Paul’s Pearl

[OssPoop]

Booked the clio in at Diamond Motors for the steering rack checking and or refurbishing. My research turned up a few instances of steering racks going sloppy on early 197's and I'd hope Renault had sorted the issue by the time the 200 was introduced but you never know. I saw a post of Mick's about steering racks and steering feel so he's the man for the job.
Besides that the car has been running OK. The stereo has been a bit s**t sounding for a while now and despite the Alpine head unit the speakers are 14 years old so it's time for a little upgrade.

I've seen people swapping the HK set up in M2's for Audison kit so it should do the job in the clio. First I need to pad out the flimsy panels with sound deadening though.
And as I don't think I've ever swapped discs on either of my clio's and the fronts look a bit puny behind the 18" Turini's I snapped up some megane 3 brembo calipers from @JamesBryan which I'll pair with some 330 diameter godspeed discs for more stopping aesthetics .

I just need to decide what colour I want the calipers as the rear ones were replaced and aren't even painted to match the red fronts. I'll just use oe pads and upgrade to braided hoses when I fit them.

 

[JamesBryan]

Looking at the Godspeed kit i think all they need is a small spacer which you'll be able to knock up in work.

Being a white car, a fresh silver colour might work?

 

[Brigsy]

Whats the symptoms of the rack? Dead spot or just vague?

My kangoo runs basically the same rack..still on the original diesel one 150thou ish. Wonder if its contributing to the torque steer the mrs was driving it last week and she said its not that responsive.

 

[OssPoop]

Looking at the Godspeed kit i think all they need is a small spacer which you'll be able to knock up in work.

Being a white car, a fresh silver colour might work?

The godspeed kit come with spacers, I believe it's just a 9mm spacer that's required though so I could easily knock some up. The BM has silver calipers and I think they need to stand out a little bit more. Maybe a light blue as the pear is slightly blue on the car .

 

[JamesBryan]

The godspeed kit come with spacers, I believe it's just a 9mm spacer that's required though so I could easily knock some up. The BM has silver calipers and I think they need to stand out a little bit more. Maybe a light blue as the pear is slightly blue on the car .

Ahh ok, yeah i've only seen pics of the kit and the spacers didn't look too thick.

Maybe do a few Photoshops of your current brakes to see what colour works.

 

[OssPoop]

Whats the symptoms of the rack? Dead spot or just vague?

My kangoo runs basically the same rack..still on the original diesel one 150thou ish. Wonder if its contributing to the torque steer the mrs was driving it last week and she said its not that responsive.

Dead spot going straight. It feels like there's a degree either way that doesn't do anything, it's as if there's a coupling that's got some backlash in it, that's the best way I can describe it. It was like that on our last Wales trip a couple of years ago and I figured if it was going to break then so be it but loaded up in a corner it feels fine and drives like a cliosport should. It's just everywhere else I feel like something is about to break or fall off . I'll be sure to update when it's been in but it's not going until October!

 

[YorkshireKyle]

The 200 cup came with a different rack, not sure if yours is cup packed Prorl

I may have a set of standard 250 pads, pins and rattle clips you can have (If they're still in the garage)

 

[OssPoop]

The 200 cup came with a different rack, not sure if yours is cup packed Prorl

I may have a set of standard 250 pads, pins and rattle clips you can have (If they're still in the garage)

Yep it was cup pack equipped so has the shorter rack. That's why I'm more keen on having it refurbished than buying a used one and not knowing what one I'd end up with.
That's very generous sir, I'll swap for some if your favourite confectionery if you find them .

 

[Brigsy]

Dead spot going straight. It feels like there's a degree either way that doesn't do anything, it's as if there's a coupling that's got some backlash in it, that's the best way I can describe it. It was like that on our last Wales trip a couple of years ago and I figured if it was going to break then so be it but loaded up in a corner it feels fine and drives like a cliosport should. It's just everywhere else I feel like something is about to break or fall off . I'll be sure to update when it's been in but it's not going until October!

Mine might be the same, does feel a little numb moving it when going straight.

I best start looking for a 200 cup rack. Im sure its shared with a scenic or something similar from memory

 

[OssPoop]

Mine might be the same, does feel a little numb moving it when going straight.

I best start looking for a 200 cup rack. Im sure its shared with a scenic or something similar from memory

If the cup rack is on some random Renault get buying them up and selling them onto unsuspecting 197 owners on Facebook for a nice profit .

 

[OssPoop]

Stripped some of the car out to start fitting the sub and speakers. Then the amp I'd ordered got delayed so I've been driving with half the interior missing.

It's f**king noisy! Which reminded me I had some sound deadening stuff buried in the garage so I'll be adding more weight by covering any surface I can with it.
Anyone wkow what these plugs are for that are hidden behind the passenger side panel?

I'm going to book a week off work to get the stereo sorted and might even fit the new engine mounts I've had a year as I think the exhaust flexi is blowing now. No point replacing that with worn mounts as it'll die again quickly.

 

[OssPoop]

Amp and wiring kit arrived the other day so I cracked on today. First job was to remove the glove box and the air box and find a place to feed the power cable through. JBL amp got good enough reviews and only cost £200 and the Vibe wiring kit was easier than ordering everything separately.

Lots of bits to remove to see the bulkhead though .

Getting the battery box out was a right faff as the fuses that are clipped to the front of it just wouldn't come off. It took a lot of space in the swear jar to get to that point . Plenty of room to drill a hole and put a grommet in so all is good.

Except the battery for my drill was dead so time for a cuppa. 30 mins later and hole in, deburred both sides and painted before drilling a hole through the grommet and fitting.

Sorted.

Then I had a great idea! While the battery etc was out I may as well fit the new gearbox mount I have, it's only 5 more bolts.

The old one didn't look too bad, just a little bit squished, old on the right. But it's 14 years and 80k old so in with the new one.

Now those bolts that hold the mount to the bracket are the shittiest idea ever. Take the nut off and the bolt drops out and hits the floor. Getting the f*****s back in on your own is a ballache. The one not in the pic above needed feeding in while laid under the car and as I'm not Mr tickle getting the nut on wasn't possible. After a very long time pissing about I eventually found a magnet to put on top to hold the bolt while I shoved a piece of foam under the bolt to stop it falling back out as soon as I looked at it from above. This is a 1 minute job with a helper available!
While doing this the wind had got up and tried to blow the bonnet into the windscreen. I was shocked to see the bonnet off the support bar and just balanced upright! Quick safety strap added .

With the mount swapped and the power cable routed and secured I just needed to refit the jigsaw of airbox, intake pipes and battery box. Notable annoyances being the inlet air pipe has a pipe on the bottom from that weird cannister thing that was a pain to refit and the battery clamp was an absolute c**t to get the bolt in. Plastics got a little wipe before refitting and it all looks neat and the car even started straight away .

Cleaning bits that never get seen .

I need to connect the power cable still and figure out where to put the inline fuse.
The interior is even more spartan than before but that was enough for today.