Hopgop1's RB 182

[hopgop1]

Hi All, I picked up my 2nd 182 FF recently and since I do aim to keep it long term I thought I'd stick a project thread up. The car will only be for road use and I don't do all that many miles at the minute. I'm also not a mechanic, only an idiot with a Halford's tool set so don't expect any crazy engine swaps or similar.

Here's a pic of the car from the advert I bought the car from, I think I overpaid a little but I was dead set on an RB and this one seemed in nice enough condition, had FSH and the paintwork was in great condition considering the 130k mileage, there's also no rust on the arches, but more on that later down the line.

I initially wasn't keen on the trophy turini's and planned to go back to stock wheels but they've really grown on me and I think they'll stay, could do with new centre caps though.

The car has been poly-bushed pretty much everywhere as far as I can tell, powerflex dog-bone, engine mount(s?), ARB bushings, rear beam bushings, steering rack and camber bolts (don't ask me why or what they do ).
Obligatory belts and service done in June 2020 by AW Motorworks, a RenualtSport specialist, although admittedly I hadn't heard of them.

The car has been owned by someone on here before, @Gordini-blue-182 about 10 years ago when the car still had it's competition stripes. If I can get definitive proof that mine was supplied with them from new I'll stick them back on, I'm 50/50 on them at the moment and I'll let that be the deciding factor. Here's a pic I shamelessly stole of her back in circa. 2010 looking clean:

The most recent owner was a car enthusiast and collector of sorts but not massively clued up on these cars, he very much had the mindset of OEM is better, which I'm sure is true when you're buying exotica, but I'm not so sure with old French hatchbacks. He'd removed the stripes from the car when he had the bonnet, roof and boot lid re-painted, perhaps not realising they may well have been factory supplied, and managed to source a genuine, not rusted out, OEM pea-shooter exhaust and mounts (already collapsed) which frankly sounds pretty dull.
I bet you haven't seen a car with these bad boys for a while :

 

[hopgop1]

She drove faultlessly on the drive down from collection, but I didn't connect my phone to the bluetooth for the drive and had a good listen while sat on the A1 back to Lincolnshire from Yorkshire, the dash is rattling which isn't a problem in my very standard Arctic 182, but I think this may be down to all the powerflex bits, perhaps I'll look at sorting that later, music fixes the issue after all. The N/S/F wheel bearing sounds pretty rough so I'll get that sorted soon, it sounds like too complex of a job for me to attempt on my own.
Here she is not long after collecting her, looking tiny even next to a relatively small (by modern standards) Evoque Overfinch:

The next issue I noticed was that the one of the boot grommets was missing completely and the other was loose and clearly not inhibiting water from getting into the cabin. Thanks to @Aaron.. and @MLB (indirectly) for finding the part numbers for me after I proved inept and after paying more for postage than the 2 grommets are worth I had 2 ordered.
7700423111 is the number for future reference.

A little clear silicone later and she's sealed up good:

Next up is the sticky and gross interior.

 

[sam55]

A stunner!

 

[hopgop1]

Have been meaning to keep this updated better, but my draft for the next post has been lost somehow so I didn't feel all that motivated to type it all up again. I’ve also not been able to upload images from my computer, no matter what browser or format I use. Ah well.
I figured I'll go for less detail and get it more or less up-to-date.
First up was the interior, check the before and after shots, not bad!

From pretty grim to pretty good, also fixed the lock switch not sitting right when I took the hazard panel out.

The top screen was almost unreadable so I took off the top dash to replace the lamps. these are T5 (286) 1.2w for future reference.

Although now I’m looking at the photos again it looks like 1 lamp isn’t working, I remember that one being a pain to fit, so probably my fault. The top of the dash will probably be off to fit the sub I’ve ordered (spoilers) so I’ll take a look then.

I also de-bobbled the seats with a £4 (delivered!) electric lint shaver thing. Certainly not perfect still, but definitely an improvement.

 

[hopgop1]

Next up was some outside cosmetic stuff.
First up is the obligatory 3/4 plate, I went for 520x94mm from fancy plates, I doubt the 4mm makes a difference but I think it fits the car nicely. I’ve also stuck the old plate in the boot in case I’m stopped by a particularly picky copper.

The old sticky stuff was a pain to remove, but @Hxrry ’s tar and glue remover worked great.

It’s a shame about the dodgy screw holes, but the bumper isn’t the best anyway and it’s completely hidden so I’ll try to not let it bother me too badly.

