Shed money Clio 172

[Cambs_Stuart]

tallpaul26 said:

Can you share the details of the mobile welder?

No worries. He's called Adam and he's based out of stevenage. This is his business:

Weldcome Classics - Mobile Welding Repairs & Fabrications
07912 495222

https://g.co/kgs/kQ1ZGR

[Cambs_Stuart]

darkyoung1000 said:

That looks like a tidy repair, you must be happy with that! Nice to know it's been done with a decent thickness of steel and then properly treated too.
I think that with this age of car, it will generally be the rust that gets them rather than any major mechanical failure

I hope this means a good few more years for you yet!

I'm really happy with the work.
I think rust will kill most cars of this era off. The clio is pretty good underneath, and as long as spares are available I think it should keep running for a long while yet.

[Cambs_Stuart]

The top mounts had been on my to do list for about 10 months, so I thought it was probably time to tackle them.
The issues was that the half nut holding the top mount on. These were hard to get at, especially as a torx bit was needed to stop the shaft from spinning.
So I hammered a 16mm spanner onto it, stuck a big pole on the ratchet and used some brute force.



Bingo



And then the strut went back together no problem. These are a later design from Renault, the nut is much bigger and part of the collar that goes through the rubber.



The second side didn't go so well. The torx just shredded the inside of the strut. So, I thought I'd be really clever, put a double nut on the top of the strut, then use an impact to spin the shaft while I hold the spanner that had been hammered in place as per the previous one.
This was a mistake, the top of the shaft just sheared off. No pictures of this as I was having a full Basil Fawlty meltdown.
So, the clio stayed on jackstands while I thought about what to do
Fortunately a chap on the clio forum was selling a front pair of B14s, with poly top mounts, socks camber bolts and a few other spares. Aaron, if you're reading this, thank you!

All assembled, height set and ready to go:


And on! Everything had a good smear of anti seize to help me avoid future meltdowns.



Time for a drive! Try out the new mounts and see if they make any difference.

Or not. 9 PSI.



FFS.

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Sunday 21st January 17:18

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Friday 9th February 20:15

[Cambs_Stuart]

Renault parts direct are a good source of OEM parts, plus KAM racing. Autodoc carry most bits.
The most commonly complained about NLA parts on the forums are wishbones, driveshafts, hard brake lines and power steering hoses.

[Cambs_Stuart]

While the car was up in the air waiting for a solution to the suspension I also changed the oil. Checking the levels the oil seemed very dark and smelly, which is disappointing given I changed it November. I suspect the Fuchs is not up to track day heat.



On a plus point I topped up the tyres and went for a little drive. The poly top mounts are fantastic. Really sharpened the steering and feedback with no noticeable increase in noise and vibration.

[Cambs_Stuart]

There's no oil temp gauge, I might see if I can use torque pro and a bluetooth code reader to see what temperatures I'm achieving next time out (Snetterton in Feb). I've previously melted the brake reservoir cap and a 3d printed exhaust mount, so I suspect there is a lot of heat.
While it's nice to have an improvement, it would have been better if it had been cheaper and quicker!
As for the wheels, I cant see anything obvious in the tread, so I suspect either a seating or valve issue. Two are really low, so I'll drop them off at a tyre place and see what they find.

[Cambs_Stuart]

The legacy has blotted it's record again so the clio is doing some daily duties, which meant getting the slow punctures sorted. Checking the rest of the tyres 3 were in single figure psi.
Fortunately I've got spare wheels for the spare car.



And the clio can easily for four wheels in the back:



I'd been getting a vibration at motorway speeds. It mght have been due to the fact 3 tyres were low, but it may also be that the aluminium spigot rings were fractionally too tall. The center bores have marks where the rings had pressed into them:



So for now I've got some plastic rings, taken a mm off the top and added a chamfer to try to get the wheels flat against the hub.



Now, just need to open my wallet and sort out the legacy...

