BG 182 Project

[NBG182]

Hi all, so I bought my 182 back in March. Got it on about 96k, nearly completely original, running well but knew there was gonna be some stuff I wanted to do to it. Thought I'd start up a project thread to keep track of the car as it progresses.

Planning on keeping it mostly as a fun road car for the nice weather, but it'll see a bit of track time too. Here it is parked at the pub the day I bought it.

Only mod it came with was this OMP wheel.

And aftermarket back boxes. Not sure what they are, haven't noticed any branding but they make a nice noise without being silly loud.

First thing to sort out was the ESP/SERV lights, and the ESP which would randomly activate on long gentle bends. Given the recently fitted aftermarket wheel, this seemed like a good place to start. Had to take the wheel and boss off, which proved to be difficult without a puller. I did have a tap & die set and some threaded rod though. Did the trick. ?

No pictures but whipping the boss off confirmed the problem, previous owner had used one which didn't engage with the steering angle sensor. The wiring harness was the only thing turning the sensor and it wasn't doing a great job, hence random ESP issues. Couple of zip ties on the boss to engage with the steering angle sensor and problem solved. Might fit the correct boss at some point but this fix has been fine for a few months now, no dash lights.

Daily'd the Clio for a bit as I fixed a long-standing issue on the van. I'd begun to notice the Clio was crap when on and off the throttle in slow moving traffic, so when the van was put back on the road I moved on to the Clio's engine mounts. Replaced all of them, all appeared original. The upper gearbox mount was only finger tight with the box jacked up, barely any threads left engaged on the nyloc. ? Clearly had been moving around a load.

And poly-bushed the dogbone. People seem really divided on this one. Definitely gave me some added cabin vibrations when the car is cold and idling, but otherwise don't notice it. Noticeable improvements to throttle and shifter feel though so I'm keeping it!

A minor fix, but also replaced the stereo with one out of a 1.2 from the scrap yard. Now can get more stations than just Radio 1, and the CD player doesn't overheat and error out. Only issue is now the faceplate is a slightly different shade of black! Anyone know if you can swap them over?

Car had been running great for quite a while! Until the good ol' ABS light popped up. The 50/50 brake balance got a bit disconcerting at times so decided to sort this one out pretty quick. ABS light was on from startup before even moving, so had a quick whip around all the sensors with a multimeter. OSR sensor measured no continuity and appeared original so ordered a replacement.

Bit of work with a dremel, big hammer and mole grips and the original came out. New pattern part went in, and no more ABS light.

The PS3's on the rear which looked a bit sorry for themselves turned out to be from 2011. Couldn't find any AD08R's in the right size to match the front at the time (as they'd been discontinued) so grabbed a couple NS2R's as a stop gap. Bit better matched than 8 year old road tires, might eventually grab another pair for the front if I'm happy with them.

 

[NBG182]

The car generally cleans up quite nicely (when I bother!) but the headlights were letting the look down a bit.

A load of wet sanding later and they're about ready for some layers of clear.

Unfortunately the clear I bought was awful and came out as complete orange peel. Another couple hours of wet sanding and polishing and we're getting somewhere...

Much better than it was. Might further protect them with some headlight film, I'd rather change some more stuck ABS sensors than repeat that tbh. ?

 

[NBG182]

Drivers seat was looking a bit worn and bobbly all over after 100k miles, so had a go at it with some of the left over high grit sandpaper from the headlight job. Used 1000 and 1200 grit, turned out pretty good.

 

[NBG182]

Have also stripped, cleaned and regreased the shift linkage, but was covered in grease so took no pictures!

Looking to refresh most of the suspension components over the next few months as time and money allows. Hopefully a track day coming up in the near future too so likely some brake pads to go on.

Will be sure to take more pictures for this thread as stuff progresses.

 

[Clio_fool]

Dunno how I missed this one, cars looking good are you still enjoying it?

 

[MLB]

Nice job on those headlights, if you can work indoors wouldn't a coating like Gyeon trim have been easier than clearcoat?

 

[NBG182]

Dunno how I missed this one, cars looking good are you still enjoying it?

Cheers! Yep, still loving it. Haven't done much mechanically recently, but have had it out around the Welsh lanes, and got a track day booked for October. Looking forward to trying it out properly!

