Martin's Track Clio 182 Project Thread

[Martin.]

Little update....

So on Saturday I bolted everything back up and put the box oil back in. One litre at a time, extensively checking for leaks in between. All looked good. I even ran the car on the axle stands to get a good look whilst it was all spinning. Still looking good I put the wheels on and proceeded to take the car onto the road.

The juddering on the corners has gone now (or I wasn't pushing hard enough to notice it) so that hopefully means the shorter Ph1 shaft has stopped the bottoming out issue, which is great. I stopped up the road to have a look underneath and I could see drops of oil so I jumped back in and headed home.

When I pulled back on the drive, I looked underneath again and the oil was streaming out. I quickly jacked the car back up to try and save the remaining oil and got back under to have a look. It all looked the same as before, so I have no idea why it was leaking so bad. The sleeve was still solid and spinning with the output splines.

By this point I was feeling very frustrated so I left the car as it was and didn't touch it for the rest of the weekend.

Anyway, on a brighter note, I've just spoken to John at Gripper. He was extremely pleasant and very helpful.

He explained the old and new design of diff to me. The new design solves this sleeve leak issue. He then offered to send me out a new longer and smaller sleeve and gave me some advice on how to fit it if I wanted to try it on my drive. He said if not I could bring the gearbox to them and they would sort it for me, all free of charge. The turn around is 3 days and they would then TNT it back down to me.

I did consider having another attempt on my drive, although I've now been swayed to just send it back up to them. This will no doubt be more reliable and eliminates any errors on my behalf.

So this weekend I'll take the Gripper'd box back out and get it back up to them. Can anyone recommend a decent courier for a gearbox? Or does anyone I know happen to be heading up that way in the next week lol.

 

[Mini182]

John at dave mac is great, always had good customer service off him.

Glad the shorter shaft has solved this juddering issue.

 

[sonny172cup]

Glad its getting sorted mate

 

[Martin.]

So am I mate. A little bit of hassle having to take the box out again and send it up there but at least I know it'll be sorted for good.

Also means I need to sort out my tracking again when it's all fitted back in though.

 

[Martin.]

Another little update....

A very productive weekend for me. This is how I left the car on the last update (August 5th)

That weekend (August 8th) @GrahamS very kindly came over to help me get the gearbox back out again. This time, as above, it was going back up to Gripper.

So as instructed by John at Gripper, I boxed the entire gearbox up and stuck it on a pallet.

To my surprise John then arranged for TNT to collect the box from me. This was a very welcome gesture.

They received it next day and it was stripped down on the side of other jobs. It was only 7 working days from collection day to re-delivery!

So this weekend (August 27th) I thought I'd give it a go and get the repaired gearbox back in myself. With an extra pair of hands from the old man. Graham also swung by again, just as we were about to put the subframe back on. So he helped us maneuver this into place as it's not the easiest job when the car is on stands. Everything else was bolted back on, the gearbox was filled with 3.1L of oil, and the car was put down on the ground and tested.

Finally there are no oil leaks (yet anyway) and it's nice and clean underneath again..

I took the car for a blast on the road and everything feels sweet. I'll be looking at Brands Hatch track days today and hopefully getting something booked.

I'm glad I cracked on with the gearbox job myself. It did take me about 8 hours all in 😂 but now I know it's something I can do in the future rather than having to make others do it for me.

Big thanks to @GrahamS for once again offering a helping hand. Hopefully he can get his cup on track with me.

I'd also like to give a big mention to Gripper. They have been absolutely awesome. John was extremely friendly over the phone and they have gone well and beyond their warranty responsibilities. The picked the box up from me, repaired it and sent it back down to me without charging me a penny. So I'd recommend them to anyone now and I wouldn't hesitate in giving them my business in the future.

Bring on some track days...

 

[sonny172cup]

Praise thee Lord...

Well done on fitting it yourself mate.

 

[GrahamS]

Yay. I was absolutely shocked at the progress made when I rocked up! You got your DIY mechanics qualification that day!

