The everlasting ph1 ITB Build **GREEN-BUILD STARTS AT PAGE 100**

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:

BRAKE LINES
I also needed to get the last job of the brake lines sorted. I didn't really think about it before yesterday but it was apparent that I needed to hard mount the bias valve. It was quite a quick and easy fix really. First up I managed to go through unwanted/to sale box of items that I have gathered and found a suitable mount to sacrifice... this one wasn't labeled so not sure what it was before. OBD port mount maybe?

The mount marked up for size and shape, was cut/bent/drilled and then painted.

Holes were drilled in the shell and again painted and the mount was then riveted to the shell, allen bolts through the bias valve mount nice and neat to the mount... pretty happy with that,

So with me drilling a shi*t load more holes everywhere I wanted to basically do it all in one go for times sake. All the above images are not in chronological order, I basically drilled all the holes, then painted them all and then left the car for 24hrs to dry.... somewhere I drilled a hell of a lot more holes was the rear 3/4's...


TRIM FITTING
I opened the packaging for these (I don't know how long ago I got these) but a sh*t load of flyers fell out, and some stickers... Are Performance Trim even still around?

I decided to fit the rear 3/4 panels over the weekend as it needed a load more holes. These were a pain as there really is not much space to mount these, but I think they really tidy up the rear.... #TART

I also riveted down my carbon fuel pump cover as the fuel line was all now attached.

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:

HEATSHIELD
The last thing I wanted to get sorted was the engine bay heat shield. I trimmed down a piece of cardboard to match the exact size of the the heatshield, that way I could mock it up with the shape and bends and take it straight to the Nimbus to cut and fold.

It is trimmed to match the top of the scuttle shape, and then also matches the contours of the bulkhead, it is trimmed and wraps around the brake master cylinder nicely. It also uses the existing mount bolts for the A/C scuttle panel plate so is nice and neat..

Overall I am proper happy with the move on this weekend, really pretty much ready for the engine to go back in now....
Can't wait...

 

[JamesBryan]

Looks quality!

The edge of the heatshield near the brake reservoir cap looks sharp, watch out for that when unscrewing the cap ?

 

[Chambers_RS]

Looks awesome ?

Taking plenty of notes for my own build ??

 

[scotiamr2t]

Looks good only comment i would make is that rivnuts would have been better for the fuel pump cover. What if you need in to the plug/ fuel pump in future?

 

[Nafoff]

Looks quality!

The edge of the heatshield near the brake reservoir cap looks sharp, watch out for that when unscrewing the cap ?

All has been trimmed so has rounded corners and is rid of sharp edges ?

Looks good only comment i would make is that rivnuts would have been better for the fuel pump cover. What if you need in to the plug/ fuel pump in future?

Although it has 2 rivets one is holding it and the other slots in, so i can still get into it by popping one side out and pivoting it around ?

 

[Djw Dave]

Excellent work. Great attention to detail.

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:
Pretty much a month to the day since the last update. Not much has happened in that time as the wife and I needed a proper break after all what has happened so far this year. A week after her dad's funeral we set off on a 17 day van trip which would take us from the Forest of Dean, through Snowdownia, the Lake district and then on up to the North Coast 500 in Scotland. It was exactly what we needed and at this time of year was super quiet meaning we had the epic scenery and beautiful beaches to ourselves.....

How is this relevant? Our time away gave us chance to decide what our plans were again as these had been effected quite a bit this year. We have basically decided that we will probably go travelling Europe next year in the van, we have no responsibilities and this is the time to do it before we get any....

This means yet again the clio will be put aside, however I am pushing to get it done before we go so it can be stored ready to go in future, if not totally finished at least water tight and rollable - more likely than not under its own steam.... hopefully. With that in mind, I need to push on over the next few months....

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:
With the above in mind the priority is to get the engine back in the car. Not much has to happen for this though and the shell is almost ready. The heatshield has been trimmed/folded and pressedn around the mount points and looks really tidy in-situ.

I have placed the clutch cable in but I need to purchase a new throttle cable. I also need to purchase a new interior clutch cable clip, hopefully these are available (see below) anybody know?

Apart from that I am pretty set shell wise. As for the engine I just a bit of guidance on putting the block back together then some muscle when it comes back to putting it into the hole. BigAsh was yet again at hand with that so the block was removed from the engine stand and mounted to some custom stand brackets, all new or cleaned and painted items lined up...

A new clutch and flywheel bolts had previously been purchased so these were fitted...

Then the gearbox was re-mounted...

