My First Renault - Clio 197 Weekend/Track Toy Project
- Thread starter bigsid
- Start date
bigsid
Paid Member
I need to get the car back on the road, albeit temporarily but before I can do that I need my tyres fitted. Hopefully I'll get that done during the week. This will give me the chance to test whether or not I remembered to properly tighten up all the nuts and bolts on the brakes! Assuming I survive that, it will also let me see if my repairs on the front suspension stopped the clonking noise and also give me a chance to warm the engine up so I can more easily drain the fluids ahead of the next big job - timing belt, aux belt and water pump.
So today I have mostly been cracking on with the bodywork. I've run out of paint though, so have had to order some more Glacier White from paints4u.com.
Front bumper got a few rough coats of primer just so I could spot any other stone chips and damage. I then filled just these few areas.
Lots more rounds of sanding, filling, priming, more sanding, more filling and so on and I was ready to put down a bit of the top coat.
This was after about 2/3 light coats. I'm pretty pleased with the result. I gave it a quick once over with some 3000 grit wet sandpaper and dried it off. It's still a bit patchy in places, but by this point I'd run out of white paint, so I've ordered another couple of cans. I think another couple of coats and then then some clear lacquer and this will look fairly decent for a DIY rattle-can job.
The drivers side front wing has been a bit more difficult because I'm trying to blend into the existing paintwork rather than paint an entire panel. In hindsight, I probably should have taken the wing off completely and painted the whole thing. I still might if the finish looks crap.
Rear bumper filling is done and the first coat of primer went on. Again, like the wing it's a bit trickier because I'm trying to blend into existing paintwork. Again, if this doesn't work out, I may remove the rear bumped and paint the entire thing.
Few more coats of primer. This will be ready for some top coat once the new cans arrive.
I also found another dodgy area of bodywork today. A small area just below the rear wiper on the boot lid had obviously rusted and been very roughly filled in with what looked like Tipex lol. I sanded this out, put a small amount of filler in, and repainted the area. Forgot to wipe it down with acetone first though and there were obviously a few grease spots.
This isn't a big deal. I've gone over it with some fine wet and dry paper and will need to apply some more coats. I've also taken the opportunity since I ran out of paint to remask the areas I'm painting so I have a larger surface in which to try and "blend" in the new paint with the old. Not sure how that'll go... I'll probably end up getting the entire car resprayed at this rate
So today I have mostly been cracking on with the bodywork. I've run out of paint though, so have had to order some more Glacier White from paints4u.com.
Front bumper got a few rough coats of primer just so I could spot any other stone chips and damage. I then filled just these few areas.
Lots more rounds of sanding, filling, priming, more sanding, more filling and so on and I was ready to put down a bit of the top coat.
This was after about 2/3 light coats. I'm pretty pleased with the result. I gave it a quick once over with some 3000 grit wet sandpaper and dried it off. It's still a bit patchy in places, but by this point I'd run out of white paint, so I've ordered another couple of cans. I think another couple of coats and then then some clear lacquer and this will look fairly decent for a DIY rattle-can job.
The drivers side front wing has been a bit more difficult because I'm trying to blend into the existing paintwork rather than paint an entire panel. In hindsight, I probably should have taken the wing off completely and painted the whole thing. I still might if the finish looks crap.
Rear bumper filling is done and the first coat of primer went on. Again, like the wing it's a bit trickier because I'm trying to blend into existing paintwork. Again, if this doesn't work out, I may remove the rear bumped and paint the entire thing.
Few more coats of primer. This will be ready for some top coat once the new cans arrive.
I also found another dodgy area of bodywork today. A small area just below the rear wiper on the boot lid had obviously rusted and been very roughly filled in with what looked like Tipex lol. I sanded this out, put a small amount of filler in, and repainted the area. Forgot to wipe it down with acetone first though and there were obviously a few grease spots.
