Covid182 the longest clutch change ever

[Robbie Corbett]

Absolutely fabulous thread. Way more patience than me for cleaning up parts!

I also know your pain of owning multiple cars as I also own 6 cars (7 until very recently!) and have the constant battle of keeping them all on the road. Doesn't help 3 of mine are pre-80s, so neediness was built in.

Looking forward to seeing this back on the road.

Thanks very much! Unfortunately I've given up the battle. Including the Clio (which is dubious) I have 2 cars which are road worth, 5 which are not. Not including bikes - I've really dug a hole which sadly isn't deep enough for the cars... just me! I think my general plan is to get that number down to 3ish over the next year... all good plans etc. Plus I'm itching to buy something I really like/want to use and I'm 100% banned from any vehicle purchases until I've sorted it out haha.

Anyway, thanks very much for the kind comments.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Great stuff. Are the new rear brake line to replace just the rear beam hard lines and terminate at the bracket with flexi still in place or do they also replace the flexi as well?

Agree with how difficult installing the dust boots on the rear caliper piston is. I found the trick was to install the boot on the piston, then insert the piston into the caliper and wind it into position then push the boot onto the caliper lip.

Cheers dude, yes the lines should go from calipers to body hard lines. Replacing beam and also flexi lines. Seemed like the nicest all round solution as my flexis look shagged and I found and lovely scab on one of the beam lines which didn't fill me with warm tingles.

 

[Clio_fool]

Those calipers look mint👍. I think once this is driving I'm going to replace it with my old nail and you can start all over again while wondering wtf you've been doing and if it was all a dream or not 😂😂.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Those calipers look mint👍. I think once this is driving I'm going to replace it with my old nail and you can start all over again while wondering wtf you've been doing and if it was all a dream or not 😂😂.

*Sprays entire car, top to bottom with black Dinitrol* 5mins later "DOONE".


is basically what is happening to the next car I go near (mine or not)

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Jesus - where did we get to.... I've done a fair bit more to the car since the last update. Had to take a break to sort out a few house bits.

Got the rear brakes and new braided lines on the car

Took an eternity to find the right type and length of ABS sensors but after buying 6 finally got it right

By this point the rear end was really starting to come alone

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Next up wash the manky heat shields

Decent scrub with degreaser

Treat any corroded bits - seemed to do F all.

Starting to run low on fancy Eastwood paint, so backside is one colour, t'other side is another... hope the mot bloke doesn't complain haha

Bought a used Miltek system after trying to buy a new RS192 which was out of stock etc. Happy it was to be honest, after 3 weeks of waiting cancelled the order and next day this popped up, half the price and in good shape!

Gave my tips a good rubbing

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Cat was starting to look very sorry for its self - is the original one and looks fine inside

Someones been here before!

Sanded and quickly painted

Mounting brackets back on the car

New heatshield clips from RPD

Some time later

Added some clear wax after finally bolting up rear lines

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Time to begin the exhaust saga. I f**king knew I had a couple of spare mounts somewhere but buggered if I could find them... obviously found them in the boot of another car since... fool

Anyway. Two new mounts, surprisingly difficult to set on fire, had to build a little stove and soak everything in lighter fluid before it would get going properly, neighbors loved it... not. Weirdly building a stove out of wood worked.... great! f**k you science.

More grinding later.... bored of grinding things now

Bit of paint and some 3D printed mounts in place.... interested to see how long they last. Printed by a chap on here marked up by 50M% by KAM and bought by yours truly. But generally more than happy to support a member on here who is giving it a go.

Trying to get this all together was a c**t. Not many pictures because it was actually struggle street

At this point playtime was over for a while. Needed to rip out a b*****d massive concrete lintel from the yard, had failed when some cowboys fitted double glazing the year before, but was likely going to fail anyway... they just hurried it up. House isn't supposed to be red either but thats another fascinating tale of cowboy misery.

f*****s 300KG!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Its bumper day... yay *getting quite bored of forgetting to order stuff for the weekend by this point

Bumper had been in the garden for some time by this point. The undertray was done for so will be replaced by future Rob. Time to clean the nature off

Gave the airbox a good scrubbing too and some aerospace 303

Front badge had been caved in by a mong previous to my ownership, only one I could find on short notice was a badly sprayed one

Few tickles later

Wham bam, forgot to take a few pics mam

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Looking alright in the now standard weekend rain

Potentially over done it on the camber bolts, and/or in desperate need of some spacers... another future Rob job

Then these arrived from a friendly member on here, unsure on the Hankooks but will give them a good try

 

[Robbie Corbett]

It was at this point that I knew... I had fucked up

No matter what I did, I just couldn't get rid of play in the front bearings... after a few back and fourths it turns out that the SKF bearings I bought (believing them to be the dogs bits) were from a faulty batch, so in a fit of desperation I bought another paid of 60mm hubs from @Inferno182 (well recommended!). New hubs were in much better shape than the last scabby ones I cleaned up. But still a bit 15 year old mank

A 4 hour dip in citric acid later with bearings etc still in place

Then pressed the drive flanges out and went to my lock up to use THE - WORST - SANDBLASTER - EVER.

