Clio 182 Track Car & Daily Projects

[JamesBryan]

Nice!

Need to do my adjusters again, snapped again and i've not even touched them

 

[Mr Underhill]

Nice!

Need to do my adjusters again, snapped again and i've not even touched them

Cheers. Yeah they take a beating on the track without issue, then you store them away and they break 🤷‍♂️

 

[JamesBryan]

Cheers. Yeah they take a beating on the track without issue, then you store them away and they break 🤷‍♂️

I think on mine it must be the s**t roads and stiff suspension that's breaking them.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Day off today to bring the track car home and start winter preparation for next season.

I’m so blessed to have great knowledgeable people I can fall back on, but so many things went wrong this year, many out of my control to be fair, that I’m going to stop relying on others and dive into some of the bigger jobs myself. So determined to get back on track in 2021 and make the most of this fantastic car.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Pre Christmas drama’s when the Clio decided not to crank, although giving the fused link cable to the starter a wiggle helped get it going. Time to investigate.

My track car suffered similar issues which turned out to be a corroded spade connector.

On further inspection I noticed the starter heat shield had come away from the starter motor so pulled that out to take a look. Well and truely knackered.

Renault don’t supply these anymore so found a half decent one on EBay.

The starter also looked worse for wear and seemed to struggle to turn over the engine despite the battery being fully charged. Getting a new heat shield onto an old starter motor didn’t seem a practical move so ordered a refurbished starter from Renault.

What a b****d of a job it turned out to be but managed it without taking the manifold off, accessing it from underneath.

All seemed well until I went to start it and there was nothing. Not even a wiggle of the link cable did anything.

Ok, so now we have at least eliminated the starter motor and spade connection 😂

 

[Mr Underhill]

So now we have a fully charged battery and a refurbished starter motor with good connections. Out with the multi-meter.

My first job was to check the fused cable link from the starter to the battery. Bingo! The inline fuse had blown. Just to confirm this I rigged up a bit of battery cable and some crocodile clips to bypass the fuse and sure enough the engine turned over every time.

To get the car mobile I soldered the broken fuse, then set out to find a replacement.

Sadly the inline fuse forms part of the link cable to starter and as far as I can tell, the alternator. To confirm this I took the car for a drive prior to soldering the fuse and after 10 minutes the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and the engine began to lose power. Electric windows would go up and down slowly and all dashboard lights went very dim. It’s amazing how quickly a fully charged battery can run down.

Looking at the thickness of the clamp on the original fuse I figured it would be some effort to replace with another so decided to re-terminate the old fuse.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Given it was now Christmas I decided to order a 120a inline fuse with a circuit breaker from Amazon. I plan on doing a neater job in the new year, but at least this is a safe option.

Gobsmacked how many people on the Facebook groups suggesting soldering the old fuse as a permanent solution. How these people are allowed to offer advice is beyond me 🤷🏻‍♂️

I decided to fix the new circuit breaker to the rear of the ECU bracket, remove the old fuse from the link cable and replace with a crimp connector.

So it was out with the ECU and bracket.

Gave everything a bit of a clean up, fixed the circuit breaker with some double sided tape and run another cable from the fuse to the battery around the back of the ECU. Then put it all back together.

Interesting to see that my ECU appears to have or has had a map on it. That explains a few things 😂 Will have to get that sorted in the new year now I’m pretty much running a factory set up, bar the exhaust.

I’m pleased with how it turned out given it’s the best repair I could do over the Christmas holidays and it was bitterly cold to boot 🥶

 

[sennaalbronda]

Enroute to Nürburgring via the ferry. Meeting some friends over there who’ve decided to take the Chunnel...again! Sod that, been there, got the t-shirt.

View attachment 1451500

Cracking little hotel right next to the track. Stayed at the hotel Ze Burg a few times now, nice and quiet.

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Met up with the possee. Note my road going 182 on the left. Sold it to a mate to do the ring, then bought it back. Long story.

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Got some decent laps in. Picture of me from my mates car as he bottled it going into Karussell [emoji23]

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Obligatory Karussell shot.

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And a blowout 2 miles outside of Rotterdam. My fault rushing back to catch the ferry home in 90 degree heat.

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Great weekend and car was superb. Time to get another Trackday booked.



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ahh mate what a shame. i live around the corner of rotterdam so would have gladly helped you out mate.
i own a bunch of renaultsports aswell so would be worth it for the chat alone.
if i can help you out next time, i would gladly.

