Gray-16v
Member
Hello all,
I'd like to start by saying that as this is my first Project Report I'll no doubt be making some errors along the way what with uploading pics etc....
Please bear with me :|
Here she is with the black hatch lurking in the background.
[BREAK=An Introduction]
One day whilst offshore I was busy doing nothing and decided to have a browse on ebay, seeing as I already had a Black 16v which was pissing me off royally due to it's one thing after another routine, I decided to look at more 19's (Who's the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows??). In doing so I happened across this one which sounded quite good for quite cheap.
Full Service History, 4 months Tax and MOT, 89k Miles on the clock and Near Perfect Leathers.
So due to my loss of faith with the Black hatch I put in a Last minute bid of £625 and I won the auction - HOORAY!!
After organising things with the travel department at work They flew me off to Newcastle instead of my usual Aberdeen. Then it was a Taxi and 2 trains to york where I was to meet the owner and come face to face with my latest purchase.
26th November 2007
The owner was good enough to come meet me at the trainstation and the trip back to his was to be the test drive. Having had a brief look round in the carpark I was pretty impressed, but what with it being dark I couldn't get a proper look so off we popped.
Driving it was a dream, she was smooth and pulled very well, all the electrics worked Bar a couple of dash bulbs and The Tacho Cutting out now and then (Still need to get to the bottom of that). There was a slight rumbling from the offside Driveshaft but I'd been warned about that and it was mentioned on the auction page.
Pulled into a petrol station to get a better look, there was a fist sized dent on the leading edge of the nearside wing and a Tacky 'Max Power' cone filter on it, usual small parking ding in a couple of places, scuffed front bumper and a few other marks, all to be expected on a 15 year old motor.
So upon arriving at his we went in to do the usual Paperwork and exchange cash for Keys. Then it was off to do the 450 mile trip to my house in Inverness. It was a faultless drive with a couple of pitstops for go-go juice and light refreshment.
Ran the car for a week as it was then took it down to my old mans place to get it up on the lift to see what's what.
Oh dear!!! were the words mentioned when I discovered the source of the driveshaft problem. Bent Subframe It was then after closer inspection that I noticed there was no camber on the offside front wheel, it was bolt upright, and a rather nasty looking gouge on the rear alloy. Probably switched from the front, Looks like the owner wasn't too careful after all. Apart from that it was very clean and rust free underneath so wasn't too depressed.
After getting it back up the road I decided to go to renault in search of the required parts, New sub-frame and New offside Driveshaft complete with joints and gaiters. Booked it into a garage for the work and a full winter service and thought nothing more.
Got a call from Renault saying there was a delay on the sub-frame and it wouldn't arrive for another week - DOH!!! - so had to cancel my appointment with the garage as it would arrive whilst I was away. So ran the car untill I parked her up for the last time before going offshore.
3 weeks later
Arrived home all chuffed with the prospect of collecting the parts and getting it booked into the garage again. Figured I'd go for a spin anyway and started her up, leaving her to warm up I popped the bonnet to check on the usual then noticed a small river emerging from underneath the car, a horrible brown colour - Thats coolant I thought - then noticed it was coming from what looked like the water pump, now we'd had a bad cold snap whilst I was away so I figured it might have popped the waterpump gasket or shaft seal, took the lower cambelt cover off and started the car again. PLEASE GOD NO!!!!! were the words mentioned this time. Upon saying that the car started mis-firing badly then cut out - SH*T SHI*T SH*T!!!!! came out this time. Anyway on closer inspection the water pump was not leaking at all, It was coming from somewhere up under the cambelt cover. Before trying to remove this I decided to have a look at the leads. When I pulled them out they were all soaked so I went and got a spanner and dug deeper. YUP!!!! popped core plugs in the spark plug well. With that I made enquiries on here and was told there were core plugs behind the cam belt cover so I guess that is the source of that leak.
Made enquiries at the garage and was told for what I wanted my bill would be upward of 2 grand. NO MISTER MECHANIC i thought and left the car sitting and went on to spend the last 5 months collecting parts for the mother of all services.
[BREAK=The Parts List]
The Parts I Have bought so Far
Brand new Sub-Frame
Cage Nuts for Sub-frame
Steering Rack Bushes
ARB bushes
All Engine and Box mounts
Full set of Core Plugs
Thermostat + O-Ring/seal
Fuel Filter
Oil Filter (Freebie from the renault parts guy)
O/S Driveshaft
Clutch Cable
Handbrake Cables
Alt Belt
Track rod ends
Wishbones with Lower Ball joints
Water Pump
Brake Bias Valve (Bought from Chris H here - Cheers bud)
Clutch release arm/fork - Pivot bush - Gaiter
Wheel Bearings all round
Disks and Mintex Pads all round
Brand new CAT + Fitting Kit
Battery + Terminals
Plugs and Leads
3pc Clutch kit (Gifted from my mate Tristian)
Cam Belt Kit (Also gifted from my mate Tristian)
Nearside wing in 449 Blue
More Parts 15/5/2008
2 x Gearbox to chassis earth Braids
Bonnet Release Cable
Brake Disk securing screws
All Subframe mounting bolts, washers etc....
