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Sunday, 15 May 2005

Renault 5 GT Turbo conversion - May 2005

Febuary | March | April | May | June | September | October | Goto 2006

07 May - Today was a big tidy up day making space and writing up lists of bits I need to buy and work that needs to be done. After a brief cleaning session on the subframe and gearbox I decided it was time to turn the car around and call it a day. With the help of my girlfriend and neighbor I managed to turn it round ready to get the engine in and finish a number of jobs. I've also found some great storage space where the engine was!!

08 May - After a trek to Machine Mart who had a VAT free day I bought some castors and some thick plywood from B&Q to form my subframe trolley it cost me about £18 in total but it was money well spend and certainly a lot easier than lumping the subframe round on just the jack!! After constructing it I put it straight to use dropping the subframe onto it and wheeling it from under the car.. next I managed to single handedly mate the engine to the box.. not sure how as it weighs a tonne anyway with a bit of wood a jack and willpower it was connected. This took most of my time up today and felt enough was enough so I jacked the engine and subframe in place just to confirm clearances and for a bit of a moral booster.. Think I'll leave it there till next time :)

10 May - Spent the day just grinding down welds not great progress but it had to be done

11 May - Sprayed the top side of the conversion today, after that I decided to get back underneath and start welding the under arch.. it took an absolute age and during a moment of madness I lifted my visor to have a look at my handiwork only to have a hot piece of metal drop into my eye!! I thought at first it was just a bit of dust so I carried on getting nowhere fast. I called it a day and went home..

12 May - Woke up with it still itching to cut a long story short ended up at eye casualty only to find a piece of metal lodged in my eye after a lot of uncomfortable poking the doctor had it out and polished out the rust ring that had formed around it.. all credit to the doctor with such precision maybe I should have asked him to finish my welding!!

17 May - Well after a little break my eye was back to normal so it was time to get back to it.. I was determined to sort the inner arch once and for all, it’s been a real pig to weld under there but finally I have managed it to a satisfactory state it’s not pretty but it’s sound!! I also cleaned things up and put a coat of acid8 anti corrosion primer, I also re-finished the tops of the struts. Now just got to start the other arch I think I’ll leave that to another day though J

19 May - The other arch wasn't all that bad and I managed to crack on with the sealant. As you can see in the picture I no longer take my safety for granted

Friday, 15 April 2005

Renault 5 GT Turbo conversion - April 2005

Febuary | March | April | May | June | September | October | Goto 2006

02 Apr - No huge advancements today, spent an hour trying to get the old calipers off after trying with various 18mm spanners and sockets one retaining bolt decided it wasn’t having any of it and rounded itself off so I fired up the angle grinder and it was history!! Off they came and I offered up the rears. I also have decided that to make access easier for fitting and removal of the engine/subframe I will have the back panel as removable so I am able to just slide the engine in and out which may be useful especially in the early stages sorting out teething problems so I shall convert the panel to a bolt on type which shouldn’t effect the structure to much.

05 Apr - Well i did it, I was slightly worried that the rear quarters were suddenly going to ping outward but fortunately they didn't move an inch, which is probably down to the amount of strengthening around the turrets. This aside I have now welded a couple of extra plates to position and mount my now removable rear panel which I'm quite pleased with as it'll make life so much easier from now on. The below pics show the results. One last bit of work on the rear and thats to tidy up under the quarters (the back of the turrets) but I'll save that until next week

09 Apr - A good full day today, starting at 9am which for a Saturday is quite good for me. Finished off the removable rear panel by inserting the nuts and bolts, it all fits snuggly and takes my weight sitting on it so I'll deem that a success oh and the fact the boot still shuts! next was the steering rack this is now welded into position not the neatest of welds I can assure you but it has bonded well this was placed on the subframe and the wheels line up nicely although fine tuning can be done at the track rod ends. the third job was to clean up under the arches I have now ground the turrets flush with the existing wheel arch to avoid the wheels catching. After doing these jobs it was time to reassemble and lay it on the ground as you have probably read previously the springs are no longer so it was going to sit literally on the bump stops and it did, a mild mod to the bodykit and the car was lower with amazingly no rubbing even sitting on the bump stops which is good! a quick call to my mate Glenn and he and is nephew turned up to help turn the car around the only incident was rolling the car over my foot.. a small price for the satisfaction of seeing the car rolling, I only got to see it for a short time but we didn't have all day so the gormless gazing had to stop and get it back in the garage. I started on the frontend dismantling but it was getting on and I was starting to get hungry..

