H-reg phase 1 hatch

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Right so my Dinitrol showed up at last - nearly a week after I ordered it Rolling Eyes

[img:600:800:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/dinitrol.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]
Bought Â£35 worth.

Attached to the gun, with the extension probe thing. There's a little doobrey thing in the end of the tube which creates a radial fan spray. You just shove the tube down the box sections as far as you can, pull the trigger and slowly pull the tube out, so it coats the inside as it goes. No pictures of that as there's nothing to see as it's all inside.
[img:800:600:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/dinitrolgun.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]

Having done all that I was on a roll and decided to put the subframe on...

Because no fucker would give me a hand with lifting it I used a trolley jack to lift the rear of the subframe up, and my engine crane to lift the front up...
[img:800:600:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/subframeunder.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]
[img:800:600:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/subframejack.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]
[img:800:600:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/subframeon.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]

Next I decided to get all 4 wheels on.

So I stuck on my hubs (which I'd previously given the wire brush + black hammerite treatment)

[img:800:600:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/hubon.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]

Then the struts. I will be building up some brand new struts but I don't have the parts yet so I bunged the old ones on just to get it on 4 wheels

[img:450:600:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/struton.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]

Back on 4 wheels!

[img:800:600:8ff77dd908]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/21.06/4wheels.JPG[/img:8ff77dd908]

Seems like an eternity since it was last like this!

Really feels like I've turned a big corner now, making progress!

Total spent so far: Â£266

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Another update! 3 times in 3 days, got to be a record! Loving the after work sunshine Very Happy

Firstly took the rear beam off
[img:800:600:55deef61d2]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/22.06/beamoff.JPG[/img:55deef61d2]

[img:800:600:55deef61d2]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/22.06/beam.JPG[/img:55deef61d2]

The torsion bars in this bastard thing are siezed fast

[img:800:600:55deef61d2]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/22.06/siezed.JPG[/img:55deef61d2]

Yep, thats about the 6th bolt that has sheared off in the less rusty of the two bars during my attempts to remove them Mad

So, I'll need to source another one with bars that are free... Sad

Anyway... crane attached to the rear to lift it up to max axle stand height again...

[img:800:600:55deef61d2]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/22.06/cranerear.JPG[/img:55deef61d2]

Then I dropped the tank off, complete with filler neck assembly... still got a fair bit of fuel in it! Will tip it into my chammy... Smile

Bit of a jungle of pipework surrounding the tank... took LOTS of pictures so I know how to connect them all back up again!

[img:800:600:55deef61d2]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/22.06/tank.JPG[/img:55deef61d2]

So that's the rear end of the car bare, ready for round 2 of fun and games with the grinder.

It's actually not all that corroded under there tbh, apart from the obvious problems with the sills. Need to start making arrangements to get them sorted. Other than that, a good weekend's worth of work should see it derusted, painted up and cavity waxed to match the front.

[img:800:600:55deef61d2]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/22.06/barerear.JPG[/img:55deef61d2]

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Been busily beavering away under the rear with the grinder/wire wheel this week.

First I started poking around at suspect areas and found these:

[img:800:600:1822da3dd6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/30.06/lhhole.jpg[/img:1822da3dd6]
[img:800:600:1822da3dd6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/30.06/rhhole.jpg[/img:1822da3dd6]

That's just behind the mounts for the rear beam on both sides. These illustrate perfectly what I was saying about the underseal hiding rust from you. I didn't take any photos of it unfortunately but the only sign that these holes were there was a slight lump in the underseal. Only when I started picking and peeling it away could I actually see what was lurking.

Anyway, it's only 2 little holes, if that's the worst I'm going to find, I'm happy with that. Not the end of the world, just 2 more little patches. Thankfully the rest of the rear end is pretty much clear.

So I jetwashed the whole rear arch and under the boot floor area, so I could see what I was dealing with.

