my 21 restoration project

[aajbarker]

Firstly i bought this car off a friend of mine in 2007 who was a mechanic by trade and a 21toc member. I had my first 5 at the time and loved his car to pieces so when he put it up for sale at the handsome price off 2k i snapped it straight up. I didnt really do anything to her as it was in such lovely condition (all but interior fan being wired up on a switch) for the 2 years i owned her. I spent money ect and had things done which needed doing but it was such a reliable motor it only ever needed tyres, brakes ect..

After that i moved on to expensive cars :upset: and sold the 21 to a good friend of mine who lives close to my mums. I saw the car on a regular basis and still loved it but it was going down hill condition wise very fast. After doing a little restoration job on a naples red clio 16v he offered me a swap and i jumped at the chance to have her back!! :excitement:
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Fortunately this is what she looked like after 6 hours washing, clay barring, polishing and waxing!!!
So i was glad first thing was to make sure it still looked good, BUT there were some obvious problems!!! Oil in the coolant (not the other way round) she was getting hot under boost, abs not working (pedal hard) knocking suspension and one hell of a messy engine bay.

 

[DaveL485]

Former member....hmmmm was that Rob [someone]? Car looks familiar.

This guy- http://21toc.com/showthread.php?3255-poxy-scorpion&highlight=robreg5

 

[aajbarker]

I parked the old girl up and got her on some axle stands, pulled the front apart and started on the engine side of things.
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Sub frame bushes, arb bushes, drive shaft gators all ok. Nearside front caliper buggered, front disks buggered, corroded fuel lines under inlet manifold, muck and crud everywhere. Coolant system blocked on the return pipe, rad corroded, fans not working, top intercooler had a nice hole in it and found turbo to be causing the oil & water mixing problem! (weird in know but have had that problem before funnily enough on one of my fiesta rs's)
Thats all i can remember for the moment. lots more to come yet lol just no time to sit at the computer:nonchalance:

 

[aajbarker]

yep thats the one! robbie regan still lives in basildon but into his fast fords now

 

[joff]

Mmm white ph1 with tinted windows. Nice

 

[DaveL485]

yep thats the one! robbie regan still lives in basildon but into his fast fords now

He had a mate with a black Ph2 9Turbo too, did you know him? And is the 9 still around?

 

[aajbarker]

He had a mate with a black Ph2 9Turbo too, did you know him? And is the 9 still around?

Yep that was Alex johnstone who has had every Renault under the sun. Was broke down as it was a rotter. And his friend mark had a silver phase 1 r9 too

 

[jonboy21t]

phase 1 in white......pimp......the best colour in the best phase......anyone fancy a swop for a quick phase 3 in black...:boxing:

 

[dansam]

Really nice looking car that mate. good luck with the resto :eagerness: loose those windows tho!

 

[aajbarker]

Right, engine side of things mostly done. Replaced dizzy and rotor, new iridium spark plugs and cleaned up the magnecore's. New water pump, cambelt and tensioner, both aux belts. Fitted missing bolts in both engine mounts :encouragement: fitted turbo tecnicks recon turbo with 360 bearings, polished rocker and plenum. Gear oil, oil and filter and flushed the coolant system. Oh and replaced the dodgy fuel lines!!

At the time i was having my alloy radiator hand made by MJ Fabrications in maldon essex so i got on with the other stuff ready for the new rad.
Fitted a genuine coolant bottle, redox coolant silicone hose set (french ebay) and a k-tec low temp thermostat (r5 turbo 82degree)

I had to rip out all the burnt out wiring for the rad along with the relays ect as was all mega melted!!! Simplified the exsisting wiring for just a fan switch in car.

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Im so happy with the rad!!! Built to mimic size of the original but with a 50mm core and all out of top grade alloy. The workmanship is spot on. I gave him two 12v 10" slimline fans (again ebay) and he welded in proper brackets with m6 threads on them.

I then got the rad in and all plumbed up and gave everything a dam good clean up, bled the system and run her up!!! All is good:glee:

Forgot to say he also welded the little split in the pace intercooler and pressure tested both of them for free!! When i say free i mean the rad cost ?400 lol But i was happy with the little extra jobs.

 

[aajbarker]

When i next had some time i managed to do a few little jobs like sort out all the coolant leaks lol

Stitched up the drivers seat then boot polished all the leather and then fed it with auto glym's best gear. It was all looking pretty tired but its looking lovely and fresh now. All the tints were removed with the aid of some good old picking and hours of rags and tinners (what a f*****G job)

Pulled the dash apart to have a look at the heater motor and the wiring. Seems to be the wiring that was the problem so thats had to stay on the switch as someones completely hacked at it:disturbed: I did get a another fan motor as i thought that had packed up (Thanks to Lewis for that)

I still had a bit of time on my hands so i pulled the buggered caliper off the front (Many thanks to Ollie for most of my parts so far) and pulled off all the front suspension. I couldn't believe the state of the suspension :miserable: It looked like it was pulled from the north sea!!!! Not only were the top mounts buggered (there's my knocking prob) but they were rotten from top to bottom.

 

[aajbarker]

Just for you DaveL485

He had a mate with a black Ph2 9Turbo too, did you know him? And is the 9 still around?

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[aajbarker]

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Funnily enough he uploaded these to facebook today lol

 

[jonboy21t]

Looking really good......removing tints is a major pain in the arse....i used MEK to remove the adhesive on mine.....
One word of warning....watch out for the Stat hose, i also bought those hoses from France & the stat nipple dribbled a tad & then the pipe expanded and the nipple was on the verge of blowing off....i removed mine & replaced with a standard one.......
Keep an eye on it....

 

[aajbarker]

Thanx and cheers for the heads up! I will have to keep an eye on that.

 

[DaveL485]

Ta for the pics! Pity its dead though ( as are most it seems!

Top work on the 21 though. Bet your bank manager loves you!

 

[aajbarker]

Ta for the pics! Pity its dead though ( as are most it seems!

Top work on the 21 though. Bet your bank manager loves you!

Cheers mate. Me and my bank manager are arch enemies lol. The hardest thing at tho mo is juggling time between work, car and 7week old Jamie.

All is goin well though and I'm enjoying it so that's the main thing

 

[DaveL485]

Cheers mate. Me and my bank manager are arch enemies lol. The hardest thing at tho mo is juggling time between work, car and 7week old Jamie.

All is goin well though and I'm enjoying it so that's the main thing

Ah- Kids! Even more expensive than cars, believe me! Still, you dont tend to mind though, especially when they turn into these interesting interactive little bundles of energy lol

 

[aajbarker]

Ah- Kids! Even more expensive than cars, believe me! Still, you dont tend to mind though, especially when they turn into these interesting interactive little bundles of energy lol

Yea, cant wait till he gets a bit more lively and toddling around! Suppose it will fly by. He's already a little character, laughing and smiling when he's not pooing lol. Be good when he can help out with scrap renaults haha

 

[Tony]

Ah- Kids!k Even more expensive than cars, believe me! Still, you dont tend to mind though, especially when they turn into these interesting interactive little bundles of energy lol

Until they hit Kevin the teenager. Lol.