The Bandit | Monaco 172

Now the gear assembly is fixed it needed realigning. A pain as always but it's now perfect - along with the Redline MTL it feels fantastic

Slight notch 3rd to 4th at 5K+ rpms if I am fast on shift but it's commonly known these boxes cant be rushed, I don't know the full history of the box but all seems fine for now



Power steering fluid didn't look it's best, replaced and flushed through a few times with Dexron III. Felt lighter and more responsive today



Dogbone is the wrong way round and it's done up bloody tight. The car hasn't exploded yet so it can stay like that for now.

Thinking of getting an Automotech AS-0901/3, I can just about get a jack under the car to the chassis rail in the garage. Jacking from sill would be easier but one of my two sills in munted. Would make resto work during the winter easier as well

Need to replace coolant and hoses, new O/S driveshaft and repair the failing wires shown earlier in the thread. Then I can get onto cosmetics/rust prevention/sill un-f**king/plan some road trips

Finally take some nice pictures rather then my camera roll being full of images of it in pieces

Slowly but surely getting there. Still a riot to drive, love every second of it

Loving the work so far

New front and rear bumpers acquired. If you read this Darren you are a legend! New exhaust holes cut so it looks proper once more. Few scratches here and there but not massively cracked with flaking paint so that's a win in my books - most Clios need a respray anyway...

Colour looks off because the bumper was washed but the car was not. Front will go on later with new fabia splitter and C4 treatment



New driveshaft in with block trimmed, so much easier to swing the knuckle out the way with solid mounts compared to rubber


(Brilliant Borg & Beck Left, Shafted Shaftec right)

The Powerflex dogbone was missing its top spacer so I ordered a brand new bush kit and fitted. Had to shave a few mm off the gearbox housing to get the washer flat but the gear change feels even better now. I then fit the old powerflex onto my run about 1.2 - made up a replacement washer from a busted top mount bearing. Now I get to enjoy NVH in both...



Had look for where the slight oil leak is coming from



Somewhere up there. Minor in my mind, It will be cheaper to keep chucking in Millers until some bigger job needs doing. (Although the oil level hasn't shifted noticeably). Looking back on this image I need to check the rightmost manifold bolt, hopefully that's debris and not a crack in the nut.

Headliner is slowly leaving the chat so that's moved up the list. Going to deep clean the interior/arches/side skirts for winter. While interior out need to Hydrate 80 / Dynax UC so will chuck in some sound deadening while there. Hoping I can get some dent removal done with the roof/interior stripped as the access will be there.... Also need to grab MTC coolant hoses and get them changed with a coolant flush. Scope creep in full effect.

I don't think I have mentioned yet but its called "The Bandit" as once the work is all done I reckon this car will have robbed me. It has actually been driven too it doesn't always live in purgatory on jack stands. North wales and back, and local around Somerset. Still having an absolute blast with it.

Lots to do still, thank you for reading ✌️

Lots have happened but will try to summarise:

1) Flight mode engaged, cleaned under panels and rust situation assessed. Scabbing here and there but nothing scary. Will give me something to do over winter



2) Rear quarters inspected: SPOTLESS. Rust prevention and sound deadening applied



3) Lambda changed, fuel mileage is 10-20% improved

4) Spent a weak in hospital as my intestines tried to explode. Turns out I have Crohn's Disease... Wack.

5) Amplifier placed behind dash. This blew the front speakers... So new speakers all round.



Con't.

6) Solved the issue of starting every other key turn. New genuine loom and TDC sensor. Existing wiring was already hacked into/splitting. Bit risky with only 5mm of loom to play with but I didn't f**k it up and it starts on every key turn now.



7) Scuttles replaced. Cup washer tank and new pump




8) Acquired a third Clio with even more problems...



Omitted loads of images and other small bits... but this has gone on long enough as it is. Thank you for reading!

9) Completely de-stickied the interior. So much nicer now and got to keep the sparkly plastic look

That shell looks solid, its weird that some are sound and others are absolutely cunted!

Hope your health is good more importantly mate, crohns disease is cuntish!

Poopensharten said:

That shell looks solid, its weird that some are sound and others are absolutely cunted!

Hope your health is good more importantly mate, crohns disease is cuntish!

Click to expand...

I'm over the moon with the shell. It does have some scabbing hidden in the fuel filler and a bit on the arch where the bumper rubbed after a bump but all in all its great. I think this one lived life in the city so never suffered major water ingress at speed for extended periods. Its at 101K so done a fair few miles all-in-all.

And yes, I have since learned a lot about Crohn's 😅 I think I got of lightly compared to some for which I am grateful. Still means I have a lifetime of treatment ahead so that I can keep my intestines, but that's better than having no intestines!

10) Stainless rivnuts installed for the side skirts, shout out @Louis for sharing the specs somewhere on the forum

11) Been playing around with the airbox. Stuck the OEM box back in with a green cotton filter. Turns out the side pipe wont fit with a Yuasa battery as its too large. As a 3D commercial artist by trade (along with some new PETG HF filament) it seemed like a good excuse to make something.

V1: Ugly trumpet


V2: CAF Scoop. Should reroute the air that comes through the grill slot directly into the airbox. I did print it and it fits well, just forgot to take a picture

Test Slice


Will more of likely bin it after a week, but you have to pass the time somehow. Thanks for reading!