2001 Clio 172 P1 - Clean OEM Road Project

Hey guys

Recently returned to ClioSport after 11 years, I live in New Zealand and this is my fun project. This is my 2nd car, my daily is a 2018 Mazda 3 Sp25

Recently purchased this car and given I have heaps of plans have already begun some, I thought I'd start this project build

The plan is to create a really clean road OEM looking example, something I hope to keep for years.

I'll use this first post to capture the car condition & spec when I picked up the car

The Car

• 2001 172 Phase 1
• 90,000 miles
• 2 Keys, heaps of service history (Credit to previous owner for his service work & maintaining the service/paperwork etc)
• Engines runs & pulls well
• Body condition is - fair
• Interior condition is good
  

Existing upgrades / Bits

• Powerflex Dogbone & Upper Engine Mounts (mods I would have done myself)
• BAF Motorsport K-Brace rear strut (Nice addition actually)
• Coby Resonator (Probably a bit louder than I would like)
• Sportline Steering wheel (not to my taste - also had the original)
• Phase 2 Rear lights & Door strips
• Lowered on Apex springs
• Renault Roof Racks (Jeez, has anyone seen these?)
• Driver seat spacer removed
  

Short - Med term plans

• Remove the roof racks (Key lost)
• Replace Steering wheel with something less 'Pink slips in fast & furious'
• Repair seat bolster stitching
• Repaint the Roof, Mirrors & spoiler
• Full Service
• Replace Engine Cover, Coolant flush & Replace the coolant tank to freshen up the engine bay (Ordered - Waiting to arrive from UK)
• Deep clean, Wheels, bumpers, door seals etc all off.
• Review my suspension options - naturally i'd go for some coilovers but they require a bit more work here in New Zealand (need certifying etc)
• Review the exhaust options

I'm a bit of a dog with a bone, so you can expect to see this evolve quite quickly.

First couple of tasks was to remove the roof racks & replace the steering wheel

Replacing the Steering Wheel
Old SportLine Steering wheel


New Momo Monte Carlo 350 Steering Wheel in leather, I then purchased these cool Renault stickers that follow the same Renault sport logo colour scheme on the seat.. to offer that more OEM+ vibe and I think it came out great. (I didn't fancy a big MOMO horn button!)

I also have the original steering wheel, but as we all know.. its big enough to steer a double decker bus!


Roof Rack Removal
Although I think it's kinda cool that the car had original Renault roof racks on, they had to go.
The locking key to remove them was missing, so I got creative to remove them.. but It worked out well and I think it looks a lot different already!

That is looking much better already. Great project and look forward to seeing you get it back to its former glory.
I fixed a car seat myself a couple of years ago with some thick thread and a curved needle. Was quite relaxing sitting doing it and saved me paying a trimmer to do it.

PP200t said:

That is looking much better already. Great project and look forward to seeing you get it back to its former glory.
I fixed a car seat myself a couple of years ago with some thick thread and a curved needle. Was quite relaxing sitting doing it and saved me paying a trimmer to do it.

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Hey @PP200t, thanks! Yeah it's going to be fun. Yeah I seen a few tutorials on youtube that mentioned the exact same technique!

Love it!

For your front seats that are bobbled… get a shaving razor onto them (with a hoover to clear the blades as they get full pretty quick)

Poopensharten said:

Love it!

For your front seats that are bobbled… get a shaving razor onto them (with a hoover to clear the blades as they get full pretty quick)

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Love this, thanks for the recommendation I’ll definitely look into this!

Jaeclio said:

Love this, thanks for the recommendation I’ll definitely look into this!

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Its dead easy bud. Massive change to the interior. I done it years ago to one of my phase ones, class!

Welcome, And good to see that car going into good hands, that was ash old car, has had a lot of work in the past. this is a picture that he took a couple of years ago next to my car. There is a NZ Renault sport group in Facebook if you want to join too.

Again Welcome and congratulation.