Nickson's Titanium PH1 172

[daveski]

Love this car Nick. You've done everything I want to do to mine. Interested to see the difference after the geo set up.

 

[Kieran..]

love it! gets better and better this car! are the 20mm spacers you got the ones that bolt to the hub or are they the ones with just longer bolts?

 

[Nickson]

Love this car Nick. You've done everything I want to do to mine. Interested to see the difference after the geo set up.

Thanks a lot mate!

I'm very interested to see the difference too! Will report back once I get it back from Ktec

love it! gets better and better this car! are the 20mm spacers you got the ones that bolt to the hub or are they the ones with just longer bolts?

Thanks man, comments like that make it a worthwhile project!

Yep, they bolt to the hub first and then the wheel bolts to the spacer!

Watch out though, as you will see a few pages back that with 20mm spacers the standard wheel bolts are slightly too long, and the wheel does not do up fully!

The end of the bolts need a teeny weeny bit of grinding

 

[Kieran..]

Thanks man, comments like that make it a worthwhile project!

Yep, they bolt to the hub first and then the wheel bolts to the spacer!

Watch out though, as you will see a few pages back that with 20mm spacers the standard wheel bolts are slightly too long, and the wheel does not do up fully!

The end of the bolts need a teeny weeny bit of grinding

no problem ohh really? i was going to say thought would be, can i ask where you got yours from? on saturday im putting my rear adjusters back in and then will be spacing out wheels a bit more, but 25mm is too much lol

 

[Nickson]

no problem ohh really? i was going to say thought would be, can i ask where you got yours from? on saturday im putting my rear adjusters back in and then will be spacing out wheels a bit more, but 25mm is too much lol

Yep yep!

Course mate, they were from Venom Motorsport, they are FK ones. In fact, there are some 25mm's for sale in the "For sale" section now for £70 or so IIRC.

If not they were like £85 brand new from Venom .

Ah thats cool! The wheels sit far too far inside the arches on these cars, spacers are pretty much a necessity

 

[Kieran..]

yeaa they defiantly need them, just unsure weather mine will scrub as i turn the wheel

 

[Nickson]

yeaa they defiantly need them, just unsure weather mine will scrub as i turn the wheel

My 20's don't scrub when you turn the wheel!

Right, just got back from picking the car up from Ktec.

All I can say is what a brilliant, friendly and helpful service they offer!

Absolutely superb from fitting me in to their busy schedule, to doing an excellent job on the car, very happy!

It had the geometry set up, the brake fluid flushed with some new Castrol React Performance Dot 4, airbag light turning off and the MOT done.

The brakes now feel much better and sharper, there is a hell of a lot less pedal travel, and the spongeyness has disappeared. Brilliant!

Airbag light has now gone off, I had to pay extra for an "Oreca airbag resistor" but I was more than happy to, and it works a treat, no more airbag + SERV light .

Car feels so much sharper on turn in, and feels so much more stable when driving. The geo setup has made a huuuge difference, it is such a pleasure to drive now, very fun!

The car also passed its MOT without a single advisory , perfect!

Few pictures of the new stance of the car, as the camber and height of the car has somewhat changed!

The car is a fair bit higher on the front now, and the back has been set to match. There is absolutely no rubbing any more, and it handles like a dream, definitely definitely worth the £49 I paid!

Cheers

 

[gez 172]

cant grumble for £49. ride height looks spot on too.

 

[Nickson]

cant grumble for £49. ride height looks spot on too.

Cheers mate!

Drives soso well now! I didn't think it would make much of a difference, but it has made a world of difference!

Very enjoyable to drive

 

[daveski]

Ride height there is perfect imo.

 

[Nickson]

Ride height there is perfect imo.

Thanks mate!

Unfortunately, since having the car back from K-Tec a few problems have arisen..

The airbag light has come back on, meaning that the new airbag resistor was in fact, not a success.

The car rubs when going around a sharp corner on both sides, I thought the geo setup should have solved this, but I must have been mistaken.

Also, there is now a weird knocking/rattling/tapping noise when the car is idling. Completely unrelated to the work K-Tec did, so it is not their fault.
I am very worried that this may in fact be the dephaser, so I will get a video a bit later to see what you guys think!

 

[Kieran..]

just when you think things are too good to be true something turns up and goes wrong.. French cars for you eh?

 

[Nickson]

just when you think things are too good to be true something turns up and goes wrong.. French cars for you eh?

