"Project" 1.4 Ph2

I've noticed some non sport threads of late and seeing as mine is getting some love at the mo, I thought I'd document what I've been upto.

So here we go then,

This is my 2003 Clio Ph2, 1.4 Dynamique which I've owned for almost 7 years (where's that gone!) This car came into my hands after the previous owner had decided to scrap it after she was having issues with the uch, I was learning to drive at the time and after a car which I could learn in, keep for a couple of years and upgrade to something else (Ha). After looking around the car I decided it was too good to scrap, handed over the grand total of £70, sourced a 2nd hand ecu, uch and key for £85 and the rest is history!



Over the past couple of years, the clio has been somewhat neglected due to another project, I have recently moved house and said other car needed to go, so I thought it was about time to give the old girl some much needed tlc.

There are a few modifications that I've fitted already such as, Coilovers, Williams wheels, sport grill, poly bushed roll bar and a few other bits here and there. I've always focused on handling over performance as there's more gain.
To continue the theme the next little upgrade on the cards was brakes, more specifically, the flexis, which i believe to be the originals,



Decided to make an upgrade and purchased some braided lines to give a little more feel through the pedal and improve braking performance,



Old vs new



Fitted and bled. I also checked to make sure they aren't rubbing the chassis on full lock and pleased to report all is well. Whilst I was in the area, I'd noticed a cv boot clip and come off so addressed this with a spare clip I had knocking about (handy being a bit of a horder)



Grease splatter was minimal so I assume the old clip had come off recently (grease was cleaned off after photo was taken)

Handling has felt a little off recently, had a quick shake of the front wheels and the nearside lower ball joint has a bit of play so new lower joints are on the to do list. I have also noticed the track rod end dust covers are quite perished so I'll chuck a pair of those on for good measure.

Post test drive results are positive with much sharper braking response so well worth the upgrade.

Thanks for reading

Always liked that colour. suits the willy wheels.
Keep up the updates!

Looks good on the williams wheels. In for updates!

Looks good!

looks good on the wheels, and nice progress so far! Nice to see a ‘normal’ model getting some love too.

Good write up and good to see another non-sport model getting some TLC.

My 1.2 base model which was purchased very much as the second car, is now my daily driver after nearly 2 years of tidying, the odd improvement and TLC

Thanks for the positive comments chaps! Funnily enough, I got the inspiration for the wheels from Brigsy's orange dci, I agree, they do suit the car well

How much difference do the braided lines make? Got some myself but can't be arsed to fit em!

Well done doing the work yourself fella. I'm about to do a coolant flush myself.

You've got the Williams wheels, what about some Williams seats (they are so comfortable)? (Might clash a bit with body colour.)

Jackie said:

How much difference do the braided lines make? Got some myself but can't be arsed to fit em!

Well done doing the work yourself fella. I'm about to do a coolant flush myself.

Click to expand...

"Normal" driving I'd say there isn't really much difference between them and standard lines but you do feel the difference in braking performance when you start pushing it a little. I have braided lines on my 1975 Triumph and as that's not servo assisted, the pedal feel is much better!

Im a mechanic by trade, currently work for a large breakdown company (orange not yellow) so do miss the use of a 2 post ramp haha

ayli carper said:

You've got the Williams wheels, what about some Williams seats (they are so comfortable)? (Might clash a bit with body colour.)

Click to expand...

Cars currently got sport 1*2 seats in it but the Williams seat do look comfortable but think I'll stick with what I've got

It's been just over a week since my first post and a couple more jobs have been ticked off the list,

I mentioned in the previous post that the handling had felt a little off in recent months and this was down to a worn lower ball joint on the nearside, time to jack the front up once again and sort it,



Old joint removed along with the track rod end as the dust cover was perished



New "oe quality" parts fitted. Did both sides for good measure, parts cost £50 and only took an hour to fit. These cars are so cheap to run and repair 😉

Spoke to the lads down at the local ATS who let me use their tracking ramp to carry out a quick toe alignment and give the old girl a proper underside once over as it's been a while since I've been given the opportunity (handy working in the trade)



Other sugar filled drinks are available



Pleased to report that underside condition is good with just some minor surface rust around the rear exhaust hanger which I knew about anyway and is on the to do list. Still not bad for a 21 year old car though with 137k miles.

Gave it a quick wash and vac the following day, could do with a machine polish as it hasn't been done for a couple of years but still presentable for now



Thanks for reading

I'd give me left testicle for a ramp. Those little hydraulic floor ramps look good, but I've got nowhere to keep em unfortunately.

Maybe I won't bother fitting the braided lines. Juice not worth the squeeze. I've already done a whole suspension refresh on the old girl. Can't be arsed with anything else.

Keep up the good work fella 💪

It appears ball joint related suspension components on clios are a favourite at the Conor L household at the moment.

My brother took his 1.2 down for a wheel alignment a couple of weeks ago and the garage couldn't get the offside lock nut freed off, wanted to charge £80 to investigate so he brought it back home for me to sort. A bit of heat and the lock nut came off nicely however the track rod itself had seized into the end, heat and wd40 wouldn't shift it so ended up cutting a slot in the rod end with the grinder just deep enough to expose the threads, shoot a load of wd40 in and unwind the rod end





New track rod end fitted, sent him down for an alignment, tracked up lovely and driving straight again.

Car was absolutely filthy thanks to the council spreading far too much muck over the roads, decided to give it a bit of a clean up so I'd feel less embarrassed of it being on my driveway





Didn't know Renault made clio tractors??



Bilt Hamber auto foam doing its thing



Much better! Sprayed some Touch On over the car to add a little bit of extra protection. Also gave the headlights a good buff over as they were looking a bit yellow



Came up a treat, even did the xenons on the 1.4



Speaking of the 1.4, took it on a 150 mile round trip just before Christmas to collect yet another clio, this time a 1.6 extreme 4 a mate had scored for a bargain on facebook



Quite a tidy car with just over 90k and only 3 previous owners. Both made the return journey back with no issues and both averaging 50mpg too!

Got a few days off coming up in Feb, promised to change the timing belt on the 1.2 to keep me busy

Thanks for reading