Devastated - Trying To Save My Old 205 - Charity Appeal!

[Loose Hand Luke 6]

Hi all.

I was recently hit with some massively bad news.

Earlier in the year I passed on my beloved 205 GR to my brother-in-law. He was after a small cheap runaround and seeing as I had bought myself a diesel for commuting I decided to give him the pug.

 

Info:

205 GR 5 door

1.4ltr

197+k miles!!!

 

 

Nicknamed "Leroy" (for no real reason) my wife and I have had some great times and trips with him over the years so I was devastated to hear that while my bro-in-law and his family were at church on sunday, some kids (literally not even teenagers) decided to throw a lit newspaper under the fuel tank.

 

Pictures speak for themselves really but I think I can save him. I've managed to get him home on a trailer and I'm going to strip the back end down and clean him up to see what the damage really is. I think we were lucky that the fire service got there so quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So basically this is an appeal for bits and bobs to sort him out (on a very tight budget).

 

I've managed to source:

Boot lid

rear seat

drivers door

rear valance

 

I still require:

Fuel tank (non injection)

fuel filler neck

Rear drivers side door

head lining (non sunroof)

 

I'm trying to do the bare minimum to make him roadworthy again as I can't let him go to the scrappy.

He'll drive through forests, fields, snow, sand, just NOT fire apparently.

Been one of the best cars I've ever owned and I can't see him die so close to reaching the moon!

Cheers guys.

Edited August 8, 2013 by Loose Hand Luke

[Henry 1.9GTi 36]

my first car was a GR 5 door! did well off road with those skinny tyres. Really sorry to hear something like this.. hope you manage to get it running and back to a good condition.

 

good luck

[DanteICE 72]

Tbh I think you need to call it a day and move on. Maybe beat up the kid to make yourself feel better? (In no way am I suggesting you beat up a small child; it was merely jest, however I am currently looking the other way )

 

The fire damage will probably be much worse than you imagine and the costs will be high. I know you're attached to it, but look at it logically. Give it and burial.

[TooMany2cvs 65]

Tbh I think you need to call it a day and move on. Maybe beat up the kid to make yourself feel better? (In no way am I suggesting you beat up a small child; it was merely jest, however I am currently looking the other way )

 

The fire damage will probably be much worse than you imagine and the costs will be high. I know you're attached to it, but look at it logically. Give it and burial.

Seconded. Time to acccept that the little gits have killed Leroy, however unpalatable that seems.

 

To get it back on the road (and not stinking of yesterday's bonfire), you're going to need to do FAR more work than you think...

[jackherer 543]

Anyone that remembers C_W's on track engine bay fire knows that much worse can be fixed.

 

Some of you sound like insurance companies

 

I'm not saying I'd do it but it isn't my car.

 

Is there any melted wiring?

[DanteICE 72]

if the car was worth more or it was something a little special then OK, but it's only sentimental value.

[jackherer 543]

I don't think you can dismiss sentimental value.

 

TBH it doesn't look that bad, fire damage tends to look a lot worse than it is too.

 

It's worth nothing that some materials in cars become toxic when burnt, I think its mainly the insulation on the wiring.

[TooMany2cvs 65]

I don't think you can dismiss sentimental value.

That's the _only_ thing that's in favour of saving Leroy, tbh.

 

TBH it doesn't look that bad, fire damage tends to look a lot worse than it is too.

Strip the entire interior and give it a VERY good clean-up, else it's going to STINK.

Strip the entire back end.

I don't see engine bay pics - but the bonnet paint's scorched, at the VERY least. What else is buggered?

 

OK, we're seriously considering being back to a bare shell. Not really a bad thing, because all that scorched paint's going to have to come back to bare metal. All the scorched seam sealer's going to have to be cleaned out and replaced. All the sound-deadener. All the box section rust proofing.

 

And, with 200k miles up, you'd be daft to just lob everything back in without going over it first.

 

It's a full resto.

 

To my mind, that doesn't square with...

So basically this is an appeal for bits and bobs to sort him out (on a very tight budget).

 

I'm trying to do the bare minimum to make him roadworthy again as I can't let him go to the scrappy.

...'cos anything less is going to see a lot of money and effort wasted in a year or two when the rot comes through and the stench is too much. Edited August 8, 2013 by TooMany2cvs

[jackherer 543]

If it was mine and I'd had it for a long time and got it to 197k and that happened I'd probably patch it up and smoke about in it for that final 3k just for the sake of it...

