The Megane R26 project

[Beasley Clio182]

Well after a few indecisive weeks I couldn't make my mind up to keep the megane , I loved my 182 , and seeing the car again bought it all back!

However after a spirited drive and a sit in traffic made me realise why I love the megane it does fast very very well , and it also does normal driving very well!

I had a serious offer on the car but I couldn't let it go, I need to man up and start loving this car !

One of the things that bothers me is my current lack of music , the standard CD player is okay, and with the optional 6 disc it made me not want to remove it , but I miss my iPod connection lol and the radio is pants on this standard unit .

It's a shame not to fill all the space so I've been watching dual din units for a while , I ideally wanted a touch screen all singing all dancing unit , but with me and the missus booking a wedding venue and planning the future , I don't really have the funds for something amazing.

I decided a quick scoot on eBay , and found a tidy Alpine unit , not massively new, and also not fancy head up, but reviews are great on it , and it has iPod connections with charging etc which I was happy about .

a quick chat over to the owner and a offer on the table I bagged this for £70

Fitted in another car

hopefully this will make me more at home with the car

also so finally finished the engine bay cover !

Now please don't laugh at my awful painting skills

its by no means professional , and I think it'll do for now see how it pans out !

Booked to go trax in it , and I'm on stand , so see how that goes

plans to follow
rear brakes
door switches
remap although I think it'll need a clutch before that , and I'm debating a single mass conversion ! See how it plans out !

 

[lemonnobby]

My engine cover is like that but blue and black

 

[Beasley Clio182]

My engine cover is like that but blue and black

Haha I went with red because of everything else ie brakes etc are red ! I quite like it , it's grown on me lol

 

[lemonnobby]

Mine needs redoing. Like rest of the car. Tempted to get a r26

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Mine needs redoing. Like rest of the car. Tempted to get a r26

you seen any or just eying one up? I have to admit they drive so well ! The diff is awesome , but I'm not sure how much difference you'll notice from a 225 !

My my cover isn't awesome up close had a few issues with masking lol

 

[lemonnobby]

Just thinking at the mo. Would like a 250 but don't think I could afford it. But unsure of the seats I didn't find them comfortable before

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well i wont lie, times have been a little slow of late ! With me and the partner setting a date to get married and saving for that and a deposit for a house the megane has been sitting on its own !

I wont lie I had also lost a massive interest in the car , for some odd reason , and had decided to sell it, but after a thought or two i cant get anything that i would want for the money! i had a look at a trophy , that was a massive let down if i'm honest, 'mint' my @rse

So i kept driving the megane and im glad i have because im starting to enjoy it alot more !

Its been MOT'd and a few things were highlighted which some i knew , some i didnt , it needs a new track rod end on the nearside, which i have the replacement part sitting on my toolbox, just need to find time to fit it.

Also my Offside rear brake was binding badly, another highlighted fact that the rear discs and pads required replacement , which will be getting ordered this week ! its been freed off for now , but it will be sorted !

Tax dropped on the door step so again £146.50 lighter , but it also means ive had the megane for 6 months :O

I Have fitted the new CD player which helps alot driving around , its nice to have my own music rather than the sh!tty radio with terrible reception ! Had to buy a fascia plate and get slightly creative with a hacksaw, but its all in flush

I have recently been enjoying detailing a bit more and being lucky , autobrite are just down the road from me and i have some very good mates there, a few chats later i booked on there back to basics course which is aimed to do exactly what it says , it was a long day but god its worth it, they show you all sorts and there knowledge is crazy , they let us use the rotary machines and Dual action, which i've had some experiences , but they guide you on best techniques !

Well long story short they decided to use my R26 a demo car along with my friends type R , so my car got cleaned well without me having to bother lol

Had kittens when they were showing / practising Rotary polishing on the bonnet

Came out well the car did however because there was a lot of 50/50s to see the difference half the car was cleaner than the other half lol ! so a couple of days later i had to attack it again myself !

Also a good friend (very good friend) had let me borrow his Definitive wax to apply to my car, now i cant get across just how bloody good this stuff is, i used Carrera edition first then covered that with a layer of Show edition here are the results

Ive just bought a Ram Air cone filter as well with a 70mm inlet so will fit straight into the pipe !

More to come soon comments always welcome

Im at Trax sunday so no doubt will update after that

 

[welshname]

Bloody love this. You've no idea the number of hours I wasted on PistonHeads looking at your advert.

