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robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
Nice little write up in Autosport this week.

In the press 2.jpg
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
I had a great view of the race from the other side of the barrier at the Esses [emoji31] Most exciting race ive seen in ages.

Thanks Sam. Was rather manic wasn’t it.

Unfortunately the gearbox is now done so I won’t be at Mallory.
Got to get the car ready for the Birkett at the end of October.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
We are now officially entered in to the Birkett 6 hour relay so the clock is ticking with just 5 weeks until the race on the 27th October.

This weekend the brakes were stripped and the gearbox dropped out. Doing everything on my own, some of these jobs definitely take longer than with 2 people. But after starting about 10am on Saturday it was all out by 4pm, allowing a stop for lunch of course!

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These are DS1.11 pads on Brembo HC discs. Clearly a very aggressive pad and possibly a bit too aggressive on such a small disc. I think we may go back the CL RC6s for the Birkett. A big brake upgrade is on the cards for over the winter anyway. (funds allowing)
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These pads have done 2 races and 1 test day.

Ready to start
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Subframe out. I wasn't going to take it all the way out but it's covered in oil from the gearbox leak so this is a good time to power wash everything.
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...and finally out. Not the easiest job solo.
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Glittery oil is definitely not right!
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robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
12 days to go to the Birkett, so time to get busy.

On Saturday I collected the gearbox from Mark Fish. Not a cheap rebuild with a whole new 1st and 2nd gearset, all new syncros and selector forks, plus a new shorter 5th gear added up to a parts list in excess of £700! In addition the diff went back to Gripper for a refurb and a new output shaft so now the new box should be much improved and leak free.
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A couple of hours wrestling it in on my own and the bolts were all tightened.
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Next was a precautionary measure. I've replaced the alternator and belt. Nothing obviously wrong with the ones on it, but with the car doing 2 1 hour stints during the race it really needs to be on form.
And with the alternator off I found another loose bolt on the lower alternator bracket. Another bullet dodged maybe.

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And finally this evening I've relocated the oil pressure sender. Before it was mounted up behind the headlight and I think the height of it was the cause of the low oil pressure readings the dial was giving me. Now hopefully, with it down beside the radiator we might have some meaningful figures on the gauge.

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I've ordered oil and a filter for the engine, gearbox oil (obviously), new Motul RBF660 brake fluid which will hopefully handle the high temperatures better; new spark plugs and new front discs and pads. I've reverted to the CL RC6 pads for the Birkett which should be kinder on the discs and if the brake upgrade happens over the winter this is all they will be needed for anyway.

The last job after that is to reinstate the pit to car radio which I removed to fit in our other car a couple of years ago and haven't got round to putting back in. This will be really helpful during the Birkett.

So more updates in the coming days as parts arrive.
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
Worth every issue to bring the car home with a 1st place trophy. Awesome!
Thanks! I think you're right. After everything I've been through with this car it was very welcome. And that gearbox has lasted me 3 years so I can't complain and if it lasts me even another couple of seasons it will be worth the expense. But, you just never know with these cars!
 
  Clio 182
Nice to see a thorough no expense spared approach to try and achieve reliability.....Car looks awesome!
When I had my box rebuilt for gripper diff and meg 5th I didn’t realise you could buy a new box for around £800, not sure whether they’re just reconditioned though.
Where do you source your A050’s?
I’ve really rated the A048’s, much better?
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
Nice to see a thorough no expense spared approach to try and achieve reliability.....Car looks awesome!
When I had my box rebuilt for gripper diff and meg 5th I didn’t realise you could buy a new box for around £800, not sure whether they’re just reconditioned though.
Where do you source your A050’s?
I’ve really rated the A048’s, much better?

Thanks! I try and make small improvements and renew things as and when needed. There are so many things that can go wrong and prevent you finishing a race, it's easy to see why race teams spend the money they do.

Renault did used to offer reconditioned boxes, you're right. But although theoretically you can still order one from them, they are on a very long lead time and we suspect they hold off building any until they get a few orders in.
I did discuss this with Mark Fish, but of course even if you do buy a gearbox this way, it's still got to come apart for the diff to be fitted by which time you're up to the money I've spent (and beyond probably).
I never ran AO48s, but I know quite a few who have and everyone of them is moving over to the AO50s now.
I get mine from Adams & Page in High Wycombe. They support the CSCC so I think we get a bit of a discount.
There don't seem to be many people selling them yet though. Possibly because they are not a road legal tyre.
 
  172
I paid £360 delivered for my A050’s that was cheapest I could find.

Snetterton is my local track, let me know when your next there and I’ll try pop up ?
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
I paid £360 delivered for my A050’s that was cheapest I could find.