This isn't a big deal. I've gone over it with some fine wet and dry paper and will need to apply some more coats. I've also taken the opportunity since I ran out of paint to remask the areas I'm painting so I have a larger surface in which to try and "blend" in the new paint with the old. Not sure how that'll go... I'll probably end up getting the entire car resprayed at this rate
bigsid
Paid Member
Quick update. Got my tyres fitted today and I knew I’d picked the right garage when I found this outside...
I think the wheels look great now they have the tyres on...
Got them fitted so I could move the car out of the garage but the battery was dead again. So borrowed some juice from the daily...
Will take some proper photos with it’s new shoes on in the daylight. Battery is on trickle charge for now. Got a slight concern that the alternator might be duff, but I will check that later.
I think the wheels look great now they have the tyres on...
Got them fitted so I could move the car out of the garage but the battery was dead again. So borrowed some juice from the daily...
Will take some proper photos with it’s new shoes on in the daylight. Battery is on trickle charge for now. Got a slight concern that the alternator might be duff, but I will check that later.
bigsid
Paid Member
I have spent literally hours of my life looking at stud conversion kits that I will never get back. I put the new wheels on once with the bolts and thought "there must be a better way". None of the kits I can find online are quite what I need as the Pro Race wheels don't have any space for the hip/shoulder/lumpy bit on the stud which separates the thread. Had an email conversation with Stuart at Watfield Precision Engineering this evening and he's sorting me out with a set of studs; 10 x 68mm for the rear and 10 x 75mm for the front. I've got to figure out the hip/shoulder/lumpy bit on my own though, they didn't fancy machining it off for me, and I didn't fancy paying the quoted £125 + 10 days lead time. I'm sure it'll be fine, even if I have to find some 3mm spacer shims somewhere or countersink the back of my wheels.
In other news, I spent a bit of time tonight testing my battery. Left it on trickle charge all last night, fitted it back into the car this evening and did a few tests.
Battery voltage was about 12.3v, which is a little bit low, expected about 12.6v.
Voltage while cranking the engine dropped to 10.5v which is about borderline.
While running the voltage was at about 14.3v and didn't increase with revs.
From this I can tell that my alternator is working at least, but there is the possibility that the battery is on it's last legs. I can get a new one for about £55 (Yuasa YBX3075), or I can get a Varley Red Top 15 for about £120. The difference is around 15Kg/£65 which is significant in both directions. I may hold off on the "racing battery" for a while as I'd rather relocate it to the boot at the same time if I get one.
Tonight has been more spray painting. Damn this Coronavirus; it's impossible to get masks anywhere and I am not sure how much more paint vapour I can breathe in. Still, it's not looking too bad. Drivers side wing...
Boot lid...
Front Bumper...
Tomorrow night it'll be time for clear coat and praying. I have a bunch of etch primer which I bought for the original wheels, but it's also good for plastic, and now I'm considering painting the grill inserts for the front bumper in satin black because they're a bit crappy looking. However, I did manage to fix them up a bit with the old heat-gun trick. This is the first time I've done it, and I'm surprised just how well it works. Before is on the left, after on the right.
I did a test patch on the back of the grills with etch primer and Halfords Satin Black and it looked really good. I'm tempted now to paint all the grills and at some point I plan to do the wing mirrors, only I'll do them in white to match the bodywork.
I finally got a decent angle for a shot of one of the new wheels and three things spring to mind...
In other news, I spent a bit of time tonight testing my battery. Left it on trickle charge all last night, fitted it back into the car this evening and did a few tests.
Battery voltage was about 12.3v, which is a little bit low, expected about 12.6v.
Voltage while cranking the engine dropped to 10.5v which is about borderline.
While running the voltage was at about 14.3v and didn't increase with revs.
