G124 HHD A life in a 5

[Tony Walker]

Been meaning to do a thread for a vvvvvvvery long time but i never really got round to it, So here goes.
I spent most of my school IT life searching the internet for information on a 5, never actually joining rtoc(because i didnt have a 5 and for some reason thought id have to own one to join lol)
It got to the point that my gf(now wife) was fed up and said lets just go get one, so one saturday morning my gf sisters bf had come up from london and said to me just pick one off the internet and we'll go look at it. So i pretty much lucky dipped one in sheffield for about £1800 and off we went. 2 hrs later i was sat in my very first 5, fell instantly inlove(it had just been resprayed and looked lovely) i didnt care that the coolant was full of cream(just thought hg had gone, but after changing gasket i then found it was the head cracked between the oil gallery and the water way, i then fitted another head which was goosed, and then another which was ok :D:agree:) so i gave the man his deposit, took his keys, he left his steering lock on( i didnt want him ragging it while i sorted out coming to collect it) and the next day my best mate drove me back to collect it. The drive back was such an amazing experience but..... little did i know all the problems the car had which will follow in the pictures. Put it this way, i was a teenager with no mechanical experience whatsover, and because of this car i am now a fully qualified mechanic and.. a pretty good welder lol. If i'd of know then what i know now i would never of bought it, but i dont hold a grudge against the car as it has given me the life i now have of which i am gratefull.
Anyway.. pics are to follow but its getting late so you will have to give me chance :agree:

[Gibbo69]

the joys of owning a 5 :) medically proven to be in the bloody:cartman:) i had a another 5 about 5 years ago.. missus( at the time) was a totally b..end and wanted rid!!! never got over the sale at all, and used to do the same ... spending hours on youtube looking a r5's . However eventually managed to find another 5 in mint condition and havent looked back :D

Gibbo

[dave j gtt]

Thats how it go's with these car unfortunaly. you near always would have to do work if you go and buy one.

Pleople sell all sorts, somtimes not even knowing enough about something to even make jugdement, others blatenley sell wrecks, Some people fall in love... then find a need to make money out of other like minded people :upyours:

Thats not to say the hundreds of other members on here that are more that fair, some people are just born to take the piss :mad:

I had to do head gasket withing 2 months of buying my car, i have leart **** loads too :cool:

long live my gtt

[Tony Walker]

Heres a picture of how it looked shortly after i purchased it. Qualitys not brilliant.

[Tony Walker]

I bought it when i was about 18(25 now) Shortly after it failed its mot on the sills, ive not got any pictures they were lost on the old site. Basically we chopped off both outer sills, and cut back the inner sills leaving about 1cm all the way along the floor, this enabled us to spot weld the new inner sill on, which is really quick strong and tidy. Then both outer sills were spot welded on also used the rear quarters that come as part of the sill.
Also tidied up the rotten front bumper mounts. filled the sills with schultz and wax oil.
I also had to replace a rear wheel bearing that had play in it, only to find that the idiot who had pressed the bearings in originally pushed them too far and broke the disc meaning..... the wheel was only being held in place by the brake pads :(
After that i managed to get it through an mot by tarting up the back(i knew there was more rust hiding, but couldnt take any more of my dads time)

Heres a pic with no sideskirts on, which i left off for probably best part of 2 years lol
Also a pic after being cleaned, if you look through the drivers door window you'll notice my arch trim missing, a rabbit stole it, couldnt find the trim or the rabbit i hit???

[Tony Walker]

The suspension had allways been a bit ropey/ very clunky im sure alex can vouch for that, i remember taking him out in my 5 then he took me out in his. The difference led me to look in to lots of other problems i never knew about. Suspension had a complete overhaul, brand new everything on the front, and new gaz shocks at the rear.

