Other ( non Renault ) Tigra. B204 inbound

[Turbell]

Get them on a press with an undersize drift pin on them, wacking them only applies a limited force for a limited time, otherwise you just end up chasing them round the bench, losing your rag. Suitable mandrel underneath to support the other side, cheaptack eBay bottle jack press earn they're money ten fold, that and some really fine threaded bar and nuts for pulling stuff together saves me countless hours of grief.

 

[Sparkysparks]

It has begun.


I've taken the bumper, bonnet, headlights, crash bar / front frame off and disconnected the cooling hoses so the rad is ready to come out.

I took 1 last video of the engine running. Hopefully I'll be able to sell that. Even if only for £200. It'll help with parts buying.

Header tank removed. Coolant drained.
Then I ran out of time.
I managed all of this in about 45 mins. So it really could be a nice quick job.

I've got to take out the shafts, take the selector off the gearbox, disconnect the exhaust. Few wires. Few pipes. Fuel line, and I'll be left with just the engine mounts and I can take it out.

If I get a good amount of time to myself this weekend I hope to have the engine out.
Cheers

 

[Sparkysparks]

I did get time yesterday. It was nice.
Disconnected the air con and lost all the alien blood refrigerant, and removed all of that. Along with the rad.
Then the wheels and shafts, gear selector and exhaust. Fairly easy stuff. Shafts came out with a good tug and I only had to slice 1 bolt on the exhaust.



Empty bay!

 

[Sparkysparks]

Spilt lots and lots of gbox fluid, coolant, brake fluid all over the floor just to make it nice and slippery for me.

I still had plenty of time so I thought I'd just sling the other engine in and leave it there.


That was quite possibly the tightest fit engine I could have got in there!
I smashed the throttle linkage that I'd previously repaired on the way in, had to take the top hat and boost pipe off to get past the brake lines.
And there is a good 3mm gap between the frame rails and the aux belt (common apparently).

It's in. Got 2 engine mounts and a selection of 1 at the front or back. Tigra seemed to have both, so if I can reuse parts I'll do both.

Drivers side mount didn't fit. Had to open up the holes to get that to work.

Passenger side didn't fit. Tried to mix and match parts to reuse my old one. That didn't fit either. Need to find another mount or this adaptor.

And I connected the clutch line to stop it leaking everywhere.
At some point I'll get the selector cables in and bleed the clutch and then I'll see about bolting the other bits up.

Cheers

 

[Sparkysparks]

Gear shift in and the cables all mounted up.
There was a bit of faffing getting it all in but it seems to fit nicely in the original position.
Even the rubber grommet in the bay fit nicely.


I also bled the clutch fluid with a speed bleeder. Made it easy to do on my own.

Whilst in waiting for a solution to the engine mounting I'll get the exhaust on next.
Cheers

 

[DaveL485]

Freon (AC gas) is carcinogenic, really nasty stuff, if you do just pull the pipes and let it out then do it outside and stay well out the way.

 

[Sparkysparks]

Freon (AC gas) is carcinogenic, really nasty stuff, if you do just pull the pipes and let it out then do it outside and stay well out the way.

Too late. I assumed it was nasty stuff so let it vent slowly and let the garage air a bit before I went back in. Then spilt all that green down my leg.

 

[Sparkysparks]

Getting half hour or so after work and ticking jobs off. Then creating more.
I have this front mount on the tigra to join to the gbox. Have been advised to keep it and not cut it out. But it's in my way


2.5" exhaust


3"

The 3" is a closer fit but still doesn't fit. So don't know what I'm going to do about that yet.

I went to put the oil cooler lines on and realised they sit on the subframe.

So I tried to bend one slightly and broke it. Tried to weld it back up but it's still so far out of being a nice fit. I want to actually do away with the cooler and either loop these lines or block them off. But again I'll need to figure that out another day.

When I forcibly got the engine in I broke the throttle cable holder.

I took it apart and it's integrated into the whole mechanism and not available on its own. So I've got to order another throttle body.

And I started to look at the fuel lines.

