willow
Post #1
*** NOW SOLD ***Somewhat reluctantly, I am putting my Rallye up for sale.
This is your chance to own a great example of what is becoming a rare car, with fewer than 200 Rallyes remaining on the road.
I bought the car in August 2011 from a previous owner who had carried out an extremely comprehensive rebuild, spending a lot on parts and a huge amount of time refurbishing the car and setting it up to last many more years. Mileage on the clock at the time was 135k. This work included the tasks listed below, but this is by no means a comprehensive list:
- Fully reconditioned engine (I won’t go in to loads of details on this, but trust me it was very comprehensive, see below!)
- Reconditioned gear box (stripped, new OE oil seals, Veleo clutch fitted with new cable, new oil)
- Rear beam checked and callipers rebuilt with new Ferodo pads
- Rear Discs all checked but all relatively new
- Front callipers stripped and painted, fitted with new Ferodo pads and new discs
- Front shocks replaced with better (used) OE spec Rallye springs and shocks
- Cyclones refurbished in silver (rattle can job, but they have lasted well.)
- New Yokohama Parada Spec 2 all round (50 profile)
- Engine top mount repaired
- Various surface rust etc treated, primed and repainted.
- Various other fluids replaced.
- Various trim items replaced with better condition versions, and other niggles fixed
- Interior shampood and cleaned
Since being in my ownership, I have carried out the following:
- Crystal headlights
- Wings, bonnet, front bumper, grill and hockey sticks replaced with much better condition items off other Rallyes
- Xsara washer jets
- Clear side repeaters
- Alpine SXE-1725S speakers front and rear in original positions
- GTI-6 Leather steering wheel
Engine replacement:
The other main news is that I did have an issue with burning oil with the reconditioned engine. To cut a long story short, the engine ended up being replaced with a newer engine. The engine used was from a 2001 Xsara VTS with 62k miles on the clock. It was fully checked, serviced, and had a replacement timing belt, water pump etc fitted at the time of the swap, carried out by Lynx Engineering in June 2012, at which time it had 138k on the clock, and it has run like a dream since then.
Other bits:
- The car is fitted with a Longlife cat back stainless exhaust which has a great sound without being too loud.
- The interior has to be one of the best I have seen in a Rallye or GTI-6, the driver’s seat is fully intact with no split in the bolster.
- The exterior is reasonable, it won’t win any competitions and has a few scratches and dings as you would expect of a car of this age, but the replacement front end I fitted has really helped. In some light the red paint can look a little faded, but I have seen much worse.
- Recently the car has had some welding work carried out to ensure it is structurally sound underneath.
- Last summer it also had new drop links fitted, new hand brake cables both sides, and a new lambda sensor.
Niggles:
- I removed the spare wheel as it was in poor condition and the original cage hook was seized. I still have the cage and a VGC bolt and hook, so a new owner can re-instate it if needed, they would just need a spare wheel and tyre which are pretty readily available
- One of the roof gutter trims is missing, I keep meaning to get one from a scrap dealer
- The driver’s door interior light switch is playing up, again an easy fix.
- Could do with a better splitter, the current one came off the old bumper and is a bit scuffed.
- Usual scratches and cap park dings.
Current MOT is until August 2015. I have previous MOT certificates as follows:
- May 2006 88712 miles
- May 2007 103968 miles
- May 2008 109045 miles
- June 2010 128660 miles
- August 2011 135016 miles
- August 2012 139536 miles
- August 2013 142481 miles
Mileage is currently 146k, but this is relative given the age of the engine and the work carried out as above, and as you can see the mileage covered in recent years has been low.
It will also include:
- Rallye embroidered floor and boot mats
- Original rubber Rallye steering wheel with air bag
- Un-opened cherry red touch-up paint
- Comprehensive history, loads of paperwork and receipts, and a CD of images from the rebuild
- Sony head unit (it works okay but a few of the buttons are a bit sticky)
- Remote key and spare (non-remote) key
For the asking price I’ll also chuck in:
- Fog lamps (never fitted, but could easily be)
- New Rallye graphics sticker set
- 306 Haynes manual
- Whatever oil, filters, trim clips etc I still have in the garage!
I have very much enjoyed owning the Rallye, this was by the far the best example I found when I was looking to buy originally. Hopefully now it is a little bit better than it was back then, and I truly believe this is a solid and close to original example of what is becoming a rare model. It has covered a relatively low mileage since the major rebuild due to being a second car for us, and I have various other options for getting to work so tend to only drive this on the better days.
I think that just about covers it, but please get in touch if you have any queries about anything I have missed. I’m based in Horley, Surrey, which is pretty close to Gatwick Airport.
More images here
Update 17th Jan,
I've just given the car a service today, so it has had an oil and filter change, new standard air filter and new fuel filter.
cheers,
Will.
willow has attached the following image:
Posted 7th Feb 2015 at 22:13
Don't suppose you fancy swapping boot lids with me do you? 
