SharkyUK's Trophy - #165

[SharkyUK]

March 2010

March is already here and we had our first Club event of the year earlier this month; a rolling road day at GotBoost in Llandow (as asked for by many members in the Club). I wasn't expecting any spectacular results as I had made no modifications to the Trophy over the winter (largely due to spending most of it in Perth, Western Australia) but thought I'd throw it on the rollers all the same.

Sadly there were a few issues with the rollers on the day (calibration issues) but it wasn't too far out when it came to my time to roll. The dyno graphs are shown below. I'm not sure what was going on with the power delivery as it seems very 'lumpy' and the AFR seems all over the place. Still, I'm not complaining as it was a good day out - a chance to meet up with friends old and new and the car is driving great anyway!

As always, Lyn and I were there with the cameras ready to grab a photo or two. We also improvised and used a bullet cam to capture some footage as we didn't have a video camera available on the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGzEO5dq8zg

As I write this, the mileage has just crept over 60k so it's time I contacted Rentech to get it booked in and serviced. I've also got a few more minor updates coming over the next month or two (hopefully) all being well.

 

[SharkyUK]

April 2010

April has been a bit of a busy month and there have been a few changes to the Trophy over the last few weeks. As with most things performance car related, it's not been too kind on the wallet... but I'm more than happy with the results I've seen from the various work that has gone on recently. Please read on to find out what's been going on recently with the T...

April is the month in which Castle Combe Circuit hold their annual Spring Performance Car Action Day and, as per usual, we had decided to have a Club stand for our members. Obviously I was looking to put my Trophy on display (and wanting it to look as good as possible) but there were a few things that needed addressing. Most notably, parts of the paintwork had started to oxidize very slightly and the red sheen had started to wash out and look more pink-ish. Additionally, there were also a few minor swirl marks that needed attention - although these weren't too bad as the Trophy (depsite being driven hard) does get lovingly looked after! Rather than have a got at cleaning and detailing the car myself I decided to enlist the help of a friend and Club member - James at Ti22 (http://ti22.co.uk).

I booked the Trophy in with James for the day before the show (for a full correction detail) and planned to drop the car off the evening before that. And that's when things started to go wrong!

On the evening that I was to drop the car off with James, I pulled up outside his business premises and promptly kerbed my alloys...! I wasn't best impressed and the grinding sound of Turini meeting kerb was not a pleasant one. A quick inspection followed and the alloys, surprisingly, had a few chunks missing - along with a good few layers of lacquer and Anthracite Turini. Oops indeed. If there was to be some good news, it was the fact that there was a tyre and exhaust place a couple of streets down and the fact that I had a spare brand-new set of Turini's at home. The downside was that it was late and the garage was closed so I'd have to contact them in the morning and see if they could help me out. Leaving the Trophy with James I returned home with Lyn for the night.

I loaded my new Turini's into the Fiesta (our runabout car) and got up early Friday morning to make my way to the tyre and exhaust place. (Thankfully I have a very understanding boss as I should have been in work that Friday morning...) I sat outside the garage and waited for the owner to arrive. When he did arrive I approached him and explained the situation. To be honest, I wasn't expecting a favourable reply but that's exactly what I got! He simply told me to bring around the alloys/tyres as and when I was ready and he'd swap them over to the new set for me. As a result of their help I was back in business - so I think the least I can do is a big shout-out and "thank you" to Beechwood Tyres and Exhausts (Newport, Gwent). Gareth, Dave and Owen - you're all legends! With the tyres and alloys now sorted, I had a bit of a chat with James and then made my way (late) into work. I was very much looking forward to picking up the car later that evening and seeing the results.

I wasn't disappointed when I made my way back to Ti22 that evening for the pick-up. Even under the dark evening sky, the Trophy looked better than ever before. It had a deeper glossy red shine and the Swissvax treatment had worked wonders. I really couldn't thank James enough. Even some of the faded plastics had come back quite nicely, too.

The Trophy looked great the next day at Castle Combe and the glorious weather made it even better. I was really impressed with James' work and would not hesitate to recommend him. His work is top-drawer and he's a real nice guy as well. With that I'd like to express my thanks to James (http://ti22.co.uk). I'm sure those that saw the Trophy at Combe would agree that it looked pretty good (even if the stone chips adorning the front do give a little indication as to the real reason I bought this car!)

Around mid-April, I contacted K-TEC Racing with a view to having a few items of work carried out on the car (including a 60k mile service). I was very impressed with their quick response and friendly replies to my questions and queries and couldn't wait to get the Trophy down there. It was going to be a long two week wait...

Two weeks later I took the day off work and set off early to make the journey from Wales to Dorset. The weather was good but sadly the traffic wasn't and I soon found myself snared up in stop/start traffic - even at that exceptionally early hour. Thankfully I had allowed plenty of time for this and arrived at KTR in good time. I was greeted by Daryl and soon had a much needed coffee in my hand! Shortly after that, my car was taken into the workshop and I took the opportunity to relax a little as the work was being carried out... (I had planned on getting some photos if possible but my camera wasn't working; I think it was a dodgy lens connection).

So - what did I have done?

I had the air filter element replaced with an ITG performance element (I thought it was about time I got rid of the old one). I also had uprated engine mounts fitted, including the upper gearbox mount. I had started to notice a fair bit of 'movement' over previous months (and a greater loss of traction when accelerating hard) hence the reason to go with the uprated mounts.

Engine-wise, I also opted to have the CNC matched inlet work carried out. I'd been looking to have this done for a while and saw no point in waiting any longer! To accompany this the PTFE gasket kit was installed (cylinder head to lower manifold gasket and manifold to plenum gasket). With a bit of luck this will help keep the temperatures down a little and, in conjunction with the port matching, offer a mild performance increase and improved throttle response.

As already mentioned, I also had the 60k service carried out and had the uprated Powerflex polybush kit installed along with the uprated engine mounts. To cap it all off, I also took the opportunity to have KTR remap the car to make the best of my current modifications (in their new custom-built dyno cell). Being realistic I wasn't expecting too much in the way gains and was hoping more for an improvement in the throttle response (which I'll get onto shortly).

Below is the dyno readout showing the performance gain from the remap.

As can be seen in the graph above, I've got a nice little increase in both horsepower and torque across the rev range. The increase in torque (coupled with the improved throttle response) made for a grin-inducing drive back home to Wales! In a nutshell, the Trophy is now driving and pulling better than I've ever known it to. When I plant my foot it now instantly picks up and the traction is noticeably improved, too. The biggest surprise was the in-gear difference that the modifications have made; again with the pick-up and power delivery much more evident and welcome. The way in which the power is delivered is also smoother and a quick glance of the speedo suggests that it might be wise to pay more attention to it until I've become more akin to the different feel that the car now gives me.

