Clio Valver Trackday Car Project

[MarcoValver]

Hi All, Ist a pleasure for me to be a new member in this Forum. First let me intruduce myself in a few words. My Name is Marco, living in Hungary, have to say usually I am a VW lover and driver (sorry about that :smiley but we have/had enough Franch cars in the Family on my Brothers side, so i decided becouse of other circumstaces too (Money HP/weight) to go for a Clio Valver. This gonna be a full low Budget Project, so maybe there gonna be some mods on the car they based on this... It´s gonna be a "road legal" track day car that´s moving on the own wheels to the race track.

Basis: 1992 Clio 1.8 16V, it´s Valver from the french streets, so it has no cat and nox sensor, it´s a 140HP Version.
The chassie is not in a good shape at all, but for a track day car ist a perfect Basis becouse the technik of the car (Engine, gearbox...) works fine.

To do List for the next season wich starts in march 2015:
Strip the chassie, hoping to reach 850-880kg...
Interieur: 2 seats with 4 Point harnesses, OMP Steering-wheel, minimal design.
Suspension: lowering springs, Sport coilovers (custom made), PU bushes on the anti roll bar, hope to get 23mm form the Willi, strate brace in the fornt and in the back.
Brakes: rear Brakes will be fine as they are, in the fornt there´s gonna be a big upgrade. Clio 172 hubs, 172 calipers, 12mm spacers between gearbox and drive shafts (so 12mm wider tread on each side) 280mm Brembo Sport max discs, Ferodo DS3000 pads, 23mm Master Zylinder.
Engine: Self made cold air intake System, modified Clio 172 exhaust manifold (will Need to modify steering lines maybe), 60,3 mm exhaust System (1,5mm wall so 2,1kg/m), ECU chip Tuning. Have also a 2. Zylinderhead at home, but thats for the future.

So These are the plans, hope to get everything done. I bought the car just 2 weeks ago, left it in the garage without even doing a car wash, had no time for that...

 

[MarcoValver]

So These are the pics, the car was Standing 1 year outside...

 

[william...]

by a Valver....It'll be a cheap racecar they said.

Looks like a nice Project!

 

[MarcoValver]

Thanks. unfortunately i have only time for the car every 2-3-4th Weekend, but will update the thread as often as possible...

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Welcome along and good luck. Plans sound good :up:

 

[MarcoValver]

So step 1.
Manged to spend some time this weekend one the car. Did a car wash and put the 15 wheels on. After that i started to strip the interiour. Removed all the stuff that could removed easly. Bought a scale for suitcase to find out the weight of the parts. Maybe there will be some usefull information for others with this datas.
After that i cleaned up the inside ,tried to fight against the dirth of the last 22 years.

 

[MarcoValver]

So the fornt seat. Guess i have to say thould it would be heavier.

 

[MarcoValver]

 

[MarcoValver]

The Backseat: Backside and the two sitting sides

 

[MarcoValver]

Than the carpet from the floor and all the sponges.

 

[MarcoValver]

Side glass.

 

[MarcoValver]

Inside striped

 

[MarcoValver]

Could somebody please help how the hell i can post my photos better. Some are too big some are too large...

 

[MarcoValver]

So here are the weights of the parts those have been removed.
Backseat full: 15kg
Front seats: 27kg
Side glasses: 6.5kg
Backside panel and side panel in the back with speakers and safetybellts: 6.8kg
Floorcarpet: 10kg...
That makes apr 65kg.
Spare wheel and the holder allready gone, should also make apr 10kg.

More to loose on the front door panels ,backdoor ,bonet ,some parts of the dash, exhaust system and some other litle things.

 

[MarcoValver]

For me the importance is:
1. Weight
2. Brakes
3. Suspension
4. Power

 

[MarcoValver]

Some new parts arrived...
A second zylinderhead for fourther tuning steps
Brembo Sport max 280mm Clio 172 Discs
Ferodo Racing DS3000 Pads for Clio 172
Schroth Belts
Castrol Racing 10W60 Oil and new filter

 

[MarcoValver]

Also some Kilos were gone... Frontdoor panel 3kg X2, Endmuffler of the exhoust system 6,8kg, Roof carpet 2.5kg...
Still a lot of weight to loose... Ordered some plexi glass ( 4 m²) too...
Looking now for Clio 172 driveshafts and brake master Zylinder to finish the wide track conv. in the fornt...

