@EthanMenace and I travelled up to Solihull on Saturday to see @PITA and collect his yellow JP Cages half cage that he sold to me.

I had visions of the cage being a complete nightmare to get in to the car but it was incredibly easy to squeeze in. We took out both of the front seats out to create enough room to get the cage in. @PITA used his "cage skills" and demonstrated how to tilt the cage forwards and get one set of feet out after the other. After a bit of pushing and shoving the cage went in to the car.

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I also picked up a set of coils from @PITA and a rear extended carpet.

The jouney home was entertaining. Whilst driving round the M25 a Yaris GR came up being the Clio and then started to overtake. The driver then pulled up alongside, wound down his window and started having a conversation about his alien green 200 - all at about 60 mph. After we hit a bit of traffic the conversation continued at a more sedate speed of 30 mph.

The cage is now causing @EthanMenace and I to scratch our heads a bit. The cage sits closer to the passenger side than it does to the drivers side. This would be fine but the pressure the cage is applying is stopping the passenger side seat belt retracting as quickly as it should. This is the drivers side.

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This is the passenger side.

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We have peeled back the rear footwell carpet and cut out the foam and the odd bit of cardboard/chipboard so that the front feet can sit flush against the metal floor. I thought that this might give a bit more wiggle room in the car to stop the left hand side of the cage pushing against the passenger side seat belt - but it has made no difference. The cage is anchored at the rear with bolts through the rear of the cage feet in to the ISOfix bar holes in the shell and continues to press against the passenger side seat belt.

The problem is very odd as the cage has come out of a Clio that had an interior in it as well, and the cage is for an unstripped car.

Notwithstanding the head scratching the metal spreader plates that go on the bottom of the shell have been rust treated and given a coat of hammriste on the underside.

We have not drilled the holes in the shell yet as we want to sort out the seatbelt issue first. We all attempt to use some ratchet straps to see if some brute force will hold the cage in place tighter and if this works we can drill the holes and bolt the cage in.

Man maths suggests that we should just bin the seat belts and get a set of harnesses. On that subject can anyone recommend a harness that is road legal and will be suitable to anchor on the cage (proved that it bolts in!)
 
If you want a harness 4 point is what you want, but you will need to put an eyelet and spreader for the lap belt on the exhaust tunnel, I think from memory the seatbelt point on B-Pillar is the right angle to use.

Like said in your thread, ratchet straps and then bolting in will most likely take that pressure off fine.
 
There was a batch of JP half cages that came off the jig unsymmetrical I believe. This is the third one I’ve seen. Hopefully straps will shape it enough to get it bolted how you want it
 
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Technically harnesses have to be at least 3 point and have a BS marking (British Standard) to pass an mot. Some testers might be picky but as long as you can prove they conform you'll be fine.
 
Are there any particular MOT laws/regulations about harnesses that define what is road legal and what is not?

i don’t have seatbelts in mine, only a 4point harness and it’s never has issues at mot time

I’m sure cars like caterhams etc have only harnesses too
 
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If you want a harness 4 point is what you want, but you will need to put an eyelet and spreader for the lap belt on the exhaust tunnel, I think from memory the seatbelt point on B-Pillar is the right angle to use.

Like said in your thread, ratchet straps and then bolting in will most likely take that pressure off fine.

Is it the only way to fit multipoint harness in clio? I am not very keen drilling a hole to my floor :smile:
 
Is it the only way to fit multipoint harness in clio? I am not very keen drilling a hole to my floor :smile:
It’s for the lap belt.. it’s usually utilises where the belt is and then fixed to the exhaust tunnel for the other side
 
Is it the only way to fit multipoint harness in clio? I am not very keen drilling a hole to my floor :smile:

You can buy brackets that sandwich between the floor and the floor mount for BMWs


Looks like someone has done it for Clios

 
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Seems like the guy makes an e46 and e92 variation, any idea which works for clios? Might be the same thing - cant see
 
I sent an e-mail to Josh at JP Cages about my cage issue and he sent a response that basically said get a big ratchet strap and squeeze the bottom of the legs.

I tried using some ratchet straps that I normally use over winter to hold down some covers on garden furniture - they were useless. Then I borrowed some bigger straps and @EthanMenace made some progress with them tonight. The pressure is coming away from the passenger side seatbelt now.

This is the state of the car tonight. The feet are being pulled in and when the strap comes off they should go back to their near normal position.

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Hopefully the cage will fit and be bolted down tomorrow before heading off to Brands Hatch!

In other news I managed to buy a used set of Direzzas for just £200 today. They should have at least 4mm of tread on them. So, together with the current set of Direzzas that I have we should be sorted for track tyres for the next 5 track days.
 
