Any interest in another titanium tidy up?

[Brian J]

Updates this week are mixed.

Obligatory first fll shot:

and on to Beaniesport near Bedford.
still like the way it drives but it was obviously down on power quite a bit. Non. Working aircon was a killer. ☹️

Arrived for some TLC:

The conclusion was that the timing belt is definitely new, as are the dephaser and tensioners, but the timing was way off:

Sorted:

but:
In spite of the new aux belt, the tensioner was trashed, the water pump is ancient and the lower timing belt cover awol.

was not expecting g that so won’t get it back now till next week.

 

[Clio_fool]

At least its getting done right now and you'll be able to test it properly next time you drive it.

 

[Brian J]

It’s back:
Now idling well and driving beautifully.

New aux belt, tensioner and water pump fitted and a new clutch. Chris educated me that it wasn’t supposed to be that heavy.
Both the clutch and my wallet are MUCH lighter, but progress is progress.

 

[Stefan.]

Nice work brian!

 

[Mr Underhill]

It’s back:
Now idling well and driving beautifully.

View attachment 1609090
New aux belt, tensioner and water pump fitted and a new clutch. Chris educated me that it wasn’t supposed to be that heavy.
Both the clutch and my wallet are MUCH lighter, but progress is progress.

Lovely, like a sewing machine. And yes, clutches should be really light on these. In fact, properly looked after ones are really quiet and boring really. Nice job!

 

[Brian J]

Lovely, like a sewing machine. And yes, clutches should be really light on these. In fact, properly looked after ones are really quiet and boring really. Nice job!

It’s part of the plan. My fun car has to be civilised enough for my wife not to hate it. 😂

I need to sort the exhaust resonance and get the aircon working, but keep it under 4K revs and it’s properly comfortable and docile. That’s part of the attraction! The light clutch is a bonus I didn’t know I’d get!

it’s a MUCH better package than the abarth 500 I sold in lockdown. (Albeit, I’d love to get the exhaust to sound as good, the abarth sounded hoodlum outside the car and when you were booting it, but quiet and refined inside when cruising.)

 

[Brian J]

Little jobs but work continues.
Cleaning seatbelts:

finished photos when they are dry…

 

[Brian J]

Repairing cup brake light:

Can’t imagine why the resistors were not working…

So near. One led seems to be dead, so replacements are on their way.

The plastics have been cleaned up and some small cracks glued. Spoiler repairs to follow.

 

[bowen86]

Repairing cup brake light:
View attachment 1610589
The plastics have been cleaned up and some small cracks glued. Spoiler repairs to follow.

Not going to start offering this service are you? 👀

 

[Brian J]

I haven’t stopped work, but I have neglected some photos

I have reseated the drivers door card with butyl rope and put some rtv behind the boot grommets. That has cured the two leaks I found in the recent heavy rain.

I have done some cosmetic work:

cup spoiler prep for paint:

Remove disc
Gusting sticky mess from all centre dash components using the hot water and washing powder method.

before:

During:

After:

 

[Brian J]

The dashtop got the same treatment, but it is also out so I can run some cables for tunes.

current state of play:

Hopefully that will be an upgrade on the tuner list.

I fitted a new roof mount dab antenna (no pics, sorry) and ran the cables down the side trim to the front. Hopefully tomorrow will see the head unit and cabling buttoned up. BUT, has anyone had the problem when fitting an aftermarket stereo that the cables hit the dash and hold it out? The RCA pre-outs on the Sony are on the right and the rca cables hit the dash when the stereo is still about 20mm out from the dash. I figure I am going to have to drill a couple of holes in the dash, in the stereo hole to give enough depth for them. Any ideas?

 

[Louis]

The dashtop got the same treatment, but it is also out so I can run some cables for tunes.View attachment 1619764

current state of play:
View attachment 1619765
View attachment 1619766
Hopefully that will be an upgrade on the tuner list.

I fitted a new roof mount dab antenna (no pics, sorry) and ran the cables down the side trim to the front. Hopefully tomorrow will see the head unit and cabling buttoned up. BUT, has anyone had the problem when fitting an aftermarket stereo that the cables hit the dash and hold it out? The RCA pre-outs on the Sony are on the right and the rca cables hit the dash when the stereo is still about 20mm out from the dash. I figure I am going to have to drill a couple of holes in the dash, in the stereo hole to give enough depth for them. Any ideas?