Sure, the car may have a bit more vibration in the cockpit with having the uprated mounts fitted - but this is a very minor thing and something that doesn't concern me. The car is in great shape, it's driving beautifully and I'm chuffed to bits with this latest round of modifications. What next I wonder...?

A big "thank you" to K-TEC Racing for their excellent service and work (and I hope you don't mind that I used a few of your images from your excellent new website...)

 

[Sam_K]

Great write up mate, keep up the good work. I am thinking of doing similar with the mounts and bushes. Have you had STM's done too?

Sam

 

[SharkyUK]

Great write up mate, keep up the good work. I am thinking of doing similar with the mounts and bushes. Have you had STM's done too?

Sam

Cheers for the comments, Sam.

As the car stands, it doesn't have STM's. It is something I'm considering but not at the top of the list if I'm being honest. The uprated mounts and bushes have resulted in more cabin vibration (quite a bit) but personally I don't have problems with this (although some folks might). If you can live with the vibrations then I'd certainly recommend at least giving it some thought as the OEM mounts arguably aren't the best.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[SharkyUK]

Blimey... I really need to update this thread...

 

[SharkyUK]

October 2010

Isn't it amazing how quickly time flies when you're having fun? October saw the 72k milestone reached (thanks in no small part to the amazing Scotland Tour I went on last month). Since the last service, the Trophy has been running absolutely beautifully but it had become more evident that it was time for the next service. And, whilst on the aforementioned Scotland Tour, a very strange droning sound had materialised and yet I couldn't quite determine where it was coming from.

As I'm quite fussy as to who works on the car I booked it in with Dave and Mike at RenTech, Portsmouth. Ok, so it's a fair distance to travel (to/from Wales) but their work is great and their prices very competitive... and they're a good laugh, too! So last Friday I booked a hotel in Portsmouth and made my way down in the evening. Having arrived at the hotel I parked up, showered and grabbed a taxi into town to meet up with a work colleague/friend and would eventually arrive back at the hotel in the small hours of the morning.

Surprisingly fresh and awake I took the car into RenTech Saturday morning, had a brief chat with Dave (mentioning the droning sound) and then went off wandering to find some breakfast and kill a few hours. My instructions were simply to service the car (including the new belts) and to fix any little niggles they came across (such as perished manifold seal, etc.) They were going to ring me if anything expensive or unexpected turned up...

...and it wasn't long before I got a call from Dave! I wasn't far away from the garage so agreed to return and to meet up with Dave and Mike to discuss the issue they'd found - i.e. the source of the droning sound. To cut a long story short, the problem was the rear wheels (especially the NSR). The rear wheel bearings should have had disk spacers fitted and clearly these were not present. As a result, there was an awful lot of play on the rear disk. Obviously this had knackered the rear wheel bearing and, to paraphrase Mike and Dave, they had never seen a bearing in such a fubar'd state. Not good. It was not safe to drive. On top of this, they could not get the spacers delivered and fitted until the Tuesday. I would have to leave the Trophy with them and return Tuesday.

Without further ado I hired a car from the next door hire place (it was cheaper to hire a car for 4-5 days than to catch a train!) and returned on the Tuesday. By now the T was in perfect health and I was desperate to get back into the driving seat! I paid the balance and was soon comfortable in the Recaro's and ready to head home. The drive home was fantastic - smooth, pulling like a train and - best of all - no creaks and rattles (apart from the cabin vibrations due to the uprated engine mounts).

The work carried out was:

• Oil and filter, gearbox oil, pollen filter
• Brake fluid, engine coolant
• Spark plugs
• Forte fuel treatment and engine flush
• Cambelt change
• Accessory belt change
• De-phaser pulley change
• NSR bearing and disk spacers
• Exhaust manifold-to-cat seal

Once again, a big thanks to Mike and Dave at RenTech for their great work and for looking after both me and the Trophy.

Thanks for looking. More updates as and when they happen...

 

[SharkyUK]

March 2011

And so I find myself now well into 2011 and without an update for a few months... shameful.

It's been a hectic few months with one thing or another and the Trophy has been somewhat 'neglected' I'm afraid to say. Ok, so perhaps 'neglected' is too harsh a word; perhaps 'has received less attention than normal' would be a more apt description. As a result I decided to give her a bit of a quick clean, polish and wax as the winter had not been kind to her. So I set aside a handful of hours the other weekend and - in all fairness - she scrubbed up really well. The paintwork definitely needs to see some clay over the next month or two but overall it's not in bad shape (ignoring the bits that are turning pink - such as the door handles!)

On closer inspection it's quite annoying to see the extent and size of some of the stone chips I've picked up over the winter. I've a new dent in the bonnet and a huge gouge on the roof! Oh well - the car was bought to be driven so these battle scars are testament to that I guess. Heh heh. I did notice a short while back that I had a large build up of grease and general 'not nice' stuff around the wheel arches and all over the alloys; potentially another CV boot split. And it certainly looks that way. That will be getting fixed very soon though.

Here she is following the recent clean, polish and wax (only one pic as it's a driveway shot!)



Not too shabby I don't think. I still do that thing where I park up my car and, as I'm walking away, turn around to take a quick peek back at it... After several years of ownership I'm still absolutely loving the car.

Anyways, I dropped the car off at K-Tec Racing this morning to have a bit of fettling done, the flux capacitor fixed and also to address the driveshaft / CV boot issues. They need to keep the car in for the week so kindly let me borrow one of their RenaultSport Clio 172's. The 172 is really nicely setup and I enjoyed driving something different for a change - something that still had a bit of oomph for when the urge became too much. This will do nicely until I can pick my Trophy up next weekend! :twisted:





The journey there and back was what you'd call a journey of two parts (obviously!) - "there" and "back." Both journeys were the same route and took in some lovely back roads through Somerset / Wiltshire and over into Dorset. The journey back was a little boring as - by the time I was making the return journey - the traffic was quite busy and folks were out enjoying the nice weather. However, the journey there was absolutely amazing... one of the best enthusiastic drives I have ever had. The sun was rising, the views stunning and the roads beautiful and flowing in places (with some great hairpins along the way).

As good as the 172 is I can't wait to get the Trophy back... and to slip into those lovely Recaro's.

 

[SharkyUK]

March 2011 (continued...)

Oh, where to start...

As some folks (or those who read my previous few posts) know I recently had ITB's fitted to my Trophy. It was something I had wanted to do for some time but - obviously - it took some scrimping and saving to finally pull together the pennies to get it done. I had actually thought about going down the supercharger route but, for various reasons, I decided not to - primarily because I wanted to keep the Trophy as a "Trophy" and retain the NA characteristics of the engine (plus I could not justify the additional step-up in cost). Hence, ITB's were the way to go; especially given the sort of driving I enjoy with Rebel Motorsport Club and the various events and drives I'm involved with throughout the year (not to forget the spur-of-the-moment weekend blast now and again).