Quite easy but I've got to bodge a few nylon lines with copper.
Take out the t/y piece and fit the blue directly to the filter. With the remaining T being my return I need to just run a line to the engine and put it on the rail.
At the rail I need to modify the existing feed. I'll be using copper and fuel hose.
I also ordered a filter and broke the feed quick coupler. So I've got that to deal with aswell.

 

[Sparkysparks]

I have had to order this fairly expensive big of aluminium to mount the gbox in the right place

Once that's here I can figure out what room I have for front and rear mounts and the exhaust, and get a realistic view of where those oil cooler lines will be in relation to the subframe.
I may also need an adapter for.the rear mount but I need to get this one fitted first to tell.

I have scavenged the starter loom from the original engine and put that into this one, allowing me to keep the nice neat cable tidy tray at the top of the scuttle. And I tried to turn it over. Which it does and that felt good.

I got a boost gauge and will get that in. At 14psi this build "should" be sitting at about 280hp

I need the specific knuckles still then I can try to get the driveshafts to fit and then it'll be a mover.

I'm saving the wiring, intercooler and rad circuit till last as I can do that kind of stuff on the floor.
It's the exhaust I'm most worried about because the only off the shelf option is an expensive solution. This car is already about £700 over my initial budget and there's still things I need to buy. So much for budget builds

Cheers.

 

[Sparkysparks]

Got the mount and put it in.
Turns out the oil cooler lines hit the frame because I have the wrong drivers side mount. I needed to raise it up 10mm with some nuts under the mount..


And now I can see what I need for front and back mounting and have ordered the stuff.

I bodged the fuel lines a bit and I will definitely need to revisit it before it goes on the road but it is actually holding pressure. So.

Had a look at the wiring and it's actually very simple. 3 wires to get it to run and a few for gauges and the fan. So I did the 3 to run. I need to see if the engine is a runner




Wow! I panicked and hit the stop record instead of turning the key. Twice.

This is with almost nothing connected. No intercooler. Most of the sensors and hoses unplugged. Something tells me it'll be fine when it's all connected up.

Buuut I didn't connect my oil cooler.


Some progress. Some not.
Cheers

 

[Sparkysparks]

No rear mount but with the intercooler run put together without the intercooler. And the front mount cut off and the exhaust put on.
Oil pressure light working.
Oil cooler loop tried and now not leaking.
Essential not much left to do.
Sort the rear mount
Got the knuckles coming so I can swap the hubs out for 4 stud and run the shafts I have.
Then it can go down. And I can finish the rad plumbing and let it warm up properly.
Looking forward to that.
Cheers

 

[Sparkysparks]

Been getting the time in on this. Mainly buying parts I didn't think I'd need to.
Meriva A knuckles found. Wheel bearings bought. And I had previously bought the big block 4 stud hubs.
Pulled the old bearings out and fitted the new ones in with the bearing press tool I have.
Got the hubs in.
Brakes back on.


Brake mounting. Suspension mounting
Lower ball joint and tie bar mounts all in the same positions. I had to do this to fit the larger driveshafts. The other option was to cut and shut the original shafts with the new ones.
New correct sized abs rings ordered and awaiting fitting to the shafts.
CV grease ordered.
Once that arrives I can fit the shafts and see if they fit (nervous about that). The I just need the gbox fluid and I can test the drivetrain.

I've had a right faff with the rear engine mount. Getting the parts I needed. Then having to realise I still needed more parts. So that's all on order.
Once that's in and done it can go on the floor.
I then need to sort out this throttle cable mount and to modify the fuel pump housing to fit my Mégane pump.
Then... First shakedown.

Then fix all the mistakes and finish the wiring.
It still has no coolant temp, revs, or Speedo.
They all have their own ways to be done but it'll drive without and I can use the obd for those for now.

Then it needs some lowering springs and I'd like my Renault wheels back so it needs some tyres. And I need to arrange getting those brembos on. But money really has run out for now. So these will have to wait.
Cheers

Also the Clio is in daily use and still blows me away. It desperately needs new coilovers or some lowering springs, and a map adjustment. But it is going to take some beating....