Over that pile of s**t, any remaining scabs were.... you guessed it ground off (with a good dose of wire brush in drill n eye). Dishwashered while she was out no doubt not socially distancing from her mother or something daft and painted. Not as pretty as the last ones but these actually work.

At some point I pressed the bearings out and round off the inner's from the drive flanges (such a dick of a job). New FAG bearings installed.

The fitted them up on the absolute pissing rain. End result was NO PLAY thank f**k for that

 

[Krarl]

Pervert levels of work Rob mate. Looks wicked!!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Fixed a few minor bits (cable ties on brake lines, grommets where new lines go through mount etc, fitted new battery blah boring).

After having a word with my self about spending getting a bit out of hand decided I wouldn't buy a new induction kit as originally planned but obvisouly couldn't fit a standard (and probably better in every way) standard filter back in.

Then, this morning I took the old dear for an MOT!!!! yay!







On route the alternator started trying to combust.... f**k ducks. After saying (to my self) that the pikey van in front was smoking a bit much for the trees and such slowly figured out all the smoke was coming from me.

Pulled over:

Was much worse in person. Smoke was more and I was standing in the road swearing a lot. Engine off didn't stop the smoke, all tools at home. f**k sticks. Drove slowly/quickly (f**k knows) home, to the safety of tools and ripped the battery lead off. Measured 0.7 ohms across the battery leads which is basically a hard short across the alternator because my leads are 0.5 ohms on their own.

Ordered a new genuine Alternator from eBay and a 100mm Jubilee clip (if you know, you know). Won't arrive until next week. Tomorrows plan is to charge the battery and take it for the MOT with alternator disconnected. Apparently will pass with alternator light on (we shall see) but I haven't had an MOT for a couple of weeks now and need to park it on the road. Its been there for so long I'm sure it will get reported by some do-gooding-arsehole-bored neighbor at some point.

And thats me done for now.

Cheers all.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Pervert levels of work Rob mate. Looks wicked!!

Cheers Kyle. Absolutely bored stiff of the sack of s**t now lol. Was actually looking at pics of yours and @Louis wheels that convinced me the TH's were an essential addition!

MOT
Alternator
Tracking

Likely will wait until the slightly warmer weather to sort out the body work and interior, so more disaster stories to come for sure.

 

[Krarl]

Cheers Kyle. Absolutely bored stiff of the sack of s**t now lol. Was actually looking at pics of yours and @Louis wheels that convinced me the TH's were an essential addition!

MOT
Alternator
Tracking

Likely will wait until the slightly warmer weather to sort out the body work and interior, so more disaster stories to come for sure.

Lol I wouldn't follow my lead in regards to wheels. I have 8 sets for the clio at the minute 😂

If you ever fancy a drive up North we'll probably have a drive around the peaks when we're allowed out to play

 

[MLB]

Looking great @Touring_Rob I bet you can't wait to finally take the b*****d out for a proper drive!

 

[Radugns]

Wow. Those braided lines are just perfect. From where did you get them?
Lovely pics and work!

 

[RustyMojo]

Nice work Rob! Looks fantastic.

 

[Alastair.]

Amazing!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Lol I wouldn't follow my lead in regards to wheels. I have 8 sets for the clio at the minute 😂

If you ever fancy a drive up North we'll probably have a drive around the peaks when we're allowed out to play

Haha, yea 8 is maybe a bit much. Drive in the Peaks sounds mint

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Looking great @Touring_Rob I bet you can't wait to finally take the b*****d out for a proper drive!

Wow. Those braided lines are just perfect. From where did you get them?
Lovely pics and work!

Nice work Rob! Looks fantastic.

Amazing!

Thanks very much 🖖

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Wow. Those braided lines are just perfect. From where did you get them?
Lovely pics and work!

Hi Radugns,

Lines are from here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clio-172...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Made by a member on here @BRT Motorsport I would certainly recommend them so far 👍

 

[Colin-S]

Such an epic build! A great write up with lots of pics.

Just to add I got my brake lines a while back direct from @BRT Motorsport great service and would also recommend

 

[finch wxm]

Great build buddy

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Thanks chaps!

Well it's at the MOT station now. With duff alternator and badly adjusted gear selector so it's a mare to get into reverse. Had to leave it there because they are rammo...

Never goes well when your not there to glare them into passing it ha. Find out tomorrow!