90 degree RCA adaptors. I had to do the same

 

[Brian J]

Much gap due to covid and holidays to recover.
a very badly photographed KTEC /Janspeed exhaust replaced the miltek that I could not get to miss the bumper.

Unfortunately it has been all French since then..
Headlight washers died, it has developed a low revs/high load miss, and dumped all of the pas fluid on my drive.☹️

on the other hand it did, without breakdown, manage use as my daily driver for 3 months through the worst of winter while a finally got a refund for my very broken 4 year old Skoda superb which chose to consume oil at around 2l/1000miles. 😂

 

[Brian J]

Well that escalated…

Not really in the spirit of a project, but family illness meant I needed it done and I now have power steering and the car is holding fluids.
Hopefully I will get some progress tomorrow/Friday. I am going to caffeine and machine on Saturday and I’d like to have a few more things done first.

 

[Clio_fool]

Eighty two pounds an hour 😱. At least they didn't take all day.

 

[Brian J]

Eighty two pounds an hour 😱. At least they didn't take all day.

It WAS a respected renaultsport specialist, and they honoured their original quoted time in spite of many challenges with this. Don’t get me wrong, I grimaced at the price (on a £1500 car) but I don’t feel overcharged for labour for what they did…

 

[Brigsy]

Labour not bad to be fair as ballache to fit all of that, id say price is fair with recon rack etc.

 

[Brian J]

Finally I have some progress to report!

10 year old ditchfinders on 50p shaped rims are gone

Rainsport 5s on refurb wheels are on:

Centre caps are being sprayed up:

 

[Brian J]

Also leaking koni rear dampers are off and binned.

New cup dampers are fitted:

Probably a total waste of time to torque the top mounts to spec with a crows foot and a 6mm spanner rather than a rattle gun, but I want it right so hey!

 

[Brian J]

Last battle of the day is with the rattling exhaust heat shield. It’s cracked and the holes have split all over the place so:

Remove, clean and dry:

Repair with a sheet of heat shield from car builder solutions:

Waiting for the tiger seal to go off so I can re drill the mounting holes, cover with foam, and refit!

 

[Brian J]

Thought I’d give the top some corrosion protection. Nissan red because I had a can from an old car

 

[Brian J]

Heat shield finished off.

Painted top and bottom to combat corrosion, and a layer of 1mm closed cell foam to stop rattles:

Fitted:

And exhaust tips polished and centred nicely:

Just waiting for my Autococ delivery now, the next job is the front bumper off for the following:
Replace cracked headlight washer
Fit Skoda fabia splitter
Plastic weld the grille
Polish headlights (attempt 2. Will lacquer them this time not use the stupid ‘protector’ spray in the kit)
Fit new aircon condensor
Replace aircon seals.
Fit front wheelarch liner

 

[Brian J]

Rainy today and I’m feeling rough so no major work, but I have been having hassle with the heater lately blowing odd temperatures. A quick search led me to the star shaped gears on the heater box so:

Led to:

I couldn’t get a jubilee clip on and I’m too anal to deliberately remove the spring clip from the expansion bottle and replace it with a jubilee, so cable ties it is.
After several attempts and many cuts on my hands I got to:

I have a heater that goes hot and cold when I ask!!!!

 

[Brian J]

Frustrating day. I stripped the front end to fit the new AC condenser, and Autodoc have shipped the wrong part. Also, I cracked the bumper pulling it out of the the clips. :-(

Spot the difference…

Fighting with Autodoc returns now. Anyone know a UK supplier?

Slightly tempted to drill out the rivets and move the mounts onto the new condenser…

Does anyone know what plastic welding rods I need for the bumper?

 

[Greeny.]

Good read this and great to see everything being done properly, although it is becoming somewhat of a money pit

 

[Brian J]

Good read this and great to see everything being done properly, although it is becoming somewhat of a money pit

Yep. I thought I’d done well when I got it. I am probably just under 4K in including buying it. I should just have bought a mint RB…
I like tinkering with cars tho, and at least I know the bits that have been done, have been done right.

 

[Greeny.]

Yep. I thought I’d done well when I got it. I am probably just under 4K in including buying it. I should just have bought a mint RB…
I like tinkering with cars tho, and at least I know the bits that have been done, have been done right.

Exactly and who knows, the 'mint' RB or whatever may have still needed x y or z doing to it anyway, especially judging buy how you are doing things

 

[Brigsy]

Use a hot stainless stapler/plasric welding kit to repair your current bumper. The chinese spec ones on ebay are £15 ish and work excellent, i repaired my kangoo grill bracket recently with one and its solid.