Pah! Tell me about it.
Car was great when it left K-Tec, but now is just seems to be getting worse

Brakes still feel awesome though

 

[Kieran..]

haha least thats one thing!

 

[adam172]

f**k sake I feel for you lol seems to happen to my ph1 as well,get it running and looking how I want it then boom something else goes

Hope you get it sorted

Get some videos up of how it sounds

 

[daveski]

Are you coming to Trax? If so I know someone who can turn those airbag lights off for you without the need for resistors.

 

[Nickson]

haha least thats one thing!

1/3 isn't too bad

f**k sake I feel for you lol seems to happen to my ph1 as well,get it running and looking how I want it then boom something else goes

Hope you get it sorted

Get some videos up of how it sounds

Cheers mate, I know, its bad, and extremely annoying!

Will get a vid up in a bit, seems to come and go, so unsure!

Are you coming to Trax? If so I know someone who can turn those airbag lights off for you without the need for resistors.

I am not no, damn!

I really want it turning off!

I originally asked for them just to turn the drivers side air bag circuit off (as I read this was possible?) to stop the light coming on, but they said they would investigate and see what they can do.

Ok, me being inexperienced with Renaults, and them being the experts I thought it best to go with what they said, but it doesn't seem to have paid off this time

How does said person do it? As I have already said?

 

[Nickson]

Just went outside and recorded a short video of the noise I have been hearing.
I can be such an idiot sometimes I swear..

Look to see if you can see what has happened and what is making the noise..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nemins/6096920423/ (Cannot seem to embed it if anyone could do the honours )

Yep, you guessed it. Please do not ask how I mistook an ECU bracket for being the dephaser. I mean they are at the complete opposite ends of the engine, guess I just panicked!

It definitely wasn't like that before it went into K-Tec. Not to worry though, nothing a bit of work wont sort.

I am just lucky it wasn't what I first suspected.

False alarm! (Luckily)

 

[Christopher.]

Mine done the exact same. Got a piece of metal and drilled two holes, drilled a hole in the ecu bracket and bolted it all up and hey presto.

Loving the car mate

 

[Ash']

Lovely car mate just read your whole thread. Brilliant work. I have a PH1 myself, a black pearl . I'm currently tidying it up a bit atm. I got the car only a week ago paid £800 for it with 70k on the clock with good service history and a long M.O.T. I will have to put a Proggy on here soon. You may get a few pm's along the way .

 

[daveski]

Yes Nick, the airbag circuits are turned off using CLIP. All mine have been done as I removed all the airbags.

Its diamondmotors on here that did mine, bit far from you though which is why I suggested Trax

 

[Nickson]

Mine done the exact same. Got a piece of metal and drilled two holes, drilled a hole in the ecu bracket and bolted it all up and hey presto.

Loving the car mate

Ah will give that a go! Thanks for the advice mate, I was going to weld it, but then... Brainwave... That might not do my ECU any good

Thanks again, appreciate it

Lovely car mate just read your whole thread. Brilliant work. I have a PH1 myself, a black pearl . I'm currently tidying it up a bit atm. I got the car only a week ago paid £800 for it with 70k on the clock with good service history and a long M.O.T. I will have to put a Proggy on here soon. You may get a few pm's along the way .

Thank you very much!
Get a little blog going for it! Its always nice to see other peoples work and what they do to their cars .

I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have! (Providing I know the answer )

Yes Nick, the airbag circuits are turned off using CLIP. All mine have been done as I removed all the airbags.

Its diamondmotors on here that did mine, bit far from you though which is why I suggested Trax

Ah awesome. I have asked K-Tec about that and they have told me that the air bag circuits cannot be turned off individually , hm!

I saw Mick's thread about the cheap air bag light turning off at Trax, saw that it was only £15, and nearly cried!

Then again, Trax is just a small distance closer than Nottingham, where Diamond Motors is based.

Nevermind

 

[daveski]

I watched Mick do mine individually so K-Tec must be telling you lies! Either that or they do not know how to do it.

 

[Nickson]

Had a quick go at some headlight correction this evening. Got a tad bored and its something I have wanted to have a go at for a while!

Used some Halfords 1200 grit to begin with, then went up to 1500 grit, which gave them a nice conistent misty look.

I then used some Halfords cutting compound to give them a bit of a shine. Then I moved onto some Autoglym SRP using the rotary polisher.

The results weren't too bad for my first attempt with a buffer!