More again 16/5/2008
Driveshaft Rollpin
6 x Wheel Bolts
Rear caliper Kit (only bought it for the piston gaitors)
Xenon Headlight Bulbs - ebay £8 delivered, couldn't say no :roll:
Bits robbed from the Black Hatch
Cat Back Stainless Exhaust
O/S rear quarter rub strip (Blue one's knackered)
Mint Digi Display
Screws for Spark plug cover
17" DOTZ Radiums with brand new Toyo Proxes T1-S tyres
Tools I've bought
94pc Mechanics socket set
Ball joint splitting tool
Spring compressing tool
Torque Wrench
Circlip Pliers
Cheapo Tool kit from Focus (Pretty good though)
Ratchet axle stands
2 ton engine Crane - Load Leveller - 1000lb engine stand
So there's a list to make any owners wallet cringe and any girlfriend go off in a huff cause you didn't buy her shiney things instead
[BREAK=First Day]
21st April 2008
Well being Such a wonderful sunny day and with the prospect of getting the Project started proper in the next few days I thought I'd better get prepared.
My old man was kind enough to lend me his van (put me on the insurance too so I can have it whenever I want now) so went to my folks and picked her up and 'White Van Manned' it up the road
Trusty Transit - Refuse's to Die
Then I set about taking my nice wheels off the black hatch and putting the shitty buckled one's that were on it in the first place back on
Wheels that came off it
Sticky Tires
Shitty wheels back on
Then I set about taking the Cat back Stainless off
Something Missing
Yup, I got it off - Eventually :evil:
Once that was done it was time to get all My bits out of the house/boots of the cars (Yes there is a lot as you know) and loaded into the van
Sorry Captn' - She cannae hold no more!!!! ish
The white box's you can see hold the Engine crane, load leveller and engine stand. Fookin Heavy :x
New subframe, stainless, bag of cables/belt/clutch stuff, torque wrench, fuel filter Box full of bits, tin of waxoil stuff I'll be painting the subframe with and my new wing sitting behind it all
Genuine renault Driveshaft, Cambelt Kit and clutchkit
So there ended day one, I know it doesn't look like much but I'll tell you I was bloody knackered at the end of it. God knows what I'll feel like when I start stripping her down
[BREAK
ay 2]
22 April 2008
Well surprisingly I got an offer on the black hatch, some kid from the local Ghetto came up and spoke to me about the car, after telling him my tales of woe with it and I was eventually going to scrap it he made me an offer of £75 to tow it away as a project. Talked him up to £135 which is better than paying to get rid of it myself Plus I've got everything I wanted off it anyway bar one thing, the Mint Digi display (The only thing on it that worked as it should :| )
So I figured that if I wanted this I would have to get my arse in gear and get the old switcheroonie done pronto.
So tools in hand I ventured forth and set about removing the clocks from the Blue hatch as I'd already butchered out the back ones dash a few months back.
First off - and I advise this for anyone doing this for the first time - I read this Tech article ---> http://www.retro-renault.com/forums/ice-electrical/3643-digi-dash-replacement.html which was Published by The T.I.B. I thank you sir, that guide is golden.
Anyway eventually got the Clocks out without hassle, I knew what I was doing this time
Blue Hatch clocks on the left, Balck ones on the right - you can just make out my Laptop on the far right - That's me consulting the Tech article Went on to strip down the blue ones clocks
Now something that was not in the tech article which I'm sure once he see's this will no doubt update was a hidden screw which wouldn't allow me to get the glass off. Removed the 8 screws around the edge like i was told but no movement? Hmmmm? Time to investigate :idea:
White plastic bulge in the center closest to the camera - Remove screw in the center of that and slide plastic cover towards you.
You'll find another Bulb and this screw - Maybe! I say maybe as this screw was not present in the black ones dials
Anyway apart from that the article is 100% spot on
Glass covers removed
Digi that was in the Blue one
Digi Display from the black one
Displays swapped over and clocks rebuilt
Fitted back into the Blue hatch after nicking some bulbs from the black hatchs to get a fully lit dash
Wait till it's dark for the proper test - I Must say I'm very pleased with myself
So that was the end of Day 2's efforts, all I need to do now is organise getting my Blue one trailered down to my folks so I can start the real work
I'd like to start by saying that as this is my first Project Report I'll no doubt be making some errors along the way what with uploading pics etc....