 

[Sparkysparks]

Almost there.
Done enough for a test drive.
It's not as quick as the Clio but it has alot of potential.
Still a few things on the dash to sort out. Throttle pedal needs doing. Then it's good to try out for a daily for a bit.
Got the Mégane pump in and it seems happy with that. (Access to the pump on this was not easy)
Got some 40mm springs and got them on. The brakes all work after a bit of shimming.
I know it'll need quietening as she won't like the pops and bangs it has.
It lost its coolant on my weak joint on the drive so that was lucky. I've had a go at re doing it and it's holding for now.
Id still like to revisit the fuel pipework before handing it over but again it is holding.

It's no Renault but it has grown on me.
Also. It sounds awesome with the roof off.

I'll get some miles on it then I'll attempt to get these Mégane brakes on it and get some tyres for the original wheels on the front.
Cheers

 

[Sparkysparks]

Been getting on with this.
Had to finish the throttle pedal

This is what I started with and I bent it over to fit where I had put the hole through the bulkhead. That works now.


Whilst it was off the road I went ahead and fixed this. Corsa c and tigras have the same bulkhead and this is the weak point for draining water. It comes through to the footwell. Take all that out and fill it with silicone. I actually used gutter sealant which I think was a mistake. But it is keeping the water out so far.


With a quick clean and polish the scratching fades into the background.
With this outing my fuel line gave way. So needed to fix that the next day and has been holding ever since.

Still on the to do list.
Rev counter not working.
Coolant temp gauge doesn't seem to register untill it's very very hot.
Cooling fan is on permenantly, needs a dedicated circuit I think like I did for the MK1 f4r Clio.
And I need to take the lowering springs back off as they are so so bad. I may aswell have put coilovers on.

Also the abs sometimes comes on when braking. Not sure what's going on there. It wasn't doing it before the swap.
I will also try to bleed the clutch for a 3rd time as on heavy throttle it's hard to shift quickly. Hard to push into gears. Although this could also be my gbox fluid.
It's not as quick as the Clio. But it's not slow.
It's also far too loud for any sleeper status.
I'll get a video up during the week.
Cheers

 

[Sparkysparks]

Been using this as a daily to try to fix the niggles and see what will break. I have to admit it's quite fun



Subaru next. Let me know when to stop adding non Renault content to the Renault forum

 

[Adey]

nope, keep it all coming

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Just caught up on your thread progress @Sparkysparks and may I say you're doing a great job sir!

I'm surprised that it's not quicker than the Clio as-is? My father used to own Saab 9000's back in the day, and the Turbo models he bought were PROPER quick with that same engine lugging a big heavy Saab about, Surprised it's not peeling your face off when it's only pulling a Tinpot Tigra??

Can I just clarify, when you were doing shakedown tests, were you actually using that hand throttle???

 

[Sparkysparks]

Thanks @Big Steve - Raider
It's only on stage 1 so far so it should be around the 210 mark. It feels alot more linear than the Clio. I had a friend check my speed and it is true. It does move. It just doesn't feel like it.
However. Stage 3 is the larger downpipe that I already have and a quick ECU flash. That'll see me to 280. And that will be interesting!
Yes. The hand throttle was for the initial tests . The real pedal feels alot better.

 

[Sparkysparks]

Been using this and fixing as I'm going.
Mot is looming in a month and I know it'll need a cat as a minimum.
Both CV boots have given up. So I've ordered some of those.

And I've bought this changeable thermostat/fan switch for a temp fix to get the fan going.
It seems to be working well but it's getting a bit warm and melting it's own contacts. I'll need to get a normal looking temp switch and a separate circuit for that in the long run.

And I've blown the turbo so I get intermittent smoke and it stinks.

But. It goes well.

It just doesn't feel it

Next step is to still get these revs working. 3"downpipe and stage 3.
After I've sorted the turbo,
Fitted the flywheel cover plate,
Got some tyres for the front wheels,
Sorted an MOT,
And still want these brakes on there.
Cheers

 

[DaveL485]

melting it's own contacts.

Fan is drawing too much current. You need thicker wiring and larger connectors.