 

[Cub.]

Parts and plans look good so far!

Welcome along!

 

[MarcoValver]

Some new stuffs arrived that week...
Sparco seats, Avon 210-15 Slicks, OMP strut brace and some FK -60mm lowering springs...
So now nearly all parts are there, so i can start next weekend to do some work on the car itself.

 

[MarcoValver]

Managed to do some work on the car last Weekend. Unfortunately still in the Phase of disassemble the front part (Brakes, Suspension, drive shaft) not putting it together...
Front hub is off, will try this week to make a hybrid hub from the 172 and the Valver, so the original Valver driveshaft can fit with new bearings an mashine down the well know 2mm from each side of the hub wich contacts to the coilover (Pictures later)
After that hard work ( every bolt f*$&g rosty....) went to do some light mods.
Fitted together the modified coilover ( with other valve and some changed internals much harder and 3 cm shorter) with -60mm springs.
Removed the backdoor, removed the motor, cabels and some metal were cutting out too. End: -4kg, still with the original glass.
Brakecooling: Removed the foglights cut out some Plastik from the brake disc box of my old S6.... sitting perfect... Used some vakuumcleaner lines, just becouse those are small enough to fit through chassie and gearbox, wishbones... Will put a bigger collector on the front to have better and faster airflow, this is just the first try, Level -1...
Got a fornt left light from an other Clio, removed the glass an the plastic mirror from the inside, painted it black, now i have a perfect cold air intake for the race track...
Also some more kilogramms were gone... Removed 6kg of Isolation tapes from the Roof.
Next Weekend hopefully everything starts getting togehter on the car...

 

[MarcoValver]

 

[MarcoValver]

Done some serious Job in the Weekend, working every day till 11:30pm...
First of all I had to create a hybrid hub. It means the 172 hub with new bearings completed with the Clio 1 midle part so it will fit the Clio 1 driveshaft.
The hole on the Clio 1 coilover for Connection side to the hub must be a M14 hole, so grabbed the driller an after a half hour all the 8 holes were M14 size...
To fit the driveshafts to the 172 hubs wich is 1cm wider on each side i drilled some 5mm spacers to use them between hub bearing and driveshaft, so on the inside we have also 5mm outside from the gearbox wich is far in tolerance.
Aftre that some light work again... Removed 6kg of Isolation from the trunk and from underneath the front seats.
Designed the frame for the Sparco seats, fits perfect, Looks a bit of Balkan style, but it works... Pictures later...
Fitted the hole front together (new top Mount bearings, stearing ball Joints, new bolts) the hub with the Suspension, the Brembo Max discs, Caliper holders with the Jurid White Ceramic pads and the 172 brake calipers.
So the car is fitted together so far, rear Brakes and adjustment of the front Suspension in planed for Friday........ First trackday on Saturday!!!!!

 

[MarcoValver]

So great News... first trackday is done... everything workes just as fine as it should... Here some Pictures and a Video from a lap, not my best time, remember this was my first time on a racetrack ever...

Video (no mods on air filter or exhaust System, full original)

 

[Stay Puft]

I love these old valvers, looks good mate.

 

[MarcoValver]

Hi all,

here ist just a small Video about the Sound of the car These days. There is just the endmuffler removed end an OMP open air filter bolted on. Now we bild a full 60mm Gr A exhaust System on it.

 

[terryc101]

Sounding good! Nice to see it getting some use out on track where they belong.

 

[MarcoValver]

Hi all, after a bit of silence, some new steps are ahead. This Weekend i will remove the lower arms and will replace the original Bushes with Pulyurethan, also on the ARB and on the engine/gearbox Mounts.
To loose some weight from the front, will cut the inner side from the Hood, and will put plexi glasses all around, just becouse some plus weight is going into the car, in form of a rollcage( original made for Saxo, will Need some welding to fit, but no Problem). An Oil-cooler System from a Saab 900 turbo will be fitted in the front, hopefully the oil tempeture will not rise above 110-115 Celsius.
Will modify the front top Mounts, to have a better turn in camber and much higher Corner Speed. Can´t tell now everything, will post some pics to let you see what i mean.

