Ads 172 Track/Race car

[Ads29]

So i expect many people have seen this a few times already but here we go again with another track project

I've recently picked this up admittedly with problems, however we'll get around these in due course, for the time being its a 2002 172 with 74k on the clock, still standard as of yet, but with some plans in the pipeline, having the 'luxury' of being able to not have to use this as a daily i can be a little more creative with plans rather than having to keep practicality in mind, and although i plan on using on track i also want to keep it road legal, well just anyway :innocent:

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Having taken the decision to impulse buy (wasn't a good choice by the way) and not view first (again really not a good idea) it turns out that one of the cam belt guide pulleys has disintegrated, so first things first is an engine change as its quicker and easier in the long run of getting her back on the road and enjoying a spirited drive, and it gives me a spare engine to play with. Now being an ex mechanic i would normally be doing this myself, however due to space issues its being done locally for me.

This is where things are currently, on completion of this i'm looking at the following, not in any necessary order

The exhaust has to go (really not a fan of it) and replace rear bumper

Strip interior and save as much weight as possible

Upgrade Brakes/Suspension

Freshen up wheels and look at some more track spec tyres (probably have 2 sets of wheels and interchange)

Bucket seats and harnesses along with a cage eventually



Long term i plan on playing with the engine however i like to build fro the ground up, no point having x amount of hp if it doesn't handle or stop right, as with a lot of people i don't plan on going too mad with things but whether this happens depends very much on time and finances

 

[Ads29]

So over a year down the line and having taken it out on track last month for the first time I guess a big update is due on here

A lot of what has been done wasn't photographed but basically the engine was swapped over and eventually passed its MOT at the end of May last year, and then stood around for 3-4 months as I'd lost all interest.

I did toy with selling up but the Mrs persuaded me not to, so we got on with stripping the interior out ready for the seats and cage. I had a pair of brand new Cobra Monaco seats that had been purchased for my old golf, so with some clio subframes in they went.

Removed all the airbag components and put resistors in place as a temporary measure until I get the time to remove all the wiring/ecu as well.

Ordered a safety devices bolt in cage through Mark Fish on one of the group buys which arrived Early February

Had it fitted a couple of weeks later, some of the progress photos below

Picked the car back up about 10 days before the track day on 12th March at Combe, which was to be both the cars first time out and also my first day there also, and having only been on track a couple of times many years ago I do certainly consider myself very much a novice

Fast forward to 2 days before Combe and I had to have the windscreen changed thanks to someone smashing it whilst parked outside of home

With that done a good check over everything was ready, and the car ran well all day with no problems, other than being on standard suspension and brakes I soon found that we were limited to short runs.

So that's as far as I'd gotten to by the middle of March

Will update the other bits later today

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[Alastair.]

Nice cage, where about in Westbury are you? Im on the leigh park estate.

 

[Ads29]

Thanks I'm on Leigh Park too, Boulton Close (just round the corner from Elkins)

 

[Alastair.]

ahhh, im on Fell Road!

 

[Ads29]

I know where that is lol, go past it every day on the way to work

 

[Ads29]

It's been a good 6 months since I've updated this and there's been a few bits done, and 3 more track days (2 at Llandow and Castle Combe last Friday 04/11)

We moved over to the forest of dean at the end of April so I didn't have a chance to do much before our first time at Llandow, quick spanner check and a set of ferodo ds2500 front pads and off we went. Was n uneventful day really, with a few other clios there too.

