Clio RS250ish

[Matt555]

Back in Jan 2015 I bought a standard 172 in red with 110k off ebay. Over the next 12 months I got carried away with the idea of a track car and ended up with a completely stripped, lightened, ITBd, caged car that made 204BHP at EFI and weighed in at about 865kg.
Another browsing session on ebay turned up a cat D megane 225 with bodywork damage and a 66k engine. A week later it was delivered.
The plan - take the engine and entire electrics from the megane and drop it into the Clio, then remap by either RS tuning or Fast chip to hopefully around 250BHP. How hard can it be?

Anyway a couple pics of the clio and the megane as a starting point

 

[Stay Puft]

Hmm, assumed it would be the meg250 engine. Interested though!

 

[Matt555]

So first job a couple of weekends ago was pull the phase 1 engine, gearbox and 182 manifold from the Clio. Sold the engine to a member on here who viewed it running on the Saturday, by Sunday morning it was out and in the afternoon gone.

 

[Matt555]

Next job, rip the megane apart

I can't describe how much of a pain in the arse that was compared to pulling the engine from the Clio. Absolutely no room to get at anything. Front suspension is complicated dual axis hyperstrut or whatever it's called so getting the driveshafts out required a bit of thought. I had thought why not just build the megane but I couldn't face working on the suspension or under the bonnet on that on a regular basis.
Next job interior and about a mile of wiring loom to extract

 

[Matt555]

Megane is completely stripped and nearly ready for scrapping. Tonight my mate and I got the 225 box off the engine, removed the flywheel and clutch and replaced with the 172 clutch and flywheel

Test fitted the Clio gearbox and some of the holes for the bellhousing bolts line up, some others will have to be drilled and tapped. Decided to go with the clio box as firstly I have a spare, secondly I'd have to have driveshafts fabbed, convert the clutch to hydro setup with remote reservoir, plus a little fettling to the chasis leg. Nothing impossible however I have a deadline of the next track day in August so going for the 'quicker' option and see how the box holds up. If it lunches both the clio boxes then I'll go down the route of the 225 box

 

[Inequality Street]

Lovely!

 

[N11YFE]

Subscribed!

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

Liking this

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

 

[imprezaworks]

Awesome

 

[Welsh.Dan]

Cool build! [emoji41]

 

[dann2707]

This is epic and was what I was wanting to do at one point!

What are the major constraints you're going to be facing?

ECU? Do the engine mounts line up? Would love to know for in the future (incase it does happen)

 

[Matt555]

This is epic and was what I was wanting to do at one point!

What are the major constraints you're going to be facing?

ECU? Do the engine mounts line up? Would love to know for in the future (incase it does happen)

The top engine mount on the drivers side is a direct swap from the F4R to F4RT and by using the clio box the gear box mounts will fit. The one I'm not sure about until I've test fitted the engine is the dogbone. Worst case have to fab one like people have using the 225 box. No major issue though.

For the ECU side I'm using the entire Megane electrics including the ECU, clocks etc hence why I got a written off 225 rather than just buying an engine.

 

[dann2707]

That's such a good idea.

Yeah it would be easy enough to make a dogbone mount. Out of interest how much was the written off megane? Feel free to pm me! Just wondering how much it will cost all in all.

 

[Robclio98]

Nice thread, will be watching this! ive gone through 3 gearboxes on mine now

 

[Matt555]

Nice thread, will be watching this! ive gone through 3 gearboxes on mine now :smile:

Which box are you using? Clio?

 

[Robclio98]

Which box are you using? Clio?

yes mate jc5 box, but I have had the engine in the car for the past 5 years, so im not doing too bad (Y)

 

[Matt555]

Bit more progress. Have removed the clio master cylinder and replaced with one from a 406 as the ports are on the left hand side away from where the turbo will sit, also temporaily dropped the Megane ABS pump into its new home as after a lot of changing my mind I've decided to keep the ABS. Going to cut the steel hard lines off and repipe the ends in cupro nickel pipe.

Also mounted the stainless decat downpipe, fixed a new clio radiator into place and trial fitted the intercooler to see what's going to need to be cut away

 

[Matt555]

Also, have decided that in order to make fitting the JC5 box a bit easier I'm going to change the sump over to one from an F4R. Rang round a few breakers and located one which should be here Tuesday. If I can get that on, then I can get the box on properly and drop the engine in.

