In preparation for Silverstone I thought I had better give the Megane a clean and sort out a few bits including replacing two exhaust mounts which had failed causing a knocking from underneath. I've stripped out more of the interior, the roof lining, curtain airbags, upper trims, rear seat belts and the last bit of foam sound deadening from the drivers footwell. I was a bit shocked to see cardboard stuck to the roof in the back lol. In total I've taken out another 14.6kgs.....it would be good to get an overall weight of the car out of interest I've also fitted a sunstrip so I could get rid of the sun visors which don't stay in very well now the roof lining has gone (this must be good for 5bhp lol) To complete the look I've installed a tow loop, wrapped the front Renault badge in red and fitted a front splitter from Maxton designs in gloss black.
Looks good what do you think of the splitter saw one yesterday in the Matt finish looked cheap but I was always interested in the gloss which looks a big improvement. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah the matt black doesn't look great but the gloss black does look good, I purchased it from their eBay shop which worked out slightly cheaper
It's been a bit slow on the upgrades front due to having a second baby but things are starting to get back on track. The cage was finally delivered from K-Tec after 4 months of waiting, I was a bit disappointed to see it was a bolt in and not a weld in. It's not clear on the website whether it's a bolt in or weld in but I read that parts will need to be welded and a review said they got it into the car, tacked it in place checked alignment and welded in. My fault for not checking I guess. Annoyingly there's no fitting instructions so it's a bit of guess work where everything is supposed to go. I was wrongly sent and charged for a second set of door bars which Ktec tried to fob me off with a load of crap about the regulations for 2018 possibly changing meaning you'll need two door bars. After a lot of arguing they've agreed to take them back and give me a refund. I had to remind them that this is a track day car and not a race car. To be honest it's really tarnished my view of them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The cage is a nightmare to get in and I still can't make it fit yet. I wished I had just had a bespoke one made and fitted in the car. I did get a quote from tube benders for one originally but it was more expensive but nothing like learning the hard way lol. I was going to buy some coilovers from Ktec but after there attitude with the cage I went elsewhere. I've purchased some BC Racing DR coilovers from Kam Racing with 8kg/7kg spring rates so I can finally convert it from a 4x4 and stiffen it up. Can't wait to get them fitted
Looking good pal. I've gone for those coilovers from Kam - going to get a set of 4kg springs for the rear too after some interesting moments on a wet nurburgring! Shame you've had a bad experience with ktec - I've had a few small bits mail ordered from them without issue, but nothing as complex or pricey as a cage. Hope you get it fitted without too much more ball ache.
Yeah I did see that you had the DR coilovers, I was going to go with the RM's but Kam Racing recommended the DR's as they are newer. You seemed to be pleased with them so I thought they would be alright. Was the back end a bit lively with the 7kgs? I've ordered most stuff from ktec albeit small orders without any trouble before this but then I haven't had to go back with queries before or question why I had been sold bits I don't need. The cage is almost in place, I've had to cut a lot of dash out (including metal work) which I wouldn't want to do for a pure road car. On the plus side it's more weight saving lol Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Out of interest, have you done anything about the airbag light? Resistors? Coding? Or just ignoring it?!
