2001 Clio 172 P1 - Clean OEM Road Project

[Jaeclio]

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.

 

[Jaeclio]

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!

 

[PP200t]

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.

 

[Jaeclio]

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.

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

 

[Poopensharten]

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)

 

[Jaeclio]

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)

View attachment 1717220

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

 

[Poopensharten]

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

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

 

[DLX]

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.

 

[Jaeclio]

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.
View attachment 1717460
Again Welcome and congratulation.

That's awesome! Yeah it's got heaps of receipts & paperwork which is fantastic. Just needs some TLC to bring her back to the glory days. (It looks really clean in that picture!)

I'll find and join that NZ RS group on FB too, thanks @DLX you legend

 

[Jaeclio]

Update

• Drivers seat stitching repaired. As @PP200t mentioned above. Curved needle, strong upholstery thread & some patience and it came out nicely.
• Interior clean & shaved the seats, I did use a razer blade first but resulted in using a fabric shaver in the end, just faster and less effort!
• Mirrors & Side strips repainted.
  • Mirrors were just tatty
  • Side strips were pealing, and given they are off a phase 2 the silver was different which although not obvious, once you see it you can't un-see it! haha. I actually DIY'd the mirrors & side strips and they came out pretty good in my mind.
    
    Although I could have paid someone to do the painting, I'm trying to do as much as I can and just enjoying working on this thing. Anything I can do myself to 'improve' the thing - I'm doing

Coming soon

• I have a box of goodies coming from the UK, hopefully be here in 4-6 weeks
  • Replacement expansion tank, ready for coolant flush
  • Engine cover
  • Original RS floor mats
  • Replacement interior console light
  • Gaskets & other service consumables
• Roof repaint - Car was dropped off this morning, that's in really bad shape and is cracking due to a previous repair I'd guess
• Deep exterior clean - Both bumpers off, wheels off etc
• Engine bay clean up
• Replace the speed sensor
• Replace Battery
• Replace Door strap
• Cleanup headlights
• Install black personalized plates
• Wheel refurb

Here's some pics of the before, during & after

 

[Jaeclio]

Peeling*!!!

Here's a different shot in the sunlight - showing the outcome of the side strips & the mirrors

It's still possible I might return to the black p1 black side strips depending how fussy I am about returning it to OEM, but if I keep these colour codes ones, I may get the door handles colour coded too. We'll see.

 

[Poopensharten]

Great job on the stitching, awesome!

 

[DLX]

Is looking great, I repair and dye the bolster on the seats I use some products from the italian leather company and colorlock dye. and repair the under foam so it doesn't keep disintegrated.
Congrats.

 

[Bluebeard]

Awesome work! 👌🏽

(Please keep the ph2 side strips and ph1 door handles. Suits it perfectly.

 

[Jaeclio]

Thanks guys, will be quiet on the update front for 2 weeks whilst the car is in the bodyshop getting the roof/spoiler done

@DLX - Read my mind! I have already emailed colourlock to see if they offer the Blue Renault, looks like they don't stock it here in NZ (but do in Aus), but I'll figure out a way to source it!

@Bluebeard - Thank you sir, I do like that look so it's likely!

A lot of parts in-transit though, will have plenty of updates very soon!

 

[PP200t]

Perfect on the stitching mate, looks a different seat now you’ve repaired and debobbled it.
The paint you’ve done also looks really good. I prefer the colour coded strips, think it changes the car personally.

 

[Poonmobile]

awesome mate, I owned that car before Leon. I’m glad it’s being taken back to its former glory, I brought it back to life in 2019, and was quite mint when I sold it. Reach out and join the Nz Renault sport page as Ariel (DLX) mentioned. I still have some bits and pieces for it like the original side strips etc. I also have a R27 197, so had to sell one, but I regret selling it and just wasn’t the right time for me to buy it back.
Hope to see you around Auckland /Nz

 

[Poonmobile]

awesome mate, I owned that car before Leon. I’m glad it’s being taken back to its former glory, I brought it back to life in 2019, and was quite mint when I sold it. Reach out and join the Nz Renault sport page as Ariel (DLX) mentioned. I still have some bits and pieces for it like the original side strips etc. I also have a R27 197, so had to sell one, but I regret selling it and just wasn’t the right time for me to buy it back.
Hope to see you around Auckland /Nz

Ps. Don’t do black plates 🤣

 

[Jaeclio]

awesome mate, I owned that car before Leon. I’m glad it’s being taken back to its former glory, I brought it back to life in 2019, and was quite mint when I sold it. Reach out and join the Nz Renault sport page as Ariel (DLX) mentioned. I still have some bits and pieces for it like the original side strips etc. I also have a R27 197, so had to sell one, but I regret selling it and just wasn’t the right time for me to buy it back.
Hope to see you around Auckland /Nz

Hey man, That's awesome.

