JB P1 Hatch

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

Time to start a progress report on this methinks.

1992 phase 1 16v 3 door hatch....cost = Â£150

another ebay bargain!

car was bought with "power steering leak"...other than the odd bit of rust that was all that was discussed in the ad.

leak coming from the rack area, havent looked yet to see what exactly.

the drive home was a noisy one...lots of knocking and vibration. ball joint or two definately gone. heavy vibrations due to dead rear mount. got thru 3 litres of PS fluid on the way home.

bit of rust around the vent and rear arches, nothin to worry about.

the car is generally a bit neglected i feel, ie dirty interior, but i think its been standing around for a while. drivers seats lots of rips.

carpet in passenger footwell wet, could be a leak, could be matrix...that will be investigated.

engine itself is pretty nice. its got about 112K on the clock but sounds very smooth and quiet, be a shame to pull it out.

initial pics:

the engine as it is now:

didnt notice in the flesh but looks like coolant has erupted and got onto the airbox...

here u can see(just) the exhaust manifold right back practically touching the heatshield...

heres the current tatty p1 interior

i got a MINT set of p2 cloth seats off jimbo, and i mean mint. pics to follow

also got a spare rack and pump off jimbo.

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been sat for a few days as when i get home from work it is gettnig dark so havent done much...but decided tonight to get off my arse and do somthing...so i rigged up a floodlight on a stepladder so i cud stick it whereever i want to work in the dark...perfect!

decided to start doing the cheap/free things first until funds become available. so i wanted to remove all the interior and give it a good clean out.

frt seats - wanted to just undo the bolts from the underside to lift the whole assys out but as suggested they were pathetic...first came off ok but second was just a round blob of rust....the socket was just turning like a pencil sharpener on a pencil....so i didnt bother...

took the seats off the rails from inside, leaving rails in place...this is fine as the new seats didnt come with the rails, just means i cant fully remove the carpet...no matter...

got all seats out:

boot carpet out:

under carpet looks like rubble dust. also found the odd bit of broken glass...maybe evidence of a break in once. plus an ear ring and a couple of hairclips...obviously a girl has been in this car plenty of times.

i would like to get the frt carpets out to dry them as they are quite wet up frt but will have to leave i guess...will dry out sooner or later.

so next job ill clean all the interior, hoover etc....not TOO fussed, just want it clean...feels a bit manky at the mo.

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future plans?

engine out....replace all knackered bits...ie balljoints, bushes whatever...rear mount. engine can come out asap as that costs nothing and i can get on with cleangin engine bay etc.

new engine involving the btm end from the other project no doubt plus a head of some description TBA

just get it as a nice, fast fun car...not going over board, i just want a nice hatch.

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

some better general pics (daylight at last!)

some points of interest:

bit of rust by vent

bit of rust by one arch:

other arch seemingly no rust but i think it has been filled...both arches had rubber silicone behind them as does the vent on the inside.

bust aerial:

bit of paint off bumper:

bust mirror:

apart from that its good!

more pics of interior at the mo...

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ok today i sort of worked on it...i needed the hub off the passenger side to swap onto the chamade as the chamades bearing has gone. so pulled the hub and shaft out of both chamade and hatch.

heres the hubs...wow

heres the shafts, note the hatch gave birth to a skinny one, whereas the chamade had a fat one...got a spare fat one also...

...left the hatch shaft out, just stuck the hub back on and wheel...shall get the engine ready to lift so at the drop of a hat it can be whipped out as and when a hoist becomes available...

filed chamade up with ATF,...feels a lot better, wheel bearing noise gone...its all smooth and nice again. ATF means i can actually change gear when its cold now!!

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

battery gone flat (or prolly just the terminal come off) either way cant open using remote so discovered that drivers door wont open with the key, took lock out to have a gander and it would appear that this key doesnt match the barrel...it isnt just tight, just doesnt seem to be right....no biggy.

also while im in no hurry i thought i would take the dash off...mainly for fun, and also to have a gander at the matrix, see if it is leaking or not as the floor is STILL wet somehow....all in the name of fun.

soon i will get the engine all disconnected ready for removal.