I will get one next year I think.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Bloody love this. You've no idea the number of hours I wasted on PistonHeads looking at your advert.

I will get one next year I think.

haha that's made me feel better about it mate haha it's a lovely car I can't take that away from it ! They are great motors but they aren't cheap to run compared to the Clio lol !

 

[welshname]

haha that's made me feel better about it mate haha it's a lovely car I can't take that away from it ! They are great motors but they aren't cheap to run compared to the Clio lol !

My clio hasn't exactly been what you'd call "cheap to run". Doesn't bother me too much though although I'm getting bored of it already.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

My clio hasn't exactly been what you'd call "cheap to run". Doesn't bother me too much though although I'm getting bored of it already.

haha fair enough I suppose I can't complain because my Clio was great never really cost a lot to keep it going where as the megane has had some teething issues , but I'll get there in the end ! I didn't buy a R26 thinking it'll be cheap to run !

Getting bored is dangerous though lol

 

[imprezaworks]

That looks stunning, would love one.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

That looks stunning, would love one.

Thank you mate hope to get there in the end ! Starting to get there and looks a damn sight better than when I bought it ! Lol

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Looks superb after the rotary/waxing mate

Clean reg plates are always a winner aswel

 

[Matt e]

Well as a surprise today guess what came ??

normally I'd be straight into work to fit them, but I'm not well :/ so they will have to wait till next weekend !

where did you get the lines from?

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Looks superb after the rotary/waxing mate

Clean reg plates are always a winner aswel

thanks very much mate it's getting there! Needs the rear doing a bit more in depth but when I have time I can do this

where did you get the lines from?

I had these from a friend of mine ! I can get you a set if you'd like drop me a PM !

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well eventful few days with the megane !


A friend asked me to take him out in the car which after a bit of reluctance I agreed , we had a bit of a drive and Sod's law I noticed a catching noise from the rear when braking.


Had a good feeling it was the rear brakes finally , as I knew they've been shot for ages , but due to the cost of them I was running them to the death lol


Luckily this was Thursday night and I'd ordered the discs and pads on the Wednesday (Pure luck) so they were delivered Friday morning and I stayed behind after work to get them on for trax !


I knew the outer face of the disc was completely battered , but I didn't bother looking at the inner edge , prob best really after removing them I saw just how bad they were :O brace yourselves .....

new ones were fitted and the passenger side was a little tight going back but it went in the end alls happy there !!

all fitted job done


also so set about changing the air filter , when I bought it I had a modified airbox , I've seen a few people running a ram air cone filter on the standard pipe so I decided to get one

was a 70mm filter and with a littler persuasion it was fitted !


I don't have any of it in at the moment will get a few , noise is great adds a lot over the modified air box , sounds great maybe me thinking but it felt a little better on the uptake , and gives some good suck and chatter over all very happy !


Made my way down to trax Sunday after spending all Saturday cleaning the car , hoovered , new Renault sport mats fitted (funny story I'll mention later) and a quick wax over with some Definitive wax Show Edition looked great


Set out at 5.45am Sunday morning to meet everyone on Stand, was a very good drive down hardly any traffic until we hit silverstone then it drove me up the wall got in about 9am on stand etc !


Few photos here none of mine I was to pre occupied to take any lol

Was a great day , massively impressed with the R26 ! It didn't breakdown once , never skipped a beat, just over 220 odd miles the only problem was on the way back I've developed a slight catching noise from Driver side rear brake which I think is the metal clips the pad sits in rubbing on the disc which I will sort tomorrow !


Other than ham that faultless , and I used half a tank to get there and back which is amazing , my mate followed down in his type R and use ld nearly a full tank there and back and we were still exactly same speeds !


Very happy with the car have a few bits and bobs on order , clear indicator bulbs al round some new LED sidelights as the ones I have keep flickering , and also have a RS tuner coming off a friend see how things go !


More to follow

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well last week I spotted somebody breaking a 225 , now since I bought the car I've been searching for a second hand exhaust , and I've seen 1 in 7 months and that had been sold before hand

well I literally jumped straight on and messaged him, really nice lad and got chatting , found out he's only in Derby and it was a full Milltek stainless with round tips which is exactly what I wanted

we agreed a price which imo was very cheap and I went fetch it Sunday

over the moon just need find some time to get it fitted hopefully soon enough !