[Tony Walker]

After going out in Alex's 5 which was pretty well sorted at the time, and i think was running 18psi, it showed me that my 5 was seriously lacking any kind of performance.
I came across the fault when giving everything a bit of a clean, my GT tuning double cap intercooler had a split right along one of the welds on the base, it also had a small hole where the clutch release arm was bashing in to it(no engine stabiliser fitted, it now has a wishbone bush and is very solid :))
So i'd been driving around for about a year in what was basically a 1.4 NA renault 5 which looked nice lol. Luckily the other guy in our unit at the time was a coded welder for a nuclear research facility round the corner, so welded it up like new for me FOC :D
Needless to say, when the intercooler was back on i took it up the road and was actually shocked!! I ended up phoning all my friends and driving to wherever they where and showing them the new 5 lol Heres a shot of it after being cleaned/repaired.

[Tony Walker]

Not sure how long the previous owner had driven the 5 with the massive boost leak but it had been atleast a year of overworking the turbo in my possession, so about a year after it began to smoke, it had done well i think it had been on since 1995 ish. According to the reciept it was a gt tuning he5 li rollerbearing turbo, whatever that means i don't know but the idiot paid a small fortune for it. I must admit it was a fantastic turbo. I ended up getting it serviced by a local turbo company, which seemed like they done a good job, altho things didnt quite fit right, my oil feed seemed very tight against the compressor housing, when there was lots of room before even with the large actuator on. Basically they had bodged my turbo using some landrover parts, and had given me pretty much a completely different turbo back, but it was a few months before this turbo gave up and i looked in to it further by which time they had no idea where my original things where and the owner soon after was arrested for dodgy dealings. unfortunately for me it left me £250 out of pocket and according to what the original owner paid nearly £1500 from having the turbo i previously had.
Heres some pictures of how it after the dodgy rebuild, Turns out they had no balancing equipment at all.

[Tony Walker]

An engineer who was on the yard, had not long retired from reconditioning turbos, saw how bad they had done my turbo and was allready looking in to starting a small buisiness rebuilding turbos, so he took my bits and his spares over to italy where he was testing a new balancer, he tested it with my turbo and so built me one FOC :D
Heres a few pics, he didnt tell me the specs, just said itll go well enough, to be fair it does :) all i know is that i gave him a .48 tomcat exhaust housing, he was gonna machine a t2 housing but id just bought this and it was easier to fit(i was in a bit of a rush)

[Tony Walker]

I've got a printout somewhere of the vibration chart for it, ill have to scan and upload it. i think it was up to 150,000 rpm.

[Tony Walker]

It went so well that i ended up getting caught speeding just before my 1st child was a few months from being born. Only a few seconds blast and nearly lost my licence on a nice safe dual carriageway. So, i bought myself a nice safe laguna and took the 5 off the road. Where it stayed in a friends garrage for along time .....

Here it sat looking sorry for itself, till my mate noticed it had dumped its oil everywhere. So i went around to clear it up and just had to start it :D
Reconnected the battery and it started first time, got it up to temp and thought sod it, drove it straight to the test center hoping it'd fly through but no.... the rust at the back had gotten worse since i'd last had it on a ramp.. years before.
So i drove it to our unit and stuck it on our back ramp which had only been there a few months, where it sat for almost 12months.

[Tony Walker]

By this time i'd finished my lvl 3 apprenticeship which had been 1 day a week every thursday, so i made a deal with my dad, every thursday i would spend pretty much solely on my car to get it off the ramp for the coming winter.
So i began to strip it down :(

The back bumper was no more nails'd on :( there wasn't much left of the mounting points.

[Tony Walker]

I began on the rear just grinding/ painting and trying to tidy the time consuming but easy bits.

[Tony Walker]

I started on the rust on the rear inner arches first, deciding to just chop a strip out and spot weld new plates in and new boot floor sections.

[Tony Walker]

Takes a little while to get your head around the pictures, funny angles/bad phone quality.

[Tony Walker]

Thinking i was finally getting somewhere i decided to clean up around where the rear axle mounts(thinking it was just some surface rust) how wrong i was. The rear chassis legs had a few holes and the mounts had begun to rot away.:cry:
So i decided to remove the fuel tank and rear axle to inspect.

[Tony Walker]

I replaced the whole triangular section with some really thick 3mm plates to reinforce the mounting points.

