Clio 182 Track Car & Daily Projects

Interested to hear how well that tool presses the new bushings in mate, I have a brand new pair of Whitelines and a refurbished beam sat waiting for me to do something with it. But I haven’t yet bought the correct tool (fancy a proper tool rather than threaded bar and metal cup this time.
Any link to which set you bought?

Oh and the inlets arrived today and they’re every bit as good as the pictures.

I asked Max just to blast them back to original and he stuck some clear coat to protect them. Very happy with how they turned out.

RustyMojo said:

Interested to hear how well that tool presses the new bushings in mate, I have a brand new pair of Whitelines and a refurbished beam sat waiting for me to do something with it. But I haven’t yet bought the correct tool (fancy a proper tool rather than threaded bar and metal cup this time.
Any link to which set you bought?

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I’m sticking purple Powerflex back in so don’t need a press, just a little tap does the trick.

The link on EBay is dead, says item no longer available 🤷🏻‍♂️ but you can borrow these if you want, just pay the postage then send back when you’re done 😊

Actually the post would cost just as much as the tool thinking about it. That’s the same item, although gone up in price since last year https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-Ball...p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

Bush tool looks good. Need to invest in one as sick of using heavy duty methods to remove.

Brigsy said:

Bush tool looks good. Need to invest in one as sick of using heavy duty methods to remove.

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You can borrow this anytime Jon. I know you’re only down the road 👍

Jon Wright said:

You can borrow this anytime Jon. I know you’re only down the road 👍

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Cheers mate much appreciated

Finally got around to removing the old inlets. It was full of dodgy threads and somebody had tried to polish it which looked crap.



It was also a good opportunity to replace the old gaskets and give things a little clean up, including electroplating the old bolts with zinc and a touch of Yellow passivate.



Noticed one of the threads was also shot in the breather plate, so drilled that out and put in a helicoil.



Pretty pleased with the colour of the refurbished inlets which are very close to OEM.



The engine in this car has always been strong and even at 131,000 miles it sounds like a sowing machine.



Next up will be to get the oil leak sorted, fit a new clutch cable, clutch and steering bushes. And other than general maintenance, the project will be complete.

What's small, Blue and can help with Erectile Dysfunction?

Answer - my next project!

Roll on Friday

In addition to? or in replacement of?

a17vts said:

In addition to? or in replacement of?

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In addition to my 182 Track Car and 182 Daily.

My little Clio family is complete.

Picking up the Blue one tonight, but i think that's going to be it for now 😁

The BG has been a challenge to take it from a wreck to what i would call a fairly high standard. But the experience has been worth it and has helped me in my search for a car i always wanted to own. You could argue the RB needs for nothing, but there's always room for improvement.

Are you now a 3 clio family Jon?

RustyMojo said:

Are you now a 3 clio family Jon?

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Yes I am.

One to polish, the other to semi-polish and drive to work, the other to thrash the nuts off.

Good man! I mean madness that you should subject yourself to this kind of torture. But brilliant in the same breath

RustyMojo said:

Good man! I mean madness that you should subject yourself to this kind of torture. But brilliant in the same breath

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Doing crazy things is what makes life worth living

Well that’s it, she’s officially mine.

Strange to drive another standard 182, it’s so different from the BG. Clutch is so light, gearbox so precise but steering a little vague and lazy. I put this down to the previous owner not fitting genuine wishbones. We’ll soon sort it out though.

Bodywork and underneath on this car is so straight and clean. Just a few minor details and it’ll be perfect. From what I understand it was kept in dry storage for a while, you can tell as it’s spotless.




She’s getting stored away for the winter while I compile a list of things to do.

Can’t wait to get stuck in!

Back on the rear beam testing an area before plunging into the full restoration.

The beam’s pretty crusty so I removed all the crud with my small hammer, then gave it a wirebrush.



Degreased the area with Bilt Hamber’s excellent Surfex-HD, then washed any residue with warm water.


Applied a coating of Bilt Hamber’s DEOX-GEL with a brush then agitated this into the steel with a small wirebrush to keep the coating even.


A few hours later the rust had pretty much gone although pitting is pretty heavy in places.



Next up is a good coating of Bilt Hamber’s Hydrate-80 which will convert the rust and leave a nice coating over the steel. Starts out Blue and ends up a nice rich Black.


Any heavy pitting is treated to a touch of plastic filler, then rubbed down and then coated with Bilt Hamber’s Electrox zinc primer.


Once dry I’ll go over the beam with a few coats of primer and final top coat.


I know people will be thinking, just take it to get powder coated, but in my experience it never lasts that long and rust starts coming through.

I think part of the reason is there’s a time delay between sandblasting and getting the steel into powder coating. So effectively they’re powder coating over steel that’s already started corroding. And it’s probably not commercially viable unless you’re in the restoration business.

