Frayz’s Inferno orange 182 - Back in the old flame

[frayz]

Keen to give the old girl a freshen up, the first of more boxes of goodies arrived today.
I last freshened all the dampers and topmounts at 74k miles. She’s now on 112k so I figured I’d do the same again.

Pair front complete Cup lower arms
Pair front Cup dampers
Pair rear Cup dampers
Pair revised front topmounts
Pair revised topmount nuts
Pair inner track rod ends
Inner/outter ARB bushes
New rear numberplate lamp.

Obviously the lamp was all I could fit tonight, so that went straight on. A vast improvement, I’m sure you’ll agree.

 

[frayz]

Only a small update on the 182, bit of poor show on my part really as I forgot to take any before pics. However I had all the little dings I found on it taken out today. 2 on the drivers door that were visable. One on the passenger door and 3 on the bonnet that were barely visable, but I’m fussy. Used a guy I usually use for this and his work is superb.
She’s now arrow straight again.

Also saw how poor the OEM earthing setup is, so I made up a much thicker earth strap to the chassis ground and I’m going to make up another from engine/gearbox to the chassis ground. It may be placebo that it feels smoother to drive but I’m 100% it isles much nicer.
Also the R was due a plug change, so swapped those out. The ones I took out were pretty mint to be fair, hardest part of this job is getting the rear wheels off. Lol. OCD found me hoovering behind the wheel liners, but hey, we all do that, right? ?

 

[SharkyUK]

Time for new tyres on the Cayman?

 

[frayz]

Haha. They’re getting there aren’t they. Only come with 5mm on from new.
Think they will see the rest of the summer out and get some new ones for next year.

 

[frayz]

Nothing much, however I collected some small bits from the dealers in the way of some blanks for the bottom of the tailgate to finish the holes.
Also collected new rivets for the skirts as I want to have them off to clean/underseal and refit.
The OEM Black rivets are no longer available and have been replaced with these silver ones. Not too happy about that to be honest, so I’ve ordered a box of black peel rivets and hopefully they will be more in keeping with the OEM finish.

I’ve also contacted Renault UK to see if I can track down replacements of the vehicle ID stickers inside the drivers door shut and the under bonnet decal. They’re coming back to me, so hopefully with a favourable reply.

 

[frayz]

More parts arrived today in the shape of a new OEM Centre mount for the exhaust and managed to track down a pair of genuine Cup washer blanks.
These are notorious for breaking so I’ll fill the thread centres with resin and internally sleeve them.

Just need to decide if I paint these satin black or body colour.

 

[frayz]

Another job I’ve been meaning to do is get the rear panels off to check the state of the sills from inside.
Happy to report there is no corrosion in here at all. So just a quick hoover round, clear the drainage holes and a liberal coat of Waxoil.
I will however order some Bilt Hamber and revisit these areas to get them properly protected.

 

[frayz]

Not much to update but a few more odds and sods.

Wen I first owned the car I fitted what was at the time a pretty high spec Alpine HU. FFwd to now and I wanted one that would stream from my phone as well as have a full high speed iPod connection.
So swapped out the CDE-113BT for a CDE-178BT.
Also fitted a new prototype poly dogbone from Phillip M. This is really quite impressive, much improved gear selection and control of the engines torque reaction. However absolutely zero increase in NVH... it’s wizardry I’m sure.
Swapped out my OEM aerial from that of a latest gen Fiesta to keep the OEM+ type finish and finally swapped my orange Speedline decals for some white ones.
I really liked the idea of them in orange but wasn’t quite convinced once fitted. Personally I like the white better as it looks more OEM to the Speedline wheel.

Big service to come this week from Alex at AW Motorworks so looking forward to getting that done too. ?

 

[frayz]

Dropped the car with Alex at AW Motorworks tonight for a few days. She’s in for a fair bit of love.

Cambelt kit.
Aux belt kit.
Dephaser pulley.
Cam oil seal kit & caps.
Crank bolt.
Water pump & Antifreeze.
Full OEM clutch kit with release bearing
Gearbox oil
Engine oil/filter

All being well she should be back by the end of the week and feeling refreshed.

Also means I’ll have to use the R for work for a few days.

Please don’t rain
Please don’t rain
Please don’t rain

 

[SharkyUK]

Also means I’ll have to use the R for work for a few days.

That's a shame mate... I kinda get your dilemma though. Our Type-R has decided to throw a wobbly for the first time in 135,000 miles and needs a new gearbox. I'm having to use the GT4 as a daily. It's both awesome and painful in equal measure!

 

[frayz]

The usual awesome service from my good friend Mark @ MarkOne Graphics. He made my original plates 8 years ago and has just made a new pair to freshen the car up once more.
He also made me some “made in Dieppe” decals of which I may/may not fit.
Got this idea from the Porsche GT boys some of whom fit “made in flacht” to the rear of their cars. A google search brought up some barcode designs, so went with those.

