Wobba's 'try to keep it sensible this time' Clio 182 FF Cup Diary

[Wobba]

Small update. I popped the regulator out of the alternator, with it in situ.

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The brushes don't seem to be the issue, which is a shame as that is the cheapest and easiest option, however, I may just get another regulator and try it as the top stem connector thingy looked black to me which is usually a sign it is not making contact with the brush properly. It should be clean metal as the brush end wears the stem connector down.

I received the CV boot kits yesterday as well, I'll do the whole shebang and the new Cooksport springs at the weekend hopefully You would be safe to assume, seeing this pic, that I am a single bachelor...car parts, gaming PC stuff and beer. Ohh yea

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Once I have solved the alternator issue and fitted a few more things to finish the car off, like replacing the fuel tank, I think I will be selling the RB. I am not 100% yet but I've bought too many cars lately and it is better to focus on one or two...not FOUR projects at the same time. I could sell the Lotus as I have had offers for it, but I don't think at this time of year and uncertainty with Brexit that I will be able to get back anything like what it owes me. The RB is the most complete car and the most sorted, plus it is a real head-turner, I love the color!

I've got quite a lot to do with the Williams and the Trophy. The Williams is down in Hampshire still along with tons of parts and tools, which I need. I would really love to get the RB, Trophy and Willy together for a photoshoot before I have to sell one.

So, I popped the wheels off the Trophy (bolts too tight as usual) as I am sending them off to be repaired/refurbished back to OEM, with new tyres. The RB's spare wheels are almost mint and have brand new T1R's on, so I put them on to move the Trophy about and for MOT next week:

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b*****d...this was the result of a blowout just after picking the Trophy up. It has a crack in it and a buckle. It is repairable though thankfully.

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The Turinis are noticeably lighter than the RB wheels and I think quite a bit lighter than the bigger-tyre shod 2118's.

More evidence of TLC carried out by previous owners, which is a good sign on the Trophy. There are polybushes all over the place. The inner areas of the car have been quite heavily waxolyed too. There is a brand new nearside inner track rod, which saves me having to replace it with my special inner rod removal too and the copper lines seem to have been replaced.

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Wheels transferred. The car sits high right now as it has the wrong suspension on, but I already MUCH prefer the OEM anthracite over the black Turinis.

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For those of you that have not done suspension struts before, the top mount can be a b**ch to get off without IMPACT GUN hehe. I've done it with and without. If you don't have a gun then an 21mm (or is it 23?) recessed ring spanner can do it while an allen key is in the strut top and somehow held in place so the strut does not spin as you unbolt the top nut.

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Looks like adjustable top mounts use to be here. I will either treat and plug the holes or refit some adjustable tops.

Does anyone know what springs and shocks these are?

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Anyway, enough of the Trophy for now. This thread is really for the RB...so I will leave Trophy 0470 progress for another thread and www.cliotrophy.co.uk

Thanks for reading!

 

[Wobba]

Minor Update:

Whilst I await the arrival of more parts I decided to crack on with the lovely job of replacing the front CV boots.

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I've done boots before but only with the driveshaft and CV joint off the car. This time I used a cone fitting tool. It was quite easy having watched how to do it on youtube. Whilst I was there I investigated why the traction control light had come on. The rear sensors and ABS rings are quite new, but the fronts, I had seen some evidence of boot grease escaping and the rings looked minging so I have opted to replace those as well whilst it is apart.

Took a while to beat the bugger off as the ring had corroded onto the CV and years of compressed dirt and crap made it hard to get it off:

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But, come off it did:

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The new rings should arrive tomorrow and the new offside CV boot is in place.

I should get a new 110A alternator tomorrow as well and if I have time I'll get the front springs replaced with the new Cooksport ones, the current springs are Apex...well known for giving a crashy ride.

 

[Wobba]

So, more stuff

The ABS rings arrived and after popping the new CV boot on and clamping it in place I got the new ring on, quite easy actually. It came with some special fluid that helps stop the ring coming off, of which there is very little chance trust me!