[omega 82]

fix it

but

first stip it out, clean it and find out all the damage

you don't have to build like it was

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

If it was me, I'd chop it in half and use the front end as a one of those car-beques (carBQ?) basically stash a grill under the bonnet and use it as an awesome BBQ for loads of steak (rather fitting too I think). I saw a 207 one i think it was at a car show recently that was pretty cool.

 

And weld and a frame/hitch on the back end, weld a plate where the front was attached and make a 205 trailer!

[Loose Hand Luke 6]

Hi all,

thank you for the comments and feed back.

 

Had a further inspection today.

The fire basically went up the filler neck and into the car that way. The fire service got there just in time as it broke into the car.

The actual fuel tank didn't melt, just distorted. But its useless now as they drained the extra fuel/water/foam from it once the flames had died down.

The only wiring damaged is the O/S speaker wire. The rest of the loom on the N/S/R quarter is fine. Even the wiring for the boot lid survived the burning head lining.

In actual fact, the hand brake and main brakes still work (although O/S/R hand brake cable needs changing due to melted sheath) and with some petrol supplied via external pipe to the TU fuel pump, the engine fires straight up again, sweet as a nut. Bless him!

 

 

I'm going to have to think very carefully about it. As suggested I've decided to strip it fully at the back and check the metalwork. I think the smell and smoke damage is going to be the crucial factor. No one is going to want to drive it if its going to make you feel sick!

 

But as some people have pointed out, its NOT worth anything except for sentimental reasons,but you don't need ALL the interior trim etc to get it back on the road and perhaps with a small amount of work he'd live again.

I'll put up some photos as I strip a bit more.

Thanks guys.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

I admire your determination.

 

Fix the bits that have become affected by the fire and leave the burnt bodywork as is. Give it 6 months and people will be torching their VW's for a similar effect. We saw it here first.

[Anthony 1,000]

Easily and cheaply fixable, in a physical sense at least. Cosmetically is another matter entirely.

 

However, I'm not sure that you're ever going to get the smell out short of stripping and replacing (or at least deep cleaning) everything inside.

 

That ultimately was why I broke and scrapped my 309 GTi that was submerged in the 2007 floods - mechanically it was fine (engine even started and ran once I'd emptied the flood water out of it) but I knew that there was no way that you'd ever get the smell of the dirty water out short of completely stripping and replacing the interior, and even if you did that, I'm not sure that it would ever be the same again (if only in my mind).

 

Clearly from a rational sense, it isn't worth fixing, but I guess it depends what value you put on sentiment.

 

I would echo the previous comments about being careful handling burnt areas of the car - wear gloves and long sleeves as a minimum, as some materials used in cars become toxic when burnt with some nasty effects. I thought it was rubber seals and certain plastics that were the issue, but I might be wrong and it's wiring insulation as Jackherer says.

[mikeygulley 19 1 Cars]

 

Fix the bits that have become affected by the fire and leave the burnt bodywork as is. Give it 6 months and people will be torching their VW's for a similar effect. We saw it here first.

 

Dan they already are!!

 

This is my mates Mk1 Golf just yesterday!

 

 

Ha!

[DamirGTI 323]

Fluoroelastomers/Flourine .

 

Commonly used for oil seals , wiring , cables , gaskets , hoses , window seals ... mainly all the "rubberized" stuff on a car , contains Fluorine .

 

When subjected to the temp. greater than 315C , they'll decompose (black sticky mass) and can be really dangerous for skin and lungs/inhaling .

 

D

[TooMany2cvs 65]

Fluoroelastomers/Flourine .

 

Commonly used for oil seals , wiring , cables , gaskets , hoses , window seals ... mainly all the "rubberized" stuff on a car , contains Fluorine .

 

When subjected to the temp. greater than 315C , they'll decompose (black sticky mass) and can be really dangerous for skin and lungs/inhaling .

 

D

Don't panic, Damir - it's nowhere NEAR as scary as is often reckoned...

http://www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/topics/fluoroelastomers.htm

[Loose Hand Luke 6]

Sad news chaps.

After a load of investigation, Leroy was unable to be saved. Far too much work was needed including a full interior. The fire and smoke damage really did ruin him.

 

But out of the sadness comes some joy, a chap I work with heard about my loss and provided another cheeky chappy to enjoy!

Please see this thread:

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=153189

[BERTMAN 40 1 Cars]

I've got a non injection fuel tank you can have. Removed from an GT so will do the trick.

 

Ignore that did't read the last post!

Edited October 6, 2013 by BERTMAN

[Loose Hand Luke 6]

Haha thanks mate.

Yeah I'm really gutted about it but now we've got the new diesel I think I'll slowly get over it