Followed by the engine loom (nice and neat), the starter motor, the thermostat housing and a couple other little bits...
This feels like a big step forward although it was only a couple hours work, I can't wait to get it in the hole.

Saying about feeling like a big step forward, funnily I stumbled across the images from my magazine cover shoot over the weekend too, that was a while ago..

The 2nd image above there is relevant in such a way that I have now decided what to do about my brakes. I was going to refurb them myself but with the shortened deadline I thought I would go with a proper refurb. The brakes were removed, packaged up and are on the way to Bigg Red, I am going for the Premium Black finish so they should look lovely and neat under the wheels.... looking forward to having them back....

If anyone knows on that clip, I would be grateful.

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:
Got a little bit more time on the car over the past couple of days. I managed to get the brakes all packaged up and shipped to Bigg Red.
Very much looking forward to getting those back with a much better finish.

With those sent off I re-fitted the spacer bracket (where the brake lines meet) in the front arches, however it seems like the male item is too long for the female item and it spaces them to big for the spacer bracket to work, has anyone else had this issue? I think I have resolved this with washers, but it doesn't seem ideal, bodge? @Tomotek @robzracing @pule333
@Chambers_RS may be of interest to you too..

I wanted to tie up all the little jobs before the engine will be going back in and this included the clutch cable retaining clip, new item ordered from renault at a hefty £1.70... this was fitted and to my disappointment it doesn't even fit tight - I think this is probably be because it is usually fitting in with sound deadening, carpet etc etc.... ah well I guess it actually doesn't do that much

Next up was a new accelerator cable, again I went for a standard item from renault as I believe this gives the best feel and is the most durable. This was routed and temporarily clipped in out of the way (along with the clutch cable).

After taking to a couple of people about this it looks like I will be modifying this, shortening it down and adding a solderless nipple. I plan to cut the current pedal end off and add the solderless nipple there (luckily I seem to have one), cutting it at the pedal end makes it a lot easier for adjusting. I will need to re-route the whole thing anyways to pass it through my throttle linkage so I can cut the outer at this time also.

I need to keep things progressing, fitting any items back to the car when possible. As I no longer need to work in the rear of the car I decided to refit the seats and then also the harnesses, its nice to be loosing items from storage.

Not so nice dropping bolts under the false floor, that sh*ts just annoying.... especially when you do it twice.....

Last up was fitting the engine mounts. To refit the engine we are going to put the shell on its back wheels and lift the front over the block, this seems the best and most controlled way. I have put the top engine mount in-place and the gearbox mount is currently sat on the block to check fit (but will be transfered to the shell).

Once the engine goes back in, well all those other boxes of items can go back on too, looking forward to having some space to walk/work around the car...

 

[Djw Dave]

Good work. Keep it up.

 

[robzracing]

UPDATE:


With those sent off I re-fitted the spacer bracket (where the brake lines meet) in the front arches, however it seems like the male item is too long for the female item and it spaces them to big for the spacer bracket to work, has anyone else had this issue? I think I have resolved this with washers, but it doesn't seem ideal, bodge? @Tomotek @robzracing @pule333
@Chambers_RS may be of interest to you too..

View attachment 1393326

Mine aren't tight in there. It literally just holds the lines in position, so as long as you have the retaining clip on the MC side, like you have it should be fine. What you've done is a decent solution though, so as long as the joint is tight I can't imagine anything can go wrong.

You're making some good progress now. This is all the fun stuff!

 

[Nafoff]

Mine aren't tight in there. It literally just holds the lines in position, so as long as you have the retaining clip on the MC side, like you have it should be fine. What you've done is a decent solution though, so as long as the joint is tight I can't imagine anything can go wrong.

You're making some good progress now. This is all the fun stuff!

Cheers mate, I should have more self confidence but as this is the first assembly I have ever done like this I want to make sure it is right. Much appreciate the reply.

It is exciting to see things going back together. However just had a call from Bigg Red and one of the rear callipers inlet threads is f*cked, I hqd never noticed this, they are going to attempt to heli-coil it so hopefully it works

 

[robzracing]

Cheers mate, I should have more self confidence but as this is the first assembly I have ever done like this I want to make sure it is right. Much appreciate the reply.

It is exciting to see things going back together. However just had a call from Bigg Red and one of the rear callipers inlet threads is f*cked, I hqd never noticed this, they are going to attempt to heli-coil it so hopefully it works

Probably cheaper just to buy a new caliper. the rears are cheap enough. I assume they are powdercoating them for you but their labour cost even for helicoiling might be comparable to the cost of a new one. ( I might be way off, but worth considering I would have thought)

 

[Nafoff]

Probably cheaper just to buy a new caliper. the rears are cheap enough. I assume they are powdercoating them for you but their labour cost even for helicoiling might be comparable to the cost of a new one. ( I might be way off, but worth considering I would have thought)

When I last checked the rears were quite hard to get hold of new,
I didn't even think about there labour cost tbh - rookie mistake. Will contact them in the morning.

