English Newbie

[williamspaul]

hi guys was recomended here by joel john joseph im moving to austrailia very soon it was a hard decission due to family freinds etc but i also had to give up my passion thinking that there was no renaults in austrailia but have recently found out there is witch has made the decision alot easier even tho you dont have any mk1 clios (shame on you) i can see theres alot of french metal there to keep me happy ive had renault 5 turbos clio 1.2/1.4/1.8 8v/alot of 1.816vs/williams various 172s a 182 a megane 225/ and a 197 i turbo converted myself so ill be trawling the for sale pages looking for something that will keep me happy for now until i can afford what i really want a 200 witch ill convert to turbo hopefully there will be lots of events i can attend and new people to meet will be interesting to see how different the uk and au car scences are thanks for reading

[apple3337]

Looks like you are moving to Melbourne. No doubt I'll meet you then

Start here if you haven't found it yet:

https://www.carsales.com.au/

OR

http://www.ozrenaultsport.com/index.php?/forum/46-cars/

Edited 14, December 2016 by apple3337

[Mase]

There's a Mk 1 in South Aust brought in by and English guy it's out there some where!

 

 

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[ishhyyyy]

When you are making the move, bring all the required parts! It will make life much more easier!!!!

[williamspaul]

yeah melborne ill be coming in may

 

may have to import one lol

 

pretty much all the parts are off a 225/230 although i may try my hand at a 250 conversion this time has there been may 225 converted 197/200s in aus if so someone must do a intercooler kit for one ?

[Gambit]

Welcome when you get here!

[williamspaul]

thanks ill be very keen to get a renault of some sort as soon as i get there and get out and meet some new people

[ishhyyyy]

No engine swaps have been done on the clio 3s AFAIK but there are a few clio 2s with 225 running gear

[No152]

Clio 3 with supercharger...? Everything's better with a supercharger, remember... ????????

[williamspaul]

super chargers have been done a few times on 197s in the uk they tend to have less power alot more expensive and i think you have to sacrifice your air con that being said i havent driven one so they might be awesome and worth the extra money but having owned built and driven my turbo 197 i definatly will build another only better and i think i could put a megane engine and running gear in a 197/200 for nearly no money at all some people have managed to do it in the uk and made money on breaking a megane for a donor car witch i will definatly be doing

[No152]

Tongue was definitely in cheek.

 

I agree, the Megane retrofit has the most appeal. Plus it keeps the RS "purity" in the build. Would be a great project to see on a build thread...

 

Some insanely sheap 225's for sale at present. It would be hard to imagine the cost being etortionist if you were able to do a fair bit of the hard work yourself.

 

Electronics likley to be the biggest challenge I can imagine, having briefly entertained the idea with a Sedan a while back.

[Badsanta1269]

Could you stop by ktech before coming to australia =)

[williamspaul]

well id love to stop buy ktec but im in viet nam at the min tho what you need tho i have alot of freinds coming over from england who may bring some bits over

 

the wiring is pretty simple there is a guide on 197,net uk or ktec will do it for £600 if you bring them both looms or sc auto electrics for 400 but im guessing postage will be a nightmare

[ghettogolfer]

Get used to Australian prices and postage my friend. 

 

I'm in Melbourne as well and whilst I am new here, seems to be a fairly active crowd in the Vic set. 

[vaughan]

Also get used to strict rules on what mods are legal (or not). Forget wheel spacers, for instance. Coil-overs only if the adjusting rings are locked (welded).

 

The stuff you get away with in the U.K. is unbelievable down here.

 

On the other hand, we don't have the rust problem you have in the UK.

[Faeros]

Also get used to strict rules on what mods are legal (or not). Forget wheel spacers, for instance. Coil-overs only if the adjusting rings are locked (welded).

 

The stuff you get away with in the U.K. is unbelievable down here.

 

On the other hand, we don't have the rust problem you have in the UK.

Don't forget it changes each state as well lmao. What is legal in Victoria may not be legal in New South Wales vice versa etc etc so as soon as you drive over the border it's fair game according to the police.