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Cooksport front on:

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So, the rain was bad over a few days and I needed to do the CV and spring on the other side, so the Elise gets relegated to the driveway with the Trophy in the rain and the Turbo gets to be nice an dry

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Nearside jack up and wheel off, signs of CV boot failure can be seen with horrible grease

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These were on tight but no match for my little friend, impact gun

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Replaced missing splash guards with nice new plastic rivet thingies:

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Another new CV boot

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Cooksport springs instead of the rather crashy Apex...

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Rear up, new springs on:

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These are black Cooksport springs. They ran out of the usual colour when making the sets up, I questioned Kam Racing to make sure they sent me the right ones!

Then I decided to refurb the front lamps

Before:

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After:

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I also fitted a voltmeter and USB power point in place of the cigarette lighter. It actually gave me evidence to check the regulator before replacing the alternator as it was blinking up to 14.4V and other clues said to double check. I popped a new regulator on and voila! Fixed! Much easier than messing about with the pulley tensioner...

So, after all this I went off for a test drive. The car feels great and I much prefer the Cooksport springs. They are still hard but nothing like as crashy and unpredictable as the Apex, I would describe them as being noticeably more progressive with feedback on turn in. The Apex were fine for B Road blasts and do improve the stance of the car but for less than perfect surfaces the Cookies are way better.

I did have an issue reappear that I had forgotten about, totally forgot I had the part to fit to fix it! The ESP and SERV light came on, common issue...the brake pedal sensor needed replacing or calibrating. I've replaced it now and then the ABS/ESP/SERV light came on which is a sign the sensor is set up as too sensitive. I think I've got it correct now but I'll give it another test tomorrow

Tomorrow I will also be refitting the 182 RS interior and giving the car a good clean

I also fitted one of my two new gearknob caps, I got one specially for this car to the same color:

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I've also been working on the Trophy and the Elise, getting them ready bit by bit...but not rushing and just enjoying the work...

More to follow soon!

 

[Wobba]

So, winter has hit hard here and its non stop rain and hard wind so I've not done tons.

I removed the cigarette lighter and put in a voltmeter with USB charger instead:

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It's nifty! I could see there was an alternator issue and this helped me trace the issue to a worn regulator, which I replaced with a new set of brushes and it's perfect again

I've also refitted the RS interior, having removed the RX8 seats. They were bloody heavy! The classic airbag light issue haunted me for a bit even though I could see the previous owner had used resistors to solve it. I took the resistors out entirely and used my CLIP to remove the airbag hardware from the ECU so it ignores errors. With the seats back in it is possible to wire it all back in but as it has a Sparco wheel, not much point right now.

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IMG_20181219_160654Coming together nicely on the inside

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I've tidied up the engine bay more as well, but forgot to get pics before the heavens opened again. Any visible areas that were corroded are mostly cleaned up and black or pastel blue now.

I also bought and fit a new rear reg plate light as the old one was getting old looking. You can see it here and believe it or not I've still not been able to give the car anything more than a spray with the jet wash after months, yet the colour is very resilient to showing dirt. I really would love to give it a machine polish and detail.

So, now, the only niggles with the car are a slightly knocking turbo downpipe, tracking needs fine adjustment and calibrating the brake pedal sensor as I get the SERV and stability control light and sometimes the ABS light on, which is due to the sensor either too sensitive or not enough! Getting it spot on is a pain but I think I've got it right now.

Unfortunately I am going to sell the car in the next few days as I need to sort the Trophy and get my Williams back to start rebuilding that as well and 5 cars is a bit greedy. Out of all the cars it is the most sorted, apart from maybe the Elise, but that has not MOT right now and wont have till after Xmas or when the weather gets better, and the 182 you can just jump in and go to the shops whereas the Lotus is not as user friendly

I may finish off and clean the car and decide what wheels to put on it, then advertise here and PH for about £5k I imagine, maybe a bit less with the OEM wheels, which for daily driving is actually a better set to use in this weather!

Cheers and happy Xmas!

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