re-commissioning an old love

[Ludwig]

I'm looking at buying back after some 18 years my old 304s Cabriolet which has stood in a garage for about two years. Does anyone have any tips (apart from taking jump leads) on getting Pierre re-started? I am obviously going to take the plunge, too good not to at the price! Does anyone know where to source the missing dashboard Pininfarina badge? I never knew what was missing when I owned him first time round..

[Admin]

Welcome aboard Ludwig. It's always good to get another 304 cab onto the road.

A few things to do first.

Pour some wd40 or light oil down the spark plug holes to free up the cylinders which may have become stuck to the bores.
Crank the engine for a while with the plus out to uild up some oil pressure without starting the engine.

a dash of neat fuel down the carb should help things along when the plugs are back in!!

Good luck, I'm sure others will be on with a more detailed list in a while.

[504gld]

Yeah I'd agree with andrew there, you may want to roll the car out of the garage, drain the oil, and drop off the sump at the same time. Any old sludge will be deposited in the sump and can be scraped away. This is a good idea as the gearbox is integral to the engine on 304 and you don't want sludge grinding through the cogs!

I would turn the engine slowly by hand too to begin with just to check its not seized up. You might want to drain and fush out the radiator/engine coolant as there might be build up of sludge and corrison especially having an alloy head (I think!?).

Mat

[Ludwig]

Might I also askif the car will run on unleaded or is LRP better?

[Admin]

I run my ZS on LRP with the occasional sip of unleaded if there is no LRP nearby. i think that most Peugeot engines of mine and thine vintage are supposed to have new valve seats to allow them to run on unleaded.

btw Ludwig, are you a club member. Running a304 cab you would probably find it worthwhile.

[Ludwig]

I have the form downloaded and ready to print off etc...

[Admin]

Ludwig

I've sent you a personal message!

Andrew

[Ludwig]

Good News! Pierre started after some fraught moments this afternoon. Once we'd hooked up a heavy duty battery attached to a VW van, primed the fuel line with juice and changed the plugs, he went well enough. I'll keep the board appraised of developments. Once out of the garage, I realised that as well as only doing about 500 miles since I sold him, he's got a new set of steel wheels. Result!

[504gld]

Great to hear! how much work to MOT?

[Ludwig]

not entirely sure, need to meet owner once she's back from hols this week. she spent 2k a couple of years ago so who knows? i'll post again asap

[smb]

l run my 3 Peugeot's on unleaded and wait for the big bang. I look at it this way;

1) It may run and run and run for years and never have a problem.

2) I may sell the car (not the Ti)

So l will do it when it needs it.

smb

[Ludwig]

Pierre is now home. deal concluded last week, going to MOT tomorrow, so hold your breath everyone. Under floor repairs done and sealed, I keep finding bits at my mum's house from my first period of ownership!

[Ludwig]

fuel pump has died, so no MOT until that at least is sorted. Having problems sourcing mechanical one, so an electric one is going in.

[504gld]

Try Quetin Hazell part number QFP45. Most major motor factors will be have a QH account, dont tell them what its for, just ask them to check availability on QH fuel pump QFP45.

QH keep a lot of stuff on catalogue still for our older Pugs. Peugeot part number is 1450.75, and Dean Hunter, www.peugeotparts.co.uk has this listed as available.

[504gld]

oh and this cropped up cgi.ebay.com/PEUGEOT-204-304-NEW-FUEL-PUMP-IN-BOX_W0QQitemZ4567422536QQcategoryZ9903QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem