Re: Project 172k Trophy, & its endless track abuse
its still quick as f**k lol
I though that on this note, i should make a rather large update
Firstly, thanks to James & Tom at JMS, despite having to be on the Eurotunnel at 6am this morning, James was bleeding my brakes at midnight last night - mostly thanks to Boosh bringing in a last minute brake related emergency/f*ck up i might add ... IR tired.
So, as mentioned previously i was having the following done:
•Compression Test - all fine, was pretty good across all cylinders apparently.
•Cambelt & Aux Belt change - had done 4 yrs/100k since the last one
•De-phaser Pulley - had finally started to rattle a bit after 174k
•Rocker Cover Reseal - was leaking, literally everywhere, i used a 5L can as top up.
•Pure Motorsport aircon delete - didnt work anyway, less weight, faster pickup?
•Coolant change & thermostat - again, had done 4 yrs/100k since last change
•New NGK PFR6E10’s - by the look of them, they had done 174k & were causing a misfire at 1.8k rpm. My solution was to simply keep it above that. James said i was a bad man.
•JMS Remap - already had RS inlets, so it seemed rude not to really, & i had already decided against the other, free option
•Bleed brakes - they've not been right since Donington
•Gearbox Oil change - probably never been done
In addition, to cure the whirring noise a new valeo alternator was fitted (exchange from GSF as the Renault item is now £400 lol), along with a new PAS pump - its been struggling occasionally of late, ie getting pretty heavy sporadically, so thought i might as well get that changed at the same time.
My thoughts? Its like a new car, obviously the whirring is no more, it idles perfectly & i dont need arms like Arnie to turn the wheel. Most importantly, the engine, oh the engine. No more hesitancy below 2k (from f*cked spark plugs), sounds wonderfully smooth (rattly de-phaser is gone) & it pulls like the proverbial train (partly due to a new Pipercross filter i guess, instead of an ITG that looked like it had been dragged through a lake. Obviously its been remapped, but having had a mapped clio before, id put the overall improvement down to a combination of the work done, along with the pièce de résistance, the Pure Motorsport Aircon Delete Kit ...
Not only does it add that little bit of shinyness to an otherwise average engine bay, but yes, it does make a really noticeable difference to the way the car drives. Obviously with all the other work that i've had done to the car, it would be silly to talk about power & speed, etc. But wat is noticeable is the improved eagerness to rev & lower inertia of the engine, a blip of the throttle really is a blip now, with it swinging round with an almost 'vtec' like quality.
James said that i would realy notice it the 1st time i heeled & toed, & i did when the revs jumped about 1.5k more than they usually would on a typical 4th to 3rd downshift!
So, in effect, i've had a lot of work done, spent a lot of money & ended up completely falling in love with my car again. Thanks guys.
And now, some pics :approve:
Before (note the oily rocker cover):
After (clean rocker cover):
Before (aircon stuff):
After (no aircon stuff):
Minging old alternator, aircon stuff:
Shiny things:
More shiny things (a great piece of kit):
Have now abandoned the Beemer at Mike's and will be driving the Trophy for a few days, quite possible with a huge grin on my face!