Also so managed to get a steering wheel and set of front spacers 20mm and bolts to go on and I'll send the wheel to snappy who did my 182 wheel , watch this space

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well I have been playing with the megane , just not a lot

Good news after a lot of messing about , I fitted the Milltek system ! What a PITA ! Bumper off all sorts was hoping for a quick job lol
Then when fitted I realised it was supposed to have a Milltek rear exhaust mount that I didn't get hold off , so it's ok the normal mount with a cable tie modification to stop it rattling haha

I was over the moon with the system , until I ran it for 5 mins and thought, this is blowing somewhere , back up on the ramp and found the front flexi pipe although no signs of damage , it's blowing ! Gutted

I rang Milltek the next day to try arrange a mount and front flexi , as per there customer service was crap ! Messed me about through email for a while then never got back to me , so I rang again , and they do the flexi sperate , but it's about £150+vat ! But no price on the rear mount and I got annoyed chasing them so I gave up !

Fast forward to now , and some how luckily I've dropped on, after a random chat on Facebook I managed to find a bloke selling a BNIB , Milltek front flexi , 2.75 inch make him a offer , so after a chat , he was happy with £70+ postage , deal done and it landed yesterday, looks spot on never been fitted as it wasn't what he needed !

So that will be getting chucked on ASAP!

Also bought a set of 20mm hubcentric rear spacers , and extended bolts for the rear which I've put on, wasn't too sure on them at first , but they do give the rear end a lot more presence , can't say it handles any different but I haven't really pushed hard yet !

Also when it was up, I fitted a brand new Renault Nearside Track rod end as the old one was cream crackered! Could really benefit from a inner track rod as well which I shall get sorted in due course along with a OSF shocker !

While it was it bits I tried stop the brake squeal , so ripped out all the pads and chamfered all the edges and gave them a clean a some fresh grease , worked for a little bit but still have a little noise , which I'm sure is just pad noise now !

New steering wheel has landed , which will be getting sent up to snappy after Christmas to be refurbished as always his work is top and after my 182 wheel it won't go anywhere else haha

So over all I'm getting there slowly ! Cars a little dirty and feeling sorry for itself , so I'm hoping give it a clean tomorrow and hopefully if I get time may make a start on machining the car ! I'll get some new photos of the new bits and fingers crossed it will be okay

 

[Gavin.]

Only just seen this, looks lovely that mate.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Only just seen this, looks lovely that mate.

Cheers mate appreciate that , I'm getting there with the car slowly !

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well I haven't half been dragging my feet with this megane as of late , it's been running really well over the last couple of months which is great !

I've had so many bits I need to do but no time at the moment , sitting next to my box I have a brand new shocker , brand new inner track Rod!
I also have a brand new in box Milltek flexible pipe to replace the one on the car as it's blowing 😧
Also have some little bits and bobs , new door switches for the keyless entry and a few side light bulbs and clear indicator bulbs to fit haha

I just need a full day to hit the car now !

Also as a present to myself , I had a chat with Adam at Renault Wolverhampton, and ended up ordering a new R26R spoiler lol £110+vat iirc !

The car was sent last Friday to a local Bodyshop (owner is a friend who owed me a favour)
And £50 later it's been painted and fitted ! I don't have any good photos of it yet , It really needs a clean but some till I get a good photo

Hopefully I'll be able to keep it posted more often now ! Comments welcome as always

 

[Matt e]

really need to take those stickers off, they ruin what otherwise is a nice car

 

[Beasley Clio182]

really need to take those stickers off, they ruin what otherwise is a nice car

Ive been thinking about it , but I quite like being a big child lol

When I clean in they may come off !

They look huge in the photo they aren't that big and obvious I'm promise

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well the times hs finally come around that I actually need to do some work on the megane !

To be fair ive been rather lazy and stock piling bits together , but between work and other jobs ive had no time to even look at the megane !

Ive booked two days off work start of March, and cleared it with work to use my ramp, and the megane is having everything thrown at it , all the bits I have including some new stuff too !