[img:800:600:1822da3dd6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/30.06/cleanlharch.jpg[/img:1822da3dd6]
[img:800:600:1822da3dd6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/30.06/cleanrharch.jpg[/img:1822da3dd6]

all looked pretty clean. The jolly frenchman who was applying the sealant to the arches that day back in 1991 wasn't afraid to use it. The arches are VERY well sealed around the lips, zero rust. Which is nice.

So anyway, derusted and primed the bootfloor area
[img:800:600:1822da3dd6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/30.06/primedfloor1.jpg[/img:1822da3dd6]
[img:800:600:1822da3dd6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/30.06/primedfloor2.jpg[/img:1822da3dd6]

And the lower rear lip of the shell, which was quite manky actually.
[img:800:600:1822da3dd6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/30.06/primedarse.jpg[/img:1822da3dd6]

Hopefully I'll be able to get most of the rest done this weekend. Can't complete the job until all the welding is done, but I can get close.

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Well, I got what I wanted done over the weekend - namely the grinding back and rust stopping of all the remaining parts. SO glad it's done. Lying under the car holding the grinder up above you and having bits of crap and rust falling on your head aint fun. Even wearing goggles and a full face shield, the dust and crap still managed to find its way into my ears and eyes all the time. Looked like a coal miner when I'd finished Sad

[img:800:600:5e6a458089]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.07/rustymember.jpg[/img:5e6a458089]
[img:800:600:5e6a458089]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.07/groundmembers.jpg[/img:5e6a458089]

Anyway, this evening I painted it up (another litre of paint) and injected the wax. You can see where the excess has dribbled out. Note the OZ alloys on now. Don't worry, they aren't staying - just on so I can refurb the standard wheels. Razz

[img:800:600:5e6a458089]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.07/arseup.jpg[/img:5e6a458089]
[img:800:600:5e6a458089]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.07/blackbootfloor.jpg[/img:5e6a458089]

You can see I've left the outer rear sections for now, no point putting paint anywhere near there till the welding is done. Can't really do much more on the chassis until the sills and holes are sorted actually. I'm away for virtually the rest of July so it'll be August before any more real progress is made now... Sad

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Well, I got back from holiday yesterday with a broken collarbone. So that's going to be about 6 weeks before I can really do anything else on the car. Rolling Eyes

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Right it's 4 weeks today since I broke my collarbone and it's sort of healed, so i think it's time to get on with some light duties...

Got the tyres removed from the alloys... free at Kwik Fit... tidy blokes in there.

[img:800:600:9153c01d6c]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/15.08/alloys.JPG[/img:9153c01d6c]

not too bad condition as it is, a good clean up and they'd be decent. But I'll refurb and respray them properly...

the tyres that came off my Â£75 car... 4 new Pirelli P 6000s Smile

[img:450:600:9153c01d6c]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/15.08/tyres.JPG[/img:9153c01d6c]
[img:800:600:9153c01d6c]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/15.08/tyres2.JPG[/img:9153c01d6c]

Not sure if I'll put the Pirellis back on, might get some Toyo Proxes and use the P6000s elsewhere. Will probably come down to whether or not I've got the money at the time.

Also received some bits and bobs courtesy of Chris H... The long thing is the plastic loom channel thing that goes on the subframe, been trying to get one of these for ages but Chris was the only person to come through with the goods. He even supplied all the little clippy things that hold it on. It's not important and the car wouldn't blow up if I left it off, but I can't stand things to be missing.

Also got the cabin pressure vent thing that goes behind the bumper at the back, because the rubber flaps have fallen off mine, and a pack of the little plastic screw things that hold on the sideskirts.

[img:800:600:9153c01d6c]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/15.08/subframebits.JPG[/img:9153c01d6c]

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Making good progress once more....

I'm currently devoting most of my efforts to the braking system. That means servo, master cylinder, bias valve, rigid lines etc.

