Kangoo Compact (aka Racevan3)

[Brigsy]

Have you taken the rear ballast off yet? If not that might be an option.

id lower the front a touch if not.. for scene points..

Still need to take that ballast off and weigh it, its huge! Will revisit it soon when shocks turn up.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Had the Kangoo in for exhaust yesterday. As it only had a decat on, i had a recovery truck booked to take it down. Sods law i got a text at the last min saying the truck had failed its mot badly (transit - rust), nobody else available and as id waited ages to get in and did not want to wait another month, ended up driving it down. 5 miles of noise, but on the plus side it drives absolutely bang on.

Arrived at Longlife Middlesbrough and straight on the lift. Asked for 3" stealth system with single silencer with v bands for ease of removal.

Megane Scorpion 3" front pipe needed a tweak as a bit close to the floor.

Vband and pretty tig welding

Mocking up backbox. Went for an offset baffle pipe to drop the noise a bit. Most megane systems use a small round straight through baffle piped silencer, which makes them loud as feck/bit washing machine sounding.

No restrictions here

Finished

Nice and discreet

Noise tested it and it should be ok for 90% of track static noise tests, i think it was 98db around 4500rpm.

Kangoo Compact Renaultsport Megane R26 engine conversion. Custom 3" exhaust.

Kangoo Compact Renaultsport Megane R26 engine conversion and running gear. Custom 3" stealth exhaust, single silencer made by Middlesborough Longlife.

youtube.com

Overall very pleased and great job/fitment.

On return journey home i give it a little tickle in 2nd gear to see some positive boost and it seems very lively lighting the tyres up with ease. Did not go mad as no idea what the fuelling is like, but i dont think it will be a million miles away, as the ecu was mapped for a fair bit of power and made 330hp/350ft/lb years ago in the r26 i took it from, on a similar engine setup.

Drives like a megane, feels solid and positive on turn in, brakes are good. Should be fun once fully mapped.

Thanks for reading !!

 

[Ben perry]

Very seggsy mate

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Weeks leave off work, so finally got my Aem afr and Spa dual oil pressure/temp gauge wired in.

Ive been putting this off as ballache to run wiring through to engine bay/up the dash. 8 hours later and done, had dash almost fully stripped to run wiring, as heater box is tight against the dash and almost no room to run wiring to the cubby hole. Front end off to get the sandwich plate plumbed in, and oil and filter changed for millers cfs motorsport 5/40.

Look good though, and work grand. Oil pressure seems good, ran it up to 75deg oil temp so not fully warmed up, its reporting 70lb pressure when revved to around 3k so cant be in too bad shape.

As per my other post, its sprang a fuel leak on the sender or pipework, so going to need to drop the tank. Its not a gusher but annoying and needs tank dropping for access. Looking forward to sorting that out will drop tank when new fittings have arrived.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Jossman]

Cracking work. I bet this is a barrel of laughs. It's extra hilarious because of the even shorter wheelbase and the wheels making it look like a rollerskate I'd want smaller wheels personally but I tend to like things silly low so don't listen to me ha.

Just needs the highway maintenance livery and chevrons up the back doors next.

 

[Mcaff]

This is definitely my favourite vehicle on here! Just something so unserious about it, love it!

 

[VenomUK]

@Brigsy what is the button for between the two gauges?

Filter change on these is a joke!

 

[Euan Baguette]

@Brigsy what is the button for between the two gauges?

Filter change on these is a joke!

It lets you set warnings and read sensor outputs etc


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cookson]

This just gets better and better. hat exhaust work is great, and I actually like it on the 197 springs. I'd be tempted to bring the front down a little and try a coilover cup as suggested. Hats off to you pal

 

[Brigsy]

Cheers all. Its been worth building for the comedy value alone.

I fancied a set of clio 200 cup racer 17x8 speedlines on this initially, if i could get it a bit lower as its a large arch to fill. Could still be an option, The et would be better too. I need to try a set at some point.