We returned to Llandow in September having fitted some new cup shocks, new cheapy euro car part amax springs and pms top mounts/strut brace combination. New suspension certainly made a difference, whilst showing just how worn the rear axle bushes were

Old vs New front suspension (old strut was used to mock up pms setup whilst waiting for new front springs)

I'd also replaced the o/s engine mount and having seen tippex marks over the dephaser I knew I would be changing the cambelt asap after Llandow (didn't have time before as I have a habit of doing everything last minute)

Soon our return from the second visit to Llandow I stripped the engine down ready to do the belt and dephaser, once I'd locked the engine up with the correct Renault tools I was greated with this

Despite running ok it's obvious that not all was well, with the new belt/dephaser on it timed up properly with the timing tools refitting perfectly everytime

I also swapped the rear axle, with me I'd had powder coated and fitted some powerflex black bushes, this also sorted a previous issue I'd been having with ride height from one side to the other on the back (I'm assuming the axle was either bent or twisted at some point in time)

Again out with the old and in with the new

So apart from a few odds and ends such as brake lines, wheel/axle spacers and stud & nut conversion that's where I was up to, all ready for Castle Combe

I'd been keeping an eye on the weather in the run up to the day and with the heavy threat of rain I invested in a set of Toyo R1r's and another set of OZ F1's and it ended up being an extremely good idea as the following photos show, again a very good day despite the weather and more faultless running time.

Anyway I'll stop boring you all now, that's assuming you've got this far already


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[harbourside]

Coming together coombe looked nice and damp

 

[Ads29]

It's getting there slowly, have some plans for winter suspension upgrades but I'd better ok it with the wife first

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks great on track

 

[Ads29]

Looks great on track

Thanks mate, it's got a long way to go yet but it's nice to be making progress at last

 

[KitsonRis]

That's a nice cage. A cage for mine is on the list for things to do before I waste money on my engine.
Do you have a link to the cage? Just trying to get options as I would like front protection too instead of just a half rear cage

 

[Ads29]

I got it through one of Mark Fish''s group buys, option 4 full cage. It's a 6 point safety devices cage (R017 from memory) that's had 3 extra pick up points, 2 on b pillars and 1 across the tunnel at the base of where the rear seats were originally, these were all from factory so it's now classed as a 9 point cage. I'll see what I can find for you mate regarding a link

 

[Ads29]

Can't edit the above but here's a link to the safety devices website

http://www.safetydevices.com/motors...28RS+172+and+182'29-without-sunroof/489/1314/

 

[franx]

the rear axle ; your old one was bent so you got another one (if i read correctly). How much did the new one cost ? Or did you powder coat and fix the old one ? I am wanting to refurb mine with some new bushes.

 

[mikey4410]

thats a lovely little clio,love the cage dude !!!

 

[Ads29]

the rear axle ; your old one was bent so you got another one (if i read correctly). How much did the new one cost ? Or did you powder coat and fix the old one ? I am wanting to refurb mine with some new bushes.

Hello mate

My old axle was indeed bent, I bought one second hand from eBay which was £30/40 from memory, I did clean it up with some wire wheels and sprayed it with some aerosol shultz underseal/paint but wasn't happy with how it turned out to be honest.

On the bac of this I removed the original bushes (by burning/cutting/hammering the s€%t out of them) and took it to a local powdercoating who was only to happy to lighten my pocket by around £60 to strip it back and refinish as you've seen.

The new bushes are powerflex black series, another 75 quid but have made a huge difference to high sped turn in, I fit ted the bushes myself, you will need a press to fit the outer sleeves, ideally a floor mounted one due to the size of the axle, otherwise a second pair of hands are a must.


All in all I guess it's cost somewhere around £150 from start to finish but I'm very impressed with the results

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[Ads29]

thats a lovely little clio,love the cage dude !!!

Cheers mate

Its still very much a work in progress, it seems to fight me everytime I work on it but I'm well and truly addicted to the little bugger.

Thanks for the positive comments

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[franx]

^^ much appreciated Ads! :spanner::up:

 

[Ads29]

One thing I missed off from Combe back last month, first time out using these

Felt really weird to begin with, didn't help that my seat was in completely the wrong position and I felt had to keep tilting my head back to see properly, having spent the day getting used to a Hans it's now hardly noticeable.