I managed to pick up a brand new servo from a Kangoo van for Â£10 (ebay). It is virtually identical to the original 16V one that came out, except that the bit which connects to the brake pedal is longer, and not threaded like the 16V one. So, a bit of modification was required....

After a bit of measuring, I centre punched for the new hole to match the 16V servo

[img:640:480:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/servocp.jpg[/img:0c13c485d6]

drilled

[img:640:480:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/servodrilled.jpg[/img:0c13c485d6]

Here they are side by side, to show the difference.

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/oldvnew.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

Lopped off the end bit that was no longer needed, jobs a good 'un. Got a new master cylinder (Â£28 - Eurocarparts), here it is attached:

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/servomc.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

And finally, installed in the bay, obviously the lines are not actually screwed in. You can also see my new clutch cable in place (Â£9 - ebay)

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/mcinstalled.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

Then I turned my attention to the bias valve, an infamous source of annoyance/MOT failure on 19 16Vs...

Here it is when it came off the car (along with the Vauxhall Zafira bias valve I originally intended to use):

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/valvetop.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

Pretty manky. The valve itself was basically siezed. So I removed it from the bracket:

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/pipework.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

I had to use heat on some of the unions to get them to move, and they all got pretty shagged in the process. Anyway the bare bracket:

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/valvebracket.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

This, together with the bracket for the fuel filter, I used the grinder/wire brush on, kurusted and painted with black hammerite. Here's the fuel filter bracket painted:

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/bracketpainted.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

So then I attached a new valve (ebay - Â£30... actually very lucky to get hold of a new one at all) and made up a bunch of new copper rigid lines together with new unions (~Â£10) and Goodridge braided flexis (Â£38 )

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/newvalve.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

Here it is installed under the car (temporarily, it needs to come off again when I do the rest of the painting once the welding is done):

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/valveinstalled.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

Nice eh!

Then I tarted up the fuel tank. Was pretty grubby so I jetwashed it, scrubbed it with brillo pads and rinsed it off.

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/cleantank.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

Grinder on the very few little bits of surface rust, then kurust, then sprayed it with the same stone chip paint I used on the underside of the shell, good as new:

[img:800:600:0c13c485d6]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/27.08/paintedtank.JPG[/img:0c13c485d6]

Total spent so far: Â£351

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

A few more bits and bobs done today...

Gave the front and rear towhooks the usual grinder, kurust and black hammerite treatment...

[img:800:600:9d2673ad33]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/28.08/towhooks.JPG[/img:9d2673ad33]

Then I made up new copper rigid lines for the front brakes and installed them along with the front Goodridge braided hoses:

[img:800:600:9d2673ad33]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/28.08/newlines.JPG[/img:9d2673ad33]
[img:800:600:9d2673ad33]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/28.08/rhline.JPG[/img:9d2673ad33]
[img:800:600:9d2673ad33]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/28.08/lhline.JPG[/img:9d2673ad33]

I'll have renewed all the rigid lines on the car except for the 2 long ones which go from the master cylinder to the bias valve as those ones thankfully came off without any of the unions getting buggered.

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Today I have been chopping out sections of the sills on both sides, ready for new sections to be welded in next weekend by a mate who is coming down to do it for me.

I decided to remove the entire rear half of both sills, up to the seam under the doors:

So starting with the right hand sill, I chopped it out and tidied up the edges to get rid of any surface rust. I cut it back level with the edge of the inner sill behind, which the outer sill is spot welded to. Any higher would cut off the spot welds holding the rear quarter panel to the inner sill, which I dont really want to do, obviously.

