Clio 172 - Track Project

[Spud1985]

Myself and my Mate (Garth44) have just "won" this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280738934864?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#

We're going to do a couple of track days in it this year then start stripping / upgrading things as required. I've read alot of members journals on here and got a load of ideas from them.

I'll update this thread when we collect tomorrow evening and our ongoing progress.

P.S. i viewed a blue clio with orange diamonds on here but cant seem to re-find the thread, can anyone help out as we're thinking of doing a blue / orange clio but want some reference points to start.

Thanks

Ashley

 

[Spud1985]

Picked the 172 up tonight, checked all over it took it for a short test drive and all seemed good so we paid up and off we went on the journey home, all still going fine . . . . . Until . . . . we got on some faster roads, gearbox crunches into 5th gear, the higher the revs the more crunch, right at the top of the rev range and a quickshift is a big no

All other gears are fine and no issues, and coming down the box is fine. its just 5th.

What could the issue be? Sychro? dog bone bush? gear linkages? Clutch?

 

[DannyR]

I've got a box for couple hundred quid? Usually synchros, could try new gear oil first though

 

[Spud1985]

@DannyR: Thanks. If i cant fix the one on the car. i may be in touch.

Ordered a couple of items this week all arrived within a couple fo days, nothing much but going to keep this thread as a full log of items that relate to the track project. . . . .
New Full Face Helmet from V2Sport . .

Stickers removed . . .

And a Powerflex dogbone bush kit . . . (this will be fitted tomorrow, hopefully. Pics will follow))

 

[Spud1985]

All jacked up and resting on Axle stands:

The old one:

Removing the Bushes:

Polyflex bushes fitted:

 

[Nick r26r]

gearbox's are prone for crunching , a rebuild can be had for around £200-£300 , definately the route i would be going if you are going to track it , second hand gearbox's are ok but they could do the same 1000 miles down the line , defo get it rebuilt if it was me , plus you dont want to be ripping the box back out 6 months down the line , 4-6 hour job depending how skillfull you are with the spanners , subframe drop and get out that way , or the easier way is just to crane the engine out

 

[Spud1985]

Dogbone helped. But didn't solve the issue. Still get a clonk when quickly lifting of the throttle in 1st gear so i think some other bushes need changing (engine mounts??), 5th gear is now engaging no matter what revs but still with a slight grind. So i went to Halfords and got some 75/90 GL5 gear oil which i will be putting in at the weekend. If this still doesn't solve the issue then a rebuild or replacement will be on the cards as suggested by others.

On a better note we've booked our first Trackday . . . . Snetterton 300 on the 13th November.

 

[Spud1985]

Small update . . . .

Tow Straps purchased (the start of the orange details)

Gearbox Oil Changed:

definitly need changing old stuff smelt horrid and was a really grey/black/brown colour

And our budget trailer is coming along:

Also bought a Mini DVR camera.

Tried it out by cable tying it to the fron grill of my RS250 (test video i put together = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1dQIhST_i0 ). Video quality isn't bad for a £20.00 camera (including seperate memory card) Wind noise is horrendous. So i'm going to try to mount in some where in cabin.

 

[Spud1985]

75% Stripped the car today, was only going to take the rear seats out but once i got stuck into it one thing led to another and most things came out.

We only had three issues 1. thev rear bench seat bolt had to be drilled out as the head was rounded off took us ages 2. i slipped with a screw driver trying to remove the rear wiper, put a small scratch on the rear bootlid 3. dropped one of the seat runner nuts in the exhuast shield when putting thefront seats back in and couldn't retrieve it

So all in all a good day for me . . . .

Here's the Pics . . . .

Surprising how much stuff comes out (i think the carpet was the heaviest part)

All back in . . . .

And some bonnet stripes my mate put on for a giggle, using electrical tape!!

 

[Addicted]

nice project so far!
and a nice price considering both belts been done!

 

[Spud1985]

First trackday today. Which highlighted a few issues.

1. rear wheel bearing needs replacing
2. better tyres are required
3. better brakes are required
4. steering wheels needs replacing
5. The car is now destined to be a track **** and only used on track (see below)

Heres some pics as we had a little spin and hit a couple of posts.







And a coupe of other Clios we saw today:





There was also red Clio 172 but didn't get a photo of it.

 

[dmallett]

Shame you spun!

out of interest how much did the whole day set you back?
thinking of going snetterton early next year

 

[Spud1985]

£139 for the track day but that included an additional driver at £20.

So £119.

But I'd also budget for at least one tank of fuel. We used 2/3rds but stopped at 2ish because of an air pressure problem in one of the wheels.

 

[Spud1985]

Just checked my photos again and found the Red Clio.



He didn't have a great ending to his day.

 

[DannyR]

He didn't have a great ending to his day.

what happened?

 

[Spud1985]

what happened?

I read on another forum that a silver clio blew a rod and dropped all his oil on the track, then the red Clio hit the oil spun off and had a hard impact with the Armco.

 

[DannyR]

f**king hell!

 

[Spud1985]

I'm trying to track the guy down to see how bad the damage is as we where only chatting to him about each others cars about an hour before it happened.

But he doesn't seem to be on any forums?!