[project] 205 Mi32 Project - The Twin Mi16 Engined 205, 3.8 liter, 32 valve, 300+ bhp, 4wd 205! Options

[cybernck]

well, it was about time i started a radical project really .


the project is now well under way, but i've really not had any spare time to properly post about it,
but now the time has come and i will quickly bring you back up to spec as the cold weather is not
really allowing for any serious work to be carried on the car anymore. i am going to present the
work in a few seperate phases as it has been / will be done in.

i am not going to hide "the juicy details" and things that have had a lot of mental energy put into, in order
to make it harder for other people to replicate. instead, i'm going to show every single documented step
to inspire and make it easier for anyone interested in doing the same type of project in the future!


first a little bit of background - the car started life as a 1987 205 1.6 GTI, my father bought it in 1997
after years and years of us daydreaming of having a 205 GTI one day . after a while when we got
used to the performance, we were sad it was only a 1.6 and not a stronger 1.9. but since i bought a 1.9
to replace my 1.6 (that we also got in 1998 or 1999) and after seeing a dutch story on Mi16 conversion,
we sat our heart on the Mi16. we had finally found a good engine and did the swap in the late 2000 (iirc).

the next logical step was to start using the car properly, which meant stripping it out, installing a custom
roll cage in, upgrading the brakes to the large 283mm Xsara VTS setup, replacing 205's suspension with
a complete set of 309 GTI's and only making a short gearbox with custom ratios. father then started
racing in hillclimb and trackracing championship as well as autoslaloms in 2002.

to cut the story short, after several years of actively participating in nearly every race and wining quite
a few trophies, that excercise had to come to the end, in 2005. we were left with a car that had seen
better days and needed a lot of work to be brought back up to it's former glory.

at the same time, the local StreetRace (drag racing) scene had started actively developing and got our
attention, so after some (read: a lot!) of thoughts and discussion, we came to a conclusion that our
205 Mi16 would be a perfect candidate... for something radical! it came down to an idea i've had about
5 years ago - the twin engine setup! back then it sounded really stupid and impossible and made me think
Turbo + 4wd was the way to go (hence why i got my 405 T16) but in early 2006 we started thinking about
the twin engine conversion very seriously!

[cybernck]

Phase 1: Rear End Reconstruction


it took us a few months to carefully think of all the aspects of this conversion. apart from the obvious
conclusion that it's a massive amount of work, what was worrying us the most was would it work correctly
at all, as we had heard various stories. however, since over the years a few twin-engined cars had been
successfully construced in various parts of the world, ours would have to work ok too.


then we decided to check if it's actually possible to perform such a conversion on the little 205, so we took
lots of measurements, but most importantly - i created this concept by stitching several images (to get as
linear view as possible) and copying the front engine and suspension to the rear, while also try to visualize
the other elements, such as backboxes:



this showed us that, although it would be a tight squeeze, it would be possible to do it.


then we spent some time thinking of what's the best way to do it in terms of rear end construction.
after carefully examining pics of all the twin engine conversions we could find on the web, looking at the
good ideas and also mistakes other people had done, the two main options we ended up were a completely
new half-spaceframed rear end or a front end of another 205 insterted into the rear of our's, each with it's
positive and negative points:

- spaceframe would be easier to construct as we could do it exactly the way it suits us. but we'd also had
to get all the suspension and engine mounting exactly right.

- on the other hand, front end solution would be a lot trickier to carry through and strengthen, but all the
said mounting are there and ready to be used, plug & play.

in the end we decided on the later option purely as it would be a pretty much OE-looking solution.


from then on it was all systems go and luckily a local scrappy had just got a mint 205 XS in for breaking
very soon after. too soon though as we were yet to arrange where / by whom to get the welding work done!
the front end was promply chopped off and paid for though and about a month later it was time to get it
transported to the welder's place along with the car.



we've had a few moments to rethink the whole situation and limit the damage, but we decided to stay on course .


the process shall begin!


to follow the story, go to the 205 Mi32 Phase 1 Gallery where i've just uploaded 50 pics (for now, soon to upload more),
with descriptions that form a nice story. it's now up to the point where the 205 looses it's shopping cargo abillity .




stay tuned .

[Hilgie]

Very cool project!!! Well done

[huxley309]

Ooh nice, wonder how the front end will fit, this would be perfect for a 309 with it's ample bootspace

Damn it's tempting, ive been itching to get my hands dirty after finding the mi16 conversion a doddle

Most definetly keep us posted and good luck

This post has been edited by huxley309: Nov 8 2006, 08:33 AM

[Jonmurgie]

, can't believe your chopping upi YOUR 205... I suppose that's comitment for you and well done for giving something crazy a go!

[Alastairh]

Nice one mate. Keep up the work

[James_m]

Such a big project to undertake :thumbsupsmiliewedonthave: good luck with it!
And cool logo/avatar

[tom_m]

mmm 320bhp and all wheel drive, sounds like fun!

[pugtorque]

Nice one, you kept this quiet.

I'm just waiting for the "Fit phase2 rear lights" though.

It'll certainly be an interesting project, are you going to use the XS front bulkhead as the rear panel on the project?

Graham.

[skeggyrik]

I can't wait to see this one progress. I like the fact you've got started before letting anyone in on the project, no banding the idea about for a months. You are straight in with " look at the big hole in the back of my 205"

I hope it goes well, excellent stuff.


Rich