Welshname's Monaco 172

[Jon.G]

When you're next out, I'll be interested to see what your clutch is like now.

 

[welshname]

Yeah I'll give you a shout. I'm avoiding driving it at the minute except for work until the driveshaft is sorted and I've found the other knock. Must have left something loose.

It's ridiculously soft in comparison thought. Much nicer to use.

 

[welshname]

For anyone that's interested. A rough breakdown of the money spent on the car so far. Advice to anyone...Don't keep a spreadsheet.

 

[The Russian.]

For anyone that's interested. A rough breakdown of the money spent on the car so far. Advice to anyone...Don't keep a spreadsheet.

Still a long way off my high record I shouldn't ever buy another clio.


It's looking great though, Any more plans?

 

[welshname]

Looks wise for the car not an awful lot tbh. List of things to do is pretty big though. It's a never ending cycle!

I want a cup spoiler, shorter aerial, 182 interior as mine is a LOT shabby and the 182 interior is a little fresher, ph1 gearknob, snappy steeringwheel, wheels need refurbing, engine bay needs a detail and to paint the rocker and inlets and I want a ktec induction setup.

It all depends what I do with the car in the next few months. Insurance renewal is February and I really need to decide now whether I want to continue ploughing money into this, or save that money to put towards an R26. Tough decisions as I'm becoming very attached to this thing when it actually works.

 

[Eddie.]

b**ch please.

500%

 

[Jon.G]

Looks wise for the car not an awful lot tbh. List of things to do is pretty big though. It's a never ending cycle!

I want a cup spoiler, shorter aerial, 182 interior as mine is a LOT shabby and the 182 interior is a little fresher, ph1 gearknob, snappy steeringwheel, wheels need refurbing, engine bay needs a detail and to paint the rocker and inlets and I want a ktec induction setup.

It all depends what I do with the car in the next few months. Insurance renewal is February and I really need to decide now whether I want to continue ploughing money into this, or save that money to put towards an R26. Tough decisions as I'm becoming very attached to this thing when it actually works.

That.

 

[Djw John]

Think I'll always stick to just whipping the whole lot out of the top. Can get it all out pretty quickly these days, box out the bottom just seems like a ballache

 

[welshname]

I looked at the out the top method and I wasn't keen on it.

If I ever have to do it again I'll maybe look into it

 

[Djw John]

Honestly its a piece of piss, just borrow/hire an engine crane and give it a bash. Loads less awkward nuts to get to!

 

[Eddie.]

If you ever need to do anything like that, you're always welcome to come to my house on Saturday morning and stay until Sunday evening. I seem to remember pulling engines is a doddle?

Srs though the offer is always there

 

[welshname]

I think taking the box and engine out as one and doing it all off the car would have honestly been quicker.

Only thing I can think of that would potentially bite you in the arse would be the manifold bolts.

 

[Djw John]

Never had an issue with them, take it off at the head and leave it on the cat.

 

[djspt]

You've been busy, fair play to you least you're doing alot of the work yourself. If it was me i'd be keeping it a bit longer to get some use out of the money you've spent. I have a long list too but its also getting the time lol. Your cars coming on nicely.

 

[welshname]

See, with the money thing I don't mind that. As far as spending on the car goes I consider it my hobby so to me it isn't wasted money.

 

[Eddie.]

See, with the money thing I don't mind that. As far as spending on the car goes I consider it my hobby so to me it isn't wasted money.

Some man logic going on there. Love it.

 

[welshname]

It's what I keep telling myself to keep me sane anyway.

In other news whilst trying to locate my random knock I've ripped the threaded bar out of the engine mount.

Car 1 - 0 Rhys.

 

[welshname]

So my Kangoo engine mount turned up today so got on with fitting it.

Old one off:

FUBAR by welshname, on Flickr

Yup that's broken by welshname, on Flickr

New one on!

Kangoo Engine Mount by welshname, on Flickr

Looks like my other knock is the wishbone so I'll be ordering two new cup items soon. Also going to replace the inner tie rods and the track rod ends then get the tracking done so I've basically had a full front end refresh minus the ARB bushes which I'll polybush at some point in the future.

