The Petrol Blue Project continued

[MLB]

Slowly working my way though the interior and finally changed the broken led bulb in the cabin for a normal W5W one. So much more light and not the horrible faint blue glow.

Door card of the front door is done now, just waiting for the paint to dry on the speaker rings and then the speaker and door card can go back in.

 

[MLB]

Little progress on the sound deadening, lots of work, little time.

Just a couple of small upgrades, fresh PAS fluid and brake fluid bleed last week ready for the Donington Park evening session.

Very wet evening at Donington with about 15-20 M3s attending so quite a lot of spectacular sideways action!

Car ran faultlessly, didn't need anything but fuel and new wipers.

Ordered new wipers as they seemed to be giving up and I've been wanting to see what the whole PIAA thing is all about.

Gave the windscreen a clean, polish and then wiped with the included wipe, see if they are worth the money.

 

[JamesBryan]

Interesting that you went for the D4 ATF and not the dedicated power steering fluid they do. I've just put some of that in mine.

 

[davo172]

Little progress on the sound deadening, lots of work, little time.

Just a couple of small upgrades, fresh PAS fluid and brake fluid bleed last week ready for the Donington Park evening session.

View attachment 1540574

Very wet evening at Donington with about 15-20 M3s attending so quite a lot of spectacular sideways action!

Car ran faultlessly, didn't need anything but fuel and new wipers.
View attachment 1540578

Ordered new wipers as they seemed to be giving up and I've been wanting to see what the whole PIAA thing is all about.

Gave the windscreen a clean, polish and then wiped with the included wipe, see if they are worth the money.

View attachment 1540575

Bin them and get bosch aerotwins

 

[MLB]

Interesting that you went for the D4 ATF and not the dedicated power steering fluid they do. I've just put some of that in mine.

This is what got recommended for track use by opieoils over the standard Renault Dexron 2.

Bin them and get bosch aerotwins

Had those on before and they were fine as well.

 

[Hollidog]

Two coats of rain-x and you don't even need the wipers above 60mph

 

[MLB]

I suspect the included window treatment wipe is very similar to rain x.

Do find that Rain X wears off quite quickly for speeds under 40mph.

Usually coat my windows in Gyeon View, so never really use the wipers on the motorway anyway but in heavy rain on track I found not using wipers not an option in low speed corners and with all the spray behind other cars.

Just interested to see how much truth their claim of leaving behind a water repellent coating while using the wipers holds.

If that turns out to be a load of crp I'll be switching back to the Bosch Aerotwins.

 

[davo172]

I went the rain x route and g tech found them both pretty s**t tbh!

 

[Hollidog]

Yeah in spray the droplet sizes don't seem to be big enough to clear properly, more of a mist than rain. I rain-x'd mine over a year ago and it's still going strong. I use the bosch aero twin wipers too.

 

[MLB]

Been using the Petrol Blue a bit more, almost 2000 miles in two months, including two trackdays, Oulton Park in July and Anglesey last Monday.

Two good days, both dry and sunny, which meant lots of comments on the colour.

Surprised a couple of people at Anglesey who assumed I'd wrapped it until @HAP showed up with exactly the same 'wrap'!

Did notice that my horn had ceased to work.

Reconnected a loose wire in the wheel well which didn't fix it so feared I'd damaged the wiring when I had the airbag out recently.

Luckily it was just filthy switches, quick clean and all three work again. While there I gave the ignition switch a polish as well.

 

[HAP]

This is the only decent picture I got...

 

[MLB]

I don't know why we didn't take any more, I literally have one single picture of cars that day.

 

[HAP]

To be fair my car was absolutely filthy! So it's probably best that you didn't take any pictures of it haha.

 

[-Rob]

Petrol Blue in the sun is really something else, wish I never sold mine!

 

[MLB]

Thank you, it does look great when the sun hits it right!

 

[Jossman]

Looks great mate.

Did you still want these wheels? Lemme know I'm not fussed either way

 

[MLB]

Annual service with a couple of extras done at Birchdown in Malpas. Oil/filter change, new track rods/ends, fit camber bolts and a couple minor things.

Brilliant service as always, thanks @Birchdown!

