Purchased a small French lightweight hot hatch - Renault Clio 172 Cup & NOW 182 Trophy
Associate
Snappy's pricing is £140 nowadays.
And yes, the wheels are interchangeable. Just dump the cruise wiring.
And yes, the wheels are interchangeable. Just dump the cruise wiring.
Associate
- Joined
- 8 Oct 2010
- Posts
- 1,179
Great project and admire your attention detail. These lighter variants bring back fond memories of the couple of Peugeot 306 Rallye's i had.
Yes I am also on the look out for a 106 Rallye or 106 GTi as well, just waiting for a spot on example at not crazy money that needs little to no work and I shall just put that in storage at another property and enjoy from time to time as I believe 106 GTI's in spot on condition will be worth big money in years to come as they were and still are so good, also one if not the best looking small hot hatches too.
Did an MOT history search on both my 106GTi and Clio 182. Seems both are now on the scrap heap 
I had a snappy wheel before, he does amazing work. That and the short shifter on my 106 made the biggest difference to me as you touch them so often!
I had a snappy wheel before, he does amazing work. That and the short shifter on my 106 made the biggest difference to me as you touch them so often!
Did an MOT history search on both my 106GTi and Clio 182. Seems both are now on the scrap heap
I had a snappy wheel before, he does amazing work. That and the short shifter on my 106 made the biggest difference to me as you touch them so often!
Yep that is unfortunately the way, they are cheap French cars, many get scrapped just for failing an MOT as the owner either can't afford to fix it, or simply cannot be bothered and gets another car.
Also searching for 106 GTI, so few examples are unmodified, nearly all of them have been heavily modified or turned into track or rally cars, that makes finding one even more difficult. The few stock ones for sale either need lots of work, are rotten, silly high miles or a stupid high price.
If anyone does come across a nice 106 GTI that looks wise is stock let me know please, I don't mind power modifications as long as its still factory engine, just nothing to crazy like turbochargers though.
Soldato
Carbon bonnet was a popular change back in the day too, took a decent amount of weight off.
Hi there
Quite a few deliveries today including a new rear upper brake light, chipex platinum kit and the front steering components:
- Renault inner track rod kits x2
- Lemforder outer track rod ends x2
- Powerflex steering bushes x2
- Powerflex anti-roll bar bushes x4
- Upper spring seats
- gearbox sump plug and washer
- engine sump plug and washer
- Damper dust boots
So I got to work with Chipex kit and to start with removed old rear brake light as there was a lot of paint flaking behind it, so cleaned it all up and removed any flaking paint:
So did not make this perfect job as once the light is in, hard to see in there, so just made sure I applied plenty of paint and left it to dry:
I then did the chipped of paint on door edges and the deep scratch on the door:
Before:
After:
The results are not perfect, if you look close you can still see, but you now have to be close up and looking, all in all a great improvement and its my first attempt at touching in big chips and scratches, I was having some success and on other ones not so much. The Chipex Platinum kit is quite large so I'd used only 15-20% doing all this, so I can have another go or find someone with more experience to try and perfect for me.
The car is at Birchdown Auto Services tomorrow for the belts/pulleys and full service:
http://www.birchdown.com/
If all goes well, next week or following week wheels refurb and a set of AD08R's all round, looking forward to driving the car.
Quite a few deliveries today including a new rear upper brake light, chipex platinum kit and the front steering components:
- Renault inner track rod kits x2
- Lemforder outer track rod ends x2
- Powerflex steering bushes x2
- Powerflex anti-roll bar bushes x4
- Upper spring seats
- gearbox sump plug and washer
- engine sump plug and washer
- Damper dust boots
So I got to work with Chipex kit and to start with removed old rear brake light as there was a lot of paint flaking behind it, so cleaned it all up and removed any flaking paint:
So did not make this perfect job as once the light is in, hard to see in there, so just made sure I applied plenty of paint and left it to dry:
I then did the chipped of paint on door edges and the deep scratch on the door:
Before:
After:
The results are not perfect, if you look close you can still see, but you now have to be close up and looking, all in all a great improvement and its my first attempt at touching in big chips and scratches, I was having some success and on other ones not so much. The Chipex Platinum kit is quite large so I'd used only 15-20% doing all this, so I can have another go or find someone with more experience to try and perfect for me.
