Project Domes shonky autos - Grand Cherokee departs, Kangoo titivation and 911 dug out.

[Split_Pin]

Looking forward to seeing this at the next Scotoshite!

[cort16]

Good luck with your PowerVAN

[dome]

Results are in!

Yaaas!

Now to get some miles on it and sort it out

[hairnet]

so now you have legal small glf the big glf s4 will be going??

 

[dome]

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

so now you have legal small glf the big glf s4 will be going??

 

Not a chance, there's a place in the fleet for both!

[Jim Bell]

It's boxy, but it's fast. 

Great news man. 

[dozeydustman]

This is most excellent!

[blackboilersuit]

That's awesome news. I think your current fleet must have the highest average BHP on the entire forum now! 

[aldo135]

Good news dome  

[aldo135]

46 minutes ago, blackboilersuit said:

That's awesome news. I think your current fleet must have the highest average BHP on the entire forum now! 

That’s a good shout. I’m 189bhp across 3, but reckon that will come down soon ?

[cort1977]

7 hours ago, Jim Bell said:

It's boxy, but it's fast. 

Great news man. 

Liked for the film reference.

[cort16]

Great news. You could set up some kind of high speed courier services.

[Asimo]

Some admin to do?

 

[dome]

23 minutes ago, Asimo said:

Some admin to do?

 

Yep, DVLA to be informed. Insurance is sorted for what it is. I'll tax it as it is then send off the V5 with the new details.

[big_al_granvia]

Was that you on the trackscotland day at knockhill yesterday??? White kangoo spotted on various fb pages

[Tickman]

His is blue Al, it also seems to be able to use all 4 wheels unlike the white one at knockhill

[dome]

47 minutes ago, Tickman said:

His is blue Al, it also seems to be able to use all 4 wheels unlike the white one at knockhill

I don't know, with the 10 year old Nexens it has fitted the tyres might as well not be in contact with the road!

[dome]

Ok, so this is now road legal so I got the chance to shake it down a bit. In true small fast Clio fashion its had a throttle body, throttle pedal and today coil pack replaced. No surprises there. 

As mentioned above the tyres have no grip so they're for the bin. I was going to go down the steel wheels route but I like it on these alloys so they can stay. Thinking is Rainsports unless anyone can recommend a better alternative for the money?

It'll also need the inner tie rod changed asap and tracked, it's a bit wayward at the front end. 

It's very loud just now but it'll do until I can be arsed to fit a back box. 

The suspension on the front is a bit shit and crashy. New struts may happen and standard clio sport springs but the rear is torsion bar so raising it will be a pain.

Oh, did I mention it

Goes

Like

Fuck?

?

Have some pics after a wash and polish. Not bad for a van with 155k on the clock before it was converted!

 

[Crackers]

Can we have a video of all the beans being applied please? I imagine this can only sound absolutely fantastic at full bore.

[loserone]

I'd like to see it cocking a rear wheel ?

[320touring]

Hopefully this is now chasing DHL vans down the back roads as you head to work..

 

Just driven the burds 172 to the station. The engines are superb:)

[dome]

So, in true small fast Clio style I have been dealing with an initially intermittent misfire which has become more permanent. No codes have been present apart from one for a general misfire but I've been working my way through changing things. I've built up a stash of spares so did the following

Coil pack: seemed to make a difference but it came back the next day.
4 injectors-no difference.
lambda sensor no difference.
Last thing was to check the plugs. I pulled off the upper inlet manifold and sure enough 1 of the plug leads was in about an inch of rusty water. Replacement leads fitted and plugs ordered up and it's running a lot better. Hopefully new plugs will cure it.

The joys of resurrecting something that's been off the road for 5 years I guess! Part of my plan for building one was to fit new common failure parts (all of the above!) but when my mate gave me a pile of used stuff before i went to collect and I found a 182 in the local scrappy which liberated injectors and other bits so I might as well use them. At least I know all the spares are working as they weren't the issue. Hopefully. 

A set of Rainsports have arrived which I'm off to fit tonight. Next up is new inner track rod and tracking as it's a bit wayward at the front end. 
 

[SRi05]

On 2/29/2020 at 7:40 AM, Asimo said:

Some admin to do?

 

Nobody likes a grass 

[juular]

I do like vans. But fast vans, I absolutely love. This is amazing.

[dome]

1 hour ago, SRi05 said:

Nobody likes a grass 

Just to clarify in case anyone has any doubts, this is insured as what it is through a specialist broker and the DVLA WILL be informed of the engine change. 
There's none of this "still 1.5 on the logbook M9 so cheap tax" as tax is bloody expensive anyway (£230).

[Dick Cheeseburger]

4 hours ago, dome said:

Just to clarify in case anyone has any doubts, this is insured as what it is through a specialist broker and the DVLA WILL be informed of the engine change. 
There's none of this "still 1.5 on the logbook M9 so cheap tax" as tax is bloody expensive anyway (£230).