Working on rear springs at the moment. I have a set of clio 197 stock rears here (which suspiciously look like clio 172), picking up a set of clio 200 springs at the weekend hopefully. Springs all over the place!!

Straightened the front of the sills up yesterday from years of monkeys jacking it up incorrectly, cleaned up minor rust, zinc primer, epoxy mastic then painted white over the top.

No pics, as i was extremely pissed off after accidently knocking the paint tin over onto my block paved drive. I can confirm if you clean the spill up straight away then clean down with strong trade acetone it all comes off and keeps the mrs from kicking off

Logbook came back yesterday after a 3 week wait with 1998cc and petrol declared.

This is good news as i need the logbook to tax it, and last engine conversion i done with fuel class change took 3 months with Dvla losing the paperwork.

Check out the model, its almost longer than the van

Mot booked for 10th April. Just needs windscreen changing which is booked in for next Tuesday, and fuel leak addressing. Mapping booked for Mid May at Efiparts.

Thans for reading!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Cheers all. Its been worth building for the comedy value alone.

I fancied a set of clio 200 cup racer 17x8 speedlines on this initially, if i could get it a bit lower as its a large arch to fill. Could still be an option, The et would be better too. I need to try a set at some point.

Working on rear springs at the moment. I have a set of clio 197 stock rears here (which suspiciously look like clio 172), picking up a set of clio 200 springs at the weekend hopefully. Springs all over the place!!

Straightened the front of the sills up yesterday from years of monkeys jacking it up incorrectly, cleaned up minor rust, zinc primer, epoxy mastic then painted white over the top.

No pics, as i was extremely pissed off after accidently knocking the paint tin over onto my block paved drive. I can confirm if you clean the spill up straight away then clean down with strong trade acetone it all comes off and keeps the mrs from kicking off

Logbook came back yesterday after a 3 week wait with 1998cc and petrol declared.

This is good news as i need the logbook to tax it, and last engine conversion i done with fuel class change took 3 months with Dvla losing the paperwork.

Check out the model, its almost longer than the vanView attachment 1530542

Mot booked for 10th April. Just needs windscreen changing which is booked in for next Tuesday, and fuel leak addressing. Mapping booked for Mid May at Efiparts.

Thans for reading!

Nice - what was the process like? Did you have to prove purchase of new engine?

 

[Brigsy]

Nice - what was the process like? Did you have to prove purchase of new engine?

No proof of engine purchase needed, just a basic letterheaded paper saying vehicle reg no xx, presented at xx mileage with said engine and fuel class.

Nice and easy and did not take long to sort, compared to when i done my Extra 13 years aho, dvla lost the letter and took 3 months to sort.

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

On Good Friday (fuel leak Friday!?) dropped the fuel tank to sort the leaking pipe.

Exhaust off in ten mins, so easy on vbands.

Tank off in 20 mins and could not immediately find a leak. I changed the tank sender fitting to a 90deg one and redone the sender connection, to make for minimum tension.

See the red/blue an fitting? That was an old ptfe fitting i used with a new insert.

Refitted tank/tested with pump on for leaks and the red 90deg fitting was leaking like feck.

Diagnosis, insert was incorrect and cut into the ptfe liner!? Ive made loads of an lines up over last 15 years and not had an issue.

Drop kicked the fitting, cut the hose and fitted a brand new 90deg fitting. Job jobbed, from now on will fit new fittings as not expensive.

 

[Brigsy]

So with the fuel leak sorted, and new windscreen fitted it was mot ready.

Took it for mot today and straight through its test. Mot tester and the garage staff were amused at the wheelbase had all the staff looking at it and a few nice comments of how good the conversion looks.

So with that milestone achieved, taxed it - £275 a year which is great as cheaper than megane.

Stuck some more fuel in and took it for a 30 mile shakedown which went well with no issues. Drives great steering is spot on, direct and sharp, suspension feels nice and solid like a good meganesport should, gearchange and brakes are good, interior suprisingly rattle free. Could daily drive this in comfort no worries.

