Hill Climbing Clio - Cheeriotaefuck 06/09/24

[320touring]

Just booked on to it🤣

 

You coming up?

[gm]

10 minutes ago, 320touring said:

You coming up?

could be tempted, i’ll see what’s happening at work, i might just blag the weekend off and head north  

[320touring]

Would be good to see you!

You need membership to book on, mind

[gm]

On 4/18/2022 at 5:56 PM, 320touring said:

No idea what this is - the driver was far too busy scaring passengers for me to be able to have a chat.

 I thought I recognised that one - it's a Sylva kit car built by Alistair Reynolds, running gear is from a Ford Puma

I met him several times on trackdays, nice chap and very knowledgeable, based in Linlithgow

here we are fixing a throttle linkage at knockhill

[320touring]

I'm hoping to drag race this at Crail on the 15th May, so decided to give it a check over prior to that (and with enough time to get anything needed..)

Had it up in the air checking all the front suspension and brakes - nothing to worry about which is pleasing.

Time to pack up then.

*Shuts bonnet*

NOPE.

Cock.

 

The latch that holds the bonnet pin has seized open. So the bonnet just sits on the safety hook.

 

Nothing for it but to strip and clean the mechanism then.

First, remove the upper grill securings at the left and right, then pull the grill gently forward to expose the latch mounting.

The 10mm bolts received a goodly dose of remonstrating fluid, and a cup of coffee was consumed.

To whit, both came undone without issue.

There was a fair amount of gunk under the latch - so much so that it wouldn't return properly.

This is part way through cleaning:

 

And here it is after a re-greasing:

 

Installation is the reverse of removal, and it's all operational now.

Such is the way of Clio Lyfe!

[KitKat]

On 4/18/2022 at 9:02 PM, Fabergé Greggs said:

Aaahhh I miss Forestburn! Any excuse reminisce about the days ragging the X1/9 up there…. 
 

 

No fucking about there then @Fabergé Greggs Ace vid

[320touring]

Two things to report:

1. The OBC reads 42.2mpg after 100 miles on this tank. I wonder if pulling all my tools out helped?

 

2. It's more practical than it has any right to be..

[320touring]

First competitive outing for this today - up to the almighty Crail for some Drag racing.

I say drag racing, but it was more a meeting of mates interspersed with Going Like Fuck ..

Firstly, scran was procured from a fine establishment

Others were met and a sedate run to the track meant that I arrived with decent MPG for the tank so far.

I'd covered a fair few miles (and added a further 20L to the tank in anticipation of the trip today)

 

I reset the trip mpg to see how bad it was. Happily, over all the runs and returns back to the queue, it managed 13.6mpg. Pretty decent really.

With the exception of 1 run, where I launched at 3000 rpm and triggered the traction control (so the car cut power and bogged) I found 2500 and careful with the clutch got reasonable launches without the threat of damage to the driveline.

the best time of the day was 15.615 @90.5mph.

As you can see, my reaction times ain't great, but at least I am consistently in the 15s 

I decided discretion was the better part of valour, so was not doing burnouts etc, just rolling up to the line and launching at 2.5k..

The car handled it well, thankfully.

it was nice to use it in anger for the first time.

the trip home was very leisurely, partly because of the lovely weather, and partly because of only having 1/4tank or so left to get home.

Next Sunday is a hillclimb day - so we will see how it fairs there..

[320touring]

Surprising news on the fuel consumption front...

55.47L used for 488.5 miles (Inc the 20L top up before drag racing)

40.04mpg 😁😍

That's it's second best tank I've had out it.

[320touring]

After managing to slice my thumb open working on my '59 Morris Oxford ( narrowly missing the tendons and the nerve), on Wednesday,

 

I've had to pull out the hillclimb tomorrow as the wound has not healed enough to be able to drive..

 

Bastard 

[Jim Bell]

12 hours ago, 320touring said:

After managing to slice my thumb open working on my '59 Morris Oxford ( narrowly missing the tendons and the nerve), on Wednesday,

 

I've had to pull out the hillclimb tomorrow as the wound has not healed enough to be able to drive..

 

Bastard 

 

 

The hills not going anywhere man. Just heal up, return and give to BOTH THUMBS. 

[loserone]

👍🙌

[gm]

is there no superglue in your toolbox / first aid box ? 

hope it heals in time for omgtrackdaykaos in a couple of weeks  

[320touring]

This car was supposed to be on a hill climb on Sunday 5th of June and a track evening on the 6th of June.

Obviously, on Monday 30th May, I heard a telltale tinkle of a clutch release bearing any time the clutch pedal was depressed.

I fear this thing is as workshy as me.

Over the next week, the noises got louder, and the car more juddery on takeoff. 