But before I embark on the rest of this story and bring things up to date, I need to go back some three and a half years to the point at which I purchased the Trophy. It likely has significance on the events of recent days...

I purchased this wonderful car back in August 2007 and it was in fantastic condition. The only two negatives were that a) the brakes were knackered as the car had been stood for a while and b) the engine bay had a very ill-fitting Hillpower induction kit fitted (which had been somewhat cannibalised to fit, although the rest of the engine appeared mechanically sound). A test drive was taken and the car was purchased - no real issues whatsoever. The brakes were replaced (new pads and discs) and the Hillpower kit was removed and the standard airbox and setup reinstalled. This actually resulted in a mild performance increase (which did not surprise me given the state of the Hillpower "bits".

Despite the relatively good performance of the car (I'm talking engine performance rather than handling characteristics) it was not quite there. In all truth I didn't notice this as I had never driven a Clio Sport 172/182 before and was simply enjoying it as it was. However, a good friend of mine took the car for a spin - on quite a few occasions - and realised it wasn't perhaps quite as it should be. She had good experience of the Clio Sport 172/182/Trophy range to this point and I valued her thoughts on this so, naturally, was somewhat dismayed to hear that it wasn't quite living up to the performance of other stock Clio Sport's out there. It wasn't bad but she mentioned it didn't pull like she expected it to; nor did it have the urgency she expected when burying the loud pedal. A little further down the line this was confirmed by another good friend of mine who also knows his Renault's and engines (having worked in motorsports as both a mechanic and race driver in his earlier years). He also commented how lethargic it felt in comparison to the cars he had driven. Again I was a little disappointed but I couldn't be too upset as very often it would embarass far superior cars despite not perhaps being quite at the level it should be.

Over the next three and a half years I steadily modified the Trophy to get it to where it is today and can honestly say that I have enjoyed each and every mile in it... even if it hasn't perhaps lived up to the performance levels that it should. I had no complaints, no serious problems and the car is probably far more capable than I'll ever be. It's been lovingly looked after and will be in my garage permanently as a keeper. With that in mind, it brings us right back to today and the decision I made to go down the ITB route...

Having had experience of the K-Tec Racing DTH ITB kit on a friend's Clio Sport 172 (and the fact he'd been running it for some time with no problems) I decided to contact them and arrange to get the work done. I had previously been to K-Tec Racing for other work and could not fault their courtesy, customer service and for generally keeping me up-to-date on how things were progressing. They took my car in on the 12th March and kindly loaned me their 172 for the week whilst the work was carried out.



It was with a fair amount of excitement I returned on March 19th to pick her up! After exchanging pleasantries and settling the bill I was given a rundown on the work carried out and the difference I would need to be aware of compared to the stock F4R engined Trophy. No major issues there and so I took receipt of the dyno plots. Being a fairly level-headed sort of guy (old!) I had fully realistic expectations of the sorts of gains I was likely to get from the ITB's but was still surprised at the relatively low figures I was seeing. I was told that the K-Tec Racing dyno setup was very conservative but still remained a little disappointed (although the sound made me feel a bit better!) In all honesty the gains shown were healthy and I was assured that they couldn't feasibly squeeze anymore out of it; just my personal disappointment souring things a little. As I drove away I wasn't unhappy at all; it sounded beautiful, the throttle response was instant and the performance markedly improved. By the time I was home I was grinning from ear-to-ear and about 65 quids worth of V-Power lighter in the wallet. My disappointment had all but vanished.












Last Thursday I went with my club for an exclusive trackday at Llandow (sadly I wasn't running) and was showing-off the new shiny bits I now had on the Trophy. I had some great feedback and positive comments but the issue of the somewhat low results cropped up again. Something wasn't quite right. The car was running fine and better than ever before but still that result bugged me... and the comments that my friends made those three and a half years ago came back to haunt me!

As it turned out I was contacted by a good friend of mine and we chatted at length about the setup, the potential issues and how I might look to resolve any problems that may exist. After a day or two of chatting and generally chewing the fat I decided to take a roadtrip to see Matt at Tour-De-Force. It was a fair trek from sunny Wales but I spoke to TDF on the phone and they very kindly got me straight in yesterday (28th March) to take a look at what was going on. Considering how busy Matt and the team are I was chuffed they could fit me in and naturally I'm very grateful.



I left the keys to the Trophy with Matt whilst my partner and I took off for a few hours in Matt's 172 Cup... which was nice... and the smoothest Clio I've ever driven

Returning several hours later I was greeted by Matt and he kindly took the time to explain what he'd done and the things he had found whilst looking for potential problems with the engine. He had both good news and bad news; the good news was that the car was not in danger of exploding (phew!) but the bad news was that there was indeed an issue with power loss. At this point he then proceeded to show me the results of the compression test... ah bugger. That immediately answered the question as to why the Trophy never felt "quite there" and is likely the reason it's felt that way since I bought it! (Yeah, I'm kinda embarrassed I didn't think of it but I'm no techy when it comes to engines I'm afraid...) It also explained why I got a figure in the 150's when the Trophy was put on the dyno at K-Tec in the first instance. Cylinders 1 and 3 are ok but cylinder 2 is not well and cylinder 4 is not well at all. Despite the compression issue Matt made a minor tweak to the map that improved the cold start situation somewhat.

In terms of the ITB's I can't complain as they appear to very well built and put together. However, I have my concerns over the choice of filter. As well as the bad news upon my return to TDF I was also greeted by trumpets full of disintegrating foam and Matt had kindly taken the time to clean everything up for me. This was frustrating given that they had only been on the car for 9 days. Sadly, the foam components also don't hold up higher in the rev range and the filter gets sucked right up against the trumpets. Below you can see the extent of the problem:





Despite the above issue my early impressions of the K-Tec DTH ITB's are very good. The filter is being replaced next week with an ITG sock and a custom-made back plate to prevent the trumpets becoming fouled.

The good news and the bad news remain however (albeit in a different context). The good news is that Matt has kindly been able to squeeze me in on the 7th and 8th of April to get it fixed. The bad news is that it's an unexpected and hefty blow to an already lightened wallet! As I am often reminded that "you only live once and you can't take it with you" I have bitten the bullet and decided to go ahead with the following, courtesy of TDF:

• Valve seats recut
• Acid dip
• Skim
• Cylinder head pressure test
• Full cambelt replacement along with all fasteners
• New ITG filter with custom-made backplate
• Dyno and remap to suit the now-health Trophy

I look forward to Matt doing his thing on the soon-to-be-healthy Trophy and driving a car back to Wales with some noticeable improvement in performance. I am genuinely excited!