The car is at Birchdown Auto Services tomorrow for the belts/pulleys and full service:
http://www.birchdown.com/
If all goes well, next week or following week wheels refurb and a set of AD08R's all round, looking forward to driving the car.
Didnt realise there was a Renault specialist so close to me. Good to know - my cambelt is due next year.
Let us know how you get on with them Gibbo.
Good job with the Chipex too, i agree its not 100% perfect, but it is very good at 'presentable'
Let us know how you get on with them Gibbo.
Good job with the Chipex too, i agree its not 100% perfect, but it is very good at 'presentable'
Soldato
I used to use ABP Motors in Crewe, they were a decent bunch and very knowledgable.
Soldato
Used them a few times. Been very happy with them, decent service.
Hi there
So 8am this morning I dropped the car of with Birchdown Auto Services who are a highly recommended Renault specialist, they provided me with a courtesy car so off I went to work:
http://www.birchdown.com/
Gave them the list of work I wanted doing knowing they would never get everything done in one day but to do their best with of course belts, pulleys and service taking priority.
Also requested they wipe and clean every as working on the car and thoroughly inspect and drive the car to give me a list of any issues or advise they find to get done on the car.
So come 17:30, I arrive back at Birchdown, the first thing I notice is the car parked outside looking incredible, the grams lowering springs aesthetically are spot on, not slammed, the huge arch gap that could previously be used for smuggling is now gone leave a 2-3 finger gap, they may settle a little more further but the car was full of original suspension in boot too so probably won't much, some pictures I took before chatting with Andy and Steve:
So they basically told me I am lucky as the pulley had broken which normally leads to the auxiliary belt slipping off and taking the cambelt with it, destroying the engine, not just that but the cambelt was very heavily cracked and did not have much life in in and was one of the worse they had seen. The dephaser was also totally knackered, but I knew that from how loud the engine was at warm idle.
Of course this was expected, hence parking it and keep RPM's very low, I enquired as to what other issues they found and they said the only issues they discovered was knackered rear dampers and a little play in the inner track rods, which you already have all the parts for.
They said they could not find any other issues with the car and said it was rust and corrosion free on the underside as well, commenting its a fantastic honest example just in need of TLC, which it has now had by myself and them. They did say on their test drive they were surprised at how strong the car feels, more so than normal and how tight it felt even though they did not complete the full suspension refresh. Again they said this was surprising considering the miss-matched tyres but it drove beyond expectations. They think the previous owner did not really drive it hard as even though were replacing all bushes, wishbones, the ones on there are in good condition and they said though the dog bone mount and lower mount were worn it was not typical wear of 50,000 miles, so its had an easy life, probably why the belts did not snap.
He also said that the oil leak was purely from the power steering valve which they fixed and that the engine had no oil leaks which is rare on them and now with a new rocker cover and re-seal should all be good.
So then I got the bad bit, the bill.
Very fair price as a full days work plus they also supplied a lot of the hardware, all paid up and time to look forward to the drive home which was all pretty much national speed limit country roads, oh boy is the car a huge amount of fun, its pretty damn epic, crazy how much fun can be had for so little money!
Car idles silent, no more rattle or diesel type noise. I never opened it up before but car at low RPM is smoother and feels like stronger torque. So I finally got to enjoy opening the car up and it pulls really strong through entire rev range but at 5500rpm area it seems to come on cam and pulls harder to around 7300rpm and is eager, it feels much stronger than 160HP they supposedly all run, of course it does not weigh much which will help but its quite torque for a petrol 2.0l, certainly in something only weighing a tonne.
Car has great corner grip once into the corner, you can then just make the tyres scream, I'd forgotton how easy and fun FWD can be in sorted chassis that just begs to be driven hard, huge fun.
Only complaints are steering is a bit vague and loose feeling over undulations which am putting down to track rods, steering rack bushes (still yet to do).
Brakes do the job, could be better though, going to look into what is available here.
Back-end feels planted now and turn in is fantastic, feels like it just holds on for deer life even with 4 budget tyres and one been a winter, lol.
Did I say, GREAT FUN! It gets to 100mph pretty swiftly too!
