Clio 182 Turbo

[Yarp]

I’ve had some brass shifter bushes sat in the garage for a while that I’d never got round to fitting. I read @Louis ’s thread earlier and it prompted me to pull my finger out. I gave them a quick rub with Emery cloth before fitting as I really didn’t want them stuck like a few people’s have been

Heat shield came off without any arguments, selector separated without any arguments and they fitted straight in. Couldn’t believe the spiteful french t**t didn’t make my life miserable.

I was going to go for a drive to celebrate but still only have 3 wheels on my wagon. I sat inside, made some car noises, all seems well so called it a job well done. This is how it’s still sat

 

[Krarl]

Just reminded me, ill have a check of that bearing when I'm home

I feel like a c**t for leaving you dangling like a string of fannybatter

 

[Yarp]

Messed about with another few bits today. My front door speakers have died so all I’m left with is the shitty tweeters in the dash at the front so any music sounds terrible. I popped the dash top off and binned the tweeters. I’ve got some old alpine speakers so thought I’d throw them in the doors.

Popped the caps and it turns out there were already aftermarket speakers in there. Absolute Halfords special of a wiring job and another set of tweeters in the door. What sort of monster wants that much trebe

Binned the lot of the s**t and got the alpines in. Still sounds terrible cos it’s old and french and rattly but significantly less terrible than it did.

My boost gauge light was wired into an ignition live so while the dash top was off I swapped that to feed from a live feed when the headlights come on. Little things that make a big difference!

New hub will be here in a few days and I can get some driving done before it goes into hibernation for the winter 😁

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Did you bin the speakers? Look like infinity components which were very alright a few years back, wonder if it was the god awful wiring which had failed rather than the speakers.... either way, improvement over non working dog s**t installed speaker

Edit, with crossovers rattling about in the doors by the looks of it!

 

[Yarp]

Did you bin the speakers? Look like infinity components which were very alright a few years back, wonder if it was the god awful wiring which had failed rather than the speakers.... either way, improvement over non working dog s**t installed speaker

Edit, with crossovers rattling about in the doors by the looks of it!

They are indeed and they were good back in the day! They are totally shot. The crossovers were in the bottom of the doors in a plastic bag which is a genius idea if it wasn’t for the fact doors get water in them and the bag traps the water on the crossover. All that was left was a bag of rusty s**t and ancient water 😂. The speakers themselves probably won’t come back to life. The connectors have gone brittle and snapped off and the coils are corroded too. One works with the wires held onto it and the other just sounds like a wet fart.

The alpines aren’t great but the sound is always nice and crisp with them. I really need a little under seat sub so I can put a hpf on the speakers and let them play in the range they are happy with. I’ve got a massive 12” vibe sub in the loft at my mams. Was half tempted to get it yesterday but then quickly remembered I’m not trying to pull 16 year olds and it’s not 2007 😂

 

[Yarp]

The Romanian Yorkshire rescue hub arrived today so got it on tonight. He said it had been in the sea but to be fair it’s in better condition than my original.

All fitted up and as if by magic the brakes don’t catch. The bearing is stiff but freed up nicely with a few turns and best of all the retaining screws haven’t snapped so I can still use them.

I totally destroyed the bottom ball joint bolt swapping them over so a £7 euro car parts special is on the way to get a new bolt. It’ll all be sorted in the morning.

The Brembos need a bit of a spruce up too so when I change the box over the winter I’ll get them sent off for a refresh.

 

[Krarl]

f**k me if your hubs were worse than that then I think your car has actually been used in the sea🤣🤣

Glad its all back together mate

 

[Yarp]

The starter motor has decided to play up again. It’s been sticking after long drives and last week decided just to not work at all.

I started by shifting the mountain of crap out the way to try and get some access

It came out pretty easily in the end. The bolts are all a chew to get to but once they were out it pulled straight out the drivers side wheel arch. It looks like having the turbo made it simpler with there being no manifold in the way.

Old vs new

I got it all bolted back up, put back together and as soon as I connect the battery it started cranking. I must have managed to short it on itself somehow. On this pic it looks like I’ve maybe got the big L shape connector just off square and it might be touching on the other connector. Either way, couldn’t be arsed to sort it today so I’ll have a look again during the week.

 

[Yarp]

Got the starter sorted today. As soon as it was tightened it kept shorting because for some reason the prong on the top of this one is miles longer than the original. I tried it with a couple of washers and was no good so just span the connector 90 degrees which has worked fine. It’s a bit close to the turbo so I’ll sort that when the engine comes out over the winter.