 

[Mini182]

Good stuff, glad it all got sorted in the end.

Now get out there and give it some stick!

 

[npt]

just read the whole thread, very nice car with good modifications, must be a right pain with all the failures though, lets hope you can get to finally use it in anger and have some fun, can i ask where you got the bolts coated from? im looking to do the same thing with getting everything cleaned/coated when i finally get round to modifying the cup

 

[Martin.]

just read the whole thread, very nice car with good modifications, must be a right pain with all the failures though, lets hope you can get to finally use it in anger and have some fun, can i ask where you got the bolts coated from? im looking to do the same thing with getting everything cleaned/coated when i finally get round to modifying the cup :smile:

Thanks mate.

It all really stemmed from the clutch failure, thinking it was the gearbox and then sourcing a new one quickly for a straight swap over, that then presented me with the box problems. All done now though which is a relief. I've got two track days booked so far. One at Brands one at Bedford.

There's a place near (ish) me which does the coating. They're called Colins Chemical Backing. It's just zinc coating, lots of places will do it. It costs about £20 for a shoe box of nuts and bolts.

 

[sonny172cup]

When you doing Brands Martin?

 

[Martin.]

When you doing Brands Martin?

Tuesday the 8th if you fancy coming along mate.

 

[sonny172cup]

Maybe, thats a few dats before Combe and will be prepping the car (geo and corner weithing) only have 3 days. Will let you know. I

 

[Martin.]

Maybe, thats a few dats before Combe and will be prepping the car (geo and corner weithing) only have 3 days. Will let you know. I

No worries.

I might swing by that weekend if you're doing the setup then, so I can watch and learn

 

[sonny172cup]

I will be taking it to Mark Fish Mate hopefully.

Need to get rear beam looked at as well.

 

[Martin.]

I will be taking it to Mark Fish Mate hopefully.

Need to get rear beam looked at as well.

He's worked wonders on George's car. He qualified 1st at Silverstone in the 750MC series. Unfortunately he got tapped and couldn't keep the lead.

 

[sonny172cup]

Yes mate I saw, Big well done.

It was the Silverstone southern circuit

 

[Robert_rowlo]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I'm aware I haven't put this in the right place but I just wanted to put it in a post that has been active in the last two years ha. So yesterday out of no were I found a puddle in the passenger footwell drivers side, and under the drivers side seat. I have recently been on holiday so the car has been stood still. Did some resarch and most common problem was the centre scuttle pipe being blocked. I had a good rummage and give it a good fingering, came out with green and brown slime all over the place. By cleaning all that and flushing the system with warm water will that do the trick? Thanks people

 

[Martin.]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I'm aware I haven't put this in the right place but I just wanted to put it in a post that has been active in the last two years ha. So yesterday out of no were I found a puddle in the passenger footwell drivers side, and under the drivers side seat. I have recently been on holiday so the car has been stood still. Did some resarch and most common problem was the centre scuttle pipe being blocked. I had a good rummage and give it a good fingering, came out with green and brown slime all over the place. By cleaning all that and flushing the system with warm water will that do the trick? Thanks people

You'd have been better off posting it in here buddy. The 'Post New Thread' button towards the top right of the screen.

http://www.cliosport.net/forums/clio-discussion.21/

But yes that should do the trick. Obviously you'll have to remove the water already in the car yourself though.

 

[GrahamS]

I had a good rummage and give it a good fingering, came out with green and brown slime all over the place.

I'd take her to the doctors

 

[Robert_rowlo]

To be honest as I was writing it I was thinking I should put more car directed innuendos haha

 

[Martin.]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[Martin.]

"For some reason I can't select reverse"

"You could do with new brake discs"

"This chain isn't going to cut it i'm afraid"

@Kelv 😂

 

[Martin.]

I did an evening at Brands Hatch last night. There was a lot of traffic but it was good fun and the car performed very well. The weather was cool and dry which was perfect for the car.