So time to give it a full tank of Vpower, £52, nice I cannot believe how good on fuel this car is, even driving it hard the consumption seems to good to be true, but in comparison the SVR and M3 absolutely drink fuel unless cruising, but the Clio on a cruise nearly returned 50mpg, but its not a cruising car as gearing is not suited to 70-80mph at all.
The drove home on some of my favourite roads, its amazing how you can chuck it in way too fast, my the tyres squeal through a corner or roundabout, then just bury the throttle with it giving a tad torque steer and the tyres screaming for mercy as you slide and accelerate down the road, a lot of fun, but also capable, can't wait to refresh suspension and get a set of AD08R's on the car!
So got home, emptied all the old stuff out the boot and parts they had not yet fitted, plus a spare litre of oil:
Plus a picture of the engine bay after some more cleaning and new header tank in place:
So its booked back in at Birchdown next month by which time the wheels will have been refurbed and have the AD08R's fitted to have the remainder done which is:
- Renault inner track rod arms x2
- Lemforder outer track rod arms x2
- Powerflex anti-roll bar bushes x4
- Powerflex steering bushes x2
- Upper engine mount and Powerflex insert (may do myself)
- Powerflex rear beam bushes
- New front pair wishbones
- Alignment to factory settings
- Might do a full brake refresh for some higher quality disc and pads, or maybe a Brembo conversion? Whats available?
- There is either a lot of tyre/road roar or a wheel bearing is a little dry as around 40-50mph got the typical wheel bearing humm/drone noise of a dry bearing, did typical clutch in neutral, no change so either bearing or tyre roar.
So now I can use the car, which I shall be doing, its a lot of fun and its only going to get better.
So 8am this morning I dropped the car of with Birchdown Auto Services who are a highly recommended Renault specialist, they provided me with a courtesy car so off I went to work:
http://www.birchdown.com/
Gave them the list of work I wanted doing knowing they would never get everything done in one day but to do their best with of course belts, pulleys and service taking priority.
Also requested they wipe and clean every as working on the car and thoroughly inspect and drive the car to give me a list of any issues or advise they find to get done on the car.
So come 17:30, I arrive back at Birchdown, the first thing I notice is the car parked outside looking incredible, the grams lowering springs aesthetically are spot on, not slammed, the huge arch gap that could previously be used for smuggling is now gone leave a 2-3 finger gap, they may settle a little more further but the car was full of original suspension in boot too so probably won't much, some pictures I took before chatting with Andy and Steve:
So they basically told me I am lucky as the pulley had broken which normally leads to the auxiliary belt slipping off and taking the cambelt with it, destroying the engine, not just that but the cambelt was very heavily cracked and did not have much life in in and was one of the worse they had seen. The dephaser was also totally knackered, but I knew that from how loud the engine was at warm idle.
Of course this was expected, hence parking it and keep RPM's very low, I enquired as to what other issues they found and they said the only issues they discovered was knackered rear dampers and a little play in the inner track rods, which you already have all the parts for.
They said they could not find any other issues with the car and said it was rust and corrosion free on the underside as well, commenting its a fantastic honest example just in need of TLC, which it has now had by myself and them. They did say on their test drive they were surprised at how strong the car feels, more so than normal and how tight it felt even though they did not complete the full suspension refresh. Again they said this was surprising considering the miss-matched tyres but it drove beyond expectations. They think the previous owner did not really drive it hard as even though were replacing all bushes, wishbones, the ones on there are in good condition and they said though the dog bone mount and lower mount were worn it was not typical wear of 50,000 miles, so its had an easy life, probably why the belts did not snap.
He also said that the oil leak was purely from the power steering valve which they fixed and that the engine had no oil leaks which is rare on them and now with a new rocker cover and re-seal should all be good.
So then I got the bad bit, the bill.
Very fair price as a full days work plus they also supplied a lot of the hardware, all paid up and time to look forward to the drive home which was all pretty much national speed limit country roads, oh boy is the car a huge amount of fun, its pretty damn epic, crazy how much fun can be had for so little money!
Car idles silent, no more rattle or diesel type noise. I never opened it up before but car at low RPM is smoother and feels like stronger torque. So I finally got to enjoy opening the car up and it pulls really strong through entire rev range but at 5500rpm area it seems to come on cam and pulls harder to around 7300rpm and is eager, it feels much stronger than 160HP they supposedly all run, of course it does not weigh much which will help but its quite torque for a petrol 2.0l, certainly in something only weighing a tonne.
