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  Clio 172 Merc ML55
Winters up's, downs and inbetweens part 3a. (Mar-May 19)

This is a long one so but do read on ?


On the back of a successful track day it was time to tidy up the last odds and ends on the car and organise this years racing plans.

First and foremost, where to race? For a number of reasons we've ended up in the Hot Hatches at Combe, completely underpowered in comparison to most of the field but its local with no need to camp/b'n'b, this year is all about seat time so as long as we're improving then all is good.

My list of odds and ends included

• Painting bonnet
• Replacing fuel line/rail to include a dry break for sampling
• Fitting PMS bullet rear axle kit
• Re routing the internal bias valve out of reach from seat
• Finish off door cards
• Fit new tow eyes
• Chamge front springs, lowering spring rate from 800 to 650 lb
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Normally we'd be rushing around trying to sort everything out last minute but for once the car was ready well in advance, so to save time and find a space in the paddock it was dropped off the night before the Early May bank holiday (May Madness as Combe like to call it)

Mon 6th May arrives and we set off for an early start, get the car prepared, sign on, run through scrutineering etc etc.

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Half 9 arrives and we're called up for qualifying, a little nervous as again there were new untried/tested elements but the nerves soon settled as we drove out onto the circuit. The first 10 minutes flew by until we lost the throttle coming through Folly and onto Avon Rise (quickest part of the circuit), cruising into the run off at the first chicane gave me an opportunity to switch off and restart the engine, hey presto the throttle returns and we continue on. 3 more laps and the chequered flag is out, qualifying over and we're all eager to see what the times were.

A fastest time of 1:20.9 saw us take 12th of the 23 on the grid for the race, with some comfortable 1:21's to back up our previous non timed timings from track days.

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To say we were all ecstatic would be an understatement, yes theres plenty of time to still be found but that's the fastest documented time I'd done, for me an achievement.

We had 4 hours to kill before our race, with nothing to do apart from checking levels/pressures and torques, so sit back and relax, have a chat and a wonder.

We we're called up to the assembly area a little early as the day was running ahead of schedule, so off we go, drive the car up and switch it off whilst we wait. 15 or so minutes pass and the marshall's ask us all to get ready, so I go to start the car and theres nothing ??, no attempt to turn over but I've got ignition, I've got my best mate next to me so we decide to bump start the car, still nothing, we end up just watching everyone else drive out onto the grid.

I look to the chief marshal in the assembly area who's with the series organiser and ask how long have I got to get the car sorted, seconds is the reply, if we're ready before the end of the green flag lap then I can start from the pit lane, despite all our efforts the car refuses point blank to start and we've no option but to push it back to the van in the paddock, whilst my mate is calling both his mrs and my wife who were up on the banking expecting to see the car come out.

All I can say is there was total dejection, I don't think any of us spoke for a good 10 minutes, all the hard work over the winter, the faultless running, the improvement in lap times. All for nothing. A box of matches and a gallon of petrol were seriously considered as everything was packed away



(I hadn't planned on another post but this ones gone on long enough ?)

If you've got this far well done, and thank you

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I've read it all, and like to push the like button for posting, but I can't like such a dissapointing post. Keep your head up, get it fixed, and on to the next round. At least the car showed it was fast enough for the midfield, which is positive I suppose.
 
  Clio 172 Merc ML55
Winters up's, downs and inbetweens part 3b. (May 19)

The final installment to get up to date


We got the car back, and left it on the trailer overnight whilst starting to think why/how/where something may have gone wrong, I should have mentioned in the last post that when the car refused to start the immobiliser light wouldn't clear, another had to be a wiring fault somewhere.

I spent the following day going through thread after thread and a few hours reading through anything else I could find online. Most of what is left of the loom was stripped apart, checking continuity, voltages, fuses, relays, anything I could think of without any success.

At this point I contacted one of the few people i trust to work on the car (I'm an ex Merc mechanic so 99% of things I do myself anyway) who ran through a few options, replacing the ECU and splicing into the existing loom, partial rewired or go big and replace everything, rip out all the original wiring and start again.

A chat with my wife and another phone call later we've spent a little over £3k on the major items for a complete rewire

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To summarise our little shopping list

• Omex 600 ECU and semi assembled loom
• Aim MXS digi display
• Cartek PDP to run everything bar the ECU
• Cartek XR isolater

There'll be many more odds and ends to come during the rewire but at least the big bits are sorted

I'm in for a wait as the guy I use is busy, but the car will live again, and will be back out in a couple of months.

So that's 7 months of updates, trials and tribulations, up's and downs, stresses and strains and probably many many reasons why racing isn't a good idea ?? however when the cars running and my visor closes it's the best feeling in the world, despite the costs

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  Clio 172 Merc ML55
I've read it all, and like to push the like button for posting, but I can't like such a dissapointing post. Keep your head up, get it fixed, and on to the next round. At least the car showed it was fast enough for the midfield, which is positive I suppose.

Thanks @scullyg40, it's definitely getting rebuilt (see the last update ?) we'll be missing probably 2 rounds but we'll be back, I try to stay positive whenever possible and you're 100% right, the car does go well and we'll get more out of it, theres no reason why it shouldn't be capable of sub 1:19's once its back together

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  Clio 172 Merc ML55
Anyone who races will be very familiar with your frustration. I think I’ve had more than my fair share.
But as you mention. When it goes right there is nothing like it.
Looking forward to your next update.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Rob, I did see you've had a few issues recently too ? hope you get them sorted and back out asap. Hopefully I'll have some positive news in the next couple of weeks


Love these race Clio treads.

Thanks, I'd hate to think just how many hours and how much money has gone into the build but as I've said before when it's working there's no better feeling than being out on circuit


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  Clio 172 Merc ML55
Summer direction changes, and a lack of racing


Another 3 months have gone by and yet again things have changed direction, thanks mainly to finally changing jobs, a different ecu and waiting for an engine loom to be made.

A friend of mine is one of the guys who runs Motorsport Electronics, and after a chat we decided to utilise one of their ME442 ECU's and use the car to design a custom loom.

I had originally planned to have this made to the spec of an original engine with some extra connectors to enable us to upgrade at a later date and then look at more power next year.

Due to the wait though it was decided to bump up the power now however and just build the one loom, so.....

From this
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A couple of hours work in 30° sun 🥵🥵🥵

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And the final result, minus setting up the throttle cable
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Still need to order a new radiator setup from PMS when they re open from their summer break, and this engine is staying standard internally (bar some arp rod bolts) while I build a higher spec one over the winter, but it'll be interesting to see where we are once its mapped.

Wiring wise things are progressing slowly, bar the previously mentioned engine loom, with a central 'power tower' as it's being called already installed and things like lights, wipers, fuel pump etc already done and just waiting to be run into the PDP.

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This has meant that this years racing has been limited to a single qualifying session but with some decent testing over the winter we should have a good base for next year, and as I now dont work weekends or shifts everything should be in place to run a full season


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