Purchased a small French lightweight hot hatch - Renault Clio 172 Cup & NOW 182 Trophy

[Gibbo]

When I had my 1.2 16v 8 years ago, always felt the steering wheel was just huge, felt like a bus haha.

Yeah its a big one and the seating position is rather high up, absolutely does not feel sporty with the seat position. But its not uncomfortable and visibility is fantastic.

I do like the Sabelt Renaultsport sterring wheels, only £195 delivered.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUMMER-O...egane-r26-Sabelt-Steering-Wheels/132713026417

 

[Gibbo]

•It is a pretty grey drab interior to be honest!



•Yes there should be a clamp on the right side between the battery and the fuse box: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-...enic-Espace-Trafic-Modus-Kangoo-/261187050664



• Not good! It uses ATF, Dexon 2 is what Renault recommend.
•A leak on the PAS isn't ideal as the high pressure PAS pipe is expensive (I found this out last week).
•Common areas to look, just near the alternator there is a PAS pipe that heads directly down andthere is a PAS pressure switch (grey) on the pipe, if you're lucky they fail at the switch.
•Unless its the pump itself, it will be the high pressure pipe like mine (circa £200 pipe), its the the pipe that heads directly down after the pressure switch, goes over to the gearbox, then over the gearbox, back down and into the rack. Nightmare to change and the Cups have a specific pipe.



Standard feature. Simplest fix is to sandwich the remaining bit of metal between two oversize washers and bolt it down.



Easiest if you take the bumper off, but its all simple push clips.




Pretty easy to remove - remove the rubber seal and there are some pop clips on each side. The drivers one is easy as there is no interference from the wipers. Passenger side you have to remove the wiper blades, normally one of the blades will be corroded to the spindle, so you will need a puller, something like this:

https://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/hand-tools/laser-ball-joint-separator-cup



Just don't drive it empty, I did half a lap at Snetterton (slow pace) after I noticed the smoke pouring at the back and the PAS pump has already died.

Thank you!
Battery clamp ordered!
Yes the majority of the oil is all on PS line near the alternator, further along to PS reservoir the pipes are dry. Maybe is the switch then.

Got quite a collection of parts coming for it, as parts arrive I shall photo and post them up. The specialist says they can do it all in a day, hope so as its mounting up:

- Major service
- All belts including dephaser, accessory pulleys, crank bolt, water pump etc.
- Rocker cover re-seal
- Upper engine mount (probably fit this myself if it arrives soon enough) along with powerflex yellow insert
- Gearbox mount
- Dogbone mount
- Track rod ends both sides (inner and outer), as NSF inner rack end was advisory on MOT, so just refreshing the pair
- Fit new dampers all round along with fresher cup or cooks springs (got a set of 20k miles cup springs for £12) and bidding on a set of 5000 mile cooks at £70) along with new top mounts
- Powerflex rear beam bushes
- New reservoir header tank
- Fix power steering issue (for now I shall add some dexron 2 and some slick50 to get it to specialist)
- New HT leads (probably fit myself, not required but £25 from ECP with Summer35 code)
- Gearbox oil change
- New plates (fit myself)
- New upper brake light (fit myself)
- New clear side repeaters (fit myself)
- New door strips and bullets as mine are scratch (found a set for £20)
- Fuel filter



The above should freshen the car up nicely and in theory will remedy all and any engine bay issues the car maybe has along with a good percentage of the suspension/bushes refreshed.
Anything the specialist finds on top shall be done on the day or at a later date.

This should make the car spot on and most of all not a ticking time bomb and safe to drive.

This weekend I plan to remove inlet manifold, air box, battery and give that area of the engine bay a good cleaning and check over. I shall then spray the inlet manifold in silver along with tidying everything else up and re-fitting. May also spray the front grills and fog surrounds in satin black or with black plastidip.

Then in coming weeks:
- All wheels repaired in silver
- set of AD08R's all round

Then I shall probably get the brakes fully refreshed and conditions all round, so Brembo HC disc all round with a good pad, like Lorraines performance option, along with the calipers all cleaned and replaced if necessary.
Then any suspension bush not refreshed, shall also be done, so front wishbone bushes, anti-roll bar bushes, drop links and any other bushes.


That in theory should fully refresh the entire drivetrain, suspension, brakes and have the car driving, handling and stopping as it did once it left the showroom, but with some additional grip from the Yoko tyres.

Then body work, touch or repaint the damaged/chips areas, then a full professional detail and correction, to get the exterior looking as new.

Don't think I have missed anything.



Quick picture of how the front grill and fog surrounds came up after an external trim restorer, before then after:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

P.S. I noticed my car has a rear wiper, yet I notice some cups do not. Was rear wipe an option, easy to remove and if so where can I buy the blanking plate?

 

[Gibbo]

You're welcome!

Two things from me:

1) High level brake light, have you definitely got the right one as the CUP spoiler has a different part number. I know a few guys recently were really struggling to find a new one and its NLA with Renault

2) Fuel filter - not really serviceable as its in the tank / fuel sender. Also rated to 150k.

