when a friend of mine told me he had a pug 205 1.6 GTI that I could plunder off him. Hmm, I thought, now that would be good, 160 standard horsepower, very little weight, well geared (150mph top speed) yes I'll do it.
Out came the 16V engine with the entire wiring loom for the motronic management system. Now I don't know if you know, but finding out how easy this little modification is to do is quite hard. I know people have done it before but I couldn't get any information from anyone including the Internet and I'm in the trade. Eventually I found an electrician who had built a road going 16V 205. He was quite helpful but as it was only discussed over his mobile phone I got the gist of it and continued ripping out the 1.6 GTI engine. After this I then ripped out the entire interior, removed all that nasty sound deadening and gouged out all that terrible seam sealer. Then I migged it up to make it all strong and functional. A rally project was born.
Now for anyone that wants to know, this is what is involved in fitting a 16V engine. The motronic wiring loom will fit through the bulkhead as per the pug management loom but has to be routed around the offside inner wing, across the front panel, and over to the nearside inner wing. Because of the torturous Citroen route you end up with a metre or so of spare loom through the front panel, which I just doubled up and cable tied to the inside of the front bumper. The blue permanent live wire from the Citroen loom ties into the main electrical connector at the front of the engine bay and the green and yellow fly off connector which is now situated to the nearside inner wing under the ignition amplifier ( the same as the 205 amp) are connected to the switched live and rev counter wires in the original pug loom respectively. The Citroen loom earth connects to the engine earth on the amplifier heat sink plate. Wiring in an ignition switch, starter button and cut out switch was relatively easy utilising the existing pug loom. I relocated the battery to the rear of the front seats to allow more room for the induction system on the 16V. The rubber inlet pipe that connects the manifold to the air flow meter is long and moves the air inlet very close to the inner wing.
The engine fits straight to the original mounts but use the 16V offside top mounting bracket. The pug clutch cable needs to be lengthened 75/100mm and all the warning sensors will plug in from the pug-wiring loom. The pug throttle cable fits straight on and all the heater hoses fit. The pug drive shafts fit straight in and, although it doesn't initially look like it will, the cam cover misses the master cylinder. On the Citroen gearbox the top gear change lever has to be heated and bent straight to mate with the linkage.
A couple of seats, fire system and belts went in with no trouble. I used a safety devices cage which was very nicely finished and fitted well, but the main hoop mounts were a little involved as it goes into a box section.
Now the first problem area is the radiator. A lower bracket has to be made up for it to rest on and then a top mount has to be made to hang it on. Its best to angle the rad forward a little to clear the very long inlet manifold. I used 16V rad and had to blank one heater hose sized outlet off. All the other pipes fit to the pug parts. The standard fan moulding had to be chopped but eventually fitted in place. A pug T16 fan will fit a lot easier but at a cost. The thermostat wires from the pug have to be lengthened to reach the Citroen switch as it is on the opposite side of the rad. The pug rad could be used but the Citroen is a little slimmer.
The next problem area is the exhaust. The 16v exhaust manifold exits a little more to the offside than the 8V engine and points towards the bulkhead. I relived the bulkhead a little in traditional Boreham fashion. (Big hammer, little heat) The down pipe will then fit on but at completely the wrong angle to meet the grp A centre pipe and of course the wrong diameter. I bought a length of 85mm exhaust pipe and after grinding off the smaller last section of the down pipe it was welded in place, still at the wrong angle. A call was made to a well known Leeds based exhaust company to see if He could adjust and fit it. Obviously a busy man so out came the hacksaw and bottles. I cut a V out to angle it offside then another to angle it down the centre of the car. The first time I offered it up it fitted! Well I am an engineer (more luck than judgement) but it was about time something went right. I then welded it up and fit the remaining centre and rear pipes. I really thought that it was going to be a long job. (Although I didn't resort to it the bottom engine mount bracket can be redrilled to move the engine forward at the bottom, which will give the manifold extra clearance but also put the drive shafts at a funny angle)
During the build I had bitten the bullet, connected the ECU and turned it over. Great a spark but no fuel line or exhaust yet. Now all the fuel and exhaust were connected it was time to fire it up.
Disaster. I lost the spark and the fuel pump was not running. Off came the motronic wiring connectors and out with the AVO meter (that's AMP VOLT OHMS not Advanced vehicle operations) First problem, the main live to the ECU had broken. Great. Soldered up still no spark or pump. More wiring off and by chance I looked down a disconnected injector connector. No terminals. They had pushed out of their holes and shorted in the rubber boot giving me lives both sides of the injectors and all the wires on the coil and air valve and in fact everywhere. Very confusing. This sorted I went for ignition again but powering up gave me an injector relay making and breaking at regular intervals. "Please don't let it have blown my ECU", I thought. Well you guessed it. Nightmare. I still had my old goosed ECU so fitted it and sure enough my old problem was there but the relays were OK.

Having had loads of problems finding a good second hand ECU last time it was out with the trader. After phoning all around Britain I found a 405 Mi16 unit ½ mile down the road for £50. I was there before the phone hung up. As I was there and it came off the vehicle I noticed the inlet rubber was shorter than the Citroen so I came away with that as well. I have the space to fit an air filter now. Which is handy.
Back to work and the motor fired uneasily and would not take fast opening or full throttle. Next day I phoned up saying that the boards were different, which they are, and could I have my money back. The answer was a reluctant yes for £10 handling for which I was grateful as most will not take electrical goods back under any circumstances. A proper ECU was located and fitted that day again in Leeds for another £50. Back at the ranch I fired it up and it ran exactly the same?! More inspection found the same problem that happened with the injector had happened with one wire in the air flow meter so it didn't short. This fixed it ran beautifully and went through the MOT.
A tank guard, sump guard and little finishing touches should see me ready for its first time out on the Lookout rally but I think it could do with a diff, better suspension, carbs or programmable injection on throttle bodies, cams and a head job or a turbo to completely sort it out.
The Citroen box in it feels good until fifth is reached as it is a bit high (150mph on 14" road rubber) but pulls like a train and hits 70 extremely quickly. The speeds in gears are 1st 38mph 2750 rev drop 2nd 66mph 2250 rev drop 3rd 88mph 1750 rev drop 4th 117mph 1750 rev drop and 5th 150mph at 7500rpm. I put this down to the pug being lighter and freer in the breathing department. Early ECU's are better as they are not as restricted for emissions. (Gaining 10bhp) I have heard that swapping to two side drafts will give 200 bhp and will obviously give you more room for the rad and make changing the oil filter easier but the ignition may be a problem (as in mapping it to the carbs).
Well, I have learned a lot about wiring in this little exercise and think that pug and Citroen looms are horrendously complicated but the Citroen loom is the worst in both quality and design. (colour coding, joints and connectors) In the future I envisage a total strip of the loom from the pug and a new simpler one made, (I could save my diet in the weight I would lose from the loom) and a new motronic loom made with soldered connections and shortened to fit the pug.
I plan to develop the car by fitting a slip diff and lowering the ratio to a 5:1 from the original 4.42:1 and changing the standard suspension to 2 1/4" springs with maybe a turreted coil over rear beam setup. Or then again I might sell it and start an old Mk1 or Mk2 Escort. They don't make 'em like they used to. I do believe that it will make a good club car though.
After all this I would attempt it again but at the time the air could be a little blue!
Oh and as an aside I only went over budget by a lot! Beans on toast for a while now unless I can generate some more business.

Graham Steggles.