Please bear with me :|
Here she is with the black hatch lurking in the background.
[BREAK=An Introduction]
One day whilst offshore I was busy doing nothing and decided to have a browse on ebay, seeing as I already had a Black 16v which was pissing me off royally due to it's one thing after another routine, I decided to look at more 19's (Who's the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows??). In doing so I happened across this one which sounded quite good for quite cheap.
Full Service History, 4 months Tax and MOT, 89k Miles on the clock and Near Perfect Leathers.
So due to my loss of faith with the Black hatch I put in a Last minute bid of £625 and I won the auction - HOORAY!!
After organising things with the travel department at work They flew me off to Newcastle instead of my usual Aberdeen. Then it was a Taxi and 2 trains to york where I was to meet the owner and come face to face with my latest purchase.
26th November 2007
The owner was good enough to come meet me at the trainstation and the trip back to his was to be the test drive. Having had a brief look round in the carpark I was pretty impressed, but what with it being dark I couldn't get a proper look so off we popped.
Driving it was a dream, she was smooth and pulled very well, all the electrics worked Bar a couple of dash bulbs and The Tacho Cutting out now and then (Still need to get to the bottom of that). There was a slight rumbling from the offside Driveshaft but I'd been warned about that and it was mentioned on the auction page.
Pulled into a petrol station to get a better look, there was a fist sized dent on the leading edge of the nearside wing and a Tacky 'Max Power' cone filter on it, usual small parking ding in a couple of places, scuffed front bumper and a few other marks, all to be expected on a 15 year old motor.
So upon arriving at his we went in to do the usual Paperwork and exchange cash for Keys. Then it was off to do the 450 mile trip to my house in Inverness. It was a faultless drive with a couple of pitstops for go-go juice and light refreshment.
Ran the car for a week as it was then took it down to my old mans place to get it up on the lift to see what's what.
Oh dear!!! were the words mentioned when I discovered the source of the driveshaft problem. Bent Subframe It was then after closer inspection that I noticed there was no camber on the offside front wheel, it was bolt upright, and a rather nasty looking gouge on the rear alloy. Probably switched from the front, Looks like the owner wasn't too careful after all. Apart from that it was very clean and rust free underneath so wasn't too depressed.
After getting it back up the road I decided to go to renault in search of the required parts, New sub-frame and New offside Driveshaft complete with joints and gaiters. Booked it into a garage for the work and a full winter service and thought nothing more.
Got a call from Renault saying there was a delay on the sub-frame and it wouldn't arrive for another week - DOH!!! - so had to cancel my appointment with the garage as it would arrive whilst I was away. So ran the car untill I parked her up for the last time before going offshore.
3 weeks later
Arrived home all chuffed with the prospect of collecting the parts and getting it booked into the garage again. Figured I'd go for a spin anyway and started her up, leaving her to warm up I popped the bonnet to check on the usual then noticed a small river emerging from underneath the car, a horrible brown colour - Thats coolant I thought - then noticed it was coming from what looked like the water pump, now we'd had a bad cold snap whilst I was away so I figured it might have popped the waterpump gasket or shaft seal, took the lower cambelt cover off and started the car again. PLEASE GOD NO!!!!! were the words mentioned this time. Upon saying that the car started mis-firing badly then cut out - SH*T SHI*T SH*T!!!!! came out this time. Anyway on closer inspection the water pump was not leaking at all, It was coming from somewhere up under the cambelt cover. Before trying to remove this I decided to have a look at the leads. When I pulled them out they were all soaked so I went and got a spanner and dug deeper. YUP!!!! popped core plugs in the spark plug well. With that I made enquiries on here and was told there were core plugs behind the cam belt cover so I guess that is the source of that leak.
Made enquiries at the garage and was told for what I wanted my bill would be upward of 2 grand. NO MISTER MECHANIC i thought and left the car sitting and went on to spend the last 5 months collecting parts for the mother of all services.
[BREAK=The Parts List]
The Parts I Have bought so Far
Brand new Sub-Frame
Cage Nuts for Sub-frame
Steering Rack Bushes
ARB bushes
All Engine and Box mounts
Full set of Core Plugs
Thermostat + O-Ring/seal
Fuel Filter
Oil Filter (Freebie from the renault parts guy)
O/S Driveshaft
Clutch Cable
Handbrake Cables
Alt Belt
Track rod ends
Wishbones with Lower Ball joints
Water Pump
Brake Bias Valve (Bought from Chris H here - Cheers bud)
Clutch release arm/fork - Pivot bush - Gaiter
Wheel Bearings all round
Disks and Mintex Pads all round
Brand new CAT + Fitting Kit
Battery + Terminals
Plugs and Leads
3pc Clutch kit (Gifted from my mate Tristian)
Cam Belt Kit (Also gifted from my mate Tristian)
Nearside wing in 449 Blue
More Parts 15/5/2008
2 x Gearbox to chassis earth Braids
Bonnet Release Cable
Brake Disk securing screws
All Subframe mounting bolts, washers etc....
