My cheap(ish) 172 Cup

Not sure it’s an exact copy of the Renault one but looks very close to me.

ex-Chinese Dave said:

Thanks for that. I’ll order it now.

I had been looking for part number

8200136186​

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Yeah, i've just checked a few photos and they are almost exactly the same. It's a pity I didn't know this before as I've just had my carbon canister delivered from EuroFrance. eBay it is!

CS to the rescue, again! Thanks

Today was carbon canister day… yay!
I got the car jacked up and removed the front arch liner. Note on the photos the extra screws that were put in by someone in the past even though the two bungs would hold it in position really well. Also, you can see the wear on that rubber grommet in the arch…that’s what 23 years does to a car!
The canister itself came out relatively easy and the return pipe from the fuel tank unclipped without any hassle. Side-by-side, you can see how the design of the canister has changed over the years. I’m tempted to put the original one on eBay just to get a little money back, and going off some of the old parts I’ve sold in the past I wouldn’t be surprised if someone buys it. So, with the new one fitted and all the connections refitted I started the car and let it run for a few minutes. It ran fine and upon switching it off there wasn’t that loud clicking from the fuel tank. I know that these canisters tend to click from the front when they are done but when I refitted the loose solenoid to the original canister a few weeks ago, the clicking I heard was coming from the fuel tank.
I couldn’t find a guide on CS for doing the canister so I’ll put a few photos here just in case anyone decides to fit their own and has any issues. The only problem I would see if somebody was fitting one would be that the front bolt of the three that holds the canister to the car may be a little tight to get off. Mine was tight but it was not really any hassle. The biggest hassle is fitting the little screws underneath the bumper that hold the arch liner in place. I’ve also got a manual for the car so I’ll put a picture of what the instructions are for changing the canister.

What in the pikey f**k has gone on here

TheBandit said:

View attachment 1800836

What in the pikey f**k has gone on here

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Exactly! The arch liner on the other side also has a screw in a strange position. I have a feeling that whoever refitted the arch liners had worn out bungs and they weren’t confident they were going to hold the liner in place.
I’m convinced that in the past this car was used for something and then had almost everything re-fitted. I’ve no idea whether it went on track but everything I found with this car since owning it suggests that someone was tinkering with it and they didn’t really care about doing things right.

Another job crossed off my ever evolving list…

I fitted the fuse box that I bought from a member on here. I had the original fuse box off in the past and repaired it but it was noted that a piece was actually missing. Upon closer inspection the piece hadn’t broken off but had been removed with a hacksaw. More evidence of a numpty working on this car in the past!
I had to remove the battery to get the old fuse box out and I noticed that one of the nuts was seized which holds the bar for the ECU holder. There was no chance that was coming off but luckily enough I could get the battery past it. There’s also another securing point for the air box which is missing some thread and the same for the actual fuse box itself. I’m not OCD but things like this really irritate me. The rounded nut will take a bit of effort to get out and the other two threads that have broken off will need to be replaced, one of them I’m sure we’ll have to be welded. There’s not a chance I’m stripping everything down to weld the nut on that I can do without.
Everything was put back together and I tried all the electrics in the car and then started it. Everything seems to be fine so I’m hoping that when I drive it next time nothing will go wrong. I’m not holding my breath as moving 20 plus years wiring is always a risky business!

There’s still a few jobs that I want to do on the car before I reach a point when I’m only repairing stuff that starts to break. One of them is a little bubbling over the rear wheel arches, exactly the same both sides. It’s not the usual rear quarter corrosion as I have inspected that and also protected it all. This seems to have been caused by the clip that holds the rear bumper to the arch itself. The clip seems to be part of the bumper are made of plastic, but I think over the years it’s rubbed some of the paint off the inside edge of the arch. I had a body shop look at it and they said that if you don’t want to repaint the whole panel the best thing to do is to just leave it but clean and treat the wing from the inside and protect it from the bumper clip rubbing against it. This seems to be the most sensible option because if I was going to have this tiny area repainted it starts to move into the territory of getting the whole car done. The outside of the rear wings, in front of the rear wheel, is peppered with tiny stone chips so it would be pointless painting a tiny area and leaving the rest. The paintwork on this car is original and unless it was having a nut and bolt restoration, which won’t be happening unless I win the lottery, I don’t see the point at this time.

Today’s job is to replace the driver’s door top piece of trim that shattered when I removed the door card to do the window regulator last year. At least I think it was last year because I’ve done so many little crappy jobs on this car that I’ve lost track. I’ve replaced one or two of the plastic clips for the trim with some OEM items and once fitted, everything is tight and in place. Even the vertical piece of trim that sits above the door card has gone on much better now. I checked it all with the passenger door and everything matches up.
I got lucky with the piece of trim because it’s difficult to find this part anywhere now. It has to have a lip on it to hold the door card properly, as you can see in the photos. The people who sent it sent it to the post office and not to my parents home, and because of this they said that they will refund the money and offer a discount on anything else in the future. It was only a few minutes from my parents home so my dad picked it up as he was walking past. A little bit of a bonus I think.
Anyway, everything is back on and it works and hopefully there is no rattle from inside the door. I did check everything and made sure that nothing, not even a plastic part, was loose. We all know there’s no chance that this door won’t rattle!

I noticed last week a rattle had suddenly developed from the passenger door. I’d never touched anything on that door and all the screws were tight so I investigated it today. I was tapping the door and listening for the sound dreading that I had to take the door card off this side as well. But I noticed it was actually the matt finish trim, the door strip, on the outside of the door. I think that to remove this you have to slide the trim backwards with a little bit of force but I really didn’t feel up to breaking anything, so a tiny piece of insulation tape forced underneath has actually stopped the rattle. Sometimes there are some things that are easy fixes, but this is gonna bug me forever. I’ll have to have a look on the site and find out how to remove it without damaging it. There is also a rattle under the dash where the UC H is located. I’ve pushed and pulled and wobbled everything underneath and I cannot find where it’s coming from. It will probably turn out to be some dash board clip that has worked loose and although I’ve read it it’s an easy job to take the dashboard off. It’s also a bit of a pain to refit it. I think this one is going to wait a while.
Next week I will jack the car up and attempt to do some the gear linkage which has been the ongoing noise for a long time. I’ll also have a look for what is causing the very annoying squeak when I come on and off the throttle. I really don’t think it’s a suspension part because it seems to be coming from underneath the car. It may gear linkage related, but I suspect it may be something to do with the flexible joints on the exhaust or the dog bone.

Ref dash / uch area rattle, check the torx bolt that secures the plastic lower dash to the metal frame is tight (under the plastic cover on the bottom corner of dash)

Mine was loose on drivers side and rattled like mad.

Brigsy said:

Ref dash / uch area rattle, check the torx bolt that secures the plastic lower dash to the metal frame is tight (under the plastic cover on the bottom corner of dash)

Mine was loose on drivers side and rattled like mad.

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I saw that. The UCH is attached to it and it's all tight. I ran out of time to keep looking but I think the centre console may need a look at, too. I may unbolt the UCH and check what behind that/next to the glove box. It's probably a 10mm spanner someone has left there

This one below. The plastic on metal rattle on drivers side one was bad until nipped tight.

Ahh, not noticed that but i'll check it. Drivers side seems ok but no harm in looking.