#ZedShed Clio Sport 197 Track Car

[Lee]

Nice change in the shed. Project me and a mate have started, getting his Clio built to a track standard then we’ll be playing at the Ring in May. So far she’s fully stripped, has a cage fitted buckets the lot. We’re fully stripping it mechanically and giving everything some love and strengthening.

she don’t look too bad for an 80k French car

subframe to be removed and power flexed

was a very easy job to be fair, only a couple hours

once that was done Dan needed to flex his fabricator skills and start beefing up the subframe, seriously impressed with the quality using our £150 Wolf welding set.

First up knock out the old bushes and remove the bearing sets.

bearing sets to remove

then the magic happens

crazy clean welds

beam is all strengthen and ready for powder coating. Back end of the clio all stripped and waiting for shinny bits.

Impressed that for a French car not a single snapped bolt.

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

French?

 

[Bazza]

Impressed with the welding mate

 

[Althulas]

What tuning upgrades are you doing to the power plant?

 

[Lee]

Been a huge amount of work done on the Clio. Rear end has been all stripped and powder coated, it’s now ready for reassembly, all the extra bracing looks really good now it’s coated.

So today we focused on the front end. This was way more complex than we thought it was going to be. Fought us all the way. We had to remove the whole shock with assembly because the pinch bolts had both seized. With lots of heat and many hours talking dirty to it we managed to get there.

and after all the unsavoury language

leaves a nice hole in the arch

but we didn’t stop there. In for a penny in for a pound. Obviously it’s French so we found rust

luckily nothing serious

plenty of these items for sale to replace, so we decided to remove the subframe which also meant disconnecting the rack. Gary is more bendy than me so sent him up.

least is nice and relaxing up there

not long later subframe came down complete

right collection of parts now

not much left that can come out, least we can see the oil leaks easily. Looks like sump and drive shaft causing a mess

This is where me n Gary thought it would be rude not to fit a race manifold

left an even bigger hole we also have everything a good clean up

Leaves Dan having to order lots of goodies

 

[IanA]

I once drove a Clio Cup at a Jonathan Palmer trackday at Bruntingthorpe. It had a sequential gearbox- absolute hoot.

 

[mwpe]

That is going to end up a BMW quality Renault.

 

[t-tony]

I've had 2 occasions to strip and rebuild those front suspension units. I won't be looking for a third.

Tony.

 

[Lee]

After a few weeks of ordering various bits, getting things coated and blasted today we reached the re assembly day. This is the fun bit.

Laid out lots of bits ready to assembled.

Pretty BC coilovers

we started at the rear to try balance out the front heaviness. The rear end only took a few hours to assemble.

just some liners and various shields to finish the rear. Front end is a little more complicated.

With Gary practicing his favourite Karma Sutra position would instal the first section of the subframe. He needed to line up the steering rack.

for a french car is surprisingly complex up the front. Having to remove so many old bearings.

 

[Lee]

So today we all hit the Clio to get her mostly complete. Ended up doing most of Friday too.

The Friday was pressing bushes and getting everything assembled.

These were tough to fit.

but these took it to a whole new level.

one of the rare occasions you can use a press

So for the Saturday I cracked on with the front to start and Hollie jumped on the rear getting the heat shields in along with arch liners.

First on the front was getting the two subframes aligned.

We had a cool visit from a Datsun 120Y today, never seen one of these before.

So I finished the front hub assemblies. They look way to good to fit on a Renault now

BC shocks attached

New pinch bolt in.

So now a the front subframes are aligned n torqued I can fit the hub assemblies.

you needed arms everywhere to fit these hubs. Needed to align the drive shaft and fit the bolts from above.

looking all complete from below

crazy complex but a lot of fun to build. Rear now just waiting for brakes

brakes just need some new pistons before they can be fitted.
Such a cool colour.

also can’t wait to fit these team dynamics with track tyres on.

almost time

 

[AntStark]

Sorry..have to ask

 

[Lee]

Sorry..have to ask
View attachment 297339

Oil cooler. It’s a JDM thing.

 

[Lee]

We made it. This was a real fun car to build. So this Saturday begun with checking the torque on everything up front and roughing the tracking by eye.

anti rotation links fitted

started putting the fluids back in.

one of my fav parts next getting the brakes on.

then the callipers, love the colour. Also we fitted the stud kit for ease of changing wheels quicker.

Next we had to fit the brackets that held the abs and brake lines. Took us a bit of head scratching to remember where they went.

Starting to look the part now.

Whilst I was cracking on up front the guys were getting the exhaust and diffuser in.

Scorpion exhaust

real nice fitment.

snug in the diffuser, love all the shinny bits.

front hardware looking the part.

next stop is the 3 hour drive back up north and some wheel alignment.

Jobbie jobbie done done.

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

Love that thread, ready for a trip through the gravel (backwards)!

 

[Pingu]

Great stuff.

My rear springs have the adjuster nuts at the bottom.

 

[Nodzed]

Love that thread, ready for a trip through the gravel (backwards)!

I've actually seen him do that. Well grass but backwards at a high rate of knots off the track.

 

[GazHyde]

The Clio is a beast, managed a couple of laps behind it on the Ring and got some awesome pics from the track photographers.