With the afr gauge hooked up and had torque monitoring the boost on the obd, give it a tickle in 4th to check it all works and no vibrations etc.

Makes 20psi peak boost and theres plenty of fuel in the current map (mid 11 afr on boost), its all systems go when its on boost and feels rapid. Had to roll off the throttle as no knock detection on and not pushing my luck too much, but once mapped it should go well, really well for what it is.

Give it a check over and cant see any hoses rubbing or nothing untoward, stuff that causes unreliability. No coolant or oil leaks touch wood which is nice.

Shakedown pics

A small list of jobs to do but nothing too bad.

Exhaust manifold gasket is blowing - only gasket i did not replace before fitting the engine. Bit of a ballache but scuttle is bolt on so should be more room than megane to do the job.

Thermostat needs changing, coolant temp is lingering around 78deg. Ive got new gen renault stat to fit, and need to flush the coolant as block had been ran on water years ago so a bit of shite in.

Drivers side cv is clicking on lock, noisy but not urgent as no vibration. I expected this as off an old shaft.

Geo needs doing. I planned on getting that sorted today but the geo lift was busy so will get it done asap. The steering wheel is straight and drives straight so cant be a million miles off.

So not a bad list of stuff overall.

In other news i ordered a deatschworks dw65c fuel pump to go with the 5 bar intank reg i have to fit. Arrived promptly, will build up another sender to fit.

Also seen this 1:43 model on ebay. Only £25 ish delivered from France so was a no brainer, genuine Renault and even has a part number on the box!

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

No proof of engine purchase needed, just a basic letterheaded paper saying vehicle reg no xx, presented at xx mileage with said engine and fuel class.

Nice and easy and did not take long to sort, compared to when i done my Extra 13 years aho, dvla lost the letter and took 3 months to sort.

Smashing thank you, I have a 320i touring with an S54 which I want to register properly, been dreading it because I don't have proof of purchase for the engine although it does have engine numbers etc so not stolen.

 

[Brigsy]

Mid week update

Have been using the Kangoo quite a bit to see if any little niggles developed. Have done 90 miles up to now without issue, short runs, motorway, b roads the lot. Runs really well even though it needs mapping to suit the new engine spec.

Fitted a new ply base to replace the knackered old one, and new ply on the rear doors

De rusted a small scab on the roof where paint must have been chipped off in the past. Applied Bilt Hamber deox c, cleaned up great. No finished pics but covered in hydrate 80, zinc primer then touched up with glacier white.

Pic from blasting about

Wheels were covered in brake dust and rust flakes from initial braking cleaning the rust off the discs from standing. No problem for Bilt Hamber autowheel though, spray on, let it dwell and blast off.

No after pics as ran out of light.

Might do the manifold gasket this weekend and new stat/coolant flush, will see what the weather is like.

Thanks for reading!

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

It makes me smile every time I see it side-on, hilarious. Should be a riot once it's mapped.

 

[Daz.]

^^^^ It's just a pleasant thing!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Mid week update

Have been using the Kangoo quite a bit to see if any little niggles developed. Have done 90 miles up to now without issue, short runs, motorway, b roads the lot. Runs really well even though it needs mapping to suit the new engine spec.

Fitted a new ply base to replace the knackered old one, and new ply on the rear doorsView attachment 1532983
De rusted a small scab on the roof where paint must have been chipped off in the past. Applied Bilt Hamber deox c, cleaned up great. No finished pics but covered in hydrate 80, zinc primer then touched up with glacier white.

View attachment 1532988
Pic from blasting aboutView attachment 1532984
Wheels were covered in brake dust and rust flakes from initial braking cleaning the rust off the discs from standing. No problem for Bilt Hamber autowheel though, spray on, let it dwell and blast off.View attachment 1532985
No after pics as ran out of light.

Might do the manifold gasket this weekend and new stat/coolant flush, will see what the weather is like.

Thanks for reading!

That bilt hamber wheel stuff is good isn't it.

