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Big Steve's RB Clio 182 Cup Restoration



Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member

@Big_Steve_T - 1 : Poxy OE Renault Rear Axle Bushes - 0


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Rear Axle going back on this weekend!!

If anyone needs this bush in the future.. HERE'S THE LINK TO THE EBAY AUCTION WHERE YOU CAN BUY A PAIR NOW

Thanks for sharing my moment in the sun! :)
 

DomP182

ClioSport Club Member
  ph1 172, Arctic182
@Big_Steve_T did you have any problems aligning the rear beam brackets? I've heard there is a fair amount of play in the bolt holes or did you take reference measurements prior to removal?
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
@Big_Steve_T did you have any problems aligning the rear beam brackets? I've heard there is a fair amount of play in the bolt holes or did you take reference measurements prior to removal?

Hi @DomP182 ,

Interesting you ask that question, I measured the positions bushes in the rear beam accurately before I removed them, and gave the accurate dimensions to the garage who pressed the new bushes in for reference.

When it came to fitting the rear beam back onto the car, I did all of the nuts up until there was only 2/3mm of movement and found that I couldn’t move the beam left to right across the car, but found I could move it from front to back. So I just pushed the beam towards the FRONT of the car in the centre to equalise any tolerance that might be present (and hopefully stop the beam going on skewed...

At the end of the day it’s a mass produced super mini with a bigger engine, so I don’t think it’s worth getting too hung up on it, no doubt Claude didn’t when he put it on at the factory... 😆
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
Made a start in prepping the wheels for the refurbishment tonight. A few hours rubbing / wet sanding down and I went from a wheel that looked a little grotty, to a wheel that continued to look grotty 🤷🏼‍♂️??
D6BB3A9C-95B8-49E4-ABE3-65745BA372FE.jpeg

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I’m holding out hope that the filler primer should fill any more perfections...? 😬

One down, three more to do!! 🤦🏼‍♂️

Thanks for reading 😎
 

DomP182

ClioSport Club Member
  ph1 172, Arctic182
Hi @DomP182 ,

Interesting you ask that question, I measured the positions bushes in the rear beam accurately before I removed them, and gave the accurate dimensions to the garage who pressed the new bushes in for reference.

When it came to fitting the rear beam back onto the car, I did all of the nuts up until there was only 2/3mm of movement and found that I couldn’t move the beam left to right across the car, but found I could move it from front to back. So I just pushed the beam towards the FRONT of the car in the centre to equalise any tolerance that might be present (and hopefully stop the beam going on skewed...

At the end of the day it’s a mass produced super mini with a bigger engine, so I don’t think it’s worth getting too hung up on it, no doubt Claude didn’t when he put it on at the factory... 😆
Was there much front to back movement?
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
Dug out the Gay-Tec exhaust today I'm going to fit to the car. It's a used item so It needs a bit of TLC before I fit it. I got hold of a 4" Polishing wheel set some time ago, that you can use with a small grinder:

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You can see that after a few minutes work, the exhaust looks a lot better for itself:
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I tried to take a before & after photo to show the comparison of the complete before & after on the centre section:
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Got the back-box to do tomorrow.

Thanks for reading :)
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
Been fine tuning the body gaps over recent days, chuffed with the final result:
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I then ordered some new exhaust rubbers in preparation for fitting the exhaust sometime soon:
B36EE75B-B141-4CA2-80FF-964364F6541C.jpeg

The old ones looked in good order, but when you compare them to the new ones the difference is tremendous! You can easily bend and flex the old ones, whereas the new ones are really rigid. Often overlooked on exhausts, but worth replacing.

@DaveL485 asked me recently if the car actually ran?? So with that ringing in my mind, I thought I would give the key a turn this evening, to see if there was life in the old girl.....



Well that didn’t go to plan.... :mad: I did the old dashboard trick, and unearthed a few codes:
932C8281-CA67-4B63-BBC8-37D79E5315A8.jpeg

I’ll be working thru the steps to try and understand the issue now in coming days..
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
Looks like you’ve got a fueling issue.

funnily enough, that’s the one I feel most confident IS working.. before I connected the fuel line to the rail I checked the fuel was coming from the tank on a crank and put the pipe into a little pot... sure enough the fuel came thru..

However who’s to say the Injectors are working ..?
 

DomP182

ClioSport Club Member
  ph1 172, Arctic182
@Big_Steve_T when you were doing the underside restoration how solid you clean the corrosion out in the deep recesses by the rear spring mounts?
 

DomP182

ClioSport Club Member
  ph1 172, Arctic182
@Big_Steve_T when you were doing the underside restoration how solid you clean the corrosion out in the deep recesses by the rear spring mounts?
That should say how DID you clean out the corrosion in the deep recesses!

I'm coating the cleaned up areas in hydrate 80.
 

DomP182

ClioSport Club Member
  ph1 172, Arctic182
I scraped all round the area until I got to solid non rusty metal, then coated it with my chosen rust converter, then zinc primer, then underseal 👍
I'm using a knotted wheel in a grinder but some of the rust glazes over after a while
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
I'm using a knotted wheel in a grinder but some of the rust glazes over after a while

The rust converter I’ve got wants some light surface rust there to key to, it’s works better that way rather than wire wheeling all the old Rust off.

Either way, as long as it’s getting looked after, it’s better than leaving it!! 👍
 

DomP182

ClioSport Club Member
  ph1 172, Arctic182
That's my thinking, I'm shocked how much rust I've uncovered too. I think I'll need to tackle the fuel tank bolts because there is some rust tracking under it.
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
I’ll be working thru the steps to try and understand the issue now in coming days..

Well that didn’t take a lot of work...

Removed the passenger side headlight, pulled the 4 small relays out and checked the connections all looked clean.. and then put them back in, and it bloody started first time!! 🙄

So now the engine’s running, I had a very successful evening bleeding the brakes, and then fitting the exhaust:
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Don’t think I’ve ever had an exhaust go on a car so easily and so tightly (fitting!)

Thanks for reading 🙂
 

Big_Steve_T

ClioSport Club Member
Janspeed @Big_Steve_T best fitting exhaust

Oh wow was it @Coops Mk1 ?? Old Gay-Tec got Janspeed to make them did they..?? I’ve never had an exhaust fit so well..?

Massive congratulations on hearing it fire up Steve. Huge achievement hearing that. Well done.

Thanks very much sir!! There was a sign of relief when it spluttered into life!!

Now to figure out getting it mapped by the old Scoff-meister!!
 

Coops Mk1

ClioSport Club Member
  Lots of Scrap...
Yes mate it's Janspeed made for ktec, ran same on mine years and yes best fitting 182 exhaust and very oe sound, cracking things
 


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