Peugeot 405SRI
Ever since buying the SRI last year, I had one event on my mind: Pugfest, an annual two-day extravaganza of all things Peugeot at the Prescott Hill Climb. However, there was no way I was going there with a dent in the driver’s-side front wing and a wonky indicator lamp. Especially as this year is the 405’s 30th anniversary and Peugeot was sending a display over from the marque’s museum in France. Turning up looking like I’d crashed my car en route wasn’t an option.
It was a remnant of the accident which took the car off the road; the first owner clouted his own gatepost with it, tearing the front bumper off. Previous owner Ben Molesworth had managed to source and fit a replacement SRI front bumper, but the fist-sized dent remained.
Upon a colleague’s recommendation following work on his Saab 900 Turbo, I took it to Oliver Ince on Fengate in Peterborough. Straightening it out wasn’t a simple job – Ince said it was tricky because only the outer skin of the double-skinned metal had taken the impact, and the presence of the inner skin made access to the back of the dent difficult.
As I waited at home for his call, I leafed through the Sri’s service history file. My heart sank like a Mafia informant in a canal – the MOT test was due.
Knowing it needed a new windscreen washer pump to pass, I called Grimwood’s Auto Electrics (next door to Ince’s) to order one in, then booked an MOT test with NCK Autos, round the corner from my new house. I’d clocked it as a classic-friendly outlet when I spotted a Nissan 200SX and a Ford Escort MKIII RS Turbo in its service bays. Pugfest was just three days away.
Thankfully, it all worked out in the end. There’s a tiny fuel leak to tend to and I still have misgivings about the brakes, but with the 405’s clean bill of health I set off for Prescott, albeit in total silence because disconnecting the battery over winter had tripped the stereo’s security system and without the original handbook I’ve got no idea what the reset code is.
My car wasn’t quite as shiny as some of the Mi16s I joined in the parade up the hill, and I was completely upstaged by an immaculate grey SRI. Still, at least the car got there and I can photograph it from both sides now. But does anyone know how to reset the stereo security code?