[williamspaul]

i was going to start a tread about that exact subject actually

 

hows the laws on engine conversion would i need to get a engineers report on the car etc 

 

whats the problem with coil overs lol

 

yeah i was lucky in the uk we get away with murder however that does lead to  some rather poor cars being made and driven on the road have you seen the state of some of the peoples stretched tyres in the uk and mental camber

[Gambit]

In Oz it's tough with the law but I can tell you now it does not diminish the quality of the builds , there is a vibrant aftermarket and engine conversion scene here, with many good workshops that will assist. Generally if you do a build Uber the guidance of an engineer who will eventually sign off you'll be right.

[williamspaul]

well the conversion i intend on doing 197/200 megane 225/230 engine swap is essentially just a turbo version of the same engine im sure it wouldnt take much for someone to sign it off it uses all original mounts shafts etc any way  thats a long way off need to get there first and get some thing to drive hopefully on track

[Faeros]

I just remembered a good one. In Vic it is against the law to install a cover or change the gear shifter so that it doesn't have the shift pattern lmao.

 

Depending on the cop you could get a defect notice rendering the vehicle unable to be driven legally on the road until you get it cleared.

 

There are other just as silly rules but you get the idea.

 

(It's not all bad but there are definitely some questionable laws)

[williamspaul]

thats sh*t i wouldnt want to do the meg conversion again with the 197 gear box the ratios are all wrong id have to take a chance fit the meg box and hope no one notices

[Faeros]

The cops don't pay any real attention to Renaults.

 

My orange one has different color panels, is lower than legal height, is fairly loud and has a bunch of completely illegal modifications.

 

I've been in a line up and the cops literally just look at it, probably wonder what it even is and then move to the next car.

 

The chance of getting pulled up is pretty damn low unless you are actively driving illegally and they spot you doing it. I wouldn't worry too much (if at all personally).

 

Good luck finding a ride!

[Badsanta1269]

If you thought these laws are tough, 7 years ago, it was illegal to wash your car in nsw with a hose on a week day. True Story

[Faeros]

If you thought these laws are tough, 7 years ago, it was illegal to wash your car in nsw with a hose on a week day. True Story

I think that was because we had a sever water shortage across the country (Vic was the same) so that was for an actual legitimate reason.

[cloudy]

I think that was because we had a sever water shortage across the country (Vic was the same) so that was for an actual legitimate reason.

 

It was - given the sheer severity of the drought that plagued us last decade, the significant water restrictions imposed on NSW and Victoria were more than well and truly justified. I still remember it being a legitimate concern that Sydney may run out of usable water; being able to wash your car on a day of your choosing would and should have been the last thing on anyone's minds.

[williamspaul]

ive never been one to wash my car anyway i dont enjoy it i get someone else to do it

 

ive been looking online it seems to be very few clios for sale bit pemature looking now but just getting an idea of price 

[williamspaul]

i would of brought a 225 as i love boost however the 225/230s seem very expensive in oz compared to back home

[Badsanta1269]

There was a phase 1 for 3.5k last week

[Faeros]

i would of brought a 225 as i love boost however the 225/230s seem very expensive in oz compared to back home

Everything is more expensive when you live on a giant island haha.

 

Carsales is probably most peoples go to for perusing cars but both gumtree (I'm sure you know this one) and quicksales are worth looking at. Especially quicksales. Sometimes insane bargains can be had.

[Pokinacha]

The cops don't pay any real attention to Renaults.

 

 

I had a copper here in Canberra pull me over and after i'd talked my way out of a ticket, he commented that i wasnt a hoon in a hoon car. I was in the Clio with bonnet pins, on coilovers, semislicks, ktec stealth exhaust and ITBs under to hood. yes officer, i'm not a hoon at all...

 

Previously I've been pulled over in my obnoxiously loud Alfa 156 GTA and no questions were asked about the noise or ride height. Just what the engine was.

[williamspaul]

what ever i buy itll definatly be a renault and probably illegal in some way or another never stopped me in the uk wont stop me now heres some of my previous cars/vans that i used to own some of you may be interested starting with my favorite started life as a valver witch after i blew up the gearbox i started on the hunt for a williams gear box and engine to replace it with when a whole crash damaged williams turned up for £600 so i snapped it up and replaced every single part on the car for williams spec or better apart from one thing no ones guessed it yet what it was

 

 

it stayed this way for a long time thouroghly enjoyed the car so much every day never missed a beat untill i destroyed the gearbox at 145 mph then i decided it was time to fit a megane 230 engine and gearbox :/

 

 

 

it was functioning working driving but it just wasnt right so i abandonned the project in the late stages mainly due to the cost of finishing the project but i kept the engine

