Valver/172 Conversion.

[Bluebeard]

Evening all.

Right, My car is going away on monday to have all the 172 stuff fitted.

I have a COMPLETE phase-1 172 as a doner car and my mechanic is doing the work with some (limited) help from me.

Am I right in saying that the subframe/gearbox/loom/ECU/brakes/driveshafts etc etc is just transferred accross??

I keep asking him what hes going to do but all he says is ''don't worry about it, we'll be alright''. :S

I just want to know whats involved really.

 

[sideways danny]

"dont worry about it" probably means he's not sure, but will work it out when it's there infront of him, but he doesn't want to tell you that as you'll get nervous

 

[lemonnobby]

Dan if you need any help mate just ask. by the way im not a 100 percent but most of the things look interchangeable.

 

[Mark One]

dude. not good.
As i understand it, unless he changes across a load of electronics including UCH, barrell, key for 172, ECU then the ECU needs to be unlocked to remove the immobiliser and the wiring becomes a little tricky. Speak to one of the guys who has done it.

 

[iimushroomzii]

Sounds like he hasnt got a clue tbh!

 

[Bluebeard]

Sounds like he hasnt got a clue tbh!

Oh trust me, he has!! Proper mechanic.

BUT!! He hates Renaults with a passion. Despises them.

Paul: Expect lots of calls mate!

 

[iimushroomzii]

Thats what I meant, hasnt got a clue about the actual conversion he has to do! Some of it he cant just make it up as he goes along..

 

[f0xy]

subframe dosent fit iirc......

I put the 172 wishbones, hubs, driveshafts, brakes etc onto the valver subframe...all fits fine.......you need the williams anti roll bar though, as the 172 item dosent fit as i found out.......you need williams as the 172 stuff is basically 'widetrack', same width as a williams, so you need that ARB (or a renault 19 one will do IIRC)

gearbox and engine yeah should be fine from what ive read, although in read in geesus69 thread that he had to 'modify' the chassis to get the 172 box side mount to fit, bolt/hole wise i think

Wiring.....ive been speaking to matteh about this, and the generla feeling is that people have taken the 172 engine loom, and mated it up with the two connectors in the bay (brown and white)....although i think this is yet more fun, as ph1 and ph2 valver wiring engine wise to these connectors is different....

ive just spent a few hours tonight tracing out the 172 ph1 loom and the valver ph2 loom....matteh has already done the valver ph1 loom....

although i guess its possible to run the 172 full wiring, if you fit the interior loom and clocks and UCH and decoder/keys, ive got the stuff to do it that came with my engine, but i think this is the harder option...... the most used one is above iirc

If you use the first method.....ecu needs decoding to take the immobiliser shizz off....although im sure there is a certain type of 172 ecu thats needed (specific model number, matteh and geesus69 have the number(s), not sure if thats true though)....Paul at RS tuning or the 'ECU Clinic' have been used and been fine IIRC....

the engine goes straight in....although from what ive read (done alot of reading ) you need the 172 drivers side mount (the bit that bolts to the chassis) so it sits low enough to go under the bonnet.....

manifold goes on, but downpipe wont fit IIRC, custom one needed i think, but im not 100% yet....

 

[Beaniemoo]

Pm'ed

 

[Mark One]

From what i've seen it is a custom down pipe.

as for the ARBs it's williams or R19 16v
but iirc that peach of a hybrid you own has widetrack already fitted?

 

[f0xy]

think he wants the 172 brakes though i think i read?

i suppose he could just put the hubs onto the wishbones he already has, then the 172 disks and calipers... would fit fine .....although im not sure if the actual 172 struts fit? im sure they arent the right length or something.......has it got coilovers or standard shocks at the moment? As you will have issues with the width of the 172 hubs where the mount to the hub if you cant use the 172 shocks due to length...

 

[Bluebeard]

The 172 has FK coilovers fitted, the Valver has Gaz items fitted.

Thanks afor all the pm's guys, really really appreciate it.

 

[f0xy]

Ahh i see.

Well depending on which ones you use....obviously the 172 items will fit the 172 hubs easily, it just depends if the strut is too tall for the Mk1 or not.....

If they are too tall and wont fit properly and you need to use the Gaz mk1 coilovers, the hubs will need 4mm machining off, 2mm off each side, then the bolt holes enlarged on the coilover by 0.5mm each side to allow 172 bolts to be used....

 

[Bluebeard]

Christ.... This is going to be a long project!!

 

[f0xy]

For reference if you need it, 172 hubs are 26mm wide, they need to be 22mm for Mk1 coilovers...

That was mine (Ignore the bearing it was pressed out)

Then bolt holes enlarged (1mm fatter bolts, I had 0.5mm taken off every edge) with 172 Hub nuts/bolts...

 

[geesus69]

howdy fella, got your pm

thought i would reply in here for all to see just in case you need it for future reference

basically foxy has most of it cleared up but a couple of points:

the modification to the n/s chassis leg gearbox mounting point for me was to drill out the original bolt (it snapped in the chassis ) and use a nut and bolt combination. beanie got round this by filing out the gearbox mount so that he could line it up with the original bolt hole (although his bolt didnt snap so this option was open to him). this may sound confusing now, but you will see what we mean when you line up the 172 gearbox mount with the valver.

the ecu, good god i had some trouble with this, decoding ecu's with certain serial numbers but not having any luck. so in the end i sourced an emulator online (from latvia or lithuania or somewhere like that, i can get you the website if you want?) and paul (RStuning) wired it in for me. I can highly recommend paul as he must of been sick of the site of me after my 3rd trip down there with an ecu in my hand but he still helped me lol

downpipe: i used a ph1 172 decat pipe, misses the arb by about 2mm, but it hasnt knocked yet, although i havent driven it further than 100 yards see my project thread for pics of it fitted

wiring: first of all, i am a complete electrical novice so this may be slightly biased, but this has been my biggest nightmare! i have basically ripped out the original valver dash loom and started again. this, in reflection, was a bit of a drastic measure and i reckon knowing what i know now i could get everything to work without destroying the original loom. however it is worth remembering that i have used a fair few aftermarket parts to get everything running, things like fan temp controller, oil temp and pressure gauges and an aftermarket rev counter.

hope this helps in some way mate, and if you need anything else just give me a shout

 

[Matteh]

just thought i'd chip in about the wiring...

I've got almost all my dash working (rev counter reads half - watch this space ) without touching the interior loom