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:
Been pushing forward tying up little jobs the past couple of weeks whilst the brakes are also away. Not heard back about the brakes so assuming the Heli-coiling went alright. I did speak to Bigg Red and they said that was only going to be £20 so was happy for them to proceed.

I decided to fit up the steering wheel/button panel and lifeline boss to see whether this would suit position wise, I was concerned the dished wheel and the addition of the button panel and lifeline boss it would bring it all too close, however all seemed good, I may have to re-evaluate once I drive it, but no biggie.
I do need some more longer countersunk bolts, but these have been ordered and are on the way.

This will now allow me to confirm how I will be running the dash wires, and then also how I will be making up my digi dash panel and how this will be mounted.

That can wait a little though, more urgent is to get the rear wheel back on so the shell is semi-rollable to lift it over the engine. As I have now finished in the rear of the car I wanted to re-fit the bootlid, this would also give me a little more room to work around the car (as panels are stacked against the wall). However prior to re-fitting I wanted to tidy it up a little and cover up the holes, I have some spare carbon panels so these were mocked up, trimmed, and then riveted to the bootlid.

Pretty happy with how they turned out.
I then went to fit the bootlid. The top bolts are on, but the bottom aero-catch bolts are playing hard to get, they seem ever so slightly too tight/on an angle and are not allowing the pin to slot through the eye, unsure how I am going to address this yet but my current only thought is to elongate the mount hole in the shell to allow the pin to straighten more. hhmmmmm.

I am thinking the wheels can go back on tail end of this week and then the engine possibly back in next week.... hopefully

 

[Akay]

I just gently tapped the pins with a hammer to get them aligned.

Well, @dann2707 did.

 

[RuskiWeldFab]

Tried bending the pins in to shape a bit? Worked for me


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[Nafoff]

I just gently tapped the pins with a hammer to get them aligned.

Well, @dann2707 did.

Tried bending the pins in to shape a bit? Worked for me

I did try bending the face they are mounted to, but i have not tried bending the actual pins - do they flex enough to do that?

That would work as it is the angle they are at rather than being totally in the wrong place

 

[Nafoff]

(mini) UPDATE:

The car is ready to have the engine re-fitted. Rear wheels are back on and all the other tiny bits tied up so hopefully that will happen in the next couple of weeks.
None of the loose ends we there interesting so not really many pictures. The only thing I did get pics of was a strengthening plate.

When a mate (with experience) saw the new alternator mount he mentioned that he thought that it could cause and issue that all the force would be going through that 1 lower bolt hole.

He suggested bracing it with something to the bolt hole above it. So I looked at making a plate up to give it that little bit more strength.
A cardboard template, drilled, trimmed and rounded metal plate then painted to match the rocker cover... job done.

It probably didn't need to be that shape but it protects the alternator mount a bit (not sure what from.. ha)
Hopefully next up is the engine in the car.

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:

NOT A GOOD ONE...
I got a little bit done last night and I was all set to do some more tonight.. however some little scrote had other ideas. I was almost home when my neighbour come to tell me that the garage had been broken into (along with 2 others neighbours garages). We think it may have been between 4-5pm today.

It doesn't appear that there is anything missing at the moment but I can't help but think that this may have been a recci.
They pried the tongue and groove of the door back on several panels but the various deadbolts did their jobs....

I have repaired what I could and reinforced aswell but I will be looking to fix it and make it stronger over the weekend...

Pretty pissed off, wasn't relly in the mood to do any work on the cars after that

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Sorry to see this. Hopefully you can make it a bit harder for them in future. I would recommend paneling inside of the door, and then fill the cavity with dirty needles. Or really poisonous spiders or something.

 

[Adamxx]

I’ve only read from page 100 but looks really good ? Really sorry to read about your father in law and break in.

 

[Nafoff]

Sorry to see this. Hopefully you can make it a bit harder for them in future. I would recommend paneling inside of the door, and then fill the cavity with dirty needles. Or really poisonous spiders or something.

I’ve only read from page 100 but looks really good ? Really sorry to read about your father in law and break in.

Thanks for the kind words Adam. The garage was indeed a pain in the ass, but has been addressed now. Hopefully I won't find out if it works.

 

[JamesBryan]

How wide was the opening on those three panels that were lifted?