1. Ah, we shall see, is probably wrong, shall get that returned, was like £22
2. That was £8 wasted, not end of the world.


You know about the rear wiper? Can I easily delete it and the motor and get a blank plate?

 

[Gibbo]

Don't forget to apply UV protection on the headlamps else they'll go cloudy again quickly as you've taken that layer off. You can buy a small bottle off Amazon for a few quid and just rub it on (ooer).

Yeah done that, had some stuff in the garage.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there


Went Halfords today to get supplies to further restoring the car, grabbed a Meguiars clay bar as a lot of contaminants on the paint so might get round to claying the car tomorrow. will then give a compound, polish and wax by hand when I get round to that, priority first is the mechanical stuff.
I also grabbed some 1500, 2000 and 2500 sand paper, also the meguiars headlight restoration kit G2000 was on offer at £1800, so grabbed that long with some engine degreaser, dexron 2, silver VHT paint, matt black, so tomorrows plan is paint front grill, degrease engine bay, paint inlet manifold etc.
Also added the Dexron 2 seems the reservoir was just very low but not empty, the leak is near the alternator so maybe pressure valve, specialist can sort.


So I had another go at headlights first with Meguiars pad and cleaner, then 1500 grit wet, 2000 grit wet and finally 2500 grit wet. Then a spray over with Meguiars UV protectant. WOW have they come up amazing, will grab better photos tomorrow once grill is painted but even in the dark you can see the extra depth, its another transformation:

Also polished up the rear lights as well, though those were pretty fine, but some compound, polish and wax later, still an improvement, no pictures I am afraid.


Another parts delivery today, just a small one:

- Yellow smelly bloke, got one in M3 too, suits colour scheme.
- Official 172 cup badges that go on the door pillars
- New gear surround as current one is ripped
- Updated top mount nuts, to go with new dampers, top mounts that arrived yesterday
- Got a rear upper brake light, but as previously mentioned its wrong one.



So plenty to crack on with tomorrow.

 

[Gibbo]

"also the meguiars headlight restoration kit G2000 was on offer at £1800"

Blimey!

I noticed the Cup 172 badges were missing. Glad you got them - they are cool.

Haha forgot decimal point.

Yeah seems some have them, some do not like some have rear wipers and some do not. My updates to the car or maybe they were options when buying.

 

[Gibbo]

hot hatches of yester year are worth snapping up. thinking of buying some to put away.prices are shooting up.even on not . great bargins buy em now. before they stupid money.

Yeah, probably gonna grab a 106GTi too, just waiting for a good low mile standard one to pop up at not silly money and though I don't want another Clio, the 182's in liquid yellow seem to fetch really good money as its a very rare colour and admittedly they do look awesome in liquid yellow.

 

[Gibbo]

Question for other 172/182 owners, if I disconnect the battery will I have any trouble from the alarm, immobiliser or stereo wanting a code?

 

[Gibbo]

Had mine laid up for 9 months before in a relatives garage. Pretty sure I just disconnected the battery and left it unlocked. No issues getting it going again.

However when the battery is that flat, the door locks can engage of their own accord. Watch out for that! I had both keys inside the car and my Dad let the door close. It locked...

Any radio code needed, its got factory CD player in it, all works don't want to brick that.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Managed to get quite a few jobs done on the car today, plus more items arrived along with the new number plates.

So today manage to get done:
- Front upper and lower grills painted with plastiip to freshen them up
- Further cleaning on engine bay, decided not to paint inlet manifold but instead gave it some elbow grease and a real good cleaning.
- Carpets fully cleaned, seats all wiped down and then the interior trim all gone over with Meguiars interior detailor
- All the glass cleaned inside and out with Autofinesse glass cleaner
- New plates fitted
- Cup 172 badges fitted
- New gear gator fitted


Some pictures:

Still lots to do but the car is really starting to look better, also the car still has all the original glass which with a Cup 172 is very important as they featured thinner lighter glass to save additional weight. Only downside is the front windscreen is scratched from where previous owners must allowed wipers to become so deteriorated they scratched the glass whilst wiping on passenger side. Got the inside cleaned up, looking much better now and managed to remove all the residue from the tax disc holder.

The interior does not need so much now it comes up really nice and been a one owner car with low mileage it really does show as the seats and steering wheel show very little wear whereas these cars soon show wear to the seats and thumb grips on steering wheel.

All I want to do on the interior is get the gear number H pattern back on top of the gear stick as its faded.


The exterior still needs a lot of work, next step is to remove the side strips and bullets to give a real good clean behind those, along with cleaning the bullets and strips themselves, wax behind and refit. Then get a touch up kit and fix the loss of paint on door edges, thankfully only down to primer so no corrosion or rust, so get all that fixed. Then see if I can polish out the minor scratches around the car, followed by a clay, polish and sealant.