I changed the coolant and the oil when I was on. I went full forum fan boy and bought some of the proper type D stuff. Not that you tell cos the orange slime that was in there has already stained the new coolant bottle

Took it out for a drive and all seems well. It’s still such good fun but as always happens with everything I drive; I’m ready for more power 🤦‍♂️. Am I right in thinking I can’t do high boost on standard intervals or can I run 280 ish Bhp with a thicker head gasket? I’m not keen on forging and can’t be trusted to treat a forged engine so properly so going to have a think about other options. Might look at meg 265/275 pistons for it if high boost is a no go on standard

 

[Yarp]

Couple of small updates. There was a random Renault sport badge on the boot that was starting to look a bit shabby so pinged that off.

I had planned to leave no badge on there but the doofus who pulled the original badges off has done it with something sharp and took loads of chunks out of the paint. Stuff like that annoys me so much, there’s just no need. The original badges look terrible so after much random build thread stalking to find the best option I settled on the new style rs badge

I also replaced the original orange indicators with some silver bulbs and tried for some white sidelights instead of the yellow ones. That plan didn’t go well and the new ones are still very yellow so if anyone has any recommendations that aren’t cheap eBay s**t then please fire away.

After that it was time for a drive. Fuel gauge and mpg seem legit 🙈.

I headed up into the sticks and had the chance to give it its first proper B road shake down since it’s been turbod. It was brilliant up there today, just miles and miles of empty roads with nothing but the odd Volvo estate to overtake and stray sheep to dodge.

The car was great. Handling is fantastic as it always has been and the r888r’s stick to the road like warm s**t. They really do give so much confidence when pressing on. The brakes are cracking and showed no signs of fade even on the long downhill stretches with some serious abuse. Gonna take credit and say that’s all down to my brake ducts 😂. The engine is absolutely on point. The extra power pulls it out of the corners so well and I love the noise of the turbo fluttering away and the odd cheeky bang here and there. I’ve not had that much fun in a car for years. Anyway, some pics

 

[Yarp]

I’ve been chasing an abs fault for about 5 years and got it down to the front right. The old abs ring looked a bit suspect so swapped that over as I had one spare

It made zero difference so must be the sensor. I’ve got one ordered so hopefully that’ll sort it. When I was on I spotted the bottom ball joint was a bit sloppy so popped a new one on. As if by magic the knocking over bumps at the front has stopped.

I had another day off so decided to push my luck and had a run up over the Hartside pass and down towards Penrith. The car was faultless again and a beautiful autumn morning made the trip really enjoyable. I covered roughly 180 miles with the loop I did and it never missed a beat. Such a shame winter is coming and it’s going to have to go back into hiding. I’ll probably regret this but I’m actually starting to trust it not to blow up every time I go out now 😂

 

[Mr Underhill]

Couple of small updates. There was a random Renault sport badge on the boot that was starting to look a bit shabby so pinged that off. View attachment 1563634

I had planned to leave no badge on there but the doofus who pulled the original badges off has done it with something sharp and took loads of chunks out of the paint. Stuff like that annoys me so much, there’s just no need. The original badges look terrible so after much random build thread stalking to find the best option I settled on the new style rs badge
View attachment 1563635

I also replaced the original orange indicators with some silver bulbs and tried for some white sidelights instead of the yellow ones. That plan didn’t go well and the new ones are still very yellow so if anyone has any recommendations that aren’t cheap eBay s**t then please fire away.

After that it was time for a drive. Fuel gauge and mpg seem legit 🙈.
View attachment 1563643

I headed up into the sticks and had the chance to give it its first proper B road shake down since it’s been turbod. It was brilliant up there today, just miles and miles of empty roads with nothing but the odd Volvo estate to overtake and stray sheep to dodge.

The car was great. Handling is fantastic as it always has been and the r888r’s stick to the road like warm s**t. They really do give so much confidence when pressing on. The brakes are cracking and showed no signs of fade even on the long downhill stretches with some serious abuse. Gonna take credit and say that’s all down to my brake ducts 😂. The engine is absolutely on point. The extra power pulls it out of the corners so well and I love the noise of the turbo fluttering away and the odd cheeky bang here and there. I’ve not had that much fun in a car for years. Anyway, some pics
View attachment 1563637

View attachment 1563638

View attachment 1563639

View attachment 1563640

View attachment 1563641

Is that Smeathorns Road on the way to Castleton?

