Dougs Albi blue 197
- Thread starter Doogle
- Start date
Ha
Havent yet bud! Looking into ways of doing it as I always think theres more than one way to do something! The lowering frame/modifications that you can buy in the classifieds is good but hoping some engineering friends can modify the original subframe. Thinking with a few cuts and holes drilled here and there the top and bottom parts can essentially be bolted together in a lower position. Until I have time to get it in to them and take it all apart its difficult to say that will work.
Havent yet bud! Looking into ways of doing it as I always think theres more than one way to do something! The lowering frame/modifications that you can buy in the classifieds is good but hoping some engineering friends can modify the original subframe. Thinking with a few cuts and holes drilled here and there the top and bottom parts can essentially be bolted together in a lower position. Until I have time to get it in to them and take it all apart its difficult to say that will work.
Ah my bad, looked lower than the passenger seat in the pic so figured you had. I got the one flacsi sells off here. Needed a bit of modifying but works well now it's in. Only thing is the plastic side cover now rubs on the sliding mechanism so could do with cutting the plastic away slightly. But driving is a million times better being sat lower!
Yeh Flacsi's one does look good but at almost £200 theres a variety of other stuff the car could do with first. And I reckon with not much chopping, drilling and removal of the height adjustment system it would fit back together. The upper and lower parts almost 'sit' together at their lowest point on flat 'seats'. The lower part of the subframe has a small box section 'seat' which the upper sits on. Plan is to cut away the upper 'seat', drill some holes through the upper and lower parts and then bolt together. Sounds so simple but wont be i'm sure!
What do you mean Arch? As in the clicking? Turns out it was worn bushings on height adjustment linkage joints. Mate of mine got something similar to shrink wrap and wrapped the joints and all sorted! He said the bushings are a fairly standard size so you would be able to replace them quite easily as long as you got sizes.
I've changed a few more bits, but most importantly Vospers made good on their promise of rectifying the damage. Its no respray but its been touched in well. If the paintwork was initially mint I'd have been pushing for more. They did agree to sort the chip on the bonnet which had been annoying me!
I finally pulled off the rear badge to get a part number and found an OEM badge on eBay for £13. Dealer wanted £45! Back end is looking a little bare, I love the look of the Sprint spoiler so this may be something I look in for next year.
The old gearknob was starting to peel, it was a choice of getting Royal to retrim it or buy a Laguna gearknob. Bit of a no brainer, feels so much better!
Lastly, found a buyer who was after gloss black grills so sold them and bought some new OEM grills. Again, I thought about the Streamline carbon jobbies but as I want to get the front bumper resprayed at some point next year bonding them in didn't seem like a good idea.
More to come in time, the missus has agreed to a steering wheel from Royal!
I finally pulled off the rear badge to get a part number and found an OEM badge on eBay for £13. Dealer wanted £45! Back end is looking a little bare, I love the look of the Sprint spoiler so this may be something I look in for next year.
The old gearknob was starting to peel, it was a choice of getting Royal to retrim it or buy a Laguna gearknob. Bit of a no brainer, feels so much better!
Lastly, found a buyer who was after gloss black grills so sold them and bought some new OEM grills. Again, I thought about the Streamline carbon jobbies but as I want to get the front bumper resprayed at some point next year bonding them in didn't seem like a good idea.
More to come in time, the missus has agreed to a steering wheel from Royal!
Cars coming together nicely mate!
Subtle touches make all the difference
Helps having the best colour as well
Definitely is the best colour! Lots of little bits, I found doing anything too major can ruin the car for what its designed to do, spend 99% on the road.
Its been awhile since I have updated this, thought Id share some up to date progress.
Moneys been tight as the missus and I are getting married next year, its meant the car is getting cheap (or free) mods!
I bought and fitted the Powerflex lower engine mount (dogbone) and gearbox mount, love the solid feeling they provide. Now they have bedded in it feels great and minimal vibrations.
The steering wheel was retrimmed by Royal as an Xmas pressie from the missus, was fitted in January. Happy that its OEM look and the leather is very good quality. Anyone who is thinking about getting theres its well worth it!
It then had obligatory needed maintenance, a new camshaft sensor, wiper blades, top and bottom swivel joints on the nearside and nearside topmount.