[Tony Walker]

While the axle was off i deciding to clean it up, took hours and hours of grinding, dremeling rustcuring then hammeriting. Also checked torsion/antiroll bars where free/ greased them up.
Then made up new brake pipes, new clips and fitted goodridge braided flexi's.

[Tony Walker]

Once the tank and axle were back on i had to make a new pump/filter bracket.
Also made a stainless steel reserve tank bracket.
All new fuel pipes and fuel filter.

[Tony Walker]

I then replaced all the callipers with new pagid ones. Fitted 285mm conversion with 21 txi discs, greenstuff pads. New handbrake cables too.

[Tony Walker]

Nice tight fit, kei racing force 10 alloys powder coated white. vv light wheels :D i did like the style of my older wheels but they were twice the weight.

Also my wings where beginning to rust by the indicator and badly corroded where they meet the sills, i decided to fit new wings, i also removed any rust underneath and hammerited under the wings.

[Tony Walker]

My new wings back from being painted :D nice and shiny, i also hammerited the edges, under the skirt, around the arch bolt holes, help prevent any rust starting.
My bolts had all broke out of my arch trims, so i cut off some bolt heads and bonded them in.

[Tony Walker]

I also bought myself a full safety devices cage. The cage just bolted to the floor, but the floors pretty much just bonded to the inner sill so personally i couldnt see any advantage whatso ever in the cage fitted like this so i wellded in some large plates where the cage mounts. I also used high tensile bolts with large repair washers and made large stainless steel plates to go on the underside of the car. (i undersealed over these afterwards anyway)

[Tony Walker]

sorry to take over the boards, i really should of done this as i was going lol.

[Tony Walker]

The engine/engine bay was looking tired so i repaired/replaced majority of connectors, removed any extra wiring. Replaced bottom end bearings, painted sump, fitted oil temp sender in sump. Fitted oil cooler and stainless hoses.
Fitted alloy radiator, and CDH front mount.

[Tony Walker]

Degreased, gearbox and fitted a stiff shift/quick shift kit, fiddly to fit, but an excellant piece of kit, i would recommend to any 5/clio owner! i also fitted a new selector arm bush in the gearbox.

Also pic of the new/old bearings.

[Tony Walker]

Fibre glass bonnet with clio 16 vent fitted, bonnet not fitting perfectly, will fix this when i get chance lol.
Finally car back on the ground, and flew through its mot. Also fitted Magnum bucket seats, and 3inch OMP harnesses. Wired up AFR gauge, welded in lambda bung, had a take off adapter made to measure oil pressure at the turbo.

[philg]

Good stuff, i love threads like these, keep it up :)

[djinuk]

interesting build tony, particularlly interesting for me is the repairs you did in the boot floor.

If you have any more pics of this i would be happy to see them

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/djinuk/IMG_0208.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/djinuk/IMG_0217.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/djinuk/IMG_0216.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/djinuk/IMG_0213.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/djinuk/IMG_0210.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/djinuk/IMG_0209.jpg


ive got this to tackle but im pretty new with a welder and quite nervous

[djinuk]

also could i ask , how did you cut away the lower section that you replaced.. I notice you cut it away however left the seam (where you plug weldedback onto) perfectly in tact.

Did you do this by grinding away at that lower edge until it was close, or did you grind back and then drill out the spot welds ?.

aghh im so nervous at doing mine

[Trevhib]

Fab work Tony. :agree: Love the pics.

When it comes to freshening up the front, make sure to buy new headlights. Makes a massive difference and cost very little.

[Alex]

Nice work Tony. I've seen most of this work in the flesh and there's certainly been a long time spend with the MIG welder! :laugh:

I'm liking the stace of the car now you've fitted the new coilovers :agree:

I may need your help in the future for a bit of welding! ;)

[Lomo]

This is a great thread so far Tony! :niceone:

A lot of hard work has obviously gone in to your motor and you've been given the rewards by having your own business now and being successful! :agree:

I can vouch for Tonys work as my GT hasnt long come back from his garage! I believe your putting a thread up about it?:scratch: Cool :)

The car is superb now and I thank you and your Dad for the hard work in getting her back to her former self...