List as it stands ,
New milltek front exhaust flexi
Offside front shock absorber
Nearside front track rod end
Clear indicators bulbs all round
New LED front sidelights

Also , I got a bit cheeky on eBay the other night

Got this new intercooler for a bargain

Ive seen some debates on these , and as much as I'd love a forge or airtec I just can't justify the cost

I know a lad who has this exact intercooler running a steady 270 bhp 290ft ( which is my aim) He's done a few runs and inlet temps were great , so I'm hoping this works well, after all the proof is in the pudding , I don't want to go big power , my aim is 270bhp I'll be happy at that so this should be plenty !
And bet thing is , £76 delivered ! So even if it isn't the best , you can't argue with that when its new !

Also after a chatter on the Facebook group , I got chatting about this Nearside track rod play , turns out it's quite common on these (I never knew) so I have a new track rod , under the apprehension that would cure the play, but apparently not , there's a nylon bush that sits inside the steering rack, which fails , and causes the play!

Now I'm yet to rip the car apart , but in the interest of speed , I decided to track down the bush , which can be bought seperatly from a company called track focus direct ! (Thanks Adam greenhouse )

The bush is £33 a lot cheaper than a new rack , and it's on its way, I will be fitting this along with the new track rod end so that will hopefully eliminate any play at all !

All being well I'll have a nice healthy megane ready for stage 2 soon enough !

Comments welcome as always
Dean

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well ive been saying for a while that I need to get the paintwork tidied up a bit on the megane , but inbetween sorting other people's car ive not even looked at mine !

Finally got a free weekend last weekend and decided the megane was in for it , started nice and early and a mate popped around to give me a hand !

It's been washed snowfoams , clayed and washed again , dried and then we started with the machine polishing !

We used a combo of many things, DAS-6 Pro , DA-21 and used multiple foam pads , for cutting we used AB enrich , as I find this a great product, and not too much cut, and finished with AB final finish , I gave it a very quick layer of Definitive wax show edition , but didn't quite manage to finish the full car before it went dark!

It's going to be washed again soon and a layer of wax ! Quite keen to try a new product called Sonax net shield so I may try that !

While it was there I thought I'll get some photos with the new spoiler on as well !

Came out pretty well just need some finishing touches !

Comments welcome as always !

 

[canky]

looking sweet as always mate. snap on the KTR sticker (we must be the only ones who like it ha!)

 

[Beasley Clio182]

looking sweet as always mate. snap on the KTR sticker (we must be the only ones who like it ha!)

Hahaha thank you mate ! Ive still been debating take most of the stickers offs (excluding the r26 stuff) although even that's up for debate !

Fancying taking it back to the clean look for a bit see how I feel, if Id had the time last week , Id prob have done it !

 

[canky]

totally know what you saying some days i want the clean look other days i love the stickers i changed my ktr one for the silver writing. i like it for now but i think with all cosmetic things you just get bored and want change at some point.

the stickers you have on the back window make be laugh i do like them, that said i think i would remove them as they are quite big.

ps: i still miss the clio ha

 

[Beasley Clio182]

totally know what you saying some days i want the clean look other days i love the stickers i changed my ktr one for the silver writing. i like it for now but i think with all cosmetic things you just get bored and want change at some point.

the stickers you have on the back window make be laugh i do like them, that said i think i would remove them as they are quite big.

ps: i still miss the clio ha

Hahaha I miss my Clio like mad ! Funnily enough the lad who was helping me machine the megane was the lad who bought it off me , we've stayed talking haha , and he says he misses it like crazy too!

Haha yeah that's what I'm thinking and it's not exactly rare stickers on the window so I can always get them again, but to be fair around show season I do tend to change them , they look massive on the photos but they don't seam that big in real life lol

 

[canky]

No way that makes 3 of us. I wish i still had it it was so clean. It had to go unfortunately. As good as the megane is there is just something about those clios i love.

I think i like the idea of having na car and turbo car as you can drive them so different when pushing.

I really can see me getting one again one day.

Wish the new owner would come on here wanna see hows it getting on haha.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

No way that makes 3 of us. I wish i still had it it was so clean. It had to go unfortunately. As good as the megane is there is just something about those clios i love.

I think i like the idea of having na car and turbo car as you can drive them so different when pushing.

I really can see me getting one again one day.

Wish the new owner would come on here wanna see hows it getting on haha.

Hahaha the car collects the love lol ! I'm a little concerned as the reg has dropped off everything , I'm hoping it's been put in a private reg! and not been broken or lost to the scrappy !

 

[deutsche_blonde]

Love the car, HATE the stickers. Cheapens a nice motor.

 

[canky]

Yes so am i lol i was hoping it was private reg as doesnt show up does it anymore

I never saw it taxed after i sold it.