Luckily, I'd not booked with the trackday or hillclimb.

Now the car shakes like a dog shitting razorblades as you pull away and each gearchange is accompanied by a thud.

The aforementioned booking money is now going towards a new clutch being fitted. I've asked Clio Stu to give the whole front end a check over whilst it's up in the air.

Suffice to say, I have an answer to the question "Why is there a clutch set in the boot"?

To be fair to it, i got it at 168999 miles, and got 5700 miles out the clutch. Wonder what state the friction pad is in?

Photos to follow once stripped!

[320touring]

Prepare for Carnage...

From initially noticing the rattle of the release bearing until it was parked at Clio Stu's last night, the car has done about 600 miles..

Initially it doesn't look great ..

 

Peel back for more buggeredness

I'd say that is forked..

Zoom and enhance on the release bearing:

there was at least some friction material left.

 

It's now all back together with the following:

New LUK clutch kit

Good second hand fork

2L of new gearbox oil

Good second hand polybushed 'dogbone' lower engine mount

and apparently driving well.

 

I collect it on Monday hopefully..

[320touring]

It's now back and driving lovely😀

 

Of course, the fuel light just came on.

....

[320touring]

A whole week.

 

That's how long I got between the clutch being done and the car needing more work.

 

Right rear bearing is howling like a banshee, so it's new discs time (rear discs have the bearings pressed in).

 

Not the worst job but as usual, time n money..

[320touring]

Rear bearing still howling, still no time.

 

In other news, the last two tanks have been pretty good!

 

 

[320touring]

Tell me you have a fucked rear bearing without telling me... Spacer washer fucked too, will order spacers and discs now. A spare disc is on and grumbling gone. Technical success.

[320touring]

The Burd is down in London for a weekend, so I took Friday off work and decided to head down to Gigha..

At Isle of Isle of Gigha Camp and Motorhome Site ( https://www.visitgigha.co.uk/Campsite ) for the next couple of days - brilliant wee campsite and great roads leading to it!

 

Also used the 182 to haul down grain for Gigha Brewing - the Beer must flow!

[320touring]

This has mainly been doing commuting duties for the good lady (whilst her mk1 golf gets new injectors)

 

The road to the island is a decently twisty, fast flowing road, and the closer you get to the campsite, the lighter the traffic.

 

I took the opportunity to run the 182 down and back - sticking to speed limits, but enjoying the roads.

 

The car is great for this sort of drive - you can leave it in 5th and tickle past slower moving cars, or shift to forth if you need to be nippy. Holding 60 is possible on a light throttle and engine braking is aggressive enough to allow attacking the corners with no energy lost to heat from the brakes.

 

All in all, a great weekend away - with the added bonus of a best ever tank over 370 miles!

 

34.57 mpg (US)

41.53 mpg (Imp)

 

I expect I'll be back down again, so will see if I can better that

[320touring]

Latest on this is it just continues to plod along.

 

Had a run out in the borders with some mates - @cort16 @Supernaut @captain_70s @jaypee and @Lacquer Peel.

Great times, some fun roads/rally stages and a most enjoyable day.

 

Didn't get any more photos as too busy GLF.

 

I was going to book onto a hill climb this Sunday - last chance for the year.

 

Went into my emails on Thursday night to get my club membership number and found an email saying it was cancelled due to low numbers (7).

 

This was despite the website showing 14 spaces of 30 booked.

 

All a bit weird.

 

May try to do some trackdays instead - as trying to remain well behaved on the public highway..

[Faker]

Enjoy the wee Clio RS 320touting. What a machine. Clio Sports are simply one of the greatest cars ever put in to production. Yes they can be a little delicate… but dear god they’re magnificent to drive. Sold my old one 7 years ago… to my nephew.. who tortured me to sell it. He wanted to try track days and needed a suitable machine (victim) to fulfil his desire and needs… with 112k on the clock and in fantastic (unbiased) condition I let it go for £900 (Jezuz wept!)… regret it every day since… especially with the track day usage outcome.. On a lighter note I bought a wee Yaris 1.8 SR a while back and I have to say…. It’s been utterly faultless. Unlike the Clio it’s not as delicate and being of Japanese origin it simply doesn’t go wrong. Wet weather handling capabilities aren’t remotely in the same league either I might add… but in the real world in dry weather it’s just as much fun, with somewhat less power.  Doubt I’ll have another Clio as the price of them now is insane! 

