Jake's RB Clio 197 Track Car

[jwillo]

It was good to meet you earlier.

The car is looking really good.

Thanks Gavin! Was good to meet you both, hopefully see you again soon

 

[jwillo]

Been a busy week on the clio, wanted to get the T7 heater plumed in before the end of the week.

Started off with the engine oil and filter change. Still need to do the gearbox oil and drained the coolant out.


I always write date and mileage on the filter



Managed to remove the dash aswell, this was easier than I imagined. Took a lot of pictures of the location of harnesses/wiring just so I know where to put them back.



Then the heater came out, what a nightmare that was. Brute force got it out in the end but I'm sure there's an easier way. The temptation to spray the interior at this point was strong!



Managed to get the new heater plumbed in today and the battery mount in place for the odyssey PC680. Ordered the relocation kit from Duct3d @RSRowe then I can get started with relocating the battery




It's only held on by the top bolts at the moment, need to source some standoffs for the bottom bolts. I chucked some water through the system to test for leaks and all was good, ordered some genuine coolant from RPD.

Polycarb windows are ready for collection, will be collecting them Tuesday and will most probably fit them at the weekend. Roof vent also needs silicone and rivets

 

[jwillo]

Had a spare hour this evening so made a start on removing unnecessary wiring from the loom. I've cut them for now but will depin them properly once I've got rid of more wiring and got more time.




Wish I took a before picture to compare when I'm finished. I was abit nervous once I had removed the tape as it was all such a mess, but once I got started it got easier (he says not knowing if the car starts)

Nights this week so will do a little bit each day. Hoping to get all the wiring done and dash back in by the weekend then I can get the windows in over the weekend.

 

[jwillo]

Another busy week on the clio..

Picked up the windows from ACW on Tuesday and got the rears glued in on Wednesday. Fronts are also in just need to bolt them






Happy with them, think I'll get some sort of ventilation added to the quarters eventually but I'll see how it is on track first.

Used the adhesive for the windows on the roof vent and got that riveted in the following day.



Spot the mistake




I had some rear bumper cut out templates lying around for a little while, decided to go ahead and crack on with that yesterday.




And some wire mesh from Halfords

I'll be putting a bolt and washer with a lock nut through the hole where the push pins were, I think that'll be more secure than relying on those pins.



Also added the bulkhead blank from PMS and made another one.



Tidied up the wiring today ready to tape back together next weekend with tesa tape, there's still a bit more to come out but I've had enough with it. I'm happy I've managed to get rid of alot, will look alot neater once its all back together. Started the car up in the week to make sure all was OK and starts up fine so that's good news.




All that's left to do is relocate the battery, wire up the heater, bolt in the front windows, add coolant, change gearbox oil and give it a well needed clean.

Plan was to get the dash flocked but I'll wait till next winter when the cage will get done.

 

[jwillo]

Update;

Taped the loom back up and bolted the front windows in. There's alot more wiring to be removed but I was losing interest and had quite a few jobs to get on with but happy I got rid of some connectors and wires that were hanging around





This afternoon I got started with relocating the battery using @RSRowe duct3d kit. It's a nice bit of kit and instructions were easy to follow. I need to order some ring connectors as I messed up a couple times. Also collecting a sheet of aluminium and going to attach it to where the passenger seat would of been. Will mount the battery, isolator and fire extinguisher to this.




Finished off the engine bay part, took all afternoon but I'm not the best with electrics so I took my time. Annoyingly didn't have the correct size heat shrink so used electrical tape.



Similar to this, the black matt being the sheet of aluminium (not as big).

Ordered some bits to get started on the interior respray, next job. Steel wire wheel for the grinder for seam sealer. Plenty of sandpaper ranging from 120 grit to 1200. Lots of dust sheets to mask up the garage and car and cans from rapid paints, I'm hoping to do a thick coat of etch primer, 2 coats of J45 paint and 2-3 coats of lacquer.

 

[jwillo]

Update;

Got the dash in and battery hooked up at the start of the week just to make sure it starts, which it did. So dash came out again and everything covered up and sanded down ready to paint.

I really wanted it to look good so took my time and got everything (I think) covered up and prepped as well as I could.