Full attack! Started Friday night, finished Sunday morning armed with my dremel and tiny wire brush 😂 I need to invest in a shot blaster!



Gave the complete beam a good coating of Deox-Gel, then 3 coats of Hydrate-80.


1st coat of Electrox zinc primer tonight then I’ll repeat with another few coats. It’s fairly thick and covers a lot of the pitting and will allow me to apply some wet and dry to smooth it out a bit.

The final protective coat will be Epoxy Mastic before I apply a nice top coat of Satin Black and lacquer.

It’s dirty hard work but very satisfying knowing I’ve got in all the small areas where rust can form.

Rear beam all done, just hubs and brackets to finish.



Really pleased with how it turned out and I’m confident it’ll hold the corrosion back for many years to come.

Magic ingredients

1. Deox-gel
2. Hydrate-80
3. Electrox
4. Epoxy mastic
5. Satin paint
6. Clearcoat

Got the hubs for the rear beam sorted. I've also had a few messages about the type of paint i'm using, how i prepare things, whether i'd recommend etc...

I'm not an expert at this by any stretch, just a hobbyist restorer who's making mistakes as he goes along and learning through experience.

But for anybody interested in the process here goes. If you're only here for waxed-up-wednesday look away now And if any professional or experienced restorers look on here, i'd love to hear any advice, tips.....

So the first job is to disassemble the part.



I then fully degrease, descale and remove any rust. I don't have a shot blaster at the moment which would make this job so much easier, so everything is done by hand. I also use Bilt & Hamber Surface-HD degreaser, but i guess any quality stuff would do the same job.



As you can see there's quite a lot of pitting, but i'm not overly worried as most of the hub is covered by the rear discs and rust protection is the goal.



I then cover the parts in B&H DEOX-GEL and then cover in clingfilm to stop it drying out. I used to be a big Evaporust fan but i like the GEL as a lot of the restoration i do involves parts that are too big to dip. I'm also going to try the DEOX-C soon which is a concentrated powder which you dilute in water.



I usually leave the part wrapped for 12 hours. I find any longer than that the GEL is harder to clean off. As you can see the results are pretty good and the steel is nice and clean. More importantly it's chemically clean. I remove the GEL with warm distilled water.



Next i coat the part with B&H Hydrate-80. I love this stuff. Basically it's a rust coverter which leaves a lovely deep Black rich barrier. From the website - its electrochemical function stabilises existing corrosion by converting the iron oxides into a protective metal complex and it also combines with surface moisture and oxygen depriving the corrosion process of the conditions it requires.



You can see the results here. This is after only two coats. It doesn't take long to dry either, providing the room is a reasonably warm temperature. In the winter i'll usually stick a small heater on in the room, as the effect isn't as good if the temperature drops below a certain amount of degrees. At this stage you could just go ahead and paint it with an aerosol or stick some Expoxy-Mastic on top, but i like to go one further.



This is the part with some H&B Electrox zinc primer. I use brush on, but you can get it in aerosol for a better finish. I usually stick a couple of coats on, then lightly rub the brush marks back with wet and dry. On this part i've avoided applying primer to the mating surfaces as it's pretty thick stuff and the Hydrate-80 will hold back any corrosion once the two parts are reassembled.



Finally i apply some H&B Epoxy-Mastic on the inside of the part, but cover the outside with a satin Black aerosol. In this example i've lightly coated the mating surfaces as i'm not fitting the parts for a while yet. I'll rub the mating surfaces back a bit before reassembly.



And that's pretty much it. The beam on the other hand has a lot more coats of everything, but i follow the same process as above.

Just the brackets to do, then that's another job out of the way. Thank you for reading

🛎🛎Ding, ding, round 1 🛎🛎

Dug my old Xenons out, my god, they’re rough. I remember carrying these around with me on trackdays in case the TDO didn’t like my headlight blanks


I had to cut really hard into these and it’s caused me some headaches, but I’ll get there.


Still tons of scratches but I think I’ll win in the end.

Look better than mine mate! Whilst I don’t have much hazing now the inners are well worn and are due for replacement I think

RustyMojo said:

Look better than mine mate! Whilst I don’t have much hazing now the inners are well worn and are due for replacement I think

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Thanks. These have a few marks on the inside of the plastic, but I’m too scared to crack them open 😬

4 years ago today I took this picture of a tired and sad old car when I went to collect her. I knew nothing about them and didn’t really care as I had a long term plan for her.



109,000 on the clock at the time, now on 131,000 and looking how she should



She’s been a puzzle and caused me a few headaches from time to time, but in the main she’s been rock solid.

More new parts to keep these Clio’s going 🙈

Should keep me busy and out of trouble.