I'm off over Xmas so should have plenty of time to get cold fitting the alternator! Also want to collect and fit all the underside plastics before driving it too much.

 

[JamesBryan]

You need a mate at the MOT station 😂

 

[Robbie Corbett]

You need a mate at the MOT station 😂

Haha, fortunately I'm friendly with the owner. Only issues come if one of the younger lads does an MOT. The really fresh ones are so eager to do everything by the book!

Issue more is that I take quite a few cars there and I don't think most of the guys will associate the car with me, unless I stand there making small talk. Find out tomorrow, really hope it passes as I can't be arsed to fix much more than the alternator over xmas!

 

[botfch]

You need a mate at the MOT station 😂

Haha this, my guy will pass it while my cars still sat on the drive at home...

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Haha this, my guy will pass it while my cars still sat on the drive at home...

I did have a mate of a mate who would do that. Last year my friend had to take his car to VOSA to be inspected because they caught onto him..... need to find out what happened with it all but suspect he's either not inspecting anymore or has been arrow straight ever since lol

 

[JamesBryan]

I did have a mate of a mate who would do that. Last year my friend had to take his car to VOSA to be inspected because they caught onto him..... need to find out what happened with it all but suspect he's either not inspecting anymore or has been arrow straight ever since lol

He'd be fucked if caught, sure it's prison time 😂

 

[Krarl]

He'd be fucked if caught, sure it's prison time 😂

10 years for fraud I think😂

Mine is friendly in the respect that if a wheel is falling off or its pissing brake fluid then he'll tell me to go away with it but if a bulb is ballsed he won't be arsed

 

[JamesBryan]

10 years for fraud I think😂

Mine is friendly in the respect that if a wheel is falling off or its pissing brake fluid then he'll tell me to go away with it but if a bulb is ballsed he won't be arsed

Aye, same.

Wouldn't want to take the piss 😅

 

[Clio_fool]

I hope it passes Rob🤞.

I had to find a new tester a few years ago and thought sod it the wife's car is new enough to pass clean so took it to halfrauds. They failed it on a couple of bulbs out and wanted to charge me £20odd to replace them. I declined and said I'd return in a couple of days when I'd sorted it and the guy told me as it had failed the mot I couldn't drive it away. I wonder how many people that actually works on?

 

[Robbie Corbett]

He'd be fucked if caught, sure it's prison time 😂

s**t! I should really ask what happened then 😂

 

[Robbie Corbett]

10 years for fraud I think😂

Mine is friendly in the respect that if a wheel is falling off or its pissing brake fluid then he'll tell me to go away with it but if a bulb is ballsed he won't be arsed

Yes thats the level I'm at with mine. He wouldn't pass a decat or something obviously dangerous. I mean, I wouldn't have him over for brunch or anything but the 3-4 times a year we do small talk is just about perfect.

Also helps that I say thanks with £20 etc... that seems to buy muchos future bulb changes and helps him to ignore various pedantic issues. He passed a gone track rod end last year on the understanding that I change it, when I went in for an air con pump up he checked I'd done it... guessing if I hadn't he wouldn't overlook things like that in the future 🤷‍♂️

Its a relationship which mostly works ok and he hasn't tried to bum me yet, not even once

 

[Robbie Corbett]

I hope it passes Rob🤞.

I had to find a new tester a few years ago and thought sod it the wife's car is new enough to pass clean so took it to halfrauds. They failed it on a couple of bulbs out and wanted to charge me £20odd to replace them. I declined and said I'd return in a couple of days when I'd sorted it and the guy told me as it had failed the mot I couldn't drive it away. I wonder how many people that actually works on?

Some of them are properly pedantic divs. He had a young lad doing MOT's a few years back who I didn't know and he failed one of mine because the indicator wasn't orange enough... it was as orange as it was ever going to get the c**t. Luckily said owner stumbled in and told him to stop being a prick. Pass, £20 thank you and he's been good as gold ever since.

You watch, now I've gone on about what great MOT friends I have the Clio will have a hard fail in the morning haha....

 

[Usr117063]

Quality work Rob. Although the faded blue grills need a coat of satin black 😄

 

[DomP182]

I've just caught up with this, it's done two things-

1. Made me really unhappy with my engine bay.
2. Given me a bit of motivation to get stuck into it again.

 

[Clio_fool]

I've just caught up with this, it's done two things-

1. Made me really unhappy with my engine bay.
2. Given me a bit of motivation to get stuck into it again.

I'm stuck at no 1🤣. I might check the bonnet catch to make sure the thing stays shut.

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Quality work Rob. Although the faded blue grills need a coat of satin black 😄

Haha, thanks Zak, yep its on the todo list. Want to get exterior sorted when it warms up a bit. Was trying to work out if the grill would have been black or grey from new?