Darren S
ClioSport Club Member
So, after a while of procrastination, I bit the bullet and decided to get the offside rear panel sorted. As most will be aware, the crap design of the fuel filler area and the lottery of the cill protection means that rust can be on a sliding scale of pretty much zero to a clump of brown metal filings.
I refer to this as being 'Part 1' as the nearside needs doing also. However, the rear arch was a lot worse for bubbling on the offside and along with the rust-ring surrounding the filler cap, both myself and the body-shop chose that side first.
I approached several body-shops with varying degrees of success. Some didn't even give me a quote after a visit. Some didn't even respond to initial emails. Others wanted me to source and provide my own panel (erm, wut?) and some seemed 'OK' but I just didn't get a vibe off them.
Having looked at some of the work that Bury Autobodies had done online, I got in touch and arranged a viewing for a quote one Saturday morning. Upon turning up, Mark had a long chat with me regarding the 182. I was impressed with his previous knowledge of them as he said he'd owned a couple of 1*2s previously and was aware of the usual suspects of failing bodywork.
I received a preliminary quote a day or so later and agreed to go for it. The first step was a rear quarter panel to be shipped in from France which took about two weeks to arrive. Rob, the other owner of the body shop messaged me to say that the panel had arrived in top condition - no markings or issues with it. All I had to do now was to drop the car off. Despite my confidence in those guys, I could help but feel like I was leaving a kid to be babysat by Jimmy Savile...
Anyways, during the time the was Clio there, I received regular updates of progress, along with photos. I've attached some below in no particular order, but I was genuinely surprised at how relatively good, the cill section was. Given its age and with 170k+ on the clock - I think it weathered the weather and the crap from the British roads, really quite well. The filler cap area however - lol. To be honest, that started bubbling around Year 4 of owning it - so the tin-worm has had another 14 years of chomp-chomping on that area, undisturbed.
The filler cap on mine before work.
After a few prods - lol.
Bigger (literally) lol.
Start of the fabrication work around the filler cap.
Cill area - not as bad as I thought.
First section of the rear panel removed.
Getting sorted.
Cut line.
I refer to this as being 'Part 1' as the nearside needs doing also. However, the rear arch was a lot worse for bubbling on the offside and along with the rust-ring surrounding the filler cap, both myself and the body-shop chose that side first.
I approached several body-shops with varying degrees of success. Some didn't even give me a quote after a visit. Some didn't even respond to initial emails. Others wanted me to source and provide my own panel (erm, wut?) and some seemed 'OK' but I just didn't get a vibe off them.
Having looked at some of the work that Bury Autobodies had done online, I got in touch and arranged a viewing for a quote one Saturday morning. Upon turning up, Mark had a long chat with me regarding the 182. I was impressed with his previous knowledge of them as he said he'd owned a couple of 1*2s previously and was aware of the usual suspects of failing bodywork.
I received a preliminary quote a day or so later and agreed to go for it. The first step was a rear quarter panel to be shipped in from France which took about two weeks to arrive. Rob, the other owner of the body shop messaged me to say that the panel had arrived in top condition - no markings or issues with it. All I had to do now was to drop the car off. Despite my confidence in those guys, I could help but feel like I was leaving a kid to be babysat by Jimmy Savile...
Anyways, during the time the was Clio there, I received regular updates of progress, along with photos. I've attached some below in no particular order, but I was genuinely surprised at how relatively good, the cill section was. Given its age and with 170k+ on the clock - I think it weathered the weather and the crap from the British roads, really quite well. The filler cap area however - lol. To be honest, that started bubbling around Year 4 of owning it - so the tin-worm has had another 14 years of chomp-chomping on that area, undisturbed.
The filler cap on mine before work.
After a few prods - lol.
Bigger (literally) lol.
Start of the fabrication work around the filler cap.
Cill area - not as bad as I thought.
First section of the rear panel removed.
Getting sorted.
Cut line.