Another great thread, read the entire thing and have been taking notes - hah!

did you order custom spec gaz golds from the manuf direct or some stock from a reseller? Conscious it’l take 6 weeks plus fitting to get some and i’d rather sort it faster if i can (i can see some very expensive KW V3 on the horizon if so..)

i need to find another reputable indy in south/southwest london/sussex/surrey area to avoid having to trek to ktec or AW etc.

i had great plans to do similar and do lots of work myself but two new jobs culled my pandemic plans and now i’m back in the office!
 
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Thank you.

I ordered the Gaz Golds from @R27WTF at Supreme Motorsport. We had a chat about spring rates and then put in the order. We went for 600 front and 350 rear. I think that Gaz make their stuff to order so that is why it takes about 6 weeks.

It is frustrating doing work on your car when it does not go right at first or takes a lot longer than you thought, but when it is done it is really satisfying. Plus it saves you money to spend on other mods.
 
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In other news I managed to buy a used set of Direzzas for just £200 today. They should have at least 4mm of tread on them. So, together with the current set of Direzzas that I have we should be sorted for track tyres for the next 5 track days.

Are they from a guy from King's Lynn? If so I can go get them and store them for you unless he's posting? Lynn is only 20 minutes from me
 
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Are they from a guy from King's Lynn? If so I can go get them and store them for you unless he's posting? Lynn is only 20 minutes from me

They are. Thank you for offering but I have sorted out postage with him already. They sound too good to be true so hopefully they are good.
 
The Clio has officially entered it's "club sport" phase. The rear seats have gone. The half cage is in, it is bolted down, and it is no longer rubbing on the passenger side seatbelt. @EthanMenace did an excellent job this morning in drilling the bolt holes, sealing/sticking the spreader plates to the bottom of the car and bolting down the half cage, then putting the carpet back.

The ratchet strap method worked so thank you to Josh at JP Cages, and also @suj and @RSRowe for the suggestion.

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The cage looks really good and is clearly visible from the outside in a kind of subtle/not subtle way.

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Today was a shakedown for:

1. Gaz Gold suspension
2. Geo set-up
3. Gripper
4. Half cage (just for looks)

We took a trip to Brands Hatch tonight for the first of five track days over the next 5 months. @EthanMenace and I were booked on to a Track Obsession evening track session. We arrived at the outer paddock and the heavens opened and it poured down with rain. The forecast had suggested that there may be some rain so I was settled on the idea that we would have to start out on PS4s and wait for a dry line to appear before we could get out the Direzzas. All of the track days I had done so far had been bone dry so I was kind of looking forward to learning to adapt to wet driving.

After signing on and picking up the obligatory packet of Skittles and free key ring we sat in the outer paddock waiting for the day track session to vacate the inner paddock. A range of cars arrived, a few 182s, a 197, a few wrapped a track prepped EP3s and Fiestas, some VAG machinery and my favourite cars of the day were a pair of mk 1 and mk 2 Escorts.

The rain had stopped by the time we did the sighting laps, but the track was still really wet. During the sighting laps we both remembered that the Gaz Golds were still set to full soft. After going back to the garage we put the Gaz Golds to 6 clicks from full hard then the fun began. @EthanMenace had a tuition session and I watched the traffic struggle at speed with Graham Hill Bend. The Escorts drifted round the corner in style whilst most other cars slowed down and took it carefully.

Both @EthanMenace and I had a good session on the wet track with the PS4s on. It was difficult to rally feel the benefit of the recent upgrades as the PS4s did not have the same level of grip as the Direzzas on a dry track.

I had arranged via @PITA to drop off some parts at Brands Hatch that he had sold to a chap who lived in Kent. When we got back to the garage after a few sessions on track the parts had gone but I noticed that the chap had sent a nicely worded text and had sent some photos of the Clio out of track. He later popped in to the garage as we changed from wet wheels to track wheels and he told us about his supercharged 200.

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When @EthanMenace went out on the Direzzas it became clear how different the car was after the handling upgrades. In the wet the Gripper certainly added pulling power but when the tyres were struggling to grip properly in the damp it hid the power of the Gripper. In the dry the car was just superb. Wow, wow, wow. It stuck to the track, the power delivery out of corners was immense, the bouncy qualities of the B14s were gone. Paddock Hill Bend was no longer a bend to fear - it was a bend to power through just to get up to Druids.

When I got behind the wheel in the dry I was really impressed with the set up. It felt like the car was floating in a controlled way round bends and that there was always power available when exiting corners. I now have much more confidence in the car and its ability to whip round corners and power out of bends.

The evening came to an end when it started to get dark. There was only one red flag during the session. The Clio was faultless today and I am now looking forward to Croft in May.

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The geo set up has obviously improved the cars handling but the combination of all of the upgrades made the car so good today.

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As usual we seemed to be the last people to leave the track.

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When I got behind the wheel in the dry I was really impressed with the set up. It felt like the car was floating in a controlled way round bends and that there was always power available when exiting corners. I know have much more confidence in the car and its ability to whip round corners and power out of bends.

Can completely relate to this, when you have it setup right the car just floats through the mid corner waiting for the power, very addictive :thumb:
 
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