Suj's Nimbus Clio 197 and E36 328i Trackcar

Hi if you need brake lines let us know we have a range of colours and all fittings are made from stainless steel and have a lifetime warranty


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Thanks @Beany !

@R27WTF Matt can you drop me a PM please with prices for fronts and what a 4 piece costs?
Also how do they attach to the hub please?

Thanks lads!
 
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Thanks @Beany I didn't know Matt was making the brakelines

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@R27WTF thanks Matt and Supreme Motorsport for these, they look like a great kit and come with p-clips (but I will try and utilise the standard bracket).

Thanks for the cool keyring too!

I will post up pics once I get the calipers off the guy who got his car side swiped (in the next week or 2.ive been told).
 
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Finally got round to fitting the front calipers I bought, every time I tried to I was either made to do something else or shit weather (funnily enough, I went out to get my jack etc and it started raining, I was about to go full on Hulk but it lasted about a minute lol).

I am not into loud colours, i'm into subtle things, so this was big for me lol (previously all my calipers etc were silver or black for perspective).

So a couple of weeks ago I painted the rear calipers to match the fronts, they are pretty new TRW units that work great in silver, so no point buying red ones.

I had a wirebrush attachment on a drill to clean up the calipers, then cleaned with brake cleaner, then used panel wipe just to prep surfaces.
I used Hammerite Smooth Red, it's not an exact match, but it's damn close.

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Then this weekend I managed to get the fronts on with Supreme Motorsport (@R27WTF ) front braided lines.

Some feedback from the lines, they're really well made, I went for black (see my previous comment about subtle lol), stainless ends which was a requirement.

I used OEM bracket that was cleaned and painted (I bought them off someone, so I could prep them off the car).
I used some reinforced fuel line that I cut to the size of the clamps on the OEM brackets, made a slit so they fit over the braided lines and put them into the the bracket and clamped them close, first I worked out optimum length by putting wheels on to make sure no rubbing at either side full lock.

Also with Supreme's kit, it comes with a P-Clip and also these clamp clips (as per next pic), they're brilliant, they lock in and stop movement, so in later pics you'll see I put 1 on each outer side of the OEM clamps, means it has no way to move in or out (just extra security, but the clamped OEM brackets should be fine):

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They are ratcheted, so you squeeze them once in the desired place and no movement, really like them, good work Matt!

Another thing I read is the end that goes to the hardline being too long on some kits, so they rattle about, these were correct and no movement (a tip, just squeeze the spring clip on the hardline aka on the left, as it was a bit too flat so one side did rattle a bit, must have been squeezed when I took it off). Again another good thing for the lines to get rid of my worries.
(For reference, you need a 11mm spanner for hardline nut (I used a flare nut spanner) and the braided line end was 17mm)

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Again banjo end the kit came with everything as you'd expect, two copper washers (to sandwich between caliper, banji and banjo bolt).

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I had put some C5 Wheel Armour on the calipers to hopefully keep them fresher, before I put them on (3 coats).

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I then used my Sealey brake pressure bleeder and got them bled and went for a spin and seems great (my old calipers worked fine, just were old and dirty, I think they are original from factory, never been replaced!)
They will be up for sale soon.

So I had a look over the discs (as I had squeal) but discs are fine, it's the typical pads wearing past the tapered edge, so I threw in some new road pads I had, I also need to do same for rear. But discs are worn evenly, no lip front or rear, just typical rust (so i'll paint them, any suggestions? Hammerite also?)


In other news, my mate from uni runs a driving holiday company on the side, but due to COVID people decided to cancel (understandable), but as he had booked a few things already, he offered us all at cost to take part, will help with publicity and confidence. It's around Wales and IOM (but this might be cancelled depending on their lockdown rules, back up is Lake District), so a few of us Uni mates have jumped on it and some of his other friends.
Plug to his company: https://www.octanerun.co.uk/

Should be a good laugh and the only Holiday for me this year. It's not until End of Sept, but I got some plans for a few more things before then. :grimacing:
 
nice work, the holiday could sound cool, what is cost price? where can i see details as the website linkes many different trips?
 
nice work, the holiday could sound cool, what is cost price? where can i see details as the website linkes many different trips?

