182 project from ASBO car to new daily driver

[Craigy69k]

Well had this since Sept but not had much time to spend on it and have only driven less than 1k in it.. Have a 1.6cdti astra as a sensible daily but have used this a few times. Planning on selling the astra as soon as I can return this to a semi standard / sensible state

Since buying the car I got the belts, dephaser, water pump done at Rentec for peace of mind.

Has also had new coil pack, spark plugs, lambda sensors,starter motor, wheel bearing. Runs like a dream.

Priority jobs before becoming daily
Address window tints (too dark)
Address the exhaust (too loud) buy a sport cat
Front brakes

 

[Craigy69k]

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[Craigy69k]

Day off work today and not raining so thought I would make a start. Oil and filter change to Fuchs titan super synthetic oil and genuine filter firstly and then a check of the injectors with fuel rail guard off, all around 14 (old school reader with a pointer so not as accurate as digital) and consistent so happy days. Quick wash and polish of headlamps and will need to get these restored.

Also realised that I need to order a sports cat, hoping this will quieter the exhaust which is ridiculous at the minute and puts me off driving as a daily

 

[Craigy69k]

Not clio rs related today but still clio related so..
Decided to give the gfs car a clean, it's been washed about five times during the five years she's owned it so gave it a good going over as paintwork looking drab

Fairy sponge wash and degrease
Clay bar
Rinse the filthy detailer residue off
Autoglym super resin polish

Quick interior valet to finish

Had no rubber and tyre dressing do a job for tomorrow

Some before and after 😜

 

[djspt]

Car looks like mines mate! Looks in good condition too. You said you got work done in Rentec was that local to you? I use Rentec in Edinburgh decent guys.
Sean

 

[Craigy69k]

Car looks like mines mate! Looks in good condition too. You said you got work done in Rentec was that local to you? I use Rentec in Edinburgh decent guys.
Sean

Hi mate yes I used rentec, happy to have a good specialist in the area. I'm sometimes around East Lothian will keep my eyes peeled for another silver rs 👍

 

[Craigy69k]

Got the front window tints off. Peeled off no bother at all but then left with a horrible residue which eventually came off with a scraper and viniger oddly enough! Acetone, turns etc did not look at it.

 

[Craigy69k]

Put a magnaflow cat in it, slightly too big at a joint so bought a slightly smaller one and plan on fitting over the weekend. Sounds a lot quieter for day to day driving especially in town. Loving this car though handles so well and smooth pull through all the gears, addictive 😁

 

[Craigy69k]

Righto been a while but been cracking on with a few jobs..

So, decided rather than mess around with clamps and paste which is no fun I decided to purchase a cheap flux core welder offamazon. Also decided to chuck on a small flexi and attach this to the cat before installing in situ. This was a great idea at the time as the original flange is quite literally non existent due to corrosion however there is a welded pipe in place?

Decided to fabricate the cat and flexi together before cutting out the old clamped affair.. decided on a cut out pipe of 2mm mild steel to assist joining as the cheap welder I was using was very prone to burning through and the cat is this steel.

Glad I did so and went over my welds a few times knocking off the flux and grinding down until I was confident there were no pingoles, glad I did this and after fitting the only pinhole was on joints between at the centre pipe.

The welding in place was a lot easier than I had imagined, a few tack welds and then very careful stitching. Went over this as many times as I could, especially at the top which was done completely blind but after a few good slugs it was joined. The hardest part if the day in all ho esty was railing out from under the car and connecting and disconnecting the battery whilst testing for leaks!

Quite happy with managing this as various online resources and youtube had me crapping it a little about my fluxcore welders capabilities in joing thin steel without burning though, and also about welding lying beneath the vehicle. In reality it was pretty straightforward and small tacks and stitches were the way to go.

 

[Craigy69k]

Also decided to replace a front wheelbearing. The other wheelbearing was replaced only a few months back. This turned into a bit of a nightmare which resulted in the car being on stands for two weeks as I initially popped the driveshaft out when removing the hub spilling gearbox oil everywhere. Wonderful.

 

[Craigy69k]

Ordered up new cv joint, gearbox oil and wheelbearing, also balljoint as this was perished...

Took the hub to local garage who did not know which way to press it out as could not see any circlip and wanted to wait until new bearing arrived so he could check. After heading home and digging around I realised there was actually a circlip in both sides, they had rusted so badly they were almost invisible. Eventually got them off with a heavy hammer and screwdriver then my bearing puller kit arrived... ah just in time. This was almost comically inept and I decided that the heavy hammer would have to do, funnily enough, their kit was handy as there was now a suitable price of metal to help know the bearing through which I done with about three hits 🙁 then used grinder to take off inner sleeve.