You not tempted to add some serious anchor points in the back, imagining 300bhp with an engine floating around in the back might upset the balance a bit.

 

[VenomUK]

Reminds me I must sort my chip out in the same spot where people close the wrong door first!!

 

[Brigsy]

That bilt hamber wheel stuff is good isn't it.

You not tempted to add some serious anchor points in the back, imagining 300bhp with an engine floating around in the back might upset the balance a bit.

Wont be having much in the back of this as no room its easy to get carried away when fully loaded.

Back in the day when i used to do a bit of mobile work in my gtt converted Extra van i seen triple figures with engine hoist and a gtt engine in the back. Sharp backed off when i remembered how much gear in the back.

Reminds me I must sort my chip out in the same spot where people close the wrong door first!!

Never thought of that, makes sense that will definitely be the reason for the paint missing.

 

[Brigsy]

Weekend updates

Changed exhaust manifold gasket as could hear it blowing when running. Have been dreading this as it looked tight and imagined the engine would need to come off the mounts and be a bit of a carry on.

However the kangoo scuttle fully unbolts so got that off, and that makes loads of room compared to megane, allowing the turbo to come straight up and off.

45 mins later its stripped

Found the issue straight away, wrong exhaust manifold gasket fitted. Also found a k nut had snapped in half that was holding the turbo to the manifold, bizarre.

Megane gasket on the right, assume the one on the left is 172?

Piss poor fit, barely covers the edge of the manifold.

Megane one fits much better.

Whilst apart fitted a nimbus heatshield. Should have done this before fitting engine, as abs block was exposed. Will hopefully reflect a fait bit of heat.

Fitted it all back together and then flushed the coolant out as it had gone a bit rusty from sediment in the block. Took a fair bit of flushing/backflushing to get the water to run clear. Fitted a genuine Renault thermostat whilst apart as noticed stat was weak and was not getting up to temp fully and lingering around 75/78deg on a run.

Fresh type d

Temp gauge goes up to 2nd mark and sits rock solid now. Oil temps better when cruising too, 80deg instead of low 70s.

Next job was intercooler upgrade. I had previously got the tube and fin intercooler dirt cheap off a mate to mock it up. However it did not look great when driving - i noticed charge temps would shoot up 5deg or so higher than ambient temp straight away on low boost.

Tube and fin as fitted below, looks a bit shady cant imagine it being great on high boost.

As planning on running a fair bit of boost, i upgraded to a chinese bar and plate intercooler. Bar and plate always cools the charge really well compared to tube and fin. I run the same bar and plate intercooler on my Extra van, and 28lbs of boost the charge temps are always great, just above ambient.

Fitted straight on as basically the same, no mods required.

On road test had torque hooked up to the obd, and noted the charge temps did not move above ambient on a quick boost up to 18psi, so noticeable improvement, should work good when mapped.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Have been using the Kangoo a fair bit over the last few days to see if any issues would arise. Done over 300 miles in total and nothing up to now touch wood. Even tested the cooling system in mcds drive through as got stuck in it for ages the other night, rad fan cuts in at 99deg and cools it down nicely to 92deg.

A few bags of shopping and the back is full

Had the toe set. I guessed it when fitting the megane rs tie rods and only passenger side was out by 3 mins or so. Set quite neutral for now.

Less castor than a megane as they are usually around 5 from memory, so might be a future job to add some with fancy top mounts.

Had a good run out on Fri night and went all over, mostly B road blasting.

Had the OG out of the garage on Sat so took a pic.

Cut some fresh plywood sides for the rear today, looks clean in the back now.

Done a small mod to the reverse lights. Only has a single reverse light on the drivers side originally, but has the space for the bulb on passenger side and wired up but no hole in the light. Simply fitted a bulb to the holder, drilled a hole with a cone drill and we have a matching reverse light.

Give the comps some tlc too. They had heavy fallout/tar and some discolouring from track use by previous owner. Got most of it off and a mild cut by hand/wax, look decent enough.