Nice job on those headlights, if you can work indoors wouldn't a coating like Gyeon trim have been easier than clearcoat?

Probably, have only just heard of it now. 😂 The clear seems to be lasting well though so happy with the results. Might give Gyeon a go if it needs another tidyup in a few years.

 

[MLB]

If done properly a clearcoat will last longer than any coating but it's harder to get right (as you've found out the hard way! )

 

[fatboymal]

Drivers seat was looking a bit worn and bobbly all over after 100k miles, so had a go at it with some of the left over high grit sandpaper from the headlight job. Used 1000 and 1200 grit, turned out pretty good.

I’ve heard of and have tried using a razor on bobbly Alcantara but have not heard of sanding it. Does it work well?

 

[Darren61]

I’ve heard of and have tried using a razor on bobbly Alcantara but have not heard of sanding it. Does it work well?

All you need is one of these..

 

[NBG182]

Finally got around to some work on the suspension refresh. Had the track rods and ends off first - nice easy job, probably only took 45 minutes

Then disconnected the ARB from the arms, and got around to the ball joints. Absolute nightmare! Pinch bolts were seized solid and couldn't get a good enough hammer swing on the car. Had the hubs off and got the blow torch out and it finally started freeing up.

Third picture shows all the bits I got off today. Gotta get the arm and ball joint off the other side next, and then on to the inner ARB bushes.

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[NBG182]

Bit more work done this weekend. The OS front hub was equally crusty so I jumped straight to taking it off in order to remove the ball joint pinch bolt this time. Had it sorted in half the time of the near side. Also removed the old inner ARB bushes, so now the scrap pile is growing.

Got both new genuine tie rods installed, OS boot is a right pain but overall not a bad job.

I'd ordered new ABS rings hoping they'd solve an issue of my ABS randomly firing at low speeds. Inspection of the old rings showed one had split in two - quite glad to find that as it means it'll almost certainly solve my problem. Got both the new rings fitted.

Wasn't planning on lowering the car or touching the shocks yet, but on closer inspection the OS has decided to lower itself. Guess that's more parts I need to order now. [emoji23]

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[NBG182]

Just had these turn up, and RPD order also on the way. [emoji106]

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[MLB]

Nice, have them as well and the car sits well on them while maintaining a comfortable ride.

This will drive so well once all the new parts have been installed!

 

[NBG182]

Nice, have them as well and the car sits well on them while maintaining a comfortable ride.

This will drive so well once all the new parts have been installed!

Good to hear, couldn't decide between these or Cooksports but decided to go for the slightly softer ride since our roads are so crap.

Looking forward to getting it all back together now!

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[MLB]

Unless for heavy track use I think a wise decision. I've got grams springs on the other Clio and in my opinion, for on the road, they're too firm and too low.

 

[Clio_fool]

Good to hear, couldn't decide between these or Cooksports but decided to go for the slightly softer ride since our roads are so crap.

Looking forward to getting it all back together now!

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You made the right choice imo. Cooksports have perfect ride height but are too stiff for our bumpy roads. I had to do a couple of roundabouts on my commute slower than I could on standard springs with cooksports on!

 

[NBG182]

New shocks, top mounts, bump stops arrived from RPD this week. Haven't had time to do much but I did throw a spring on one to see how it looked, should look tidy until it gets driven in the rain once! [emoji23]

The seals on the original wheel bearings were looking pretty sorry for themselves, and one starting to feel slightly rough, so also decided to change them both out.

I've got no press sadly but took the lot down to the local garage and they sorted it out.

Got a tin of hammerite black ready to go so will be tidying up some of the crusty bits this weekend and see how much I get on the car!

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[MLB]

Looks nice and fresh! Just coat the shocks in XCP, should be good for a couple of months.

 

[NBG182]

Looks nice and fresh! Just coat the shocks in XCP, should be good for a couple of months.

Think I'll give that a go, cheers. [emoji106]

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[NBG182]

Slow progress but getting bits tidied and painted up to put back on the car, ARB and it's clamps are starting to look much better.

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[NBG182]

Got a bit more done after lunch today. First job was to sort out the old CV boot on the OS driveshaft. Was going to replace it with a stretchy boot as I'd heard the CV's were supposed to be quite difficult to remove.



