Suj's Nimbus Clio 197 and E36 328i Trackcar

[suj]

Not much to update, some good, some bad.

The Bad:
Someone keyed the car, passenger side quite a while ago (front door, to rear, above the handle).
Then I was in London 2 weekends ago for a friends wedding, then I got home taking stuff out the car to put in the house and when I came out the motion sensor light on the drive lit up the bumper and I was like "what is that?"





Looks like someone has brushed past my car on the front bumper and push it against the wing, as both are plastic they've deformed in then sprung back, why there is a mark on the edge

It's rubbish, and nothing I can do so I guess that is life unfortunately
Oh well.....

The Good:
I am just collecting / waiting for parts to come in.
* Top mounts from Paul @ RPD (got them), great service as usual from him
* ARB links (awaiting)
* Anti-rotation links (awaiting)
* Rear dust covers / bump stops (awaiting)
* Bilstein front Dust covers and other bits (from Balance Motorsport speak to Julian there for Bilstein stuff, so helpful and great communications) (awaiting)
* Engine mount (got)
* Gearbox mount (got)
* 4x Coilpacks (i've had a slight misfire at idle, but not all the time and not enough to trigger an EML, a few people have had this and have said coilpacks, the sparks are pretty new and no water / oil in the holes, so hopefully coilpacks sort it).

So will be building them up at home then probably get a garage to just do the lot (struggling to find time and as it is my daily I can't have it off the road for a long time).

 

[Pav]

its never nice to find out that someone had scratched/dented your car..hope it can be polished out at some point...looks good all your plans and purchases...

 

[BenAG200]

Shame about the bodywork Suj, really pisses me off that people don't have the decency to own up or leave a note these days.

Sounds like you've got a nice shopping list of parts to go on the car, should feel like a new motor when you get it all on there.

 

[suj]

its never nice to find out that someone had scratched/dented your car..hope it can be polished out at some point...looks good all your plans and purchases...

Shame about the bodywork Suj, really pisses me off that people don't have the decency to own up or leave a note these days.

Sounds like you've got a nice shopping list of parts to go on the car, should feel like a new motor when you get it all on there.

Yep, unfortunately nothing I can do, it's my daily, I enjoy driving cars and this is the problem as there was an article I was reading saying, "cars on average stay dormant for 94% of the time", so I cannot look out for it 24/7 haha.

Thanks lads, yeah should freshen things up nicely

 

[///M]

Argh Suj, you must have been screwing mate. People are such effing scumbags. Zero respect any more. Hope whoever did it stubs their toe really badly first thing in the morning, every day, forever.



Plus side is looking very good though mate, it's going to feel absolutely incredible with that lot on.

 

[suj]

Argh Suj, you must have been screwing mate. People are such effing scumbags. Zero respect any more. Hope whoever did it stubs their toe really badly first thing in the morning, every day, forever.



Plus side is looking very good though mate, it's going to feel absolutely incredible with that lot on.

Haha, I like your style, normally I am a "I hope you get a stone in your sock that annoys you for the rest of your life"

Yeah cannot wait for all the bits on

Oh yeah I did put 2x 215/45/17 Eagle F1s on the front to replace the (dead) Falkens that were on there.

 

[suj]

Update time, some good, some bad. I went on holiday so I dropped off the car to DynoTorque while I was away (they are next to Driftworks and specialise in LS V8 conversions into everything).

List of jobs to do:
* Fit standard exhaust and cat
* Fit Bilstein B14 coilovers (with new genuine top mounts)
* Fit new ARB bushes
* Fit new ARB links
* Fit new anti-rotation links
* Check manifold for any leaks (I sensed it leaked when cold, only cold so pointed to a crack, not flexis)
* New gearbox oil

Coilovers:
I bought the coilovers from Steve Murr (after I put up a status on one of the FB groups asking if 200 coilovers can be made to fit 197s).

When Craig went to fit them, the spring plate was way too big, spring was too small, I contacted Steve, it seems a misunderstanding and he sold me 200 coilovers gutted.

Car was in bits, I would have had to pay for the labour regardless, but luckily I had won some standard springs off a low mileage 197 for really cheap on eBay ages ago, I got my mum to drop them off, so new top mounts were fitted and standard springs put back on.
Not ideal, but I really like the standard suspension, so annoying, but not the end of the world.

I will post the for sale thread soon, for people who are interested, I need to take pics.