 

[frayz]

Collected the car from Alex @ AW Motorworks this evening and I have to say it drives like a totally different car.
I gave Alex instruction that he was to go through the car from top to bottom and although didn’t have an “open chequebook” he was to replace anything that was required.
I was delighted to hear he was very pleased with the cars condition and how unmolested it is.
It really is in very clean condition throughout, so that was good to hear.

She’s received the following new genuine Renault parts.

Full cambelt kit.
Cambelt kit.
Aux belt kit.
Dephaser pulley.
Cam oil seal kit & caps.
Crank bolt.
Water pump & Antifreeze.
Full OEM clutch kit with release bearing.
Gearbox oil.
Engine oil & filter.
Rear main oil seal.
Rear main cap sealing.
Sump gasket.
New upper engine mount.
New upper gearbox mount.

The new OEM engine mounts and clutch make the car so smooth to drive. I dare say once all my new suspension components go on, it will drive like a completely new car.

As a vehicle development engineer and mechanic by trade I am very pleased with Alex’s work and his ethic.
Highly recommended to anyone.

 

[frayz]

So with the car back from AWM and driving so much better...
pics, everyone loves pics.

 

[MarcB]

I’ve also contacted Renault UK to see if I can track down replacements of the vehicle ID stickers inside the drivers door shut and the under bonnet decal. They’re coming back to me, so hopefully with a favourable reply.



View attachment 25385View attachment 25389View attachment 25386

Picture Number 1 - This does not come from renault UK. These stickers are put on at the dock when the car arrives into the UK along with other things like the Renault Elf sticker on the back window Hence the fact you cant be these from renault and Renault UK cant get them.

Picture Number 2 - I believe this is the chassis / VIN sticker which can be bought from dealers but I think its around £60 as I have an e-mail somewhere regarding this.To get this sticker you need to produce documents I believe as renault dont just sell these to the general public as its down as a secure part due to it being the cars ID (Guessing like buying a cut spare key - Service book / Licence needed and so on)

Picture Number 3 - This sticker is regarding a recall that your car has had at some point. I had this sticker on my Old Megane and my Renault specialist who had 15+ years working on renault sports at the dealer told me what it was and it turned that it was a seatbelt pretensioner recall.
Renault will be able to tell you what the recall was (Possibly bonnet catch ?) but you won't get another sticker unless you know a Tech at a dealership that will give you one and thats if they are still used.

 

[frayz]

Picture Number 1 - This does not come from renault UK. These stickers are put on at the dock when the car arrives into the UK along with other things like the Renault Elf sticker on the back window Hence the fact you cant be these from renault and Renault UK cant get them.

Picture Number 2 - I believe this is the chassis / VIN sticker which can be bought from dealers but I think its around £60 as I have an e-mail somewhere regarding this.To get this sticker you need to produce documents I believe as renault dont just sell these to the general public as its down as a secure part due to it being the cars ID (Guessing like buying a cut spare key - Service book / Licence needed and so on)

Picture Number 3 - This sticker is regarding a recall that your car has had at some point. I had this sticker on my Old Megane and my Renault specialist who had 15+ years working on renault sports at the dealer told me what it was and it turned that it was a seatbelt pretensioner recall.
Renault will be able to tell you what the recall was (Possibly bonnet catch ?) but you won't get another sticker unless you know a Tech at a dealership that will give you one and thats if they are still used.

Cheers Marc,

Perhaps i'll just get some made up then. Renault UK have sent me all the documentation to legally get the chassis ID decals.

 

[MarcB]

Cheers Marc,

Perhaps i'll just get some made up then. Renault UK have sent me all the documentation to legally get the chassis ID decals.

If I have time tomorrow I will look out my e-mail that I have somewhere and post up the findings for the chassis sticker.
As I say its classed as a secure part .

Im sure there was someone on here doing stickers or anyone that does screen printing could do them as I would love an original OE Elf rear window sticker.

 

[frayz]

Fortunately,
My decals are all present and correct.
Although I do want to machine polish the boot replace the boot badges.
However I know the OEM RENAULT is NLA.
However parts are out there if you can find them. I’ve just found a new old stock gear knob new in the packet. ?

 

[MarcB]

@frayz if you are ever needing part numbers or RRP drop me a PM over on CS.net

 

[frayz]

@frayz if you are ever needing part numbers or RRP drop me a PM over on CS.net

Thanks Marc, much appreciated.

 

[frayz]

With the original number plates made over 8 years ago now, they were showing their age. New ones on with some fresh 3M dual locks freshen up the car a treat.
Also fitted a small “Vive Le Sport” decal as a historical nod to the racing turbo Renault’s back in the 80s. (Excuse the dust, I’d just wiped it with a microfibre lol)