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

dash is giving way slowly, just want to get that heater box out to chk matrix....

drained coolant, rad out.....its a start lol

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

right got the arse of a heater box out, not looking forward to tryin to get it back in lol. what a fuckin fiddle. god knows how many things i broke getting it out (none i hope).

but it looks ok to me...no signs of leaking, the matrix looks in very good nick. no signs of corrosion, no signs of water leakage. so that really kinda rules that out for the source of water on my soggy floor.

ill get pics up soon. i just pulled the dash fwd enough to get it out as neal did....thanks for tips btw neal.

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continued pulling bits off and disconnecting stuff preparing the engine for removal. ECU out, many hoses out....etc etc dont u just hate them silly hose clips that cannot be undone...the std renualt ones, that need butchering off...

air box came out easy, well kind of...basically all the studs just sheared off easier than if i was undoin the nuts...still came out. but the suport brkt is gunna be grinding out, all the bolts have broken the captive nuts off on the inside of the rail, so they just turn.

getting there....if a hoist became available asap it could be out straight away...

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

hoist available this weekend! shit need to get a move on.

got the roll pin out the drivers shaft (passenger out) broke my breakers bar trying to get the hub nut off so i will just let the shaft stay there hangin underneath.

now i have cleared a lot of stuff out the way i can clearly see the rear mount has totally collapsed and the engine is basically resting on the rack. nice.

access to the manifold to d/pipe was not as i expected...got under the car expecting to see what i saw under the cahmmy and i could hardly see either...the whole exhaust just seems to be hanging differently...passenger side i finnaly got out from above after removing all the heatshielding...but the drivers one is a buigger...cant get a socket on it properly as it seems really close to the sheild on the downpipe...can only get a spanner on it...but got no room to get good leverage...plus a 12mm spanner fits it...slightly corroded to say the least....i dont think its coming off..will have to cut it off methinks.

but tbh its nearly ready to come out...just disconnect few more bits here and there...nothing much hopefully it will be out this weekend!

see how it goes.

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

sat morning - nearly there. stan is bringing hoist over at 330 today. all i need to do is pull out drivers shaft (oo-er), dissconnect fuel lines, cut off mani stud, and undo rear mount.

cant be arsed tryin with the mani stud anymore its bein cut off...ended up cutting the airbox brkt off too...well one part of it, but chris gave me good tip that the screws and captive nuts beneath, if turning can bel ined up and lift out, and they did! nice 1 H

promise ill get pics today!

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

finally some pics!

finished preping it today for removal, just cut the manifold stud off, and when isaw it in my hand it was just a rusty blob so it was never coming off in the traditional way of unscrewing.

went and collected hoist with stan attached and it just happened nice and quick, apart from a trip to buy some rope to actually lift the engine with. BIG SHOUT OUT TO STAN for the help and lend of the hoist.

i had everything ready so all that was left to do was take the weight of the engine so i could pull out the bolt on the rear mount and lift away...

its now safely tucked away in the garage to await strippin of bits for new engine. ill try my best to keep the block and head together as when it was running it was really nice, quiet and smooth so it seems a tidy motor for emergencies.

anyway heres some pics...

dash off for gettin the heater box out...like my new seat?

back of car full of bits...

engine ready for removal....

bonnet off...

coming out....

oh and heres a shot of the treacle that came out of it...

put the bonnet back, car looks funny cos theres no weight up frt now its sitting really high!