Under the bonnet was a new positive terminal cover, the old one was stuck to the ECU cover with gaffer tape, I’ve got a replacement top cover to replace once I can be bothered to clean it up.

Part number for the terminal cover is 7701702362 for future reference.
Also does anyone have a clue what that seemingly empty tube by my top mount could be for?

My side repeater lenses had been stuck on with glue that has since dried up and easily come off so I figured getting a pair of genuine replacements would be a good idea. Part number is 8200257684 and don’t buy them from Lithuania like I did, took forever to arrive.

The difference is barely noticeable and I couldn’t get some of the dried glue(?) at the top off without damaging paint, still makes me feel better inside and that’s what counts right?

I also stuck the Renault sport badges back onto my boot. I had the badges loose, but they had seen better days, so I ordered a new genuine sport badge as they are still produced, polished up the Renault badge and stuck some badge adhesive. I’m pretty happy with how well it’s lined up.

Finally a couple of questions for the Clio experts out there, I’ve got the original 2 cans of tyre goo, I’d never use it now but where are they supposed to be stored? Surely not just loose rattling around in the boot, did they come with a pouch that stuck in the boot like the toolkit?
Also I’ve got these stickers on the doors and boot lid, are they OEM and what are they for? Thought I’d ask before I removed them.

Sorry about the image spam, it’s probably stuff everyone’s seen a thousand times before but it’s a good way to tracks the cars progress.

 

[RustyMojo]

The tyre goo came in a can that sat in a bag which attached to the Velcro strap on the drivers side of the boot. The stickers on the doors etc, someone else has stuck on. I’d personally be removing

 

[hopgop1]

The tyre goo came in a can that sat in a bag which attached to the Velcro strap on the drivers side of the boot. The stickers on the doors etc, someone else has stuck on. I’d personally be removing

Don't suppose you've got a picture of what that bag should look like or what I should call it when searching for one? I'd like to find one for orginality's sake, but I bet they're unobtanium.

 

[Hxrry]

Car's looking great! Liking all the small tweaks you're making, they all add up in the end! Thank you for the tag too, glad to hear you're liking the products

 

[RustyMojo]

Don't suppose you've got a picture of what that bag should look like or what I should call it when searching for one? I'd like to find one for orginality's sake, but I bet they're unobtanium.

I’ll take a look In the boot of mine if you mean the strap, if you mean the tyre seal kit. I don’t have a photo

 

[hopgop1]

I’ll take a look In the boot of mine if you mean the strap, if you mean the tyre seal kit. I don’t have a photo

Tyre seal kit unfortunately. I'll do some internet digging, I do wish Photobucket wasn't such a c**k, trying to find photos from circa 2005 is tricky as is.

 

[joe hk&uk]

👍🏻Congrats for have picked a clean example mate. Just wondering which place you ordered for the terminal cover from?
Cheers

 

[hopgop1]

View attachment 1542381

👍🏻Congrats for have picked a clean example mate. Just wondering which place you ordered for the terminal cover from?
Cheers

I picked mine up from kamracing mate, probably cheaper out there but it’s a proper genuine one not a cheap copy.

Renault OE Battery Terminal / Cover (+) - Renault Clio Mk2 RS172 / RS182

This genuine Renault OE Positive Battery Terminal / Cover (7701702362) is a direct replacement for the battery terminal that came with the Clio 2 originally out of the factory. The Battery Terminal / Cover will fit all Renaultsport Clio Mk2 172 and 182 mo

www.kamracing.co.uk

 

[RustyMojo]

Tyre seal kit unfortunately. I'll do some internet digging, I do wish Photobucket wasn't such a c**k, trying to find photos from circa 2005 is tricky as is.

Pretty sure it looked like this…from eBay pics, but can’t remember exactly

 

[LB197]

My 197 came with the original goo kit, would probably came out with the force of a frube if I tried to use it. Also came with the elf oil top-up kit with a paper funnel, Renault napkin and glove

 

[hopgop1]

Pretty sure it looked like this…from eBay pics, but can’t remember exactly

View attachment 1542386

Thanks, I’ll keep an eye out for one now I know what it’s supposed to look like.

My 197 came with the original goo kit, would probably came out with the force of a frube if I tried to use it. Also came with the elf oil top-up kit with a paper funnel, Renault napkin and glove

I’m very jealous, that’s the kind of stuff I love having!