Also will be fitting two new tyres at the same time and have the wheels balanced.

 

[MonacoDan]

Christ that mount was knackered, looking good so far though!

 

[welshname]

THE KNOCKING IS GONE!

In the last few weeks I've replaced:

Balljoints
Tie rods
Track rod ends
ALL engine mounts and polybushed the dogbone mount

Then realised that the balljoints were moving still and knocking and there was play in the wishbones so decided to just replace both of them. Did that today and everything is all good.

Pretty happy with the car mechanically now. It's cost me far more than a good 182 would by this point but I've basically got an entire new front end setup on the car now minus ARB bushes and topmounts. Feels brilliant to drive.

So the new list to do before my 'ring trip in October is:

2 new tyres
Retrofit cruise control

Much shorter list. Only other thing is I want a yanoo stiff shift kit (not the short shifter) and a ph1 gearstick but that can wait. For now I'm just going to get on and enjoy it since I've spent so long replacing stuff and the knocking and gearbox problems I've had have made me not want to drive it.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but b****cks to getting my camera or phone dirty when working on the car.

 

[welshname]

Oh forgot to mention, I've got someone round this weekend who tried to fit cruise control to their non sport clio and it wouldn't work, so I'm swapping parts with them and money their way.


Should be done by Sunday

 

[welshname]

Cruise control fitted.

God this project thread is interesting...

 

[Dominic172]

Brill thread, car looks awesome pal. I'll be getting cooksports soon for mine (when they restock), going on the standard shocks though. Whats the difference between the 2? is it just the dampening effect. I see allot of people going fpr the cooksport/cup combo.

 

[welshname]

Yeah if you're shocks are tired anyway you may as well replace them at the same time as you've got to get the shocks off the car.

Cup shocks have firmer damping and cost the same as standard too.

 

[Eddie.]

When is it getting induction of the forced variety?

 

[welshname]

That depends on two things either:

a) I figure out where I can keep this and get a second car
b) R26.

 

[welshname]

Probably about time I brought this project thread up to date.

First off I had some part worns thrown on as I had budgets and almost bald Yokohama S Drives on the front. Came across a set of part worn S Drives on here so got them and threw them on a week or two ago. No pictures as it's boring. Only reason I've done this is because I'm off to the 'ring in a fortnight and needed tyres BUT I'm toying with the idea of 15" wheels so didn't want to pay full whack for a set of PS3's that I might be getting rid of in a month or two.

Next up I have a lot of problems with my knees and ankles and long journeys at a constant speed leave me in agony, so decided I needed to retrofit cruise control.
MWright had everything I needed so one night came over and pretty much did the swap for me. Massive thanks for that! Ordered myself a 182 airbag so it looked neat and tidy too.

Wheel:

182 Airbag with CC Buttons by welshname, on Flickr

Switch Panel:

Speed Limiter/Cruise Control Panel by welshname, on Flickr

Turned the key and it wasn't working. Figured it would probably worked if we turned it off and back on again so we did and hey presto!

Cruise Control:

Cruise Control by welshname, on Flickr

Speed Limiter:

Speed Limiter by welshname, on Flickr

Came across a little issue with the clutch switch that we had. I had a purple plug on my loom, and Mat had a green switch. No problems as Mat said I could just hack the plug off his loom. So that I did, soldered into my loom and heat shrink put on too.

Clutch Switch by welshname, on Flickr

Job jobbed.

Then ever since I got the car I've wanted a Ph1 gearstick. Carbonraider has said since the beginning that he has Jonff 's old one from his car we affectionately named "special bus". So we finally got chance to meet up and swap monies for parts.

All fitted:

Ph1 Shifter by welshname, on Flickr

What a nightmare that was, may have fitted it the wrong way round the first time, then missing a plastic bush so it wouldn't go into reverse...About 4 times it went on and off!

Next up I thought it was best I sort these brakes once and for all seeing as I'd be going round the ring in 2 weeks time. Convinced I had air in the ABS system I got myself a super legit, 100% not Chinese or a copy CLiP unit.

