great project looks like fun,I was just talking to a guy yesterday who has a PH1 172 on coilovers and he loves it.looked very low but needed some spacers to set it of.
Right been a while since the last update, too busy using it and enjoying it!
Since the last aux belt disaster when i disabled my own car i decided for ease of fitting and future work to bin the air con and hopefully gain a few bhp and tidy up the bay. So i bought one of these from Pure motorsport:
The new setup will look like this, all pulleys replaced with lighter versions, the alternator is re located as low as possible and also fitted with a bigger pulley for less rpm ( less drain on engine when charging battery ):
So out with the heavy and useless ( well for this time of the year ) A/C equipment:
And in with the new setup:
Crank pulley requires locking the engine up and then checking timing afterwards to ensure timing wasnt disturbed:
Used the opportunity to refresh the manifold gaskets and other related seals and fixings:
Verdict:
Can't really feel any more 'revviness' in the engine which is dissapointing as the pulleys felt significantly lighter than the originals. I also had a lot of trouble correctly tensioning the belt up, at one end the belt slipped with heavy steering inputs and on the other end it was piano string tight and hummed when driven. In the end i accepted some slip on full lock and even then it still whines a little bit at high rpm and when rolling down from 6k+. Anyone else with this kit noticed this?
Next update will include this parcel i picked up last week :
Less kerb weight ( see below ), less rotational mass, cleaner engine bay, cheaper cambelt replacements, more airflow to radiator, stronger heaters with air con rad removed from scuttle panel and renault A/C in a 12 year old motor isnt exactly amazing anyway.
All brackets, piping, compressor, radiators, fluid and pulley difference add upto a 16kg loss and over 1kg of rotational mass plus improved, direct airflow to the radiator.