Something like this. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38468058...QrVQpEdQKi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Brian J]

Good read this and great to see everything being done properly, although it is becoming somewhat of a money pit

Yep. I thought I’d done well when I got it. I am probably just under 4K in including buying it. I should just have bought a mint RB…
I like tinkering with cars tho, and at least I know the bits that have been done, have been done right

Use a hot stainless stapler/plasric welding kit to repair your current bumper. The chinese spec ones on ebay are £15 ish and work excellent, i repaired my kangoo grill bracket recently with one and its solid.

Something like this. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38468058...QrVQpEdQKi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

good advice taken! Thx.

 

[Brian J]

I got back on with the work today.
All in all a better day too.

Fabia splitter with the tabs cut off.

Shortened:

Not pretty, but strong and on the inside so never seen.

And on to plastic welding the bumper:

And then:

And with the Fabia splitter attached. The bumper needs painted but that is down the list of priorities for now:

 

[Brian J]

Missing grille attachment clips bodged on by plastic welding the clips cut off the Fabia spoiler.
They seem pretty well attached so it should all be good!

Only headlights to polish and aircon condenser to sort and it can go back together.

 

[Brian J]

Minor work in my lunch break.

stripped slam panel nut drilled, tapped and helicoiled.

Bonnet catch was also cleaned up, centred and refitted. The bonnet actually opens properly now for the first time in my ownership of the car…

 

[Brian J]

It was dry and still this evening, so the next job on the list is done:
The last time I polished them, I used the holts protective spray, which was rubbish, and they faded again. Also, I spilled carb cleaner on one and messed it up, so down through the grits 1200, 1500, 2500, polish:

Cracked open a can of 2k lacquer so I had to do all the painting I needed in one hit.
Headlights, centre caps, rear spoiler all lacquered up:

Everything drying off. Headlights look good at present. Let’s hope they stay that way this time.

I also touched in all the paint damage on the front bumper, but I forgot to take photos. I hope the replacement ac condenser gets here soon. Everything else up front is done. It needs its face back.

 

[Brian J]

Hella aircon condenser arrived and fitted.
Not sure what I feel about the quality tho. The dryer is larger than the genuine one so only just fits and the ports are at the wrong angle (about 30deg out) for the pipes to fit on it. Also, it came with just cheap rubber plugs in the ports, not pressurised with nitrogen like I’d expect.
Whatever, the car needs to be back in one piece so I ‘persuaded’ the receiver to the right angle and fitted it all up.

Putting the bumper back on confirmed that the repro base model wheelarch liner that I thought would be a stopgap is useless. Ho hum, removed.

Grille and number plate back on. I have a car again.

I did a bit more after this but it got dark before I finished so pics tomorrow, including the (at last) finished resto of the cup spoiler and brake light.
On one hand I’m really happy because it looks gorgeous and I can’t wait to fit it. On the other hand, how on earth has my mint, uncraked cup brake light developed a crack in the lens while it has been stored, in the spoiler, in the loft and not touched. 😡😡😡

 

[Brian J]

Just odds and ends done:
Renault symbols refitted to the centre caps and centre caps on. Not a bad paint match although the dirty wheels makes it look worse than it really is.

Front number plate screws were mismatched and rusty so I dug around in the garage and found some fresh caps and stainless screws. I also fitted the repro little black stickers either side of the grille opening. It’s the little things:

 

[Brian J]

An enforced pause. I saw a puddle on the driveway and the new rack seems to have sprung a leak. 😡
I really hope it’s the rack. There are seriously no funds for any other repairs this month…
Car is back with Chris, and I’m in Beaniesport’s second best courtesy car. 1.2tce powwwaaa…

On a serious note the engine and handling are not awful (once you get past the roll) but how did Renault make the seats and gear change on these so bad?

 

[Clio_fool]

On a serious note the engine and handling are not awful (once you get past the roll) but how did Renault make the seats and gear change on these so bad?

You could ask the same about the 182 too😂.

 

[Brian J]

You could ask the same about the 182 too😂.

I must be the lucky one. 182 seats are a pretty good shape for me. Ideally they’d be a bit lower, and the steering column would reach adjust, but otherwise not bad.

 

[Clio_fool]

Have you removed the plastic spacers under the seat?

 

[Brian J]

Have you removed the plastic spacers under the seat?

Not yet. On the list tho. Thx