From this I can tell that my alternator is working at least, but there is the possibility that the battery is on it's last legs. I can get a new one for about £55 (Yuasa YBX3075), or I can get a Varley Red Top 15 for about £120. The difference is around 15Kg/£65 which is significant in both directions. I may hold off on the "racing battery" for a while as I'd rather relocate it to the boot at the same time if I get one.
Tonight has been more spray painting. Damn this Coronavirus; it's impossible to get masks anywhere and I am not sure how much more paint vapour I can breathe in. Still, it's not looking too bad. Drivers side wing...
Boot lid...
Front Bumper...
Tomorrow night it'll be time for clear coat and praying. I have a bunch of etch primer which I bought for the original wheels, but it's also good for plastic, and now I'm considering painting the grill inserts for the front bumper in satin black because they're a bit crappy looking. However, I did manage to fix them up a bit with the old heat-gun trick. This is the first time I've done it, and I'm surprised just how well it works. Before is on the left, after on the right.
I did a test patch on the back of the grills with etch primer and Halfords Satin Black and it looked really good. I'm tempted now to paint all the grills and at some point I plan to do the wing mirrors, only I'll do them in white to match the bodywork.
I finally got a decent angle for a shot of one of the new wheels and three things spring to mind...
- They look awesome, in my opinion
- I don't have any centre caps
- I'm a bit concerned that they might rub the arches
bedoef
Platinum Member
We've got a guy running B14s and TD 1.2's out here, with 225 tires. So far no rubbing, so maybe you'll get lucky as well!
My 2c: add the French tricolor in one of the nostril grills, I think painting some of the lateral sections Red, White, and Blue looks amazing on these cars!
My 2c: add the French tricolor in one of the nostril grills, I think painting some of the lateral sections Red, White, and Blue looks amazing on these cars!
You have cheaper options than Varley
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I countersunk the back of my team dynamics wheels as I had a similar issue with the shoulder on the studs. Worked a treat. Countersink was less than £10.I have spent literally hours of my life looking at stud conversion kits that I will never get back. I put the new wheels on once with the bolts and thought "there must be a better way". None of the kits I can find online are quite what I need as the Pro Race wheels don't have any space for the hip/shoulder/lumpy bit on the stud which separates the thread. Had an email conversation with Stuart at Watfield Precision Engineering this evening and he's sorting me out with a set of studs; 10 x 68mm for the rear and 10 x 75mm for the front. I've got to figure out the hip/shoulder/lumpy bit on my own though, they didn't fancy machining it off for me, and I didn't fancy paying the quoted £125 + 10 days lead time. I'm sure it'll be fine, even if I have to find some 3mm spacer shims somewhere or countersink the back of my wheels.
In other news, I spent a bit of time tonight testing my battery. Left it on trickle charge all last night, fitted it back into the car this evening and did a few tests.
Battery voltage was about 12.3v, which is a little bit low, expected about 12.6v.
Voltage while cranking the engine dropped to 10.5v which is about borderline.
While running the voltage was at about 14.3v and didn't increase with revs.
From this I can tell that my alternator is working at least, but there is the possibility that the battery is on it's last legs. I can get a new one for about £55 (Yuasa YBX3075), or I can get a Varley Red Top 15 for about £120. The difference is around 15Kg/£65 which is significant in both directions. I may hold off on the "racing battery" for a while as I'd rather relocate it to the boot at the same time if I get one.
Tonight has been more spray painting. Damn this Coronavirus; it's impossible to get masks anywhere and I am not sure how much more paint vapour I can breathe in. Still, it's not looking too bad. Drivers side wing...
Boot lid...
Front Bumper...
Tomorrow night it'll be time for clear coat and praying. I have a bunch of etch primer which I bought for the original wheels, but it's also good for plastic, and now I'm considering painting the grill inserts for the front bumper in satin black because they're a bit crappy looking. However, I did manage to fix them up a bit with the old heat-gun trick. This is the first time I've done it, and I'm surprised just how well it works. Before is on the left, after on the right.