Stretchy boot split on installation, so there went that idea. Thought might as well give knocking the CV off a go, and it came straight off with only a few taps. Easy, guess I'll be getting a proper thermoplastic boot then.

Without the driveshaft I didn't want to do too much to the OS, but figured I'd do the inner ARB bushes and start assembling the nearside with the new parts.

Inner bushes were a bit of a pain, but got em done with a 4" g clamp and some mole grips. Sprayed em down with a load of silicone spray which made it a fair bit easier.

Rest of the assembly went pretty smooth. New Renault arm & ball joint, tie rod and rod end, ARB bushes, cup shock, top mount, and Eibach Sportline installed.

Absolutely covered everything in coppaslip, so hopefully comes apart easily in the future.

Nothing done to the brakes for now, got a plan to paint up the calipers and do a brake service soon. Just want to get on and drive the thing for now though!

Hopefully get the other side done next weekend and the car back on the ground. Oh and before anyone says anything, I haven't torqued up the bolts yet! Going to go around with a torque wrench when everything is in place.

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[NBG182]

Lots of rain recently slowed things down, but put a marquee over the car and cracked on over a couple of days.

With the shaft sorted with a proper thermoplastic boot I was able to rebuild the driver's side. Ended up having to run a die down the OS drive shaft thread as the nut was binding when running it down, but all sorted now.

With the front end sorted I threw the new springs onto the rear. I'd been spraying the lower shock bolt threads down with wd40 for a few days so this went nice and smoothly.

Finally ready to go back on its wheels! Tracked it up using the string method to get it close enough for a test drive.

Started straight up despite having pre-lockdown fuel and the car sitting for two months. Took it for a spin, really happy with it. No more knocks over rough roads, no more random abs firing, the Eibachs don't feel any rougher than stock at all and sit right where I wanted them. Handles exactly like it should, very happy. [emoji108]

Now it needs a wash!

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[NBG182]

Got around to declaring the springs today, expecting them to jump on the opportunity to rinse me for a bit more money.

They reduced my payment by 15 quid a month and gave me the driving other cars clause? [emoji2368] Wish more mods would pay for themselves like that. [emoji23]

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[NBG182]

Not much done to the Clio recently as I've been getting the old X-Trail ready for sale, but did manage to give it a proper clean and polish before a drive out to the Brecons on Saturday. Still cleans up well, and is sitting really nicely on the new springs. [emoji108]

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[NBG182]

Had always noticed that the cat sagged real low on the BG. I knew that the fixings were pretty rusted, but looked closer and found the rear clamp was free to spin, despite being tightened all the way. The front fixings were also a proper bodge mismatch of random washers.

Fairly quick job to cut off the old fixings and fit the proper ones. Got the cat sitting much higher now, and no blows.

Ignore the scaffold pole resonator delete, that was a previous owner special lol. It'll get a new stainless system one day, but until then the exhaust itself is actually fairly solid.

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[NBG182]

Some really minor bits done to the interior recently.

For some reason the factory stereo which came with the car had bright white LED's, where the rest of the car was the standard orange. The faceplate was also slightly smaller than the neighbouring panels so stuff didn't quite line up. Looked a bit odd.

Had a broken base model stereo kicking around, so did a bit of stereo surgery and put the better faceplate on the working stereo.

Old face plate taken off...

New face plate fitted and stereo back in car. LED's now match!

Shift knob cap was looking a bit knackered after 17 years...

So swapped it out for an eBay item. Nice easy way to bring the interior up a bit.

I'd also accidentally scraped off some of the glitter finish from the drivers side door handle while de-stickying it, so replaced that for one in slightly better condition. Here's the new part fitted, with the old for comparison.

All basic stuff, but easy jobs and quite satisfying.

 

[NBG182]

Got around to doing the aux belt this weekend. Not a bad job to do in the sun!

Didn't really fancy the ghetto jubilee clip trick, so first job was to make a de-tensioning tool.

Step 1: Drill a 10mm hole in some reasonably strong bar.

Step 2: Do lots of filing.

Step 3: bash a bit of 10mm square bar in there and weld it up. Note, I do not claim to be a great welder. 😂

Once the ghetto tool was made, next job was to remove the entire front of the car.