Mpg recorded on the cluster is 22mpg which is prob about right. Bit thirsty on this map but not the worst.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

A few more jobs done

Bonnet gaps were on the piss as one of the bonnet rubber stops was missing. Dear from renault new considering what it is, so ordered on ebay from Germany, arrived in 3 days at less than half the price and oem part number on it.

Fitted, catch adjusted and loads better

Next job was lowering on the rear. The height and ride on the back on stock shockers/H&R kangoo springs was pretty piss poor, and did not do the handling any favours.

Ive been sniffing around for rear springs and had 4x sets in stock, Clio 197 o.e, Clio 197 H&R, Clio mk4 200 cup and modus.

One of the lads on the kangoo/kubistar group on facebook has ran the modus springs for a few years and his sits good. The pigtails fit properly, its not silly low, its quite firm which suprised me.

As the springs are quite a bit shorter than original Kangoo had to use shorter shocks, Clio mk1 16v Gaz rears fit with minor mods, had to fit a spacer on the lower mounting point.

Spacer as fitted, its all torqued up solid. Ideally a custom set of shocks would be best but i reckon Gaz would supply similar with a larger insert in the polybush.

Less droop when jacked up

Sits quite decent now settled, low but not too low on the rear. Shocks are 4x clicks from fully soft to keep some comfort on the road. Handling improved instantly.

I also have the option of fitting the clio 197 oem rear as they are 25mm of so shorter than Modus, but are a little loose in the spring cups when jacked up, which is about the same as most lowered 172's so may be an option in the future. Will see, its a lot less offensive on the eyes now.

Will soon be the countdown for mapping, will get the new fuel pump and 5bar reg installed this weekend coming. Planned on doing it over Bank hol but its pissed down almost every day.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Small update

Had my eye on a late clio 200 cluster to replace the 197 cluster that i had fitted. The 197 dials did not offend me too much but not too keen on the silver insert.

197 cluster as fitted, not the worst.

Replaced with 200 cluster. I believe white rev counter was on the last year of production for the 200 as most were yellow.

Plugged clip in and reprogrammed most of the stuff out. For some reason changing from keyless settings to normal key would not work right leaving the cluster lit up until uch shut down.

Took negative terminal off to try and force it into programming mode and save settings, give up eventually and fired up my other laptop with Ren0link on.

Changed the "type clef" and saved, job done in 30 secs. Can force most settings to save, but one slip and you might be in the s**t if your not careful

Note rev counter needle low on the pic above, looked fine on pics so can only assume its slipped in the post. Checked against obd data when running and it was 300 rpm out.

Cluster out again and popped the needle off with a fork, reset and checked on obd data which reads ok, job done

Took this opportunity to use some light compound on the lense to remove some scratches, came out nice. Renewed the trim around the binnacle which was previously silicone hose.

Thanks for reading !!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

You've got some serious energy mate - nice job.

If you could pop by mine for a few weeks I recon you could get all my s**t broken cars sorted and sort the extension I keep putting off.

 

[t90_lle]

Followed this on Instagram for a while now didn’t realise there was a thread on here!!

Great build @Brigsy !! 👌🏻

 

[16V F7R]

I reckon Brigsy could have a right good business travelling around resto modin’ old Renaults! Get that van sign written up 😂

 

[Djw John]

Or just going round finishing other peoples s**t. I'd love to have a 1/10th of the motivation.

 

[VenomUK]

I reckon Brigsy could have a right good business travelling around resto modin’ old Renaults! Get that van sign written up 😂

SHUT UP AND JUST TAKE MY MONEY!!!

 

[Brigsy]

Cheers all. A few years back i used to go mobile and do loads of work to other peoples cars. The knock on was i used to neglect my own cars and no progress to my own, last min repairs the night before trackdays as hardly any spare time.

Ive got another project car ticking over in the background waiting to be done after this too "project x"

Ive been working on my garden ready for turfing this week which has been a ballache so only managed a day on the Kangoo in the last 2 weeks. On countdown to mapping >2 weeks Sat so best pull me finger out.