 

[Craigy69k]

After receiving a non cup shell bearing and the reordering it eventually came. Decided to try smacking back in frozen with replacement kit cup and heavy hammer, easy peasy surely... After the second blow the bearing broke into a thousand pieces. Ahh the Joy's. Reordered again and popped into a garage around corner next day at work. 10 minutes later on a 20tonne press and no cost it was done (gave the guy a tenner though and could have hugged him tbh)

 

[Craigy69k]

Back home and fired back together, new bearing and ball joint in,some shiny new bolts and back together no problems. Funnel taped to hosepipe hosepipe to fill up the gearbox oil worked a treat, no one will notice the hose is only 19m now 😄

 

[Craigy69k]

Been running sweet again since replacing the above. Exhaust noticeably quieter after replacing centre section with a 200 cell sport cat and flexi, pleased my welds are holding up. Been using this car as my daily after letting my girlfriend borrow the astra for a bit and thoroughly enjoying it. Rigid Cup setup not fun over bumps but luckily not around town much these days and enjoying the flowing roads around the borders 😁

Mechanically good again so time to freshen up and tackle any cosmetic issues..

Spent a bit of time restoring the lights by hand using the meguirs kit so then decided to freshen up the rest of car last week...

Degreaser non contact washfollowed by a scrub with a mitt then tar removal. After drying with a microfiber there appeared a lot of small spots and impurities in paint so spent time claybarring then cleaned residue again. Looked great but getting late so decided to layer on some AG super resin for the time being, applied by hand then buffed off. Put another layer on using the polisher and this came out a deeper shine with plenty colour flecks when the sun shines. Nice. Actually really surprised that the body work and paint is in such good nick, looks like its been well looked after before my ownership. Planning to clean again and look into waxing or perhaps some ceramic coating? Will need to read up a bit more on this though.

Cleaned the wheels with some waterless wash wax and buffed off, despite looking to get rid of the standard 16 inch alloys they are strangely growing on me. Went out and got anthracite paint and accessories recently with intentions to return to stock, but now in two minds wether to keep the bronze or standardise back to cup pack? Only some light scuffing around the front near side rim which needs addressed to make good as is, problem would be colour matching I suppose.

Anyway here is where we are at now, some obligitary post clean pics however this was taken after a 30 min spin to enjoy the glorious sun hence the fresh bug splatter! Love this little car 😁

 

[Horatio McAllister]

Car looks great, what CAT did you fit to it please? I’m just weighing up my options

 

[Craigy69k]

Car looks great, what CAT did you fit to it please? I’m just weighing up my options

Thanks mate 👍I had a straight pipe in when I bought it so unconventional sizes, currently have welded a stainless steel 2inch one with a lambda sensor port as magnaflow dont do these. This was bought off ebay a while back and actually feels well made and decent quality despite being under a 100 quid. Assuming it's working as no bad lambda readings after fitting and the CEL is now off, MOT time will tell though l!

 

[Horatio McAllister]

Thanks for the reply! That’s exactly what I have currently. I have a scorpion back box with a mid section which is basically 3 seperate pipes wielded together to creat a decat and unresonated centre section. It’s too bloody noisy and I would prefer to run a CAT, but can’t decide which way to go. Cheap eBay CATS are less than ideal. So I’m looking for better solutions

 

[Craigy69k]

Thanks for the reply! That’s exactly what I have currently. I have a scorpion back box with a mid section which is basically 3 seperate pipes wielded together to creat a decat and unresonated centre section. It’s too bloody noisy and I would prefer to run a CAT, but can’t decide which way to go. Cheap eBay CATS are less than ideal. So I’m looking for better solutions

Ha this was exactly the same reason I wanted a cat, the unresonated ktec back box was really noisy but the cat definitely quieten it down a fair bit, also no probs with emissions etc

 

[Craigy69k]

Had four injectors laying around from when I bought the car so decided to replace all four originals, no other reason than they were there. Hoping to get the originals ultrasonic cleaned and have to hand.

Literally took 15 minutes to swap over and replace completely, not going to lie I did not expect that amount of fuel to come out when removing the first old one, pretty sure I swallowed some 😂

Here's the shiny new ones in place

 

[Craigy69k]

Noticed a knocking sound coming from under the passenger side when going over bumpy ground turning into driveway each day. After checking and replacing a few bits including ball joints and steering rods and ends noticed that the inner arb bushings were very worn.

Removed and noted the outer oem ones were on great nick these looked like they have been replaced recently so put these back in. The bar was heavily rusted so rubbed down and aplied a few coats of rust proof black paint to prevent any further deterioration.

Replaced the next day. Faffed around by myself for a few hours then got a help to put back together using longer screws and extra hands to lever brackets in place. Pretty straightforward after all but a nightmare on my own under the car on axle stands. Glad to be done and hopeful these will last another 15 years!