 

[LB197]

Knew I had a photo somewhere, bit tatty but all there. Not sure how rare they are, but a nice addition. Even has the original Renault Team F1 emblem on the oil

 

[RustyMojo]

deleted

 

[dave120]

Looking good! @hopgop1 can you get me which adhesive you used to reattach the Renault badge ?

Thanks.

 

[hopgop1]

Looking good! @hopgop1 can you get me which adhesive you used to reattach the Renault badge ?

Thanks.

I went for this stuff on eBay, working well so far and it’s about the perfect thickness IMO. Be prepared to spend some time cutting it to fit properly in the letters though.

Van Bonnet Badge Emblem Double Sided Foam Tape Adhesive Sticky Strong Fixing | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Van Bonnet Badge Emblem Double Sided Foam Tape Adhesive Sticky Strong Fixing at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[dave120]

Cheers!

 

[hopgop1]

Been awful at updating this thread as usual. Here's a quick roudnup of what's been done over the last couple of months:
Super quick trip to Halfords to correct an advisory from the last MOT:

Not picutred but I also removed the white Renaultsport side skirt stickers.
Replaced my very slightly cracked passenger wing mirror cover with a mint one from @RenaultRy , old one pictured below.

Hardly noticeable but it's always the little things that wind me up the most.

Also got an Apline SWE-1200 sub installed, helps the sound system massively, installed under the passenger seat and fits perfectly. I've been lazy though and powered it via a piggy back fuse, it was supposed to be temporary as it fouls the fuse cover; but I've had to also wire the remote wire in via a piggy back fuse as I was only getting 5v from the remote wire on the headunit which wasn't turning on the sub. Now even if I do the proper job and get a power cable through the firewall I've still got the remote wire issue. Have I done something wrong here or do I just step up the 5v from the head unit to 12v somehow? Either way it's working well for now, even if the fuse cover being off annoys me.
Crappy photo showing it in place.

Gave the headlights a restoration as they were going quite cloudy at the top:

I got some cheap UV protection stuff from eBay, I figured it'll be better than no protection, but I don't expect them to look this good forever.

Also took the top of the dash off and got the other little screen LED working after I messed up installing it the first time.

Next up was a new exhaust. The OEM one has definitely grown on me with the peashooter tips, but it just sounds so dull. I went for a brand new resonated Milltek system, SSXRN201 is the model number I believe. Polished up the tips and coated them with some high temperature paste wax to hopefully make cleaning them in situ a little easier.
I got a decent deal on eBay but ended up waiting over 4 weeks for the system, the seller was desperate for me to go for a non-res system that they had in stock but I was adamant I wanted a resonated system so sat tight and waited.

I also got some of those 3D printed exhaust mount inserts from KAM racing and set them into some old hangers I had lying around as my current ones are shagged.

This could be a decent photo with some work in lightroom I reckon.

2nd post incoming...

 

[hopgop1]

This is the most exciting upgrade of all though, after waiting what seemed like forever for a slot with Snappy (Andrew Mayer), I've had my steering wheel, gear knob and gaiter re-trimmed. I've gone for a very basic setup, but it looks the business and shouldn't be too offensive to anyone.

Will get some better pictures in daylight once I've had a chance to give the interior a good clean.

I've also gone for 172 (non-cup) dash strips and steering wheel insert, I think they're a little more interesting and suit the car better than the plain silver ones, even if it's not what Renault intended. I've got the old ones to swap back to if I change my mind anyway.

I also fitted the gear knob with @plees brass gear knob bushings as I'm not interested in a short shifter and this feels like a good middle ground.

A little bit of grease and gently hammered them in.

I'm ashamed to admit that I had the steering wheel, gear stick and exhaust fitted by my very trusted garage, as she was going in for an MOT anyway and I was feeling lazy .

It can't be understated how much of a difference this steering wheel has made to the driving experience, it's only some leather, but compared to the terribly worn out old one this is so nice, it even smells premium.
The brass gear shift bushings are a very nice subtle upgrade to the shift action too, doesn't add any notchyness and makes the shift feel that bit more positive.

The exhaust has a lovely rasp to it and is definitely louder than the OEM system even with the cat' still in place, without it sounding like a chav's corsa.