[img:800:600:38e4452265]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.09/rhsill3.JPG[/img:38e4452265]

At the front of the section chopped out there was a bit of rust above the line I had a cut along, so I neatly cut out another little triangle. You can see how the shell is constructed here. Back from this seam at the middle, the outer sill from the front goes behind the rear quarter panel/outer sill and becomes the inner sill at the rear, quite neat.
[img:800:600:38e4452265]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.09/rhsill2.JPG[/img:38e4452265]

Right at the back is going to require a little bit of tidying, but that's no bother.
[img:800:600:38e4452265]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.09/rhsill.JPG[/img:38e4452265]

Then same thing on the other side, but I haven't finished that yet.
[img:800:600:38e4452265]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.09/lhsill.JPG[/img:38e4452265]
[img:800:600:38e4452265]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.09/lhsill2.JPG[/img:38e4452265]

Same story at the back, a little better on this side maybe.
[img:800:600:38e4452265]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/03.09/lhsill3.JPG[/img:38e4452265]

So in the evenings this week I will be cutting the new metal sections and then next weekend while you lot are enjoying yourselves at Renault World Series, the new sections will be getting welded in. Better not rain!

After that I need to redouble my efforts to get a rear beam with unsiezed torsion bars so I can clean/paint that up and get the car back together and on 4 wheels again. Plain sailing after that...

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Right, finally gathered all the bits for new front struts:

You can see
2 new Boge (OE) shocks (~Â£60 Eurocarparts)
2 new top bearings (~Â£17 GSF)
2 top spring plates (Courtesy of everyone's favourite Irishman, Chet)
1 Top mount kit including bump stops (Renault ~Â£90)
2 new KYB standard spec springs (ebay about 6 months ago - Â£40)
[img:600:800:1782962fd8]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/07.09/bits.JPG[/img:1782962fd8]

I threw all the bits up in the air and this is what came down
[img:600:800:1782962fd8]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/07.09/struts.JPG[/img:1782962fd8]

And as fitted to the car with new strut-hub nuts and bolts:
[img:800:600:1782962fd8]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/07.09/shockfront.JPG[/img:1782962fd8]
[img:800:600:1782962fd8]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/07.09/shockrear.JPG[/img:1782962fd8]

Looks nice eh!

Now, at ~Â£210, these things were quite an outlay. But the suspension makes or breaks a car's handling, so I think it's worth it.

Total spent so far: Â£561

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Right so there was a fair bit of activity over the weekend...

Here is a pic of the sill piece I made for the left side:
[img:800:600:7ee47b2446]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/12.09/lhsillpiece.JPG[/img:7ee47b2446]

My mate Jev came down to do all my welding for me, here he is getting to work on the left sill, bless:
[img:800:600:7ee47b2446]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/12.09/jev.JPG[/img:7ee47b2446]

After he'd finished on that sill. As you can see, 'spot' welded with little puddle welds on the lower lip, and 'seam' welded on the upper edge. In practice he used lots of tacks to create the seam weld as the metal is too thin for continuous welding:
[img:800:600:7ee47b2446]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/12.09/spotted.JPG[/img:7ee47b2446]

Busy on the other side:
[img:800:600:7ee47b2446]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/12.09/jevwelding.JPG[/img:7ee47b2446]

And this is as far as we got on that side, as the welder ran out of gas and Jev had to go home and lay some bathroom flooring or something:
[img:800:600:7ee47b2446]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/12.09/rhspotted.JPG[/img:7ee47b2446]

So he left his welder with me and he will either come back to do the rest, or I can have a bash myself.

This evening though, I made a start on tidying up the welds on the left sill. I ground them down and sprayed with zinc primer. You can just make out one of the clips for the side skirt screws, which I drilled and slotted a couple of holes for. The hole on the side of the sill is for the little black plastic clips which the skirt slides onto.

[img:800:600:7ee47b2446]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/12.09/lhpainted.JPG[/img:7ee47b2446]

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Been doing bits and bobs recently:

Had another go at releasing the torsion bars. I used a long bit of M10 and a big lump of steel with a hole in it as a slide hammer.

[img:800:600:e5473ee14d]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/26.09/slidehammer.JPG[/img:e5473ee14d]

After this I got it as hot as I could with the blowtorch, added the upturned socket and tensioned the stud with a nut, then continued the assualt with the sliding steel lump. Wouldn't budge. It's fair to say that these bars are not coming out, end of.