Also began cleaning the calipers which have been peeling since I bought the car with yellow paint. Hopeful for a dry day to get these tidied up next.

Some photos..

 

[Horatio McAllister]

Too work getting the bushes sorted mate!

 

[Craigy69k]

Thanks a lot 👍

Hope it solves the knocking sound out now!

 

[Craigy69k]

Sorted out front calipers from peeling yellow paint with proper vht paint. Scrubbed back to bare metal then cleaned down with alcohol. Went for a matt charcol as I think its looks great behind anthracite wheels if not can give a recoat of silver. Also gave arches a thorough clean too and other suspension parts a going over with a wire brush to remove rust and a coat of rust inhibiting paint.

 

[Craigy69k]

Eventually got around to getting the wheels redone...

All rubbed down and curb rash smoothed off to bare metal, no need for filling at all luckily. Primed where necessary then 3 to four coats of standard anthracite. Followed this up with a few coats of laquer.

Took a full week to do with initial prep and also sorting between coats then drying too.

Underestimated the work in this but very pleased with the results

 

[JJ55]

Nice work!

 

[Craigy69k]

Not updated for a while as I work outside and the weather has been rubbish, this was most of Feb

Had managed to gather most of the bits needed for a front suspension/steering refresh, new topmount kit, cup shock absorbers, new inner tie rods and track rod ends.

Fitted these at end of last year. Eibach Springs were only three years old and after a good check over and clean couldn't really justify buying new ones so back in they went. There was slight play in the steering rods so after this everything was nice and tight after refitting.






Great fun setting the toe after as must have miscounted the turn on track rod ends. Eventually got there by eye. Due new tyres and a proper alignment after this work.

 

[Craigy69k]

Got new front tyres in December too just before the bad weather came and MOT expired.

Not been used at all this year so after the snow cleared I started her up last week...
within a few minutes the dash board illuminated and I could smell an electrical burning. After a quick check over it turned out to be the alternator. New one ordered up and refitted the next day whilst the battery went on the charger for a good few hours. Glad to have found info on this site and made a clamp for the aux belt tensioner so no hassle to fit.


Also noticed the front brakes were corroded badly and being a bit rough looking after being sat along. Will need to get these tidied up before taking for MOT so next on the list

 

[Mbeau]

Honestly Clios and alternator's, I have never known a car like it!! Seems such a weak point. My 182 did exactly the same a couple of weeks ago. Went to move the car, started to smoke and smell of electrical burning. Not too bad to replace with the clip trick though.

 

[Craigy69k]

Honestly Clios and alternator's, I have never known a car like it!! Seems such a weak point. My 182 did exactly the same a couple of weeks ago. Went to move the car, started to smoke and smell of electrical burning. Not too bad to replace with the clip trick though.

Never spent much time trying to figure it out put it down to the cold weather here and lack of use maybe more to it but yeah it was a distinct electrically burning smell directly from the alternator! Fingers crossed it lasts another few years now

 

[Craigy69k]

Weather cleared up now so decided to bash on with the Clio, brakes definately needed don for the mot and also a check over of lines etc. Nice new brembos sorted and calipers also given a refresh and regreased

 

[Craigy69k]

Got under the car and brake lines and pipes actually in surprisingly decent nick so a clean down and regreased should keep them well into the near future.
Noticed that the cat I had welded in last summer had a few minor blows around the joints so clamped the noticable blow and then ran high temp silicone around the remainder of the welds to limit any pinhole leaks.

Also had the dreaded Flashing light CEL appear and p0300 and p0130 before this so by sealing the exhaust this was the first step in getting to the bottom of the issue.

Checked all leads and spark plugs over as well as coil pack which were all nearly new before looking at injectors, noticed cylinder four lower resistance so replaced. Car running sweet again so booked MOT at Rentec Edonburgh.

 

[Craigy69k]

MOT failed on handbrake cable snapping and a faulty hazard switch so sorted the and there as well as a free alignment, pleasantly surprised at my welded in ebay Cat passing the emissions test with no bother at all! Had a few nightmares about this so a big relief there.

Also needed to fix the windscreen mechanism as this had given up the ghost the night before the MOT! Ended up drilling a hole through the ball joint that the housing had broken off and secured again.
Also had fun trying to get the bonnet catch mechanism into alignment as would not open properly after having the bumper and slam panel off. Finally managed to align and secure in place in the nick of time. Anyway a years fresh MOT with no advisories and a proper alignment 🙂

 

[Craigy69k]

Just back the first 'proper' drive now since being back on the road since December and can almost say for certain that it was worth it all the work 😁

Next on the to do list; a wash this weekend☀️

Also got a transit connect that is turning into a never ending nightmare so the clio better behave now