Had the car booked in for wheel alignment the day after but sadly the garage I'd booked couldn't adjust the camber. Bit of phoning around and Demon Tweeks were able to fit me in thst afternoon, took me from 0900 till 1500 to get the alignment done but it feels great, like a new car, so much sharper.

See how it feels at Anglesey on Monday.

Before

After

While I was at Demon Tweeks I got a bronze Ultraleggera out, I quite like it, nicer than the hyper silver I think.

 

[davo172]

Annual service with a couple of extras done at Birchdown in Malpas. Oil/filter change, new track rods/ends, fit camber bolts and a couple minor things.

Brilliant service as always, thanks @Birchdown!

Had the car booked in for wheel alignment the day after but sadly the garage I'd booked couldn't adjust the camber. Bit of phoning around and Demon Tweeks were able to fit me in thst afternoon, took me from 0900 till 1500 to get the alignment done but it feels great, like a new car, so much sharper.

See how it feels at Anglesey on Monday.

Before
View attachment 1561401

After
View attachment 1561402

While I was at Demon Tweeks I got a bronze Ultraleggera out, I quite like it, nicer than the hyper silver I think.

View attachment 1561403

Not a good match for the car colour imo anthracite all the way

 

[MLB]

It's just something else, think gold would match the gold paint flake better but they're a bit too bright.

Matte graphite is the grey option for these, but I think they might look a bit dull. Easy to clean after a trackday though!

 

[MLB]

Not much happening with the Petrol Blue, didn't drive it much as I was off work for two months due to the arrival of our second child but been to Oulton Park last Tuesday.

Brilliant day, cold and slippery in the morning but sunny all day so the track dried out mid morning. Still amazed at how much difference a bit of extra negative camber up front makes.

Did get winter tyres fitted and gave it a wash yesterday as it was absolutely covered in salt and grime.

Initially wasn't a fan of black wheels but they're actually growing on me. (and finally found and fitted the center caps @HAP!)

 

[HAP]

Actually looks really good with black wheels!

 

[MLB]

Nearly a year without updates.. Just not had the time with work and kids!

Clio has been doing well and just celebrated three years of ownership.

Quick summary of things done this year:
Rear shocks
Spark plugs
Gearbox oil
Indicator lens
Gear lever gaiter

Boot lock stopped working so took that apart, was just full of plastic dust and grease, all cleaned out and working fine again.

With winter approaching and no more trackdays booked I decided to SORN the car and review the brake system.

Noticed three out of four bleed valves were leaking last trackday so got the calipers sent off to M.S. Custom Engineering.

Max was great to deal with and within two weeks I had the refurbished calipers back, ready to go on with the PMS 280mm brackets so I have the option to run 15" wheels.

Genuine Renault discs this time

Rear flexis replaced with braided HEL hoses

Other upgrades are titanium shims, Ds2500 rear pads and Castrol SRF.

Only thing I'm waiting for now are air scoops to fit the brake cooling kit. They should be arriving in the new year and then I'll have to get some more trackdays booked.

 

[MLB]

All ready for Oulton Park tomorrow.

New Zestino Gredge tyres fitted, all fluids topped up, oil change done, brakes bled again and cooling fitted.

Air scoops arrived and are a perfect fit. Seller was super helpful and willing to adapt the design to fit the 54mm air ducts for the BYC kit.

Brakes look tiny in these wheels now, coming from 300mm discs!

Looks like it's going to be cold but sunny, hoping for a great start of the season!

 

[Mr Underhill]

All ready for Oulton Park tomorrow.

New Zestino Gredge tyres fitted, all fluids topped up, oil change done, brakes bled again and cooling fitted.

Air scoops arrived and are a perfect fit. Seller was super helpful and willing to adapt the design to fit the 54mm air ducts for the BYC kit.

View attachment 1629018

View attachment 1629019

View attachment 1629022

Brakes look tiny in these wheels now, coming from 300mm discs!

View attachment 1629016

Looks like it's going to be cold but sunny, hoping for a great start of the season!

Be interesting to see how those Gredge perform. Any reason you went with the Soft compound over the medium? I guess it's still very cold so they'll probably suit the current conditions.

 

[MLB]

I've read very little about them but the price was good so thought I'd give them a go.

Was going to go for the medium but soft is TW140 which is what my old 595 RSR were and they coped quite well with 20 minute sessions in winter and summer.