 

[Yarp]

Is that Smeathorns Road on the way to Castleton?

I’m not sure. It’s on the A689 just after Killhope Lead Mine heading towards Alston but couldn’t tell you what the name of the road is. It is pretty either way and lovely to drive down.

 

[Yarp]

Why do things always have to escalate? I’ve decided I want more power so toyed with the idea of forging and decided I couldn’t be trusted. Having read incy-spiders build and seen his results (370bhp or so) using Meg 265 pistons and rods I’ve decided to go down that route instead. They aren’t a 100% direct fit and need pockets machined for valve clearance and the rods notched to accept the correct bearings but they are essentially an oem solution. The only issue is you can’t get bigger rings so need a decent block to fit them to. Mine has done under 60k so should be bang on.

The pistons arrived today. They are a matching set and all seem in decent condition. They’ve arrived with bearings and rings which will obviously be replaced. They need a good clean but not point given they’ll be machined

The plan was to get cracking asap but the Clio has been evicted in place of the parts to build the worlds largest climbing frame so it’ll have to wait until the new year

Power wise I’ll be limited by the EFI boost control module and the standard head. Hopefully I’ll be able to go with a decent high boost setup and see at 280-300bhp. At the same time I’ll fit the dci box and see what it’s like. If it’s any good it’ll be coming back out for a rebuild and a diff fitted.

 

[incy-spider]

Nice one mate.. Check the rods are 100% straight also make sure the ring groves in the pistons have no tight spots from being potentially knocked around during removal, storage etc.

Incyspec v2 [emoji106][emoji106]


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[Yarp]

Nice one mate.. Check the rods are 100% straight also make sure the ring groves in the pistons have no tight spots from being potentially knocked around during removal, storage etc.

Incyspec v2 [emoji106][emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers! I’ll check the rods out properly. Already had a fiddle of the rings (as perverse as that sounds) and they are all lovely so more than happy! It’ll be some way off your power too but should still be suitably silly 🙃

 

[npt]

What's the issue with 230bhp, does it just not have enough grunt? I'm guessing 300 ponies on a B road may be too much to actually drive it flat out...thsts where the fun is imo pedal jammed to the bulkhead as much as you can 😁

 

[Yarp]

What's the issue with 230bhp, does it just not have enough grunt? I'm guessing 300 ponies on a B road may be too much to actually drive it flat out...thsts where the fun is imo pedal jammed to the bulkhead as much as you can 😁

There’s no issue with it at all. It’s lovely to drive, plenty fast enough for the road and great fun. To be honest, even low boost is still really too much to be flat out on a B road.

But…. this is the issue with a turbo. I’m at 8psi and I know there’s so much more there. And more power is always a good thing. I’m also still always conscious my 5 series diesel estate dad wagon (and the wife’s 5 series) have much more power than the Clio and I can’t have that any more! Especially given the wife reminds me at every opportunity that she has more power and continues to remind me that when bmw eventually get round to delivering the M850i she has on order that She won’t even be able to see me in her rear view mirror by the time she hits the top of 3rd. I just can’t have it 😂. The pipe dream is to break 200mph in it 🙈. I think I’ll still be about 300bhp short but there’s got to be an end aim 😂

 

[Robbie Corbett]

There’s no issue with it at all. It’s lovely to drive, plenty fast enough for the road and great fun. To be honest, even low boost is still really too much to be flat out on a B road.

But…. this is the issue with a turbo. I’m at 8psi and I know there’s so much more there. And more power is always a good thing. I’m also still always conscious my 5 series diesel estate dad wagon (and the wife’s 5 series) have much more power than the Clio and I can’t have that any more! Especially given the wife reminds me at every opportunity that she has more power and continues to remind me that when bmw eventually get round to delivering the M850i she has on order that She won’t even be able to see me in her rear view mirror by the time she hits the top of 3rd. I just can’t have it 😂. The pipe dream is to break 200mph in it 🙈. I think I’ll still be about 300bhp short but there’s got to be an end aim 😂

My poo hole twitches like a cat with Tourette Syndrome at anything above 100mph in the little French bean can. Assuming you could find ratios and power enough to do anything close to 200mph you would be the dumbest bravest man on the planet.

What does your Mrs do to be ordering a £100k beemer while you lose knuckles changing starter motors on a Clio? Curious because mine it seems cannot even order a curry, I'd like to know where I went wrong.