Before:

During:

Drivers side finished:

Passenger side during:

Finished!

All done

In all fairness the lights were not too bad to begin with, but they did have slight discolouration and strange scratch marks.

Nearly all of these have now been removed, and it has freshened up the front end somewhat, happy with the results!

Got a list of things that I am making that I want to do to the car over the course of the next few weeks, and it goes something like this..

• New washer motor
• Wheel refurb
• Cure knocking on front of car
• Airbag + SERV Light (again)
• Exhaust rattling on headshield
• PH2 dash conversion
• PH2 boot conversion
• Straighten + Underseal sills (Idea stolen from Adam )
• Headlight refurb
• Change front wheel bearings
• Change both drive shafts

Nice little list to keep me busy!

 

[adam172]

[*]Straighten + Underseal sills (Idea stolen from Adam )

headlights look good as well I couldn't be bothered to refurb mine in the end so went for some new ones

 

[Rob]

Headlights look great (wish I could be bothered to do mine without a machine, but they're bad).

I also need to see Mick and get him to turn off all my airbag circuits! LOL

 

[daveski]

Nice job on the headlights. Harpham did mine for me a while back but they need doing again.

 

[Nickson]

headlights look good as well I couldn't be bothered to refurb mine in the end so went for some new ones

Haha, my sills need doing, and when I saw you had done it, it made me want to do mine even more

That's just lazy.. Only took me about an hour!

Headlights look great (wish I could be bothered to do mine without a machine, but they're bad).

I also need to see Mick and get him to turn off all my airbag circuits! LOL

Cheers Rob! Didn't take too long to do actually.

I used a machine polisher, but I was bloody useless with it, and was scared I was going to damage something

I too need them turning off by Mick. I may have to pay a visit as K-Tec keep telling me it isn't possible to turn them off individually!

Will start on the dash asap

Nice job on the headlights. Harpham did mine for me a while back but they need doing again.

Thanks mate!

How often do they need doing? I'm hoping not to have to do them again!

If so, I may just buy some new ones

 

[daveski]

Was the first time me and Harpham had done headlights so we werent too agressive with the sandpaper or polish.

Mick is always worth a visit, long way to go to get airbag lights turned off though!

 

[Rob]

Will start on the dash asap

When you do, I'll provide as much help/support as needed.

Also, what are you talking about with the seals?

 

[Nickson]

Was the first time me and Harpham had done headlights so we werent too agressive with the sandpaper or polish.

Mick is always worth a visit, long way to go to get airbag lights turned off though!

Ah fair enough. I don't think I was aggressive enough, there are still weird marks etc in them, but they do look much better now they are all polished up!

I know, that's the only problem . Wish K-Tec would do it, but they say it cannot be done!

When you do, I'll provide as much help/support as needed.

Also, what are you talking about with the seals?

Sick, thanks man!

Going to start gathering parts such as carpet etc. Wanting black interior plastics such as headlining. Think only the 182 had them but we shall see!

Not seals, sills! Mint are all bent from previous jacking etc. So I was going to so what Adam did, and straighten them all up, and give them a blast of underseal to keep them protected

 

[Nickson]

Some updates from yesterday!

Started as a normal day, and a half day at work.

Got home to find a parcel waiting for me..

I wonder what it could be?

But obviously, you know what it is:

You were thinking that... Right?

Came with all nuts and bolts, oh, and £2 that I overpaid. Many many thanks to Drew. For the very very quick delivery and a spot on item!

Anyways, I was in a rush so I got it fitted, before with the old wheel:

Please excuse the mess inside, the car needs cleaning!

10 minutes later, I had my new steering wheel fitted!

I much much prefer the smaller wheel without any dish. Makes me feel more "in control" of the car. Not bad for what I paid at all .

As can be seen, there is the charging cable for a Satnav on the dash. Meaning I was going somewhere, but where?

I was in fact, going to pay Dave (bomber) another visit up in sunny Gloucestershire.

The Clio returned some surprisingly good MPG..

That was on the way up to Dave's. The satnav decided to make me get lost on a number of occasions, but we made it in one piece .

Had a good chat with Dave about his charged Clio which has now been broken *sad face* . But rest assured, much of his car will be living on my car, all is not lost .

After an exchange of goods, and a lot of monies, we set off back home.

On the way back home, the inevitable happened .

And...

Arriving back at:

After leaving at 13:00 in the afternoon!

This was the contents of my boot upon my return .