Standard exhaust:
I use my car for ~75miles a day, the Milltek is lovely, but a bit too much for me, so I went back standard, massive thanks to @Pav for being a legend in packing it and waiting around etc, he is a proper gent

Craig also checked the manifold, there was a little crack where the flexi met the exhaust, he welded this up.

Fit Random Bits:
So he changed all the links and the ARB bushes, good as one rotation link was bent!
No problems here except typical ceased / rounded nuts.

He totally forgot about the gearbox oil, but I will be passing by and him doing it, so no biggie.






The car had powerflex torque mount and dogbone bushes, the vibrations with AC on were annoying me, so I changed them





Thermostat:
Also I changed my thermostat about 3months ago, as it was overcooling to find it had broken into pieces (page 5 for the pic).
But as I mentioned in another thread, it had started overcooling again slightly, I don't know what was in the car when I bought it, but I put a Gates one is, as I couldn't get a Renault OEM one in time.
So went about changing it for a genuine part.....it was bloody broke again!





I noticed the pipe that comes off the housing was kinked by being wedged between the knock sensor, as this time I moved it out more and it was stuck, so it seems this may not have helped, but i'm still confused as i've never had one break once, let alone twice in <4months!

Car never overheats, fans kick in as usual, it doesn't lose coolant, it's not mixing any oil with coolant, so i'm a bit confused here!


Also I thought I would try and do the gearbox mount as I had most bits out for the thermostat change, but I got beaten by the bugger not wanting to move lol, as I didn't have loads of time, I just left it, I still need to change the gearbox and engine mount, so will do that at some point.

 

[Big Ben]

Plenty going on mate. Seems these older RS all fall apart around the same time!
Once it's all done it's going to sound and drive great mate.
Good luck

 

[///M]

Blimey Suj, a lot happening there mate.

There are always going to be moments of things being a royal pain in the arse but the work will all be worth it in the long run.

 

[Pav]

glad most of your tick list is done now..shame about the colies though..would have been buzzing to have a drive with them on..hope you manage to find out what causes your temperature issues...

 

[suj]

Plenty going on mate. Seems these older RS all fall apart around the same time!
Once it's all done it's going to sound and drive great mate.
Good luck

Haha I know right, stupid cars!
Thanks mate, yeah I hope it is

Blimey Suj, a lot happening there mate.

There are always going to be moments of things being a royal pain in the arse but the work will all be worth it in the long run.

Thanks Mes, yeah I do really enjoy the car, I hate cutting corners, ideally if I had time I would have got new front dampers, but time was short so these ones went back, once I sell my B14s, I may look at getting new OEM dampers too.

glad most of your tick list is done now..shame about the colies though..would have been buzzing to have a drive with them on..hope you manage to find out what causes your temperature issues...

Thanks Pav, agreed I was gutted, but hey-ho, I really like the OEM suspension for my driving routes, so it is fine



Also since putting the standard exhaust back on, it drives so much better! No more flat spot (but not as free up top), but so much better for daily driving in my opinion.

Also since removing the powerflex bushes, it is so much smoother!

Man I am getting old, caring too much about NVH and driving quality hahaha!!!
The only person putting my car back to standard hehe.

 

[///M]

Haha I know right, stupid cars!
Thanks mate, yeah I hope it is



Thanks Mes, yeah I do really enjoy the car, I hate cutting corners, ideally if I had time I would have got new front dampers, but time was short so these ones went back, once I sell my B14s, I may look at getting new OEM dampers too.



Thanks Pav, agreed I was gutted, but hey-ho, I really like the OEM suspension for my driving routes, so it is fine



Also since putting the standard exhaust back on, it drives so much better! No more flat spot (but not as free up top), but so much better for daily driving in my opinion.

Also since removing the powerflex bushes, it is so much smoother!

Man I am getting old, caring too much about NVH and driving quality hahaha!!!
The only person putting my car back to standard hehe.

Nowt wrong with the OEM suspension mate. It's one of the most perfectly pitched cars from the factory.

And you're not getting old, you just know that a hell of a lot of "upgrades" aren't actually upgrades!

 

[suj]

So i've not updated in a while, I posted I got standard exhaust fitted, but no pics, not the best but it just shows the welding and sleeve on by the axle, so it can be removed at a later date if needed:






Also I had new standard engine mount and gearbox mount fitted, unfortunately no pics of these, sorry.