Snetterton is my local track, let me know when your next there and I’ll try pop up [emoji16]

That’s not bad. A&P did them to me for £380 inc fitting. But it’s a 45 minute drive to get there for me!

Snetterton is our first race of the season next year. So maybe meet you then. We’ll be doing a test day before that too no doubt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Hyperhatch

ClioSport Club Member
  182
Interestingly, my FB feed is telling me that 4 years ago today my gearbox failed at Snetterton!

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In other news, some service parts arrived today. The rest tomorrow hopefully.

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I’m not going to lie, I completely ripped off the graphics of your old blue car?! I asked for something similar and my mate literally did it spot for spot! Sorry

I think I asked you when it was up for sale where you got the graphics from via the eBay add for the car. Also I think I chatted to you when I dropped mine off at Mark Fish for it’s roll cage fitted and you were showing the potential new owner around it?

Does the blue one live on? It’s poorer yellow clone does.......
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robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
I’m not going to lie, I completely ripped off the graphics of your old blue car?! I asked for something similar and my mate literally did it spot for spot! Sorry

I think I asked you when it was up for sale where you got the graphics from via the eBay add for the car. Also I think I chatted to you when I dropped mine off at Mark Fish for it’s roll cage fitted and you were showing the potential new owner around it?

Does the blue one live on? It’s poorer yellow clone does.......
View attachment 1391064

Ah yes I remember talking to you! I had 2 cars, the one I was selling then had the green check fading to blue. That car still
Lives although the new owner has had some bad luck this season blowing 3 engines and one gearbox!
The one with the white checks is the same one I have now, wrapped yellow and green.

Your car looks good with the yellow. Flattered that you copied it!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
Just about ready for the Birkett now. Last weekend was just about reassembling the front end, fitting subframe back on and then installing the new discs and pads. Then just torquing everything up properly and double and triple checking every nut and bolt.

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Then Monday evening it was fluids time.

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The only thing I haven't done yet is change the brake fluid and as I'm out of time now. I may do it either during or after the test day on Friday at Silverstone. We'll see how they feel.
I've run the car up on the stands and all gears seem to engage and it feels miles better than it did before. Much tighter. Even reverse goes in ok with no adjustment needed to the selector linkage which saves a whole heap of pain.

And finally this evening I've reinstalled the in-car radio. This should make things much easier out on track.

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I've also run out of time to collect the new tyres so we've order 2 from BlacknRounds who are based at Silverstone and we can get them fitted while we are there.

And finally, just to complicate my week I have a new Vito Sport arriving tomorrow which needs to have a towbar fitted before I collect the trailer on Thursday. I just hope everything falls in to place.
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
Birkett 2018 - Silverstone GP
Over a week ago now, but shortly after the race I came down with the manliest of man-flu that I've experienced! I'm still suffering now, so I've been a bit slow updating this.

Firstly, for anyone who hasn't been before or even knows what it is; the Birkett 6 hour relay race on the Silverstone GP circuit is 6 hours of absolute gruelling mayhem held at the end of every season and is open to any closed wheel race cars as a team event with a minimum of 3 cars and typically 2 drivers per car. I think the maximum number of cars is 6.
There are 2 possible results from the race. Outright winners and winners under an imposed handicap system giving (in theory) any team a chance to win, regardless of what cars you drive. As an example, 2 years ago a team of Hyundai Coupes won it!

So our plan was for a team of Clios, ideally all of a similar spec and pace so we could share spares and expertise during the race should we need to.

In our race series there are 3 Clios that are up at the sharp end regularly, and who we hoped would make the team but unfortunately one had a wedding commitment so we were left short. Soon after this news a honda Civic signed up with us, throwing the team ethos out of the window but promising to be on the same pace as us.

4 weeks before the race and the Civic blew it's engine at his last race meeting of the season so we were back to the drawing board.

I reached out on various forums and finally someone from the KTek 182 championship joined us. Not quite on the pace of course but at least a Clio!

2 weeks before the race, it blew it's engine at the last race meet of the season! A worrying pattern was emerging but we were out of time.
Fortunately, being a KTek Clio it just needed another standard engine which fortunately they were able to source and fit in time for the Friday testing.

So, we arrived at a damp Silverstone early Friday morning for a day of testing which we needed, having never driven the full GP circuit before and Ryan, my co driver for the event not having driven the car since our last visit to Silverstone back in May.

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The calm before the storm.

