RB PH1 172 Rally Car Progress

[Nathan Evans]

Yeah crazy cheap mate! Love how the belts look and the seats seem okay too - can't argue with the price like you say.

Will be good fun mate looking forward to it too, get my mate Sam navigating for you he's a good lad knows his stuff!

I know I did speak to him briefly yesterday. I’ll keep him in mind but was after someone with experience as you know my brothers doing it in the new car ? I have to beat him

 

[Hazza462]

I know I did speak to him briefly yesterday. I’ll keep him in mind but was after someone with experience as you know my brothers doing it in the new car ? I have to beat him

Hahaha, I spoke to him today about it. I can vouch for Sam he's rally mad lol but understandable wanting someone with experience! It's gonna be competitive lmao. I'll be going with the usual lot I do too so that'll be: Rob in his white MK2 (Who you know), Harry Gardner in his purple MK2 (FAT Motorsport) old one, Kev Butler in his 106 and Me and Alex. Harry will be close to winning overall for sure.

I'll be nowhere near anyone gonna be awful ?? I'll blame the lack of LSD and good tyres - no excuses from you tho you gotta beat your brother lol ?

 

[Hazza462]

More progress bringing us closer to a logbook...

Instead of making a box for the fuel pump we decided to relocate it into the facinity of the tank which is having a cover over it anyway. So we ordered the fittings we needed and some more hose and got on with making it.
Also extended the wiring and cleaned the filter out again which had some more metal filings in surprisingly, must of been loads in the tank!

Anyway thats how it looks now, nicely tucked away in the recess.

Regarding the tank cover Xtraweld we're going to make us a cover but we had no ETA on it so got bored of waiting and made our own ? Not got a picture but is as good as the one in our feiends car and all made without a sheet bender too! Will get a picture tomorrow if I remember of the current state of fabrication.

Other news is we've had a few deliveries including:

• OZ F1 Spare Wheel
• Peltor FMT120 Intercom Amplifier
• PMS Sump Guard

Managed to pick the guard up second hand at a bargain price but never fitted so it's brand new!

More stuff to come soon... Entries for AGBO Stages open Monday at 6pm. Fingers crossed we get a run!

 

[Hazza462]

Pictures of the tank cover as it stands... we began making the filler neck section yesterday but haven't quite finished it yet.

Polycarb window to view the fuel level incorporated into the design...

Use of some rubber door seal cut to shape to seal the bottom edges of the tank cover once it's compressed down by the mounting straps.

Currently I'm sat nervously waiting at my computer for the AGBO entries to open at 6pm. Will be gutted if we don't get a spot but fingers crossed!

 

[Hazza462]

Tank cover fabrication is 95% finished now. Made two straps to fasten it down too so we could then work out the exact location of the box on the side for the filler neck section.

Just all needs attaching together now and then the inner joints sealing with some tiger seal and it's finished!

 

[Hazza462]

Forgot to say we got an entry secured for AGBO stages too!

 

[Hazza462]

Tank cover is now finished fitted and all sealed up. Really happy with how it's turned out seems we made it from scratch ourselves!

Spare wheel straps are also bolted in, borrowed one of Pete's wheels just to get them in the right place.

All the floor has been repainted after the new seat rails being welded in. Just in time for our new seats to arrive from RRS France!

We got them yesterday and had them bolted in immediately! But they're out again now in preparation for the repainting/painting of the cage after the addition of two more door bars!

So so happy with how they look and feel to sit in. Really perfect choice and fit to us for a bloody cheap price!

Can just about see one side in the pic below.

All the wires, fuel lines, brake lines etc are also all riveted back down in place now and the main extinguisher is also back in place and hooked up to the pull cords.

Not a lot more to do now until it can be Logbooked. Main jobs are painting really which is easy. As a result of this I'm gonna ring our local Scrutineer Friday and book an appointment to take it to them!! ?

 

[Hazza462]

Paint progress...

Needs going over again in a few bits but the majority is done again now and looks much smarter again. Also modified a wheel brace by welding on a deep socket to fit over our studs and painted it yellow...

Began fitting the PMS sump guard yesterday too which we're modifying slightly to fit easier by making two brackets to slot into the rear of the subframe and then we're going to weld some captive nuts on the front of the subframe - instead of using a million rivnuts. Much quicker to fit/take off!

 

[Hazza462]

Cage is all painted now and looks amazing thanks to Alex ?

Seats and Harnesses went in shortly after that was dry! The seats are so comfy and the harnesses are brilliant too - we're so happy with them ?

