Clio 172 road rally car

[gsxraddict]

Firstly a bit about myself. Previously owned a Clio 172 around 6 years ago. (Cp51mov) don't know if anybody on here owns it now. Had a few cars since then, and a few bikes.done the usual bought a small garage that happened to come with a bungalow attached so decided now I've got a garage it would be rude not to have a project. (The bikes never break). So last week I got myself a Monaco blue 172 that was local to me. And today I started stripping it with the intention of making it into a road rally car.

So the first job was to get the car up on stands, remove bumpers lights etc as the engine is coming out to gain access to the brake lines (there going to be running inside the car) and to remove a few a generally tidy up the bay

 

[gsxraddict]

 

[gsxraddict]

Also picked up some spare wheels

And that's how we finished up today. Hopefully the engine will come out tomorrow

 

[NorthloopCup]

That's a nice sized garage you've got there mate! Nice project as well. :up:

 

[gsxraddict]

Thanks.

 

[gsxraddict]

So today the engine came out. All went really well and was a nice change to work on something small( I'm a truck mechanic) hardest part of the job was removing the Ecu and cover. Not sure if I was doing it wrong but was a bit fiddly.
There is a charcoal canister on the drivers side that goes into the rocker cover. Can this be removed. And also on the passenger side were the pipe work goes into the airbox there's a small little motor there. What does this do and can it be removed. Here's some pics for you

 

[gsxraddict]

 

[gsxraddict]

And is this a 182 gearbox??

 

[NorthloopCup]

And is this a 182 gearbox??View attachment 143506

If you have a look on the front of the casing you'll see the model code of the box mate. If it says 'jc5 130' which I suspect it will, then yes it's a 182 box. Possibly an early twin taper bearing 130 box.

I'm a truck mechanic as well! Who do you work for?

 

[gsxraddict]

Cheers for that. Will have a look tomorrow. I work for a Volvo main dealer in west wales. You ?

 

[NorthloopCup]

Cheers for that. Will have a look tomorrow. I work for a Volvo main dealer in west wales. You ?

Scania main dealer in the Midlands mate. You work for Volvo truck and bus direct or franchise like crossroads truck and bus?

 

[gsxraddict]

Franchise. Mansel Davies a son. We run our own vehicle too around 200. You might have seen them. Red and grey

 

[gsxraddict]

iirc we are the only other Volvo franchise in the uk. We do have 2 scania rigid milk tankers too. Nearest dealer to us is keltruck. But we mostly deal with west pennine

 

[Filters]

I work for a Volvo main dealer in west wales.

You living in wales chap? Just started my 172 road/rally project as well. Yours is looking pretty smart, what's the plans with it?

 

[NorthloopCup]

Franchise. Mansel Davies a son. We run our own vehicle too around 200. You might have seen them. Red and grey

Can't say as I have seen them tbh mate. I don't really pay much attention to them when I'm out the workshop.

iirc we are the only other Volvo franchise in the uk. We do have 2 scania rigid milk tankers too. Nearest dealer to us is keltruck. But we mostly deal with west pennine

Yeah it's keltruck that I work for mate. Unfortunately. West pennine Stoke is around a 40 minute drive away from me. Shame really, but they're all as bad now tbh. Expect everything, but give nothing in return, then, have the neck to make out they give you everything.

 

[gsxraddict]

Ye I live in south/west wales. Going to keep it simple to start with as I've never done road rallies so want to make sure I enjoy it before throwing ££££. But to start it will have :
Cup alternator setup
Epas conversion.
New bushes,steering joints were needed,
15" td pro race 1.2 & 15"speedline 2118.(one set will be spare)
Usual full exhaust decat etc
Induction kit or ph1 airbox
Sparco rev seats and brackets
6 point Custom cage (harness bars and cross bars)
Brembo discs and ferodo ds2500 pads all round.
Strip and much weight as I'm allowed and bloody good clean of everything. That's about it for now. First event will be bro preseli in april

 

[gsxraddict]

To be fair Mansel Davies is a family run business and I find them great to work for. But ye I know what your saying. I also feel your pain having to work on scanias all day.

 

[Filters]

You're a few steps ahead of me then chap haha. I'm guessing from the user name you're a fellow biker as well?

 

[gsxraddict]

I sure am. Bikes are on hold tho until April. Although the don't need much doing to them. What's the plans for your Clio. We're about you from ?