Also the fresher original cup springs arrived today and the Powerflex engine mount, just waiting on upper mount to arrive now so I can remove the old, clean that area up and refit new mount:

So brand new original dampers with much fresher springs, powerflex rear beam limiters/bushes will perfect the handling.

More updates to come.

 

[Gibbo]

I recommend Chipex for touch up. It's not the quickest of systems but it is very good for an ''at home" solution.

If you are looking to get the wheels Powdercoated tap up Powdercoating Shropshire and mention me for a bit of discount. They do a super bright silver which looks fantastic.

Thank you, ordered the Platinum kit.

 

[Gibbo]

You have got to be quick!

Been busy ordering stuff today, Chipex, ECP inner and out track rod ends, inner play was advisory on last MOT, so might as fix that but just do both sides as the 50% discount code makes stuff rather cheap.
Also ordered a pair of new front wishbones from Renault, if they come with ball joints as pictured as £70 a side makes them rather cheap.

In theory that should be every bush, ball joint and suspension component in front changed and most the rear too. All that is left is stuff like wheel bearings, CV joints etc. which can be changed as or when they begin to fail.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there


So some more work on the car today, started by removing the door trims and yep quite a bit of dirt behind them:

All cleaned and waxed, then re-fitted:

Then decided to prepare the cars paint for correction and polishing which will come in a few weeks, as such washed it and then gave the car some clay bar action, oh my was it covered in crap and remember I have washed the car a couple of times now including treatment with fall out remover, goes to show how effective a clay bar is:

Car was then washed again and I gave it a very quick going over with Aqua Wax simply as its so easy to apply, spray on wet car, wipe down and buff, literally five minutes and gives protection for a few weeks, car is starting to look really good now:

Of course then it rained, but now the car actually beads even with a basic wax coating:

Next step on the bodywork will be putting the Chipex kit to work to see how well it can deal with the deep scratches and paint chips, I will also remove the sills at somepoint soon as well to clean behind those.

 

[Gibbo]

When will the wheels be sorted

Need to drive it to sort wheels, so after the belts and service, remember belts are in desperate need so its not been started since getting home and parked up, maybe next week or week after.

They shall be done in as close to silver as original Renault bright silver colour and a set of AD08R in 205/45/16 fitted all round, with the completely refreshed suspension should handle quite nice then.

Give him a chance! He’s done more to that in a week than most do to their cars in their entire ownership.

Although yeah, come on Gibbo, don’t slack

@Gibbo Aqua Wax, is that the one made by Autoglym? Don’t laugh, it’s not for my e38 I’m thinking more for the truck.

Yes buddy its Autoglym stuff, one of the easiest waxes you will ever apply, simply wash the car, rinse off, then mist aqua wax over the panels, then wipe the entire car down with a microfibre, then quickly buff with a plush drying towel, job done. It gives a few weeks protection but applies and removes as easy as a quick detail spray, so its ideal for a quick short term protection or motors meet.

 

[Gibbo]

Nice one, thank you.

Forgot to mention, no need to dry the car, so mist it on a wet car after rinsing with a free flowing hosepipe.

 

[Gibbo]

Nice one, thank you.

Forgot to mention, no need to dry the car, so mist it on a wet car after rinsing with a free flowing hosepipe.

 

[Gibbo]

I saw a guy on DW (ironically a Clio) wire wool his glass and the end result was superb. I'll see if I can dig it out and drop it in here for you!

Thanks m8, would be nice to get the scratches out of it, as can't replace the windscreen as it would not be same thinner lighter version and as the car has original glass through out, would be a shame to spoil that.

I'd have though that just like paintwork that glass can be corrected and polished to an extent. I will try some compound on a rotary first, see if it has any impact, otherwise am left to resort to some sand paper, wet and dry, or the wire wool you speak off.

 

[Gibbo]

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showpost.php?p=5378547&postcount=175

There you go

Gonna give this a try:

Halfords sell the fast orange with pumice for £5, I've got Meguiars Ultimate compound, shall mix the two together and just put on my drill bit, which is not a specific polishing pad, but see how it fairs, worth a try.

 

[Gibbo]

Standard old French car then?

I survived four 205's, including crashing one, I am sure I will be fine (fingers crossed) plus I've calmed down a lot as I now know it bloody hurts if you crash especially in a French car.

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

Another day, a few more deliveries.

So the original door strips were damaged (deep scratches which been plastic be hard to repair, plus they were heavily faded. So I came across a used set on ebay for £20, but in better condition, they arrived today and were like new, the bullets were also cleaner as well, so got those fitted and compared old with new:

New ones fitted:

I did the other side as well, much fresher.







Also a box of goodies from ECP:

- Coolant bottle
- New wheel bolts
- Clear side repeaters
- New HT leads
- Rear number plate lense
- Battery clamp
- Probably some stuff I forgot!


So as the battery was not secure, I got that sorted:

Before:

After:

Just small jobs today but bit by bit it all adds up.


Tomorrow I shall give the fast orange hand wish with pumice a try mixed with some meguiars ultimate compound to see if it really works at removing scratches from glass, shall let you know.