 

[SharkyUK]

April 2011 - Part 1

And so the story continues... picking up on the woes of the last few weeks. Grab your comfy slippers and a cocoa as this might take a while!

Following on from the problems detailed in my last big update, I took my Trophy back into TDF to have the problems fixed - i.e. the lack of compression and resulting low power output. Arriving early on a Wednesday morning I left the car in their capable hands and kindly got picked up by my uncle who lived nearby. Due to the increasing costs and distances travelling between South Wales and TDF I had decided to spend 3 days staying with my relatives as it worked out cheaper than hotel, hiring a car or making several train journeys. It was agreed that I'd pop back on the Friday evening and pick up the Trophy.

During the few days that the car was with TDF, it became apparent that things were a bit of a mess. Matt kept me updated on what was happening and what they had found and the bad news was that - basically - the head was in a heck of a state. I do believe Matt even mentioned "fubar'd" at one point! It was no wonder that the car was significantly down on power and that there were issues with the compression; valves were not seating correctly among other things. It wasn't going to be cheap to fix but the Trophy is a keeper and to have it back running as it should be was going to be worth the expense.

Even so, If I'm being completely honest, I was left feeling very, very disappointed that K-Tec hadn't highlighted the fact that my car was so low on power when I had the ITB conversion carried out. They kept me up to date with what was happening and how they needed to replace the auxiliary belt, etc. but there was not a single mention that my car was running low on power - i.e. pulling only in the 150's bhp. (Bear in mind this was pulling in the 150's and it was mildly modified with matched inlets, exhaust, PTFE gaskets, performance filter and an earlier K-Tec remap). My disappointment was deepened further when it became obvious that a pressure test had not been performed (despite the low reading) and work had gone ahead with the conversion regardless. If I had been aware of this issue I would not have gone ahead with the ITB's and opted to get the problems fixed first, and saved up for the ITB's at a later date. Sadly it was too late for that. When I picked up the car a week later I was presented with the dyno graphs... and perhaps I didn't manage to hide my disappointment as well as I thought? I was told that the K-Tec rollers ran "extremely conservatively" hence the low result. Having just spent a significant amount of money I expected my ITB'd Trophy to be running more than a few bhp above what a stock ClioSport 182 runs! It's a shame as I've not had issue with K-Tec in the past but this has really put me off and I won't be going back.

Getting back on track (no pun intended), Friday arrived and I spoke with Matt regarding the progress on the head and associated work. It sadly became apparent that there was no way it would be ready for me to drive home Friday evening. In fact, a couple or three extra days were needed to get things fixed properly, put back together and tested / calibrated. That left me with a small dilemma as I was now stuck in Cambridgeshire with no means of transport and I had to be back home that night as I had friends staying at my gaff in South Wales. On top of that, I also had to get back as the next day was Castle Combe's Spring Action Day and I was due to be there with Rebel Motorsport Club. At that point a knight in shining armour descended and offered a solution to my dilemma (it was actually Matt but let's not ruin the illusion...) What can I say? Matt very generously offered me his stripped out 172 Cup for the weekend! I was extremely chuffed because otherwise I would have been completely up poop creek without a propulsion device. (Please forgive all my Matt 'brown-nosing' but he's been an absolute star throughout!)

I made it safely home late that Friday night (as did the 172 Cup!) and I was greeted by my good friends upon arrival. A few hours later and we were waking up and making our way to Castle Combe for the Spring Performance Car Action Day. Without a doubt I had to admire the loan 172 - it was sooooo smooth to drive; the smoothest Clio I've driven by far. Arriving at the venue I parked it up on our Club stand (no, I did NOT track it!) and you may well have seen it if you attended the event.





After a good day at Combe in scorchio sunshine I helped clear and pack up our Club stand and waited until everybody had said goodbye and safely left the venue. Once I was happy that all was well I got into Matt's 172 and began the journey home. And that's when things went wrong. Having just pulled out onto the A46 near the Cross Hands (I'm sure many folks know it) the car gave a judder out of the blue. I immediately pulled off onto a nearby sideroad and looked to pull into a gap at the road side. However, I didn't make it; the car gave a massive judder and came to an abrupt stop. The clutch seemed to work but it was apparently stuck in gear. Even with the gear shift in neutral it would not roll... As a result, it was a nightmare trying to singlehandedly push the car to the side of the road whilst fully depressing the clutch pedal. Good job it's a relatively light car and stripped out otherwise I fear the task would have been all the more difficult.

Naturally I felt absolutely sick, almost to the point of losing my Combe burgers on the grass verge. Matt had been kind enough to let me borrow his car and now here I was with his broken chariot. To make matters worse, I was unable to get in touch with Matt to tell him the news and to profusely offer my sincere apologies. Unable to reach Matt, I called my girlfriend to tell her I'd be late and then decided it would be a good idea to call the AA before my mobile phone completely ran out of battery. Luckily I only had to wait about an hour and a half and I was collected by a local recovery service (cheers Clive!) who ferried me and the 172 back to my pad in Wales. (Incidentally, Clive had just been dealing with the Tesla that had been at Combe and had ended up nestling on it's roof a short time after leaving the venue... oops...) The good news was that Clive also ran a recovery business in his own time and he kindly offered to ferry me and the car back to TDF a couple of days later on the Monday. A price was agreed and all I had to do was arrange the time off work and contact Matt to let him know what had happened. I finally contacted him Sunday evening and he was amazingly calm about it. I agreed to get the car recovered back to him the next day (Monday, with me tagging along for the ride) and to have my Trophy taken back on the same truck - might as well save the fuel seeing as I was paying for the recovery anyway!

Monday arrived and I was collected along with the 172...



To be continued...

 

[SharkyUK]

April 2011 - Part 2

We made good time and arrived at TDF in the early afternoon. My trophy was in the final stages of being put back together and was due on the dyno later in the evening. I hung around and watched a few different cars on the dyno and was grinning from ear-to-ear when the Trophy made it's way over from the workshop. It sounded a LOT different. It was actually sharper, harsher and more like ITB's should be. Within moments it was on the dyno and Matt began to do his stuff.

The good news is that the Trophy pulled as-near-as-dammit 200bhp on the dyno with a healthy mid-160's lbft. Much, much better. And the sound... I can't get over the difference in sound between the time it went in and what I was now hearing. Loved it! But... things then went a bit wrong again. (Have you noticed a recurring theme here? LOL!) Shortly after the above video was taken, Matt was performing a few mid-range tests to check out the mapping and calibration when oil began to leak onto the dyno. (BTM Fred was in attendance at this point and I must apologise for not saying hello properly as I never twigged who it was until afterwards... sorry mate!)



