5 GT Turbo Phatty-The Return!

[Brucieboy]

Today's update is mainly interior and exhaust.

I collected a silencer from merlin motorsport which was 100mm round and 423mm long which was basically the biggest I could fit in the pipe between the brace in the tunnel and the bend round the fuel tank.

It doesn't seem to have quietened it down as much as I would have liked but I do have a small oval box I could weld into the pipe right at the front for a bit more. Would like to get it sound tested before turning up at French Car Show for my tracktime only to be turned away.

 

[Brucieboy]

The interior work started with replacing the very worn gear lever for a not quite as worn one!
I can now get all gears but the bar doesn't go on as far as I would have liked onto the knurled yoke.
No pics but I will see how it gets on the test drive.
I have now fitted the full Clio 197 interior although I do need to make a few adjustments and a bracket for the rear seats.

The passenger seat sits a little higher than I would have liked but its ok as long as my passenger is 6ft or less.
The drivers seat is height adjustable and with it right down I have just enough room for my helmeted head.
The seats are very comfortable and actually fit me perfect for width.
All in all a total bargain buy for a bit of uniqueness.

 

[Brucieboy]

Before I fitted the seats I sorted the stereo as that was another thing not working when I got the car back.
The in dash screen and dvd player still work as do the amps and sub but he managed to blow the drivers speaker and there is another problem where the amp cuts out about volume 18 (out of 35) which might be related to the blown speaker so I will replace them first and if it still does it I will swap the amps over to see if it still does it. He also got rid of the rear acoustic shelf with Cerwin Vega 6x9s in it and put a broken std shelf in so there are no rear speakers at the moment. Before refitting the centre console I need to fix the mounting point he snapped off and then I need a window switch as one is missing.
The last part job I did was to remove the steering lock so that the piece where the indicator switch mounts can be welded back on as God knows how he managed to snap that off.

If I didn't have so many broken or bodged bits to sort I could have driven this damn car tomorrow. Oh well, typical 5 ownership.

 

[DaveL485]

Is there ANYTHING that hasn't been broken or bodged?

 

[Brucieboy]

Not a lot.
I got the broken steering lock/ indicator mount welded earlier so that's ready to go back on tomorrow. Had a day doing the garden today so nothing new on the car.

 

[Brucieboy]

Today I refitted the steering lock and indicator stalk. Next I sourced and replaced the drivers side driveshaft as the old one was so worn on the splines it rattled on the gearbox end. Once fitted the shaft hit the Williams downpipe so I ended up making a new exhaust front pipe as once the downpipe was moved to clear the shaft the exhaust didn't line up any more. I managed to do some of my worst welding ever but in my defence the breeze was blowing the gas away and the type of bottle I have is non adjustable. I also added another exhaust box which I had in the garage to try and minimise the noise.

So the now 3 box system consists of the pipe above, the box below and the standard magnex rear box.


I now have a bit of clearance between downpipe and shaft which allows me to also fit in a heatshield. I bought a sheet of zircotec when I picked up the silencer which I will wrap up the downpipe with and secure with lockwire.

 

[Brucieboy]

Quick update. Refitted the front pipe and after charging the battery a bit started the car. Still very noisy. Was gutted. Then once I crawled under to check for leaks I realised that I had neglected to fit a sensor in the lambda bung. Much better!
I downloaded 4 different db meters and checked the noise level up to 5k rpm.
Lowest was 89db highest was 101db but that one was sooo much different I am guessing the other 3 are more realistic which means I can now pass noise check at Castle Combe.

 

[Brucieboy]

After a bit of a break from the car due to work and family stuff it was back onto it today. After checking the brakes and cleaning up the front discs I decided to go the whole hog and replace the lot!
Rears were almost new but just rotted out!


So I started to strip it all down. Its only a 10 minute job to change discs and pads isn't it?????
Union was seized into caliper, handbrake cable was frayed and seized into caliper, sliders were; Guess what?; Yep, seized in caliper.
Disc came off easily enough or so I thought. Name the two things wrong with this picture?

 

[Brucieboy]

Left on the stub axle was the remains of the inner bearing. Nothing that a big puller, hammers, levers and an angle grinder couldn't sort out!!!!


After cleaning up and lubing the stub axle I refitted the new discs which came fitted with new bearings.



Whilst I was at it I checked the rear shocks, guess what? Yep, knackered. So it was out with the mobile and EBay strikes again for a bargain price I picked up these.



So that now gives me adjustable rears to go with the Koni fronts.

 

[Brucieboy]

Moving on with the calipers I stripped and cleaned the sliders and freed off the seized one.

I also managed to remove the seized unions and even managed to drill out the remains of the handbrake cables.
That left me with the pad carriers to refurb as the pads were also seized on the slides.

Before,

During,


And after painting.

I have left it overnight for the paint to harden before I peel off the tape which is covering the slide area which I will lube up before rebuilding this little lot tomorrow.
If the weather stays good then I also have to make new rear brake lines as the pipes were seized to the union so span when undone.
I also have to sort out the braided lines as for some reason there is one braided and one rubber fitted and the spare new braided line was in the boot!
I will replace all the lines if I can and I have some nice 5.1 brake fluid to put in once its all back together.