 

[Filters]

I sure am. Bikes are on hold tho until April. Although the don't need much doing to them. What's the plans for your Clio. We're about you from ?

From newport myself chap. Ironically ride a gsxr600 k4 myself haha.
I've a full donor shell with cup racer cage and modified OMP door bars. msa log booked too.
57k engine and box to go in (195bhp-ish on pipercam 285s and a few other mods)
Wilwood 4 pots, PMS top mounts and strut brace, Sparco sprint seat with Xlow frames
Not decided on suspension yet but have some cup shocks and cooksport springs to go on till I make my mind up.

 

[gsxraddict]

You going to be doing night events or stage or both. Great bike the k4/5. I have a k5 600 race bike and a k8 750 road bike. Both of which don't get used enough.

 

[NorthloopCup]

To be fair Mansel Davies is a family run business and I find them great to work for. But ye I know what your saying. I also feel your pain having to work on scanias all day.

Yeah I hear that a lot from Volvo guys tbf mate! Lol! I'm a Scania master tech and I don't find them bad to work on really.

 

[gsxraddict]

I used to work for a local haulier that runs only Dafs.then went to work for Volvo and did take a bit of getting used to. Now I'm used to them there pretty easy. All about what your used to I suppose. Every vehicle gets its problems. Have you removed the charcoal canister (evap) system on your Clio.the canister by the drivers wing?

 

[Filters]

You going to be doing night events or stage or both. Great bike the k4/5. I have a k5 600 race bike and a k8 750 road bike. Both of which don't get used enough.

TBH chap I've not put much thought in to it yet. Bought the shell as I had all the bits ready to go on from a breaker...still need to apply for a rally liscence and all sorts yet.

 

[gsxraddict]

Your limited on what you can do on road rallies. Can't run itbs etc. Must have full interior etc. Once you decide on what your doing get a book on regs etc

 

[NorthloopCup]

I used to work for a local haulier that runs only Dafs.then went to work for Volvo and did take a bit of getting used to. Now I'm used to them there pretty easy. All about what your used to I suppose. Every vehicle gets its problems. Have you removed the charcoal canister (evap) system on your Clio.the canister by the drivers wing?

Yeah this is it mate. Yes the charcoal canister is gone, but I retained the solenoid to overcome any warning lights. It's all gone though now as I've done a full custom engine loom along with a gen90.

 

[gsxraddict]

Where is the solenoid located.what did you do with the outlet on the rocker cover. Breather filter ??where does the pipe work run back too. I assume fuel tank. Also noticed this Clio has no fuel return ??

 

[gsxraddict]

Yeah this is it mate. Yes the charcoal canister is gone, but I retained the solenoid to overcome any warning lights. It's all gone though now as I've done a full custom engine loom along with a gen90.

Actually reading your thread. That exhaust manifold if a work of art

 

[NorthloopCup]

Where is the solenoid located.what did you do with the outlet on the rocker cover. Breather filter ??where does the pipe work run back too. I assume fuel tank. Also noticed this Clio has no fuel return ??

The solenoid is located on the top of the charcoal canister mate. It just pulls out basically. Leave the wiring connected and cut the pipes. Mine just vent to atmosphere and I have no issues with the tank pressurising etc. The charcoal canister feed pipe is rubber at the inlet end - where it connects to the breather plate. All I did was choose a suitably sized bolt and blocked the rubber hose! Yeah the late ph1's and all ph2's are single fuel line mate. Pressure regulator is in tank.

Actually reading your thread. That exhaust manifold if a work of art

Ha ha! Yeah it's some bit of kit mate that's for sure!

 

[Filters]

Your limited on what you can do on road rallies. Can't run itbs etc. Must have full interior etc. Once you decide on what your doing get a book on regs etc

I had a little flick through the MSA specs regulations but didn't notice anywhere about full interior....might have to have a little rethink here then and maybe stick to a race series as I really don't want much inside. b****cks!

 

[gsxraddict]

The solenoid is located on the top of the charcoal canister mate. It just pulls out basically. Leave the wiring connected and cut the pipes. Mine just vent to atmosphere and I have no issues with the tank pressurising etc. The charcoal canister feed pipe is rubber at the inlet end - where it connects to the breather plate. All I did was choose a suitably sized bolt and blocked the rubber hose! Yeah the late ph1's and all ph2's are single fuel line mate. Pressure regulator is in tank.