Cleared the car out and got it all safe in the garage:

Few close ups on what was actually bought .

Not cheap! But needed for the plans I have .

All in all a good day! A long drive but it was definitely worth it.

A massive thanks to Dave for today as well .

Keeping things up to date on my list, we now have the following: (Red denotes a completed task)

• New washer motor - Bought and ready to fit today.
• Wheel refurb
• Cure knocking on front of car - Hopefully with my new purchases.
• Airbag + SERV Light (again)
• Exhaust rattling on headshield - Again, hopefully with my new purchases.
• PH2 dash conversion
• PH2 boot conversion
• Straighten + Underseal sills (Idea stolen from Adam )
• Headlight refurb
• Change front wheel bearings - New purchases
• Change both drive shafts - New purchases

More updates later!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Stu.]

You jobby! I want that exhaust with the easy to change cat! Lol

 

[Nickson]

Right, updates from today now!

Got up fairly early to crack on with work on the Clio. I wanted to get an ungodly amount of things done today, I knew I wasn't going to be able to do it, but luckily the girlfriend is working tomorrow as well as today, giving me a chance to get the rest of the jobs done!

Firstly, I wanted to get my new washer motor fitted, as having a broken one was become rather annoying.

I opted for a cheap one off of eBay, seeing as multiple people have recommended them and haven't had any problems.

So, I set about fitting it!

I got the scuttle panel off (eventually) I didn't notice there were 2 black plastic clips either end. Took me a while to work it out and finally get them off!

I must also say, the windscreen wiper bolts were an absolute b*****d to remove! They wouldn't budge! Some release oil soon sorted that .

Next was to get the old motor off, and the new one on.. Seeing as I still had a full tank of washer fluid, I had to do this quick to avoid a huge spillage!!

Hence the lack of pictures , the old motor ready to come out.

New motor in, scuttle panel refitted and windscreen wipers reattached!

New motor, ready to go! (I hope)

Old motor ready for the bin.

Also, the reason for getting a new pump.

Old:

http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/703/pon.mp4/

New:

http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/707/ohb.mp4/

Absolutely brilliant! So much better, happy with the result .

Next on the list of things to do, was clean up the new exhaust I bought from Bomber, as I was hoping to get it fitted today.

Which meant a lot of wire brushing, emery cloth and rags.

Started off with the following:

Stupidly, I didn't take any after pictures. Please do not ask why not, as it took me ages to finish it!

Needless to say, I will get some tomorrow when I fit the exhaust .

I also started stripping down the hubs/driveshafts/running gear from bombers car.

Over the next week or so, I will be stripping these hubs completely down. Removing the driveshafts etc. Fitting new front wheel bearings, cleaning them up and painting them ready to put onto my car.

The main reason for this is, I have replaced the rear wheel bearings, and felt as if I should probably do the fronts as well to prevent anything from going in the near future .

For some reason I have a picture of the exhaust in a box. This is the only picture I have after I had cleaned the exhaust up, lol!

Next job for today, was to unbend/straighten, treat and underseal the sills on both sides of the car.

I started with the drivers side, which was the worst, as the sill had been completely bent upwards.

Rear drivers side:

Yum?

Amount of soil and crap underneath the bent sill that I managed to remove:

I managed to bend it all back out. I noticed there was a little split in the metal, but I cannot imagine this is a problem at all:

Drivers side ready for some underseal!

I must add, I have made this sound very simple, but unfortunately it was not. Took me a fair while, and a lot of force to get the sill bent back out and fairly straight. It also took a lot of hammering!

Needless to say, a worthwhile job!

Getting ready for some underseal! I must say, plastic sheet on a roll is a godsend for getting covered in underseal/paint/crap and then just throwing away!

I used masking tape to stop me from covering the entire side skirt in underseal!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the spray gun to work. No underseal would come out of it, despite air coming out. I tried unblocking it, but to no avail. Luckily it is now soaking in white spirit to try and unblock it!

So I had to resort to painting it on . I made quite a mess

I managed to get quite a good finish nevertheless! Looks much better now

I must add, I used Loctite Rust Remedy before applying any underseal, to cure any rust that was down there. There was a little, but only on the jacking points

I then started on the passenger side.

As can be seen, this side was very very clean already, but some extra protection is always a welcome addition!

State of the jacking point:

Again, I did my best to straighten it up. Wirebrush any rust away, and treat any rust that I could see ready for a few coats of underseal.