Sump guard mountings are also finished now..
Can sorta see the mounting brackets we've made where the sump guard now slides into two tubes on the subframe.

And to support the front it is bolted with two at the front and two on the side near the front with nuts that are welded into the subframe ? it's now quick to remove and isn't moving anywhere anytime soon.

Other jobs we've done are:

• Piped the extinguisher nozzles up inside and connected it through the bulkhead to the engine bay nozzles.
• Wired the horn back to the indicator stalk as well as on a button on the footrest.
• Replaced a few bulbs and gave the car a quick check over before MOT.
• Mounted the jack by ratchet strapping it down and putting two bolts through the floor and through it to stop rotation.
• Hardwired the intercom to remove the worry of a battery dying on a rally!
• Fitted the belt cutter/glass hammer.
• Re-adjusted the PMS linkage as it had somehow moved?

Next steps are cut the shape of the wheel brace in some high density foam to stop it rubbing on the spare wheel - then strap that in.

Also had a little issue where our starter motor decided to die for no reason and also our spare too... So i picked a new one up today and will fit that ASAP.

Aiming to get the car MOT'D, taxed and insured next week and hopefully logbooked at the weekend perhaps depending on availability of the Scrutineer... Once the new starter is on and the wheel brace in it's ready to be logbooked finally!

Just want to check the tracking again but planning to take the car to uni to Cornerweight it and then use the String set to do the alignment properly when it's on the road!!

 

[Hazza462]

Been a horrendously busy last couple of weeks! Luckily I've been on holiday at work which turned out to be great timing!

The night before MOT we run the car around the yard to get the brakes working a bit better but on returning to the lockup the fronts seized on solid. We had to do a million point turn to get the car back inside and in the process burnt the clutch out ? We only found this out the morning of MOT where the car lost all drive and had to be towed back using my Twingo ?

A trip to Birmingham ECP on last Sunday bought us a new Sachs clutch and it was fitted the same day and all was well again. Also managed to fix the brakes issue by playing with our balance bar, hydraulic adjuster, re-bleeding the front brakes with Ravenol high temp fluid.

We took the car for MOT again Tuesday and it passed with no advisories! On the way back it then decided it wanted to develop a misfire....

I instantly thought it would be fuel system as it always had been with this car so I took the tank cover off and stripped the fuel filter down. There was hardly any crap in it but it was crushed slightly so I bought a new one that day and replaced it. Cleaned the pump out too while I was there but this didn't cure the misfire! Turned out to be a coil pack in the end AGAIN, so replaced it with a new one and all is well now ? Everything was back together by this point with the cover and everything back on and sealed up again.

Just in time for yesterday when we towed the car up to Geoff Doe - MSA Scrutineer to passport the car! No problems apart from the Mild Seven stickers that had to to cus of tobacco sponsorship like @massivewangers said I think? Other than that he said just move our central crotch straps forward a bit, he said it doesn't really matter they're that far back but someone might moan one day so best to just move them!

Just got to sort the tracking which is horrifically out and then have a little seat time in the car on the road playing with brake bias, now that it is Taxed, insured and MOT'd! Big relief that it's been logbooked with no issues and is a mega achievement for me to have built it at the age of 21! (With lots of help!?) Dead proud.

Unfortunately don't think I'll have time to cornerweight it before AGBO stages in two weeks as I was due to do it yesterday but obviously with the issues and last minute fixes I couldn't Will definitely be doing it shortly after though!

 

[Twingo 1??]

Massive achievement getting it through its passport! I must admit that I am not looking forward to getting the Twingo done when I get it finished.

 

[Hazza462]

Massive achievement getting it through its passport! I must admit that I am not looking forward to getting the Twingo done when I get it finished.

Nice one am really chuffed! You'll get there mate, how far along are you - you got a thread on here?

 

[Twingo 1??]

Thread:

The Baby Renault Sport Twingo 1??

Don't really know where to start with this project ! I have owned this Twingo for over 5 years now with her doing a good daily runabout until I started needing 5 seats and as we know the Twingo has 4 seats . She has mainly been garaged for around the last 18 months. Then this time last year the...

www.cliosport.net

Its getting there slowly let's say! Been a lot harder to do than my old puma.
I am doing it all myself learning all the time lol but learned loads with the Puma. Just hope to be out middle of the year as it will be 2 years since I have competed.

 

[Hazza462]

Thread:

The Baby Renault Sport Twingo 1??