I'm not happy with the fitment of it though, the new mounts have it as high as it should be, but the passenger side tip is too far to the right and occassionally taps the bumper when going over bumps. The exhaust has a super easy adjustment for the drivers side tip, but the mounts seem very fixed in place so I'm not sure what I can do about the passenger side. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.
I haven't actually got a good photo of the fitment to show at the moment, but I'll grab one tomorrow and stick it up here if that helps. I only need a few mm to the left to centre it, not sure where you would find that level of adjustment underneath though.

MOT also passed first time with no advisories, result.

 

[cliocollins]

Looks great this. Nice subtle upgrades. @Matthewm1518 you should get these retrimmed in yours..

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[hopgop1]

Looks great this. Nice subtle upgrades. @Matthewm1518 you should get these retrimmed in yours..

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk

Thanks, really appreciate that. OEM+ is the goal, I'm no racing driver so something that looks and feels good on the road is what I'm after.

 

[hopgop1]

Quick pic of the current exhaust fitment, definitely too far to the right. Like I said in the earlier post I can adjust the driver's side easily to have it central, but I'm stuck on how you can get the passenger side to move about as there doesn't seem to be any adjustment in the rear mounts, unless you're moving them backwards slightly. Has anyone had this before and can offer some advice? I'll create a thread for this if needed.

 

[hopgop1]

Exhaust has settled in a little better now, I think some small adjustments on the rear mounts will have it sitting about right. I've done some quick bits this evening, to address some issues:
On a couple of the long runs I've done in the car recently, the car has gone into limp mode, restarting the car has fixed it but from some quick research it seems likely to be corrosion on the mystical white connector in the engine bay fuse box, I had a go at cleaning it up with some Servisol Super 10, I couldn't actually get the connector to come apart, but from my reading it seems that the corrosion is normally on where the wires go into the connector? I've liberally sprayed the back of the connector at both ends anyway and will see if that's helped on my next long run. Plus a general cleanup in there as it was filthy, if all that can build up in there no wonder corrosion can happen.
If it continues to be a nusiance I'll treat her to a trip to Mick.
Before:

After:

I have also noticed the car running slightly rougher than it used to, and yesterday I had the classic flashing check engine light, which seems to mean an injector is on it's way out, the idle that wasn't quite right, but felt fine once I was going. My cheap OBD reader also found a code for a cylinder 3 misfire. I had a quick flick through the history and it doesn't seem like the injectors have ever been changed, not bad for ~133k and 17 years.
While I still had my tools out I took off the fuel rail guard and checked the resistance of each injector. All were quite consistent except injector 3 (2nd from the left), which no matter what I tried wouldn't give me a reading at all, I thought that was odd as the car was running fine when I parked it this afternoon. I plugged it all back in and started the car, it has definitely decided to become a 3 cylinder. As you can see from the pictures below and the rust on the injector clips, I'm confident they're either original or at least ancient, so I've ordered 4 new injectors which should arrive next week. The Clio isn't helping me feel very rich this month, payday can't come soon enough, but as much as I want to only buy 1 injector, the other 3 won't be far behind.

 

[hopgop1]

4 new, genuine injectors arrived today. Set about fitting them straight after work this evening.

As you can see it looks like the injector I couldn't get a good look at while installed has been changed before, and to what looks to be a Bosch instead of the proper 'Super Mario', the other 3 do seem to be original.

New injectors fitted to the rail, the hardest part by far was removing the old injectors. The whole process was made easy by @obcuz 's brilliant guide found here, even a novice like me can do it.

I also stuck this mint engine cover on that I bought from the very kind @Breamy a few weeks ago. with some shiny new engine cover bolts, the old cover is definitely cool and has held up amazingly well. it's a part of the car's history, so I'll keep it around, but it didn't make sense while the car is missing it's stripes. Posting that picture has made me realise she needs a good engine bay detail too.

Back to the injectors, I took the car for a very quick test drive to check all is well, she idles very nicely now and what I previously put down to being fully polybushed, even the steering rack bushes, was a very vibratey (if that's a word) steering wheel, now you don't even see it moving at idle so she's definitely running smoother at least.
The car wasn't fully warmed up on my quick drive, but holy ****, if she felt fast before she feels even faster now! I hate to use the cliche, but that really is the definition of pulling like a train, maybe it's all in my head, impossible to tell without a before and after on a dyno, but I promise it feels quicker and smoother through the rev range than before.

Certainly worth the £140 on the peace of mind of 4 new injectors and I'm looking forward to a proper B road blast this weekend.