Beside us in the garages on Friday was this monster
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Once the track dried out Friday was very useful. Lots of data gathered on the VBox from both our laps which when overlaid it turned out there was 0.04s between our fastest laps. The only trouble, which still needs to be addressed is the car is still quite oversteery making fast corners difficult to commit to.
Other than that, the car ran well and we worked out how much fuel we were using per lap so we could be sure we could do the full 45 minute stints that we had planned.

Friday evening we were able to get the cars scrutineered and then we set ourselves up properly in the garage before heading off for dinner.
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Come Saturday morning and it was cold. REALLY COLD. our practice session started at 9.30 and under a glorious sunny sky we got started.
After our sessions were done the car was feeling a bit sluggish. Under the bonnet we discovered the bracket holding the air temp sensor had snapped with fatigue. No bother, we cable tied it up and went out again. Still no better and when we came in again, the sensor had completely fallen off.
We replaced the sensor and plugged the ECU in to the laptop. Air temp was reading 80 degrees and the map was retarding the ignition to compensate. Nothing we could do as the race was due to start and Ryan was out first.
We each had a 45 minute stint to do, alternating the cars with the exception of Ed in his 182 spec Clio which we agreed would do one 1 hour stint in the middle, as he had no co-driver and being down on pace this should still give us a decent chance.

How the organisers calculate the handicap of each team is a mystery to all except the officials involved. Some have suggested, they lock themselves in a room for hours on end and when white smoke begins to come from the chimney we know they have decided.
However it's done, I don't think they got the memo that we were in Clios. They had placed us 14th on a grid of 66 cars putting us up amongst the Radicals, Caterhams and a handful of serious M3s and TCR Seat Leons.

All this became academic when this happened on the 1st corner right at the start.



Ryan got bitten by the cold tyres in a fundamentally rookie mistake which subsequently put us right to the back of the pack. Recovering from this proved to be an insurmountable task.
The cars ran well for the full 6 hours, but this spin and then one of the other Clios having an off in to the gravel later meant our finishing position was 45th at the chequered flag.
And did I mentioned 4 hours of the race were in torrential rain. Another challenge for us as we had absolutely no wet running in the car. We put the R1Rs on and guessed at the pressures; disconnected the rear ARB and kept everything crossed. With the cold temperatures as well it wasn't easy but both Ryan and I managed to keep the car on the track and off the grass and gravel. Many other competitors were not so fortunate and there was rarely a lap where we didn't see someone spinning off either in front of us or in our mirrors.

So, quite an experience and lots learnt. The cars starting problems continue to hinder us and by the end of the day it wouldn't start at all despite having a charger on the battery.

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Before the rain came

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Refuelling and checking pressures

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Saying my prayers

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wets on and fingers crossed

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We finished!!
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
Back in the workshop, these wheels will need some attention.
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With the persistent man-flu I've had little chance to get back on the car but it was a simple enough task to diagnose the Ait Temp sensor issue.

Within 30 seconds I had found the problem
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Both wires detatched from the plug, so new pins ordered along with a new sensor from Emerald.

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And connected
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Just need to make up a new bracket now but at least air temps are looking more realistic now.

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Over the winter I will re-do the whole ignition wiring including new cut-off switches and possibly an Anderson plug in a convenient location. Along with more weight reduction, (dash and heater) plus ironing out the understeering issues, there's plenty to get on with.
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
So after a couple of months not touching the car I now need to start cracking on with my planned changes and improvements ready for the first test day at the end of March.
My main goal this winter is to get the dash and OE heater out as this is the last significant area for weight reduction. This will also involve a degree of rewiring as well but I need to be careful not to let this turn in to a project that can't be completed in the next couple of months. With work being busy at the moment too my time with the car is likely to be precious.
Before tackling any of this though I wnated to get to the bottom of the hot start issue we've had since the very beginning of last season.
By the end of the Birkett the car wouldn't start under it's own steam at all. Hot or cold.
My first thought was battery. It's an Odyssey 680 which I've always thought was probably at the limit of it's capability starting this car, especially since the higher compression engine went in. But after a trickle charge over Christmas the battery seems to be holding about 12.5 volts which is within spec.

Someone else had mentioned the starter button could be the problem. An inspection of the button doesn't show up much but to be on the safe side I've ordered a new 50 Amp button.

So finally, a bit of research revealed that a failing solenoid can also present the hot start symptoms and as I had a spare starter motor this is what I began with.

I rigged up a set of test cables, connected to the battery and one with a starter button attached so I could remove the starter and test it out of the car against my spare.

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No visible difference of course although the one removed from the car (left hand side) has a bolt missing from the body holding the armature.