 

[MLB]

Ticked over 110k, which means exactly 10.000 miles in my ownership and still going strong.

First time I've got a light as I've removed the passenger seat to finally put the stereocables away.

Steering got a bit vague and started pulling left and right coming on and off the throttle which turned out to be the balljoints. Replaced with Lemforder items and all is good again. Just been for a drive and the vagueness is all gone.

 

[hopgop1]

Do you have the part numbers of what you put on? Mine are a good few years old now and probably a bit tired.

 

[MLB]

I do, I got these from ECP with part number 617745225.

https://www.eurocarparts.com/search...ontent=awin+traffic&utm_campaign=Sub+Networks

No sure if they've just gone super expensive or they had a good offer on when I got them but I paid just over 12 quid for two in 2020😳. Might be worth shopping around.

 

[MLB]

Got a wheel alignment done in preparation for Anglesey last Monday.

Was a great day, beautiful weather and except for splitting an air conditioning pipe the car performed faultlessly.

Also finally finished the speaker cable/sound deadening in the front. Have been driving around with cables across the cabin for more than two years 😂

Had to crack on a bit so not many photos as I wanted to get it finished before Anglesey again on Monday. Not driven it except to move it on the drive but it sounded a bit quieter again.

Still can't believe how awesome these little cars are, fairly comfortable, usable and economical on the road and lots of fun on track!

 

[MLB]

Ah and gave the seatbelts a clean, I can't remember if I had ever done these, didn't look too bad before removing but yeah..

I think I'm going to do the black seatbelts in the X5 tomorrow 😂

 

[HAP]

@MLB is removing the chrome emblem a weight reduction trick? 🤣

Great to see one being used hard! Mine doesn't get a chance to go fast any more, especially with the new 20 MPH laws!

 

[MLB]

Three clips had snapped so just pulled it off, on the hunt for a new one!

 

[MLB]

This is definitely due an update.

Not driven the Clio much since the last update, mainly because it needed belts, I had just bought the M2 and couldn't decide what to do with the Clio.

Decision made to keep it, so first step was to get the belts done and sort some small issues out.

What started as just belts and small items quickly turned into quite a list of items! All done by the brilliant guys at @Birchdown, can't thank Andy and Steve enough for their patience and help!

At the same time as belts I'd decided to get 197 cams, arp rod bolts and supertech valves fitted. Head was sent off and as it turned out the valve guides were well worn.



All sorted, and while the arp bolts were fitted the weeping sump seal was replaced as well.

Also had an ABS sensor, CV boot replaced and (at eye watering cost) the front ac pipe replaced with a new, genuine item. They seem to have a weak spot where they connect to the ac pump and old second hand pipes kept snapping.

Fingers crossed this will stay in one piece, at least the ac has never been this cold before!

Going to EFI for mapping 7th of May, not expecting big gains, it's mainly about reliability, but any extra power/torque would be a nice bonus.

Spec as it stands

- 172 Engine
- RS2 Intake
- 197 Injectors
- 197 cams
- Supertech Valves
- ARP rod bolts
- Forge Motorsport hose kit
- Magnecor Leads
- Ktec Solid Engine Mounts
- PMS resonated exhaust with PMS sportscat
- Mocal Oil Catch Tank
- PMS Breather Plate

 

[MLB]

Wife said I wasn't allowed to sell the Clio after all the work it had done to it so...

 

[Mr Underhill]

Wife said I wasn't allowed to sell the Clio after all the work it had done to it so...

 

[MLB]

Good day yesterday, visit to Chris at EFI in Runcorn. Lovely guy, worked his magic and the car runs beautifully once again.

Pretty much the exact same result as in 2018 when it was last mapped, but since then it's had the air conditioning reinstated, 197 cams installed and done another 22000 miles. Happy with that👍

Previous sessions for reference

 

[Birchdown]

How's it feel on the road Mike?

 

[MLB]

It feels brilliant, much smoother and more linear pull to the redline. Since putting back the aircon it had a bit of a dip between 3000 and 4000 rpm, that's all gone now!

Also no lumpy idle at all 👍

 

[Hollidog]

That is a lovely torque curve!

 

[MLB]

Thanks! It does feel great.

Was planning to take it to Anglesey next week but the o/s driveshaft boot has split so hopefully have time to put a new driveshaft on before then.