Montanas Deep Black 197

How much were the dampers? Any links for the front and back please?

Fronts i got from RPD http://renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/categories/Select-Car-Model/Renault-Clio-Range/Clio-197-Products/

Rears, knowing that the original renault items were manufactured by KYB, i consulted the parts catalogue and ordered them direct from egay saving myself £20. KYB Part number 344810 (£88 for the pair) http://www.kyb-europe.com/catalogue.asp

great stuff Pete..after todays Moors run i have come to the conclusion that my suspension needs an upgrade too..very bouncy on some roads..
Are you still running original shocks with Eibach springs ?
 
still Pete..its ok on the road but once at speed and on some bouncy roars,it gets a bit wobbly :thumbdown:
 
Small update - gave the 197 a service recently all ready for winter, with the following;

Genuine oil filter & Elf Evolution 5w40 & sump washer
Genuine Auxilary belt & tensioner
Genuine spark plugs (NGK)
Air filter skipped as was replaced 6k ago
Halfords Extreme brilliance headlight bulbs

Oil going in!
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New bulbs - not my first choice but had to replace them sharpish as blew a bulb
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Aux belt & tensioner - old tensioner looked a state compared to the new item, however it has soon lost the new look
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May give it a clean , polish and wax before the year is out.
 
Conscious of the impending freezing weather i wanted to get a decent coat of hardwearing wax on the 197, despite the shocking wet weather today i managed to get some dry space to carry out the following;

Pre Wash with ValetPro citrus pre wash
Washed using 2 bucket method with Wonder Wheels wash & wax
Wheels cleaned with a pre soaking of Bilberry juice

Brought inside and dried using 2 drying towels
PoorBoys BlackHole applied to front end (Bonnet/Front Bumper/ Wings)
Car then waxed using Collinite 915 (including all glass)
Wheels waxed with PoorBoys Wheel Sealant
No Meguirs tyre shine applied due to very wet weather.

Pics
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Should see me through winter with regular power washes to remove salt.
 
black car and yellow calipers are so sexy...have you thought of doing your renault diamonds in black??
 
Turned a corner in the dark as I was parking and felt it grind against the kerb, at this point it was touching and I had to reverse. Wish I had fitted my winter wheels now
 
Sorry to hear that, not good :worried: I've done it myself too, made me feel like such an amateur driver :blink:
 
Fitted my Laguna wheels earlier in place of the speedlines , got them cheap and they have lots of tread on the tyres so seemed silly not to use them , as I may get some new rubber in summer in time for my Nurburgring trip. Plus gives me chance to tidy up the recent scuff . they are fitted with 225s as opposed to 215 and sit a little wider , don't think they look too bad

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Fitted my HEKOs today and got my aircon re-gassed (i realise they are a bit of a contradiction!) , however I am advance planning for my Nurburgring trip :smile:

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So its been a while since i last updated this, made some progress today.

1. Replaced the gearbox (dogbone)mount, when i powerflexed my original mount i noticed a little split in the small end of the mount, fitting Powerflex made a hell of a difference but i still had a slight jerk when coming off the power.Experimented with an uprated version which the supplier had never made before, the part is still in development but was too harsh for daily driving, would be fine for a track car though. So today i opted to go for a non genuine but decent manufacturer in Feb Bilstein,fitting this eliminated all movement which confirmed the split was the cause.

Left to right, new Febi mount,original with Powerflex, development mount
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Fitted (covered in penetrating fluid for lubrication)
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2. Planned to replace coolant and thermostat however i was defeated as i couldnt get sufficient access to the radiator hose clip (not a fan of these). Gave up pretty easily as i had an exhaust issue i wanted to move onto looking at. Will revisit this in future.
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3. I fitted a Milltek from a 200 a few weeks ago, very happy with the sound, being the Non-Res i was worriedit would be too loud however its not, its nearly perfect, pootling around its no much louder than OE with mid pipe delete, but the noise comes when opening the taps. Good compromise IMHO, very well put together too.

Which brings me onto my issue, as it was from a 200, i needed to fit some tailpipes to prevent diffuser melting issues. After some internet scouting and 197.net archive searching, i tracked down the tips which had been recommended by others in the past ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350976213901). After fitting I wasnt happy with the original fitment of the exhaust as the right hand side tailpipe sat further forward than the left hand sideone so it needed some adjustment. Today I made the adjustment, I ended up removing diffuser and both back boxes in order to adjust and get the naked tailpipes sitting level and in a position that clears the diffuser sufficiently (which takes time!). So i now have an exhaust that is sitting aligned correctly under the diffuser/tailpipes - I am still not happy with the bolt on tailpipes,they look and feel cheap, i almost expected to loose one on aspirited drive! Interestingly the OE exhaust tips are 63mm but the milltek drops to 51mm from the backboxes, I may fit 51mm exhaust tips, undecided at the moment. But for the time being its looking like this
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4. Drivers door pocket light unit had a snapped clip so had a habit of hanging out of the door pocket. Ordered a replacement and fitted it with a LED SMD bulb (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151224509887), much better whiter light. I originally bought these to replace my sidelights after I blew one and bought some motor factors ones that looked shocking. Sidelights are looking much crisper now too.
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Also helped my mate with some open heart surgery on his FN2 Type R (K20). Looks serious but we were only replacing the rocker cover gasket.
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How it stands today, still on the winter wheels and filthy, will change back to the Speedlines once we have consistently +ve temperatures, planning on giving the calipers and arches a good clean and protection at the same time. The Speedlines have 2 coats of Poorboys wheel sealant ready to go back on. Also planning on giving it a full machine polish and interior clean.


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Looking good (Y) Have you got a link to were you bought the mount from? I'm in the process of sorting all mine out and it looks like a good bit of kit!