All came apart pretty easy really. After that the drivers side engine mount comes off, alternator is loosened and shifted slightly - and then it's just a case of jacking the engine up and down to get access to the awkward bolts for the tensioner and idlers.

A bit of awkward squeezing the belt around the pulleys and it's all in! Kind of hard to take a good picture of anything down this side of the engine.

The old belt was pretty knackered as you can see above, so I'm glad I got this done. Don't think it has been done in a long time! Weirdly though the old tensioner looks almost brand new.

Test started it after turning it over by hand a few times, and it's all running well. Did notice a slight chirping though, which sounds to be the AC compressor pulley. Think it must have always been there, but harder to notice with all the panels on the front of the car.

Access looks really good to change it so will throw a new one on there while it's still on axle stands and hopefully that's sorted.

 

[NBG182]

Been chasing down the mystery noise I've found since fitting the aux belt kit.

A new compressor turned up the other day. It cost me £30 off eBay and is visually in much better condition than the one on my car. Much less rust, and also not rammed full of stop leak. 😂

Knowing my AC system was completely empty, I pulled the lines off the compressor to swap it out. All the seals were knackered, and what I presume to be stop leak crap is everywhere...

A few more parts needed before I can really get into sorting out the AC system I think. Will rebuild one of the two compressors I have, and also get a new condenser and dryer I think, alongside the all new seals I already have ready to go on.

Anyway, got the new compressor fitted. Noise still persists! Ah well, worth a try.

Did a bit more poking about with the stethoscope, and the noise could also be coming from the water pump. It tends to really start when the coolant is warming up. Maybe a clue? Or maybe just coincidence.

Anyway I've got a water pump lying around, and the one on the car looks pretty old. So figured I might as well get it fitted.

Got as far as stripping everything I needed off the aux drive for access, and pulling off the water pump pulley. Proper fiddly getting that out!

Hopefully should be able to get the new pump fitted next time I work on it.

If that doesn't sort it, I guess I atleast know my aux system is in top condition? 😂

 

[Louis]

That green will just be refeigerant/pag oil.

 

[Bilb123]

I had the same kind of thing after doing the aux belt, slight noise. Changed the tensioner after abit of messing about and that sorted it.

 

[NBG182]

That green will just be refeigerant/pag oil.

Good to know. Didn't think PAG oil was bright green, but looking it up and it looks like some of the UV dye types are this exact colour.

I had the same kind of thing after doing the aux belt, slight noise. Changed the tensioner after abit of messing about and that sorted it.

Already changed the tensioner unfortunately. I've even put the old one back on to make sure the new part wasn't faulty. Proper rainy at the moment else I'd already have the new water pump on.

 

[NBG182]

It actually stopped raining so got a bit more done today.

Was gonna have to drain the coolant anyway to get the water pump done, so figured I'd take the opportunity to replace the sagging rad while I was at it.

With that in mind, first thing to do was to take off the rad and condenser.

Rad was definitely looking worse for wear. The bottom two tubes had expanded for whatever reason. Most the alu at the bottom including the condenser mounts was just crumbling away.

Judging by how crusty the dryer seal was, think I had another AC leak here too.

Don't seem to have any pictures of the old water pump removal, but here's one of the new fitted. What a faff getting the gasket lined up with the timing cover still in the way!

Gave the old pump some inspection with it off the car, and it does seem to make a quiet tick one per rev. Wouldn't be surprised a bit of engine heat and some belt tension were accentuating that little tick into the noise I'm chasing down. 🤞

Just put an order in for a Nissens rad, and also added a condenser and dryer to the order. Hopefully that means I'll be able to have the AC completely sorted once I rebuild everything with the new seals I've got sitting around.

 

[NBG182]

Didn't take too many pictures on reassembly as the weather was crap, but here's a few I did take.

With most the aux drive off the car at this point, first job was to put all of that back on. Started by draining the compressor, refilling with pag oil, and reinstalling.

With the aux drive back on, next job was to reinstall the AC hoses. The sealing faces on these were covered in the green crystallised crap which was a massive pain to remove, but got there eventually and installed the new seals.

Next the new rad, condenser and dryer were assembled together.

