My new racecar project (Icemans old shell)

[Russ Rallye]

So after buying a tidy 172 cup to prep to race i saw Icemans caged shell for sale and decided to save my self some time and work and buy it instead of doing all the hard graft on my shell. Picked it up on saturday and after swapping all my running gear onto it in record time in Marks garage it was on the trailer.
First things first, 10 points to anyone who can see what was missing from my 335d when i got the car back home!

Anyway, wasted no time on sunday stripping all the graphics etc off the car. This is how it looked before i touched it.

In progress with heat gun!

One side stripped

And the rest

Next job was to remove any sound deadening that had strangely been left in the car, x2 bits under the scuttle, x1 bit on the drivers side inner wing and x4 bits on the inner 1/4 panels.

Tidied all the tar/glue residue off ready to be primed/painted.

The plan was to prep the engine bay and get it primed up and painted Renault Glacier white. However the strut tops are a mess from previous bolt in top mounts i suspect. Measured up some plates to be cut out and i'll weld them on top to strenthen the strut top. Have buffed the paint off ready to weld.

Added some lighteness while in the engine bay, dispossed of various unused studs and brackets and took a hole saw to the front cross member. At least that was able to be primed up.

Should get the welding done one night this week and hopefully have the engine bay and front under arches painted at the weekend. Subrame and pedal box is now off ready along with the arches and skirts. Plan is to have the whole car repainted Renault Glacier White in the next couple of weeks ready for me to start building it back up using all the parts from my 172 cup + have a set of Clio Cup Car Bilsteins here, have some fibreglass panels to pick up off Hal too. Will update more when i get a chance.
Russ

 

[dmallett]

Nice shell, should be a good build!

Seriously though he spent all that money and left it with sound deadening in? Bit worrying ha

 

[BIGASH]

Looks a great project Look forward to seeing the end results!

 

[Tony Hunter]

Russ, don't dip it

 

[Russ Rallye]

If you dipped a clio would there be anything left Tony?
Russ

 

[p@blo]

Icemans shell. That's a real nice looking cage - pickups to the front turrets too iirc? Should be an awesome project, looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

Good shout on the glacier white btw

Russ, don't dip it

Lol, such a shame about Chris' old Trophy shell

 

[Dan519]

I'll claim the 10 points then Headlight washer jet blank missing

 

[Russ Rallye]

I'll claim the 10 points then Headlight washer jet blank missing

10 points to that man! Preparing to have my pants pulled down my the local dealer for a new one!
Russ

 

[Stu.]

Will be a good build. Will defo keep an eye on it!

such a shame about Chris' old Trophy shell

What ever happend to that?

 

[Tony Hunter]

I'll claim the 10 points then Headlight washer jet blank missing

Lol, I thought that it was too obvious.

 

[Russ Rallye]

Been mostly trying to get the engine bay sorted and painted.
Strut top plates cut out and welded on.

Also filled all the holes in the bulkhead and anywhere else i saw fit. Whole engine bay was then rubbed down and primed, given a couple of coats of Glacier White and then a couple of coats of laquer for good measure. All under the arches etc was also primed and painted.

Looks ok i think, however my garage and everything else is covered in dust/overspray.

Also cleaned my subframe up, rubbed it down and painted it satin black just to tidy it up a bit.

With everything painted up i could get on and start putting some bits back on the car. Subframe with rack and arb are back on along with the pas resevoir and coolant bottle.

Got a few ideas and spoke to a lot of people/companies at the Autosport show last week, also picked up a fibreglass boot and bonnet from Hal (HR Racing) off here on the way home, just need to figure out how i'm going to mount the boot as it has no hinge cutouts/holes.

Got a load of stuff on the list to do now and parts to buy. Its booked in to have the outside painted at the end of feb. Need to get a gripper diff sorted asap and some arp rod bolts so i can build the engine and box back up and put it back in the car.

Russ

 

[shiftspark]

Looks good Russ, where are you planning on racing it ?

 

[Tony Hunter]

I'll keep an eye on this.

 

[Russ Rallye]

Not sure yet Colin, quite like the sound of the new European/French trophy series if it gets off the ground otherwise maybe something like tintops that tony and jay run in. Going to watch as many series as I can this year see which I want to do.
Russ

 

[Tony Hunter]

I had a look at that French Trophy series as well.

Looks like, being the first year, it's a free for all, and then they will sort it out more for next year. Entry fees are £300 with 1 quali and 2 races, on the same day.
I asked him about gearboxes, but I think he doesn't want to put anybody off atm.

