Ricardo's Kangoo project

[Ricardos]

Like any true petrolhead we all need something to tinker with, we constantly browse eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Autotrader and such other buy and selling groups at random cars we shouldn't really buy but strangely warm to. It's fair to say I've owned a fair share of Clios that have been projects or ongoing points of interest changing parts to make it my own. Owning the Mégane 280 and a Peugeot 407 estate I don't really need a 3rd vehicle.... But it doesn't stop me looking for something to mess about it.

Cue this, I spotted it on eBay a couple of days ago, noticed it was in Gloucester and sent the link to my friend who lives there. It's a friend of his and has owned it a few years and decided to sell up, he put me in touch with the owner and after a 20 minute phone call I agreed a deal.

So, all barring a death between now and Sunday I should be hopping on a train to pick this up, a Kangoo van converted with a Clio 172 or 182 engine.

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Nice! Look forward to seeing what you do with it!

 

[frayz]

Let the fun commence

 

[Bluebeard]

Awesome work mate! Look forward to the progress!

 

[Mcaff]

Brilliant id love one of these!

 

[Ricardos]

Thanks for the kind comments so far.

It's always been at the back of my kind to have one of these, I missed out on a yellow converted Primastar a couple of years back and thought it looked pretty cool. The whole idea of having a work van with a Clio lump dropped in just appealed to me, over a long period of time I've toyed with buying another cheap car to have fun with but when the Kangoo came up in eBay I just knew it had to be done.

It works for me, I just don't have time to do a complete conversion but enough spare time to play about with it making it my own along the way. It runs, drives, it's complete. 2 jobs it will need doing is a crunch in 3rd gear when tanking it so a replacement box and the power steering has a leak so either a pump or pipe.... We'll see. I'll go through everything mechanically just to make sure it's all in order.

Aside of that I'd like to add a sound system, a sub box, it's always been a thing for me to play Drum n Bass or dance music and have it sound decent. I know it sounds random but with the van I can do that but keep it simple. Door speakers, speakers behind the seats and a sub box.

Fun things like sets of wheels to make it look good. I just want to have fun with it, road trip it, go to meets, maybe a trackday or 2.

The main thing is, just to enjoy the Kangoo experience 😁😎

 

[Turbo steve]

They are fun, and practical. Love driving mine

 

[Twingo 1??]

Looks good. Do any of these conversions get done to the 5 seat kangoo's? Would be good for the school run lol

 

[Ricardos]

I spoke to SKY who insure the Mégane 280 and they gave me a quote, after speaking to good friend @Brigsy he recommended Greenlight as that's where he had his converted Kangoo insured with. They came in much cheaper at £339 with everything declared so it's now insured for the year. Last night I bought the one way train ticket to Gloucester so its on! This Sunday I'll be driving it back to Essex.

 

[MrBlonde]

Nice mate i just got my insurance to with green light.Get it all ready for a trip to Caffeine & Machine in the Summer 👍🏻

 

[Mickb]

You'll enjoy it. There great fun and really useful. There not too bad on fuel either.

 

[Mickb]

Looks good. Do any of these conversions get done to the 5 seat kangoo's? Would be good for the school run lol

Yeah I have one, and I know of few others. Panel Van's are far more common.

 

[Ricardos]

You'll enjoy it. There great fun and really useful. There not too bad on fuel either.

Really looking forward to it, I'm guessing on a decent run it'll give nigh on 40mpg?

 

[Mickb]

Really looking forward to it, I'm guessing on a decent run it'll give nigh on 40mpg?

Decent runs I can get 40mpg no bother. Had it at 44mpg coming back from css last year

 

[Ricardos]

Decent runs I can get 40mpg no bother. Had it at 44mpg coming back from css last year

That'll do for me

 

[Ricardos]

Well, what a day! V day!

As mentioned the van was located in Gloucester so I'd pre booked a one way train ticket during the week for £38 from Southend. 7:02am to be precise, 9:07am from Paddington to Gloucester although a rail replacement between Reading and Swindon slowed the journey down a little, arriving just after midday... 5hrs!

Picked up by good friend @Adeyspec in his boosted Twingo we headed to his mates to check out the van

After a test drive and going through everything that genuinely needed doing we agreed a price which reflected that. I knew it would need work and that suited me, I wanted something to do in the evenings and weekends when it suited me. The main thing was the conversion was complete.... It just needed a bit more TLC.

Deal done, I headed to the nearest Tesco and put £30 worth of 95 in, what a result! The Meg always has Shells finest and at nigh on 10p a litre more it was quite refreshing putting in petrol that was cheaper than diesel. So postcode punched in Google maps, 160 miles, let's go!

First problem, Speedo started playing up. Thanks to the sat nav it was showing the speed by GPS at 70mph, dash showing 60, then dropped to 50mph with the GPS at 70mph..... Then the needle dropped. 20 miles from home it read the other way... GPS at 40mph, dash showing 80mph, in the end dash needle at the max!! Weird, just glad Google maps shows the speed for the 50mph average speed sections on the way home.

Stopped for coffee on the way home

Anyway, I made it home in one piece! Time to make a list of what to do. I sort of enjoyed the drive home, I had to constantly remind myself that I've really been spoilt owning brand new cars for the last 3 years so this little Kangoo with its quirks is all part of the charm.

