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172 in a mk1, Superfatdan's very very long project....



So i've had this car for nearly 4 years. I bought it from a member on here, Brad Harding, back in sep 2008.

1993 K plate Clio 1.8 16v with a Hybrid 2.0 bottom end.

This project has taken a long time (and still isn't finished! lol) owing largely to the fact that I have two small children, a wife that will be ill for the rest of her life and two businesses. Basically, I don't get much time! But this car is my baby and I don't care if it takes another 4 years, as long as its done properly.

I first saw the car on here way before that and as soon as I did, I sent him a pm stating that i'd buy it as soon as he was going to sell it. Two years on, he pm'ed me and I jumped in my wifes car with my dad and was off to Leicester as fast as possible...

Now, whilst it was a nice looking car, I can honestly say I bought this thing with rose tinted glasses.

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SO I drove it round like that for about 6 months. I changed the headlights from the awful angel eyes back to the originals.

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Then one day whilst out with a mate, he uttered the fatal words.... ''IT doesn't feel as fast as your williams''

And he was right. I just put it down to (at the time) also owning a 320bhp M3 so the clio feeling naturally slower. But him saying it made me realise that something was a miss.

So I rang three different ''specialists'' in renaults about a throttle body conversion...

Now I'm a simple man with a simple outlook. I wanted someone to quote me, I drop car off, I go back after some time with a fist full of pound notes and I collect my newly built fire spitting bodied clio... But no. Not one of these ''specialists'' even bothered to quote me.

Oh well, their loss!

So it was decided (during some stupid piss up!) that me and my mechanicwould do the engine swap from a 172.

So I went and bought a ph1 172 from a member off here that had been written off (lightly!)

We then transferred the following bits into the mk1 shell...

172 engine, Gearbox, clutch, driveshafts, bottom arms, discs, calipers, radiator, alternator.... I basically wanted a 172 in a mk1 shell.

Whilst doing it, I hounded Jordan Fox and chris Whiteley (off here) as they had already done the conversion so massive massive respect to them. When I eventually meet them, the beers are on me! My mechanic hates renaults, I am a car valeter so in the grand scheme of things, we needed help! lol.

Eventually, after one evening a month over the period of a year, I ended up with my mk1 172...

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But things weren't right. The suspension was shot to s**t, the exhaust was bodged and tyres were horrific.

SO I went and got a custom exhaust built from the downpipe back, then ordered some FK konigsport suspension (williams fitment) and then did a deal with a guy on here for some TD Pro Races with nearly new PE2's in 195-50-15. Sorted.

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So I drove to work and back in it like that for about 6 months or so, covering about 1000 miles. There were a few niggles, but on the whole, it was good!
I figured out that the fuel pump wasn't up to the job, the suspension needed a pro to set it up properly and ideally It needed someone who knew 172's and mk1's to go over it.

Sadly, nobody was keen to help me so me and my track-day best mate decided that enough was enough, we'll do it ourselves!

My track day buddy is Sam, he's a lot younger than me, a lot cleverer than me and a lot more talented than me. And he's better looking... But he's a fcuking brilliant mate and has never given up on my car. He's come close a few times though..

Sam is the owner of this... http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...rly-finished&p=8636150&viewfull=1#post8636150

While up at my mechanics one day picking a car up, I decided to have a look at the clio's underside as (stupidly!) even when buying it, I had never done it.

Well that day was a day i'll never forget...

It was rotten! There was rust everywhere. Despite being told that the car had new sills and rear wings, it had infact been bodged together with filler and mastik. I was mortified.

So after a long think, I decided to buy a 172 and break the clio, there was nothing else I could do.

But then, Whiteley from this very forum advertised his bare shell, complete with cage.
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So I was watching it on ebay, it got to the last 10 seconds and I stuck in a cheeky bid...

But i'm a prick and lost it by £20. FFs. :(

Down trodden and disheartened, I just put the clio to the back of my mind and got on with life. Even bought myself an Impreza to cheer myself up!

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Then, out of the blue, the new owner of Whiteley's shell had a change of heart! :D:D:D He wanted to sell me the shell as he had too much going on to carry on with it.

So, with no hesitations, me and sam jumped in the truck and drove the (very!!) long way to get my new shell.

So thats as it stands, I have a fully functioning clio mk1 with a 172 engine but a rotten shell, and a 95% rust free shell with no running gear.

