Any interest in another titanium tidy up?

[Brian J]

I have always had a thing from French hot hatches, but I spent 18 years or so in the Peugeot camp (3 205s and a 306)
The prices on them have gone west and I always liked mk2 Clips since my best man had a 1.4 sport, so when this came up locally for a decent price I bought it.

delivered on Thursday, it’s been off the road for 3 years, has no MOT, and needs some love but looks pretty straight and in-messed with.
Progress will be sporadic, but the plan is to get it legal, get it MOT’d and do a rolling restoration. I’m a perfectionist, but cars are there to be driven so this WILL be out in sun snow and rain as a second car.

is there any interest in me documenting that as I go?

 

[RustyMojo]

I have always had a thing from French hot hatches, but I spent 18 years or so in the Peugeot camp (3 205s and a 306)
The prices on them have gone west and I always liked mk2 Clips since my best man had a 1.4 sport, so when this came up locally for a decent price I bought it.

delivered on Thursday, it’s been off the road for 3 years, has no MOT, and needs some love but looks pretty straight and in-messed with.
Progress will be sporadic, but the plan is to get it legal, get it MOT’d and do a rolling restoration. I’m a perfectionist, but cars are there to be driven so this WILL be out in sun snow and rain as a second car.

is there any interest in me documenting that as I go?
View attachment 1599501

Yes, yes there is! Welcome to the titanium club. I’ve booked marked and will follow with interest as a fellow titanium owner

 

[Clio_fool]

Yes definatly keep track of the resto 👍. These cars need saving far too many have been lost to breakers over the last few years.

 

[Stefan.]

Yes, I definitely love these sorts of threads 👍

 

[Brian J]

Thanks all. I will document progress and ask for assistance as I go.

 

[Louis]

You get banned if you don't report weekly on your project thread.

👀👀

Look forward to updates!

 

[Martin_172]

There's always interest on here!

 

[Brian J]

So rain has stopped play for now, but there has been time for a good look over the car. (I so need to finish tidying my garage so I can put the car in it…)

the upshot is, that the seller was honest, it’s definitely had new belts, dephaser and tensioners (no water pump tho)

A check on my Renault revealed:

which I had been told (but good to know for sure)
And

Which I did not know. Result: old skool choons.

I think that all I need for an MOT is brakes and wipers, parts have arrived so that should get done in a day or two

 

[Brigsy]

Looks good, In for updates

 

[Mr Underhill]

I have always had a thing from French hot hatches, but I spent 18 years or so in the Peugeot camp (3 205s and a 306)
The prices on them have gone west and I always liked mk2 Clips since my best man had a 1.4 sport, so when this came up locally for a decent price I bought it.

delivered on Thursday, it’s been off the road for 3 years, has no MOT, and needs some love but looks pretty straight and in-messed with.
Progress will be sporadic, but the plan is to get it legal, get it MOT’d and do a rolling restoration. I’m a perfectionist, but cars are there to be driven so this WILL be out in sun snow and rain as a second car.

is there any interest in me documenting that as I go?
View attachment 1599501

Absolutely, love a nice project!

 

[PP200t]

Absolutely interested in the progress with this. Car looks good and plans sound great!

 

[Brian J]

A little progress.

Gone from:

To:

And done a temporary fix on

the seller wasn’t lying when he said the brakes needed done. Discs were not the worst (the back ones are tho) but not much left in these:

 

[Brian J]

First of many questions:
Should there be a front half wheel arch liner in there? There is one to the back but nothing to the front…

 

[RustyMojo]

First of many questions:
Should there be a front half wheel arch liner in there? There is one to the back but nothing to the front…

There should yes, if by front you mean covering the front bumper opening. They are pretty hard to get hold of mind you as the cliosport ones are model specific and… no longer available!

 

[Krarl]

All us perverts love threads like this

Looking forward to the updates and seeing it get cleaned up

 

[Brian J]

Back brakes were worse than the fronts.
Front:

Back:

discs were shot too, but most annoying is that someone who has worked on the car was clumsy as…
Rear caliper piston seal torn (looks like screwdriver damage) and the n/s cv boot punctured by something sharp.
New boot and calliper seals are on order, but I am stuck for forward progress for a couple of days.
Also: I thought Peugeot were bad with packaging, and my Abarth 500 was worse, but whoever thought the brake reservoir location on a clip 182 was a good idea? Seriously?