Cleaned up a spare megane sender and fitted a deatschworks dw65c pump and modified 5 bar fuel pressure regulator. The 5 bar reg is needed so i can use the rising rate regulator on the 250 fuel rail.

Sender cleaned up and pump is drop in, no mods required.

No pics of dropping tank as ballache but done and dusted.

Ive seen a couple of reports of issues/ megane upc burning out with the aftermarket uprated pumps fitted, not sure if isolated or not though. The old walbro 255 had not melted it with stock 3.5bar regulator, but moving up to 5 bar reg and the amp draw is larger so may cause issues.

Was not taking any chances so hardwired the fuel pump to take the load off the upc. The original meg fuel pump wiring looks to be 14/16 gauge which is borderline at best and this is diesel loom so god knows what its like on the interior harness.

Ran a fat 10 gauge live wire fused from battery, to a 40amp relay that fits nicely on oem interior fuse box, and straight to the pump connector. Should be a decent voltage at the pump now and no worries about the upc burning out.

No pics of fitting but it was a solid 3 hours of graft running the cable in nicely, had to take the arch liner off the nearside rear to get to pump wiring, ply lining off the inside, strip glovebox out, battery and tray out. Right carry on

Whilst dash was apart i took the silver heater control surround off and painted it with textured bed liner paint. I was not a fan of the silver and it had to go, also done the rings around the outer air vents. 100% improvement all done black.

Will give the boost circuit a leak test next weekend but in as it stands, it should be good to be mapped.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Robbie Corbett]

Awesome work! This needs some horrendous stickers or sign writing on it.

 

[Brigsy]

Awesome work! This needs some horrendous stickers or sign writing on it.

Cheers mate. Been thinking about motorway maintenance chevrons for the back doors😆

 

[tomsteer]

Cheers mate. Been thinking about motorway maintenance chevrons for the back doors😆

Surely you'd need one of these too...

Pardon our interruption...

It makes sense!

 

[Craigy69k]

This is amazing! Just caught up on the build from the start great work brigsy looks incredible 👍

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

More prep for mapping today, boost circuit leak testing. Essential step as i want all the boost

Whipped front end off and bunged the pipes at the turbo/throttle body connections. Stuck 1.2bar in and it held it straight away, no leaks. I was expecting to have to nip a clip up but no need.

Next step was to stick the throttle body hose back on and pressure it up from the turbo to check the inlet for leaks.

Again no issues which is good. Leaks a little bit of pressure past the valves that are open as expected but throttle body adaptor is ok.

Stuck a fat 35mm2 earth cable on the engine block to inner wing whilst there as belt and braces.

Needed a catch tank too as the rocker breather was just open to atmosphere. Room is very tight and the only real space left is down behind the bumper. Temp 2ltr pop bottle hooked up with holes in the top. This is a bit of a homage to my Extra van that ran a robinsons bottle catch tank for several years before fitting an alloy tank last year. Its not msa spec but it will do

All back together and road tested and running great.

Also fitted a 3mm rubber penny mat to the rear to stop stuff sliding all over on the ply. Shez cut it to fit and done a great job.

2kg powder fire extinguisher fitted which hopefully will never need to be used.

Roll on mapping next Sat, cant wait to see how it performs.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Brigsy]

Last few jobs done

Stainless air filter bracket to stop it resting on the brake fluid reservior.

Purge valve emissions s**t delete with a resistor to keep the ecu happy and no lights on. Had the valve plugged in and no pipes so had to go.

Last job was a good clean up

Full tank of juice ready for tomorrows run to Efi

Any bets/predictions on hp? Bottom figure should be 300hp, top end would be absolute max of 380hp really flogging it. Im going for reliable take it all day power.

 

[Big Toe]

Looks amazing.

Can you get new engine mount bolts? I’ll not sleep after seeing them

 

[Adey.]

360bhp 330lbft

 

[Adey.]

360bhp 330lbft