[Tenmil Socket]

29 minutes ago, Faker said:

Enjoy the wee Clio RS 320touting. What a machine. Clio Sports are simply one of the greatest cars ever put in to production. Yes they can be a little delicate… but dear god they’re magnificent to drive. Sold my old one 7 years ago… to my nephew.. who tortured me to sell it. He wanted to try track days and needed a suitable machine (victim) to fulfil his desire and needs… with 112k on the clock and in fantastic (unbiased) condition I let it go for £900 (Jezuz wept!)… regret it every day since… especially with the track day usage outcome.. On a lighter note I bought a wee Yaris 1.8 SR a while back and I have to say…. It’s been utterly faultless. Unlike the Clio it’s not as delicate and being of Japanese origin it simply doesn’t go wrong. Wet weather handling capabilities aren’t remotely in the same league either I might add… but in the real world in dry weather it’s just as much fun, with somewhat less power.  Doubt I’ll have another Clio as the price of them now is insane! 

Only ever been a passenger in one but wowsers it felt rapid! It was a lovely orange colour. What happened on that track day to make it flip?

[Faker]

6 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Only ever been a passenger in one but wowsers it felt rapid! It was a lovely orange colour. What happened on that track day to make it flip?

Too much throttle… too sharp a turn in… too much kerb!! 🤣

[320touring]

This is now coming up on its 2nd MOT in my ownership.

How is it going?

Well, I keep it immaculate

 

it plods along ok, and has done about 10.5k since i bought it, just 2k to go to the big number

I took it up to Clio Stu for a going over - he has a 2 post lift, so we could get right in about it.

A few things were sorted:

Horn terminals cleaned so it worked again

(Yes, that is directly in the way of all the road shite, great design)

The lack of reverse lights was resolved by fitting a replacement reverse switch to the gearbox - relatively easy to get to between the gearbox end cover and the LH driveshaft.

A new* set of rear discs and pads was installed. The right rear bearing had munched the disc spacer - so we had to replace that too.

After fitting and torquing it all up (175nm if you want to know), we reinstalled the pad carriers and set up the handbrake for a satisfying 3 clicks.

A front damper was replaced - passenger side this time. If it gets an MOT I may treat it to NEW DAMPERS🥳

the pollen filter was removed

And an exhaust clamp changed.

We also swapped the wheels front to rear.

All in all, good improvement all round.

 

The morning after, the blower motor stopped blowing. Obviously, this was most helpful in -6 at 7.30am.

Handily, the motor and wiring is easily accessible - just under the scuttle near to the pollen filter.

2 6mm bolts and some plug wiggling got it pulled out

With the fan speed whacked up to full (to bypass the resistor), there was no life at the fan. I imagine most folk here have had a car with a failed resistor - so you can just run at full until you can fix it.

Fuse was ok, had 12v at the power points on the plugs. Dead motor. Has to be.

 

Time to head back up to Clio Stu today and see what's what. I left the wiring unhooked so I could plug in another motor to test.

43miles later in -5 temps. And I made it there ok. Luckily most of the run ia A road/motorway or dual carriageway, so enough airflow to draw in some heat.

 

We plugged in a motor. No dice.

We swapped the resistor for another.

 

All fan speeds, and original motor working perfectly.

 

So there you go. Typical ClioLYFE. The resistor failed so there was too much resistance, and the motor wouldn't turn. The exact opposite of every other car I have had with resistor issues.

 

I drove home warmer😁

[320touring]

Handily, all the efforts in December paid aff....

Clean pass and another year on the road for the Clio..

10.6k miles is not a bad stint considering I don't have a commute!

[320touring]

Decided to celebrate the MOT pass with a blast along a favourite local backroad.

 

Great fun despite the road having suffered significantly due to the frost over Xmas and new year ..

[320touring]

Off for another trip to Gigha.

We set off from home in the dark and rain, but it improved considerably by the time we reached Inveraray..

Another 90 mins on the road saw us in Tayinloan awaiting the ferry. On an aside, even 3 up with a full boot and tank, the 182 is a great A road car - comfortable enough, easy overtakes and 40mpg

Said ferry has a buggered ramp. So is only loading/unloading from one end.

Hence, I had to reverse onto the boat.

Happily we had the ferry to ourselves

 

Once  on the island, we had a still around the north of the island. Thankfully the weather was awesome, and a great time was had.

We got to see some Viking burials - laid out to look like a long ship.

Further round we saw some neolithic graves..

Stunning views as far as the eye could see - enjoy the pictures!

[320touring]

I did two silly things...

1. Buying a 2nd hand Autel code reader (thanks @Jimbob McGregor - it's ace😃)

2. Applied it to the Clio...

Just the 18(!) Codes showing across all tested systems..

some time was spent clearing them all - thankfully most were "Memory" rather than "Active"

 

All cleared now. Live data is ace. Even able to test throttle pedal and throttle body - they seem to be working ok.

 

I'll drive it for a week and see what comes back😃