 

[Matt555]

Chopped the front bumper support to clear the airflow for the intercooler

And making a start on the Megane loom later. Needs a couple of small repairs and a whole load of unnecessary wires cutting out

 

[dann2707]

Nice progress dude.

Ive decided to go down a slightly different route with it now. Going to use the 225 engine but get a plug and play ecu rather than switching the looms over.

Are you using the clios cooling system? Also was wondering about the braking system, is that going to be kept from the clios? I really need it all out in front of me to understand it haha

 

[Matt555]

That's a Clio rad fitted above as the Megane's one is too large and the one I had fr my ITBs (- scirocco one) was too small in my opinion. I going to combine parts of the Clio and Megane cooling sydtem. Will know more when I get up to it.

For the brakes I've transferred the Megane abs pump and will be connecting it to the Clio rear hard lines and remaking the fronts. The master cylinder is from a Peugeot 406 to move the pipes away from the turbo

 

[Matt555]

Okay, last update for about 3 weeks as I won't have time to get anything done due to work. Changed the sumps over tonight, only had one seized bolt that I had to cut off. Quite why Mr Renault couldn't fit normal bolts to the sump is beyond me instead of stupid E8 torx.

Pics below show the two different sumps. Cleanish looking one is F4R, other is F4RT. As expected the F4R clio sump bolts direct to the Megane block. Second pic shows the different mounting points for the JC5 clio box to make fitting the clio box a little easier.

So hopefully back on this at the end of month and get the engine back in.

 

[Mavez]

Good work there fella! Should be a beast when done. 204BHP with bodies and weighing 865kg surely was mega also!

 

[dann2707]

Nice progress dude. Have you done an engine swap like this before I take it! You're going in ballsout!

 

[Matt555]

Good work there fella! Should be a beast when done. 204BHP with bodies and weighing 865kg surely was mega also!

Cheers. It was bl00dy quick before, so looking forward to how this turns out.

Nice progress dude. Have you done an engine swap like this before I take it! You're going in ballsout!

First time attempting something like this. How hard can it be??? Going for it as I'm booked on at Oulton Park 24th August so has to be finished.

 

[Matt555]

Sitrep: Back from the States yesterday, 30 days till Oulton Park, better get on it.

Used being away as an opportunity to collect a few parts at my dad's so now have the following to fit:

New alloy intercooler, braided brake hoses, Carbon Lorraine CL6 pads, necessary brake pipe and fittings to make new lines, Nimbus heatshield, fan fitting kit to remount my Ken Lowe fan onto new rad, new aux tensioner, and a few replacement bolts.

Tonight's job was get the gearbox on. After making a template for the bellhousing, taking the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate off and on about 10 times I now have a block with extra holes drilled, and tapped in a couple of places

Called it a night at that point. Tomorrow will get the clutch reassembled and the box on for hopefully the last time. Have decided to go with my spare box as it's from a phase 1 as it looks like the megane box has a speedo drive (extra sensor so I assuming it's speedo drive) and will attempt to connect it up if that's the case. Also lower mileage allegedly so will see how we go as my original box is on 111k and crunching into 3rd gear so could do with a rebuild. Surprised the Megane doesn't take it's speed from the ABS though so if anyone knows for certain whether the megane takes its speed from the ABS or gearbox please shout.

However have decided if I can't get the speedo working will run an aftermarket one or GPS.

 

[dann2707]

Awesome stuff dude. Can't wait to see how it all works out!

 

[Matt555]

Righto, slight change of direction. Got the Clio box finally mounted yesterday and then decided to take it off... Keep thinking I'll need an LSD which will cost me a over a grand after fitting and rebuilding a box. So seeing as I can get an RS250 box with LSD of the bay of E and it's designed to take 250/260 BHP I'm now going with the Megane box option.

Big old thing. Have a new single mass flywheel, clutch, cover plate and bearing turning up tomorrow then can get it on.
Took the opportunity to have a go at the chasis leg with a blow torch and lump hammer to make room for the box to try and avoid cutting and plating it. Will find out when I try and drop it in if it's enough

Also mounted the ABS pump and connected up a couple of the brake lines, and made a "bracket" to hold the alternator in it's new position

Took my PMS shifter out, cur the studs off and drilled holes to mount the Megane shifter. It's a perfect fit and clips into place then bolts through from above

Last thing I did today was fit some Focus RS vents to the bonnet as it was as hot as hell with the ITB's on track and it wont be any cooler with the turbo

 

[dann2707]

That took a turn! Will you have enough time to sort out the driveshaft issue, and hydraulic clutch etc?

