305 wishbone bushes

[nametooshort]

Ugh, man, the 305 is really beginning to annoy me.

Its a great car, probably the best workhorse I have owned so far (its better on fuel and more powerful then a diesel passat wagon, which was my favorite till then).

But the fact that nobody seems to know much about parts is annoying. Its like the 305 did not exist!

I have a random simple ish question.

The wishbones have two pivot bushes each that they swing up and down on.

Does anybody happen to know if those bushes are the same, or not? Someone told me they are the same as a 205, and all 4 wishbone bushes are the same part, and someone else said they are different parts. So who is correct? Are all 4 of them the same part, or is there two front which are different to two rear bushes?

I know I can just get under my car and look, but my car is not here right now, Im in a different place altogether, and I would like to order some soon so they arrive by the time I get back.

The bushes on mine have gone a bit slack and are worn out.

And ebay didn't show any clues either, because the only bushes on ebay just say ''wish bone middle''.

Anyone know?

Thanks!

[Oldpug]

I`ve mentioned this guy to you before.Dean Hunter 01977677887 (http://www.peugeotparts.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) He supplied me with every suspension and steering bush on my 1964 Peugeot, so I`m sure he has just what you want.Also he knows just about everything about old Peugeot`s.

[nametooshort]

Yes, you have, and I didn't forget or ignore that. He does seem to know his stuff, problem is he is in it commercially, that means I can't just call him up and ask him stuff and then not buy his products.

A few people I know (and me to an extent) got into this habit of spending all our spare money on buying up old-stock crap from car repair shops and suppliers that went bust, as a result between us I think we have a significant amount of parts for crappy 1980s cars (which just happens to be what we old collect for some reason, crappy 1980s cars lol ). A lot of it is unidentified.

So, unfortunately I can't really call that guy up and go ''yo are the bushes the same?'' and then when he says yes or no say ''thanks very much'' and then call my buddy in NY who has half a wearhouse full of Euro car parts and tell him to send me 4 of those. Thats not exactly a good way to do business.

So I would rather hear it from someone who has no commercial interest.

Damn, what I really need is Peugeot parts catalog for the 305, that would make stuff so much more useful.

I called up CitPug US, and they basically don't got a clue about anything older then 1995, and I called up CitPug UK, and they say the only way they can look up parts is to set up a old microfiche machine in a basement somewhere, which takes days for each lookup. I would call their central office in France, but I don't speak French. Trying to speak UK english is hard enough .

By the way, the aforementioned massive personal stash of NOS crap is NOT for sale, before people ask.

[Oldpug]

I have to admit Dean has a very abrupt telephone manner so he would not take kindly to lots of "Questions". I just thought you want to buy new bushes and he would supply them?.All I can tell from looking on http://www.serie04.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is that 305`s after 1983 have two bushes each side,part number 3523.23 front bush (which is the same as a 205) part number 3523.24 rear bush (305 only).

[dieselnutjob]

I would bet money that those bushes are the same as an early Citroen BX. The BX and 305 shared many parts whilst the 205 and 309 were a different design.

[nametooshort]

ooooh.....so it's the BX that's the missing link in the evolutionary chain between the 305 and the rest of the range?

I always assumed that position was held by the 205, but obviously not.

Thanks very much for that info!

[dieselnutjob]

the mk1 305 had 304 parts at the front, I don't know where the back end came from. I guess it was new.
the mk2 305 came out about the same time as the BX and got a new front end designed to take the XU and XUD engines with the gearbox on the end (it was in the sump on the mk1, like a Mini). The rear end was unchanged, and BX rear suspension is basically 305 estate rear suspension but with hydraulic pistons and sphere replacing the horizontal strut.
The 405 got torsion bar rear suspension, but I'm not sure about the front.

You can't always exactly swap parts from BX to 305. For example the front hub/knuckle looks the same but if you try and swap them you find that the arm lengths are different (I tried once). So the parts are very closely related (like bearings, bushes, ball joints) but the major parts can vary. Engines and gearboxes can be swapped between the two. I had mud n snow tyres on BX rims that fitted my 305 fine.

[nametooshort]

I assume my 1987 1.8d wagon is a Mk II?

It sure is a weird car, but very cool at the same time. I think some time when I have spare time (yeah...like when does that ever happen?) it would be so awesome to make this into a 2.1 turbo or a 2.0HDi (the 2.1 is probably a better bet right, because the HDi ECU is a massive bunny-boiler?).

But for now I am keeping it reasonably stock, its a little slow but who cares.

Problem is, I think it was an ex-taxi or something, its high milage, so I am finding myself replacing almost everything. Which is cool with me, after all its a really cool car, but when you have to replace almost everything that wears out, it all gets a little too much sometimes.

[dieselnutjob]

the mk2 came out 1983 so yes.
the mk1 had headlights that slope the other way

I suspect a 2.0HDI would be easier actually, probably from a 306. You want a 90bhp because I think that they had the same BE3 transmission as the 305. The 110bhp has a totally different ML5 transmission with cable gear change and a hydraulic clutch

the HDI has a wiring loom, lots of sensors and an ECU, but at least on my 806 it is all quite localised under the engine bay so basically you would take a HDI ECU and wiring loom complete

You would have to get the immobilizer feature disabled though

The 2.1 also has an ECU but the pump can be troublesome and the immobilizer is trickier

The easiest option is probably to stick a 1.9 TD from 405 or BX in there. No electronics and pretty powerful. You might have to mess about with an intercooler though because the 405 and BX had it on top of the engine with some special ducting in the bonnet to scoop air into it, and the 305 doesn't have that