More again 16/5/2008
Driveshaft Rollpin
6 x Wheel Bolts
Rear caliper Kit (only bought it for the piston gaitors)
Xenon Headlight Bulbs - ebay £8 delivered, couldn't say no :roll:
Bits robbed from the Black Hatch
Cat Back Stainless Exhaust
O/S rear quarter rub strip (Blue one's knackered)
Mint Digi Display
Screws for Spark plug cover
17" DOTZ Radiums with brand new Toyo Proxes T1-S tyres
Tools I've bought
94pc Mechanics socket set
Ball joint splitting tool
Spring compressing tool
Torque Wrench
Circlip Pliers
Cheapo Tool kit from Focus (Pretty good though)
Ratchet axle stands
2 ton engine Crane - Load Leveller - 1000lb engine stand
So there's a list to make any owners wallet cringe and any girlfriend go off in a huff cause you didn't buy her shiney things instead
[BREAK=First Day]
21st April 2008
Well being Such a wonderful sunny day and with the prospect of getting the Project started proper in the next few days I thought I'd better get prepared.
My old man was kind enough to lend me his van (put me on the insurance too so I can have it whenever I want now) so went to my folks and picked her up and 'White Van Manned' it up the road
Trusty Transit - Refuse's to Die
Then I set about taking my nice wheels off the black hatch and putting the shitty buckled one's that were on it in the first place back on
Wheels that came off it
Sticky Tires
Shitty wheels back on
Then I set about taking the Cat back Stainless off
Something Missing
Yup, I got it off - Eventually :evil:
Once that was done it was time to get all My bits out of the house/boots of the cars (Yes there is a lot as you know) and loaded into the van
Sorry Captn' - She cannae hold no more!!!! ish
The white box's you can see hold the Engine crane, load leveller and engine stand. Fookin Heavy :xNew subframe, stainless, bag of cables/belt/clutch stuff, torque wrench, fuel filter Box full of bits, tin of waxoil stuff I'll be painting the subframe with and my new wing sitting behind it all
Genuine renault Driveshaft, Cambelt Kit and clutchkit
So there ended day one, I know it doesn't look like much but I'll tell you I was bloody knackered at the end of it. God knows what I'll feel like when I start stripping her down
[BREAK
ay 2]22 April 2008
Well surprisingly I got an offer on the black hatch, some kid from the local Ghetto came up and spoke to me about the car, after telling him my tales of woe with it and I was eventually going to scrap it he made me an offer of £75 to tow it away as a project. Talked him up to £135 which is better than paying to get rid of it myself
Plus I've got everything I wanted off it anyway bar one thing, the Mint Digi display (The only thing on it that worked as it should :| )So I figured that if I wanted this I would have to get my arse in gear and get the old switcheroonie done pronto.
So tools in hand I ventured forth and set about removing the clocks from the Blue hatch as I'd already butchered out the back ones dash a few months back.
First off - and I advise this for anyone doing this for the first time - I read this Tech article ---> http://www.retro-renault.com/forums/ice-electrical/3643-digi-dash-replacement.html which was Published by The T.I.B. I thank you sir, that guide is golden.
Anyway eventually got the Clocks out without hassle, I knew what I was doing this time
Blue Hatch clocks on the left, Balck ones on the right - you can just make out my Laptop on the far right - That's me consulting the Tech article
Went on to strip down the blue ones clocksNow something that was not in the tech article which I'm sure once he see's this will no doubt update was a hidden screw which wouldn't allow me to get the glass off. Removed the 8 screws around the edge like i was told but no movement? Hmmmm? Time to investigate :idea:
White plastic bulge in the center closest to the camera - Remove screw in the center of that and slide plastic cover towards you.
You'll find another Bulb and this screw - Maybe! I say maybe as this screw was not present in the black ones dials
Anyway apart from that the article is 100% spot on
Glass covers removed
Digi that was in the Blue one
Digi Display from the black one
Displays swapped over and clocks rebuilt
Fitted back into the Blue hatch after nicking some bulbs from the black hatchs to get a fully lit dash
Wait till it's dark for the proper test - I Must say I'm very pleased with myself
So that was the end of Day 2's efforts, all I need to do now is organise getting my Blue one trailered down to my folks so I can start the real work
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