[williamspaul]

so these were my first and most recent clios both mk1s im sure you guys arnt that interested in but whatever first my 1.2 rn witch i crashed a month into driving and repaired and fitted a 1.4 engine witch removed from the car i was driving while the paint was done on the black one witch i blew the gear box

 

 

and the most recent i had to sell reluctantly it was my track car that was absolutley awesome especially in the wet polyboshed everywhere manual steering conversion avo coil overs sticky  ado8 r tyres stripped fully out to one seat fancy exhaust manifold i forget the make the engine was essentially standard other that being lightenend and balanced etc but it make a wicked difference of 12 bhp over standard being a 2.0 williams engine that should be 150 162 bhp isnt bad at all really miss driving it

 

[williamspaul]

so this is my van i built one of the most fun i ever had i purchased it off my freind as a non runner 1.2 petrol towed i round the corner fixed it drove it back past his house waving (he was not happy) i turned the shed upside down looking for parts i realised i had everything i needed to convert the van to a 2.0 other than the bottom end 10 mins and two phone calls later i was on route to collect the bottom end this being the friday by saturday evening the engine was complete and ready for fitting by sunday the 1.2 was out and the 2.0 was sat in the bay running but as the wishbones were in such a worn state i wouldnt dare drive it as it was again so it sat waiting for the next weekend where i fitted a 16v subframe wishbones arb williams front brakes 16v 15 inch steel wheels

 

for comfort i added black 16v carpet williams front seats 16v steering wheel and dials from a clio 1.4 so it had a rev counter

 

final spec on the engine being 

 

2.0 williams bottom end

 

ported polished skimmed rebuilt 1.8 head (i had lying around from a car i broke)

 

williams cams

 

ktec racing clutch

 

lightened and balenced williams flywheel

 

1.8 16v gear box

 

williams chipped ecu

 

williams exhaust manifold

 

janspeed de cat

 

standard williams middle and rear (for sleeper stealth)

 

it was so much fun to build and drive just to watch the looks on the faces of all the more exotic and expensive car owners she made fools of was priceless cant belive i broke it

 

 

 

[Badsanta1269]

Wow nice work. Can't wait to see the Frankenstein rs you create when you get here.

[williamspaul]

while i was trying to do a 230 conversion to my valver i decided i needed something cheap to drive i brought a 1.2 black clio crash damaged for £200 found someone breaking a black 172 ph1 shot over picked up the full body kit bonnet bumper full interior and a ns door for £300 put it all together with some coil overs and 172 wheels imeadiaty i saw a problem the track wasnt wide enough at the front to fill the new wide arches so i had to fit the wide track of a 172 and brakes to make it work some small spacers took care of the rear this was fine to get to and from work for a while untill i got offered £1200 by one of my friends younger brothers so with a fresh cambelt and mot i let it go as i did hate the awful performace

 

 

this left me with no car luckily a genuine 172 came up for £600 reduced from £1200 that day so off i went with the trailer scooped it up it drove well pulled well only problem being it had hideous st orange wheels on it with matching bullets i had some bullets so they were first to go the wheels i quickly  painted black with a rattle can and off i went untill a set of silver ones came up to cheap to resist fitted some cheap coilovers a 182 manifold and a link pipe i had a little go at porting the inlet manifold top and bottom the car made a genuine 172.9bhp witch i was more than happy with bearing in mind the money i spent

 

 

 

 

i also owed a nice rb 182 cup witch had evo recaros fitted witch i thought were exellent as they looked very similar to trophy seats till i realised evos are four door and the seats dont flip forward lol it had cooksport springs first car ive owned with them witch i thought were really good really nice sounding exhaust think it was from ktec i sold it before i went traveling to a kid who blew it up in a week hahahah

 

 

 

 

[williamspaul]

Wow nice work. Can't wait to see the Frankenstein rs you create when you get here.

i think ill get myself a 172/182 track car when i get there then when im sure about staying im thinking a clio ly 200 with a meg 250 with at least 350bhp im not sure a little clio could handle much more than that