End of August had some fun on the F1 circuit of Hungary, the Hungaroring. Had really a lot of fun, and the litle 16S was running 35 laps wihtout ANY issue!! And let me tell you there was 35 degree in the shadow, 45 on the track!

Here some pics:

 

[CallyTeee]

That's some lean on the front end in that last pic! :smile:

 

[MarcoValver]

That's some lean on the front end in that last pic! :smile:

Yeah, that is what i have to work on, but the Suspension and the Setup was nearly oem, so some serious Change is coming up in the next weeks. By the way this is the turn called "Mansell", the fastest turn on the track, i Didi it with 110km/h...

 

[MarcoValver]

So a full Weekend with work on the Clio is gone, had some seriuos Problems with rosty screws, but everything went good on the end.
Removed the hydralik power steering totally, the pump, the lines, the rack and the column. Also removed with the pump a lot of unnecessarry Aluminium holders.
Will fit now the electrical assisted power steering from the Clio 2, will require some cable work to be correctly Speed depending, but it will be ok.
The weight winning is less, what i was expected. The whole System is 9.5 Kg more then the non power assisted. But anyway, still something, the weight on the front is the most important Thing in those light FWD smal cars on the track.
Will install the old F7P altenrator with a 1.8 8V Laguna alternator holder, so can use a 850 6PK belt.
Removed the glas form the trunk door, it has now a weight of 7,3kg, bought some plexi glas to fit in, also on the side-back Windows.

 

[MarcoValver]

The engine will get some update, too. Will install a kevlar race clutch, a leighter flywheel, an adjustable fuel pressure regulator an hopefully a 172 exhaust manifold, modified like some one did it before like this:

http://www.cliosport.net/threads/the-1st-f4r-manifold-converted-to-fit-an-f7r-i-think.651898/

I estimate with a Cup chip real 145-150HP, but hopefully it will be more...

 

[MarcoValver]

On Saturday I installed a new water pump, there was nothing wrong with the old one, but once the front is stripped I can Change a lot iof parts easy. The alternator is also fitted with a 822 6PK belt. Loosing weight will never stop on the car so far thats the cheapest way to be faster. Removed the heating vent/fan (1,8kg), the Radiator from underneath the dash (2,8kg), and when the dash was removed, also the Isolation form the back (3,0kg). Ordered a 12V hot air vent usually used in Caravans to have a clear windscreen and not to frezze my eggs
Cut out the inside of the Hood, not the prettiest way, so no Pictures yet, but also a weight saving of 4,5kg.
The next step is to install the electric power stearing from a Clio 2, that will be the most deifficult part of the whole Story...
Some Goodridge high Performance brake lines arrived, i Thing the brake System on the car is updated to the Maximum with a one pot caliper System.
Here some pics:

 

[MarcoValver]

Electric PS from Clio 2. Will only work with a Special custom made controll unit, becouse the MK1 does not have a digital gearbox and speedo Signal.

 

[rctempire]

Looking good @MarcoValver
Wanting to see the electric rack in to see how you manage to make it work.

Like the 172 manifold idea, a lot of work but worth it.

 

[MarcoValver]

Looking good @MarcoValver
Wanting to see the electric rack in to see how you manage to make it work.

Like the 172 manifold idea, a lot of work but worth it.

Thanks Mate, it should work, just a question of time to do the whole wiring. Will also put in a wiring diagram/layout up here to make it also possible for other members to install.

172 manifold depends on the shape of the bolt from the 16S manifold, if they are rosty and hard to get out, i will leave it, dont wanna take the zylindehead down becouse of this, if one of them brakes...

 

[MarcoValver]

Christmas is this year a bit further, some beautifull parts arrived from strongfelxhop.eu . 4Xlower arms, 2XARB inside and 2XARB outside. Will also Change the engine/gearbox Mount into PU.

 

[MarcoValver]

I just bought the heater for the windscreen, and a safety device just for the case...