I wouldn't worry. You don't have to justify yourself on here.

 Does this mean the MR2 2ZZ is pushed to one side? Always enjoy updates with the little J beast as well!

[dome]

1 hour ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I wouldn't worry. You don't have to justify yourself on here.

 Does this mean the MR2 2ZZ is pushed to one side? Always enjoy updates with the little J beast as well!

Nah, she's still earning her keep. It got a shock replaced under warranty by KYB as it shat all its oil out, other than that it'll be getting a fettle for some more track days this season. Duncan has it as his daily so it gets some use. He's on holiday this week so I might take it a spin at some point though?

[dome]

Some more progress on this (sorry @Tickman!!)

However, this is to be my daily so i need it in order. Also I hit a pothole with the S4 and am struggling to get anyone to repair the wheel and resore all 4 for under £300. I'm therefore not too keen on driving it too much just now. The tyre looks OK but I don't trust it. 

Last week i went to my mates unit where we (OK, mostly his mate) fitted 4 new Rainsport 5s  in place of the 10 year old Nexens. I have grip again!

The trip computer seems to work, here's what it reported on a steady 10 mile commute

Exactly what I want to see! (I know, it needs a clean inside...)

On Saturday morning I fitted the new inner tie rod. A chopped down 32mm water pump spanner made this easy to do and it drives a lot better now the steering gear has no free play...

Here's what I have beneath the arches

New standard Renault dampers
Random lowering springs-I'd like to find some slightly longer ones but it'll be a bit of a lottery and raising the rear torsion beam to match will be a pain in the ass.
New discs and pads
New H&R spacers(required for the 15" wheels to clear the rear and it does look pretty good on them and doesn't seem to rub. 
And generally decent condition for 16 years old and 155k miles on the shell. 

A new set of plugs arrived so they got fitted, here's the state of the old ones...

On Sunday I went to B&Q and bought some MDF, several hours later i had a bulkhead fitted.

Plan is to carpet the cabin side-can anyone advise on a suitable (cheap) covering?

It's made it a good bit quieter, it's still fooking loud though so i think completing the exhaust is the next mission. Then i can look at the EPAS conversion and timing belt change. They'll need to be done at the same time ideally as the whole aux belt setup changes when you convert to EPAS.

[Crackers]

I love this van. 

That is all. 

[dome]

Well, as we're all going stir crazy at home what better time to update this thread?

So, in February i went on holiday to Budapest. Remember when we could do things like that?

We took the Audi to the airport and on the way I remember feeling a particularly nasty pothole. It seemed to drive fine so i never thought any more of it. However about a week after we got back i went to give it a wash and noticed this.

Arses.

I got some quotes to get it repaired and them all refurbed at the same time. Bugger me it's expensive? I also looked around at alloys for sale but couldn't find anything I liked. i eventually found a place in Glenrothes who gave a decent quote. The S4 got advisories on it's 2 rear tires at its MOT and obviously the front needed replaced after the impact so a full set of Rainsport 5s were ordered up. I've fitted these to the Kangoo too and first impressions are good. 
Side note- since I've bought Rainsports for both my fleet the rainfall in Scotland has dropped. You're welcome. 

Of course after i dropped the wheels and tires off at the place we're now in lockdown so i can't collect them as they are shut. It's not an issue just now as I can't drive it anywhere anyway, i also decided to start doing some more work at the same time.

It's getting:

2 new wings- i got a set from a local bodyshop painted for a good price.
Rocker cover gaskets replaced
Oil check valves replaced-these stop oil from draining back out of the heads when you switch it off. 
Oil change at the same time
Some of my underseal from 18 months ago needs redone.
New aux belt

It currently looks like this, an absence of a T45 Torx bit to complete the removal of the front end has slowed things down.

Once it's in service position (the front end can be moved forward a few inches to allow access to the front of the engine, or removed completely by draining the coolant and AC lines) I can get access to carry on stripping it down.   

Kangoo

I finally got round to fitting the rest of the exhaust yesterday. As the Kangoo system exits on the opposite side to the Clio 172 system i bought some modification was necessary-i had to chop the pipe going into the back box and modify this to get the over axle angle right.  I've got it mounted up now and ready, I haven't driven it yet to see if it's going to need modified but it seems a lot better noise wise and looks well hung, Fnarr.

I also, courtesy of Mr Tickman, acquired an EPAS steering column from a base model Clio which will be used for the conversion. A separate controller has also been ordered to fool the EPAS ECU into working, this also gives me a wee knob I can use to vary the level of assistance. I'll get the timing belt kit ordered up and that can be another lockdown task-I'll be removing the aircon pump and p/s pump when I do this.