Ha ha! Yeah it's some bit of kit mate that's for sure!

Cracking job on the Clio. Nice to see a truck mechanic taking pride in there work. A lot are a hammer and chisel kind of people

 

[gsxraddict]

I had a little flick through the MSA specs regulations but didn't notice anywhere about full interior....might have to have a little rethink here then and maybe stick to a race series as I really don't want much inside. b****cks!

y
It's only night events mate. Stage is totally different. It's a pain in the ass having a full cage with all interior. It's pointless. But it's what they want

 

[NorthloopCup]

Cracking job on the Clio. Nice to see a truck mechanic taking pride in there work. A lot are a hammer and chisel kind of people

Thanks. It's got to be right mate - if that means it takes years to complete, then so be it.

y
It's only night events mate. Stage is totally different. It's a pain in the ass having a full cage with all interior. It's pointless. But it's what they want

Fire risk as well imo.

 

[Filters]

I don't have the patience to fit a full interior back in to a car lol.
I'm going to have a hell of a lot to do before it's ready as it is. Near certain the engine needs a rebuild and more than likely the box too.

 

[JAParker]

Would love that garage!

 

[gsxraddict]

Thanks. It's got to be right mate - if that means it takes years to complete, then so be it.

Fire risk as well imo.

Ye i agree. These say the want the cars to look at road going as possible. But it's a lot more hassle when building a car. Especially if your fussy. Once the cage is fitted it will have to be removed all door card fitted then cut as tidy as possible so they can go around the cage. To some this is no problem because they use there finest spoon to cut the door cards then smash a big hole out of it

 

[gsxraddict]

I don't have the patience to fit a full interior back in to a car lol.
I'm going to have a hell of a lot to do before it's ready as it is. Near certain the engine needs a rebuild and more than likely the box too.

Your also not allowed to run a separate hydraulic handbrake so if you fit one. Which most do on rear discs brake axles then you need to retain the original handbrake mechanism and pivot your handbrake cylinder off this

 

[Filters]

Your also not allowed to run a separate hydraulic handbrake so if you fit one. Which most do on rear discs brake axles then you need to retain the original handbrake mechanism and pivot your handbrake cylinder off this

The more i'm looking in to things the more i'm thinking of changing tact towards circuit racing....seems less imposed so to say!

 

[AlanWak]

Tell me more about the solenoid - the door open warnng light on my 172 is doing strange things, something is failing. The warning light is now on all the time but the interior lights work fine. I've checked all the obvious stuff but can't find anything wrong. Any leads on what the problem could be appreciated.

Moving on to events for the Clio, what do you really want to do? I've been doing Road Rallies, 12 Cars, Targas, Regularities, Historic, stage events, Autosolos, Autotests, Trials, Sprints, ... for over 35 years. My kids (23, 21 and 19) have four National titles between them. I'd highly recommend that you fully understand the type of events you want to do and the ongoing costs. Bear in mind that to be successful at road rallies you need a good navigator as well. Road rallies can vary a great deal - Wales and Derbyshire events can use a lot of off road tracks meaning you need gravel tyres, where as elsewhere tarmac tyres can be great.

I'd highly recommend that you chooe a discipline and build the car to suit, not build and then look for events on which you can use the car. We're now mainly doing Autosolos, Targas, Historic Road Rallies and 12 Cars. You need most of the interior for all these disciplines. Build your car with most of the trim and you have a very versatile car. We'll be using our 172 for tarmac/smooth gravel events. We then have a fully caged Rover 214 with seats and belts for the rougher events.

 

[Filters]

Feel as though I've somewhat Hijacked this thread now...Sorry GSXR lol.

@AlanWak TBH chap, I bought a shell with cage to build up as my old shell was a write off....when buying i found it had an msa log book with it, so thought "Oh aye, let's have a crack at some racing then" a bit of a hair brained idea to start with. I'd looked in to some of the regulations on the MSA website and a few others but didn't really realise just how many disiplines there are and how they very from one to another...then the different classes in each and the different regulations for each one. I think if anything I'd be pushed towards the tricolore trophy at the moment. But your recommendation is the right one, I do need to sit and think about it...might be a little out of my depth.

I may well be best off just building it up as a track car for now.