I've since moved my seating position around and angled the seat back quite a bit to compensate for the Hans and it seems much more comfortable, time will tell although as things stand we won't be back out on track until the beginning of March

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[20vKarlos]

Nice helmet :smirk::laughing:

 

[Ads29]

Why thank you @20vKarlos

(apologies for the delay too, I'm not usually that rude honest)

 

[Ads29]

So mini update time

Picked up a lower subframe from @Slygreen a couple of weeks ago, again thanks for the message and saving me a trip. Was greatly appreciated

Managed to have a test fit the other night, only to find that my side mounts partially cover the holes to bolt the frame in place so have some different ones coming, fingers crossed they'll be here early next week.

Also bought a white line RARB, no pics at the moment as the bar is away being powder coated as the original silver finish had started to flake off. Will be red once it's done to match some of the other splashes of colour.

Lastly a little photo from one of the many recent frosty mornings in the forest, I'm by no means an expert of any sort when it comes to cameras/photography but I quite like this one (and the fact I took it one my phone too)

So that's all for now, off to Autosport tomorrow, we'll see how well I manage to lighten my bank account while I'm there


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[Ads29]

Just a small update for today, plenty to come in the next week or so though

Got a pair of washer blanks from @RichValver, already partially painted in customary red

Also painted the front diamond as well, ready to go back on tomorrow

Currently waiting on a whole host of suspension parts to arrive including

New Lower Wishbones (gen Renault)

Powerflex black bushes for whole front end

New inner and outer steering rack ends with boots

Gaz Gold coilovers ('race' spec)

Side mounts for X low subframe (the 2 pairs I have don't fit!!)

All the above should be here this week, at least I hope so as I have the week off work after today.



Lastly as I'm sure most people have seen the news regarding safety devices roll cages I'm on the lookout for a different cage, more on this soon as some things may take a twist later this year

 

[Ads29]

First parts delivery arrived today

So that's the genuine Renault Arms and all black series suspension bushes for the car (have already fitted the rear axle bushes last year)

Cracked on with getting the exhaust mount bush fitted, luckily I have the luxury of a 10 ton bench press in the garage so this was literally a 5 minute job from start to finish

I've also ordered new nuts, bolts and brackets for the front suspension and anti roll bar, no idea how good or bad the current ones are but after seeing the state of the front shock to hub bolts I'm not taking any chances and replacing everything as I go.

These should be here early next week thanks to Paul at RPD

 

[Iain C]

Looks great fella nice going.

 

[Ads29]

Looks great fella nice going.

Thanks mate, it's come a long way from when it arrived, still a long way to go though. Everything takes time but we'll get there

 

[Ads29]

Instalment 2 of 3 arrived lunchtime, new nuts, bolts and brackets for front suspension and anti roll bar.

Big thanks to Paul @renaultpartsdirect for rhebhelp and assistance in sorting all the bits and bobs out, as well as the speedy delivery.


Hopefully I'll have the gaz golds in the next few days and then crack on with everything before first run out on 3rd March at Combe

 

[20vKarlos]

Awesome Stuff! Get plenty of pictures of the instalment mate, I may do this myself

 

[Ads29]

I've stripped one of the wishbones down in preparation for the poly bushes to go on, was a night mare to get the bushes out, partly due to my stubbornness in not buying any more tools so I had to make my own 'press' which meant having to remove the centre insert of the bush in order to get a heavy duty bolt through. As crude as it is it does work well.

Apologies for the poor photos but my garage doesn't have the best lighting

You can just make out the bush to the right of the white tube, like I said it's crude but effective, even more so with my battery gun running the show

 

[Ads29]

As the 3rd March is fast approaching I thought I'd better crack on with things, decided that despite knowing I'd have to fight the captive nuts it'd be easiest to drop the whole subframe out as one and then rebuild everything in the garage. As I expected all 4 nuts just span so no choice but to get the cages of the nuts. Both drivers side bolts came out relatively easily, got to the passenger rear to find this

Clearly not as it should be, hopefully Paul @ RPD will come to the rescue as always

For those that end up in the same situation I'd highly recommend removing the steering rack first to give more access to the captive nuts.

