MK1 clio + ABS + MK2 gearbox mount =

[Guest]

UPDATE: 3rd August 2009 - PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE THREAD INCLUDING COMMENTS BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO MODIFY THE MK2 GEARBOX MOUNT TO FIT WITH ABS. IT WILL CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR GEARBOX. SEE COMMENTS TO FIND OUT MORE.

Evening all

As you may or may not be aware, i'm running a slightly adventurous setup on my valver. I'm running a JC5 laguna gearbox at the moment, never heard anyone else try one so i thought i'd give it a bash.

As it's out of a later year car than a valver (probably '98 or above), the gearboxes are very slightly different. They share one thing in common with MK2 clio boxes, and thats the top mount bolt hole spacing, as i have discovered today.

This means, you can run any gearbox (providing it fits) from a MK2 Clio, or from any other Renault that shares the same bolt hole spacing as a MK2 Clio gearbox (Laguna, not sure of any others?).

If you have a valver without ABS, the mount is a direct replacement for your existing gearbox mount and battery tray. Below is a pic of a MK2 gearbox mount and tray, which i picked up from a scrappy for £20



Bottom part of the mount:



Couple of quick snaps before i started fitting it:







If, however, you do have ABS in your valver, then it's a little bit more complicated. Basically, the mount just does not fit, as it fouls on the ABS system in several places, see below

Battery tray fouling on the ABS unit:









Also, the bottom part of the mount fouls on the ABS unit, meaning the bolt holes do not line up and you can't get the bolts in:





So, i sat down and had a little think about how it would work. After all, the whole reason i wanted a top mount was because i've been running with just a Renault 19 bottom mount and a standard dogbone mount for a few months. The engine wasn't sitting on the right place and kept knocking if you violently jabbed the throttle. Not ideal.

Anyway, i came up with a plan and decided i was going to have to chop the mount. The result:

Before -



After -



And the same goes for the Battery tray.

Before -



After -







Trial fitted the battery:



I was then able to get the bottom part of the mount to bolt on successfully.







Next was the battery tray:



Again, this fit with relative ease and no longer fouled on the ABS unit.

After trying to fit the battery tray i encountered a few issues. Basically i couldn't get the top bolt hole to line up whilst all the others were loosely bolted in. Whether or not the bolt spacing is slightly different for a MK2 battery tray, i'm not so sure, or maybe i just wasn't lucky. In the end i just gave up and left the top bolt out. I also had to leave one of the bottom bolts out as it would just not go in.

I've only got two bolts holding the battery tray in, not sure whether this will be strong enough, only time will tell.

Anyway, i got the battery back into place. The MK2 mount uses the same clamp system, i used the MK1 clamp here.



Managed to get it all back together -







So there you go, you can modify the mount to fit if you have the rather annoying ABS unit in your valver! Again, i'm not sure how strong it will be seeing as though i've chopped one of the supports for the box and only have a couple of bolts holding the tray on. Combined with the R19 front mount, hopefully this will be sufficient.

I've road tested it tonight and the engine feels MUCH tighter, gear changes are definately smoother (If they weren't already smooth enough with my mint laguna box!)

Tried jabbing the throttle and it didn't rip the tray off, nor did it knock, so it seems to be a success.

Next job on the list is to lower the back end, thats tomorrows job!

I hope this guide helps anyone out there who is wondering about running a 172 box in a valver, for example, or in my case, a laguna box.

Thanks for reading

 

[Alta Vista [Bot]]

i would have binned the abs

but good job...

 

[Guest]

Wish i had now to be honest, although it's quite funny now i've got it working

It cuts in at some really random times, but it makes me laugh so its alright, lol.

Was braking UPhill once, and it decided to cut in, i was like... WTF?!!

Oh well

 

[Guest]

fuckin hell glad i dont have ABS :shock: never had any trouble fitting my mk2 mount

 

[Guest]

my abs always cuts in at the very last minute! but having driven asfb's valver, i know what the 'normal' abs is like :shock:


good guide, though I don't think i'll follow suit as I'm far too paranoid of the bolts coming out of the box (did you torque them up properly? )

 

[Guest]

I've never had an issue with the bolts coming out of any of the boxes i've run. None of the bolts on my valver are torqued up, i just do everything up fairly tight. Hasn't been a problem so far.

Hopefully, combined with the R19 mount, and i'll soon add one of Coops solid dogbone mounts, it should be fine, providing the battery tray holds.

 

[Guest]

if you spin out, it tends to put a lot of stress on the gearbox mount... I remember Jay_s snapped his in half at FCS after spinning out and when I spun out the bolts ripped straight out of the box :shock: meaning new box time

just a word of caution

 

[Guest]

Hmm guess i should try and get some more bolts in the battery tray to secure it.

I gave it some pretty heavy abuse today though and it seemed ok.

I'll try my best not to spin out at FCS, lol.

 

[Guest]

Very interesting guide here!! How are you finding the Laguna box?? Whats the Gearing like?

 

[Guest]

Right,

Ignore the above guide, whilst changing my alternator the other day i've discovered the part of the mount of modified (that bolts to the box) has snapped

Therefore there just isn't enough strength in it if you chop off the bolt hole that should go under the ABS unit.

I'm going to have to look at getting the ABS unit moved in order to fit this gearbox mount properly - aargh!

Aside from that, the gearing on the laguna box is brill!

Quick acceleration and lonnnggg 5th gear.

 

[Guest]

look into the R5 rear mount mate you my be able to get the pas pipes around it easliy, i reckon its do able

 

[Guest]

can some 1 tell me why u use a mk2 battery tray as i crt see the diff :? i know
u need the 1 on the box because the spacein holes on top of box emmmm
like usen mk2 top gearbox,,n mk1 battery tray??or are the differnt??

 

[Guest]

How the two mate up is slightly different, and the rubber part is slightly smaller on the MK2 mount as is the hole on the battery tray.

 

[Guest]

I run similar setup.. JC5 laguna diesel box with Clio Mk2 gearbox mount and MK1 battery tray, 4th mount and coops solid. Works great havent had any problems yet

 

[Guest]

Just reflecting on this...

I had another pop at this with another mount and you CAN get it to fit IF you unbolt the ABS pump and literally shove it out the way. The brake lines will bend no end so you can just ram it towards the bulkhead. If you used some strong cable ties to hold it back somehow it'd be fine and the mount would fit no problem.

Unfortunately because of the strain put on the two bolts, it's ruined one of the threads on top of the gearbox and therefore i can't run a top mount anymore, so i've binned it completely and started using a R5 GTT mount which is a far superior mount anyway.

So, i WOULD NOT recommend following the above guide and chopping a 'leg' off the mount, it will not work and will damage your gearbox.

 

[Guest]

Was just about to ad its rather pikey even by my standards

Maybe delete the thread?

 

[Guest]

I'll note the top of the thread.

Worth keeping to deter people from trying it lol

 

[Guest]

so whats the benefits of running a luguna box on a f7p ????

is the only diffrence the top hole positions ??


cheers
luke

 

[Guest]

It's a JC5, it's cheap, long gear ratio's for cruising (if you're into that), and mine was quite low mileage so feels tight as fuck.

 

[Guest]

so can you run a mk2 clio top mount and bat tray on a normal valver gear box??? is there any benefits of running the mk2 mount and tray ??? is it a better top mount? or would it just be a pointless mod changing it to the mk2 stuff???


cheers
luke