 

[Krarl]

Trust me when I say this, a mate of mine did 165mph in his old high boost Clio with a dCi JC5 and it was the scariest thing ever. Any sudden movement and we were 100% deaded. I'm fairly certain Carl went off the clock in his boosted Twingo too, theres a reason Clios were build for corner speed🤣

Our other mate will do 160mph in his M235i, still have an extra gear to go and it feels relatively safe🤣🤣

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Trust me when I say this, a mate of mine did 165mph in his old high boost Clio with a dCi JC5 and it was the scariest thing ever. Any sudden movement and we were 100% deaded. I'm fairly certain Carl went off the clock in his boosted Twingo too, theres a reason Clios were build for corner speed🤣

Our other mate will do 160mph in his M235i, still have an extra gear to go and it feels relatively safe🤣🤣

Yea oddly I've done some dopey things in other (bigger) cars and on bikes etc and felt fine - moment I'm in a tiny car going fast I just think I'm about to die every moment (because its 100% true and im a pussy).

 

[Fodda172]

200mph some boy! Lmfao, 280bhp should see the beamers off 👍🏻 This will b interesting! 🤣

 

[Krarl]

I think thats part of growing up @Touring_Rob 🤣

When I got my first 172 at 20 I would genuinely drive it like a pure daft c**t. These days I have that on/off switch that says "If you do this you could kill a family/kids or get off lightly by being caught speeding" and it's not worth it

Especially not with the Spastics on the roads these days, I swear people get in their cars on a morning and out on 2 eyepatches. Knobbers

 

[Robbie Corbett]

I think thats part of growing up @Touring_Rob 🤣

When I got my first 172 at 20 I would genuinely drive it like a pure daft c**t. These days I have that on/off switch that says "If you do this you could kill a family/kids or get off lightly by being caught speeding" and it's not worth it

Especially not with the Spastics on the roads these days, I swear people get in their cars on a morning and out on 2 eyepatches. Knobbers

Its a real thing, until your 25 you are invincible, why wouldn't you do 170mph on a pitch black motorway, in the rain, with your lights off

19 year old Rob was an utter c**t btw. 33 year old Rob shouts at people dropping rubbish and has a cat.

 

[Krarl]

Its a real thing, until your 25 you are invincible, why wouldn't you do 170mph on a pitch black motorway, in the rain, with your lights off

19 year old Rob was an utter c**t btw. 33 year old Rob shouts at people dropping rubbish and has a cat.

Yeah that's speaks volumes, I hit 25 this year and my perception has changed. As much as I still drive like a knob sometimes I still know the risks and don't go too daft

20 year old me sent it down 30mph roads at 120mph with 5 people in the car just for a laugh🤦🤣

 

[npt]

Yeah us car people were definitely daft back in the day, me very much included. Chasing power is good but I like driving the car at speed on a lot of quite roads up here, and most times a lot more power is harder to drive from my experience, I've had the clio to 135 a few times and it doesn't feel too safe 🤪
I'm guessing a 300 brake clio would need to have bone dry roads, a diff, sticky tyres and only be able to flatten the throttle at 4k + on a straight, that's sounds like hard work, but I'm guessing loads of fun until it breaks 😂, look forward to the updates 👍

 

[Yarp]

My poo hole twitches like a cat with Tourette Syndrome at anything above 100mph in the little French bean can. Assuming you could find ratios and power enough to do anything close to 200mph you would be the dumbest bravest man on the planet.

What does your Mrs do to be ordering a £100k beemer while you lose knuckles changing starter motors on a Clio? Curious because mine it seems cannot even order a curry, I'd like to know where I went wrong.

It’ll never ever make it there but it would be hilarious for anyone not driving it. I’ve had it at 140 on the clocks and hated every second of it 😂.

Pissing about with theClio is a hobby. Sometimes, such as with changing stater motors, I question why it’s a hobby but it is. It’s the absolute idea project car really. It takes up very little space in the garage so it doesn’t get in the wife’s way and parts are cheap enough to fly under the radar and avoid complaints.

Trust me when I say this, a mate of mine did 165mph in his old high boost Clio with a dCi JC5 and it was the scariest thing ever. Any sudden movement and we were 100% deaded. I'm fairly certain Carl went off the clock in his boosted Twingo too, theres a reason Clios were build for corner speed🤣

Our other mate will do 160mph in his M235i, still have an extra gear to go and it feels relatively safe🤣🤣

Ah yeah, you’d have been so dead the crash would have killed you, resurrected you then killed you again 😂😂. I’ve got no intention of actually doing it. It’s theoretically possible to spin the wheels that fast with the longest of the dci boxes and a 7.5k rev limit. But, you’d need so much power to move the wind out of the way and haul your f**king enormous b****cks that it’d be impossible.