Doesn't look big enough for an adult to fit through.

 

[Nafoff]

How wide was the opening on those three panels that were lifted? Doesn't look big enough for an adult to fit through.

Was around 270mm wide so would of been tight, could easily get a head in to have a look.

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:
Got back into working on the car tonight. I wanted to get the top dash in the car but knew I needed to cut it down as the cage is now in there. My thought to do this was to make a mock-up of the dash in cardboard, trim that to fit and then transfer the cutout details onto the dash so I get it right first time. To do this however I needed a piece of cardboard big enough.... I did have a bit of cardboard to suit, but it was packaging my Radical splitter. I found out the splitter put that to one side and started mocking up the cardboard dash.

The cardboard dash template came out perfect so it was out to the garage to get it fitted within the car,
I wanted to trim it as little as possible and get it nice and snug... It only needed trimming around the A-pillar part of the cage, everywhere else it sat clear.
I used the screw points (pictured below) as a reference so I knew exactly where the dash sat...

With the cardboard dash positioned, mocked-up, trimmed to fit this all needed to now be transferred to the actual dash.

I marked up where I needed to cut, and cut it lovely as per the images above, however it was evident after various attempts trying it was not going to fit the way I had cut it, the dash was just long to try and bend and squeeze in between the 2 A-pillar cage tubes. Everything in the car needs to be easy to use/remove/replace and with the windscreen in this would of been impossible so the choice was made to cut out the the part to the rear of the hole already cut out, this would allow me to just slide the dash in and out - this also gave me a little gap at the ends to allow the plugs for the heated windscreen to sit - WINNER

Very happy with the result...

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:
With the dash in I just tidied back some of the dash loom, tucked it nice and neatly away behind the dash bar and the cut back the zip ties.

Next stop inside will be to look at how the dash2 is mounted on the column.
As I now had the splitter lying around I thought it was a good idea to get this marked up to mount to the bumper. As mentioned in a previous post this was originally from a Radical and I managed to pick it up for £50, not bad for a carbon splitter imo. I lined up the splitter with the bumper at each end but had to keep tension on the bumper to mark it up (hence sofa and book). The splitter does not sit out loads but does give some nice visual depth

This should also means it will be quite strong once mounted. With the splitter now marked up the next job will be to drill and rivet it to the bumper.

I also received my brake callipers back from BIGG RED. I only took 1 item out of the box but very happy.... looking forward to getting them back on the car.

I have a date put aside also for a friend to come and help dropping the engine back in in a couple of weeks, that will be a nice big milestone and allow me to get a load more jobs done... happy days.

 

[Djw John]

Good work Neil ?

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE: I managed to get a 12hr day on the car last weekend and am extremely happy with the progress, I need to keep the momentum and run with it.... hopefully that shouldn't be too hard as I am not working in January so should see the car hopefully water tight and rollable.

First up on the list of jobs was to mark up and then drill the holes for the PMS strut brace/top mounts. I ended up needing a little bit of re-assurance from facebook to crack on and drill the holes as when I first lined up the brace it seemed a good 5mm off both sides... I made sure they were marked up clearly and drilled the holes, and then as with every other hole drilled in the car the bare metal was painted and left to dry...

Time wise this worked perfectly. I dropped the rear of the car onto the spare steel wheels that I had just as my mate turned up and this brought us onto the days main job, fitting the engine. With everything off the car (subframe etc) and fresh paint all around we decided it was going to be easier to lift the shell over the engine... The exhaust manifold was bolted back up to the block and wrapped in cloth, as was the front cross member and then we set about cracking on...

It was at this point that I had a flashback to removing the engine.... wow... on looking it up it was 7 years and 13 days since removal...
Things went pretty smoothly although we did have a bit of hassle lining it up which resulted in chocking the engine in place, then putting the shell back on axle stands and lifting the engine with the crane a little, but all in all before lunch the engine was hanging off the 2 top engine mounts.

and it was time for lunch.... sponsored by

post lunch and fuelled up we set about getting the running gear and subframe back on the car. The subframe was as one/complete which made it nice and easy, especially with the 2 of us. This was the main reason I wanted to get the top mounts sorted earlier on in the day, they bolted up nicely to the FK's which all seemed to bolt up pretty nicely. There are few thing that need addressing, earlier in the thread I have said about all the bolts I replaced, I think a couple could do with changing... the front subframe mounts were totally the wrong size, I didn't order any for the rear subframe brace plates or the little tie bar in the arches and a few others are just a bit too long.

