I'd like you to meet my mkI 1.8 16v. 
It's from 1993 but it's only had 3 owners (me included), and I've had it for nearly a year.
It's in top condition, with leather interior and sunroof (although they can sometimes be a disadvantage considering I take it to 4-5 track-days each year, but since it still is my daily-drive they're staying for now).
It already had a few mods, done by the previous owners:
-Williams wheels;
-Front Koni Sport Dampers and H&R springs;
-OMP strut brace (painted black);
-Braided brake lines;
-K&N panel filter;
-De-cat;
-Remap;
Here are a few pics of when I first bought it:
And my first track-day with it at the Estoril circuit:
Cooling the engine after I was done:
After the track-day I realised the rear dampers were completely dead so I decided to get some Koni Sports for the rear as well:
Also got the original gear knob, as one of the previous owners had replaced it with a GTT one, and tbh I found it unconfortable:
I also built an air duct and made a hole in the front bumper (this was later painted so no marks were left):
All was well and I was delighted with this little car until one night back in September I was trashing it down a local road and suddenly it started to make a terrible knocking sound from the engine. At idle all was fine but as soon as I gave it some throttle it started to rattle really bad.
I managed to drive it home and a compression test the following day showed the following results (in bar): 10-9.8-5-4,5 :S:S:S
I had to take the engine apart only to find that the problem was a burnt head gasket between cylinders 3 and 4:
And I was shocked to see that the top of the pistons and combustion chambers were covered in carbon deposits, wich usually means massive overfuelling. The fact that not all cylinders showed the same signs pointed towards faulty injectors.
I took the injectors to a specialist who confirmed they were completely fu***d and had them reconditioned. But just to be safe I asked a friend to check the ignition and fuelling maps and he was shocked to see that the ignition timing was all wrong. He said he was surprised the head gasket had lasted so long!
Now, I could at this point just get a new head gasket and repair the head and get it running asap. But since I already had the engine apart I decided to take things slowly and do it right!
First thing was to get all the parts I needed from Renault:
Head gasket set:
Head bolts:
New timing belt:
New OEM spark plugs:
Then I decided to have the head gas flowed, get a Supersprint manifold and some Pipercams BP270.
Also got a 10 row oil cooler, just to keep it cool while hammering it:
After about 2 weeks of just waiting for stuff to arrive I finally got working on it again:
Here are some pics of the rebuild:
The cams:
The head all done:
The exhaust manifold (hmm, shiny):
Nearly done:
And soon it was back on the road, and just 1 week after it was ready, time for another track-day
And a small video for your listening pleasure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyPn-IQGwm8
And then, in late January I finally got it remaped in a dyno:
The dyno results showed max power @7200rpm and max torque @ 6100rpm. The final hp figure was 156bhp wich left me thrilled!
The car is a complete blast to drive, it just feels so much faster than before!
The latest mods were Brembo discs and pads, but they are still bedding in so it´s to soon to comment on them.
I apologize for the loooong read and many pictures, but it's been a long year for me!
It's from 1993 but it's only had 3 owners (me included), and I've had it for nearly a year.
It's in top condition, with leather interior and sunroof (although they can sometimes be a disadvantage considering I take it to 4-5 track-days each year, but since it still is my daily-drive they're staying for now).
It already had a few mods, done by the previous owners:
-Williams wheels;
-Front Koni Sport Dampers and H&R springs;
-OMP strut brace (painted black);
-Braided brake lines;
-K&N panel filter;
-De-cat;
-Remap;
Here are a few pics of when I first bought it:
And my first track-day with it at the Estoril circuit:
Cooling the engine after I was done:
After the track-day I realised the rear dampers were completely dead so I decided to get some Koni Sports for the rear as well:
Also got the original gear knob, as one of the previous owners had replaced it with a GTT one, and tbh I found it unconfortable:
I also built an air duct and made a hole in the front bumper (this was later painted so no marks were left
):
All was well and I was delighted with this little car until one night back in September I was trashing it down a local road and suddenly it started to make a terrible knocking sound from the engine. At idle all was fine but as soon as I gave it some throttle it started to rattle really bad.
I managed to drive it home and a compression test the following day showed the following results (in bar): 10-9.8-5-4,5 :S:S:S
I had to take the engine apart only to find that the problem was a burnt head gasket between cylinders 3 and 4:
And I was shocked to see that the top of the pistons and combustion chambers were covered in carbon deposits, wich usually means massive overfuelling. The fact that not all cylinders showed the same signs pointed towards faulty injectors.
I took the injectors to a specialist who confirmed they were completely fu***d and had them reconditioned. But just to be safe I asked a friend to check the ignition and fuelling maps and he was shocked to see that the ignition timing was all wrong. He said he was surprised the head gasket had lasted so long!
Now, I could at this point just get a new head gasket and repair the head and get it running asap. But since I already had the engine apart I decided to take things slowly and do it right!
First thing was to get all the parts I needed from Renault:
Head gasket set:
Head bolts:
New timing belt:
New OEM spark plugs:
Then I decided to have the head gas flowed, get a Supersprint manifold and some Pipercams BP270.
Also got a 10 row oil cooler, just to keep it cool while hammering it:
After about 2 weeks of just waiting for stuff to arrive I finally got working on it again:
Here are some pics of the rebuild:
The cams:
The head all done:
The exhaust manifold (hmm, shiny
):
Nearly done:
And soon it was back on the road, and just 1 week after it was ready, time for another track-day
And a small video for your listening pleasure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyPn-IQGwm8
And then, in late January I finally got it remaped in a dyno:
The dyno results showed max power @7200rpm and max torque @ 6100rpm. The final hp figure was 156bhp wich left me thrilled!
The car is a complete blast to drive, it just feels so much faster than before!
The latest mods were Brembo discs and pads, but they are still bedding in so it´s to soon to comment on them.
I apologize for the loooong read and many pictures, but it's been a long year for me!