Next up was some black wheel bolts, bought from eBay. Was a bit dubious when they turned up as they are 17mm instead of the OEM 19mm but they have been no issue and are marginally lighter than original, looks far better than rusty ones.
Before
After
I've had the ongoing issue of oil sitting near coilpack 4, decided to put some fibre washers under the two black bolts behind the coilpack which has sorted it. Decided to check the spark plugs as I have no history of them being changed since the car was on 35k, its now 115k
Old and new
Number 4 was very oily, I suspect I would have had running issues if left much longer. It did feel better idling after changing them bur that could be my imagination. The coilpack rubber on coilpack 4 had also disintegrated so bought a 2nd hand coilpack from eBay.
I finally persuaded my mate to fit the exhaust tips as the eBay specials fitted before were knackered.
Much better!
Then some play shots, weather turned nasty and it got freezing.
Next up, I noticed the 200s have a slightly different trim to 197s around the climate control, bought a 200 climate control unit cheap from eBay and fitted it easily. Also superglued the trim surround onto the climate control panel as it rattled in the clips.
It was time for a new badge on the back, it was looking a little bland.
At certain angles it looks slightly crooked but not too bad.
Rear high brake light came away one day when cleaning the rear window, turns out the plastic had become brittle and a bit which the brass clip mounts to broken. £20 later and a new 2nd hand one arrived.
Moneys been tight as the missus and I are getting married next year, its meant the car is getting cheap (or free) mods!
I bought and fitted the Powerflex lower engine mount (dogbone) and gearbox mount, love the solid feeling they provide. Now they have bedded in it feels great and minimal vibrations.
The steering wheel was retrimmed by Royal as an Xmas pressie from the missus, was fitted in January. Happy that its OEM look and the leather is very good quality. Anyone who is thinking about getting theres its well worth it!
It then had obligatory needed maintenance, a new camshaft sensor, wiper blades, top and bottom swivel joints on the nearside and nearside topmount.
Next up was some black wheel bolts, bought from eBay. Was a bit dubious when they turned up as they are 17mm instead of the OEM 19mm but they have been no issue and are marginally lighter than original, looks far better than rusty ones.
Before
After
I've had the ongoing issue of oil sitting near coilpack 4, decided to put some fibre washers under the two black bolts behind the coilpack which has sorted it. Decided to check the spark plugs as I have no history of them being changed since the car was on 35k, its now 115k
Old and new
Number 4 was very oily, I suspect I would have had running issues if left much longer. It did feel better idling after changing them bur that could be my imagination. The coilpack rubber on coilpack 4 had also disintegrated so bought a 2nd hand coilpack from eBay.
I finally persuaded my mate to fit the exhaust tips as the eBay specials fitted before were knackered.
Much better!
Then some play shots, weather turned nasty and it got freezing.
Next up, I noticed the 200s have a slightly different trim to 197s around the climate control, bought a 200 climate control unit cheap from eBay and fitted it easily. Also superglued the trim surround onto the climate control panel as it rattled in the clips.
It was time for a new badge on the back, it was looking a little bland.
At certain angles it looks slightly crooked but not too bad.
Rear high brake light came away one day when cleaning the rear window, turns out the plastic had become brittle and a bit which the brass clip mounts to broken. £20 later and a new 2nd hand one arrived.
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The plan going forward is to lose more weight without sacrificing functionality or comfort, a hard thing to do sometimes. It is amazing how much little thing add up, the aim is to lose 60kg. As I have a full fat it will be slightly heavier than a cup but only by about 20kg I believe.
I decided to make a list of potential weight saving and what I thought it weighed, based upon other posts or what Id weighed the parts at. Easier said than done so some are guessetimated.
As part of the weight saving and future proofing I found a 2nd hand Milltek for £200, cleaned up really well! It is for a 200 but after research my RS tips will fit and work as required.
Also a £3 plastic cap to get rid of the height lever on the seat.
I decided to make a list of potential weight saving and what I thought it weighed, based upon other posts or what Id weighed the parts at. Easier said than done so some are guessetimated.
As part of the weight saving and future proofing I found a 2nd hand Milltek for £200, cleaned up really well! It is for a 200 but after research my RS tips will fit and work as required.
Also a £3 plastic cap to get rid of the height lever on the seat.