Will do my best! Things already progressing quite quickly in terms of parts ordered and plans, just need to be mindful of the impact on the wallet haha, these Clio sports have a nack of doing that to ya!

Joined the NZ Renault sport page, can see that being quite helpful to be a part of

Do let me know if you wanna have a clear out of any Clio parts, depending on the items I could be interested and taking them off your hands for some beer tokens!

Had to respond to your Black plate comment with a laughing emoji man, as I'm re-purposing my second set of personalized plates that are just gathering dust and putting them on the Clio, it's temporary but they are black/silver euro LOL. Tbh, I wish they did just plain white euro ones, not really a fan of the extra stuff on them.. the ones with the silver bits each end that you had are probably the best version though and probably what i'll get on my dedicated Clio plate

 

[DLX]

Thanks guys, will be quiet on the update front for 2 weeks whilst the car is in the bodyshop getting the roof/spoiler done

@DLX - Read my mind! I have already emailed colourlock to see if they offer the Blue Renault, looks like they don't stock it here in NZ (but do in Aus), but I'll figure out a way to source it!

@Bluebeard - Thank you sir, I do like that look so it's likely!

A lot of parts in-transit though, will have plenty of updates very soon!

Yes I know I found the closes colour is F039 is close but not perfect. Because at that time they didn't want to send it from Australia or UK so I have to expand the dye to the joint so it looks better.

 

[Jaeclio]

Yes I know I found the closes colour is F039 is close but not perfect. Because at that time they didn't want to send it from Australia or UK so I have to expand the dye to the joint so it looks better.
View attachment 1718762
View attachment 1718761

Sheesh, excellent job mate. Thanks for the F039 reference too, I'll see if I can get my hands on some of that

 

[Jaeclio]

Alright legends, another update on the Clio - Piece by piece she's coming together

- Roof & Spoiler painted (This was badly damaged by NZ sun, but also was cracking pretty badly too!)
- Headlights restored
- Door Strap Replaced
- Windscreen corner seal tidied up
- Removed front bumper, cleaned everything up. Used heat gun to push out a crease/dent that was causing the bit under the front grill to look all wonky!

Up next
- Engine bay (New engine cover, paint some bits, new coolant expansion tank etc)
- Full Service
- New Suspension (Likely going for the Eibach sportlines & Koni adjustable shocks. Are these still the best non coilover road setup?)
- New Exhaust (Likely going for the Ktec stealth silenced. Want to keep it stealth as don't wanna cut the bumper and these are one of the few sites that'll ship it all the way to NZ)
- New Brakes (Nothing fancy, just brembo's pads and discs all round)

If anyone has any better suggestions reference Suspension & Exhaust, please let me know your thoughts. The Koni's aren't cheap, so part of me is wondering whether to just get some standard replacements (Sachs or something non oem) and run them with the Eibach sport lines to save a few hundred quid - thoughts?

PS - Desperate for an inner arch liner for front right side if anyone happens to have one!

 

[Poonmobile]

Awesome mate

 

[DLX]

Is looking really nice, regarding the Exhaust I install a Ktec unsilenced with a decat and was loud and with a really bad drone, ( I choose that one because was the cheapest and I didn't want to pay custom duty's), last year I chopped and install a resonator in the middle, the drone improve but still there going in the motorway at 100km/h. Happy if you want to come to Pukekohe and you can feel the drone.
Just out of curiosity is your current exhaust stainless?
And I install some cooksports on standard shocks, My plan was to get some cup shocks but it looks like they are N/A now. So probably if they dont came back in stock for next year I will go with standards ones.
In my Ph2 I have some grams spring and they look better but the ride is a little more bouncy than the Cooksport in my opinion.
Probably try Spareto for the Brembo Bake disc and pads, they are a little cheaper on freight than UK.

And I gave up trying to find a front piece wheel arch for reasonable price in NZ so I modified a standard one for now.