I did a test patch on the back of the grills with etch primer and Halfords Satin Black and it looked really good. I'm tempted now to paint all the grills and at some point I plan to do the wing mirrors, only I'll do them in white to match the bodywork.
I finally got a decent angle for a shot of one of the new wheels and three things spring to mind...
- They look awesome, in my opinion
- I don't have any centre caps
- I'm a bit concerned that they might rub the arches
From memory it’s only the rears that need them?
bigsid
Paid Member
If you'd like a few masks chucked in the post let me know mate, I've got access to quite a few
For the paint fumes you mean? LOL thanks, but I've got a beard, so i can't get masks to seal anyway. I've just got really good at holding my breath for 5 minutes at a time
bigsid
Paid Member
I finished all the painting last night, getting the last of the clear coat down so I could give it about 24hrs to harden before I began the cutting/polishing bit. Tonights adventure started off like this...
Sandpaper grades in order left to right. 600 grit to start then working my way up through 1000, 2000, 3000 and finally 5000 before applying rubbing compound with a foam pad attachment I got for my random orbit sander. Obligatory soapy water squirty bottle on the far left and a sponge. The razor blade is for when the whole process gets too much and I feel the need to end it all... and scraping drips and over-spray.
There's only so many pictures of white paintwork you can show on the internet before it starts to all look a bit the same, but regardless here are some of the results.
I put her face back on, just because the front bumper wobbles all over the place when sanding it. Maybe it'll be easier to do supported by the car.
Yes, I know the bonnet gap is like the Grand Canyon... some adjustment is required. This is only semi-fitted anyway. It needs to come back off to have the Renault badge put on and the "mouth" grill which is being painted. Getting these panels to blend is going to be a bit of a process. It's very difficult to spray an 11 year old car with rattle-cans and expect to invisibly blend everything in. To be fair, given the age of the car and the fact I'm not a professional body shop, the results aren't too bad. There needs to be more finishing done, especially on the front bumper, but this is good enough and is better than it was.
I'm actually quite pleased with how the "nostrils" turned out after giving them a blast of etch primer and satin black.
Sandpaper grades in order left to right. 600 grit to start then working my way up through 1000, 2000, 3000 and finally 5000 before applying rubbing compound with a foam pad attachment I got for my random orbit sander. Obligatory soapy water squirty bottle on the far left and a sponge. The razor blade is for when the whole process gets too much and I feel the need to end it all... and scraping drips and over-spray.
There's only so many pictures of white paintwork you can show on the internet before it starts to all look a bit the same, but regardless here are some of the results.
I put her face back on, just because the front bumper wobbles all over the place when sanding it. Maybe it'll be easier to do supported by the car.
Yes, I know the bonnet gap is like the Grand Canyon... some adjustment is required. This is only semi-fitted anyway. It needs to come back off to have the Renault badge put on and the "mouth" grill which is being painted. Getting these panels to blend is going to be a bit of a process. It's very difficult to spray an 11 year old car with rattle-cans and expect to invisibly blend everything in. To be fair, given the age of the car and the fact I'm not a professional body shop, the results aren't too bad. There needs to be more finishing done, especially on the front bumper, but this is good enough and is better than it was.
I'm actually quite pleased with how the "nostrils" turned out after giving them a blast of etch primer and satin black.
Frank Perry
Platinum Member
bigsid
Paid Member
I'll got back to finishing off the bodywork stuff in a couple of weeks. Just need to finish the front bumper and make it shiny, at the moment it's very matt. I put the car back together on Thursday night and took it for a quick spin. The brakes felt terrible. Lots of pedal travel and very spongey. Friday night I pressure bled the brakes again and after doing it was getting "BRAKING FAILURE" and STOP messages on the dash along with a lot of annoying beeps. Took the car out for a very slow and careful drive around the block, but the brakes actually seemed way better than before.