The guys rolled the Trophy out and took a look... A few minutes later... dagnabbit, the cam seals had failed. It was now getting late on Monday night, my Trophy was not going to be ready and I had to again get back to Wales for work the next day. It was lucky that the recovery driver had hung around all day so I jumped in with him and he gave me a lift home. Due to work and personal commitments it would be the following Sunday before I would be able to pick it up... I was still feeling pretty cut-up about Matt's broken car but he was still calm about; despite informing me that it looked like it was the diff that had gone pop. Fair enough, it was one of those things but I still felt bad.

Eventually, Sunday arrived (last Sunday) and my girlfriend very kindly offered to drive me over to TDF to collect the car. Well, I say "drive me over" but I actually drove over myself in her car. Any excuse to get behind the wheel of her Type-R; and what a cracking car it is, too. Mmm, that gear shift is sweet. And so refined compared to the Trophy. Anyways... Matt had been busy trackside at Silverstone with various cars so we agreed to turn up in the early evening to collect it. Upon arrival the Trophy was sat waiting for me, idling over with a nice little burble thing going on. Paula and I spent a bit of time chatting with Matt (including a few potential future upgrade options for the Trophy) before starting the long journey home - and this time with my Trophy. It had been a long time coming. And was it worth it the wait...?

...definitely! The drive back was "fun, entertaining and interesting" and the Trophy was pulling like a train compared to what I was used to. Smoother, significantly more powerful, harder-edged sound, improved throttle response, the odd pop and bang... beautiful. I had to take a few photos when I got back home. Ooh - clean and shiny!






At the time of writing (as seen in the pics above) I am still running the cr@ppy and self-destroying K-Tec filter. It is making a hell of a mess and I'm reluctant to run the car too much until I get a replacement sorted. The good news is that Matt has ordered me an ITG solution and has machined me a custom backplate to fit against. No more disintegrating foam filter and no more filter impeding the trumpets when the foam bumpers get compressed under heavy load... I can't wait to get the new one on to be honest.

So - briefly - what was done?

• Cylinder head - and reconditioning of components
• Acid bath dip
• New valve guides
• All valve seats recut
• Head skim
• Cylinder head pressure test
• New pulleys, belts, tensioner and seals
• Replacement of coolant (Motul Inugel)
• Dyno runs (calibration / mapping)
• Replacement custom ITG filter (will be arriving soon)
• Custom machined backplate for filter (will be arriving soon)

Anything else?

• Recovery of Matt's 172 Cup

I can't thank Matt and the guys at TDF enough. They are extremely busy and bent over backwards to try and get the Trophy back to me as soon as they could. Obviously this was delayed somewhat by the sequence of unfortunate events and the fact that the head was in a bad way - but I am grateful and appreciate their efforts and top-notch work. It's fair to say that they have a new fan. It's good to know that there are at least one or two reputable folks / companies out there who you can still trust with your pride and joy.

I think I'll leave it there for now - thanks for reading.

 

[SharkyUK]

May 2011

Just a quick update this time...

This is what happens when driveshafts let go (or the CV boots split) and grease gets caked and baked onto your alloys. What a mess!

However, the first problem I encountered was getting the wheels off the car. The muppets at the local tyre place had put them (the nuts) on WAY too tight and consequently I could not move them, not even with a longer bar. In fact I ended up breaking the jack and bar that comes with the car as standard as they weren't able to withstand the forces applied. A quick trip to the aforementioned tyre place and they were loosened before being tighthened back up to 105nm as per Renault's guidelines.

Back at home I was finally able to get the wheels off for cleaning.

As you can see below, it was not just a case of a few grease spots here and there. There was a thick layer of grease around the whole inside of the alloy.



A quick rinse down was certainly not going to be enough to remove any of the grease. I tried it and was proved right.



Wonder Wheels would not even begin to touch it (which I used carefully due to it's somewhat acidic nature). So, I tried a small sample of Meg's Super Degreaser and let it dwell for a while. Even this did not remove much of the grease.



Large grease deposits were still evident as can clearly be seen in the photos.



In the end I resorted to grabbing a few pairs of latex gloves and literally spent a few hours removing the grease by hand; carefully using my fingers to scoop away the worst of the gunk. After a while things started to look a little better and the Super Degreaser began to work much more effectively (which reminds me, I must get some more).



After a lot of elbow grease (no pun intended) I treated the alloys to a final thorough clean and rinse before applying a liberal amount of wax/sealant to protect them. Considering the state they were in, and the abuse they've taken recently, they came up quite well.

Finally, the wheels were put back onto the car and her shoes were looking a bit cleaner than before the ordeal!



Time to join a detailing forum and see what they recommend for degreasing alloys!

 

[SharkyUK]

August 2011

It's been a while so time for a little update...

Over the last few weeks I have noticed that the Trophy hasn't quite been running as well or smoothly. Sure, it is still much better than it used to be pre-ITB's but something isn't quite "there" at the moment. On top of that the idle has become a little lumpy and, under partial throttle, the drive has also become considerably more lumpy. After asking around it would seem likely that there could well be a faulty sensor and/or the ITB's are in need of balancing...

Even so, I decided to take it along to a rolling road day that was held recently at Circuit Motors, Castle Combe. I was invited by Russ / BSE Motorsport and thought I might as well pop along. I wasn't expecting great results and - to be honest - I was disappointed later in the day when I got my results. More details on that later.

As things currently stand I am still running the filter that came with the ITB's. I have been asking around and looking for solutions from various places but correspondence has got nowhere and/or places don't currently have anything available that can help?! To be honest it's a bit frustrating as I'm still not happy running this filter and the following photos show why. This is the build-up of disintegrating foam after only 4-5 weeks of use.







Just a couple of other quick photos... You can see the slight oil seepage I'm experiencing from the rocker cover but this hasn't become anymore serious and is just annoying more than anything. I'll look to get this fixed and sealed properly soon.







The good news is that there looks to be a new two-piece filter solution on the way soon so fingers crossed that arrives sooner rather than later. This is being developed and supplied by K-Tec, from whom I'll also soon be acquiring the GEN Tuner Light software and connector cable for their GEN90 ECU.

So... what of the dyno day? What was I expecting? Having had my Trophy remapped by Matt at TDF I was looking for somewhere around about the same figure I'd got on TDF's dyno (although I appreciate dyno's can and do differ significantly). Even taking into account a potential considerable difference in dyno calibration I couldn't help but feel disappointed with the eventual results. The images below show the story of the dyno day.



As can be seen in the image above, the Trophy only managed to pull just shy of 190bhp and a rather poor 154 lbft of torque. Whilst the bhp was a litte disappointing the torque figure was extremely disappointing! Driving the car suggests that the actual torque level is somewhat higher but obviously I can't say for sure!