BMs at speed are a different matter. All the ones I’ve had in the past all seem to feel more stable the faster you go. Suppose that’s the difference between a car designed to munch up autobahn miles and one made to take Pierre to town for baguettes

 

[incy-spider]

Whatever the speed is in 5th @7200rpm is a regular occurrence in Germany in mine.

Feels strange when it happens! (Hitting the limiter in 5th)


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[Adey.]

I've seen a gps 150 and it was scary in the Twingo, didn't take long to get up there either which is surprising given its relatively low power. I'm really tempted to try one of them top speed events next year to see what I can do in a "safe" environment.

 

[Krarl]

I get scared at anything abover 120mph because all I can think of is "that gearbox/cambelt is gonna give way"🤣🤣

 

[davo172]

My poo hole twitches like a cat with Tourette Syndrome at anything above 100mph in the little French bean can. Assuming you could find ratios and power enough to do anything close to 200mph you would be the dumbest bravest man on the planet.

What does your Mrs do to be ordering a £100k beemer while you lose knuckles changing starter motors on a Clio? Curious because mine it seems cannot even order a curry, I'd like to know where I went wrong.

You didn't marry his missus that's were you went wrong🤣

 

[Louis]

You can sit on the motorway at a ton quite comfortably. It's just how long your ears can take it 😂

Need to put some ear plugs in the glovebox to stop the mrs from whining all the time.

 

[Fishfire]

Pissing about with theClio is a hobby. Sometimes, such as with changing stater motors, I question why it’s a hobby but it is. It’s the absolute idea project car really. It takes up very little space in the garage so it doesn’t get in the wife’s way and parts are cheap enough to fly under the radar and avoid complaints.

Totally agree with this 👍

I could have given my car to ED and had a boosted Clio a week later, but half the fun was doing it myself....though likewise, I sometimes questioned my sanity lol.

I'm more than happy with mine at 240bhp and would imagine an extra 60 ponies would make it hilariously pointless whilst still putting a grin in ya face. I'll be watching this build with interest 👍👍😁😁

 

[Mr Underhill]

We all managed 130 + mph in our Clio 182’s on the Autobahn when we went to the ring. I was in my race car, no interior, no sound proofing, plastic windows etc and it was surprisingly stable but the noise was horrendous.

We flew past a VW van which turned out to be the local rozzers. They pulled us because the two lads I was with were driving like numpties. I got a proper bollocking off a copper in his late 40’s and younger than me. Told me to grow up and keep my children in order 😂 At least that’s what I thought he said.

Jon in his 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and now 50’s hasn't changed one bit and I’ve no intention of starting now. 😁

 

[Yarp]

I made a start on the Clio today. It had been banished to the drive whilst the bits to build this were in its usual parking spot in the garage

Now that’s out I was able to crack on. It’s been outside for a fortnight so started with a wash

While it was outside I dropped the coolant, took both rads out, slam panel and bonnet off. Guess I can add a new rad to the shopping list. Also snapped a bolt on one of the ac pipes too so I’ll replace that as well

With the soggy bits out I pulled it into the garage and continued. Upper inlet off, battery and gearbox mount off, upper engine mount off, wiring engine loom separated and ready to come off

Should hopefully have the space to get a hoist in the gap in front of it once all the s**t is shifted. I can’t have it the other way round or the garage door would get rid of any headroom. Hopefully it’ll swing out without having to take the turbo off but we will see!

Can I pull the shafts out of the box and leave them in the hubs on these or do they need removed first? Last engine I pulled was on an Astra and you could just pop the shafts out the box. Would save a chew on of stripping the suspension off again.

 

[Fishfire]

I made a start on the Clio today. It had been banished to the drive whilst the bits to build this were in its usual parking spot in the garage

View attachment 1572396

Now that’s out I was able to crack on. It’s been outside for a fortnight so started with a wash
View attachment 1572397

While it was outside I dropped the coolant, took both rads out, slam panel and bonnet off. Guess I can add a new rad to the shopping list. Also snapped a bolt on one of the ac pipes too so I’ll replace that as well
View attachment 1572398

With the soggy bits out I pulled it into the garage and continued. Upper inlet off, battery and gearbox mount off, upper engine mount off, wiring engine loom separated and ready to come off
View attachment 1572399

Should hopefully have the space to get a hoist in the gap in front of it once all the s**t is shifted. I can’t have it the other way round or the garage door would get rid of any headroom. Hopefully it’ll swing out without having to take the turbo off but we will see!
View attachment 1572400

Can I pull the shafts out of the box and leave them in the hubs on these or do they need removed first? Last engine I pulled was on an Astra and you could just pop the shafts out the box. Would save a chew on of stripping the suspension off again.