Don't really know where to start with this project ! I have owned this Twingo for over 5 years now with her doing a good daily runabout until I started needing 5 seats and as we know the Twingo has 4 seats . She has mainly been garaged for around the last 18 months. Then this time last year the...

www.cliosport.net

Its getting there slowly let's say! Been a lot harder to do than my old puma.
I am doing it all myself learning all the time lol but learned loads with the Puma. Just hope to be out middle of the year as it will be 2 years since I have competed.

Fair enough haha, theres no room at all in the Twingo but I'd love to turn mine into a rally car. It's really not a slow as a Clio as people tend to make out (In standard form)? Nice, will be good to be back at it again. Will give the thread a read now nice one ?

 

[Twingo 1??]

Fair enough haha, theres no room at all in the Twingo but I'd love to turn mine into a rally car. It's really not a slow as a Clio as people tend to make out (In standard form)? Nice, will be good to be back at it again. Will give the thread a read now nice one ?

No there not as slow as people make out and very useful without the rear seats.
I would like it to handle bumps as good as my Puma did as its much quicker on the flat ish stuff. Need to get it as light as possible I think to hopefully get some pots and lots of seat time. I am tempted to buy another 133 to use on the road and go back and do some road rallys and 12 cars in it.

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

I warned you about the stickers lol

Glad you got the logbook sorted. Hopefully you'll have fun at the rally. Just done my first one and it was quite an experience!

 

[Hazza462]

I warned you about the stickers lol

Glad you got the logbook sorted. Hopefully you'll have fun at the rally. Just done my first one and it was quite an experience!

You did indeed ? He said we could change a letter like you said or make it say 'Mild Seventy' etc lol. Nice one mate, excellent cannot wait. Did it all go to plan?

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

You did indeed ? He said we could change a letter like you said or make it say 'Mild Seventy' etc lol. Nice one mate, excellent cannot wait. Did it all go to plan?

Yeah, I've seen a Bastos M3 with a "5" replacing an "S".

There's a bit of a write-up in my project thread but I think almost anything that could go wrong did go wrong ? had some issues in the build up, then clutch, brake and oil issues on the day. We did about half of the event and still had fun, so it's all good.

When you complete your first stage, you'll feel mega!

 

[Hazza462]

As per not had a spare minute to update this with all the prep for the AGBO Stages that took place yesterday. Pleased to say we finished with little issues throughout the day and was a massive learning curve for both of us on our first ever event. Just took it steady learning the time controls etc etc, both having a rough idea but nice to gain some re-assurance by just taking our time and getting everything right - and getting the all important finish!! Dead proud of Alex for doing so well as Co-Driver she was spot on with the maps all day despite being really nervous in the weeks leading up to it. Also proud that we both managed to finish the event and have found some definite areas of improvement for the car.

Started the day as Car 70 which was great for us, no stress of many people behind us for the time controls etc and allowed us to take our time all day. First stage we soon realised why everyone before the event kept warning us of just how greasy and damp Weston Park is May as well have been driving on ice with the tyres we were using, had a big sideways moment over the flying finish on SS1 where the marshals all cheered as we pulled up into time control ?? I hope the in-car video was working for that stage lol. I learned my lesson for SS2 and decided taking that flat out wasn't the best idea and lifted off instead, keeping it on the tarmac ?

I really struggled with any confidence in the car in the morning, mainly because I hate driving in damp conditions anyway! But with the added hindrance of cold 'track tyres' as opposed to proper rally tyres, little seat time and last but not least the absolutely HORRIFIC brakes ? Pre-event I'd been trying everything to get the brakes to actually stop the car like they should and I've now exhausted every possibility with them - it's time to give up and go back to the servo with a Cup MC. The pedal feel is just awful and doesn't stop the car anywhere near fast enough - it's scary!!? Not denying the stage times could of been better with some ballsy driving, but the brakes would have gave me so much more confidence if they were standard; so that's whats going to happen. Then I've got no excuse?

Even so... the car run mainly faultless all day. Had a minor misfire develop on SS4 and the car kept dropping onto 3 cylinders. With new plugs, HT leads and Coil pack all fitted before the rally it couldn't be those. Turned out it was a blocked injector with some of the tiny filings that were in our fuel tank somehow worked their way through. Swapped that and the car run the rest of the day faultlessly. Some bad luck saw our friend Kevin in his 106 to retire due to alternator failure. Harry in his Escort suffered a misfire which they eventually cured after retiring from the rally, they were able to continue for fun; however in the afternoon they unfortunately had a big off and hit a tree head on - both ok. Rob in his Escort did well to secure 11th after pipping @Nathan Evans by 1 second. Hats off to Nathan that is a ridiculously good result considering the cars that showed up. Myself and Alex had an awesome day and now once this first finish is in the bag we're looking forward to many more (once the brakes are sorted?). Just looked at the results and we ended up finishing 53rd, which considering I didn't even expect the car to finish before the event I'm over the moon with haha.