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

today i set about starting to tidy up the bay a bit..nothing mad just a quick blast with the jetwash will do.

firstly tho i wanted to swap the racks across...struggled for ages with one of the track rod ends stuck in the hub, was bending my removal tool!! so kept soakin it in wd40 and belting it with a hammer...finally gave.

had to undo some of the union to the rack itself as i need to use one of the hoses that run in the car, as the rack i was supplied with just been cut off thru the pipes...and on the pass side it isnt just jubilee clipped on..no big deal, undid all that and got it out, new rack needs track rods ends, had one new one lying around need to buy another.

got the new rack in, taped up as best i could any holes leading into the interior prior to jet washing...

heres a shot of the dead rear mount in situ...

and here is a comparison with a new one

here is some damage caused by the engine leaning on the rack...

it hasnt worn thru those pipes yet...in fact i couldnt see any obvious damage to the old rack so not sure where the leak was coming from.

heres an interesting one...found this on the chassis leg next to where the ancillaries lie...

looks like somehow the alt pulley has made contact at some point with the chassis and rubbed this patch away....maybe a mount had gone or something once...it wasnt rubbing while ive had it.

heres the engine in its new home, for the foreseeable future...

next tasks? ithink i can start putting the interior back together...the matrix looks fine so i will stick that and the dash all back together and start hoovering it out and put the new seats in so it starts to look nice again.

here is a link to a page of misc pics...pics that really dont need explaining...just random....

Hatch Misc Pics

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

bastard car!

spent about an hour removing 1 poxy ball joint...my god i was swearing and shouting ,.....every slip of the ratchet i was cursing out loud...got a funny look from a bloke walkin by....i swear i nearly smashed the poxy thing...this bolt...every turn was full on total body effort...i was knackered afetrwards...like a full on total body work out down the gym! really annoyed.

so tonight i picked up another new track rod end, screwed it in, and replaced the lower ball joint..and reassembled the hub assy.

pulled the ARB bush off the end but it looks fine so wont bother with a new one there...will chk others soon.

got the boyo down tomoz til sun so doubt much will get done for a while.

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

wow amazing how things can change....did other sides ball joint today and it was a piece of piss. nice cos i didnt fancy bein angry again.

recap for the drivegear...new ball joints, new track rod ends...awaiting new shocks and springs to complete the frt.

new goodies arrived today...

and a few more randoms added to misc pics...

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

last night i pulled the loom off the engine sitting in the garage...and pulled off ancillaries to start swapping over to the new block...need to clean them all up tho as they are minging from prolly 13 years of grime.

chris and whoever else manages to remove alternators with the engine in the car i salute you as i struggled for ages with the thing out of the car! it was like a chinese (or is it japanese?) puzzle thingy...just fiddled for ages trying to find the right angle to fit it thru the gaps!!

still all off now and i have a large box full of random bits and bobs, that i need to remember where all went lol

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

stripped everything i need off the old block...gearbox is off, i pulled the clutch off too to have a look and it looks very new to me...emergency clutch now i guess...pulled the flywheel offf...might do something with that for t'other

all sensors and stuff i need out...

got all the timing stuff off...needed the rear cambelt cover with was a bitch, couple of the bolts needed drilling out, couldnt get the aux pulley off to i did what god intended and put a hole around it in the cover the right size to slip over it...not feckin get stuck behind it. after all that fucking fuss the aux pulley fell off on its own anyway...gay.

need to think about how to get the dipstick tube out and into the other block...hmm think i shall remove the sump and tap it out with a drift from the inside...ill just mash it tryin to grip it from the outside and pulling...there is a nice shoulder on it too where it meets the block which i can use to tap it into the other block...

many many things will be power washed tomoz...gearbox, all the brkts everything....everything is minging and covered in grime...

the gearbox looks like some cowboy took it off last...few nuts missing, some sheared...looks like they had to cut one off as they used some sort of grinder and put a slit right thru the bell housing! non critical tho.

did take some pics, but on the phone...new phone so havent got a way to get em to the pc yet...hmmm

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

sat morning i wanted to try cleaning a few bits up...basically all the ancillaries brkts and bits and bobs coming off the hatch engine. want them reasonably clean to assemble onto new one. gearbox as well.

some shots of the box...

needed to remove frt springs to give to neal, i want new ones anyway so no problems...so pulled the struts out and lined them up for a quick clean too...

nothing over the top just laid the bits out on the drive and gave them a blast with the pressure washer...used the detergent bottle attachment too to add a bit of soap to the fun.