Sorry I should have said, he is doing this one only for friends and family, it won't be run totally like what he normally does as it's just us mates going.
He is going to put full ones online again soon, he is trying to work out what the restrictions are etc (as he does them round the rest of Europe too).
 
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So I've been doing bits on the car getting ready for roadtrip, cambelt is booked on 21st with RS Four Ashes, I've diagnosed the rear ABS problem as the typical stub axle ABS plate, so contacted Paul from RPD for a few bits.

Then today I went to change my sump gasket, everything was going fine, radiator support off, drained oil, new filter on, sump off, cleaned it up as much as I could (on the outside, but mating surfaces were properly cleaned), new gasket on, then followed the torque process as per Renault, 15nm on the 6 bolts, then went to 18nm...snap....I think it was the torque wrench, so flipping annoying!

It is now dark so I put wheels back on and shoved stuff into the boot, I now need to get the snapped off thread out and I just messaged Paul @ RPD to add a bolt to that order!

Does anyone know the thread/pitch of the bolt? As I now need to try and drill and try and extract the remaining stud!

I've done so many sumps and more complex stuff than this...and this is what gets me!
 
She's back! Even though I hardly drive due to working from home, it's so nice to have my car back!

I don't know if it's a placebo but it feels like it drives better, more low end torque and better up top too.
I had cambelt, waterpump and dephaser pulley done (aux belt and tensioner were done a year ago).

So maybe the dephaser pulley was faulty?

RS Four Ashes were great (minus some annoyance at the receptionist, but in the end it was sorted), Floyd got the broken bolt out, cleaned up the sump properly (caked on oil on outside due to leak), we spoke about RTV Sealant as there is split talk on here, but he uses it as his Renault instructions says to where the engine meets other assemblies, then put everything back on!

So I just have to change my rear stub axle ABS holders on weekend, check the ABS light is out, clean the car and good to go on my roadtrip next Wednesday.

I also got some PBS Prorace pads I'll throw in.


Will post up pics of trip and a report if anyone cares haha.

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Looks so tidy! I wish I had that much paint on my bumper

Thanks Nath, yeah the front is good (as when someone scraped past me, the bodyshop offered to me to paint whole bumper at an extra cost and get rid of all the stonechips, it was peppered and even lacquer peel due to them!).

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How it looked when I picked it up from bodyshop....not been that clean since hahaha.

It's not mint though, dent on passenger quarter panel (someone opened a rear door and corner dug in....took me ages to work out how that appeared!) and same side someone keyed the car (and more) when it was parked in Birmingham City Centre!

It cleans up well though.

Not a fan of silver cars but that looks nice & clean...

Thanks Chris, yeah it wasn't my first choice to be honest, I wanted another Albi Blue like my R27 that got written off, everyone I seen at the time was a dog mechanically, this was so well maintained.
The colour has grown on me, not being a typical silver shade, but I still see Albi Blues and feel gutted haha.
 
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Not sure why, but never been fond of them .. nothing against them! They do look better for modding / easy for any colour to go with then!
 
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Here's a pic of the cleaned sump RS Four Ashes did a great job (only pic I can show of losing so much money haha) yes the radiator support is crusty, it's pretty solid but crusty lol

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So I finally tackled the ABS problem now I got the ABS stub axle plates for the rear, it was so rusted it had worn the ABS ring on the rear disc!

Here is before....look how bad that is (PS I did both sides, other side wasn't so bad, but equally crap and for the sake of £16 worth it).

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New one on and all shiny (also don't do what I did...there is a recess on the stub axle where you need to align it exactly with where the ABS sensor clips in, if you don't it pushes the sensor forward...and marks the ABS ring....luckily I noticed it when I torqued up the nut and spun it by hand).