Keep up the good work!
:cool:

PS. Gibbo son....Am I completly off the mark or is that your old car? :confused: The reg looks very familiar!

[dave j gtt]

:cool: awsome work :smokin:

[Tony Walker]

also could i ask , how did you cut away the lower section that you replaced.. I notice you cut it away however left the seam (where you plug weldedback onto) perfectly in tact.

Did you do this by grinding away at that lower edge until it was close, or did you grind back and then drill out the spot welds ?.

aghh im so nervous at doing mine

If you look at the first picture, the inside shot, i actually cut away the boot floor and left about 1cm next to the chassis leg, i then made a strip with a 90degree lip to put the inner arch piece flush against it to spot weld to. , my main welding tips are make sure the 2 surfaces are nice and clean and keep them tight together, helps if someone can press the surfaces together as you weld.

[Gibbo69]

This is a great thread so far Tony! :niceone:

A lot of hard work has obviously gone in to your motor and you've been given the rewards by having your own business now and being successful! :agree:

I can vouch for Tonys work as my GT hasnt long come back from his garage! I believe your putting a thread up about it?:scratch: Cool :)

The car is superb now and I thank you and your Dad for the hard work in getting her back to her former self...

Keep up the good work!
:cool:

PS. Gibbo son....Am I completly off the mark or is that your old car? :confused: The reg looks very familiar!

dont think so lomo .... almost sure mine was an f reg:( love to know if that car is still going !

[Tony Walker]

Fab work Tony. :agree: Love the pics.

When it comes to freshening up the front, make sure to buy new headlights. Makes a massive difference and cost very little.


Cheers :D the headlights have actually got plastic covers on them, i tried my best to clean the lenses inside the headlight but it was impossible to get it all clean. The beam pattern wasnt the greatest.

[Tony Walker]

Nice work Tony. I've seen most of this work in the flesh and there's certainly been a long time spend with the MIG welder! :laugh:

I'm liking the stace of the car now you've fitted the new coilovers :agree:

I may need your help in the future for a bit of welding! ;)

Cheers :D it does ride nice, actually quite soft, i think i should of got the stiffer springs.
Ill have a look at your 5 when i come pick you up for the rr day if you like?

[Tony Walker]

This is a great thread so far Tony! :niceone:

A lot of hard work has obviously gone in to your motor and you've been given the rewards by having your own business now and being successful! :agree:

I can vouch for Tonys work as my GT hasnt long come back from his garage! I believe your putting a thread up about it?:scratch: Cool :)

The car is superb now and I thank you and your Dad for the hard work in getting her back to her former self...

Keep up the good work!
:cool:

PS. Gibbo son....Am I completly off the mark or is that your old car? :confused: The reg looks very familiar!




Cheers Ian im glad your 5's going well. :D ive got them wipers for you still and a tin of white hammerite :D
I'll get a thread up for yours soon, need to write a mail for the last v6 we did too, too much to do and not enough time lol
Todays our babys due date too.

[Gibbo69]

Nice work Tony. I've seen most of this work in the flesh and there's certainly been a long time spend with the MIG welder! :laugh:

I'm liking the stace of the car now you've fitted the new coilovers :agree:

I may need your help in the future for a bit of welding! ;)

Alex I will pop down a see ya in the next couple of weeks for a catch up & show ya the car :)

[Tony Walker]

You coming to the rr day Gibbo? u coming Ian?

[Alex]

Alex I will pop down a see ya in the next couple of weeks for a catch up & show ya the car :)

:agree:

[Tony Walker]

A few pics after a quick polish before heading on our RR day... sorry edit that, the polish was before heading to the RR day. These pictures where taken on the way back at a little lake we found while we were lost trying to get to the RR day lol.

[JRP]

:agree: love it

[Tony Walker]

Few group shots of the wirral convoy :D

[peter GT muir]

Few group shots of the wirral convoy :D
wish we stayed now had to get off

[Gibbo69]

Few group shots of the wirral convoy :D

Quality day :D

[Tony Walker]

Yeah was really nice catching up :D