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Monday 29th January 09:35

[Cambs_Stuart]

The clio has been dping a lot of commuting and family transport this week. And I've rrally enjoyed driving it around, it's small, nippy and really responsive. Although my 6 ft+ teenage son isn't impressed with the rear leg room.
Plus, with the seats down you can get a bike in the boot:



Which is handy as it's going to AW motorworks next week to look the oil leaks.

[Cambs_Stuart]

Thanks PhillipM, I'll try to work out how to message you through here, if not it'll be via cliosport.
I've had an enjoyable morning. A blast out to AW motorworks to have a look at the oil leaks.



It's always a pleasure to see Alex, he's a specialist with very tangible enthusiasm for the cars. And really seems to love his job! His diagnosis was the breather plate (which he's re-sealed) then the crank seals, which are a much more involved job, and probably one to do when the cambelt is next changed.

The drive there and back was an absolute blast. I don't seem to spend enough time just enjoying this car out on the roads. It's so much fun at (relatively) sensible speeds.

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Friday 9th February 20:16

[Cambs_Stuart]

Fifty said:

Apologes for Stuart for slightly hijacking his thread but I thought this might be the best place to ask - I got my exhaust replaced (by Alex at AW) for a Pure Motorsport cat back last year but I just find it a bit too boomy for me - Alex did say it would be louder than stock but not as loud as a KTR, so no blame apportioned there but I just don't really get on with it.

Are there any alternatives that are closer to stock in terms of sound? Can you even get OEM any more rather that patent?

No worries, always happy to discuss Clio stuff. What kind of bushes have you got in the rear mounts? Philip M has a theory that too stiff bushes in the exhaust mounts turns the boot floor into an amplifier, and has developed some 3d printed versions that give the stiffness without transmitting as much noise. Some sound deadening in this area is also a good investment of £25 and an hour of your time.
Have you seen Frayz's thread? His cars are usually built to perfection. If anyone has found the best exhaust, it'll be him...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Cambs_Stuart]

Fifty said:

Hmmm, no idea on mounts to be honest.

Where's the best place to add sound deadening - the boot floor?

Yes, the boot floor and under the rear seat. Dynamat and Noico dampen vibrations, so you don't need perfectly cut sections, just slap some down. Any large flat surface will benefit from it.
If you look under the bumper, people often use solid (usually red or purple) poly urethane inserts in the exhaust mounts. They last much longer than OEM, help prevent the exhaust hitting the sub-frame but the downside is more noise.

They looks like this on a 182:

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Tuesday 27th February 12:30

[Cambs_Stuart]

A probably unnecessary bit of maintenance on the clio. All things working out i should have my first trackday of the year a week today, back at Bedford.

As the engine oil is only a few weeks and a couple of hundred miles old i changed the gearbox oil for some Elf OEM.




The old oil looked fine, still golden and lump free but for the sake of £40 and a dowty washer it's probably good to change it frequently, especially as parts to refurb boxes are getting hard to obtain.
Doing a quick nut and bolt check i noticed the pads only have about 4mm left, so now I'm debating a quick pad a disc change next weekend. Those PFC pads, despite the huge amount of dust they produce, have been fantastic. I think I've got 15 track days out of them...

[Cambs_Stuart]

Pad and disc change before Bedford on Monday.
To honest, I'd been dreading this. The discs were fairly new when I get the car in 2019, but they've seen a lot of high temperatures, road salt and aggressive PFC pads.
This is what I was worried about:

My concerns were justified. On each side one retaining bolt was really stuck.
Despite heat, several smacks with a hammer and some penetrating oil I broke a T40 bit, with no hint of movement.
(Yes, I know I shouldn't be using 3/8 chrome bits on an impact).


I was sorely tempted to give up. But the discs were only 22 mm thick (minimum thickness 21.8).

So I got out a carbide drill bit, drilled the screw, jammed an extractor in and voila, just like it does on YouTube, it came out:



Both sides:



Very satisfying.
The discs weren't stuck to the hubs, so the rest was easy:



Lots of ceramic anti seize to stop this happening again in five years.

Once the pads were out I had a good look. On the inner pad on both sides the friction material was starting to crack and separate from the backing.