I noticed a knocking noise when slowing down at really low speeds, turned out to be the wishbone balljoint, it had a lot of movement. It made more sense to get the whole arm, due to the difference in cost between arm vs just balljoint. RoFag was the cheapest, I normally only use RPD, but they were a lot more expensive.


I also was due new discs and pads, I already bought some Brembo HC discs and Brembo front and rear pads, as I was buying from RoFag anyway, it made sense to save on postage by ordering more, so I ordered rear discs, these were SNR discs, who make the bearings for Renault, it was a good buy as it came with new hub nuts and hub nut covers free







I also had bought some Mr Pink stainless caliper pins, so they got put on too:





So arm got changed, the boot on the balljoint had split, so either it had so much movement it tore, or the tear caused the movement, either way it was ruined lol









Then onto discs, as usual the front locating screws were seized, so needed a punch to undo the gits:

Before


After


Stainless caliper pins in



Once fronts were done, onto the rears. Passenger one was a doddle



But then drivers side, pads were worn way more than the passenger side, then when the caliper came off it made sense, the caliper wouldn't go back in easy, so I had no choice but to get a refurbished one, I was hoping to be out the garage by midday, but earliest they could get it to the garage was 3pm, so I had to wait.

It came, was fitted, and off I went.
No more knocking, but I was taking it easy for the first few miles with the disc and pads being new. Now that they are bedded in etc, they feel amazing again.

No more knocking, brakes feel nice and tight, so hopefully no more big costs for a while, as this stuff hasn't been cheap!

I need to get the exhaust, sports cat and 200 coilovers for sale so I can claw back some cash lol.

 

[Pav]

perfect Suraj...great update as always..hope you are happy with the exhaust..
think you should have painted your discs to protect them from corosion...

 

[suj]

perfect Suraj...great update as always..hope you are happy with the exhaust..
think you should have painted your discs to protect them from corosion...

The last ones were OEM / Brembo mix, they didn't corrode.
The corrosion was on the Mtec brakes, I don't like them personally (nor do I like slotted or grooved, esp for road), so should be ok (if you look at the first pic of the disc, that is the old one, didn't have any corrosion on them)

Yeah thanks again Pav, it's so much nicer to drive and quieter, i'm getting old haha

 

[Micah]

I remember when I took off my Scorpion and put the OEM system back on, what a treat that was! Couldn't imagine doing your journey every day with that on. My gf was so happy when I did it, and now even more so since changing from Recaro's to the standard Mk4 seats, I have hassle-free car ownership in that respect now

 

[sevenfourate]

My goodness. That's some update suj. You have been busy !

Bet it's feeling and driving like a million dollars after that lot.

Good times....

 

[///M]

Great update mate.

Good to see you're happy with it all too.

I always say, good maintenance is often as much of a smile inducer as good mods!

 

[suj]

I remember when I took off my Scorpion and put the OEM system back on, what a treat that was! Couldn't imagine doing your journey every day with that on. My gf was so happy when I did it, and now even more so since changing from Recaro's to the standard Mk4 seats, I have hassle-free car ownership in that respect now

Haha yeah, it was so nice driving home, but then I got accustomed the old exhaust, so took a while to go "ehhh, where is the deep noise?".
Yeah I can imagine jumping in the 220 must be fun mate, lovely car, great choice Micah!

My goodness. That's some update suj. You have been busy !

Bet it's feeling and driving like a million dollars after that lot.

Good times....

My bank balance has definitely been busy haha, I always buy bits slowly and do it when I can get it done, glad I got a garage to do it, I always go down and give him a helping hand, he appreciates the convo more than anything.

Yeah feels good, that clonking was annoying me, and weirdly I was hearing a screeching noise when passing cars randomly / in underground car parks, makes sense now it was the rear caliper sticking!

Great update mate.

Good to see you're happy with it all too.

I always say, good maintenance is often as much of a smile inducer as good mods!

Thanks Mes, I agree, I try to look after my cars, so they look after me, I do 20k miles a year, so I like to keep on top of it all.

 

[suj]

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, I bought a Pioneer MVHX-580DAB stereo off adamk96 off here, really nice guy, met me just off M5 when he was passing.

So it has DAB, handsfree calling with mic, stalk adapter so I can use the stalk, bluetooth and has a spotify run part on the stereo, good kit for the money and the Pioneer ARC app is great, can use your phone as a remote for setting it up etc, has made the cars infotainment much better!