Fitted the Powerflex bushes to the refurbished beam. An absolute doddle.


I run a dremel with a light sanding disc to remove any excess paint.



The outer sleeve goes in from the inside of the beam.

A few taps with a mallet and a block of hardwood and it’s in. There’s a small lip on the outer sleeve so it’ll only go in up to that point. Gently does it 😊


I’ll then apply some more Hydrate-80 around the outer bush to prevent corrosion where I sanded it down.


The inner bush then goes in the same way as the outer bush.


A few taps and it’s in.


Finally grease up the steel sleeve, tap it in so it’s flush and that’s the job done.

Found some old exhaust brackets which I’m going to get aqua blasted and then fit some Powerflex bushes.



Now I always laugh when I read people saying it’s impossible to get the old rubbers out. And am astonished to see some examples being hacked with saws, Stanley blades etc.

The job is really simple and quick. 3 minute job at the most.

Just get some Acetone.


Find a little gap in the rubber and add some with a brush.


Then push the centre of the bush with your thumb applying more acetone.


Tada! All done. No hacked parts and your fingers still intact. Ready for blasting.

Jon Wright said:

Found some old exhaust brackets which I’m going to get aqua blasted and then fit some Powerflex bushes.

View attachment 1557733

Now I always laugh when I read people saying it’s impossible to get the old rubbers out. And am astonished to see some examples being hacked with saws, Stanley blades etc.

The job is really simple and quick. 3 minute job at the most.

Just get some Acetone.

View attachment 1557734
Find a little gap in the rubber and add some with a brush.

View attachment 1557735
Then push the centre of the bush with your thumb applying more acetone.

View attachment 1557736
Tada! All done. No hacked parts and your fingers still intact. Ready for blasting.

View attachment 1557737View attachment 1557738

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More fun burning then though

Louis said:

More fun burning then though

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Bloody isn't. That stuff's nasty.

Picked up a set of @Tomotek excellent exhaust hanger mounts. Really high quality and great value.



Probably better for motorsport applications where cars are generally kept dry and clean, as opposed to a daily due to the welds on the nuts making them susceptible to corrosion.



I have a set in my daily and they’re holding up well, but there’s signs of corrosion appearing in that area. It’s an easy fix of course.

Just key the area with some light sanding, then cover in Hydrate-80.



To give them a nice finish whilst offering good protection, I added a few coats of Silver Hammerite Smooth. Time will tell how they hold up, but I’m pretty confident they will.



Also got the hanger brackets back from Aquablasting and very pleased with the results. I use a local guy who usually does old BMW and Porsche restorations.



I’ll give them a few coats of lacquer before inserting the Powerflex bushes. More of that this weekend.

.

You'd assume the hangers being stainless, that the nuts would be stainless too and Tig welded with a stainless wire.

JamesBryan said:

You'd assume the hangers being stainless, that the nuts would be stainless too and Tig welded with a stainless wire.

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Definitely stainless and the nuts look the same. Can’t comment on the welding. Reality is they rust around that area 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’ll post some pics up of mine later. I’m hoping the extra protection helps.

And it’s not a criticism of the product. This is my second set. When you compare to what’s out there these are in a different league. Nice and solid.

And I live near the coast. High salinity environments can and do effect chromium oxides. Especially if the layer is compromised during fitment - likely in my scenario hence the added protection.

Jon Wright said:

Definitely stainless and the nuts look the same. Can’t comment on the welding. Reality is they rust around that area 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’ll post some pics up of mine later. I’m hoping the extra protection helps.

And it’s not a criticism of the product. This is my second set. When you compare to what’s out there these are in a different league. Nice and solid.

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I suppose the heat from welding must burn off some of the chromium layer, so it eventually rusts.

Definitely better than OEM.

JamesBryan said:

I suppose the heat from welding must burn off some of the chromium layer, so it eventually rusts.

Definitely better than OEM.

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Yeah more than likely. OEM is awful. These are the best I’ve seen by a country mile.

Coat of xcf50 on the bits if you want protection without painting. I have some aquablasted bits coated in it and no sign of corrosion with the Redcar salt air. I coat all my suspension bits in it, lasts well.

Brigsy said:

Coat of xcf50 on the bits if you want protection without painting. I have some aquablasted bits coated in it and no sign of corrosion with the Redcar salt air. I coat all my suspension bits in it, lasts well.

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Aye, ACF or the thicker corrosion block.

Reminds me I need to redo my coilovers 😬

Brigsy said:

Coat of xcf50 on the bits if you want protection without painting. I have some aquablasted bits coated in it and no sign of corrosion with the Redcar salt air. I coat all my suspension bits in it, lasts well.

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Yeah I apply that as well on lots of other parts. I painted the hanger brackets just to give me that extra bit of protection 👍