Below are a few proof pics from the rally while we await the professional ones we've bought as a souvenir for our first one ? Credit to the people on the watermarks obviously:

Time to get those brakes sorted and get another one booked!

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Well done for getting the finish! Better than I managed on my first one! What brake set-up are you running?

 

[Hazza462]

Well done for getting the finish! Better than I managed on my first one! What brake set-up are you running?

Cheers mate! Currently got a twin cylinder bias box no servo, std calipers, hydro handbrake, in line bias valve on the rear, PBS pads and brembo discs.

 

[Hazza462]

A couple of days after the last post I took off the bias box and fitted a standard servo and master cylinder again. Had to change a fitting on our brake line to suit the MC but it was all done in a couple of hours. Bled them up with some Motul RBF600.

The brakes now feel unreal compared to what we had before? The car actually slows down when you press the brake pedal it's a miracle lol.

Also replaced the oil and filter with some ester synthetic Motul.

Alex also bought some tryhard mirrors which we fitted last week ?

Took it for a little drive on Thursday and all is good for a change thankfully!! Need to book another event now but not sure what/when.

 

[Coops Mk1]

Cracking effort and so nice to see a project essentially finished in its first iteration and used immediately as intended. Hopefully with the brake issue sorted (no servo imo is always a terrible idea) your next event will be even more enjoyable.

Big doff of the cap to you both

 

[RuskiWeldFab]

Those mirrors are utter shite!!! Literally can’t see anything out of them. But look good and durable for an air duct [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hazza462]

Cracking effort and so nice to see a project essentially finished in its first iteration and used immediately as intended. Hopefully with the brake issue sorted (no servo imo is always a terrible idea) your next event will be even more enjoyable.

Big doff of the cap to you both

Thankyou very much, much appreciated. It's nice to have it finished... But I kinda miss having lots to do on it, that was the fun bit haha.

Those mirrors are utter shite!!! Literally can’t see anything out of them. But look good and durable for an air duct [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hahaha they're not the best for visibility tbf but can get closer to chicanes now and look good like you say ??

 

[Dom172Cup]

Totally enjoyable read with some good insight into getting prepped and log booked.

 

[Hazza462]

Totally enjoyable read with some good insight into getting prepped and log booked.

Thankyou very much it means a lot!

 

[Hazza462]

Thought I'd best write an update as haven't done one for a month or so!

So I've booked another rally that I'm doing with my friend Sam, the JRT Enville stages on 30th June at Anglesey Race Circuit. https://www.rallies.info/webentry/2019/jrtenville/entries.php?type=u

Not much to prep on the car but just a general check over really. Have never checked the cambers on the front before and so myself and my friend Tom measured/adjusted them the other day 'roughly' by getting 4 slabs, measuring the angle they were on with respect to the wheel and calculating the actual camber from that. Have set both fronts to -2.3 ish now. Glad we checked as the NSF was only on -0.5 and the OSF was on -2.3! ? Other prep before the rally hopefully will be cornerweighting it next week, just haven't found the time to do it yet but need to force myself!

Other little bits include:

• Handheld extinguisher needs servicing.
• New (part worn Hankooks from @Nathan Evans ) tyres need mounting on rims.

Other news we've bought some more wheels. Ex cup racer 2118 with 6x Dunlop Wets in awesome condition!

And...?? Will be fitting these after the rally and I'll be making my own loom to suit them and an OMEX 600 also! Can't wait.

Have designed the loom pinouts etc already digitally, but will begin actual construction after the rally after I've saved up some money to buy all the materials, tools etc.

 

[Twingo 1??]

Amazing how much stuff you can fit in the back of a Twingo!

 

[Hazza462]

Amazing how much stuff you can fit in the back of a Twingo!

That's an amateur effort in the picture, had about 12 tyres in before ??

 

[Twingo 1??]

They turn into little vans lol especially with the seats out. Had alsorts in mine.