Few days after i sold it the new owner text saying all the abs lights etc come on.

I never had any issues or any sign of issues so god only knows he probably ragged it home.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Love the car, HATE the stickers. Cheapens a nice motor.

Hahaha see previous comments lol ! Cheers though !

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Yes so am i lol i was hoping it was private reg as doesnt show up does it anymore

I never saw it taxed after i sold it.

Few days after i sold it the new owner text saying all the abs lights etc come on.

I never had any issues or any sign of issues so god only knows he probably ragged it home.

Me either mate car was awesome when I owned it , was genuinely one of those cars I spent all my modifying it never had to really fix it as it was spot on !

Not really much you can do if it was a couple of days later really !

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Well ive finally spent some time on the megane ! Not as much as I'd have like due to not being too well, but I have got a lot done !

Ive finally replaced the OSF shocker , it's been on its way for a while and it's been driving me up the wall!

All its fluid had come out now so it was about due to say the least ! Took a bit of fettling and a convo with mark black (top guy) on the best ways of removing it !

While I was there I decided to replace the Milltek front exhaust flexi that's been driving me nuts as well , it's always blown from when I fitted it but the last couple of weeks it's started to get worse , unfortunately with the system it was siezed solid in the Center section so I ended up removing the full system and bumper and starting again which most likely helped as I tweeked a few things (rear mount was modified so no rattle) and the position was slightly altered , but over all happy days , it sounds a million times better , a lot more poppy which it's never sounded like!

I also set about fitting this new intercooler , which ive sprayed black , because I prefer the stealth look to be honest , Now I knew from day 1 it's only small compared to the forge or airtec, however a friend has this excat one and sees a good 270 bhp without any rise in inlet temps so that's plenty for me !

Here's a few photos before and after

I also took this time while the bumpers etc were off to sort a few bulbs lol , ive replaced the two front side light bulbs with new LED 501s as one was flickering , ive replaced the indicator bulbs with silverline bulbs that are visually silver but flash orange , same at the rear , and I replaced my front fog lamps with new led bulbs , makes the world of difference !

Few things left to do but getting there finally !

Comments always welcome

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Progress has been somewhat slower on this Meg than I wanted !

It's hard at the moment juggling work and all sorts but I had the chance do a few bits and bobs on the car on Easter Friday at work , gave it a once over and noticed there's some slight play in offside front track rod / end , no I already have replaced the NS track rod end , but I need to fit the NS track rod and the nylon bush within the rack , so this has kind of spurred me on , so ive ordered now a OSF rack end and track rod so I can do it all once and then track it up once !

It'll have new track rod ends and rods Both sides and a nylon bush replaced !

Also found 5 mins to replace the drivers brake light that was out , and swap the numberplate lamps to some LED lamps, I had LED bulbs in before but the chance came up for some lamps , a lad had bought them and they didn't fit his phase 1 , price agreed and they were on the way to mine ! They were a little tight to fit and took some jiggery pokerey to get the plugs onto the lamps but once on they have been great really bright !

Here's some photos of the number plate lamps and front fogs and clear indicator bulbs , they don't do them justice as it was daylight, but at night they really really stand out

Oh and I gave it a good going over washed , and finally did what I was thinking of
It's now window sticker less hahaha

It'll get there slowly !!

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Need to get some more bits done on the Meg!

Just taken delivery of a new Oil and Filter for it so that's going to be put on to keep the full service history up to date !

Also dropped on a new gadget which I've been keeping my eyes out for !

A scan gauge 2 , I like to monitor things so it comes in useful , I've set it up to give boost pressure , RPM, air inlet temp and Coolant temp , as yet , everything is looking bang on what it should be , running around 13-14psi (which needs fine tuning has to be set off atmospheric pressure ) coolant sits at 88degrees and the air inlet is keeping nice and cold , around a degree or two above outside temp so I'm happy !

And some nice beading after being left out of the car port the other day, currently has 50 cal Penta wax , but I regularly change it due to the passion of cleaning them, just Had another definitive wax land and I've been using Sonax Polymor net shield as the beading is amazing !

Getting there with it , needs a set of front tyres next month so I'll be ordering them soon as well!
Fancying some Michelin Super sports see what happens though !

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks a great car mate, will have to own one at some point. Was going to ask what you used to clean it. You rate the sonax stuff?