 

[DaveL485]

So it was out with the mobile and EBay strikes again for a bargain price I picked up these.

Skimlinks!!! Pleeeease try and remember

Why have those rear bearings and discs got ABS targets?

 

[Brucieboy]

Skimlinks!!! Pleeeease try and remember Sorry!

Why have those rear bearings and discs got ABS targets?

Must be clio ones.

 

[Brucieboy]

Haven't got a lot more done due to incorrect parts and bad weather.
I did manage to get the little rod clip fitted to the passenger door and free off the mechanism so it actually opens and closes from inside and out now which is always a bonus!
I have also fitted the rear brakes now including new handbrake cables as the old ones were knackered.

Anyone got any spare caps for the discs as mine didn't come with any?

 

[Brucieboy]

So after an 8 month break from updating this thread a lot has changed.

The car was dropped back onto it's wheels to take to MOT ready for French Car show.
I tried to start it next day and it wouldn't go. After a bit of trial and error with flat batteries and dodgy wiring bodges by the previous owner I had a disaster.
A small puff of smoke from the Adaptronic signalled the end of it's life. :ak:

This prompted a bit of a teddy throwing session before I got on to Scoff and ordered the newer Adaptronic 420D to replace my old 420C.

It arrived a few days later and I proceeded to rewire the engine loom as a number of things were different between the two.
The car started but had serious starting problems and once running was obviously on 2 cylinders.
After a lot of head scratching, back and forth messaging to Scoff and a number of new parts, (Ignition coilpack, leads, plugs, crank sensor and second rewire) we eventually found out the reason it had been so hard to start. The previous owner had removed the F7R Megane (60-2 tooth pattern) and uprated Megane clutch and had fitted a standard GT Turbo (44-2) flywheel and standard GT Turbo clutch. No wonder the ECU couldn't run properly as it was trying to read an incorrect tooth pattern.

Gavin and I replaced the flywheel with a spare Megane one I had and fitted a 182 clutch that Gav had in his spares pile.
Once all back together and the adaptronic adjusted the car ran on all 4 for the first time since I got it back.
I am thinking that the previous owner may have had problems running it after the change and couldn't sort it so gave up and that's why it was parked up for 3 years.

Oh well, at least all the ignition components were now brand new as well as ECU and wiring loom.

All this happened over a period of a few months due to work and family commitments as well as all the diagnosis time.

On the test drive it was obvious that things needed tweeking including the exhaust, gear selection and handbrake.

So, back under the car to sort things out and a few patches of rust were spotted which would likely have failed the MOT.
This led to a full interior strip out to ascertain the extent of the rot. It was a LOT worse than I first thought................

 

[Brucieboy]

While she was off the road I decided to pretty up the wing and skirt as best as I can.
I fillered, rubbed down and primered until happy. Next I sprayed the main 495 Electric blue made up by my local paint place. Happy with the match and finish. Next came a couple of coats of laquer. Very happy for a rattle can job done outside in the wind. It was good to see Phatty looking her old self again, even if the bonnet doesn't match the colour yet!
I am still not 100% sure what I am doing with the variety of bonnets I have available so haven't painted one to match.

 

[Brucieboy]

Having removed the carpet and the sound deadening the initial extent of the rot was revealed. Drivers side footwell. Rollcage was basically sat on the blue patch in the middle of the rust sea and wasn't even bolted in!
Further on round the footwell better showing the rot on the tunnel side. Rear of drivers side footwell showing inner sill seperating from floor. Passenger footwell showing "cutout" for an amp which was done before I had the car. Front of passenger footwell showing damaged floor where jack went through the jacking point and pushed floor up. This lead to the decision to go the whole hog and replace the floor both sides.

 

[DaveL485]

This lead to the decision to go the whole hog and replace the floor both sides.

:fffuuu:

 

[andybond]

More phhhhhuuuuccc?

 

[Norwich Nick]

I was thinking about phatty today, if by magic an update!
Shame about the rust, I know that pain all too well, glad it's getting fixed :ay:

 

[Brucieboy]

So, Things started to get interesting.
Drivers floor was roughly removed leaving a little metal around the chassis leg and seat mounts/cross members.
Full extent of the jacking point rot/dodgy repair was opened up.

New genuine Renault Jacking points were purchased along with aftermarket outer sills and some metal to make new inner sills.

All the spot welds were then drilled out to remove the excess metal and bolts were used to hold the chassis leg to the cross member to prevent twisting or movement.
At this stage Gavin decided to put it up on his gimble so I removed the engine and box, front suspension, exhaust, rear axle and fuel tank.

Then once spun onto it's side I got a bit more good news.

Passenger axle mount area after quick tap around left with multiple holes in inner sill, chassis leg top and side.

Drivers side axle mount and chassis leg looked similar and jacking point was like tissue paper thin.

Underside of jacking point at drivers footwell.

All this looks really bad considering I have scrapped at least half a dozen 5's with better shells because they were too much work. BUT this is Phatty, part of the family and in need of the love it deserves.
There is no way I could afford to repair all this if I was paying a welding shop to do it so thank the lord for Gavin and his mad skills and "It's only metal" attitude.