Cheers

 

[Jaeclio]

Is looking really nice, regarding the Exhaust I install a Ktec unsilenced with a decat and was loud and with a really bad drone, ( I choose that one because was the cheapest and I didn't want to pay custom duty's), last year I chopped and install a resonator in the middle, the drone improve but still there going in the motorway at 100km/h. Happy if you want to come to Pukekohe and you can feel the drone.
Just out of curiosity is your current exhaust stainless?
And I install some cooksports on standard shocks, My plan was to get some cup shocks but it looks like they are N/A now. So probably if they dont came back in stock for next year I will go with standards ones.
In my Ph2 I have some grams spring and they look better but the ride is a little more bouncy than the Cooksport in my opinion.
Probably try Spareto for the Brembo Bake disc and pads, they are a little cheaper on freight than UK.

And I gave up trying to find a front piece wheel arch for reasonable price in NZ so I modified a standard one for now.

Cheers

Legend @DLX , helpful as always mate.

Exhaust - Yeah I heard the KTEC unsilenced one was loud, I'm just looking for a sporty tone. Currently have a standard exahust fitted with a Koby resonator installed on the mid pipe. It's not overly loud, but it certainly sounds interesting. I wonder if the baffles have had it! I was hoping the KTEC silenced would offer a sporty tone that isn't too loud.

Suspension - For the price of some CUP shocks, I think we could source some of those Koni yellow's. Might be a bit overkill for 2000km's per year for me though haha. Stuck in two minds whether to just install the new eibach sportline springs on my current shocks, or freshen them up whilst I'm there... and if I'm freshening them up whether to just go oem or those koni's. Aghhhh dangerous fricken game lol

Brakes - Read my mind, Spareto is exactly where I was thinking for those brakes. (They actually sell the springs too, but take 28 days to dispatch!)

May take you up on visit to Pukekohe pal, good to hear you had some success modifying the standard front arch liner.. How difficult was that? do you have any pics of it I can look at? I sense i'm going to have to go down a similar route!

 

[Poonmobile]

The arch liners were all there when I had the car, so not sure where one went?! I’m based in glendowie, so if you’re ever around pop by and grab those bits and pieces.

 

[DLX]

The arch liners were all there when I had the car, so not sure where one went?! I’m based in glendowie, so if you’re ever around pop by and grab those bits and pieces.

Maybe you can organize a New Auckland Meet! haha

 

[DLX]

What I'm trying to do on my Ph2 2 is replace the resonator and Muffler for something else with out making it to loud but leaving the cat on this one. ( one loud Clio is enough for my age).

Due to prices of bringing things to NZ I will try first the spring on your current shocks and later you can get koni or new standards ones. ( Yes probably I will invest on new bushing for the front end that are pretty cheap from spareto.

For the Arch this are some pictures is not pretty but does the Job. pretty much all the bottom part is for a standard Clio 2 ph. I still don't know what people do with the arch liners most of the Clio that I see they are gone or in half gone.

On the Ph2 was the same I could only found one of the arch so I grab one from another car on the pick a part and with some plastic welding and heat gun I made one is not pretty but its holding in there for now.

I will send you a Pm if you want to come for a visit

Ph2

 

[Jaeclio]

The arch liners were all there when I had the car, so not sure where one went?! I’m based in glendowie, so if you’re ever around pop by and grab those bits and pieces.

Hey @Poonmobile - Yeah man, Leon remembers them being there too.. I suspect they were taken off when some timing belt/pulley work was done and not put back in!

Nightmare, because they're like fricken gold dust to find these days, and expensive as hell if you do

I can make a bee-line and pop by, I'll DM you on FB pal

 

[Jaeclio]

@DLX - Thanks for pics on that arch liner.. good indication of what I'll need to modify if I go that route. Thanks man

 

[Jaeclio]

Hello It has been a minute since the last update - mostly waiting for parts to be shipped over to NZ

One box has arrived, still a couple more in-transit!

Engine Bay

1. Deep Clean
2. Paint Inlet, Injector cover & Throttle body bracket
3. Dyed the bulkhead carpet, marginal improvement
4. Install Engine Cover
   

Added/Changed some other little bits

1. OEM Air filter
2. Replaced Battery
3. Cleaned ICV, Throttle body & replaced TB & inlet gaskets
4. Replaced console interior light
5. Added some RS floor mats
6. Fixed leaky Fog lights
7. Replaced Damaged air vents

Up Next

1. Got some dye to go over the leather seats
2. Got some 16mm front spacers & 10mm axel spacers to go on
3. Brembo HC discs & pads in-transit
4. Front arch liner to modify to fit - in-transit
5. Ordered the paint & materials to refurb the wheels over the Xmas break
6. Explore exhaust options (Minor adjustments to existing one, new exhaust or customer - TBC)

Enjoy, be back soon hopefully!