Soon to be Activa owner

[MisterClaude]

Hello everybody,
First of all, apologies in advance for the long wall of text.
I'm not an old member of the forum, nor I post much, but i read it for quite a few years, because i had a xantia s1 1.8 16v (non-activa) which was my first car. I had it for about 5 years and i enjoyed it quite much. Drove it all over Europe (I'm from Romania), had a few ups and downs with her, but overall it was a great car and somehow managed to plant the LHM seed in my blood.
Long story short, I've purchased a Citroen c4 2.0 hdi coupe which i drive for almost 2 years now, so i sold the Xantia, which was just sitting around.
I like the c4, with the modern perks, the sporty engine (got it to 180bhp and 400+ N/m torque) and the sport suspension, but while i had the Xantia i've met some great people at a local independent citroen service, which had Activas, so i came to develop quite some love for these cars and to know them pretty well.
Now i found a s1 Activa from 1998 (the few they made in 98, before s2 kicked in) imported from Sweeden, which i plan to fully restore. And i mean restore, not repair. New spheres, new paint, new hoses, fully restored turbo, etc..
The car has the 2.0 TCT engine and i think it's pretty much full option, without the leather interior and the sunroof. It also has the winter pack, which i think can be handy for the Romanian winters.
I was wondering if there are any advices or insights that you can provide to a newcomer in the Activa clan, like ... It would be feasible to daily such a car? Can the 2.0 tct engine be optimized to about 200bhp without much fuss? I plan to invest about 4.000 euros in the restoration so I don't think i can afford further performance upgrades such as forged pistons or other internals.. so maybe just an external turbo pressure regulator, new gas pump (don't know how it's really called in English), new exhaust and a blow off...
Can that engine, gearbox, clutch and turbo handle 200bhp? Will raising the turbo pressure to 1bar be feasible and keep the engine reliable?
Any other advices regarding on what to look for during restoration would be more than welcome.
Thank you and i hope I'll start adding some images soon.

[CitroJim]

Excellent and a very warm welcome to the Activa world...

I owned Activas for many years and did most everything on them...

You will find a wealth of information on here amongst a very large number of owners and ex-owners of them...

Just ask anything you need to know

The 2.0TCT engine is practically bomb-proof and will easily take 200bhp...

Boost cannot be raised above 1 bar due to ECU limitations but at 1 bar (or just below) with the fitment of a manual boost controller you'll find the engine much livelier

With a modified ECU - to loose the 1 bar boost limit - and a bigger turbo then massive gains can be had...

The chassis can cope with any amount of power

Enjoy and I look forward to following your restoration...

[MisterClaude]

Hi Jim,
Thank you for sharing the enthusiasm
I assume it will probably take about 2-3 months, but I'll try adding some photos when i have the chance. Meanwhile, fingers crossed.

[Stickyfinger]

Another Activa owner is always welcome.....hello

[MisterClaude]

Hello everyone,
Long time since I last posted, finally my Activa is running around
I will post some images next week, but first I have a question and maybe you guys can help me figure it out.
The car was fully reconditioned (new spheres, reconditioned Rams, new hoses and pipes, reconditioned turbo, changed all parts that were rusty, new paint, etc...)
Initially the car was working well, with no leaning, as an Activa should work (or at least I think it did, because I only drove it for 50km or so)
But one day after, I took it back to the garage and the mechanic replaced the rear electrovalve (was leaking) and we did some height and direction adjustments.
I took the car out and didn't noticed anything unusual, but now I see that when I flick it (do a slalom or turn it hard into a bend) it is rolling like an usual car.
Also there is a weird air whooshing sound when I press the brake pedal (like a subtle wind noise)
Also I don't notice any difference when I press the hydractive button, but maybe it's just me.
Lexia detects the steering wheel moving and I didn't notice any other errors.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thank you.

[xantia_v6]

The noise from the brake pedal may be caused by air in the hydraulic brake circuit, this could have got in when the electrovalve was changed. Bleeding the (rear) brakes may help.

Your other symptoms are a bit more difficult to interpret. It would seem that there is something not right with the suspension control system but it is odd that you see no errors. It is possible (but not common) that the electrovalve that was fitted is faulty.

[MisterClaude]

Hello,
It seems that the rolling issue is caused by the Activa rods and that thing under the car, in the middle, that gets pushed by the rods. We tested the car on an elevator and the system works, but on the roads, it gets delayed a bit. Planning to remove it and clean it a bit.
All the spheres were replaced with new, so that should be sorted out.

[GiveMeABreak]

Here's a video showing the suspension being tested:

[MisterClaude]

Finally some images with the car:








And just for the sake of it, a "before/after" image:

[MisterClaude]

Here's a video showing the suspension being tested:

Hello,
Yes, when the car is jacked up, it works exactly like this, but on the road i feel it leaning, then it corrects itself. Must clean it up.

[MisterClaude]

It seems that the electrovalve was faulty. We changed it, we cleaned the height corrector and now everything is how it should be. Works like a charm