gave it all a blast...not a lot of diff really but it got most crud off...good enough for brkts etc...gearbox is well grimy tho so i think i will set to tht with thinners and brush to get the grime off.

needed to try and remove the spring from the struts for neal...usual fun and games doin that...they looked original so i had doubts as to whether i would manage or not...twisted an allen key into a lovely spiral...need to get a pic of that its cool.

one gave but the other, the hex split at the end of the strut so that was the end of that so i just gave neal the whole strut Laughing

heres a shot of rear cambelt cover..modded to as god intended it...will make future work easier...needed to do that anyway to get it off...but as soon as i got it off the bloody pulley just fell of anyway...bah humbug!

that was it really...more pics added here Misc Hatch Pics

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

righty...last night, i decided seein as engine stuff is draggnig due to money, i will get the interior totally finished...nothing stopping me buildin it all back up now...the matrix seemed fine so it can go back in...and the dash put back.

wanted to change a bulb in the ins. panel as i remember one had gone, so pulled that out found the offender and got a new one in there..chked all the others too..put that back in.

cleaned the boot floor out...washed it down with a rag and soapy water, hoovered the boot carpet...must have looked odd from the street as the carpet was on the driver in frt of the car but from the road all u cud see was me hoovering what looked like the drive lol.

anyway, cleaned all rear half-ish, just wiped dust off etc, refitted the carpet, shelf.

i also pulled the headlinging down in each corner to chk see if the sunroof drain pipes were all attached...they were.

cleaned up the contacts on the boot lock thingy.

stuck the new rear seats in tonight, looks half finished...nice to have something to sit on as well when im inside...its nice sittin in the backseat with nothin in frt...i want the back half of a car in my bedroom to sit in!

so lookin back inside its finished. swap the rear struts and the whole rear half will be done....

reassmebled the door as it had been in bits to get to the lock...decided cant be arsed to change the lock...security innit!

so interior-wise all thats left to do is insert heater box and re-attach dash, and stick in new seats....bargain!

i have taken loads of pics on my phone, but i am awaiting new cable so i can get them all on pc...then we shall have pics!

got 3 centre caps for the wheels for 99p off ebay on the way! bargain!

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

righty some pics....

cleaning and finishing the boot...

cleaned up the contacts on the boot catch...just in case like.

reassembled dash...

heres the annoying speedo clip:

see how the white bit is "full" of the metal bit, so when it is in the hole in the box, theres no way i can see of squeezing it in to release the clips. ...ordered a new set of plastic bits from renault today, also the metal clip equivilant, to see if that fits easier...or at all!

some pics from taking the bits off the old block...

box off:

flywheel:

clutch:

seems very new, the grooves are still very deep in it...may use this instead of my ebay one, as the friction material seems to be wider on this one...whether thats due to differences in mfrs...sachs and valeo, or differences due to the one i got off ebay not bein a proper 16v one...

a minging ht lead covered in mayo ..there was about 2" of water and oil down the plugwells...nice.

and heres the complimentary crap one carries around behind the wheel arch....free of charge to all renault owners!

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

bought this this week:

impact driver...somethign i have always thought about getting...saw this one in hyper value for 3.99 so i thought i would get it. brilliant bit of kit, i am totally impressed so far.

i got the frt fogs out! which is amazing really, i had already tried with a screwdriver and there was no way it was coming out...with this thing, a few whacks and it starts to turn...well worth getting one!

i also got the nuts of the runners for the seats on the underside of the car...something again i couldnt do before....so i decided i would finally get the runner out before fitting the seats and dry out the carpets properly...i left the doors open all day today as it was a sunny day...the carpet dried, but the spongy stuff underneath is still soggy so i am gunna get it out and dry it properly.

got one out, will do the other another day and get the carpet out.

pulled the other arch liner off....

lovely much as usual...rust-promotion!

got these thru the post :

99p off ebay! bargain as the car was missing two

also got these from renault

new plastic bits, ready for their one way trip into the box....! bought the metal clip as well see if i can use that instead..dunno but it was cheap.