Roughed up the paint with a steel wire wheel on a grinder, then sanded down with various grit paper from 120-1500grit. Hoovered and wiped over then a thick coat of etch primer went on, scratched over with 1200grit, hoovered and wiped again. Light coat of paint went on, then a thicker coat later in the evening then an even thicker coat this morning.




Went over one last time with a tack cloth then 2 thick coats of lacquer went on. This was horrible, in a single garage at 6ft5





Over the moon with the end result. I'm no professional and there's definitely bits I could of done thicker but I think it looks good. I can see why they charge what they charge for this work now, it wasn't the nicest of jobs the lacquer nearly killed me off lol!

Now to do it all over again when I get a full cage

Next up need to get everything back in.

 

[burrellbloke]

That looks really good.

 

[jwillo]

That looks really good.

Thank you mate

 

[R20BTG]

Looks fantastic


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[strell]

Awesome work. How high were you at the end of that?

 

[jwillo]

Looks fantastic


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks mate!

Awesome work. How high were you at the end of that?

Paint and primer wasn't too bad it was the lacquer that nearly killed me haha

 

[jwillo]

Another productive week on the clio,

Started off with removing all the masking after the respray



Over the moon with the results, definitely could of done abit better with under the dash/around the streaming column.

Then went ahead and finished off the battery, actually decided to take my time with this and try to make it look half decent rather than bodge it like usually do.

Thanks to @RSRowe for the help, and the relocation kit itself.



Got some knurled fasteners and extended the positive cable so it wasn't under as much pressure.



Got the cage and seat in and tided up the wiring with P clips.




Rear sunstrip on




Fitted the heater and filled it up with coolant today, went for a little drive and all was well Although I have a funny feeling I've drilled through the fuel tank After the drive when I was cleaning up I smelt a strong smell of fuel and a small puddle in the passengers footwell. It was only a small puddle but was definitely there, I can't remember if I had anything lying there when I was working on the car it could of been, but we'll soon find out

 

[PITA]

The part where you’ve fitted the battery is double skinned with a considerable gap in between. You’d struggle to puncture the tank fitting the battery

 

[jwillo]

The part where you’ve fitted the battery is double skinned with a considerable gap in between. You’d struggle to puncture the tank fitting the battery

Thanks mate that's good to know. I'm going to jack it up next weekend and take a proper look underneath

 

[PITA]

You can see the section that sticks out

 

[jwillo]

Happy new year all!

Not much of an update but decided to crack on with some jobs today. First up was the gearbox oil, I added some modifier it didn't really need changing tbh but Sean recommended I do it after the first track day with the Gripper diff.




Another quick drive up the road and all is well besides the windows steaming up like crazy. I think I may regret taking the heater out lol!

The car is getting picked up and dropped off to Sean at Jade Developments next week to inspect the fuel tank. I think I've definitely gone through it, can smell it when I put a bit of fuel in a couple months ago and can also see the fumes coming out of the hole which I drilled. Definitely annoying but just one of those things, he's going to wire up the heater and a couple other small jobs aswell. Would like to take the time to attempt it myself but baby number 2 arrived just before Christmas so it's been a bit hectic having two under 2.

I've booked onto a couple track days for this year.

Cadwell 6th March and an evening at Donington on 9th August. I'm planning Castle Combe 16th June and possibly another day. That'll probably be it for this year though as I need to get a tow bar fitted to the Tiguan and try and source some space for a trailer (any tips would be highly appreciated).

It'll be good to get back to Donington, I've not been there since my clio 182 when I was first learning track driving.

 

[burrellbloke]

Congratulations on the second baby. Good luck getting any time to work on the car! Two kids under 2 sounds like torture. I am glad that my two are now both adults and can look after themselves.

 

[jwillo]

Congratulations on the second baby. Good luck getting any time to work on the car! Two kids under 2 sounds like torture. I am glad that my two are now both adults and can look after themselves.

It is definitely a mad house atm mate haha, thank you though

 

[Helpimonfire]

I am glad that my two are now both adults and can look after themselves.

One of them can look after themselves...

Car looks good Jake, don't feel bad about removing the heater, my stock heater can't keep the windows clear when it's wet out on track!

 

[jwillo]

One of them can look after themselves...

Car looks good Jake, don't feel bad about removing the heater, my stock heater can't keep the windows clear when it's wet out on track!

Thanks mate! Well that's good to know then haha