 

[hopgop1]

Been awful at updating this as usual, quick post to get back up to speed for the new year.
I had been going through rear wheel bearings very quickly and I had a nasty clunk from the rear under light braking at low speeds, so after some research found that the most common cause is the rear disc spacers being missing causing the bearings to fail. I've never done a brake job before so decided that I would renew my rear discs (for the new bearings) and pads, as well as adding the spacer.

I ordered brembo rear pads from ecp, genuine rear discs and reproduction rear disc spacers from RPD and set to work.
I immediately got stuck trying to remove the first disc, it was properly stuck onto the stub axle, I'm not exactly the strongest man in the world, but this was properly stuck, there was a bit of play from the dead bearing but it felt like it was welded onto the stub. After some reading this is apparently quite common when the spacer is missing, the bearing essentially becomes a press fit onto the stub apparently.
Someone on the facebook group said that a universal hub puller may do the trick (I went for the one below), it listed 100mm as the minimum, but it wouldn't actually fit my discs without some minor enlargement of the bolt holes, but once I had it on I was able to slowly remove the old disc leaving only the inner face of the bearing left on the stub which I levered off.

I fitted the spacer as it was indeed missing on both sides, the new discs and pads and all sorted, was very pleased to have it sorted and my knocking noise has gone. It was pointed out to me that the stub axle on one side has been cut into (presumably when someone has had the same issue removing the disc in the past), so I've sourced some nice stub axles, with backing plates (including genuine ABS sensors!) from @Jon Wright (thanks again). I haven't actually fitted these yet, but a job for the future.

As you can see from the above pic, my nice Turini's have seen better days, they look fine from a few feet away, but when you're close it's clear they've had a cheap "refurb" in the past, the barrels are a different colour and the centre caps are minging, so I decided to have the wheels powder coated to match the new centre caps I ordered a while ago at ridiculous expense, £100 for the set!

I had the wheels stripped and powder coated at my local place with good reviews, it was fairly pricey compared to what the internet says is standard, but they were great at trying to match the colour of the plastic caps which is really an impossible task and I think they did a great job. I believe they used a Ford grey lightened a few shades.

I also ceramic coated the wheels with KKD R-Evolve X which is what the internet reccommended, it was far from cheap and not particularly easy to apply, but I figured I'd try and protect the wheels as much as I can and hopefully make them easier to clean.
After a few damp winter miles my wheels were looking like this:

And after a quick jet off with the pressure washer they were looking like this. I know showing them wet is cheating, but they look good considering they hadn't yet been contact washed, so very pleased with the ceramic coat.

I also had to change a pre-cat lambda at some point as mine completely died on me, but £50 on the proper Bosch sensor (LS6046 - 0258006046) from OpieOils and I was on my way again.

I've been occasionally suffering with the electrical fault light on the dash and limp mode, the Clio owners nightmare, it seemed to happen on longer journeys mostly, would sometimes clear with a restart of the car and sometimes not. Very irritating when it did happen, so I did some research and cleaned up the big white plug in the engine bay, but this didn't fix it unfortunately. I had just bought a 2nd hand RSTuner with ABS from a guy on Facebook for diagnostics, it just showed the throttle track 1 2 potentiometer fault, but also showed that I had a relay fault on my main cooling fan which I wasn't aware of, I pulled the relay out and it was quite corroded on one of the prongs so I bought a replacement and chucked that in, but the fan still wouldn't kick in from the RSTuner.
In my limp mode research @MicKPM at Diamond Motors in Long Eaton kept cropping up as the electrical guru, I knew about him being my most local specialist who I'd trust for belts. I only live just over an hour away, so I booked myself in to come for a diagnostic on my fan and the limp mode on the 18th of December. It was great to chat to someone who properly knows these cars, he was able to find and fix a broken wire to fix my fan issue, as well as confirm that it's my throttle body at fault, rather than the wiring or pedal, which was a relief, at least until I saw the price of a new TB. On Mick's advice I'll be going for brand new if I can. Apparently 197/200 TBs are the same as the ones for a 182, which is good as they're still available, so I'll see if I can find any decent deals about before I give RPD over £300 for one.
That's me up to date, I've got a collection of stuff for the car, but my plan for the new year is to have a bit of paintwork sorted that's been annoying me and get her serviced with the proper type D, cooling system refresh and fit some of the random parts I've got collecting in the garage.
Here's a rare shot of the car looking pretty at the nearly empty office when I went in a few weeks ago:

 

[dave120]

Some amount of work mate ! Well done. Car is looking great.