 

[Matt555]

That took a turn! Will you have enough time to sort out the driveshaft issue, and hydraulic clutch etc?

It's going to be close. The only issue concerning me is the driveshafts. A contact through @windle on here can make the shafts for a sensible price from a set of the megane and clio ones. Hoping to drop them off next week to get them done. Clutch will be fine, need a remote reservoir, a piece of hose for the feed to the master then a custom braided hose to the slave from HEL

 

[Matt555]

In and on its mounts

 

[windle]

brings back memories that does, good work mate worth it in the end! megane box is deff the way to go

 

[Matt555]

Got a fair bit done today. Fitted new single mass flywheel as the dual mass are problematic apparently though it weighs a ton so may need to look at lightweight ones in the future. New clutch and release bearing too, then got the box on and got in with putting the engine in.

Needed to use a load leveller to angle the box down under the chasis rail and other than being a tight fit it dropped in. Drivers side engine mount is from the clio, gearbox mount uses the megane lower half and bolts straight onto the clio upper half and lines up perfectly.

Worth noting to get the starter motor to fit had to notch out part of it to clear the lambda on the downpipe

This is the alternator belt set up as well - uses a 7PK930 belt

 

[Matt555]

Something else I had a look at today was the gear leaver not returning to centre when I drove the megane. Apparently a common problem caused by a nylon bush in the actuator in the gearbox so pulled it apart and need to get some Teflon grease or equivalent which should sort it. White bush shown below. I'm going to get a short shift linkage as well but will probably happen once everything else is done - works by shifting the pivot point on the arm near the bush

 

[Matt555]

Also fitted my fan to the rad using a revote pull through fan fitting kit then put the rad back in. Need to get some assorted 32m, 10mm and 19mm pipe to complete the coolant circuit.

Once the engine was in you can see that the downpipe interferes with the brake master cylinder, I'll get a pic tomorrow despite using the Peugeot cylinder with the ports on the other side. Options I think are take the down pipe off and hammer a section in but will restrict gasflow and still going to be bloody close. Modify the downpipe to move it over but there's so little room between the downpipe, the manifold, the master cylinder I can't see how that would work. My other option which I'm serisouly considering is using a pedal box with integral master cylinders so I'm going to have a look tonight at prices. Will mean running without the brake booster but shouldn't be an issue and gets rid of all the issues with the downpipe

 

[Matt555]

Cut some more out of the crash bar as the intercooler is larger than stock and also had to mount it to the inner skin to move it back a couple of inches or it will go through the bumper. Still waiting on a forge hard pipe kit then can get that installed.

Last job was trial fitting the megane clocks and instrument stalks. There's a plastic collar from the Megane steering column that will fit the clio column once you've dremelled off the inside so the indicators etc will bolt up to the clio column. The clocks are also a great fit - just need to cut a couple of plastic tabs off

 

[Matt555]

Had ordered a hard pipe kit for the intercooler from Forge but found out today it's on 8 weeks delivery time which is no good. So plan B, reuse existing boost hoses - result, getting there

Also made a start installing the wiring. Had to cut the bulkhead out a bit to get all the wiring through to the engine bay but straightforward after that. Aim to get car running and then start cutting all the unnecessary crap out as it weights a LOT.

Made a decision to use an OBP pedal box as well with brake balance bar. Means I'll be taking the ABS and brake booster out which solves the downpipe clearance issue. Will have to find a way of mount the FBW to the throttle pedal and probably use an inline brake pressure switch for the brake lights.

 

[Robclio98]

Excellent stuff mate!

 

[Matt555]

Spent a bit of time on the cooling system tonight and it's pretty much finished, just need a few hose clamps to finish it off. Meg lower hose needed shortening where it connects to the water pump, then connected the bulkhead feeds to my heater with a couple of reducers, Clio header tank connected to the thermostat body where it's blanked off on the megane, and top hose from the Clio connecting to the header tank lower outlet and needs to 90 bend on to the thermostat. Job done.

Also took the ABS pump back out as I ordered the pedal box earlier and it's going in the bin

 

[Matt555]

Dropped the driveshafts off this afternoon to get them cut and welded together. Needs Megane inner shaft and Clio outer shaft. Should be ready in about 2 weeks. Interested to see how they hold up, if I get any issues I've found a couple of local places than can make new custom ones so we'll see how we go