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

grabbed a few mins on the car today, last night i had one sides seat rails out...today the other side was a pain, all but 1 nut is out...its well stuck, well rounded even with my new found love, the impact driver, its hard to budge it..need to get a 1/2" deep socket tomoz to tackle it...failing that...not sure...try and cut the nut without damaging the thread? we'll see. difficulty is gettin enough room to get a good swing at the impact driver.

took the std zorst off...

nice shiny proper tail pipe...looks quite new, not much rot...

interesting kink where it goes over the axle...dunno if thats meant to be there or not?

usual fun and games dismantleing the sections...impact driver, dremel, drills, grinding burrs, hacksaws...all off in the end tho, i think in total 1 bolt actually unscrewed in tact...

cant rememebr if i have shown this before, but here is the zorst i got off neal which i have decided to give a go Very Happy

should make it stand out a bit heh heh

here it is next to the std, as neal moaned about the mounting of it...i have photoshopped the hangers over each other and they seem ok, but until i try it on i will take neals word for it...joy ahead apparently...

the section out the back to the centre section looks quite different, i am worried about the straightness of it compared to std....not enough kinks.

more pics added here Misc Hatch Pics

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

head gone off the hatchs engine to huw...here are some pics from the night i removed it...all seems to be in good nick...gasket totally in tact, bores nice and clean, very little ridge...

huw came and collected it and gave me his old head in part ex...something else to experiment on.

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today...bodywork.

the hatch's body is a bit scruffy...at first i was not gunna bother doin anything to it, just wanted it to run well but after meeting a bloke who runs his own body repair business, and chatting to him i got lots of enthusiasm to give it a go...

basically the stickers that run down the side of the car about 6" down from the window line has been scraped off by someone previously..with what looks like a screwdriver...so i started cleangin it up today with encouraging results:

BEFORE

scuffs and scratches like that run downs the length of both sides...

set to it with 2000wet n dry and a lot of water, smoothing out the scratches and scuffs..being careful not to rub too far into the next layer of paint...this technique only works if the scratch is in the laquar or top layer of paint...any more and its re-paint time...

so after a rub down:

then polish it back up with t-cut....worked out nicely i think...good enough for me anyway and a mile better than before....this whole car i have decided is goin to be mint.

click here to see more

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

more work on the body today...i am now addicted...am gunna make this cars body mint!

just carried on getting rid of all the scratches and scuffs...some scratches r deep and need paint, there are digs here and there....all ebing rubbed back and painted...started to sort rust...starting small first heh heh...need to get a angle grinder for the arches as there a fair bit to get out....

this needs sorting

more here!!

Mr Quoter-vator Joined: 16 Feb 2004 Posts: 7405

just more bodywork....been rubbing down areas containing scratches...rusty bits...tackling little things first...frt arches had little ammoutns of rust, so little just rub away by hand in a few secs...so they have been treated and primed...currently letting it go off, then i will rub that back smooth ready for the top coats...

looking at the n/s rear 1/4 panel, when i first had the car, the rear arch looked a bit dubious in shape...the arch is a bit bumpy, looked like it had been filled before, and now on closer inspection i was right...it has been filled and repainted...the paint being applied all the way from the stickerline down...plus, it is not quite the same shade, so now that i am removing all traces of the stickerline it is obvious where one shade ends and the other starts!

thats after a rub down and t-cut. its never gunna look right...

so i am starting to decide to redo the panel...get all the old filler out? or just rub it back to a better shape? more investigation i guess to see if there is any rust...if it it all just filler no point in redoin the filler...re-shape and repaint the whole btm half to the right shade....

Body Work Pics
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on other note...the head i got off huw..started stripping it for bits.

when removing the cam carriers, the bearing journals were covered in mayo, hard to see but they were...pointing to more evidence of huws leakyhead...

ill have all the bits off it and maybe use the head for experimentation...

Hatch Misc Pics