clio cup racer - chassis #17

[shirt]

following on from our other thread:

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?734574-Clio-172-Cup-Race-Car-Info-Request/page2

we thought it best to keep things rolling in the projects section.



we planned to do very little after the first weekend. the jobs list comprised:

- fitting the headlight blanks.
- moving the seat up and back a little.
- investigate tyre rubbing on full lock [highlighted on the auto-x].
- eliminate play in gear linkage.


first two were easy, the third highlighted the need to hammer the arches as there were telltales all over. the rears especially worried me as the cage bolts protrude quite far down.

the linkage caused further headaches. basically the pivot on the box is loose and so rocks side to side quite markedly instead of fore/aft for gear selection. we tightened it the best we could but have plans to go oversize and machine a bronze bush. more to follow on this one.

so, with that all done we brimmed the tank..............and found fuel to be pissing all over the floor!

we have a boot tank filling the oem tank to give approx. 80litres total [to be confirmed]. it appears the oem breather has been fudged to stop fuel leaking from it when the top one is brimmed. this had failed. we patched it as best we could using a bit of fuel hose and jubilees but this meant about half a litre of fuel still escaped and we both got fuel burns to our backs, arms and head as we sorted it all out. not the best at midnight and the panic meant we did not take pics of anything else we had done upto that point!


so anyway, we arrived to the autodrome last friday with the car seemingly sorted. a couple of snaps of the typical thing we get on a trackday. caterhams are popular with all, there's a few ex touring cars [clio 3 and a mk5 golf in shot] and plenty of tuned jap metal. supercars tend to be visitors from other gulf countries and are almost always badly driven. the mclaren almost got a side full of nicole.

oh yeah, we have christened the car nicole.....

sadly our day ended before the car had even got properly warmed up. jase lost the brakes going into the last turn, pumped the pedal hard to avoid the wall and locked up/flatted the front tyres. with no spares we were relegated to playing mechanic for our friends and wondering how much this was all going to cost....


back at HQ, we got a good look at the tyres, which are fooked...

and found a very simple explanation for the brake failure:

the car has been sat for 18mths and so this has to be taken as just one of those things. the intact pads are glazed from overheating and the right front disc [the one the pad failed on] is scored.

problem now is that we have no idea what the calipers are. searching for the casting marks is drawing too many conclusions. our best guess is that the rears are std. 172 and the fronts are used on the mk1 megane coupe, scenic and mk2 laguna. any ideas?

front right:

rear right:

looking for pad options. performance friction or carbon lorraine endurance pads are coming out tops so far for a trade off between stopping power and longevity. what do you guys use??

we do need to find out what the calipers are from before proceeding as the seals are also shot. given as we need to import this stuff and there's another trackday on the 14th we need to get it right first time.

the search is also on for new tyres that don't cost the earth. got a lead on a set of enkeis with scantly used slicks but unfortunately the tyres are 185's so no good on their own and the inner rim fouls the caliper. shame as they look damn good imo!

also had a rear brake change to do on my jeep. loved the tyre size comparison!

so that's where we are for now. focus has switched from initial jubilence to making sure we are safe on track with a car that hasn't been run for a while. i noticed some of the studs have a little wiggle in them so we may replace the lot and also buy new nuts. calipers need servicing and we will look to sort the arch clearance.

other short term upgrades will be a silicon hose kit for the coolant side and an oil cooler. we also want to investigate a bigger rad. temps are starting to creep and it'll not be long before we're running in 30deg+ ambients. also having done track sessions we need to change the gearbox oil.



we'd like to use this thread to keep track of what we do to the car and to gain knowledge and info for how to maintain and improve it. any input would be most welcome!

 

[Andrewclio]

How you getting on with this? Hope the manual helped?

After reading your initial thread I also had a lot of play in the gear leaver, so last week I decided to change all the rod end bearing and leaver bearing at the base, as they had play in them(probably originals) anyway this wasn't the main cause as the play was very marginal.

so spoke to swr(sadev) and they advised me to change the spring in the main detent in the top of the box( the one with the grub screw) which when I took it apart the spring was in 2 pieces and apparently really common to break! Well it's made a load if difference, the gear change feels very stiff and direct now and eliminated all the play in the leaver! Most probably what's causing yours!

 

[Matt e]

front calipers are standard 172/182 ones, the carriers are fitted the wrong way round though

you can get new seals from here

http://biggred.co.uk/catalogue.php

 

[MG cup]

I believe you have the two piece rear hubs and iirc they are from a Mk1 laguna like most of the bits on the cup racers so I'm guessing the calipers are the same.

Speak to IanSpeedy as he has been through this and opted for standard Clio 1*2 disks which I'm sure are a straight swap, I think he later found the type of disk required but stuck with the 1*2 disks.

Also I don't know if there is much Ginetta racing out in the UAE but they share the same size of tyres on the older cars and race teams will have cheap surplus.