Dodgy CLiP by welshname, on Flickr

Had a few issues with it when testing a few nights ago but massive thanks to AlexW who gave me some tips, even though it just turned out to be my car being a t**t.

So today I bled the system and a f**k tonne (technical unit of measurement) of air came out. Which is good news as at least we've solved that one. Whilst I was there I thought I'd check out the issue I'd been having recently. My ABS has been playing havoc under very gentle low speed braking. Thought it would probably be manky rings/sensors. Nope. Cracked ABS ring.

Cracked ABS Ring by welshname, on Flickr

So I'll be leaving that, as I seriously can't be bothered and it's only doing it at low speeds. It's fine when I'm giving it some stick.

And that brings us up to date. Bit of a boring update but at least it has some pictures.

 

[AlexW]

I hardly helped with the Clip lol.

Watch out for the ABS ring opening up on that CV. It is a very easy job to change you know?

 

[welshname]

Yeah. It's also drivers side so no risk of losing box oil.

I might do it, it's just a case of can't be arsed. Ever managed to get the shaft out of the hub by just removing the shock bolts?

 

[Jonff]

20bhp increase with that gear stick

Doubt you'd get the driveshaft out with just removing the shock bolts tbh

 

[welshname]

Okay so I b**ched out and bought an ABS ring off eBay. Tonight I got round to fitting it.

So driveshaft out:

Driveshaft Out by welshname, on Flickr

Turns out it can be done by only removing the shock bolts and it wasn't that much faffing either. You have to keep the steering straight, unclip the ABS line from the shock, pull the hub towards you and tap the driveshaft out. It gets so far and then has wiggle room. This is when you push the shaft towards the front of the car, and ping the splines out towards the back of the car. JOB JOBBED!

ABS Ring off, which took 1 hit from a lump hammer:

Old ABS Ring by welshname, on Flickr

New ring:

New ABS Ring by welshname, on Flickr

Took a little persuasion from a wooden block and mallet but all went well.

I then decided that the CV clip was FUBAR and needed replacing. WELL! I wish I didn't start that one, ended up that I had no jubilee clips to replace it, so off to Screwfix with a cable tie to hold it in place. By the time I got home it was dark, so torchlight was my friend and I got it all back together.

Lack of pics for this as I was using my phone as a torch and it died.

 

[AlexW]

Told you it was do-able like that.

Top job!

 

[welshname]

Yep. Glad I gave it a shot before doing everything else.

Pretty happy that I've got all new parts on the front. Took all of 15 minutes to get the shaft out and ABS ring off

 

[welshname]

So as some of you know I went to the 'ring last week/weekend. For anyone who hasn't been it's an awesome place.

The morning before I left for Dover I went to get my tracking done as it's been not quite right even though I've had it done fairly recently. Thought I'd do it properly this time and go to somewhere with a hunter system. It just so happens that Drury Lane Services is all of 5 minutes away and I have to say I'm seriously impressed with how the car is now setup. Great staff too, they even let me sort my drooping exhaust whilst it was on the ramps.

Print out for anyone interested:


Tracking by welshname, on Flickr

So then @Jon.G and I set off to Dover. It was a very long drive late at night so the only picture here was at a service station somewhere down south:

Then we stayed over in a Premier Inn until the morning. Getting on the ferry:


Getting on the Ferry by welshname, on Flickr

Then greeted by this once we were on and waiting for the ferry to set sail:


Sunrise in Dover by welshname, on Flickr

We then made out first stop for fuel about 80 miles after Dunkirk:


First stop for fuel by welshname, on Flickr

Followed by our second one not long after for some food and for me to deal with a few emails/phone calls from work:

We then got a wiggle on and made a quick stop at Spa to see if we could see anything going on. Got a little bit of a view of the track and some cars going about but nothing special. Although we did happen upon an awesome Porsche specialist:

Porsche specialist by welshname, on Flickr

Then we pretty much drove straight on to Nurburg. Unpacked and setup the tents before heading out for food at Motorsport Hotel.