And one inner disc face had a good smear of pickup all the way round.



So, despite the struggles, I'm really glad I did this before Monday!
New loadout is brembo high carbon discs with mintex M1155 pads.

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Sunday 10th March 09:39

[Cambs_Stuart]

gweaver said:

You were braver than me with the screw extractor. I kept drilling through with larger bits until the shaft was gone and only the thread was left. Good outcome though!

That would have been the plan if the extractor hadn't worked. Drill out the section holding the disc in then get some tools on the bit attached to the hub.

[Cambs_Stuart]

sam.rog said:

In future this impact screwdriver thing is brilliant for getting those screws out.
https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/screwdri...

I've actually got one of those! Completely forgot about it.

[Cambs_Stuart]

gweaver said:

Cambs_Stuart said:

That would have been the plan if the extractor hadn't worked.

The risk with the extractor is that you break it and then have to drill or grind through it. They're very hard, unlike the disk retaining bolts.

I shattered a couple of poor quality drill bits in the bolt, but fortunately I'd already gone through with a 2.5mm or 3mm bit, and was able to punch the broken bits out from behind.
Decent quality cobalt bits are the way forward.

When I was doing it I was hoping the extractor wouldn't break for that exact reason.

[Cambs_Stuart]

Track day time! Back at Bedford.
It was a cold and damp day, so I went with the gold wheels and pilot sports. Which was definitely the correct choice as there was lots of standing water early in the morning. Ideally I'd have swapped to my AD08s in the afternoon when it was drier, but they didn't hold me back too much.
The M1155s are definitely not as good as the PFC pads they take longer to warm up, and also overheat more quickly, 25 minutes was generally as long as I could stay out before they were fading.
But the track time was brilliant. Very few flags all day, and I had a lot of fun with a silver type R, a black 306 GTI6, various MX5 and other Renault sports.
Shame I've got to go back to work tomorrow...



300 miles in total during the day (including travel to and from the track) and 25 mpg averaged. Yet again, the clio didn't miss a beat.

[Cambs_Stuart]

On the trackday I met a very nice chap from beaniesport who was having a lot of fun in an RS twingo. He was very impressed by my late/non braking, until he realized I had no working brake lights.
No spares on the day and none in the nearby petrol stations, so I've replaced them all today.
The real fun was cleaning out all he grime and cobwebs from the nooks and crannies I don't normally see:



Looking at the pictures from javelin I also had a side light bulb out:



This was less fun to access as the back of the headlights is behind coolant and AC pipes.



Fortunately my hands aren't very big!

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Friday 15th March 14:08

[Cambs_Stuart]

I've also been thinking about the long term with the Clio. Eldest son is 17 this year, and is desperate to learn to drive, he loves carting, we've also done a few "Young Driver" sessions.
I don't really have space for three cars, and I'm really attached to the clio, so I wondered how much it would be to insure him as a 17 year old with no NCB:



Not sure a black box is going to make much of a dent in that...

[Cambs_Stuart]

Turbojuice said:

Great read this! Keep the posts coming

Just a note on the oil as I saw your comment regarding your oil going dark and smelly quickly, and noticed you've been using C3 spec oils. C3 spec is designed to be compatible with modern cars that have exhaust filters like DPFs or OPFs/GPFs. They do this by reducing the amount of SAPS (Sulphated Ash, Phosphorous, Sulphur) additives in the oil. These are performance enhancers, and help prevent thermal breakdown of the oil, among other things.

The alternative is A3/B4 spec. This has a higher level of SAPS than C3 and it's what your car would've been filled with from factory. You may find A3/B4 spec holds up better to track work. My personal recommendation would be Motul xcess gen2, but in reality any which carry the Renault approval will be fine. Fuchs do one also which I've ran before on track and had no problems.

That's really interesting, thanks for the comment. I've just been back and checked, and you're right both, the Castrol and the Fuchs are C3 spec. While I'm always careful to make sure the oils meet RN710, I hadn't previously thought about the APEC spec. Next time I change the oil I'll make sure I go for A3 or B4.