 

[RustyMojo]

Back brakes were worse than the fronts.
Front:
View attachment 1600223
Back:
View attachment 1600224
discs were shot too, but most annoying is that someone who has worked on the car was clumsy as…
Rear caliper piston seal torn (looks like screwdriver damage) and the n/s cv boot punctured by something sharp.
New boot and calliper seals are on order, but I am stuck for forward progress for a couple of days.
Also: I thought Peugeot were bad with packaging, and my Abarth 500 was worse, but whoever thought the brake reservoir location on a clip 182 was a good idea? Seriously?

You think the brake reservoir is bad mate…you ain’t seen nothing yet. Welcome to Renault Clio ownership 😂

 

[Clio_fool]

If you're changing the rear discs don't forget the spacer that goes behind them. They look like this;

https://www.kamracing.co.uk/grams-oe-rear-disc-spacer-renault-clio-mk2-rs-172-rs-182.html

 

[Brian J]

Thanks. At least on this side the original is present and in good condition so I am hoping I don’t need to replace them.

 

[Martin_172]

Thanks. At least on this side the original is present and in good condition so I am hoping I don’t need to replace them.

Should be fine, what usually happens is they come off with the disc, people fit the new discs without it and it destroys the rear wheel bearing!

I had a Renault dealer miss them in my ex birds 1.6 16v MK2 and the rear bearing failed and destroyed the stub axle and wheel bolts in the process 😂

 

[Brian J]

Well, today was a bust. ☹️
Got all set up and got my parts stash ready:

Cleaned up the calliper, wound back the piston and fitted a new seal, which was definitely needed:

But the discs are wrong for the car, so much discussion with Carparts4less later, the right discs should be with me on Wednesday…

Frustrated, I thought id just tidy up the frayed jacking point on the same side while I’m there, and I now have a dilemma because the sill has a rust hole. Looking from within the quarter panel, it looked ok, just surface rust but now I’ve cleaned out the mud there is a decent hole. The car has had a new quarter on it that side at some point and the back was never painted.

the rust is very localised and I think it will only need about 30cm of the sill replaced, but not what I wanted to find.
Given it hasn’t been tested for 3 years I am so tempted to whack the sill extension back on and take it for an MOT without saying anything to see if it is all good elsewhere before spending out on welding. (I wouldn’t drive it or sell it as is, but I done want to bury a chunk of money getting the welding done only to find a bunch of other issues.) what do you all think…?

 

[RustyMojo]

Well, today was a bust. ☹️
Got all set up and got my parts stash ready:
View attachment 1601042
Cleaned up the calliper, wound back the piston and fitted a new seal, which was definitely needed:
View attachment 1601043

But the discs are wrong for the car, so much discussion with Carparts4less later, the right discs should be with me on Wednesday…

Frustrated, I thought id just tidy up the frayed jacking point on the same side while I’m there, and I now have a dilemma because the sill has a rust hole. Looking from within the quarter panel, it looked ok, just surface rust but now I’ve cleaned out the mud there is a decent hole. The car has had a new quarter on it that side at some point and the back was never painted.

the rust is very localised and I think it will only need about 30cm of the sill replaced, but not what I wanted to find.
Given it hasn’t been tested for 3 years I am so tempted to whack the sill extension back on and take it for an MOT without saying anything to see if it is all good elsewhere before spending out on welding. (I wouldn’t drive it or sell it as is, but I done want to bury a chunk of money getting the welding done only to find a bunch of other issues.) what do you all think…?

To be honest lord of clios are driving around blissfully unaware of the rust under the sill covers anyway! So why not get it MoT’d then you know everything else is OK, get the welding done! I would however warn you that it’s likely to be a brown mess under the rear beam, fuel tank and top recess of the rear wheel arches.

 

[Clio_fool]

I would however warn you that it’s likely to be a brown mess under the rear beam, fuel tank and top recess of the rear wheel arches.

Again, like many others with blissfully unaware owners.

 

[MrBlonde]

Yes mate,will follow your thread as being a Titaniuim owner myself 👍🏻

 

[Brian J]

To be honest lord of clios are driving around blissfully unaware of the rust under the sill covers anyway! So why not get it MoT’d then you know everything else is OK, get the welding done! I would however warn you that it’s likely to be a brown mess under the rear beam, fuel tank and top recess of the rear wheel arches.

Not saying you’re wrong (come on man give me some space to hope… 😂😂) but it looks to be really solid everywhere that I’ve poked at so far. I think it is just because it’s had the new quarter and the back has not been painted. The rest of the arch on that side is mint. I will check the other side and pop out the wheels ch liners and have a good check around before making a decision tho. Thx.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Sad to hear. A few of us on here have been through the pain of tackling the underneath. Not a pleasant job!

