Dougs Albi blue 197

Update... still enjoying the Sprint Booster!

I have removed the heat shield from the diffuser and fitted a bit of tape as a precaution but I am happy theres no concern for the diffuser melting.

20180517_201430.jpg
I do plan to remove the heatshield from above the backbox as its also come loose and rattling.

As the weather is fantastic I took the car for a moorland drive!

20180517_234808.jpg
20180517_212805.jpg
20180517_212113.jpg
Next up I bought a Renault Sport gloss grey interior trim, a bit of a finishing touch. Hopefully made a contact who's sourcing me the centre trim to match the rest.
20180524_144118.jpg
I've known for awhile the shock absorbers and general suspension is a bit tired so I bought some Cup shocks, Eibach springs and topmounts from an early 200. They have come from a car with 35k on the clock, I payed £140 posted. One topmount was a bit tired but I changed it as I had one spare.

20180607_114651.jpg
Fitted the rears, surprised to see the Cup shocks are shorter than standard but I know they sit lower than standard.
20180617_212145.jpg

20180618_201220.jpg
The fronts are going to be fitted by a garage due to being a pain in the ass! I have cut off the extra tab on the new shocks too as not needed, figured it was another few hundred grams.

I had the key scratch from the rear quarter repaired locally, made a fantastic job so I am going back go have other work done when finances allow.

Lastly, the car has developed a lot of rattles in the interior. I suspect this is a combination of the Sprint Booster and the Powerflex engine mounts. I took the glovebox out today and the thin strips of trim and greased up all the contact points which has helped. Next up will be the shit doorcards.

Plan going forward is new front tyres in the form of Michelin Pilot Sport 4's, sort out an ABS fault and Cup doorcards without the grab handles. Weight loss is still on the cards but thats as and when.
 
another tlc session in progress..good to see you looking after her as much as enjoying and taking her our for a spin...
looks great..hope you get everything sorted soon..about the interior rattles,something I've learnt to live with..:chair:
 
another tlc session in progress..good to see you looking after her as much as enjoying and taking her our for a spin...
looks great..hope you get everything sorted soon..about the interior rattles,something I've learnt to live with..:chair:

Haha cheers Pav! You ever tracked down any of the rattles? I suspect the doorcards are rattling, the grab handles are shite designs and flex. The other thing seems to be the push handle for the glovebox light is rattling against the glovebox lid.
 
I tried in the past..now i have given up..try to listen tomy exhaust popping when shifting instead :sunglasses:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doogle
More progress = more money!

The car has cost me greatly the last month, I took it into the garage to have the front struts fitted and ABS fault sorted. The garage tried to replace the topmounts previously and managed to sort the nearside, the offside couldnt be done due to a 'seized bolt'. This seized bolt turned out to be the balljoint on the offside wishbone stuck in the hub!

On the rear, the ABS fault turned out to be a damaged ABS ring on the disc caused by a rusted stub axle. Best practise with discs is replace both and new pads. Also, rear stub axle was knackered so this was replaced with new (last new one in the country apparently!)

So the bill ended up being almost £1k... genuine rear discs, pads, stub axle, nearside wishbone and removal and fitting of it all including front shocks :chair::confounded: :fearscream::grin:

On the plus side, the car feels great, it handles well and despite upgrading from full fat to cup shocks I haven't noticed any drop in comfort.

20180718_184214.jpg

Decided to take the car out for a moorland spin too!

20180725_225830.jpg
20180725_225936.jpg
20180725_215419.jpg
20180725_214648.jpg
20180725_220934.jpg
20180725_225602.jpg
Payday tomorrow, car is booked in for some Michelin Pilot Sport 4's and alignment. MOT as well, hoping it sails through!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sean197 and Micah
Ouch re bill, but result re progress! I think you'll be pleased with PS4. I really rate mine. Been good on both dry & wet track days & best road tyre I have experienced.
Spending money on these cars might hurt a tad at the time, but boy are they worth it? (Answer - YES!!!)
Been following your thread for a while. Keep up the good work!
 
Ouch re bill, but result re progress! I think you'll be pleased with PS4. I really rate mine. Been good on both dry & wet track days & best road tyre I have experienced.
Spending money on these cars might hurt a tad at the time, but boy are they worth it? (Answer - YES!!!)
Been following your thread for a while. Keep up the good work!

Cheers Johnny, they are hard to ignore when they need money spending on them and I dont like half assing maintenance.

Ive had PS3's for a little while and been happy with them. Other than running them less than recommended (29 front, 28 back) they have been generally very reliable. According to when the service history I have got almost 18k out of a set of fronts (changed front to rear almost 3k ago) and a more out of the rears.

Just toying the idea with alignments values, I have seen somewhere that stock figures for toe for Cup suspension is -0.12 degrees. My last alignment was -0.14 degrees, trying to decide if I go to the stock figure or reduce it to 0.10 degrees.
 
That's interesting as I've always run my PS4s at Renault's standard recommended pressures even on track days. As for geometry set up, it's as done by Cooksport when I had some of their springs fitted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doogle
That's interesting as I've always run my PS4s at Renault's standard recommended pressures even on track days. As for geometry set up, it's as done by Cooksport when I had some of their springs fitted.

They will know the way to set the car up! Did you get an alignment printout?

Maybe the heavier sidewalls help, I think PS3's had slightly softer more flexible sidewalls.

Have you got a progress thread Johnny?
 
ohh my this looks great..im glad there are people like you who will pay lots to keep these little guys running well...
they will repay you by putting many smiles on your face everytime you get behind the wheel..
 
  • Like
Reactions: Johnny 99
ohh my this looks great..im glad there are people like you who will pay lots to keep these little guys running well...
they will repay you by putting many smiles on your face everytime you get behind the wheel..

Cheers Pav! Ive done it to a few cars now, my way of helping the environment :tearsofjoy:

In all honesty its more of the fact I pick up on every niggle and it picks at me. I prefer to drive something that justs works and I can trust. I can accept to a certain degree a worn seat bolster, a few stone chips, etc but theres no point in skimping on parts and safety. Exactly as you say Pav, when you are bouncing off 7k in 4th you want it to look after you!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pav
Cheers Pav! Ive done it to a few cars now, my way of helping the environment :tearsofjoy:

In all honesty its more of the fact I pick up on every niggle and it picks at me. I prefer to drive something that justs works and I can trust. I can accept to a certain degree a worn seat bolster, a few stone chips, etc but theres no point in skimping on parts and safety. Exactly as you say Pav, when you are bouncing off 7k in 4th you want it to look after you!
You get out what you put in. Especially on ageing RenaultSports!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doogle
More new things... new rubber! Michelin PS4's, was going to order them from Black Circles but local place was £10 more for both and sorted tracking for £25. Set it up with Cup figures, only thing that is a bit annoying is the difference in Caster and Camber, offside sitting further out so maybe its had a knock?

20180807_215742.jpg
20180806_130246.jpg
20180807_165557.jpg
Feels miles better with tracking sorted, handles like a dream!