 

[Mr Underhill]

ahh mate what a shame. i live around the corner of rotterdam so would have gladly helped you out mate.
i own a bunch of renaultsports aswell so would be worth it for the chat alone.
if i can help you out next time, i would gladly.

Good to know 👍

Are you the chap who sells the refurbished hubs on the Clio Owners Facebook group?

 

[sennaalbronda]

Good to know 👍

Are you the chap who sells the refurbished hubs on the Clio Owners Facebook group?

yes sir that's me.

 

[Mr Underhill]

yes sir that's me.

might be in touch

 

[sennaalbronda]

sure mate.i can do how you want them.

 

[RustyMojo]

yes sir that's me.

What do you do with the hubs Senna please?

 

[sennaalbronda]

What do you do with the hubs Senna please?

complete strip -> sandblast -> then check for any cracks or damages -> then choosing RAL color for the powdercoating.

cleaning the mounting surfaces -> fitting new bearings and abs sensors.
then prepare for shipment to client.

 

[RustyMojo]

complete strip -> sandblast -> then check for any cracks or damages -> then choosing RAL color for the powdercoating.

cleaning the mounting surfaces -> fitting new bearings and abs sensors.
then prepare for shipment to client.

Sweet,
Will be in contact in the new year.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Whilst I have a few days off over Christmas I thought I’d try my hand at electroplating.

I have a few bolts under the bonnet that I’d like to save, in particular the 4 x M10 bolts that secure the top engine mount. I have tried alternative ones but can’t find any decent 33mm washers thick enough to withstand bending when torquing down. Most seem to be 2.5 mm whereas the Renault bolts are 3.2mm.

The electroplating kit comprises of the following :

1. 5 ltrs White Vinegar - £5
2. Table salt - free
3. Small jar with sealed lid - £1
4. Mobile phone charger - free
5. Copper wire - £2
6. Zinc anodes - £10 for 5 100mm x 100mm plates

I chose a Zinc Anode as my priority is restoring the bolts and protecting against further corrosion rather than looks. All sorts of passivates/brighteners can be used during the process but I’m only starting with the basics.

I filled the jar with Vinegar and added a tablespoon of salt. Then cut 2 thin strips of Zinc Anode and connected to the charger. The Zinc Acetate took around 2 hours to create.

I took the rusty bolts and gave them a good clean up in the wire wheel. Unfortunately there’s some pitting on the washers which no amount of plating will cover 🤷🏻‍♂️

To remove any grease I soaked the bolts in Acetone for a minute, then rinsed in distilled water.

Then cut another strip of Zinc Anode and connected the positive wire to that, then wrapped some copper wire around the bolts (I did 2 at a time) then connected the negative wire to that.

The process begins immediately and after 15 minutes the bolts were pretty much covered in Zinc - I’d recommend moving the parts around halfway through the process to get an even covering.

I repeated this process 3 times on each bolt to give a decent coating, then gave the bolts a light once over with wire wool.

Pretty pleased with how they turned out, so did a few more bolts while I’m there.

I know you can get bolts done pretty cheaply but I’m always up for learning new things, especially when it’s to do with restoring my Clio. Cost-wise it works out pretty reasonable given I can get 5 strips from 1 plate and each strip will do at least 4 bolts with multiple coverings.

Looking forward to learning a bit more about the process and trying different things.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Bitterly cold weekend removing the subframe and the gearbox from the track car but needs must. 🥶

The back story is the car developed a rattling/grinding sound at Croft in the afternoon just as I was pulling out of the garage and onto the pit lane. It sounded so bad i immediately stopped the car, switched the engine off, hoisted it onto the trailer and went home.

I'd recently had the gearbox rebuilt and a Quaife LSD fitted by Mark Mayfield. A good friend refitted the box for me. They'd also fitted a new Sach Racing clutch and bearing, so we initially suspected it was something relating to that. I was pretty gentle with car in the morning sessions to get some miles on her before pushing on.

On removal of the box i immediately noticed the two bolts holding the bearing guide sleeve were very loose 😱. Thankfully only the bearing and guide sleeve was affected with no other damage to the clutch, bell housing etc..



So glad i switched that engine off when i did otherwise this would have been one hell of an expense trackday.