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I had ordered a new ABS ring, so I took it off the disc and put new one on (yes the disc is rusty looking, but actually in great condition and loads of life, my own fault for not painting it originally and I don't have time before my roadtrip weds)

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I had to angle grind the old one off, but here's a comparison and it fitted:

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Put in fresh pads in the back and I also fitted these I got for a good price

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I then went and bedded them (it was massive nostalgia doing the route I used to do on my track cars / previous cars to bed in some good pads, its been many years but it was great to be out at night doing the same).

They stop really well! I can understand why people rave about them, can't wait to try them in anger now they've bedded in and left overnight to cure and allow gases out.

I will post up pics once back after the weekend.
 
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Trip report, I washed the car on the Tuesday (day before heading off) then on Wednesday I put on the vinyl (my mate with his 350z came round as he didn't feel comfortable doing his own).

I managed to get a spoiler, it's nothing fancy and was very cheap second hand, it is a Maxton Design one, but I took off their emblem and I am planning to get it colour coded in future, but wanted it on so back doesn't look so plain:

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After being sold a few grills with tabs broken even when I specifically asked, I finally got one, it was so great I used the trick of a heat gun to bring it back to black (it was a bit greasy still from the CarPro PERL, it was wiped down afterwards):

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I made a boo-boo and didn't realise how small my bonnet was, so couldn't have "OCTANE * RUN" on, settled for OCTANE*"

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So off to Bristol we went, we got there early and met my mate in his '68 Mustang and we played some bowling and caught up, it has been ages (he only lives in Cov, but combination of lockdown and him having kids it's been busy).

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It's a 302 (5litre for us UK folk), he's done a manual conversion, it now has EFI (electric fuel injection), it sounds so good and of course turns many many heads!

The 350z has been owned for nearly 7 years (I actually found it for him and took him to get it), running HSD coilovers, all adjustable arms, K&N Typhoon intake, an exhaust (I always forget make, but sounds so good).
So first night was meet up in Bristol get some food, catch up, then get an early night ready for Wales.

In the morning we were up early for brekkie (i'm not a brekkie person, so strong coffee for me) and we got in the cars


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My mate Jake came in his Alpina F30 B3 (BiTurbo, so it's a N55 out of a M135i but Alpina then twin turbo'd it), his dad and mum in the Superformance Shelby Daytona here....it was bloody beautiful, runs a LS3 6.2 V8, so not a slouch.

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Here's a pic when we stopped for a group photo
L>R:
Mark organiser-MK7.5 GTD (sold his E90 M3, was after an E61 M5 Touring, cannot find right spec), John (MirrorJohn if you know him from M3Cutters/forums)-RS4 Avant, Me-French Baguette, Jake-F30 Alpina B3, Jamie-Shelby Daytona, Kyle-Mustang, Bhups-350z, Rich-911 997.2.

Some lovely views where we stopped

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Off we went

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Then we did loads of driving, weather should have been rain, but it was nice and dry!
We did a lot of driving, Mark is an amazing driver, used to work at McLaren as a development driver, so can peddle a car (even his GTD...) I was behind him and we were having some great fun, first time i've properly driven her hard as normally i'm by myself, so it was nice to have a play with friends (we've done many roadtrips over the years and trackdays together, so feel comfortable with abilities).
The car just impressed me so much, I was slowly growing in confidence (I was pretty confident with it's abilities after owning it 4 years now) but with the fixed dephaser it was just pulling well and the handling of course amazing.

Wasn't many pics (still waiting for video footage off people's GoPros) but me and Mark had too much fun and the pack were behind so we stayed back to regroup.

We all have satnavs with pre-set routes, we all have long distance walkie talkies so no one is ever left behind, this was so well organise by Mark and the team at Octane Run.

We then stopped for lunch then back out driving, didn't take too many pics.

We were then headed to our hotel in Anglesey, when the Daytona absolutely nailed it up the two lanes to join the motorway, it sounded soooo good!

But as I joined....it was in the Parking Layby, I stopped in time and checked on the car, he said the temps had gone up a bit and he heard a noise (don't forget it's running an LS3 6.2 V8 with modern cooling, AC etc, so it's not a 60's car tech).
Straight away noticed the Aux belt was off...but worse a tensioner pulley was missing (it's a fabricated part, it's an idler pulley, but on a bracket that has slotted holes so you can add tension to the belt).