 

[eastlmark]

Hi and wow you have had some issues there! The rear calipers are standard 172/182 items as well.... although the part number is different I think this is only due to the original ones not having a handbrake actuator on them. I just replaced mine with standard ones anyway.
Interested in your fuel leak problem as the breather on mine just sits open under the tank and I cannot work out where it should go to or if that is just normal, I have never put anything like a full fuel load in so don't know if it will leak or not if I did.

 

[MG cup]

Hi and wow you have had some issues there! The rear calipers are standard 172/182 items as well.... although the part number is different I think this is only due to the original ones not having a handbrake actuator on them. I just replaced mine with standard ones anyway.
Interested in your fuel leak problem as the breather on mine just sits open under the tank and I cannot work out where it should go to or if that is just normal, I have never put anything like a full fuel load in so don't know if it will leak or not if I did.

Cup racers were evolved as the were produced and I'm almost 99% sure that's not oem 1*2 rear calipers, its certainly not the original fit hubs. They are very much a mixed bag of parts from one to the next.

As you can see in some of shirts pics he has the latest edition rear dampers (iirc the black are the latest) and also red revised springs.

Your breather, there should be two infact.... One that leads to the fuel cap and another, which on the standard car leads to the carbon canister that is mounted behind the front bumper via a plastic pipe under the car. Your car won't have a CC as its not needed, it was only fitted for emissions which of course yours doesn't have to fulfil having never been designed for road use.


Also to the above reply about the carriers being the wrong way around. Yes that's right but keep them the way they are, it will help repel any kitty litter that might get in there when your talent runs out

 

[e21jason]

Thanks for the reply guys, we worked the callipers take stock pads so we got new front and rear pads from the UK.

With the breather issue we don't have a stock filler neck the car has an ATL quick filler set up and takes 20l in 20 seconds. The breather hose was extend from behind the tank with braided hose and terminates in a roll over valve inside the boot closure, it is the pipe join that failed.

the other issue we found was the rear callipers do not have the retaining wedges for the pads, did the race cars use an alternative method to hold the pads in.

also I am in the uk for a couple of days next week and was wondering if anybody new where to get a fibre glass bonnet of the shelf.

 

[sonny172cup]

Great write up thanks for sharing.

 

[MG cup]

Speak to Halracing on here, he'll do FG bonnets and boots for cheap. Someone might be able to help with a direct phone number.

 

[GrahamS]

I 100% recommend carbone lorraine pads. Mine (RC5+) lasted for over 30k of hard hard miles and still had meat on them when I sold them. Due to the type of compound they got better with a pounding on track but worked well even when cold.

 

[NorthloopCup]

also I am in the uk for a couple of days next week and was wondering if anybody new where to get a fibre glass bonnet of the shelf.

Lol that'll not fit in hand luggage!

 

[eastlmark]

the other issue we found was the rear callipers do not have the retaining wedges for the pads, did the race cars use an alternative method to hold the pads in.

.

They should have the wedges, only mod I have seen is wire replacing the clips. Still think the calipers are stock 172 items, why would they uprate the rears leaving the fronts standard? Whatever they came out of Dieppe with, they have probably all had standard replacements fitted over the years.

 

[ian-speedy]

The front discs and calipers and standard 172/182 items , rear caliper again are standard items , but the rear disc and hub are separate , the discs are the same size as standard but were made by Alcon , the rear hubs and bearing are from a Laguna and are a bigger diameter than standard 172 bearings

the rear calipers need the wedges fitting otherwise the pads will fall out , been there got the T shirt ! I hold mine in place with wire lock

 

[Daverb]

You can just change the rear discs to standard ones instead of the 2 piece if they need replaced. Does need a little spacer though which is a standard part. Did this on mine. God only knows if you can/where you can get the 2 piece ones.

 

[ian-speedy]

I have also had to fit the standard one piece discs on mine after doing a rally in December the wheel bearing collapsed and snapped the disc , I just expect to change bearings more frequently now

 

[e21jason]

They must being a run on t shirts, that's how we figured out something was missing from the rear calipers, and also the fact there was a Marshall waving with a brake pad in his hand.

 

[ian-speedy]

I didn't have a marshall waving mine at me , I found out at the end of a 6th gear straight going into a first gear left , hit the brakes at the optimum braking point and the pedal went to the floor , had to put it into a spin to scrub speed and hope for the best as there was a brook and a field in front of me with tree's scattered everywhere , so a very lucky escape !

Had to change my nappy in service lol

 

[ScottRallye]

I can sort you a proper radiator out no problem.. And any other aluminium parts you may need, oil cooler etc.

 

[e21jason]

Been using the car for a few trackdays, but i snapped the timing belt and need a new head, any ideas where to get a decent used 172 head

Jason

 

[LeeRS]

pay £12 and head over to the wanted section.

 

[haimsey]

Any updates on this?