Oh well, now the box and subframe is off, i might as well replace the steering rack bushes, get the engine out and give everything a good tidy up and service.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Good progress today getting the new thrust bearing guide in and torqued up. 25Nm for anybody who may be looking to do theirs.

Cleaned up some of the brackets while the box and subframe was out. On the rusty parts I used Bilt & Hamber Hydrate-80 then gave them a few coats with a rattle can. The battery bracket cleaned up with their degreaser Surface HD, then a coat of Silver VHT paint. Looks like new.

Then got the box back in, torqued everything back up and jobs a good un.

Just the subframe to refit after it comes back from the powder coaters, a few more things to check over and clean up, then it’s time to get some trackdays booked.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Managed to get the subframe back in the track car along with some new Powerflex steering bushes.

The cold and wet got in my old bones though, so had to call it a day. 🥶🌧👴🏻 Just a few bolts to torque up and that’s the track car fixed.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Another cold one tightening the last few bolts on the track car and giving everything a good check over.

Fired her up and was greeted by a chattering sound coming from the flywheel area.

My first thoughts were it may be something coming from the clutch area. It’s got a brand new Sachs Racing clutch that has done half a day at Croft and I started to think I’d over looked something when I had the box out. Packed up, took a hot bath and contemplated selling her 😂

Got up this morning with renewed vigour and fired her up again as I suspected something may be frozen. Car has been outside undercover since December and the weather has been bitter.

This time it sounded perfect so I guess the starter was frozen yesterday and the teeth we’re rattling off the flywheel. At least I hope that’s it.

I left it run for an hour to get the engine nice and hot. Stopped and started the engine several times and I can’t replicate the sound.

🙏🙏🙏

 

[JamesBryan]

Result!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Turned my attention to the daily which has been off the road for 3 weeks now with very noisy front wheel bearings.

Managed to pick up a pair of nice hubs with new bearings from @FPummell.

They were pretty well prepared against corrosion but had a few paint chips here and there so I added a bit of extra protection with some Hydrate-80, then another few coats of paint. It’s a great product for converting and holding back the rust.

Of course I can’t gamble on getting the old ABS sensors out in one piece so going to try some Bosch variants which come in at £60 for the pair.

K-Tec do them for £192 so I’m hoping these do the job and I don’t have to dig deep into my pockets again.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Result!

😅

 

[Mr Underhill]

Old manky bearings and hubs off, new ones on, then gave the old girl her first wash of 2021. They’ve been slowly degrading over time but your ear kind of gets tuned to the rumble. The car is so quiet now.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Another glorious Saturday so took the opportunity to change the front discs and also touch up some rusted areas with Hybdrate-80 (fab stuff).

Was on a roll so replaced the broken ECU bracket then tackled the fuse box that had a broken catch with a secondhand one I purchased last year.

Gave her a quick clean and a run up the road to bed the new discs in.

Cosmetically the car’s starting to get somewhere near to where I want. I just need to whip the engine out, fix a couple of minor leaks, replace clutch cable, clutch and steering bushes and the jobs a good un.

 

[Mr Underhill]

.

 

[stebat]

A few more jobs sorted on the daily today.

First job was to take my track car steering wheel out and replace it with my newly refurbed ‘Snappy’ wheel.

View attachment 1453612

After removal I got a few extra warning lights that I wasn’t expecting. ABS, ESP and SERV lights usually point to the steering angle sensor. It’s been fine up until now, so I guess it’s just decided to give up the ghost.

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The sensor appears to be positioned correctly with the Yellow circle and Black dot centred nicely in the window.

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A quick check of the live data on the diagnostic confirm my suspicions. No movement from the sensor when turning and the obligatory -81922.75 degrees fault.

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Luckily I have a few spares from when my Track car had issues. It’s a fairly easy process to replace with a few torx screws to remove from the lower steering cowel and the sensor then unclips from the squib.

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After replacing the sensor, the diagnostic now shows ‘0’ degrees and a quick turn left and right alters the angle telling me it’s functioning correctly.

View attachment 1453616

After putting it all back together, it was just a case of clearing the old fault codes and no more lights. Happy days.

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Next job is tackle the exhaust.


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Will the car still run ok with this light on?
I have just had my tracking done and the hunter suggested the Toes front should be -17'. After this the ABS and ESP lights have come on. Should I take it back and set it to 10' or leave it ?