The subframe mount bolts along with the brace plate and tie bars were ordered, but the other bolts that are a bit long have gone onto a "project stage 2 list" - is it too soon for one of those? ha. I did notice I need to replace the track rods though, they have a little bit of play... but all got bolted up for now to the original bump-steer kit from @NorthloopCup, looking good.

The strut brace was fitted and then the loom plugged in to where it could be. Some bits needed a little bit of tweaking but all was good.

I am proper happy with how things are progressing. The engine bay could seen be a lot more full but I just need to tie up a few amends to the loom and also figure out what I need to sort the brake servo piping (as I don't seem to have the old items). I don't think I am going to get any time over Xmas/new year but January things will hopefully be happening thick and fast.

 

[Chambers_RS]

Coming on nicely ?? Makes me wish mine was further along ?

 

[Djw John]

That looks superb Neil, lol at 7 years though!

 

[Nafoff]

Coming on nicely ?? Makes me wish mine was further along ?

Cheers man, but as John says below... 7 years.... and thats only since the engine came out... lol

That looks superb Neil, lol at 7 years though!

Cheers man, The graphic designer in me loves how the heatshield lines up with the engine block....

 

[Djw John]

I bet it does ??

Kudos on you for not just slapping it back together, I would've years ago, you're way more patient than I am.

 

[Nafoff]

I bet it does ??
Kudos on you for not just slapping it back together, I would've years ago, you're way more patient than I am.

Believe me I wish it went back together quicker, but if I do it right/properly this once then hopefully it will last and be easier to work on in the future.... hopefully

 

[Nafoff]

UPDATE:
Not much to update really except a lot of stuff ordered and collected ready to progress the build forward again.

Engine wise I ordered 10L engine oil and 6L gearbox oil from Renault, enough to give it all fresh and then have a whole lot spare.
Whilst at Renault I also ordered some new track rods as there was play in the old set... all collected and ready to go.

I also needed to sort out the piping and fittings for the Brake servo which plumbs into the ITB's, if this is the only few things I have lost in all the few years of moving houses then its not too bad. Again enough ordered for 1 set and a spare.... Advanced fluid solutions were super helpful.

I also ordered a load of connectors from polevolt to sort the wiring from the race loom to the phase 1 headlights. The race loom previously plugged straight into the back of some phase 2 lights, but obviously being a phase 1 things are different with the dual optics. The dual optics have 5 different plugs and 11 wires. I am putting in some new Deutsch connectors and will be running only headlights, flash and indicators...

I did get a little bit done on the car this week, but this was mainly out of having to make space elsewhere. We are moving house again soon and renting our current house. I have been storing pretty much all the body panels in a spare room in the house - I am not sure potential tenants would think to much of it so I had to move them into the garage and the best place for them was back on the car.

I also refitted the brakes (finger tight) prior to putting the body panels back on (to save damage) and am super happy with the finish/quality of bigg red's work.

I did come across 1 issue though, bolt sizes again... @Tomotek I think either I misread the measurements or they may have gone wonky somewhere as the front calliper to upright bolts are a fair bit too long. No biggie as this concluded the last of my online ordering this week...

Other items are also on the way, I have found a set of Supperleggra's in the right size and good condition, I am also ordering the heated screen shortly.
Hopefully things will move pretty rapidly the next few weeks. Then it is time to move house again...

 

[Tomotek]

Looking really good.. appreciate the attention to detail [emoji1360] .. good to see it all coming together now..

To answer your question; I ordered them at 50mm so they were partially threaded, with the shank length I wanted.. this meant the purple shank section would locate the Caliper better. Then I trimmed them to the green line so they didn’t hit the disc... shorter bolts are fully threaded as standard which I didn’t want... you can do it either way, I just prefer to get the shank length right and trim the bolts down

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chambers_RS]

Looks awesome bud ?? Glad to see it’s coming along nicely.

What inner arb bushes are you running?

 

[Nafoff]

Looking really good.. appreciate the attention to detail [emoji1360] .. good to see it all coming together now..

To answer your question; I ordered them at 50mm so they were partially threaded, with the shank length I wanted.. this meant the purple shank section would locate the Caliper better. Then I trimmed them to the green line so they didn’t hit the disc... shorter bolts are fully threaded as standard which I didn’t want... you can do it either way, I just prefer to get the shank length right and trim the bolts down

View attachment 1400882


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Ah ok. Were you not concerned about effecting the integrity of the bolt by cutting it?

Looks like mine didn’t have a shank either...

 

[Nafoff]

Looks awesome bud ?? Glad to see it’s coming along nicely.

What inner arb bushes are you running?

Cheers bud. The whole subframe is on Powerflex throughout ?