I've also been preparing the engine bay for the engine to go back in...

Replaced the removable scuttle panel, added the heatshields, cables, brake fluid lines etc.
[img:800:600:e5473ee14d]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/26.09/bay.JPG[/img:e5473ee14d]
[img:800:600:e5473ee14d]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/26.09/bay2.JPG[/img:e5473ee14d]

Then I started preparing the old 1.8 to go back in. Since I robbed its flywheel for the 2.0, I bunged on a spare 1.8 flywheel and the old clutch, then whacked the gearbox back on.

[img:800:600:e5473ee14d]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/26.09/enginebox.JPG[/img:e5473ee14d]

One of the manifold-downpipe studs had sheared on removal so I needed to replace it. I managed to liberate a servicable stud from a spare exhaust manifold using the blowtorch and mole grips without too much of a fight, but the busted one on the engine proved troublesome. I tried heat, grinding off bits of the flange on the stud and chiselling it round, none of which worked. In the end I went for an effective, if not particularly elegant solution:

[img:450:600:e5473ee14d]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/26.09/dpstud.JPG[/img:e5473ee14d]

Yes, I ground away at the manifold flange and stud until i was able to unscrew it using the mole grips. You'd never say that this was ideal, but to be honest it's only temporary so it's fine.

Then today, I had my new screen fitted. It's a genuine Renault screen which I found on eBay about 6 months ago new in the packaging for Â£25+Â£20 courier... that's a fecking bargain.

Chris has been badgering me to do it myself but in the end I just got a boy from the local windscreen place to come round during his lunch break and do it for Â£20 in his back pocket, result.

[img:800:600:e5473ee14d]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/26.09/newscreen.JPG[/img:e5473ee14d]
[img:800:600:e5473ee14d]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/26.09/newscreen2.JPG[/img:e5473ee14d]

Total spent so far: Â£626

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Now that the screen is in and the damp is kept out I can start putting enough interior back in to get an MOT. First off, heater bits needed to go back in:

[img:800:600:034dd5d731]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/heaterboxes.JPG[/img:034dd5d731]

The knob on the heater control panel that controls the direction of the airflow had broken off. This is because the bits inside that heater box that the knob was controlling, were very stiff. So i needed to free it off. I took the box apart (but didnt take pics Rolling Eyes

) and cleaned up the bearing surfaces that the flaps rotate on, and created a bit more clearance on one of them with some glasspaper. Now you can flick the control arm and the flaps go all the way, sorted.

Then I put in a new heater matrix (genuine Valeo, Â£16 - ebay)

[img:600:800:034dd5d731]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/matrices.JPG[/img:034dd5d731]

The one that came out was the original 15 year old one. As far as I know it wasnt leaking and there's no rust in it, which is testament to how well the car has been maintained over the years.

The foam air seals around the faces of the heater box were fecked, so I scraped them off and replaced with some butyl sealant strip.

[img:800:600:034dd5d731]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/sealant.JPG[/img:034dd5d731]

Then I uninstalled the immobiliser (some kind of Sigma which i have the installation receipt for)

[img:800:600:034dd5d731]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/alarminstall.JPG[/img:034dd5d731]

[img:800:600:034dd5d731]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/alarm.JPG[/img:034dd5d731]

Then in went the dash
[img:800:600:034dd5d731]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/dashready.jpg[/img:034dd5d731]

Followed by the steering column
[img:800:600:034dd5d731]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/dashin.jpg[/img:034dd5d731]

The foam backed lining stuff down by the footwell was a bit damp... took fecking ages to dry it out!

Total spent so far: Â£642

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Picked up another rear beam on sunday, from Astrojon007's car that he is breaking as he had assured me the torsion bars were clean and free.