3 hours in total and the subframes out and stripped down ready to be cleaned up and rebuilt.

Hadn't realised just how much more caster there is with new wishbones compared to my old ones

That's it for now, will have everything built up evenings this week and refit on Sunday

 

[Ads29]

The deliveries keep on coming, decided to bite the bullet and see just what a difference one of these makes

Suppose I'd better get on with fitting everything back on the car really

 

[Ads29]

Had a last minute change of plans this afternoon so cracked on with stripping and rebuilding everything on the subframe.

As previously mentioned all new black series polybushes along with new inner and outer steering rack ends, new genuine Renault wishbones and a whole host of new nuts, bolts and brackets which I'm glad I bought now after seeing the state of some of the old ones coming off.

Anyway I'll let the pics do the talking

Hard to see but new rack bushes on

Wishbones on, again with black series bushes (camber adjuatable) along with rack ends

Anti Roll Bar on, this was a real pain in the a** and a second pair of hands helped massively

Thought I'd also grab a couple of photos of the old parts, just to show how corroded they were

So that's probably the biggest outstanding job done before Combe, still plenty to do but the listen setting smaller

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[AdamCup]

Good job, its so nice seeing new parts go on isn't it !? Or is that just me :smirk:

 

[Ads29]

Good job, its so nice seeing new parts go on isn't it !? Or is that just me :smirk:

I love seeing new parts going on, not so sure my wife does though?? I'm lucky that she's also into cars so I don't have to suffer with moaning wife syndrome

 

[Brushwood69]

The deliveries keep on coming, decided to bite the bullet and see just what a difference one of these makes

Please post a report on this as I have a feeling I may need one for the rally car but have a concern about the self centering or lock of as from the looks of it on videos I have seen it does not centre over any particular gear (but this maybe me!)

 

[Ads29]

Please post a report on this as I have a feeling I may need one for the rally car but have a concern about the self centering or lock of as from the looks of it on videos I have seen it does not centre over any particular gear (but this maybe me!)

Fitted it today @Brushwood69, I can see its going to take some getting used to, gear changes feel precise but there isn't much room for error. I'll update after Friday when I've had a chance to drive in anger

 

[Ads29]

Everything's been refitted now and finally the cars back on all 4 wheels. Noticed when going to work the other day that the radiator core had started to sag at art bottom so i've changed that also.

Also added a few more touches of red to the front bumper, may not be to everybody's taste but I like them

Just need to get the front end set up properly now and add ananchor point for the inside lap belt of my harness and we're ready for Castle Combe

 

[Ads29]

Gaz golds finally arrived 2 days before going back to Combe, just managed to squeeze in the time to fit them

Only remembered to photo the rears

Have to say these made a massive difference round the track, despite not being set up properly, only had the chance to line everything up by eye but still hugely more precise than previous shocks and springs

Will be sending the car off to Simpson Motorsport in the next week or two to get everything properly set up and corner weighted

 

[Ads29]

Fitted it today @Brushwood69, I can see its going to take some getting used to, gear changes feel precise but there isn't much room for error. I'll update after Friday when I've had a chance to drive in anger

As promised @Brushwood69 a full report for you, to put it simply I can't recommend one enough. I was a little dubious to begin with when loading the car up but once on track the difference is massive, the gearstick is much easier to reach and in a more natural position for me, gear changes appear much smoother and a lot more precise. I had expected to struggle initially due to the closeness of the gears but I had no problems and within half a lap I wasn't even looking down to see whether I had the right gear. There is quite a lot of vibration when sat with the engine idling but once in gear and under load I didn't really notice any extra noise, my car is pretty noisy anyway though

All in all I wish I'd bought one ages ago, very very worthwhile mod in my opinion

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