 

[Hollidog]

Hey mate great build, love seeing the graft over the years. Question about your brakes, if I've read correctly, you replaced the standard servo/MC with a compbrake bias box and willwood MC's, then you had some troubles, and went back to the standard servo and MC?
What were your reasons for going to the different set up in the first place, and what made you go back to the standard?
I'm debating going towards a set up very similar to your first crack as I'm trying to get my brake pedal more consistent and get rid of ABS.

 

[Hazza462]

Hey, thanks for the kind words.
We went to the bias box as we know loads of people who use them in their rally cars with no issues, saying that I also now know people who have had exactly the same issues as us. The advantage when they're working right is the feel through the pedal is excellent so you can feel when the brakes are going to lockup/prevent them from locking because of how good it is. I'd still much prefer a non servo proper pedal box that worked over the servo, but we returned to it for simplicity as we we're fed up of messing around with that setup. The reason we returned to standard was because the pedal was either rock hard (I bent the threaded link rod pushing the pedal numerous times with no brake travel) or too soft where the brakes were just awful - no inbetween.

My advice would be buy a floor mounted one from a well known brand. If I were to change ours again I'd be buying one of the Billet Wilwood ones for around £250 + MC's and trying that. Make all the lines yourself don't waste your time buying premade kits, they're really easy to make and save yourself the money and hassle of them not being exactly the lengths you want etc. I reckon the compbrake one was so crap because its just a generic box with different mounting studs for different cars - so the internal pedal ratios are crap for certain cars.

Hope that helps

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Comp Brake are pretty turd in reality.

Weren't Pure working on a bias pedal box conversion for the 1*2?

 

[Hazza462]

Comp Brake are pretty turd in reality.

Weren't Pure working on a bias pedal box conversion for the 1*2?

Yee I think they are selling it now but it's astronomically priced, something stupid like £700 iirc

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Not surprising really, as I suspect they won't sell in great numbers. You get what you pay for when it comes to these things I guess.

 

[Hazza462]

Last weekend myself and my friend Sam took part in the JRT Enville Stages at Anglesey. We had a great laugh and the car showed good pace despite my bad driving and it crying out for an LSD! Thankfully I feel a lot more confident in driving it now however, so will be easy to improve on with a bit of seat time. The new brake setup certainly worked!!!

Unfortunately we only managed two stages due to taking the jump flat out resulting in a cracked sump. In hindsight the ride height was too low and the PMS sump guard was practically resting on the sump - a shite design, but lesson learnt.

Can just about make out the two hairline cracks, one by the sump plug and one right in the middle. We'll be spacing the guard down an inch or so and getting some strengtheners welded to it.

After retiring we raised the height on all 4 corners and rolled the rear arches because they were scrubbing - kept us busy for a little while and then we spent the rest of the day spectating and getting sunburnt ?

Couple of official event pics from Neil Lambert

Sump is now off and ready to be replaced with our spare. Then going to do the cambelt, dephaser and water pump with group N timing. Bolt the ITB'S on, make all new loom and get the car mapped at EFI. Big job, hoping to have it all done by the end of the year to maybe squeeze one more event - funds dependant!

 

[Hazza462]

Sump is back on now and engine is all okay, just needs filling up with oil again!

In the meantime I think I've solved the lack of an LSD issue... Just waiting for it to be delivered ?

Also progress on the wiring side of things and refreshing the interior to go with it... Flocked MK1 Clio dash also sourced, which will be fit with the rest of the wiring ITB's etc.

Switch panel coming along too, just waiting on delivery of a few more things like a new Autolec. Will be buying a steering wheel control panel off Volantech, who has priced me one up with my requirements - but will buy it when it's ready to fit ?

Happy with the progress so far, but will be slow from now on due to being skint again now ?

 

[Twingo 1??]

Sump is back on now and engine is all okay, just needs filling up with oil again!

In the meantime I think I've solved the lack of an LSD issue... Just waiting for it to be delivered ?
View attachment 1426751

Also progress on the wiring side of things and refreshing the interior to go with it... Flocked MK1 Clio dash also sourced, which will be fit with the rest of the wiring ITB's etc.
View attachment 1426752

Switch panel coming along too, just waiting on delivery of a few more things like a new Autolec. Will be buying a steering wheel control panel off Volantech, who has priced me one up with my requirements - but will buy it when it's ready to fit ?
View attachment 1426753

Happy with the progress so far, but will be slow from now on due to being skint again now ?

Bet your well skint now lol very jealous of your purchase

 

[Hazza462]

Bet your well skint now lol very jealous of your purchase

Yeah might have taken a slight chunk outta our house deposit ? Can't rally a house tho ?‍♂️ Hahaha can't wait to get it