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The test showed the old starter coughing a spluttering into life followed by swirling whisps of smoke seeping out of every orifice. Compared to the spare which zinged into life on the button!
So, I really hope that I've located our problem. Once the motor is back in the car I'll be able to give it a definitive test and all being well I can then crack on with dash removal.

If budget allows this will also be the time to install a Race Technology Dash2. Watch this space.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Autosport Show at the NEC so let's see who perusades me to part with my hard earned there.
 

Nafoff

ClioSport Club Member
Hope you had a good day at Autosport Rob,
I think the last time I commented was on like page 2 or 3 at which point I said you went through it to get to where you were. I have now only just had chance to read from there to here, it feels like much the same - lots of little niggles. Not sure I am looking forward to that with mine, but I guess thats part and parcel.

It is a credit to you though, the persistence and thought going into each little thing makes it worthwhile when you get the podium or even better win. Fair play.
Will try and catch up with you at some point in 2019. All the best chap
 
  Renault Master
What an amazing thread, all the best for this season, you’ve had your fair share of ups and downs. Look forward to further updates as the season progresses for you!
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
Hope you had a good day at Autosport Rob,
I think the last time I commented was on like page 2 or 3 at which point I said you went through it to get to where you were. I have now only just had chance to read from there to here, it feels like much the same - lots of little niggles. Not sure I am looking forward to that with mine, but I guess thats part and parcel.

It is a credit to you though, the persistence and thought going into each little thing makes it worthwhile when you get the podium or even better win. Fair play.
Will try and catch up with you at some point in 2019. All the best chap
Thanks Neil, much appreciated. Like you, I do like a bit of attention to detail and when you're racing I've found it pays dividends. Despite initial gremlins on the car's first outing after the rebuild the reliability has been spot on. Only improvements are required and of course just keeping on top of general ware and tear. Hopefully 2019 will be similar but of course anything can happen!

Be good to meet up, you can't be far off getting yours out there now can you?
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
What an amazing thread, all the best for this season, you’ve had your fair share of ups and downs. Look forward to further updates as the season progresses for you!
Thanks mate. When I read back what I've been through with this car I do wonder how it is that I still have so much enthusiasm for it! If last season had gone differently though it could be up for sale now! Having a bit of silverware makes a massive difference. So we'll see how 2019 pans out. Fingers crossed.
 

Nafoff

ClioSport Club Member
Thanks Neil, much appreciated. Like you, I do like a bit of attention to detail and when you're racing I've found it pays dividends. Despite initial gremlins on the car's first outing after the rebuild the reliability has been spot on. Only improvements are required and of course just keeping on top of general ware and tear. Hopefully 2019 will be similar but of course anything can happen!
Be good to meet up, you can't be far off getting yours out there now can you?

I am hoping the OCD/ATD does pay dividends and its not just me being me for the sake of it... ha.
I will try and get to a meeting/event and catch up with you, where abouts are you located in the country?

Mine kind of has to be at least weather tight and rolling by the end of the month as I am moving house. I want to get it running and instead of moving it home send it on a bit of a diversion (old house > exhaust manufacturer > mapper > new house), that would be ideal. I have to add all the fluids soon, that is the bit I am dreading tbh
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
I am hoping the OCD/ATD does pay dividends and its not just me being me for the sake of it... ha.
I will try and get to a meeting/event and catch up with you, where abouts are you located in the country?

Mine kind of has to be at least weather tight and rolling by the end of the month as I am moving house. I want to get it running and instead of moving it home send it on a bit of a diversion (old house > exhaust manufacturer > mapper > new house), that would be ideal. I have to add all the fluids soon, that is the bit I am dreading tbh
Ha! It definitely does pay off and especially in racing where the stresses on bolts, components etc are that much higher.

I don't envy you moving house and trying to move a workshop too. I think moving my workshop would be more stressful than moving the stuff in the house!

I'm based in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. Not that close to you I think.
 

Nafoff

ClioSport Club Member
I don't envy you moving house and trying to move a workshop too. I think moving my workshop would be more stressful than moving the stuff in the house! I'm based in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. Not that close to you I think.

We only have to move some of our possessions as we are going to be renting our current house out furnished, hopefully that will relieve some stress of moving.
As for the garage/car, yeah hopefully that goes alright... Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire - not a million miles away, just awkward to get to from here - I'll see you at a race meeting.. ha
 

robzracing

ClioSport Club Member
We only have to move some of our possessions as we are going to be renting our current house out furnished, hopefully that will relieve some stress of moving.
As for the garage/car, yeah hopefully that goes alright... Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire - not a million miles away, just awkward to get to from here - I'll see you at a race meeting.. ha
Maybe Silverstone in May? I'm always looking for pit crew. ;)
 


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