22 Apr - below you will see a picture of the alternator I got stuck on one of the terminals which seems to just spin. After gently persuading the plastic capping from the alternator there was another nut that I could grip whiles I removed the nut holding the terminal on, after this everything seemed to run smoothly until I came across the rear mounting bolts on the subframe despite soaking them in WD40 I’m managed to snap a socket. This coupled with not knowing how to remove the steering column from the rack I spent the rest of the day marking up labels on the electrical side of things just to aid things when putting things back together in the back.

23 Apr - With a better frame of mind I was on a mission to machine mart to buy a proper breaker bar and set of high impact sockets, a gentle pull and it cracked free the other side followed suit this was a great relief, also the steering column connection wasn’t so hard despite the bolt being an odd type with nothing to attach my spanner to I gripped it with some molegrips and the nut span off quite happily. Before I knew the engine was out on the floor. I put the front shocks on the rear it was at this point I realized that ideally the subframe should have been a couple of inches lower, but I just dropped it down the desired amount connected them and jacked the subframe back in position, this should give the springs a little more pretension if nothing else but I can always drop the subframe a little more if this becomes an issue. To finish the day I removed the driveshafts from the hubs (a very messy job).

27 Apr - It was time to depart with a bit of hard earned cash I bought some solid 8mm discs from the campus and a 'uprated' clutch derived from the volvo I believe, in addition a new timing chain and tensioner just for peace of mind as I don't fancy separating the engine and box to often!

28 Apr - My mate Mark came round today to fit the chain tensioner and clutch, simple job as it sounds but I'd rather have peace of mind from someone who knows

Tuesday, 15 March 2005

Renault 5 GT Turbo conversion - March 2005

7 Mar - Just trimmed around the bottom of the box sections for the struts to allow clearance was going to mount the subframe in place but had no 21mm spanner to undo the strut tops to release the springs to check full travel

5 Mar - Busy day today with lots done built up strengthening around the base of the strut towers to provide extra strength and stability to them and much of the chassis rail that has been cut, also I have added triangular bits to aid this. I have now got to integrate the chassis rail to the rest of the welding.

8 Mar - After searching 4 tool shops I finally found a 21mm crank spanner to fit the strut top only to find that the allen key slot has split on both struts so to check the clearance between the driveshaft and box sections I had to angle grind the 2 springs.. so I'm on the look out for a pair of shocks and springs!!
Everything cleared nicely so I can finish off the strengthening I also had a little look at how I would mount the intercooler getting a head of myself I know :) but I recon it'll be time to clean up and start sealing/painting by the end of the weekend!!

13 Mar - today was spend on part one of closing the existing box section of chassis member, as it was a box section and I had took quite a chunk out it was now time to close it all up and add strength today was spent attaching an angled to the underside which will form part of the bridge between the cut chassis member, well I bought the paint but have decided to hold off until I have the car rolling at least just in case of any last minute changes..

18 Mar - I have now completed work on the box section I just hope there is enough clearance however if not I do have alternative ideas and space to build upwards to provide the strength if I need to gain anymore height, in addition I may lower the sub frame slightly which in turn will give more clearance and a more horizontal driveshaft when standing

Tuesday, 15 February 2005

Renault 5 GT Turbo conversion - Febuary 2005

Febuary | March | April | May | June | September | October | Goto 2006

07 feb - After slogging my guts out all day I have finally got the car on the wheels with no jacks, everything nicley tacked in place. Now I need to take all the maechanics out complete the welds and add some reinforcement.In case you're wondering why there's apicture of me.. well I'm not sure either...

09 feb - A little more welding practise was the order of the day for me. Now that I'm happy with the alignment I've took out the rear chassis & shocks ready to start reinforcement. Hopefully on Saturday I should get a whole day on it !!

12 feb - I really feel I've got the hang of this welding lark now, which is a good job as there's plenty more to do. I've now fully welded each side of the turrets and have started fabrication on the strengthening around them, after so much happening in a short space of time progress seemed really slow but it has to be done!! Oh one thing to bare in mind either buy yourself a vice or wear steel toecaps as you can see by the photo, I didn't realise I was milimeters from my big toe till after I'd cut the steel :)

22 feb - A continuation of strengthening cutting little bits of metal and going through plasma grinding discs like no tomorrow. I've gone through my first reel of wire and bottle of gas today no major feat I know but shows how much welding is involved!!
27 feb - Had the weekend off and went down to the Historic Motorsport Event in Stonleigh and came back with allsorts of crazy ideas about putting a cosworth engine in, despite this I decided it would be best to get the 5 engine first and see how it performs.