When I removed my engine, both shafts came out.

You might be able to leave them in place, but it's so tight for room in the engine bay, I removed as much as I could to make life easier......was still a ball ache though!

Mines out again in the new year to fix the leaking selector seal and put it the RTS clutch I've just bought as the OE LUK clutch I fitted is having a s**t fit at dealing with the extra power 😏

 

[Yarp]

When I removed my engine, both shafts came out.

You might be able to leave them in place, but it's so tight for room in the engine bay, I removed as much as I could to make life easier......was still a ball ache though!

Mines out again in the new year to fix the leaking selector seal and put it the RTS clutch I've just bought as the OE LUK clutch I fitted is having a s**t fit at dealing with the extra power 😏

That’s a shame. I’d take them out of the box but leave them in the hubs if I could so I can keep it on it’s wheels and on skates to move it about.

Shame about the clutch, there’s a few use the oe ones without much bother so maybe you’ve just been unlucky but a better one won’t do any harm 😊

 

[Yarp]

Missed these earlier. Removed the ac compressor and alternator to get as much space in front to swing into as possible.

The aux belt is also significantly past it’s sell by date 😂. The tensioner puts literally zero tension on it and I pinged the belt easily by hand. May have dodged a bullet there….

that’s it now ready to come out. The downpipe to turbo bolts are a total t**t on for access so I’ve unbolted the turbo from the manifold and cable tied it to the wipers to keep it out the way like any normal sensible person would do 🤷‍♂️.

Just need the shafts out, dog bone off then that’s it. I’ve had a small brainwave and when it’s out I’m going to cut the cross member so I can bolt it on/off then once I get access to replace the shagged captive nuts on the subframe it’ll mean that going forward I’ll essentially be able to drop it onto a trolley and wheel it out. That’s the theory anyway!

 

[Yarp]

Ok, so because I’m a total mong I decided to cash in and sold my 5 series. I made £300 more than I paid for it nearly 3 years ago with a further 20k miles added. Absolutely mental 🤷‍♂️.

The plan was to get something reasonably s**t for a few hundred quid until the wife’s new car eventually turns up and I’ll pinch her 5 series off her then. Had a quick search and everything for a grand or so at the minute is total utter dog s**t. I went to view a few from marketplace (the home of the reptile). All were being sold by rancid messes and the cars stank of weed and all had a plethora of warning lights on the dash; despite the owners claiming they are “a1 condition bro fam”

As such, the Clio is coming back on the road and into daily duties 😂. Engine is back in exactly as it was, most the ancillaries are back on, exhaust is on, I just need to decide what to do with epas as a dci rack arrived today.

New plan is to buy another bottom end, get the Meg pistons fitted into that and then when I’m ready whack the current lump out, swap the head over and put the whole lot back in one weekend. Nothing is ever simple!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Ok, so because I’m a total mong I decided to cash in and sold my 5 series. I made £300 more than I paid for it nearly 3 years ago with a further 20k miles added. Absolutely mental 🤷‍♂️.

The plan was to get something reasonably s**t for a few hundred quid until the wife’s new car eventually turns up and I’ll pinch her 5 series off her then. Had a quick search and everything for a grand or so at the minute is total utter dog s**t. I went to view a few from marketplace (the home of the reptile). All were being sold by rancid messes and the cars stank of weed and all had a plethora of warning lights on the dash; despite the owners claiming they are “a1 condition bro fam”

As such, the Clio is coming back on the road and into daily duties 😂. Engine is back in exactly as it was, most the ancillaries are back on, exhaust is on, I just need to decide what to do with epas as a dci rack arrived today.

New plan is to buy another bottom end, get the Meg pistons fitted into that and then when I’m ready whack the current lump out, swap the head over and put the whole lot back in one weekend. Nothing is ever simple!

Aye, the cars that would’ve been scrapped - pre covid - are now selling for upwards of a grand. Still, like everybody else who’s sold up during the new car shortage, you’ve struck the jackpot. Sadly there’s no such thing as a bargain right now. Mad times indeed.