The Clio gremlins get us all in the end but with the help of an expert, they are easily overcome ! (Mostly!)

 

[Mr Underhill]

Glad I could help. Also K-Tec racing are selling brand new TB’s for a touch over £200 so check them out 😊

 

[Mr Underhill]

And @Sanj16 has a new one for £200 and a few other used ones for £15 also

 

[hopgop1]

New TB arrived earlier this week, had a chance to fit it in the freezing weather this afternoon while it was still light. Didn't take long and it was dead straight forward, but a little more tricky than it would've been if I could feel my hands.

Off with the old, not too filthy assuming it's original to the car.

On with the shiny and new. I went for brand new in the end to be certain of ruling out the TB in case the issue does come back; plus it was what Mick reccommended to give me the best chance of it not re-occurring. I'd rather spend a bit more initially and not have a journey curtailed by the dreaded limp mode If I can help it.

I'll be doing a few longer journeys in the Clio over Christmas, so hopefully I won't have any issues, fingers crossed.

 

[hopgop1]

Good news on the limp mode, I've done plenty of miles since and not had the fault come up at all, result.

I've just been doing some little, but very satisfying, jobs recently. I find that these make the biggest difference to the overall feel of the car.

First up, since I had the car I've been aware that the wiper mech wasn't quite right, basically the mechanism was too close to the screen, which has clearly been an issue for a while because the screen has some marks where the metal has been running across the screen. I stumbed across a post recently that said that it was easy to bolt the mech back in without lining it up on its locating peg, so I figured I'd take it apart and have a look.

Sure enough it wasn't located properly, so I unbolted the mech, wiggled it around a bit and got it properly in place and bolted it back up. Gave everything a customary clean up and put it all back together, the mechanism is now a suitable distance from the screen. I'm half tempted to take a hammer to the screen to get a replacement, but it's the original Renault screen with the etching so I'd rather keep it if I can, plus the marks are basically invisible from inside the car.
A wiper puller is also a must when taking the wipers off IMO, I've done it without once and it was a nightmare trying to get the wipers off without damaging the screen.

I also noticed that the plastic attached to the mech, which I think is supposed to keep water away from the cobra alarm unit, is all but gone, any ideas on how I can replace this?

Another small job, the passenger side vent in the dash has been broken since I got the car, the little plastic piece that makes all the shutters move together was broken. It annoyed me far more than it had any right to, so I set about fixing it properly.

I'd previously tried to repair this with some strong glue but it didn't work at all, so I sourced a replacement vent on eBay for cheap. I ended up taking both the new and old vent units apart to swap the face plate from the old one to the new because it was in better condition.
Inspired by the guy on facebook who did that crazy audio build on his trophy, I added some tesa tape to the areas where the dash and vents meet to try and tame an intermittent rattle I've been getting on certain roads from the vents. Forgot to grab pictures of the tape or of the fixed vent, but it's fairly self explanatory.

I recently stumbed across a post in one of the Clio facebook groups where someone had got their ashtray light working, I didn't even know they had a light in them! On the post someone had said that it needed a T5 bulb, but no real details on how to do it apart from it's a real pain.
I unclipped the cup holder section and disconnected the cigarette lighter. The bulb holder is just a grey plastic piece that you can unclip from the main cigarette lighter body with a small screwdriver.

I cannot stress how tricky it is to get the bulb out of that holder, I was eventually able to get it out of the plastic by pushing a tiny screwdriver down into the holder from above while pulling one side apart to release the first tab, then putting another screwdriver in the gap to stop it clipping shut while you pull the other side for the second tab.
It was also very obvious comparing that lamp to the T5 LED ones I had bought that they were not right, the ones I had were too tall to fit. Fortunately I had a feeling it looked similar to the ones that I had for the LCD temperature etc. display in the dash I had replaced last year. These are 286 w1.2w for reference.
I also paid very close attention to the polarity of the old bulb so that I didn't get it wrong putting the new one in, I was not taking this lot apart again if it didn't work.

As a bonus for my efforts I found 50p under the cup holders and gave everything under there a good clean up while I was there, as it was all dusty and a bit gross.
I also found out what gives my head unit bluetooth, looks like an expensive bit of kit and still works great with my iPhone 13 so credit to whoever originally setup the audio.

The final result:

Absolutely not worth the effort for such a tiny detail that nobody except me would ever notice, but it's really satisfying to get small things like that working. I also didn't realise it lights up the ring around the cigarette lighter too.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Not going to lie, I once put my wiper arms back on without lining that little tab up. Not sure which scratch was bigger, the one on the screen from the wiper or the one on my head after wondering what the hell i’d done wrong 😑

 

[SharpyClio]

The cigarette lighter job is one that I need to do, although oddly in mine it looks like someone has cut one of the wires going to ?! Its such a small thing but it is pretty annoying!

 

[hopgop1]

I think it was quite a common place to splice in and get 12v from, hopefully nothing you can’t fix though.

 

[SharpyClio]

I think it was quite a common place to splice in and get 12v from, hopefully nothing you can’t fix though.

That's what I figured and I intend to do the same to be honest. Its a shade frustrating that some folks just cut these things and stop one thing form working to make something else work.

Loving the progress on yours RB. Those Alpine BT receivers are not cheap... I just looked as I thought it might be an option for me.

 

[DomP182]

I used a 4 pint milk bottle to make a rain shield for my wiper mechanism, I've got photos somewhere

 

[hopgop1]

Car has been into the garage for a service this week, as well as the little cooling system refresh I think I mentioned earlier.

I've always noticed with this car that the temp gauge on the dash warms up to the middle a lot quicker than my old one and if you go down hill for example, the needle will drop a notch or two, I'd done some research and it seemed most likely to be the coolant temp sensor at fault. I figured I'd throw a new genuine thermostat at it at the same time, because if a new CTS didn't solve the issue I'd be annoyed if the nice neon type D I've bought had to be dropped out.

First I did the pollen filter myself, only takes 5 minutes.

Then she was sent off to the garage with a big box of bits. You can only really see the fluids here, but I'll note below what was done.

You'll notice that there's also a bottle of gearbox oil there too, over the last few cold weeks 1st gear had become a bit notchy and hard to engage when the gearbox was cold, which was annoying on my rare commute into work with a bit of start stop traffic. I've got a record of the oil being changed in mid 2020 which isn't too long ago really, but I found a few forum posts where people had the same and some new oil cured it. I couldn't find MTL redline anywhere at a reasonable price, but I did find a post from our resident gearbox expert (@NorthloopCup) saying that this Miller's stuff will be fine for a road car, so that's what I bought.
My mechanic mentioned that the oil that came out of the box looked "pretty mint", but I'm pleased to report that the gearbox is back to smooth shifting, no notchiness when cold. We'll see if it comes back in a winter or two's time, but it may be sensible to make this a biennial service item.

Here's a complete list of what was done:

• Oil change - Castrol GTX 5w40 with a new genuine oil filter and sump plug washer.
• New pollen filter - Motrio
• New air filter - Motrio
• New spark plugs - Genuine Renault as it worked out cheaper than buying them as the NGK labelled items for whatever reason.
• Gearbox oil change - Millers TRX synth GL5 (75w80)
• New genuine thermostat with seal (8200772985) + genuine thermostat housing gasket (7700104129)
• New genuine coolant temp sensor (226306024R)
• New coolant header tank with new expansion cap (8200048024)
• Coolant flush with new Renault type D coolant

The temp needle now sits slightly higher when warm and I'm convinced the heater works better now too, plus if I go down a big hill the needle doesn't move, so I'm very happy with that.
My mechanic also mentioned that my HT leads were fine for now, but had seen better days (I believe they're original), so if anyone has any reccomendations for new ones please let me know, ideally OEM, not a fan of the bright red leads or similar. Is it worth throwing a new coil pack at it at the same time, or is it best to leave it alone if it's working fine?

Here's the engine bay now:

Apologies for it being filthy, not had the motivation to properly scrub under here in this weather. On the list for the future is a proper sized battery and to re-paint the ECU cover as it looks a bit ratty. Also is it possible to remove the captive airbox screws non-destructively and replace them or clean them up? The rusty look does annoy me. If anyone has a fuse cover with the clip intact please let me know I'd be very interested in that too.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Also is it possible to remove the captive airbox screws non-destructively and replace them or clean them up? The rusty look does annoy me.

Recently did mine with some Philips cold blueing.

Wire wheel off - I dropped mine in some DEOX-C for 12 hours prior to this - then degrease, brush some cold blue on for 3 minutes then spray with water repellent and leave to dry for an hour or so.