[williamspaul]

right heres the last one ill bore you with my 197 i picked up for £4000 witch was the cheapest id ever seen one in the uk at the time minimum was £6000 at the time and they were normally pretty rough the reason for the cheap price was the lack of mot (think you guys call it something different basicly wasnt deemed as road worthy i took the risk drove it to the mot one headlight bulb and it passed the rear disks were a advisory but other than that all was well it had only done 40,000 miles think thats about 60,000km i have to admit i wasnt really in love with it when i brought it it handled lovely braked hard turned in well the back would hang out when i wanted it to it just didnt quite have the power to make me love it luckily id antisipated this and never planned to keep it this way i already had the engine and box from my previous williams/230 abandonned project sourced the relivant parts drive shafts coolant pipes intercooler kit heat sheilding decat ecu 225 downpipe etc etc so i took the friday off work to get the wiring sorted and a expert ecu genius/wizzard to some how make the 230 ecu talk to the clio uch dont ask me how staturday was spent removing the front end and the old 197 engine

 

 

 

 

 

 

was a bit of a c**t tbh especially the driveshafts but i got there in the end sunday consisted of me fitting heat sheild around where the turbo would sit and making turbo noises while fitting the new engine after more swearing at the drive shafts and hubs it was all it place running started first time on the key unfortunatly i was missing a vacume hose so it was iddleing at 5k so i focused my attention on the exhaust i removed the middle section of the 197 standard exhaust and fitted a recucer to make the two mate together as a temporary solution till i could afford something better  so its all possible over the weekend to those who are interested in attempting it uses all the existing clio/megane mounts its like factory fit if you use black hoses youd never know it wasnt a factory fitted engine

 

 

 

 

 

the intercooler kit was a work of art the pipes are huge this is when i fell in love with the car when i first finished it it was running just over 250bhp it was an absolute rocket and due to the black intercooler noone was any the wiser it was quiet too stealth mode my favorite game was picking on other 197/200s getting them to race me then blowing them away with ease it now resides with one of my best freinds at home with roughly 275bhp i sold it to him very cheap he doesnt use it much shame really as its f**king awesome to drive and when i had it it was the fastest clio in the south of england pretty sure its crown has been taken now but it was one of the best and one of the first 225/230 converted clio197s i may have to make another in oz also would love to lend a hand to do someone elses (after mine )

 

 

[cloudy]

What a nice lot of cars you've built man, love it.

 

I must say that I always admire you car folks over there, not only constantly conducting sheer lunacy with your wicked car builds but they also seem to be pumped out damn fast, with very little trouble and with some very mechanically minded hands and no fear of fabricating a lot of stuff.

 

We don't see anything of the sort here even amongst the much more popular JDM car culture; although a lot of it has to do with a much more restrictive set of laws to adhere to, I think even without said laws we'd never would have been quite as crazy as you guys are.

[apple3337]

You need to get a job at Dieppe!

[clixx-io]

Welcome. We're waiting on a Clio-IV owner to do a RS-265/275 engine conversion here now.

Just saying..

[No152]

Gotta do something during those long cold wet winters in Blighty I'm guessing... ????

 

Some awesome builds thee for sure!! ???? Like the others on here we are looking forward to seeing what you create here...

 

Plus 1 the Clio IV 275 transplant to create the only RS16 down under... ????

[Faeros]

We don't see anything of the sort here even amongst the much more popular JDM car culture; although a lot of it has to do with a much more restrictive set of laws to adhere to, I think even without said laws we'd never would have been quite as crazy as you guys are.

 

You can count on 1 hand the only conversions that seem regular in this country. Honda engines in lotus', RB's in various JDM and ADM's , rotaries in a few random cars and lastly the classic ls swap.

 

Anything else is usually in a magazine in this country as it's usually a crap ton of money, time and very rare aha.

[wade]

Nice work mate !

 

It would be an even better read if you used a little bit of punctuation [emoji15][emoji6]

[Quadrastu]

What a nice lot of cars you've built man, love it.

 

I must say that I always admire you car folks over there, not only constantly conducting sheer lunacy with your wicked car builds but they also seem to be pumped out damn fast, with very little trouble and with some very mechanically minded hands and no fear of fabricating a lot of stuff.

 

We don't see anything of the sort here even amongst the much more popular JDM car culture; although a lot of it has to do with a much more restrictive set of laws to adhere to, I think even without said laws we'd never would have been quite as crazy as you guys are.

Better clear it up first that this is not aimed at any of the builds listed as I've never seen them but....