The image above shows the results of the 4 power runs. By the time the 3rd and 4th runs were being done the engine temperature was extremely high; seemingly the ITB kit I'm running pumps out some serious heat! Whilst the lines aren't too bad the power does seem to peak a little early before dropping off (whereas I'd have expected it to keep pulling) and the torque does appear low.

Looking further into the results...







The above images simply show (again) the power at the fly and the wheel, as well as the torque.



The afr is interesting. The dyno operator stated that it was difficult to get a good reading what with the dual exit exhaust but it does appear to be running a little lean in places. As it doesn't seem too bad in terms of real world driving and performance I am not going to worry about getting a remap until I get my next planned round of mod's sorted out.

Later in the afternoon, Russ kindly offered his time and the use of his garage facilities so that I could check over some 'issues' that I believe I'm having with the car. Especially useful seeing as my MOT was all but upon me.

The first thing I wanted to get checked out was an oil leak; it was making a bit of a mess in the engine bay and on the underside of the car yet it wasn't obvious where it was coming from. It wasn't the leak that I'd seen from the rocker cover.





After a while Russ found the problem... the oil breather pipe wasn't actually connected! As a result oil was simply seeping down through the engine bay and spraying up and along the underside of the car. Messy.



Next up was that old familiar friend... the CV boots. Yet again the CV boot clip had failed so it was promptly repacked with grease and re-clipped. Hopefully this will last a little longer as it's the 4th time it's been done. They really are a poor design (or so it would seem).



The other major issue I've been having recently is with the handling. Or rather with the crashy suspension. I suspected it was due to the fact that the Sachs needed refurbing. Even so the driveshafts, etc. were checked just in case. Fortunately everything else seemed to be in order, although I did notice this (above) where a bush appears to be popping out the driveshaft? Is this normal or does anyone recognise it as a problem that needs fixing?



The other thing that was found was the perished lower gearbox mount; which can be seen clearly in the photo above. This will be fixed soon along with a few other things.

So where am I planning on going from here? Well, clearly there are a few things that need addressing. Firstly, the oil breather issue is a nuisance but thankfully Russ came up with a solution that works perfectly well for now. The Samco pipe has been 'fused' with a slightly smaller diameter piping section that better fits. The oil breather itself has also been relocated to a different part of the engine bay such that there is no longer an unpleasant smell in the cabin when using the heaters, etc.

Secondly, the Sachs dampers. I threw my keys to Russ so that he could take the Trophy out for a spin; thought it would be a good idea to get his opinion on how he thinks it's driving performance-wise (bearing in mind my disappointing dyno result earlier in the day) and also the crashy suspension. He returned later with a grin and confirmed that there wasn't too much wrong with the performance... as a rather annoyed M3 driver found out. However, he did agree that it was very likely the dampers were in need of a refurb.

Finally, future modifications. I have decided to go down the uprated cam route and plan to save up and get some Schricks installed as soon as funds allow. I also still intend to get the aircon removed, too.

A few questions in case anyone might be able to help...

Where is the best place to get the Sachs refurbed and can someone give me an indication on price (including getting them unpinned?)

Aircon removal. Are there any reputable specialists that do this as I don't have the time, tools or facilities to buy an aircon delete kit and risk doing it myself!

Schricks... recommendations for places to look for purchasing them new?

As always, thanks for reading. Oh, and the Trophy passed its MOT earlier today... although it took a while to get through emissions testing!!!

 

[SharkyUK]

September 2011

It was another eventful week last week... and YET AGAIN bad luck has struck and I'm STILL waiting to get my Trophy properly fixed. To be completely honest I'm just about at the end of my tether now having thrown the best part of 8.5k at the Trophy over the course of the last 10 months.

So what went wrong this time?

I was booked in with BG Motorsport last week on Monday and Tuesday to get my Sachs rebuilt with the adjustment conversion (so that they are now fully adjustable and not 'pinned' to factory setting). I dropped the car off Monday at Silverstone and made my way to a nearby Travelodge for an overnight stay. Unfortunately I received a call Tuesday stating that the rods were scored and new items were needed. Thankfully I had expected this and had the fund to cover as necessary. However, from a previous conversation I was under the impression that all the parts were in stock... sadly it wasn't the case. Parts had to be ordered and shipped from Germany so instead of picking up my car on Tuesday, I finally picked it up Thursday morning.

Unfortunately this meant I had to cancel additional work that I had booked the car in for the remainder of the week. As you can imageine I was pretty pi$$ed off and had a bit of a rant at the guys at BG Motorsport. (Hands up I did later apologise as in hindsight I was a bit too blunt and it was simply the straw that broke the camels back what with all the setbacks). The guys at BG Motorsport did come good, accepted my apology and the car is driving beautifully. Better than it has ever done in fact. It suits my driving style perfectly and is without doubt the sweetest handling car I've ever had the pleasure of driving.

Through the (arguable) beauty that is Facebook friends of mine, living near Silverstone, heard of my situation and kindly picked me up and let me stay for a couple of days with them whilst the car's dampers were being done. Naturally I went ahead and cancelled my outstanding reservations with Travelodge for the rest of the week as I'd no longer be needing them... to which Travelodge stated they were unable to refund me! Because it had gone past midday and because my bookings had been made in a single transaction ALL my bookings for the week could NOT be refunded. So - more lost money then? Sod that... I'm currently chasing that up and looking to get my money back as I think that is wholly unfair and would warn potential Travelodge seekers to beware.

At this point I still find myself in a position where my new ITB filter solution is ready and waiting for me (I should have got it last week), my ITB's still need servicing and balancing, ECU update and software to be acquired, general service is needed, new brakes need fitting, lower gearbox mount needs replacing (it's broke completely) and a plethora of other little niggles that all should have been fixed last week.

Thanks for listening - rant over. I'm a lot calmer now. I'll try and get a few piccies for the next update and hopefully some more positive news!

 

[SharkyUK]

October 2011

Time for an update...

Having had the ITB's balanced and a new two-piece filter fitted, things are finally looking up in that department. It's running a lot smoother, fuel economy seems a little better and (in my opinion) it just looks better. It also seems to be much better made than the "filter of death" I was running previous and it even sounds better. Here she is:



Please excuse the cr&ppy driveway shots but I'm trying to keep mileage to a minimum until I get the outstanding issues fixed.

Here it is again.



And again.



However, it's not all good as you'll no doubt know if you've had the time, patience and/or inclination to read my previous posts! First of all, the engine seems to be breathing very heavily. This is quite concerning and obviously I'm keeping an eye on it. I will likely fabricate a simply catch-can and cable tie the breather pipe into it to see just how much is expelled. In the meantime, here is how things currently look. The gunk and oil you see is from the last month or so (since I last cleaned it). As you can see it seems fairly bad (at least in my - admittedly inexperienced - opinion).