Current spec of Rusty Mc Rustbodge:

172 engine with aircon and Power steering delete.
Clio williams subframe, ARB and steering rack (with ends looped to get rid of power steering)
172 brakes with DS2500's, Brembo HC's
Braided lines
Espace V6 Airbox with ITG race element
FK Konigsport suspension
Single box exhaust with 2.75" bore from front to back. 3" tailpipe.
Custom Renaulsport Seat, 3" OMP harnesses
Ktec/Vibratec engine mounts
RS matched inlets

And the lovely new shell that its all going in to this saturday/sunday.

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I have booked a track day for the 7th of june and have booked two days off work this week to get the grey car re-shelled...

Got my work cut out! lol.

So plans are...

This weekend: Paint engine bay gloss black, reshell car, scrap grey shell after stripping it for spares.

Do a track day with Burpspeed on the 7th of june.

Get interior of car painted gloss black, exterior will either be painted in original mk1 16v grey or wrapped in satin grey, i'm not sure yet.

Then, next winter I want to supercharge it, but thats a long way off yet.

Apologies for the essay, I will update with more pictures after this weekends work.

(providing my wifes home from hospital on friday!!)

Much love.
 
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Roast Chicken, Stuffing, peas, brocolli, cauliflower and a yorkshire pudding. Lashings of gravy..... What were we talking about again??
 
LOL!!

I've got some progress lined up but I need to shift these last 3 clio's now and I can concentrate on the track car. I've sold 2 of them this week so it's not far off. I decided to have a life clear out. Get rid of everything and start again. Too many 'projects' on the go means that none of them get worked on.
 
By the way dan, I have your brand new shiney ECU, so if you let me know when you are free, I will come and swap it over for the 2ndhand one I leant you so we could get it up and running.

Bedford in February, reckon you can make it?
 
So today I made some progress... (Big thanks to Sam again. Don't know what i'd do without him!)

I bought a loom from DannyACE on here. He had a mk1 with a 172 engine.

I removed all the old loom and the Mtec ECU as i've sold that to pay for the loom I bought from Danny.

new Loom in a box, old loom being removed, new loom laid out, new loom in.

Unfortunately, my children were scratching at the garage door and demanded I played football so that's the end of that until next weekend.

It was good progress though!

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Danny!! If you read this, what's this wire in his hand?? Yellow wire been DIY extended with black cable. We've no idea where it goes???

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Engine loom in and plugged up. We've done so many of them now that it Took less than 15 minutes!

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One night this week i'll sort the rear out. My cars a bit different from Danny's so there's a bit of fettling to be done.

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This is the dash loom (mainly) waiting to go in. But I need to sort a few bits out inside first.

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Ha!! No mate, the fact that Sam wanted my ECU made me do something today.

​We'll get there mate. TBH, I don't care if it takes another 5 years. I'm just happy to know it's all being done properly.
 
I've got to fit my polycarbs (Got everything) and finish the wiring but to be honest, that's a days work tops.

I want to do a couple of track days in it first, a sort of shakedown, before I get it painted.
 
No, shells solid.

I'll da the whole car though as the paintwork is a bit rough in places. The inside is going gloss black like the engine bay and the outside will be Tungsten grey.

I want it to look like this again... (Without the daft headlights)

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Wow that’s a thread revival! I use to have a Tamiya clio r/c and I painted it exactly the same as this ( I had a tangy rsi with 16v front end) looking forward to more updates on this mate
 
The two of you are having a properly s**t race. Like, I know people say about tortoise and hare type s**t. But you two started, stalled, had to do a full rebuild in the middle of the track, and are now crawling towards the finish line.

My Bodyshop has just cancelled. (Well, last night)

Back to square one!

Got no strings you can pull at old place of work?
 
wowsers how did I miss this thread! and my car's old loom is in it as well. I was cursing Danny when I bought his shell with no wiring in it! lol!

I presume the thing hasn't seen the road yet, the trials and tribulations of mk1 F4R conversions!

Good luck @Daniel and hope to see it out soon. Noticed your active on the Mk1 facetube groups too, with the paintcode question (608 to reiterate!)

Shame Bradder's old shell was kippered but nice to see where Whiteley's shell went and it'll look cracking in Tungy (although I prefer 630 Xerus.....but that's not age appropriate for a phase 1.5 mk1 ;-) )

either way, looking forward to seeing another mk1 f4r finished and out and about!
 
Dropped off at the bodyshop this morning, complete repaint in Ford Frozen White and I should have it back in 3 weeks. (He only works part time)

Then when it’s back, I will be sending it somewhere to get finished and pay whatever it costs. Fed up of looking at it and I just want to drive it now. I have messaged Beaniesport with (what I think!) a healthy budget to just finish it. We’ll see what happens. I have a back up plan if he doesn’t want to do it.
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