Sadly there are lots of shiny 182 turds about, many owners completely unaware.

I wouldn't touch another one unless:

a) I knew the owner/history of the car
b) There were comprehensive images of the underneath.

Paintwork and interior imperfections are relatively easy to sort.

 

[Brian J]

Parts finally arrived and progress has been made:

New rear discs and pads:

Again Pagid/Brembo combination. I’ve always rated Pagid coated discs and the Brembo pads seemed a good oem level fit.
the caliper has had new piston seals, slider seals and a quick grease.

bodywork wise I took the sill covers off and the passenger side is definitely poorly:

But only the rear 30cm or so, the rest passes the screwdriver test at least. What I don’t know is how bad the inner sill is…

on the other hard the driver side is filthy but solid as a rock with not even surface rust (from the outside):

 

[Brian J]

Work hasn’t stopped (although the heat has not helped) so I am running through, straightening out the trashed jacking points and tidying up the pinch welds on the sills to make it MOT presentabl


HOW MUCH mud gets trapped behind the wheelarch liners? 😂

This sill is past making right without welding, but straightened up for now until we see what else an MOT throws up. I have put stainless rib nuts in to the good news is that I still can’t find any other rust on the car. I suspect when I eventually drop the beam and take the wings off will be the acid test, but happy so far.

 

[Brian J]

Rain stopped play today, but a few steps forward:
From:

And:

Via:

To:

Interior is back together after looking for the passenger side rust.
hazard warning switch is replaced.
I think that it might actually be mot-able…

 

[Brian J]

So today I was trying to cure the miss at idle and low revs. I thought, given the car looked to be intact original injectors I would do injectors first so:

out with the old:

And in with the new:

no change, (pain but i was going to do injectors anyway given the age and mileage) so started digging into the ignition side. Leads look brand new, plugs still to be checked, but the coil is a Renault part and cracked all along the bottom. Guess what I’m buying next…

 

[Brian J]

To cheer myself up I did some tidying in the boot area.
From:

To:

Much better.
Discovered that if you plug the rear wiper and locking motor in, they work better! 😝

 

[Brian J]

So today I completed the planned engine work:

new plugs (correct Ngk), leads (beru), and coil (canbriaire)

Is it grateful?
NO. Still lumpy on idle. The old plugs looked new but sooty as well.

No error codes but when idling, values are as follows:

manifold pressure is around 620mb at idle, and just over 1000mb with the engine off.
Upstream lambda oscillates between 19 and 890mv or so.

downstream lambda is pegged just over 400mv.

figuring I have wasted my money on plugs, injectors, leads and coil and should have had the valve timing checked as the first stop…

 

[Brian J]

Today I sorted the exhaust.

Started here:

Caused by:

Did a bit of this:

Added a couple of these:

Not perfect but:

Sorted the loose heat shield too with a couple of huge stainless steel washers. Not rattling anymore…

im going to put a couple of tyres on it and see if it will pass an mot…

 

[Stefan.]

Nice , that sits nice now!

 

[Brian J]

Nice , that sits nice now!

Thanks. Really happy with the height. I’d love to get it a couple more mm left so it is spot on central tho.

 

[Brian J]

I’ll just leave this here…

First time I have ever driven it over 10m or 3 mph! It actually drives pretty well. The tyres are comically bad (budget to start with and about 6 years old) and it’s a pain to manoeuvre, because it stalls if you glance at it the wrong way but the major jobs list is down to:
Tyres
Sill welding
Lumpy running.

hopefully after that I can start to enjoy it a bit and do the other things at my leisure.

 

[Brian J]

Oh and it did my favourite French car trick. Drive to the MOT garage is less than 15 mins. A sidelight bulb blew between home and the garage. How do they know to do that? 😜😂

 

[Brian J]

Stuck a bit in a waiting pattern. The car is booked in with Beaniesport to try and sort the lumpy idle/low revs running.

and I’m trying to source some round wheels (a novel idea) to put new tyres onto, without having to splash out on a full refurb, so I’m in a bit of a holding pattern

it has had its first wash in a VERY long time though.

Looks much better for it, but there is still a good chunk of work to do. It’s covered in tar spots and I need to touch in a bunch of blemishes and machine polish it.

 

[CFAB]

Looking good mate, Titanium is deffo one of the best colours 👌🏼

 

[Poopensharten]

Excellent efforts mate and well worth saving