 

[MrBlonde]

Nice mate,i look forward to seeing it soon 👍🏻

 

[Ricardos]

Nice mate,i look forward to seeing it soon 👍🏻

Cheers, well if @Dr Jekyll doesn't mind maybe I can bring it to his workplace

 

[Inequality Street]

Nice buy! Once you’ve fixed everything and look to move on, gimme a shout! Would love one of these.

 

[Ricardos]

Nice buy! Once you’ve fixed everything and look to move on, gimme a shout! Would love one of these.

Thank you! You're the third person to say that! To be fair who knows how long, it could be a summer or I'll stupidly become attached to it and smoke it about for a couple of years
It's the adventure along the way working on it and hopefully take it to a few places.

 

[Ricardos]

Top up of Tesco finest 95 and a couple of photos this evening. I've also arranged to take it down to Ashford in Kent this weekend so Chris King the Renaultsport specialist can give it the once over and look into the erratic speedometer and fuel sender problem.

 

[Adey.]

 

[Rubicon_]

Love this!

How hard are these to convert (to anyone in here that knows)?

 

[Mickb]

Love this!

How hard are these to convert (to anyone in here that knows)?

Not overly. Wiring is the hardest bit to it

 

[Rubicon_]

Not overly. Wiring is the hardest bit to it

Just a subframe swap apart from that?

 

[Ricardos]

Friday van vibes.

 

[Ricardos]

Popped down to Ashford to see Chris King. Stopped off for a breakfast in a bagel and latte en route at a place called 7Hotel-Diner where i went to for a Renaultsport meet a few months back. They often have car meet gatherings and today they had a few GT3 RS models, R34 Skyline, M2s, M4s, Lamborghini Performante.... So the Kangoo didn't feel out of place.

Front wheels off and had a nose about, definitely NOT K Tec coilovers as they have damping adjustment on the shock top, not silver and his hunch is maybe GAZ.... But no stamps. Also confirmed as 54mm centres so NOT 60mm 182 cup as was mentioned. So it looks like a late 172 was used as a donor as there's no speedo drive in the box but a signal coming off the sensor in the hub. Only 1 sensor mind you as the drivers side is cut so they've tried to use a signal from the passenger side. It all seems intact hub end, no cracks in the ABS ring so Chris is thinking dash clocks?

Second issue, fuel gauge. It uses the 172 sender and float so we swapped out the float for a Kangoo item which is noticeably different... Good. BUT, if anyone has a photo of a Clio 172-182 sender up close it would be appreciated as we think where the top half prongs go into the bottom, half the tabs are broken so effectively the bottom half of the sender is hanging off the springs and sitting too low. The gauge read halfway but when we took the sender out the tank was almost full.

The plan is to get a second hand sender, swap the float to that and drop it in. That's all we could do really today.

 

[Bluebeard]

I’ve literally torn all my hair out trying to sort out my fuel gauge.
It works from half a tank and under and that’s the way it’s staying until someone gives me a definitive solution.

 

[Ricardos]

I’ve literally torn all my hair out trying to sort out my fuel gauge.
It works from half a tank and under and that’s the way it’s staying until someone gives me a definitive solution.

Mine read half a tank, swapped the float, driven 70 miles, needles gone up to full 🤷 @Brigsy was saying to use the Clio sender and a Kangoo petrol float for it to work. I still need to see another sender to at least see if the housing is broken.

 

[Mickb]

Kangoo sender. No issues with reading. Clio senders dont sit on the bottom of the tank as it should. Also there's no tank breather if it's the diesel tank. Mine read 1 bar from the top when full. I'd be tempted to try get petrol tank and sender

 

[Ricardos]

Kangoo sender. No issues with reading. Clio senders dont sit on the bottom of the tank as it should. Also there's no tank breather if it's the diesel tank. Mine read 1 bar from the top when full. I'd be tempted to try get petrol tank and sender

So buy a Kangoo sender and drop straight in, and the pump will be ok to use too?

 

[Mickb]

Yeah I've had mine in the daily and just done its 1st 4hr track time last weekend no issues in the diesel tank. Will see if I can see it on ebay and pm you

 

[Bluebeard]

So if I fit this, my fuel gauge will work...??

Pardon our interruption...

 

[Mickb]

It should. Get a multi meter onto the sender and see if the level circuit is working. Or try new speedo. I doubt it will be wiring

 

[Ricardos]

This one any good?

Fuel Pump Sender in fuel tank FOR KANGOO I 01->07 CHOICE1/2 1.6 MPV Petrol SMP | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fuel Pump Sender in fuel tank FOR KANGOO I 01->07 CHOICE1/2 1.6 MPV Petrol SMP at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Mickb]

Aye that should work. Dates are right

 

[Ricardos]

Aye that should work. Dates are right

Perfect, half the price

 

[Ricardos]

**DEPOSIT TAKEN**

With the Coronavirus situation, having 3 vehicles, and work being sketchy there wasn't much I could do. I'd used money from the savings to buy it 2 weeks before the big C kicked in so quickly but it's needed just in case.

 

[Cookson]

Sold to anyone from here? Would love to see it stay

 

[Inequality Street]

**DEPOSIT TAKEN**

With the Coronavirus situation, having 3 vehicles, and work being sketchy there wasn't much I could do. I'd used money from the savings to buy it 2 weeks before the big C kicked in so quickly but it's needed just in case.

Pffffft! I didn’t want it anyway.