Double checked everything again this morning and found the fluid reservoir was a bit low (it wasn't before, I think there was an air bubble in there somewhere), topped it up a tiny bit and that stopped the warning messages. I'd also fitted a stud conversion kit the night before, so I re-torqued the wheel nuts and went out for a longer drive this morning.
The original problem I'd had was a suspension clonk which led me down a rabbit hole of rebuilding the front suspension and brakes and doing lots of other stuff. This morning was the first proper drive since the front suspension refresh and holy crap, it felt really good. Really tight, no creaking or clonking. Car feels really planted and the new wheels and tyres have really improved things too. Road noise from the Federal 595-RS PROs is bad, but it's definitely got that raw "track car" feel which I like.
One slight issue I noticed is that the steering wheel is ever so slightly turned to the left when going straight and the car is pulling a little bit to the left. Think I will need to adjust tracking after having the front suspension in pieces, but it wasn't a big deal and I still had a really fun drive
When I got home the serious work began. With the car warmed up, I dropped the engine oil, gearbox oil and coolant and then started on the replacement of the aux belt, timing belt and water pump. I didn't take too many photos today as I spent most of the day covered in oil and didn't want to wreck my phone, but I have a few.
New parts.
Suspicious crank pulley bolt and washer. I need to speak to RenaultPartsDirect about this. The original one is on the right, the one they sent me on the left. Clearly something isn't quite right here...
Original bits removed for belt changes. Top tip, always keep your work space clean and organised so you don't spend an hour looking for "that washer" which you had "just a minute ago". I have learned this the hard way.
Got the Genuine Renault Timing Tool kit. This cam locking tool in the service manual shows it bolted into the cylinder head like in this picture, but you have to find your own bolt, they don't supply one. Cheapskates!
Inlet and exhaust timing sprockets locked in place. The black bolts which lock the sprockets with smaller sprockets on the tool need to be torqued up to 80Nm. I'd suggest going a bit higher in reality. Maybe 100Nm as the camshaft sprocket bolt and nut can be VERY tight.
No factory timing marks that I could see, but some helpful chap has left some red paint splodges from a previous belt change by the look of it.
Old water pump off. Looks in pretty good condition.
I'm about halfway through this job and I ran out of time. Hopefully I'll make some more progress tomorrow.
I also think I found the source of my minor oil leak; looks like the drivers side rear of the sump, so once this is done and before I refill the engine oil, I will probably remove and reseal the sump with high temp red RTV sealant.
Double checked everything again this morning and found the fluid reservoir was a bit low (it wasn't before, I think there was an air bubble in there somewhere), topped it up a tiny bit and that stopped the warning messages. I'd also fitted a stud conversion kit the night before, so I re-torqued the wheel nuts and went out for a longer drive this morning.
The original problem I'd had was a suspension clonk which led me down a rabbit hole of rebuilding the front suspension and brakes and doing lots of other stuff. This morning was the first proper drive since the front suspension refresh and holy crap, it felt really good. Really tight, no creaking or clonking. Car feels really planted and the new wheels and tyres have really improved things too. Road noise from the Federal 595-RS PROs is bad, but it's definitely got that raw "track car" feel which I like.
One slight issue I noticed is that the steering wheel is ever so slightly turned to the left when going straight and the car is pulling a little bit to the left. Think I will need to adjust tracking after having the front suspension in pieces, but it wasn't a big deal and I still had a really fun drive
When I got home the serious work began. With the car warmed up, I dropped the engine oil, gearbox oil and coolant and then started on the replacement of the aux belt, timing belt and water pump. I didn't take too many photos today as I spent most of the day covered in oil and didn't want to wreck my phone, but I have a few.
New parts.
Suspicious crank pulley bolt and washer. I need to speak to RenaultPartsDirect about this. The original one is on the right, the one they sent me on the left. Clearly something isn't quite right here...
Original bits removed for belt changes. Top tip, always keep your work space clean and organised so you don't spend an hour looking for "that washer" which you had "just a minute ago". I have learned this the hard way.
