Time to bring myself and my project to the attention of the renault community. So here I come, out of the blue.
To cut a long story short I’ve had the pleasure of owning a twingo RS for around 2 years now, much to my upset she blew the hardpipe on the back of the water pump and has sat dormant on my driveway for the last year because of other commitments.
It came to my attention at the time that a general overhaul of the engine was needed.
This was going to cost ££££.
Decisions decisions..
130Bhp simply isn’t enough for these little hot hatches. Very much agreed up in the twingo community. To up the power on these is again ££££ for such little gain.
So what other options do we have guys. Put quite simply. ENGINE SWAP…
I wanted turbo over NA and after much patience the right deal popped up. To source a meg engine and all the other bits and bobs would have been ££££ so really i needed an entire car.
Along comes this sorry looking Meg 225. Sat up just watching the days pass. (STARTS AND DRIVES)
I just had to have it so we made a deal.
So here goes!! The start of my Twingo RS Meg 225 swap.
I haven’t as of yet come up with a name for this beast that is about to be. Suggestions welcome.
A little about me, 26 years young and well. Crazy about cars!
I come from an automotive background having grown up around cars and then progressing on to college and apprenticeships to become qualified. And have been for the last 9 years so I figure why not put my skills to use and take a dive at this project.
But none the less a massive learning curve about to come my way im sure.
So welcome to my build thread guys. I will try to stay as active on here throughout.
Done across a couple of days after work this week, one meg engine and gearbox removed!
The overall condition of the lump isn’t to bad, no major upsets. In the coming days I’ll be stripping the engine down and hopefully the internals look okay too!
I’ve heard these suffer from the ringlands so will pay extra attention here but so far so good.
Will be looking to list the twingo engine and gearbox for spares and repairs, also have a spare k4m engine because im greedy and got it for peanuts
Having stripped all the required parts needed for the swap (plus a few other bits to sell) the megane is now ready to go go go to the scrapyard Thankyou for your participation in your destruction. Its been fun!!
A nice little pile of parts on the shelf
Next up, teardown of the engine ready for rebuild. The twingo can then be picked up ready to come down the garage to start the swap!
Progress so far is good!!
I’ve left the front hubs on the megane as I dont believe its worthwhile swapping these, am I wrong?
Im in two minds currently.. it would make sense to run a stand alone system with this build purely for future proofing when mods happen.
Initially though I see no reason why the original meg loom and ecu cant be coded to the twingo bsi etc.. something I need to clarify with a tuning company as this is a little out of my depth. Id be able to build the loom myself but I don’t have access to clip or anything to code modules etc..
Having made some progress on stripping down the meg engine im pretty pleased with the condition of the exterior. Nothing out of the ordinary.
However rarely the turbo is telling a different story is there play in the turbine shaft. Yes. Yes there is
Having had a quick look online a cartridge replacement for this is a little over £100..
Hmm…
Bigger turbo instead?
Whats my options guys..
If this is the case, the hassle to remove the loom from the meg and modify all to fit the twingo is not a hassle I would like therefore stand alone seems like the sensible solution here.
Progress progress progress! Having finally stripped enough to get a good eye over on the block and internals im one happy chappy! Timing belt in good nick (will be replaced regardless)
Cylinder bores and pistons looking gooddd!!
Ive got some enamel paint and a few other various bits and bobs being delivered tomorrow. Ive decided to paint the block in a nardo grey type colour to keep things neutral! A black engine crammed inside of a twingo bay isn’t going to be very good for me should I need to find any leaks
As my mentors in the trade taught me
“Up there for thinking and down there for dancing”
That would be very much appreciated, any help is help! As im sure this is going to throw some curveballs somewhere. Did you use the 6 speed box from the meg?
I tried and fitted the ndo yeah, you’ll need a quicksilver for it as it won’t clear the gearbox mount though, and you have to cut the chassis. Even then it’s a hell of a tight fit
Hiya, forgive me if im having a simple moment here but quicksilver?
I was aware that some modification may have been needed to the chassis but in all honesty I’ve been a little blasé to it thus far and just seen it as another hurdle to overcome.
Am I starting to bite off more than I can chew here?
I have my reasons for wanting the NDO box retained, mostly for the cost side as swapping to a clio box means swapping sumps and all sorts.
The idea of getting the donor car was so that I didn’t have to collect various components.
Ive seen it done on a few twingos
Namely the green one on YouTube. But can’t find any decent info on how it was actually achieved.
I was hoping in doing this build and using the NDO box that I could well document it so others can feel brave enough to undertake this project to!! So many options
)
- Twingo RS 225
Thankyou for your participation in your destruction. Its been fun!!
is there play in the turbine shaft. Yes. Yes there is 
therefore stand alone seems like the sensible solution here.