 

[Mr Underhill]

Will the car still run ok with this light on?
I have just had my tracking done and the hunter suggested the Toes front should be -17'. After this the ABS and ESP lights have come on. Should I take it back and set it to 10' or leave it ?

Yes mine ran fine with those lights on but as soon as i set the sensor they went off. My track car's alignment is set up somewhat differently to my daily though and the lights are on permanently, but i've never had any running issues in 3 seasons. I just taped over the lights on the dashboard to stop them irritating me

Is yours a track car or road car?

My 182 daily alignment settings are:
FRONT
Toe in/out - NSF -0° 05°, OSF -0° 05°
Camber - NSF -0° 30°, OSF -1° 12°
Caster - NSF - +2° 14°, OSF +2° 11°

REAR
Toe in/out - NSR -0° 09°, OSR +0° 13°
Camber - NSR -1° 34°, OSR -1° 37°

Ideally I could do with a touch more camber on the NSF as it's borderline but the car drives as straight as a die.

 

[stebat]

It's a road legal track car mate. I only drive it on the road for testing/driving to the garage/MOT or driving to the track.

How do I set the sensor?

 

[stebat]

Has anyone seen this before, just found on internet. This show the Hunter is correct at -17'

 

[Mr Underhill]

How do I set the sensor?

Scroll back a couple of pages in this thread and I’ve got a rough guide with images on how I set mine.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Put a shift in on Sunday doing final prep on the track car.

New plugs, injectors, new radiator, auxiliary belt and a general clean up of the engine and components.

The adjuster on the cup bracket was also bent and the nut had cross threaded so fixed that at the same time.

Only need to replace the pins on the geo kit and then sort the brakes and I’ll be ready for the new season.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Last bits done on the track car today. Overhauled the brakes with new calipers, pads and discs. Upgraded the geometry pins and gave everything a final check over before Croft in a few weeks.

 

[Mr Underhill]

A bit of spare time through the week so spent it refurbing my manky old calipers. They were due to go back to DMFX as exchange units but thought I’d swallow the surcharge and use these as spares.

Wire wheeled old paint off, left in a bucket of Evaporust for 24 hours, then brushed some high temp silver paint as first coatings. Found some Black high temp paint so mixed some of that in with the silver and gave them another 3 coats.

I hate how some refurbished calipers come with rust starting to come through,so I made sure these are properly prepared.

Bought a repair kit off Big Redd and the jobs a good un.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Pulled up into work Friday morning, jumped in car after work, turned the key and absolutely nothing. Engine wouldn’t crank. Ran a diagnostic and got this.

DF067 - Ring - Decoder Connection, no communication with ring or transponder key.

Lovely!

Trailered her home Saturday and started switching a few bits over from my track car. First thing I did was swap the immobiliser ring to see if that was the issue. Worked fine on my track car, so that’s not the issue.

Checked Battery that was fine, changed throttle bodies, TDC sensor, starter motor is new. Checked fuses, earths, you name it I checked it.

So I guess it’s the key then 🤷🏻‍♂️. Feel like setting it on fire. French pile of poo 😂

On a good note, took the track car to Croft after a massive winter overhaul and the car performed flawlessly. It made a s**t weekend seem that little bit sweeter.

 

[JamesBryan]

Tried a key battery?

 

[Mr Underhill]

Tried a key battery?

Yeah no difference.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Well after spending all day trying to get the old girl started I finally threw the towel in.

Spent a lot of money and time on this car and was hoping I could fix her but I’m at a loss, so she’s going the journey.

I’m sure somebody who knows a bit about these cars or is mechanically minded can sort her.

I’ll be sticking an advert up soon and letting her go for £1,500 spares or repairs.

I’m just going to focus on the track car now and use my time to develop that.

 

[RustyMojo]

Jon,
Don’t give it away for £1500 mate! It’s worth more than that! Just look at the condition and parts on the thing!!! At least get someone to fix it and sell it running where it’s worth more than double!! Seriously, I think that’s a mistake!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Jon,
Don’t give it away for £1500 mate! It’s worth more than that! Just look at the condition and parts on the thing!!! At least get someone to fix it and sell it running where it’s worth more than double!! Seriously, I think that’s a mistake!

Yeah it’s a £3,000 car all day long but until I can get her started I couldn’t ask that. 2 weekends of messing about trying to figure out what is wrong had exhausted me.

I know plenty of people who’ll be able to fix it but I’m not putting anymore money into it.