 

[Jonny1*2]

Great to see Marks shell lives on. Good luck with it Russ. French trophy sounds interesting.

 

[shiftspark]

Will hopefully see you in tintops at some point this year.

Not sure yet Colin, quite like the sound of the new European/French trophy series if it gets off the ground otherwise maybe something like tintops that tony and jay run in. Going to watch as many series as I can this year see which I want to do.
Russ

 

[JackJack]

Looks good so far.

 

[rdoxenham]

Looks great... could I be really cheeky and ask for more photos of the car with the white interior showing? I'm wondering what colour to paint my 172 cup interior... white or anthracite are at the top of the list but can't make my mind up and a search reveals very little! Thanks!

 

[Russ Rallye]

Hopefully will start to resemble a car shortly. Been trial fitting my fibreglass bonnet and boot this weekend, just waiting on my aerocatches arriving, all 3 sets! Next job is to get all the running gear bolted back on.
Russ

 

[Russ Rallye]

Looks great... could I be really cheeky and ask for more photos of the car with the white interior showing? I'm wondering what colour to paint my 172 cup interior... white or anthracite are at the top of the list but can't make my mind up and a search reveals very little! Thanks!

No problem mate, When I'm on the laptop ill put some pics up of this one even though its a little tatty at the moment and some of my old cup car which was metallic grey inside and out (ex tcr) will give you a decent idea.
Russ

 

[rdoxenham]

Thanks mate!

 

[Russ Rallye]

The best pic i have of the white is this one

Not the best but gives you an idea.

2 better pics of the anthacite inside

If i was building from scratch i'd go for grey, looks fresher for longer, white gets grubby quickly on a race/track car.
Russ

 

[MG cup]

I'm going anthracite, you wouldn't believe how many sprayers are trying to convince me to go white lol, must be easier to paint for them.

Is that quite a dark grey Russ but the flash is making it brighter? Audi iirc?

 

[Cup_Phil]

They can spray gloss white in a single coat - anthracite requires a clear coat
Painting the roof of the inside of a clio in clear coat is an absolute b**ch

I was fairly lucky the sprayer felt like a challenge when he did mine Blue inside. Getting the clear coat to settle properly on the roof without having a spit to turn the car upside down on was fun!

 

[MG cup]

Yeah you can do all bold colours in 2k, I even toyed with a storm grey sort of colour for easyness but I think it would disappoint?? I think it has to be white or nothing really in 2k but for the small difference its worth the time IMO to go base and clear.

 

[Russ Rallye]

Not updated for a while, bought a couple of bits for it, notably some more 2118 speedlines with R888's, i now have a set of both white and anthacite.

Also managed to bag a set of used Jenvey Throttle bodies that have only done dyno time, came complete with everything, filter, TPS, lingage, manifold etc.

The main focus however has been getting the car ready for paint, externally its all stripped down with everything removed. Had to fit my aerocatches to the fibreglass bonnet and boot, or at least cut it all out ready for fitment after paint. Fibregalss was very easy to work with, i'm going to use the new aerocatch spreader plates so had to trim the underside of the bonnet to suit, hopefully on the boot i can put the plate through the hole i've cut and bond it in so it stays cpative and avoids me having to hack the rear of the boot to pieces and keep it tidy. A dremmel is definately the ideal tool here.

I wasn't intending to touch the inside but the quality of the paint and prep was really bugging me, nearly 20 holes drilled in the footwells and the old drivers side seat mounts butchered on removal had to be sorted. All the holes were welded up and buffed off and the seat rails removed properly.

Obviously this now means i've got paint to do inside so more cost and hassle but it'll be worth it. Its now at the painters and it'll be back in a week to 10 days all resplendant in Renault Glacier White. Last pic of it before it went on the trailer this morning.

Got some jobs to do while the shells away, some trim bits to fettle and paint up and maybe do a few bits on the engine.
Russ

 

[Russ Rallye]

Its been a while but I've got the shell back from paint, looks pretty good, just need to pick my panels etc up and start building it back up. No metal panels to go back on now, boot, bonnet and doors are all fibreglass so should bring the weigh down a bit.


Managed to get the engine built up while the shell has been away, Cat 421 cams fitted along with arp rod bolts. Various gaskets and seals added as necessary along the way, obviously a lick of paint too. Still a bit paranoid cams aren't fitted/timed up correctly but i'll double check before the engine goes back in. Test fitted the bodies to see what the looked like really!