Unfortunately, due to the amount of mess I made, I do not have any more pictures except for the finished article!

Looks much better IMO!

One more job off of the list .

I went back in to the garage to find a new nut and washer for this, ready for fitting tomorrow!

Done.

I also started wirebrushing the hubs down:

They will be getting sandblasted before any paint is applied though.

Another day wasted on the car!

Meaning I can now tick a few things off the list!
(Red denotes a completed task)

• New washer motor
• Wheel refurb
• Cure knocking on front of car - Hopefully with my new purchases.
• Airbag + SERV Light (again)
• Exhaust rattling on headshield - Again, hopefully with my new purchases.
• PH2 dash conversion
• PH2 boot conversion
• Straighten + Underseal sills (Idea stolen from Adam )
• Headlight refurb
• Change front wheel bearings - New purchases
• Change both drive shafts - New purchases

Thanks for reading

 

[adam172]

good effort. were is that decat originally from? or is it custom? I NEED IT!!

good job with the sills also - but how the f**k did you make such a mess lol

 

[Nickson]

good effort. were is that decat originally from? or is it custom? I NEED IT!!

good job with the sills also - but how the f**k did you make such a mess lol

Cheers mate.

The decat is a custom made one. The sports cat has been cut into 2 with flanges welded on either end as you can see from the pictures.

Basically makes it easier to swap between the decat and the sports cat for MOT time .

I might be selling it yet mate, would be the better option than buying a normal decat as it's such a b*****d to keep changing for the MOT! .

Will keep you updated!

Also, thanks! I did steal the idea from you though haha.

I got a tad over-excited with the underseal I think

 

[adam172]

Basically makes it easier to swap between the decat and the sports cat for MOT time .

I might be selling it yet mate, would be the better option than buying a normal decat as it's such a b*****d to keep changing for the MOT! .

yes this is exactly why i want it lol

let me know if you decide to sell i want one asap!!

 

[Kieran..]

haha wow you made a mess! lol i undersealed all my arches and was thinking of sorting my seals out but it obviously leaves a tacky finish on the underseal so does it all come off when jacking it up ?

 

[Nickson]

yes this is exactly why i want it lol

let me know if you decide to sell i want one asap!!

After fitting the exhaust today, the decat etc are going to be for sale mate.

PM'd!

haha wow you made a mess! lol i undersealed all my arches and was thinking of sorting my seals out but it obviously leaves a tacky finish on the underseal so does it all come off when jacking it up ?

Haha I know, the joys of plastic sheeting!!

I think it is definitely worth it! The underseal I am using doesn't leave a tacky finish. Its rubbery, but not tacky so doesn't stick to the jack mate.

I have some more updates today!

I got my new exhaust fitted (cat back) as I didn't fancy putting the decat on just to have to change it for the MOT, so the exhaust system is now staying as it is!

Standard CAT with a MK1 K-Tec stealth .

I set about removing the Supersports today, and here she is:

I managed to the old exhaust removed on my own, but it took me quite a while.

Old and new next to each other:

Old and new centre sections:

No exhaust! (Apologies for the crap pictures )

I then set about fitting the new exhaust. Using "Fire paste" on all of the joints to help with a gas-proof seal.

This job was much easier than I first thought it would be, everything just slotted together and bolted into place without any hassle, just the way I like it!

Looks a fair bit uglier than the newer system that I had on, but it is much more hidden.

The car is now much much quieter, which is exactly what I was after. The sound of the Supersport annoyed me at times, but this has a much more subtle and less annoying tone to it.

And then, as a Sunday treat, I gave the car a good wash inside and out .

Also, still absolutely loving the new steering wheel!

With that done, I have managed to cure the rattling/knocking of the exhaust on the heatshield, which means I can knock another job off of my list of things to do!!

(Red denotes a completed task)

• New washer motor
• Wheel refurb
• Cure knocking on front of car - Hopefully with my new purchases.
• Airbag + SERV Light (again)
• Exhaust rattling on heatshield.
• PH2 dash conversion
• PH2 boot conversion
• Straighten + Underseal sills (Idea stolen from Adam )
• Headlight refurb
• Change front wheel bearings - New purchases
• Change both drive shafts - New purchases

I also made a little progress on the new hubs that are being refurbed. I managed to prise the old ABS sensors out (what a bugger of a job this was)

Once again, thanks for reading .

Cheers!

 

[edewer]

dude, can i have my old exhaust back? i kinda want it if the price is right lol