 

Cloudy I think you'd be pretty shocked by some of the appalling and downright dangerous stuff that gets built. The laws are way too relaxed, you can buy a 20 yr old car and throw your 400bhp Rb25 skyline motor in it and your off impressing all your mates.....and to keep it cheap you insure it as the 1.2 it left the factory as......until your complete lack of ability or the crap build means you wipe someone out, and your insurance ain't worth sh*t. What I spent many many years seeing, fixing, walking away in absolute disgust was the fact that there's no inspection or certification that it is safe. Brake or suspension upgrade....what's that, can't afford that..!!!

Now for every 2 good, genuine builds there are 8 absolute shockers. Wiring just twisted together with insulation tape or crimp connectors.....cooling systems with plumbers pipe, firewalls or front panels hacked, beaten and bent to allow clearance and I could go on. Now yes the laws are the complete opposite here and it's a tough one to say what should and shouldn't be allowed but believe me google and Internet forums does not make everyone a master mechanic.

 

My apologies for the rant

 

 

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[clixx-io]

.....and to keep it cheap you insure it as the 1.2 it left the factory as......

 

ok fair enough, but *every* Clio/Megane/Scenic can be ordered from the factory in 1.2L form. That's the base engine size for these cars. Anything else, and they're "modded" afaiac.

 

I can't see what's wrong with placing a somewhat late "Customer Order" or having something not quite exactly on the original ordering sheet. Lot's of factory cars are just plain boring, whichever way you look at them.

 

Most people with modded or powerful cars don't drive them around like dingbats. In fact I even know a number of crazy car modders that do the mods then never drive the car for fear of breaking something mechanical and it undoing all their money-spent and work invested.

 

I say 1.2L Clios/Meganes/Scenics deserve modding. They're just better that way

 

Put another question on the immigration forms - [ ] engine modder *tick box for express immigration. Let more in.

[Quadrastu]

Your post makes no sense....and you clearly didn't read mine properly either.

 

 

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[clixx-io]

Your post makes no sense....and you clearly didn't read mine properly either.

 

I read it but disagree that laws need to be tighter.

 

Plus, the cars coming out of the factories now are much harder to mod than those twenty years ago. Chip tuning (flashing software maps) is the only real avenue to get more power out of most vehicles with Engine swaps being the other. It will be a sad day when those are made illegal.

 

See here for such a Clio on the forum with ~400bhp. Granted with upgraded brakes.

[Faeros]

I think Quad was referring to the builds over in the UK not here in Australia. In that respect he is just stating the obvious that plagues countries that have far less restrictive rules than Australia (eg - USA, NZ). Even still, the amount of "chopped hectic VE's" in this country would beg to differ. We have just as many dodgy cars here in Australia, the only difference being that folks that do those builds have gotten slowly better at hiding the dodgy builds while in the other countries they just celebrate the builds.

 

I've got friends that have (on their P's) built rb's into 350kw+ monsters and put them in their already legally registered 1.8ltr NA 180sx. They just keep the car looking clean, completely stock and put a conservative exhaust. The cops never pay any attention and since building rb's is one of the only cheapish engines in this country (outside of a v8) they just keep it registered as the stock car. If they happen to crash they just tear the engine out themselves, buy another body and replace the engine once again.

 

Personally I'd disagree on the point of modding newer cars. We don't see it here because of location and cost but if you go to other countries like above you will note a vibrant modifying scene for brand new cars because they can get away with it far more than we can.

[HamishW96]

The cops never pay any attention and since building rb's is one of the only cheapish engines in this country (outside of a v8)

Don't forget the turbo Barra motor... If I were crazy enough, there's an XR6 turbo (ba) going for 3k on carsales, would be little work to swap it's running gear (3.45 8.6 inch lsd, turbo motor and keep my btr 4 speed) and engine loom +ecu into my grandad spec ba Futura and run a stock exhaust, you'd never know. Turn the boost up (with valve springs and turbo upgrade, do a larger intercooler and auto cooler) and run mid 11's and not be able to stop or turn a corner. Albeit it is a 'hoon' car, but I drove it like I stole it for 2 years and I'd not attracted any police attention in that time.

 

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Edited 24, December 2016 by HamishW96

[63x1092]

If you want to do something never done in Australia, get a rear engine Renault, think, 4cv, Dauphine, Floride, Caravelle, R8, R10 or Alpine and put in a F4R engine in it or even better with a turbo as well.

Make it a sleeper, and then you can blow away grandpa and all the boy racers.