Project R

Site Subscriber Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 318

Ok, thought it was about time I bored everyone stiff with tales of my 1.8spi & the stuff I am doing to it.

Had it just over a year now and not done much except keep it going.
Now that I'm no longer a student I can afford to do the odd bits and pieces to it so here goes Smile

Here it is for anybody who doesn't know what it looks like:

.... and why "Project R"? ..... R could stand for Red, Renault or RT - take your pick!

Site Subscriber Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 318

On the reccomendation of Chris H, and after hearing his I decided to spend the Â£25 to a ripspeed induction kit for myself.

Couldn't have been easier to fit, took all of 15mins.

Before:

Photo doesn't quite do justace to how grubby the engine bay really is!

Simply undo the three bolts holding the airfilter case to it's mounting plate and undo the jubilee clip on the pipe which goes from the filter to the injection unit.

During:

Here you can see the black metal mounting plate for the standard air filter which can also be removed but one of the bolts was giving be trouble so decided to leave it on for now.

After:

Simply fit the filter on to the existing pipe using the jubilee clip provided.
I oiled up the filter (as reccomended) with some K&N filter oil which I had left over from my mini.

Road Test:
Took it out for a quick run down to the by-pass and back and am very impressed.
Makes a great sound, found myself driving around with the window down and flooring it all the time just to hear it Laughing

But is also very livable (sp?) with - if you are light on the throttle then the noise is no more noticable than before even cruising at motorway speeds.

Not sure yet if there's any performance improvement yet, will need to force myself to take it on a longer test Very Happy

Further improvement:
Can't quite be seen from the photos but the filter sits wuite far back from the cold air intake, which can be seen in the 2nd picture, so sometime I will get a length of pipe to move the filter forward so that it sits over the intake pipe.
Will also remove the original mounting plate.
Sometime I will remove the original mounting plate.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

whats abotu those 16v shockers some hero gave to you?

Site Subscriber Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 318

Of course, there is them too - 10 out of 10 great, brilliant, superb, highly reccomended - u happy now? Laughing

Seriously, didn't mention about them as had no piccys or much to say other than "I stood in your drive and watched you fit them and they are very good!"

But yes to keep the record straight other mods I've done are the 16v rear dampers, rear spoiler and clio turbine alloys as can be seen from the picture!

New mods will henceforth be posted herein with visual aids and a gripping yarn telling of the fun I had fitting them.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

you cleaned your throttle body? If not do that, better mpg and more power and the noise is crisper.

Also new stat and thorough flush is needed of the cooling system.

Site Subscriber Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 318

Quote:

you cleaned your throttle body? If not do that, better mpg and more power and the noise is crisper.

Read the tech article on that and was planning on doing that sometime.

Quote:

Also new stat and thorough flush is needed of the cooling system.

Bought some new anti-freeze today with the intention of flushing the system out tomorrow - watch this space!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

it will need a lot of flushing. Crunch all the pipes as well before you flush it. They will crunh, thats rusty scale on the inside of the hoses, you want it out.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

well done mate,i am looking forward to see more of your posts in this space .its nice to see some 1.8 rts in action .
lets show them valver owners what an SPI is made of Laughing

where did you buy the IK for 25 quid from by the way?

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

like I have said a billion times halfords sell it at 25 quid.

Or like I told Mark on e-bay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=21654&item=4519105042&rd=1 same one.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

calm down dear ...

15.99 + 4.99 ,still comes out to be cheaper but better to buy from halfords as you can always return if its faulty .
thanks chris

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

how faulty can it be?

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

i dont know what sort of fault it may turn up with . use your imagination .

the point is halfords is just 1 mile from home and they treat you the best as long as you keep your receipt ,thats all i want to know . peace of mind that is called Laughing

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

red19rt , just wondering what you have done with the other pipe carrying the exhaust gases (under the intake pipe ) ? did you block it ?

also are you going to move the air intake where you can take some direct cold air??

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

the pipe doesn't carry exhaust gas, just hot air circulated around the manifold. not all of them have it, if you have it just remove it.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

there is a flexi alloy pipe on mine which comes from a solid white plastic one ,i will remove the flexi alloy pipe but whats happening with the solid white one ? shall i block it with tape or something ?? is there any pressure on that pipe ??

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

no pressure just leave it. Take the alloy pipe off.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

cheers chris Very Happy

Site Subscriber Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 318

The flexy silver pipe came out attached to the original air filter housing, didn't notice the white solid one so I presume it's still there if it didn't come off already at some point in the past.

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

yes you know what i am talking about red19rt. the silver flexi pipe attaches the airbox at the bottom ,parallel to the black pipe that goes to the throtle body.
how is it going with the i.k now mate ? i ordered one of those as well,should arrive soon
that location on your pics for the i.k looks a bit hot ,dont you think ? a heat sheild to the side of the dizzy cap would be an idea i suppose and a flexi extension to the original air intake may be?
i wonder how that will effect the fuel consumption as well

Site Subscriber Joined: 24 Apr 2004 Posts: 318

Quote:

that location on your pics for the i.k looks a bit hot ,dont you think ? a heat sheild to the side of the dizzy cap would be an idea i suppose and a flexi extension to the original air intake may be?

Especially on my car which runs far too hot anyway! - Ideally you'd want to mount it further forward so it's over the cold air intake - hopefully going to get a suitable piece of pipe to make an extension at the weekend.

Done about 400 miles since I fitted it and am very pleased, I don't think I'll ever tire of the sound!
Still unsure about any performance gains as I've only been commuting to work and back but mpg seems to have improved if anything - I used to average 36mpg combined motoway driving and sitting in traffic, at the last fill up it was up to 37mpg (so not really enough to say any big improvement) but if anything I've been driving it a bit harder just to hear that noise!

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

your cooling system shall be causing the hot running mate,mine was shitty brown when i bought it a year a go . i ran a cleaning agent for a week in the system which you can get from a motor shop for less than a fiver. had the system pressure washed after and new coolant and water added .since than i have no problems with the heat

i want to position the i.k by where the original intake is and feed it from the side of the fog light where you got that open space facing forward