I then put this on the car along with the fan and slam panel.

Finally the headlight, bumper etc went on and I took it for a short drive!

Looks like I've got a small coolant leak but other than that it's running well. Coolant seems to be coming from the radiator connections (rather than the water pump, thank god) so hopefully just needs a hose clamp adjusting or maybe replacing for something better.

Touch wood with most of the AC refreshed, I'll actually have cold air once I get it recharged!

 

[NBG182]

Doing some final prep on the car ready for Bedford on the 28th.

The upper radiator hose was leaking a bit after changing the rad - turned out the old spring clamp was no longer making a proper seal. Replaced it for a stainless Mikalor clamp and my leak seems to have disappeared.

In a slight moment of paranoia I'd also bought a centre resonator to replace the slightly bodge mid section fitted by the previous owner.

I'd been assured by some on here that I'd probably pass drive-by noise at Bedford just fine with the old setup, but in classic CS fashion I ignored that. 😂 While I'm sure they were probably right, getting black flagged for noise would suck.

The old setup on the car:

New against the old:

It's a glass pack rather than baffled so not too restrictive.

Fitted:

It's definitely quietened it down a bit and I'm certain it'll pass noise now. Not sure whether it will stay on the car after the track day? Much prefer it not ruining my ears when on the cold map, but it was never too loud once warmed up. Either way it's a nice option to have for strict tracks.

All that's left now is brake pads and oil change, then I should be good to go!

 

[MLB]

Definitely worth having cold AC in the current weather!

I'd personally keep the silencer on, but only because I couldn't be bothered swapping that out for track days.

 

[NBG182]

So Bedford went well, although did seem to find a weakness in my exhaust. A minor excursion onto the grass after the rain and lunch possibly didn't help. 😂

one of the tips was sagging a bit, which I assumed would be the classic crap exhaust rubbers. Turned out to be a bit more:

Didn't want to buy a new exhaust just yet, so it looked like I had an exhaust to fix.

I'm not the best welder, but two bits of metal became one. Figured I'd also give the silencer a coat of paint to make it last until I fancy buying a stainless system.

Also gave the resonator a coat of paint while the whole system was off. You can also see the brackets in the background which got cleaned up and given a coat of paint.

I decided to weld the fractured hanger to an exhaust clamp which would clamp onto the exhaust pipe. That way if the weld failed at the heat affected zone again, it wouldn't put another hole in the exhaust pipe.

 

[NBG182]

Put a coat of paint on the hanger:

And gave it a test fit with some Halfords exhaust rubbers.

Considered buying powerflex rear exhaust mount polybushes, but decided to give the PU sealant trick a go. Seems to be really robust so far, quite impressed.

And finally got the system put back on today. Seems to be hanging in the right place and is nice and solid. Looks much better with the fresh coat of paint (and the massive hole is no more).

 

[NBG182]

Shortly after my last post above, the timing belt became due, just as we bought a new house. Spent best part of a year working on the house, and the Clio sat unused. Other projects took over, and it remained firmly on the back burner - until a few months ago.

First job was to change the timing belt, pulleys, dephaser etc. First lock up the engine and take old parts off:

Then new parts back on:

On putting it back together, I started pulling it out the garage only to find an alarming amount of smoke coming out the engine bay. The alternator hadn't liked sitting still for two years, and was trying it's hardest to be on fire.

One new alternator later...

As you'd expect, two years wasn't kind on the brakes. So it got a new set of discs and pads, front and back.

The NS2Rs on the original wheels were absolutely knackered. I had a cheap set of wheels lying around with some road legal tires on, so those went on to get through the MOT.

So it was ready for an MOT! Or so I thought... Three miles into the drive to the MOT it starts running like a bag of spanners. A quick look at the dash and the temp gauge has dropped to zero, causing it to run on the cold map - despite being fully warmed up.

One coolant temperature sensor later, and we're back in the game...

Before booking another MOT I decided to throw a set of plugs and leads on it, as they'd never been done in my ownership.

It did have the correct NKG plugs in it - perhaps the originals? The HT leads had seen better days...

All put back together with new parts:

And after all that, sent it off for an MOT today and it's finally back on the road!

Moral of the story is, don't let your car sit for 2 years. 😅