Had a quick look in the bay, couldn't find it, so me and mate went round in the car to see if we can find it on the motorway...wishful thinking. No luck!
Then Mark looked again in the bay, it has managed to fly off and get wedged in the front of the undertray, result!

The pulley was shot, bearings were gone (a ball bearing had fell out). We tried to tow it in the GTD but it was going to be 35mins to Hotel and he didn't feel comfortable, so we pulled off and found a petrol station with a Volvo dealer next to it, managed to free up the bearing in the pulley, it was not smooth as you can imagine, but enough to get it to hotel, after having to make do with all the tools we had we got it running but sounded like it now had a supercharger with the whine lol.

We then looked up and realised where we were....check the sign on the Volvo dealer:

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Also here is the heart of the beast:

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So off we went, it was pitch dark, we made sure he kept revs low (joys of so much Torque) and we made it to Anglesey!


The next day I told Mark to take the rest of the group and I would take Jamie to fix the car, of course tried our luck with ECP, no chance lol, found a garage Mike's Garage and the lads there were sound and pointed us to Bearing Man (BML Hayley), he gave us the correct bearings then said there is a garage round the corner that could press them, then in walked their mechanic and BML employee asked him and he said yes, was so lovely...he wouldn't take a penny! Seriously met some lovely people.

So back we went to hotel and the Daytona, pulley was fixed and off we went to meet the group who had already headed to Lakes, we were 4hrs behind now, so we made moves.


We then met up with the group, but we stopped for a photoshoot as we had lost so much time:

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We then found this lovely road where you could see so far I had a blast (Daytona was still a bit worried, so was taking it slow).
We met the group and we went back to hotel for a nice deserved beer or 5!

Next day was such crap weather, but the roads were amazing, again I was pushing the car and it was just taking all the abuse! It was gripping so well, I do love Eagle F1 tyres also the PBS ProRace pads were fantastic, I was abusing them and they took it, never faded or nothing, just took the abuse.

Here's some photos in no order:

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Here's a little gif I made from some of the pics

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Those pics were over 2 days, so then we went back to Hatton Arms in Warwick where we had lunch and people went their own ways.

I had such a great time, even though I lost a day helping the Daytona, I don't care as I got to abuse the Clio as it was made for, I got to have a great time with friends i've not seen in ages, driving through some amazing roads with amazing drivers, met some lovely people along the way.

Big shout out to Octane Run, not just because it is owned by my friend, but my mate in the 350z doesn't know Mark and he has said he was so impressed with the way it was organised, it wasn't easy as it was originally Wales & Isle Of Man, but due to their borders being shut it then changed to Lake District, then Wales has had loads of local lockdowns, so it's been a forever moving target, but he pulled it off. so professional in his approach, no wonder his bookings are normally full, as I am already considering his next one in the Alps.

My summary now of the car, phenomenal, like I have said I kicked it's head, I have mechanical sympathy but I still like to drive cars, it just took the abuse, handled so well in dry and more impressive in the heavy rain (you can see how wet it was).

It never missed a beat...until I pulled up at Hatton Arms, when parking it had a noise which was the swivel hubs...common problem and already sorting out some hubs from PITA so need to collect.
I also have bought something I will update when I got it.

Overall I am so happy I got out, as like everyone else I was getting cabin fever, I haven't had a holiday in a long time, so it was lovely.

I will upload more pics and vids once people have shared theirs.
 
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Ahh mate I wish I'd have known you were in Bristol - would have come and met up!

Car looks wicked mate nice job. :smile:
 
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Ahh mate I wish I'd have known you were in Bristol - would have come and met up!

Car looks wicked mate nice job. :smile:

Haha I don't normally go to Bristol, it's weird as I got off motorway and I could remember the area (as I got my 200sx from there and I have weird visual memory).
Best time I'll give you a shout.

Thanks Frank, with the other cars that were there it was the most boring and bland car haha.
Jamie in the Daytona said when I started my car "is it even on?" Right in the feels haha
 
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