Hopefully have some more pics at the weekend with some bits bolted on!
Russ

 

[Jonny1*2]

Looking good Russ. Should pull a bit with that weight reduction

 

[Tony Hunter]

 

[MG cup]

Looking good, I'd go for more lowz, 100mm apex springs would look good

 

[sonny172cup]

Great progress...engine looking good.

 

[Russ Rallye]

Not a massive amount of progress to show but now have a lot of parts so hopefully should go a lot quicker from here on in.
Rear end is built up, fitted the rear bumper, tow strap and fibreglass bootlid with spoiler.

Waiting on my poly windows coming from Plastics4performace and acw and they can all be bonded in along with my heated front screen which is sat here ready to go in. Fitted the drivers side fibreglass door which was a pain to get lined up, left the passenger onbe off for now for access so i can finish the wiring etc off inside the car.
Had a trip to Demon Tweeks at the weekend to try out a few seats, settled on a Sparco Pro ADV in standard width. Had it in the car but i need to make some adapters to bring the seat back as far as the cage will allow.

Bought a few other things from Tweeks too, a Lifeline electrical fire extinguisher system, cartek battery isolator and a TRS 6 point harness. Got the extinguisher bottle and battery cutoff fitted along with my battery i already had, all in the passenger footwell along with my new fuse/relay box.

Also bought in the last week a load of bits from Pure Motorsport, along with the shifter from the group buy on here i also went for all the solid bearings and strengthening kits for the front wishbones and rear beam. While on my travels i called in to see Chris (Crispy Clio) and took his AST Sportline 2's off his hands, funnily enough they were fitted to this shell when mark had it too?

Managed to get my seating position roughed out, modified column fitted with a proper bracket.

Got the pms shifter fitted too, at least the internal parts anyway, no engine/gearbox fitted yet so didn't bother with the linkage bar obvously.

Last but not least picked up a used Oreca Group A system, front pipe will need modified to fit my 182 manifold but thats no big deal. For those that havent noticed i'm using a 182 flatfloor shell but i've converted it back to 172 rear bumper and exhaust to save some weight over the 182 system.

Hopefully i'll get my wishbones and rear beam modified this week and put some new front wheel bearing in for good measure while i'm at the press, that means all the front brakes and suspension can be built up and as soon as my rear hoses are here the rear can be finished too, means it can sit on its wheels for good then, its back on its axle stands at the moment.

I've also just ordered my Gripper LSD and 13/60 crownwheel and pinion so need to order a shorter 5th gear and all that can go to my gearbox guy to be rebuilt. As i say should start moving on a bit faster from now on!
Russ

 

[Cup_Phil]

This is absolutely epic!

Makes me wish I'd done mine in white lol

 

[Cupman29]

Every time I mention doing mine in white everyone says I'd regret it due to looking grubby and glare in sunny days but I must admit I love the look of white interiors.

 

[BIGASH]

Looking great Russ Have you run a cartek isolator before? I only ever hear negative things (many occasions) and problems surrounding them so if it was me and I hadn't fitted it i'd send it back to Tweaks and swap to an Armtech unit.

Best of luck for the remainder of the build

 

[Tony Hunter]

Every time I mention doing mine in white everyone says I'd regret it due to looking grubby and glare in sunny days but I must admit I love the look of white interiors.

Take no notice of what other people say, mines white inside and out, perfect. (anyway, Scotland, sun??)

​Nice collection of bits there Russ.

 

[GodSpeed]

Ohh that PMS shifter looks great, but you are not able to purschase that officially yet right?

EDIT: Noticed now that it its. Ordering one right away.

 

[Dan@SJM]

There's just been a group buy for them lol

 

[mark123]

Take no notice of what other people say, mines white inside and out, perfect. (anyway, Scotland, sun??)

​Nice collection of bits there Russ.

lol.

Mine's white too. Next time I have the dash out I will be painting the bit just behind the windscreen matt black as the white still reflects through the vents in the dash. You don't notice at speed though and the rest of it is fine.

I also have a cartek isolator and it has been fine - touch wood! But since buying it I have also heard many bad stories about them although never anything first hand. They draw a fair current even when in the off state so will drain a battery in a week or so apparently (maybe they all do this?). I have mine connected to a conditioner all the time so I've had no problems in that regard either. It does mention the latter in the instructions IIRC.

Looking good Russ. Funny how Mark's bits get around I have his bodies, Pete has some of his wheels, Ian had his engine.