Car has great corner grip once into the corner, you can then just make the tyres scream, I'd forgotton how easy and fun FWD can be in sorted chassis that just begs to be driven hard, huge fun.
Only complaints are steering is a bit vague and loose feeling over undulations which am putting down to track rods, steering rack bushes (still yet to do).
Brakes do the job, could be better though, going to look into what is available here.
Back-end feels planted now and turn in is fantastic, feels like it just holds on for deer life even with 4 budget tyres and one been a winter, lol.
Did I say, GREAT FUN! It gets to 100mph pretty swiftly too!
So time to give it a full tank of Vpower, £52, nice I cannot believe how good on fuel this car is, even driving it hard the consumption seems to good to be true, but in comparison the SVR and M3 absolutely drink fuel unless cruising, but the Clio on a cruise nearly returned 50mpg, but its not a cruising car as gearing is not suited to 70-80mph at all.
The drove home on some of my favourite roads, its amazing how you can chuck it in way too fast, my the tyres squeal through a corner or roundabout, then just bury the throttle with it giving a tad torque steer and the tyres screaming for mercy as you slide and accelerate down the road, a lot of fun, but also capable, can't wait to refresh suspension and get a set of AD08R's on the car!
So got home, emptied all the old stuff out the boot and parts they had not yet fitted, plus a spare litre of oil:
Plus a picture of the engine bay after some more cleaning and new header tank in place:
So its booked back in at Birchdown next month by which time the wheels will have been refurbed and have the AD08R's fitted to have the remainder done which is:
- Renault inner track rod arms x2
- Lemforder outer track rod arms x2
- Powerflex anti-roll bar bushes x4
- Powerflex steering bushes x2
- Upper engine mount and Powerflex insert (may do myself)
- Powerflex rear beam bushes
- New front pair wishbones
- Alignment to factory settings
- Might do a full brake refresh for some higher quality disc and pads, or maybe a Brembo conversion? Whats available?
- There is either a lot of tyre/road roar or a wheel bearing is a little dry as around 40-50mph got the typical wheel bearing humm/drone noise of a dry bearing, did typical clutch in neutral, no change so either bearing or tyre roar.
So now I can use the car, which I shall be doing, its a lot of fun and its only going to get better.
Last edited:
Caporegime
If you are doing the brakes might as well rebuild them with new pistons and seals. Bigredd will do a rebuild kit for around £30 per axle unless they are monoblock type which is normally double.
Associate
Good to hear it was the Pas pressure switch and rear dampers as thought. And great news you've basically saved the engine...
Not got much time but just to jot down some thoughts:
1) Wheel bearing drone - probably the cheap tyres as the fronts in particular rarely go (mine are still original at 126k). Rears are easy to change as they are built in to the discs.
2) Brakes - some people do the 4 pot conversion but you will get a slightly longer pedal feel unless you change the master cylinder and in reality it's a light and lowish power car. It's not underbraked like a standard M3. Give it a fluid flush (ate type 200 or similar), change for braided lines and refresh the discs and pads. No point getting anything more than plain discs, they perform excellently on road or track. Get Brembo or Pagid. Brembo discs can be had for about £45 for the front pair with a gsf weekend discount.
Pads - have a chat with George at RTR parts on the Cliosport forum. Some ds2500s or similar but be a good upgrade for road use with some extra performance. On track I use Ferodo DS1.11 which are phenomenal but very noisy.
Not got much time but just to jot down some thoughts:
1) Wheel bearing drone - probably the cheap tyres as the fronts in particular rarely go (mine are still original at 126k). Rears are easy to change as they are built in to the discs.
2) Brakes - some people do the 4 pot conversion but you will get a slightly longer pedal feel unless you change the master cylinder and in reality it's a light and lowish power car. It's not underbraked like a standard M3. Give it a fluid flush (ate type 200 or similar), change for braided lines and refresh the discs and pads. No point getting anything more than plain discs, they perform excellently on road or track. Get Brembo or Pagid. Brembo discs can be had for about £45 for the front pair with a gsf weekend discount.
Pads - have a chat with George at RTR parts on the Cliosport forum. Some ds2500s or similar but be a good upgrade for road use with some extra performance. On track I use Ferodo DS1.11 which are phenomenal but very noisy.