Thanks Ben, looks ok from a distance but the front is very peppered with stone chips and there are odd marks and scratches. Not to anger the gods of detailing but I live on a first floor flat with no access to an outside tap so often the car gets taken to an automated car wash, probably not the best but I trust it more than the groups of guys washing cars. If circumstances change I may opt for some bodywork to be tidied up but it does the job!
lots of work done again..like where you are going with your project..the steering wheel looks perfect..think i need to pull my finger out with this...
Thanks Pav, its not as slick or as extreme as some other cars on here but keeps me busy. The steering wheel is very nice, well worth the money.
Interested to hear from others about weight loss too, where and how, differences it made. There are a few threads on it but nothing detailed I would say.
Recent update! I changed the blown front speakers for JVC OEM replacements, not amazing but £17 a pair I wasnt expecting wonders. Also fitted some in the rear. Clearly Renault realised sound quality of speakers was not high on the list but it reinforces for me all the effort they put in to the revvy engine and on point steering.
Add to that a new (2nd hand) Sony CD player with aux input and sound quality has improved a little.
Next up I swapped out the xenon washer bottle for a standard one and removed the rear washer hose. I also blanked my headlight washers with items from Mega Carbon and fitted a single horn. From my perspective, its all little bits of weight loss combined with larger weight loss that makes a difference. Always open to opinions though!
Obligatory photo without bumper in the sun
I had the usual sticking handbrake so did a bit of research and found out the rear calipers are the same as Megane ones... except Renault failed to fit return springs to the Clio. A few quid for a pair from eBay and 5 minutes, they were fitted easily. Well worth doing.
I also gave the front seatbelts a clean as they were minging! Easy job and looks much better.
Add to that a new (2nd hand) Sony CD player with aux input and sound quality has improved a little.
Next up I swapped out the xenon washer bottle for a standard one and removed the rear washer hose. I also blanked my headlight washers with items from Mega Carbon and fitted a single horn. From my perspective, its all little bits of weight loss combined with larger weight loss that makes a difference. Always open to opinions though!
Obligatory photo without bumper in the sun
I had the usual sticking handbrake so did a bit of research and found out the rear calipers are the same as Megane ones... except Renault failed to fit return springs to the Clio. A few quid for a pair from eBay and 5 minutes, they were fitted easily. Well worth doing.
I also gave the front seatbelts a clean as they were minging! Easy job and looks much better.
My latest purchase is a V3 Sprint Booster. A marmite product, I am intrigued by their claims of responsiveness. I have got to the point where I am confident putting my foot down in the Clio and knowing how it picks up. On occasion it surprises me, but the laggy response is getting very frustrating. I find driving normally around town is fine, that 'driveability' makes sense.
There is two occasions when the throttle response is noticeably poor.
1. When pulling away. I know how many revs it needs, but find the lag means that for half a second its struggling to deal with the notion of pulling away.
2. When giving it a blast on a country road, when flooring it there is that split second delay before it will take off. This can be acceptable in a turbo can when you are expecting to a shove to the back and torque to pull you through but in an N/A car when relying on revs you want the response to be immediate and sharp.
I dont see myself running the Sprint Booster in ultra race mode, nor will it be on all the time. I would also like to test the idea of the throttle body opening quicker. I have a wireless OBD2 adaptor and the Torque app so will do some acceleration tests. The Sprint Booster may not be an all round answer like a remap, but itll be a stop gap until I have got the other mechanical modifications fitted and ready for a map.
There is two occasions when the throttle response is noticeably poor.
1. When pulling away. I know how many revs it needs, but find the lag means that for half a second its struggling to deal with the notion of pulling away.
2. When giving it a blast on a country road, when flooring it there is that split second delay before it will take off. This can be acceptable in a turbo can when you are expecting to a shove to the back and torque to pull you through but in an N/A car when relying on revs you want the response to be immediate and sharp.
I dont see myself running the Sprint Booster in ultra race mode, nor will it be on all the time. I would also like to test the idea of the throttle body opening quicker. I have a wireless OBD2 adaptor and the Torque app so will do some acceleration tests. The Sprint Booster may not be an all round answer like a remap, but itll be a stop gap until I have got the other mechanical modifications fitted and ready for a map.
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