Hmm, ok - perhaps the image (above) doesn't seem that bad having just looked at it again but I can assure you the amount of oil coming out of the pipe is more than I've seen on any other healthy-running vehicle.

Also of concern are the oil leaks. These have become progressively worse (not that I'd have expected them to miraculously fix themselves) and thankfully a chat with Matt at TDF means that my Trophy will soon be back with them to be fixed. They have had my car before and know it well so hopefully the guys can do their stuff and she'll be back as good as new. But... I have a nagging suspicion that something else is not quite right but I can't put my finger on it. Here are a few shots of the leaks. Not particularly exciting but we're all petrolheads here... These were taken after a little bit of a mop up.





You can see the oil starting to pool in places. And it's making a mess on my driveway (albeit only a small amount).



As mentioned above, I feel that there's something not quite right when driving it. It handles better than ever (thanks to the damper rebuild recently) and fixed engine/gearbox mounts but the performance isn't what it was even a handful of weeks ago. Of course, this could well be related to the leaks and/or other issues...

Thankfully my good friend set aside an hour this morning at his family garage so I popped down to get a compression test done. I suspected I was down on cylinder pressure (as I was when all the problems started way back when) hence the visit to my mate's garage. We broke out the testing gear and the results were... disappointing... I think the following image and overlay I made shows the story of this morning:



To put the above into perspective, when the car left TDF last time it was running around 190 PSI across all 4 cylinders. I guess that's where some of my performance has gone then! I also found that my spark plugs (especially spark #2) were now swimming in oil. This was new as they weren't the last time I had them out.

Having dropped a small bit of oil in through the spark plug opening the engine was cranked again (wet test to see if maybe the piston rings were worn perhaps). This yielded a slight increase in pressure but it was hard to say whether or not this was coincidental; in the end proving inconclusive. I hope the pistons are ok otherwise I fear it is going to get even more expensive.

To finish this update, I'll post up a few images of the driveway showing my 'backup' car. It's some piece of Jap thing. Maybe if I ask nicely my good lady will let me borrow it for a while. Talk about a downgrade... (runs for cover!)







Roll on next week and making the arrangements to get the Trophy to TDF.

 

[SharkyUK]

October 2011 - Update

Uh-oh...





Time to clean the driveway.

 

[SharkyUK]

January 2012

A small update... and some good news!

I recently got in touch with Matt at TDF (who has been enjoying some much deserved time off) with a view to getting some information on the state of my car and when I can get it back. As noted in my previous posts, I had been a little disappointed in the fact that there had been a breakdown in communications with the workshop at Track Group (i.e. NOT Matt at TDF) and I had struggled to get updates and information about my Trophy; plus the fact it had been with them for two months.

Matt got back to me straight away and I explained the situation to him and how I felt and - as always - he got on the case immediately. I was soon contacted by TG's workshop and we talked about the situation regarding the work carried out, the breakdown in communications and 'misunderstanding'. I won't go into detail (it's boring rather than interesting!) but it has all been sorted and no doubt a professional job done as always.

Knowing that I was a little disgruntled about the situation (and not entirely sure initially whether my car was back to full health) Matt kindly offered to pick up my car and is personally giving it a look over to make double sure that all is well. Can't fault the guy, eh? The valves, etc. have been checked out and the cylinders scoped and - thankfully - the Trophy has been given a clean bill of health. With the oil leaks fixed it was dyno'd again and made the same figures as last time - no flatspots and a decent level of power and torque. All I need to do now is to make arrangements to collect it.. which is difficult due to current work commitments! All being well I'm hoping to get over there within the next couple of weeks. I can't wait to get it back to be honest.

So - fingers crossed - it looks like things are looking up and I will soon be reunited with my Pink Frenchie (I think my good lady has one of those, running off 4x AA batteries).

Thanks to Track Group workshop for getting the issues sorted and clearing up the misunderstanding and a big thanks to Matt for getting back to me and helping get it all sorted (as well as looking over my car again). He's lived up to his reputation and I look forward to visiting TDF again in the not-too-distant future for a few further 'upgrades'. His last words to me mentioned something about 421's but I don't have a clue what that's about...

All being well my next update will have a few pics as I'm desperate to get out and drive. Anywhere! Cheers!

 

[SharkyUK]

January 2012 - Update...

Happy days! I am chuffed to be able to say that I have got my car back and that it is driving beautifully! How I have missed it. Now, whilst I don't want to tempt fate I will say that the car is really 'together' now. It's driving well, the newly rebuilt Sachs are an absolute joy and it sticks to the road like glue.

Here's the story...

I made arrangements with Matt (Matt Bentley of Track Group) last week so that I could pick up my Trophy on Saturday (yesterday). As they were closed for the weekend he kindly agreed to meet me there around lunchtime. Sure enough, I turned up as did Matt a few moments afterwards. We had a good chat and he detailed the work that had been carried out as well as the various checks and diagnostics performed to ensure that all was well within the engine and its running. After the chat he handed over the paperwork and dyno graph (which I'll post up below) and I started the fairly lengthy trek back home to Wales.

The drive home was fantastic. I didn't go mad but naturally I had to ensure I got my fill of ITB goodness as it had been so long since the last time... I think my good lady probably thought I was a bit mental but even she was smiling as I floored it through the tunnels on the way home *embarrassed grin* It was the first time I'd really properly driven it with the new filter solution (and with it making the proper torque / power) and it sounded the mutts nuts. Talking of the "good lady", I really must thank her for letting me have her Type-R for the last few months, for putting up with my moaning and for coming along yesterday so that I had transport between Wales and Kimbolton!

So... where is the Trophy currently at?

As briefly mentioned in a previous post, no major problems were found in terms of pistons, cylinders, valves or any related components. A thorough look at the engine had confirmed this. Likewise, the head work that had been carried out last year was spot-on and there were no problems there. As for the leaks, these had been fixed and the leak down test and compression test found nothing out of the ordinary. A few test drives along the way (during the repairs) appeared to confirm that there was nothing else much wrong apart from the rather bad leaks.

A quick look at the compression test and I did notice that it was down a bit (across all cylinders) compared to the results I got from them last year - but they are not out of the ordinary. The results can be seen below:

​

As I say, the compression is a little bit down but it's pretty consistent across all 4 cylinders with a variance of only 0.5 bar.