Nurburgring by welshname, on Flickr

Spotted these just near Pistenklaus too:

So that takes us to Friday where we got up relatively early to a very cold campsite (Camping am nurburgring):

The fence you can see in the background was the outer perimeter to the GP circuit so waking up to the sound of Porsches and Ferarris every morning was ace. Luckily the sun came out and by lunch time we were absolutely roasting! Had a wander around the 'ring and then set out for a lap. Only managed to find the one picture so far but unfortunately we didn't realise it was a German public holiday (anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall!) so it was rammed. Every single time I went to turn in to a corner there was something stupidly expensive on my inside so ended up driving around the outside of the corners most of the time which made for a slow but still exciting lap.


172 on the 'ring by welshname, on Flickr

By the evening @eddie and a few others had come up in Ed's saxo. Amazing timing, we literally went over the roundabout at Ring O Werk to hear beeping just as I was pulling in under the Nurburgring sign where we had agreed to meet. I turn round to see the saxo right behind me. Obligatory shot was also taken at this point:

Then we were off to Pistenklaus for the only item that anyone ever orders:

Saturday was much of the same. Amazingly hot but didn't bother with another lap as there was just no point! Instead we did some spectating. First at Adenau bridge, followed by a few hours a Brunnchen. On the way up we went over some amazing roads. I had Ed in the car and we came up to a very sharp very blind corner (we had the satnav on so spotted it in advance) where we were both sat there going "jesus I bet that catches a few people out!" only to be greeted by a small crucifix with flowers in the ground at the side of the road. A very stark reminder.

I then headed back into Adenau to try and find a camping shop or somewhere that did sleeping bags as I was FREEZING for the last two nights and wanted some extra warmth! As I was coming back round towards the very sharp corner I spotted this:


Bike accident by welshname, on Flickr

A biker had come round the corner and presumably lost control and went into this F-Type:


Accident by welshname, on Flickr

The biker was sat up with lots of people around him but I'm assuming he was pretty badly hurt. Fingers crossed everything was okay!

Didn't manage to find a shop but did spot this behind Aldi. It looked like it hasn't moved in a long time and was there in the same place all weekend:


Car Friends! by welshname, on Flickr

The rest of the weekend was pretty foggy like so:

So we went karting and had lots of large fires at the campsite. Another of our friends who was going to Frankfurt for the week decided to pop over on Sunday evening and do a day at the 'ring Monday. So we went to Pinocchios that night. Stupidly large pizzas. Pete ordered the XXL:


Stupid pizza by welshname, on Flickr

Needless to say it wasn't all eaten!

Then we set fire to our friends chair that he stole as he'd forgotten his:


Bye bye chair! by welshname, on Flickr

In the morning I waved bye bye to everyone as they were catching an earlier ferry so I headed over to our friends hotel to grab some breakfast and show them how to get to the ring. Luckily it opened up for a bit as the fog cleared and he took his Skoda Citigo around. Mental. I decided not to risk it with a car full of tents etc and left at lunch time to get my ferry too.

First cuppa in days on the ferry whilst watching Dunkirk disappear:

Absolutely brilliant weekend and I've missed a lot out but I will 100% be going again next year. The whole place is incredible.

Few figures:


Total Miles by welshname, on Flickr


Average MPG by welshname, on Flickr


Gallons used by welshname, on Flickr


Average Speed by welshname, on Flickr

Sorry for stealing lots of your photos, Jon!

 

[Jon.G]

LOL. I was just going to mention, they're pretty much all mine.
Same again next year (but hotels).

 

[Rob]

Looks awesome! I'm coming next year, as long as you all promise to learn to speak properly.

 

[welshname]

Agreed. I think next year we plan to arrive on a Friday/Saturday night and stay until mid week.

Gives a few days of good spectating and a few to have a few laps.

 

[Cub.]

Good progress indeed. Especially considering what a simpleton you are x

 

[Rob]

Good progress indeed. Especially considering what a simpleton you are x

This is a trip we should do.

 

[Cub.]

This is a trip we should do.

I agree. And have already told Welshfacenamenoise that.