If the 504 doesn’t start, I’ll fix it myself

There is a loud click when I turn the key in the ignition to the right. This is not the way it should be, it blows my mind. Even on a second and third attempt, my nearly fifty-year-old Peugeot 504 fails to start. In the parking lot of the hardware store where I just did some shopping, I get out and open the hood. Would it be possible to solve this problem yourself, or should the roadside assistance of the ANWB be involved?

The engine of my Peugeot, built in 1975, is a well-arranged petrol power source. The space under the hood is not crammed with equipment like in a modern car. Almost all parts are easy to locate and easily accessible. My eye goes to the starter motor, the suspected culprit of the problem. It is located at the bottom left of the engine compartment and is connected by a thick power wire to the battery, the other possible culprit.

I know from experience that a malfunctioning starter motor is not an insurmountable problem in all cases. There are several tricks to get the car running. I grab a hammer from the toolbox I always keep in the trunk just to be on the safe side. After giving it a few taps on the starter motor, I try to start the car again. To my delight it is now working.

One of the great things about vintage cars is that unlike modern cars, they are easy to repair yourself. They don’t have on-board computers and complicated electronics. Almost everything works mechanically and can be understood by a layman with some technical insight.

What kind of problems do you encounter when you repair your car yourself? Where do you get parts? How safe is it? And where do you find help if it doesn’t work?

I’ve owned a Peugeot 504 for almost thirty years. I don’t have a modern second car, next to public transport and the bicycle, the old-timer is my only choice. In my hometown on the Veluwe I have a shed with a bridge, where I park the car if a repair is needed. After a day at my desk, there’s nothing I like more than messing around with old-fashioned technology. I am not the only one in the village where I live. Quite a few men here, like me, have an old-timer that they tinker with. (I rarely come across women who work on their own cars.) On the Discovery Channel, series like Flip Bangers and Wheeler Dealers inspiration for refurbishing old cars.

When I started tinkering, i bought one FAQ by Piet Olyslager. Publisher Kluwer published its technical handbooks for hobbyists for almost every type of car. The edition for my 504 appeared in 1977. With the FAQ as a guide I replaced the clutch disc, which required me to remove the engine and hoist it up on a hoist. When I got stuck, I asked advice from my parents’ neighbor, who was a car mechanic in everyday life. He immediately saw that I had forgotten a bolt, after which I could continue. It got the job done without much trouble.

In the years that followed, I replaced a wheel bearing, the head gasket and the wishbones, among other things. I needed help from the neighbor less and less often, partly because the internet was on the rise. Nowadays almost every type of oldtimer has its own website, where enthusiasts can ask each other questions. Parts are also easy to find on the internet. There are several specialized companies in the Netherlands. And in France it’s fantastic company Series04 established, with a website where almost all parts of my car are for sale new. They don’t even charge full price.

Not harmless

Tinkering yourself is not always harmless. Over the years I regularly heard stories about do-it-yourselfers who went wrong. A good acquaintance saw a wheel of his car disappear into the verge because he had not tightened the nuts properly. To his relief, there was only property damage. Others were less fortunate. Last year, a man was killed in Rotterdam because the jack gave way when he was under the car. As often happens, he had not put an extra block under the car.

My love for the Peugeot 504 started when I traveled through Africa during my studies. Countries such as Niger and Algeria swarmed with this type of car, other models were much rarer. At first I thought it was because they were old French colonies, later I discovered that the popularity also had to do with the indestructible engines of old Peugeots. Tellingly was the admiration with which my parents’ neighbor spoke of the 504: “There aren’t many better cars out there.” If you took good care of it, you could drive it all your life.

The Peugeot 504 was made in France from 1968 to 1983, to a design by the Italian Pininfarina. After that, production elsewhere in the world continued for quite some time. In Argentina, the French car manufacturer produced the model until 1999, in Nigeria the last Peugeot 504 only rolled off the line in 2006. The car is so indestructible that old Peugeot 504 station wagons still provide public transport in West Africa. Fully loaded with seven passengers – or more – they commute between towns and villages.

I like the basic engineering of old cars. High school physics lessons are sufficient to understand how they are put together. Gasoline flows from the tank to the carburetor, which atomizes the fuel. A battery supplies power to the spark plugs, which cause the gasoline to explode with a spark. With the distributor, which can be fixed in different positions, you control the correct time of ignition, which causes the pistons to move and the car to start moving. A dynamo, just like the old days on a bicycle, recharges the battery while driving.

A defect in a classic car usually indicates a mechanical problem. Visual inspection of the various components is the best way to locate the problem. A broken starter motor or alternator can often be repaired by replacing carbon brushes. A carburetor that is not working properly indicates a blockage or ‘false air’. The defect can be remedied by blowing through the fuel channels or replacing a gasket.

Chips and sensors

Modern cars work very differently. In many cases, mechanical systems have been replaced by complicated electronic equipment, with chips and sensors, which I, as a layman, cannot get a grip on. In order to read faults or even to be able to carry out a repair, a special computer program is often required, which only the dealer has. Tinkering yourself is therefore an impossible task, because you quickly get stuck. New editions of the FAQ are therefore no longer made.

Lately I’ve been wondering more and more how much environmental damage an old-timer causes. The engine of my 504 is not very economical and emits relatively many pollutants, but on the other hand, the car has been on the road for almost fifty years. According to experts, environmental gains can often be achieved by not throwing away old stuff but by patching it up. For this reason, the European Union wants to introduce a new law that obliges manufacturers of electrical appliances to make repair easier.

According to experts, environmental gains can often be achieved by not throwing away old stuff but by patching it up

Does such a scheme also make sense in the car industry? Benjamin Sprecher, industrial ecologist at TU Delft, replies that endlessly repairing old cars is not really useful from an environmental point of view. Cars create the most pollution while driving, not during factory production. That is why a Tesla, or another electric car, is soon more environmentally friendly than an old-timer. Fortunately, Sprecher doesn’t think it’s necessary for me to get rid of my oldtimer. “If you make few kilometers, the environmental benefit of an electric car is not that great.” But he cannot say what the tipping point is, which requires a complicated calculation. One of the factors is how environmentally friendly the electricity used has been generated.

A blister has appeared on the fender of my 504. In almost all cases, that means rust from the inside out. If I don’t do something about it, it will eat away at the bodywork like a malignant growth. Because I use the car in all seasons, so even when there is salt on the road, there is simply no escaping the rust devil. I have had to treat similar spots countless times.

Blue boat paint

I prepare the welding machine that I bought especially for this kind of job. With a hammer and a putty knife I chip off the peeling paint, after which I remove the last residues with a wire brush. With an angle grinder I make a square hole in the bodywork, where I weld a new piece of galvanized sheet steel of the same size. I learned how to do that at the welding course I followed after purchasing the car.

I finish the weld seam with some putty, after which I sand the fender smooth and prime it again. I used to buy expensive car paint in a spray can, but I stopped doing that. Since I completely put my Peugeot in the blue boat paint, I only have to touch up the repaired rust spot with a brush. The competition condition that other old-timer enthusiasts value is therefore no longer feasible. But even with minor flaws, my Peugeot 504 is a beautiful car.