Got the Genuine Renault Timing Tool kit. This cam locking tool in the service manual shows it bolted into the cylinder head like in this picture, but you have to find your own bolt, they don't supply one. Cheapskates!
Inlet and exhaust timing sprockets locked in place. The black bolts which lock the sprockets with smaller sprockets on the tool need to be torqued up to 80Nm. I'd suggest going a bit higher in reality. Maybe 100Nm as the camshaft sprocket bolt and nut can be VERY tight.
No factory timing marks that I could see, but some helpful chap has left some red paint splodges from a previous belt change by the look of it.
Old water pump off. Looks in pretty good condition.
I'm about halfway through this job and I ran out of time. Hopefully I'll make some more progress tomorrow.
I also think I found the source of my minor oil leak; looks like the drivers side rear of the sump, so once this is done and before I refill the engine oil, I will probably remove and reseal the sump with high temp red RTV sealant.
bedoef
Platinum Member
suj
Paid Member
Just get these vinyls, for the sake of 5quid, if you don't like it, take them off.
Renault Clio Mk3 RS Sport 197 French Flag Grille Stickers Vinyl 2.0 Renaultsport | eBay
Renault Clio Sport Mk3 197 French Flag Grille Vinyl Stickers. Peel off, stick down and wrap the excess edges underneath. Long lasting, top quality gloss vinyl pre-cut to size and shape.
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bigsid
Paid Member
bigsid
Paid Member
Well, I managed to completely mess up the timing belt change at the weekend. Got distracted by someone at the door and forgot to tighten the inlet cam pulley before I removed the locking tool and starting hand cranking the engine. Anyway, with some help from @Foxspeed and @RSRowe I think I managed to rectify it I think. Time will tell. Everything looks OK, but I'm still concerned the timing might be a bit off. The engine cranks by hand, so I shouldn't have any kind of head exploding issues, but it may run a bit rough.. we'll see.
I had another issue in RPD sent me completely the wrong crank accessory pulley bolt, so I couldn't put the accessory belt back on, fair play to them, they sorted the issue and sent me the right part which arrived today. So, while everything was disassembled, I did a few other jobs; removed, cleaned and re-sealed the sump which was leaking a bit. I reused the original rubber gasket but added some red RTV to the outer lip of the sump to hopefully fix the leak. I also fitted a Powerflex gearbox mount. I'm waiting for a replacement reverse light switch which I want to fit before I start putting everything back together.
Could eat your dinner off this!
New schmoo...
Getting the mount out to fit the PowerFlex was a pain in the ass. I ended up putting a jack under the gearbox but leaving a gap of about 10mm. I put a nyloc nut and a dome nut onto the end of the mounting thread and then smacked the crap out of it with a hammer. About 5 good whacks and it suddenly dropped and I could remove the mount. Fitting was easy, bolted everything back in 62Nm for all these bolts/nuts.
I had another issue in RPD sent me completely the wrong crank accessory pulley bolt, so I couldn't put the accessory belt back on, fair play to them, they sorted the issue and sent me the right part which arrived today. So, while everything was disassembled, I did a few other jobs; removed, cleaned and re-sealed the sump which was leaking a bit. I reused the original rubber gasket but added some red RTV to the outer lip of the sump to hopefully fix the leak. I also fitted a Powerflex gearbox mount. I'm waiting for a replacement reverse light switch which I want to fit before I start putting everything back together.
Could eat your dinner off this!
New schmoo...
Getting the mount out to fit the PowerFlex was a pain in the ass. I ended up putting a jack under the gearbox but leaving a gap of about 10mm. I put a nyloc nut and a dome nut onto the end of the mounting thread and then smacked the crap out of it with a hammer. About 5 good whacks and it suddenly dropped and I could remove the mount. Fitting was easy, bolted everything back in 62Nm for all these bolts/nuts.