Complete with discs, calipers and pads, Â£30:
[img:800:600:9b1646b976]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/beam.jpg[/img:9b1646b976]

Under the caps:
[img:800:600:9b1646b976]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/leftbarin.jpg[/img:9b1646b976]
[img:800:600:9b1646b976]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/rightbarin.jpg[/img:9b1646b976]
Looking promising!

With minimal effort using the upturned socket, bolt and nut method, out they popped, sweet.
[img:800:600:9b1646b976]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/leftbarout.jpg[/img:9b1646b976]
[img:800:600:9b1646b976]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/rightbarout.jpg[/img:9b1646b976]

So I stripped it almost totally down, jetwashed it, removed any rust and painted it up in hard as fook grey stonechip paint:
[img:800:600:9b1646b976]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/strippedbeam.jpg[/img:9b1646b976]
[img:800:600:9b1646b976]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/02.10/paintedbeam.jpg[/img:9b1646b976]

Total spent so far: Â£672

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Today I got the car back on 4 wheels...

Firstly I had to reinstall the fuel tank. Before I did this in put in a brand new fuel pump, which was Â£65 from ebay. These can and do go wrong and the original pump is 15 years old with 132,000 miles on it. It would be a pain to swap later as the tank has to come off the car if you don't want to cut the boot floor to get at it (which obviously I would not be prepared to do).

Old pump attached to the bracket thing on the right, new pump unit on the left.

[img:800:600:737b5d8069]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/04.10/fuelpump.JPG[/img:737b5d8069]

Then the tank and fuel hoses went on.
[img:800:600:737b5d8069]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/04.10/tank.jpg[/img:737b5d8069]
[img:800:600:737b5d8069]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/04.10/tankon.jpg[/img:737b5d8069]

Then I stuck the old rear beam back on (only 4 bolts) just to get it on 4 wheels again so i can put the engine in.

[img:800:600:737b5d8069]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/04.10/4wheels.jpg[/img:737b5d8069]

Then I stuck the bumpers and skirts back on just to admire it Smile

[img:800:600:737b5d8069]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/04.10/cool.jpg[/img:737b5d8069]
[img:800:600:737b5d8069]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/04.10/cool2.jpg[/img:737b5d8069]
[img:800:600:737b5d8069]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/04.10/inside.jpg[/img:737b5d8069]

Even nose high with no engine, it's a cool looking car Cool

Total spent so far: Â£737

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Moving along quickly now...

Stuck the engine in, the old 1.8 that came out. Yes, I do have a Megane 2.0 engine to go in when it is finished, but I want to get the car finished and MOTed and any niggles ironed out with the old engine in rather than fannying around sorting problems while I'm trying to run in a new engine properly.

Shame to dump this grubby old thing back in there, but anyway...
[img:800:600:6a939e2e4f]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/09.10/enginein.JPG[/img:6a939e2e4f]
[img:800:600:6a939e2e4f]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/09.10/enginein2.JPG[/img:6a939e2e4f]

As I mentioned right at the start of this thread, the fan wouldnt come on when I picked the car up. While everything was accessible, I decided to find out why.

Pulling back the loom casing and removing the insulation, it became clear:
[img:800:600:6a939e2e4f]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/09.10/fanwiring.JPG[/img:6a939e2e4f]
The dreaded green powder! Mad

Anyway I chopped out all the affected wire

[img:800:600:6a939e2e4f]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/09.10/fanwiring2.JPG[/img:6a939e2e4f]

and soldered in a new bit (which I forgot to photo Rolling Eyes

)

Then I added all the other bits and bobs to the bay

[img:800:600:6a939e2e4f]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/09.10/nearlydone.JPG[/img:6a939e2e4f]

Only a few more bits now and it can run once more!

Also changed out the LCD which had a touch of bleed around the edges. Got a perfect one from a 19 being broken, Â£10

[img:800:600:6a939e2e4f]http://www.renault-turbo.com/neal/H255HLF/09.10/LCD.JPG[/img:6a939e2e4f]

Total spent so far: Â£747