My Ultra Red 197

[not normal dan]

Well folks, about 6 months ago I got rid of my 172 (which some of you may remember) an replaced it with a 56plate 197 with 23k on the clock. I made quite a few modifications to my old 172 including coilovers, grp N exhaust and fully polybushed. I have a few plans for my 197 and hope to keep this thread upto date.
My old 172

My 197

First impressions when i got the car was that it wasn't quite as 'Raw' as my old 172 and i wasn't quite sure if I 100% liked it. After owning it for a while and having some rather quick drives in it I love it! Out the box the car handles great
I have a few plans for the car mainly to improve the experience these will include new suspension, uprated brake pads an maybe a few breathing mods and a remap (either rs tuning or tdf)

 

[not normal dan]

Well today has been the first time I have laid a spanner to my 197, came out of work the other morning after a long night shift to find my handbrake wouldn't release. After giving it some abuse it realeased but the pads were still binding a little so seeing as they were rather low I thought I'd replace them.
New pads from my local dealer

Not the best weather conditions for work.

Car jacked up

The old brakes looking sorry for themselves, measured discs with vernier caliper guages to check thickness is within spec.

Old pads have certainly seen better days

Giving the pad carrier a nice clean up in the vice.

Trial fitting the new pads making sure they slide nice an free.

All fitted

Then just to repeat on other side an road test an glad to say its sorted it
An a cheeky little pic

 

[mallspeed]

nice :clap:

 

[not normal dan]

nice :clap:

Cheers fella

Just popped back to me mum an dads to find i'd had a little parcel dropped off.

ferodo DS2500, ordered them from demon tweeks at the weekend, they were the cheapest around for them. Now just waiting on some of the 'new' design caliper pins of mr pink on 197.net an i'm going to drop them on with some goodridge braided hoses

 

[JackJack]

Looks good think i need to own one of these at some point.

 

[leeds_182]

Great colour and getting seriously cheap these days.

 

[not normal dan]

Looks good think i need to own one of these at some point.

Would certainly reccomend it pal

Great colour and getting seriously cheap these days.

Yeah I've see a few under 6k now, capable car for the money

 

[Šįk]

Great stuff!

 

[Gally]

Lovely mate. Still have a soft spot for the 197.

 

[not normal dan]

Well bin a while since last update but bin busy with other stuff (work, fixing others motors etc), well on me last update I mentioned I'd brought some ds2500 front pads as I didn't rate the standard stuff. Well no wonder I didn't rate um, front pads looked low so I thought I'd better get me arse into gear an change um. Well I was well prepared, new brake pins (diiferent design that don't get stuck) an nice weather. Started on the passenger side, pins shot out nice an swift an outer pad was removed with ease. As for the inner pad that was a different story, it hadn't worn so much so it was clearly stuck in position so no wonder they were naff so I un bolted the caliper for better access an knocked the old pad out.

Refitted the new pads an moved onto the drivers side. Well pin number 1 shot out but pin number 2 was playing silly sods. Hitting it that hard it started to bend so I pulled out the angle grinder an cut the old one out. Then a little more work with hammer an punch it was out. So after 20mins all was good an new pads were in. Didn't take many pics cause I just wanted to get on but heres a few.

Old pins an old knackered pin next to new design pin.

Tools, tools an me in action.

Had to remove the overalls cus i was a tad warm

All back together

Well pads are bedded in an i must say the brakes are epic, that good i thinked i've shaved a bit of time off my country lane commute

 

[Bobby.]

Nice car pal. What's next then? Wheels refurbished black or anthracite and maybe a cup spoiler?

 

[not normal dan]

Got some braided hoses to go on which tbh I should of done with me brakes but I had other stuff to do. But I've just booked a trip to the ring in july so end of month I'll be changing me cambelt an water pump an aux kit (now that renault have got me my special tooling I wanted) an a good service then some eibach springs an wheels powder coated in one of those colours.

 

[Bobby.]

Sounds good how much is the trip going to cost you and how many times you going to go round? If you don't mind me asking...

 

[not normal dan]

Sounds good how much is the trip going to cost you and how many times you going to go round? If you don't mind me asking...

Well a good friend of mine has organised it, he usual goes around 4 to 5 times a year bit of a veteran an holds a race license (not sure what class or anything). I've paid 157 pound for 3 nights acomadation an 67 quid for me ferry so the rest is spends an me euro breakdown cover an alteration to my insurance. He says because theres 12 of us, 6 driving we'll just chip in an buy a few hundred pounds worth of laps between us. Were only at the ring for a day, one of the days were spending sight seeing an driving local roads an visiting the shumacher centre an so on.

 

[not normal dan]

Well finally got round to servicing the 197 today (always to busy sorting other folks motors), so thought I'd post up some pictures.

So heres the 197 sat ready an waiting for some tlc, an the sun beaming down for a change!

Nice clean bay, always a pleasure to work on

First of abit of battery maintenance, checking the electrolyte levels an grease the terminals

Then check the bonnet release an all the other locks an hinges on the car an give them abit of grease.

Then check the air filter element (was only replaced other week but always worth a check)

Then down to changing the plugs,

checking all the coils for any visual damage

new an old (an a cheeky volvo plug socket)

Now to get it in the air an change the oil and have a good poke round underneath checking all the bushes, balljoints an a general look over for anything out of the ordinary.

Draining the oil

Now onto removing the old filter, which I did from underneath.

New oil an filter

then onto the pollen filter, must say it was one of the easiest ever (change for a renault)

new filter

An all done an ready to fight another day

An heres a little teaser for my next installment, little package from me renault dealer

Cambelt locking tools

Been borrowing them for quite a while from me friendly renault dealer but thought it was about time i'd by myself a set.