Project Cars: 1994 Peugeot 405 Mi16 Phase II – Update 6

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Update 6: Accoutrement

Last update, the future of the 1994 Peugeot 405 Mi16 hung in the balance.

The car had sautéed its coolant and was staring down the potential of a failed head gasket or worse. However, I replaced the thermostat, a couple of hoses, the water pump and timing belt, and the venerable 405 has lived to see another day!

I don’t want to claim outright victory though, as the car is running a little rough and will occasionally miss on idle, pointing to a potentially damaged spark plug or, because it’s French, worse.

To avoid dealing with even more costs associated with the most expensive cheap car I’ve ever bought, the Pug has been relegated to taking it easy, save the occasional whiz around the block to ensure everything still works.

However, if you are going to leave a project car parked up, it may as well look the part.

Over the past few months, I have managed to acquire an original new-old-stock bonnet protector as well as a set of Peugeot Talbot Sport stripes.

Formed in 1981 by former Ferrari F1 and FIA chief, Jean Todt, Peugeot Talbot Sport (PTS) was a factory-back motorsports team that was initially charged with creating a Group B rally position for Peugeot-Citroen.

In 1984 the team debuted the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 with its now iconic red, navy, yellow and blue quad-colour stripes. The following year, the PTS 205 T16 won seven of its twelve races to take the championship title. It won again in ’85.

There was further success in Le Mans sportscar racing (the Peugeot 905 won in 1992), even a stint supporting F1 in 1994.

Aligning to the Peugeot 405 is of course Finnish driver Ari Vatanen setting a Pikes Peak Hillclimb record of 10:47.77 in the 1988 event, behind the wheel of a 405 T16, itself immortalised in the Climb Dance short film.

Sufficed to say, my car needed those PTS stripes to be complete.

With excellent assistance from the Drive team on a Friday ‘crafternoon’ we first set about installing the bonnet protector.

Remember to always clean your bonnet beforehand as getting access to the paint below the protector can be tricky.

We needed to remove some 28-year-old trim clips, which was honestly the hardest part, with the protector neatly sliding in between the metal bonnet and rubber trim.

The kit included everything to mount it up including screws (to replace the junked clips), inserts and clips for the outer edge of the protector and rubber feet to allow it to move around in the wind while on the move.

Of course, it would have been better to have a pristine bonnet to mount it to, but we have what we have.

The easy job done, it was now a bit of a task to install the stickers.

These, ordered from a store on eBay, were actually for a 205 GTi but I figured they couldn’t be too different. Regardless, installing stickers is stressful.

We’ve all watched the video clips of wrap installers nailing a perfect job every time, but I have no idea how they do it.

With the front grille stripes tagged with tape, we were able to quickly remove the backing and run the piece along all three grille slats.

The more challenging part was cutting between the slats so there was enough to wrap around the upper grille and enough to extend the trim on the lower one. Again, I want to say it looks good but it could look better.

Cutting stickers with minimal visible guidance as to what constituted a straight line was probably what made this harder than it should have been. I’ll just say you are all lucky I’m not a surgeon.

So yes, it’s a bit messy. And yes, the stripes should probably have been longer, but from the front, the car looks pretty good and is at least in keeping with its ‘project car rescue’ nature.

At the rear, we cut around the Peugeot badge to line up the decal nicely but had to do it in two sections to manage the crease in the boot lid.

We found it was best to hold the sticker above the crease and then secure the whole top portion before swiping it down across the ridge and onto the flat boot panel.

Again, this is designed for the rear of a 205 GTi, which is a bit different, but I think it works pretty well!

As of now, in terms of appearance, the Pug is as complete on the outside as it probably will ever be.

I probably need to look at the motor (again) and it will need a new clutch, plus I need to fix the radio and a few other things… but that’s what a project car is all about!

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Current Status – Park Dance!
Odometer – 321,686
Next up – I should probably take it for a drive.

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MORE: Project Cars: 1994 Peugeot 405 Mi16 Phase II
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