Matt (TDF Matt) had agreed to take a quick look at my car after the work was done to ensure that it was running well from a map / tuning perspective. He knows the car well having carried out the work previously along with the remapping. He put it on the dyno a few days ago and the results are shown below. The map appears good although the peak power is down a little bit compared to last time (but I'm not going to worry aboutit). The most important thing, and what I am interested in, is the torque spread. Whilst I'm no expert, the torque seems pretty good (certainly from a driver's perspective!) and comes in nice and early. With the instantly responsive throttle it is sooo much fun to drive. Ok, so the turbo and diesel boys may laugh at the torque levels but for a 2.0l NA petrol I'm not complaining. Here's the power graph:

​

And here's the AFR graph:

​

Sadly I don't have a freakishly strong F4R engine in my Trophy but it seems 'fairly' strong.

In celebration of the Trophy's return I decided that it would be celebrated today by having a Sunday roast at a favourite pub / restaurant with my better half. Truth is, I only really suggested it so that I could have a quick blast out and grab a couple of photos for the album. They aren't the best photos but here you go...

​

Oh - the Sunday roast was good. But the drive to and from the pub was even better.

Cheers!

 

[SharkyUK]

March 2012 - Update...

I went along to a joint RenaultSport meet last weekend in South Wales and had a really enjoyable day. It was the first time that I'd had a proper chance to get the Trophy out and have a bit of a blast since I picked it up from the workshop a month or two back.

The good news is that the Trophy ran beautifully (as good as it sounded) and it was an absolute hoot on the mountain roads. The newly built (and now fully adjustable) Sachs felt great and were setup pretty much perfectly for the roads we were on. The engine pulled her along nicely; the increase in torque levels across the rev range has made a heck of a difference and, coupled with the instant throttle response, it's a real pleasure to be behind the wheel. But another issue has surfaced, an issue I noticed a few weeks back (more on that later). Here are a few photos from the meet:







(Thanks to Lady-Bock and Webby for the additional photos).

As mentioned above, I have another little issue and (again) the issue is oil related. However, this time I don't think it's due to an oil leak. I haven't found any signs of oil leaks anywhere but I'm getting through more oil now than I've ever done before. Previously I would simply change the oil every 6k miles and never really had to top up the oil between changes (apart from when I had the leaks, of course). However, in the last 2,000 miles I've used 1 litre of oil - which is ironic as I wasn't losing this much through the leakages! As a result I'm currently keeping a close eye on things and checking the level every other day, especially before/after a spirited drive.

Despite having a fairly clean exterior the engine bay is an absolute mess at the moment (largely due to the previous oil leak problems). It is in need of a thorough clean and I'm hoping to get this done soon. It might also help identify whether or not I am still suffering with leaks as these will become immediately obvious with a clean engine bay... I'll try and get some before and after pics done when the time comes.

 

[SharkyUK]

March 2012 - Another Update...

As some folks may already know (or have read previously) I had a little issue over the weekend just gone. It's true what they say... engines, electrics and water don't really go together all that well.

On Saturday I had planned to open up the engine bay and give it a bit of a wipe down and clean as it was still covered in oil from the various leaks I'd recently had fixed. But, and much to my embarrassment, whilst I was faffing around inside, getting my bits together, making a cuppa and (importantly) answering the call of nature... the heavens opened and there followed a torrential downpour. A moment or two later realisation dawned and I remembered I'd left the bonnet open. Not the smartest of moves.

Sure enough, I hurried outside but I was already too late. The engine block was soaked along with the leads, coil pack and - well - pretty much everything. Water had pooled around the leads and was no doubt leaking into the spark plug wells. I quickly mopped up the water best I could and waited for the rains to pass. Obviously I was fearing the worst.

To cut a long story short I spent the rest of the day trying to get things dry. The car would eventually turn over but it was juddering and misfiring, and you could hear that it was not running on all 4 cylinders. I also spent Sunday trying to get everything dry and to gradually coax the Trophy back to health. I guess I got extremely lucky as the coil pack seemed fine, as did the HT leads. The sparks weren't too bad either in the end. The main problem was simply moisture down the spark wells.

After some much welcomed advice (and turning the engine over with the plugs and leads out to eject some of the water) things started to get better. I let the engine warm before removing the leads and plugs again; allowing it time to dry further overnight. This morning I put it back together and started my journey to work. After a hesitant start it soon started to settle down. By the time I arrived in work she was running fine. I did have the toolbox in the car just in case mind... Likewise, the return journey home was pretty uneventful (a good thing!) and all seems to be good in the world again. Lesson learnt!

My thanks go to all those who contacted me and helped me out along the way. Cheers!

On a separate note, whilst this fiasco was going on, I did manage to give the engine a bit of a clean up. The oil breather pipe and filter was again filthy and full of cr4p (but easily cleaned). The trumpets looked good and fortunately no water had gone in through the filter during the downpour. Admittedly the filter didn't look quite so healthy afterwards but... hey, it did a good job in this case.

Oil deposits and a general build up of grime throughout the engine bay:





The dirty oil breather pipe and filter:





The spark plugs cleaned up well and should be good for a little while longer:



Despite the water issues she cleaned up quite well. Good enough for now anyway!





Now I'm a little happier that it's running well again I'll look to take her out for a spirited drive soon.

Note to self: shut the f**king bonnet next time.

 

[SharkyUK]

March 2012 - Another Update...

Why don't I just keep my mouth shut?!

As some of you may already be aware, I had another problem with the Trophy last Monday. I was on my way to work and pulled in for some petrol. Filled her up and then got ready to drive away. But no, I couldn't get a gear. I couldn't find any gear at all. I eventually forced it into first and limped the mile or so home in first gear!

Back at home I couldn't get into reverse so ended up pushing the car into place!

Paula kindly let me borrow her car so I dropped her off at work (having arranged to try and get my car to Rob's garage in Cardiff). My car wouldn't get into gear so I didn't really fancy driving it by forcing home the gears... but I had a stroke of luck. On the way to drop Paula off there was an AA man parked up. So, after dropping her off, I returned back to the layby and pulled in front of the AA van. I was a bit cheeky and asked if he could get me over to the garage! LMAO! I'm a member with the AA and have a full membership so he rang it in as a new job, finished his lunch break and took me and Trophy over to Cardiff. I left the car with Rob and returned home... via public transport. It wasn't pleasant.

I then got a call yesterday (Tuesday) from Rob stating that he had checked the gearbox and all was well. However, the clutch was knackered. The clutch spring had broken on the clutch plate. A new clutch was needed so he took the details of what was needed and a new clutch was ordered. Thankfully this was speedily delivered earlier today (Wednesday).

I then got a phone call only a few hours ago - Rob had the car ready at his place for picking up. My other/better half kindly offered me a lift to collect it and - I'm happy to say - all is well again.

It's taking some getting used to, though. The clutch has always been heavy on my Trophy... but now it's feather-light in comparison. I nearly put my foot through the footwell on several occasions whilst driving home.

Hopefully that's the last of the problems for a while!