I did have a few tiny moments though. For some reason the throttle kept sticking open. When you let off you expect to slow down, but when you carry on going it is very off putting and confidence knocking. I've no idea why it's doing this but it happened about 5 or 6 times. We oiled the throttle cable mechanism and it seemed to help a bit. So I'll take the trumpets off at the weekend and try to oil the butterflies too as well as everything else again.

I've never oiled them before and @sonny172cup advised me that I should. So hopefully this will sort the small issue out.

Also, the drivers side bumper bracket (which I had already trimmed down) had bent downwards on itself, absolutely no idea how that's even possible, but luckily I caught it early as it was taking small chunks out of the type. A quick mallet bash back up and it seemed to be fine after.

I put another face to a name which was good. Nice to meet you @C l a r k e y

 

[sonny172cup]

Glad all went well Martin. I take it your return spring is in good condition too and moves freely? As said before make sure you oil inside the cable, unclip cable and put few drips of oil or ptfe spray that will keep moisture at bay and stop any rust... Worst case scenario the throttle cable is freying causing tention.

 

[Martin.]

Glad all went well Martin. I take it your return spring is in good condition too and moves freely? As said before make sure you oil inside the cable, unclip cable and put few drips of oil or ptfe spray that will keep moisture at bay and stop any rust... Worst case scenario the throttle cable is freying causing tention.

Problem is, I just bonded my cable to the nipple on the linkage arm 😂 to stop it coming loose. So won't be able to take it off easily. Was thinking about just spraying some oil down the cable cover and seeing how it goes.

 

[NorthloopCup]

Problem is, I just bonded my cable to the nipple on the linkage arm 😂 to stop it coming loose. So won't be able to take it off easily. Was thinking about just spraying some oil down the cable cover and seeing how it goes.

Wd40 it mate. Keep spraying it in every day for a week and then every weekend after that. It'll soak down the cable.

 

[Martin.]

Wd40 it mate. Keep spraying it in every day for a week and then every weekend after that. It'll soak down the cable.

Will do man

 

[sonny172cup]

What about the pedal end? I also do the same to the clutch pedal cable too.

 

[Martin.]

What about the pedal end? I also do the same to the clutch pedal cable too.

I'm pretty sure it's got a bit of plastic or something to stop it going through the other way. I will have a look though.

 

[sonny172cup]

Ok... As Mark said the wd40 or ptf cans have the small red straw so hopefully you can insert that and squirt away until your hearts content

 

[C l a r k e y]

I put another face to a name which was good. Nice to meet you @C l a r k e y

Nice to meet you too, great car and thanks for showing me around.

 

[Martin.]

I randomly found some third party footage of my car at Brands. Each clip is only a few seconds long but I enjoy seeing and hearing my car on the move from someone else's perspective :smile:

EDIT: No idea why it won't let me embed the YouTube video at different time stamps! MODS do you have any idea? I'm trying to link the same video three times, each with a different time starting point but for some reason it doesn't work and this site just replicates the same video three times... Facebook lets me link all three.

This is the video anyway. Spotted at 1min25s, 26m20s and 31min57s

 

[Martin.]

 

[Martin.]

I've just realised that if I post the links in a new post, the time splits work properly :smile:

 

[Martin.]

I gave the car a little clean up yesterday. Washed off the rubber marks and brake dust from the Brands evening.

A complete spanner check over will be done this weekend, if the weather allows. Then it'll be left until the next outing at Bedford GT on the 14th Nov.

 

[Martin.]

Taking the car to Bedford on Sat. It'll be my first proper go on the GT circuit this year and my first go on the 'new layout'

Is anyone else going?

 

[chris-foci]

I'll be there in a 172 Cup. Weather looks to be raining all day though which is a shame.

 

[Martin.]

I'll be there in a 172 Cup. Weather looks to be raining all day though which is a shame.

It does unfortunately. But I still really enjoy Bedford in the wet as there's no barriers. It may be slower paced but you can still have some fun slipping about on the corners.

 

[chris-foci]

Ive only done it once before in the dry. Debating whether to run our 16's with Yoko S-Drives or our 15's with NS2-R's. Decisions decisions.