Finally got it in, we had to shorten a top rail slightly to make it fit. I just need to sort out the feet and weld some plates underneath before bolting it onto the floor. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The guy that I sold the seats to plugged his laptop in and programmed out the curtain airbags, front seats and the steering wheel. The only one that's still active is the one in the dash on the passenger side. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Got a delivery today.......set of BC Racing DR Coilovers with 8kg/7kg spring rates [emoji41] I can finally lower it..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Finally making some decent progress on the car, it's starting to come together nicely. I took the Megane over to Gary Feakins Racing in Aldermaston who install roll cages for Custom Cages and setup race cars. They welded in some plates to allow the cage to be fitted, welded in the harness bar, welded the spigots for the door bars, sprayed the cage and bolted it all in. They also fitted the new coilovers, set them up and corner weighted the car. The total weight with half a tank of fuel came out at 1284kg. It now handles like a go kart which I'm very happy with. I picked it up on one of the hottest days of the year, I was glad to get out after 45 mins of no air conditioning and only one window opening lol. I've now replaced the window module on the passenger side Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've also made a raised floor for the drivers side because my feet were far too low after stripping out the floor of all the foam and carpet. I fixed some angle brackets down either side using rivnuts and put rivnuts in the brackets to fit the floor down. I put a strip of thin sticky back carpet down the centre box section to stop any vibration Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm in the process of making some lightweight panels for the doors. The drivers side is complete I just need to mount the door handle and window switch on the passenger side. I used rivnuts in the door to make it easy to fix the panel and get it back off again if needed. The door handle cable is too short to extend to the hole at the front of the door so it's ended up at the back of the door. That position worked perfectly well until the door bar went in and the padding has made it hard to get to so I'll need to move it at some point Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Next job is to take off the aerial for the radio and replace it with a GPS antenna to feed my data logger mounted in the pocket behind the handbrake. Looking forward to doing Abingdon on Friday to test her out properly.
So it weighs about the same as a standard car now? What is the red padding for on the roll bars inside?
I took a fair bit of weight out but adding the cage has pushed it back up a bit plus copious amounts of cable ties The padding around the top section is to stop you smashing your head/helmet against the cage, the bit on the door bars are to stop you hitting your arm and the bit lower down is prevent you smashing your legs into it.
Would have been good to have weighed the car before taking anything out but I don't have any vehicle scales and no idea where I could have taken it round here.
Had a good day at Abingdon today the car performed well, it's impressive how much you can push it. The work put it so far has been worth it. I'm amazed that it's all over cars with more power and that are far more expensive, I think it took a few people by surprise lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Couple of boxes turned up today........OMP Corsica 330mm wheel and a Momo steering boss[emoji1303] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah sure it looks like the part number is MOM7218R. It was purchased from Demon Tweeks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The project is fairly coming together nicely. You will notice a big difference with the wheel on track, much nice to throw it about. Can I ask some questions if you don't mind - is it an Oreca cage you went for through KTEC? Would you buy it again or go for a custom one? Also, where did you get the material for your door cards? Thanks, Martin
Hello Martin, Yes it was an Oreca cage supplied through k-tec, it took about 3 months to get. The cage comes as two main parts which is a pig to get in and out, a bit of brute force was required to get it to fit. Two metal brackets that the ends of the dash fix too had to be cut out completely. In the kit you get some gusseted tubes to weld in for the door bars. The harness bar was extra and came as one piece of tube that had to be cut, shaped and welded in. I also had to get some box sections welded in to make the main hoop fit and some plates welded in to fit the front and back legs. None of that is stated on the website and there are no instructions so you have to work it out for yourself. If I was doing it again I would have a custom one made, it would probably work out cheaper in the long run. The door cards were made using carbon fibre look a like ABS I found on the internet, I was going to use gloss black but this stuff was cheaper. JP Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had to remove the front bumper, bolt it in and cut some of the back of the bumper to make it fit. The colour has faded a lot on it in a short space of time, I've bought a couple bolt in ones from the recent group buy on here which I'm going to replace it with. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the reply JP. I think I have decided to go for a Custom Cages Clubman effort and a friend will install it. I will have a look for the door cards as need something similar. Thanks, Martin
No worries, happy to help. The place I got the ABS sheets from was called "plays kool" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Got the wheel fitted tonight, really pleased with the feel of it and the size is perfect. It's brought the wheel much closer which is much better [emoji41] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I also got rid of the radio aerial the other day and replaced it with a gps antenna to get a signal to my vbox sport. Gratuitous wet car shot lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks Cazper, no I haven't I've just booked in going to Thruxton twice at the moment. To be fair I'm not good with circuits that have coned corners, I sometimes struggle to see where I'm going [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk