Ali's 2003 Clio cup 172.

[Alastair.]

Hi all, haven't been on here properly for the past 18months, but im back with a new toy, a Clio cup 172.
I've been after a Clio cup or a ph1 for a short while now, went to see a few but they were all dogs, literally couldn't believe some of the states the clio's are in now.
Anyway after seeing Robs @rob893 Clio cup for sale i had to have a look. A couple of days before viewing Rob messaged me to let me know that the cup had started to feel a bit lumpy on idle, i decided to have a look anyway and quickly established that it had a slight misfire.
We ended up agreeing on a price that reflected the issue and i picked the car up today.
On the drive home the engine was was very strong and pulled really hard, it drives surprisingly well considering its done 125k, Rob had definitely looked after her going by the service history and general condition of the car.

Anyhow as the car stands it has the following,
KTR Stealth exhaust
KTR induction kit.
Polybush dog bone.
Poly bush innner and outer roll bar bushes
Eibach sportlines
Brembo discs and pads

Belts and dephaser were done by Fred @ BTM late 2012 so they arent due again until late 17' which is bonus, Freds timing work is showing 177bhp on the rollers!!

Quite happy with those bits as thats what i would have done.

Things i need to sort are.

Misfire on idle (ive got a feeling its just an injector)
Refurbish alloys.
Passenger seat is stuck (easy fix)
Passenger side door mouldings have gone a bit cloudy.

And then from there it will be just a general tidy up.

On the way home i snapped a few pics.

 

[ADS_V6]

Lovely looks like its done half the mileage

 

[Stefan.]

Nice

 

[Chris_Beer]

Welcome back mate

Get those door mouldings painted / lacquered. Never did go much on the matt look they have standard.

Oh and spacers perhaps?

 

[Alastair.]

Cheers Chris, I want to be it looking immaculate first then I may think about spacers etc.

 

[Chris_Beer]

Looks good to me, I agree with you with some of the Clio's out there though... getting to that age and the prices don't help.

 

[The_Pirate]

Welcome back mate, looks great!

 

[cjgower]

Doesn't look like it's done 125k mate. Very nice!

 

[Alastair.]

Misfire seems to have sorted itself out this morning, strange. I may wip off the manifold later and just check the leads and plugs haven't got any water ingress.
Did a clip test and no faults showing, checked lambda readings, all ok.

 

[Crybert]

When I bought mine it had a slight misfire. It had been sitting for about a week or so. I put it down to that. After a drive of about 10 miles it was gone

 

[rob893]

I will be keeping a close eye on this thread! :wink:

 

[Alastair.]

Sorted the passenger seat whilst at work today, quick 2 minute fix, the bar had come off, refitted all ok.

Done

Engine needs a clean, (fuel rail guard at home)

 

[Chris_Beer]

Blimey even the seat connections are original!

 

[Alastair.]

Well spotted, makes it easier for me to take the interior out tomorrow for a deep clean. No wire chopping!!

 

[yeecup]

That engine bays a mess! Car looks good though, I considered it myself but it was far too far away and bit high on the miles.

 

[Alastair.]

Spent all day on the Clio today, absolutely shattered now.

First up the misfire was still there, i dont think it ever went. I pulled the plugs and number 4 plug (cambelt end) was black and sooty. Spoke to @baysthebest me brother and went to his house to borrow a fuel injector from his 182 track car. Fitted it and instantly purring with no misfire. Happy days, just need to get another to replace his now. Oh yea the HT leads were fitted incorrectly, 1 and 4 were round the wrong way.
Engine feels super strong and there's no hesitation what so ever.

Plug.

Leads, wrong way.

Sorted.

Also cleaned the filthy throttle body whilst i was there.

Done.

And then i cleaned the engine bay up.

Before.

After.

Jacked her up and cleaned all the arches out with G101 and my Nilfisk, also did the door shuts.

Arches, before.

After.

Next up was to clean the interior, seats out.

Done.

Seats back in.

Popped out to get me some beers.

Got back, sorted my garage out so i could keep it in there as im only get a chance to use the cup 1 day a week really.

 

[Rubicon_]

Great job!

 

[Gaz_]

bob on, nothing like a deep clean to make it "yours"

Snappy wheel next?

 

[koi]

That's what you call a clean, nice work. Looks much better now.

 

[Alastair.]

Yes, one of the thumb grips are ruined!

Need to send the wheels off to Swindon to get them powder coated to!

 

[yeecup]

You don't do things by half!! Great job and looks great now.

 

[Alastair.]

Cheers guys.

 

[baysthebest]

Looks great so far! Just get the bits put back onto my car please!! Ha!

 

[Alastair.]

Got a few more bits done over the last couple of days.
Removed super glue from the bonnet, tried everything, last resort was a light wet sand and it has all now gone.

Before.

Sand.

Done.

Next up was new number plates, i replace them on every car i buy and i have to stick them on, hate screwed on plates, they only cost me £7 for the pair. Also got some new 172 cup badges, £10 each from work, bloody expensive!

Old badges were missing the 172 bit.

Done.

One other quick job i did.

Done.

 

[Jamie86]

Looks great Ali

 

[Ricardos]

It's the small items like badges that make the difference, and worth the cost. A splendid example and should be worthy of holding their value

 

[Stefan.]

Love threads like these

Great work

 

[Alastair.]

Got a little bit more done on the Clio today.

Sorted an issue that @rob893 mentioned in his advert. Exhaust was banging under-load. When under full throttle in 1st and 2nd you would get a horrendous noise through the cabin, Rob had the car looked at and know one could find the problem, i believe K tech fitted a new polybush dog bone and top engine mount (cambelt side) but that didn't sort it. So today i thought i would investigate as it was pissing me off. Fixed the issue within 30 seconds, undone the top engine mount and pulled the engine forward, it looked way to far back before hand. No more horrendous noises now.

Gear oil change was on the list so i got that done.
Removed the under-tray expecting to find the usual dripping/soaked sump and gearbox but to my surprise it was looking very dry, haven't seen one as good as this for years, and considering its on 125k im well happy!

Left the gear oil to drain for 1 hour.

Refitted plug with new genuine copper crush washer.

Refilled gear box with Renault elf Tranself NFJ 75W-80.

Cleaned the under-tray whilst it was off.

Gear changes are really nice and slick now, amazing how something such as gear oil can make such a difference.

Wheels have been sent off to my local alloy wheel powder coaters for a full refurbishment, will be silver again.
The state of them now.

Currently on 182 wheels for a week or so, forgot how heavy these wheels are compared to Turinis.

 

[dann2707]

Looks great mate. Nice work

 

[rob893]

I had that knocking noise looked at by 3 separate mechanics and no one could find an issue! Pretty depressing that it was something as simple as that.

The car looks great too!

 

[Alastair.]

I had that knocking noise looked at by 3 separate mechanics and no one could find an issue! Pretty depressing that it was something as simple as that.

The car looks great too!

It was pretty horrendous the noise when you nailed it in 1st and second, was like a grating vibrating knocking noise. Glad I sorted it easily. I think it was the exhaust touching the subframe.

 

[JGTTDI]

@Alastair. great work so far, subscribed.

Picking up a 172 Cup at the end of this month so will be watching this closely to see your updates.

 

[Alastair.]

@Alastair. great work so far, subscribed.

Picking up a 172 Cup at the end of this month so will be watching this closely to see your updates.

Cheers buddy.

 

[Alastair.]

Busy Monday again.
First up was to remove and refit the rear quarter cards correctly as the didn't sit properly, found some speakers in the back, binned them and refit the speaker wiring back into the loom. Cards got a good scrub whilst they were off.

Cut taped and tucked the wires away back into the loom.

Then my dent guy came round and removed every single dent for £30, i use him alot and im always amazed at how good and quick his work is.

Clock display bulbs have both been blown since i picked it up, replaced them both and the dash top got a good clean with G101.

Excuse the wheel, thats next on the list.

Much better,temp gauge is correct as wel

Went to pick my wheels up from proalloys.co.uk, had 2 new tyres fitted at the time so i now have 4 matching Pirelli P-zero Nero GT tyres!
They look fantastic! and for £180 it was an absolute bargain!

Fresh silver Turinis, love them.

 

[cpaterson76]

Looks absolutely lovely mate. Man after my own heart....... Clean is the only way to have them, regardless of mileage :up:

 

[Alastair.]

Looks absolutely lovely mate. Man after my own heart....... Clean is the only way to have them, regardless of mileage :up:

All the cars ive purchased in the last 10 years have been bought over condition and history rather than mileage, ive had loads of 100k plus cars that have been super reliable.

 

[Alastair.]

anyone spot the Volvo over the road?

 

[Norris_309]

That Cups looking spot on, I still miss mine (been gone 8 years!!..) when you selling it.....
I've still got the audi, could do with bringing it to you for a clean!

 

[imprezaworks]

That looks stunning

 

[yeecup]

T5r. Cup looks epic now, refurbed speed lines in silver ftw