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Bringing my Dimma back to life



  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
Hi all, just registered so not too fimiliar with the site.

Firstly, where can i buy trims etc for building up the car, roof trims, window rubbers, manifold heatshield etc?

Owned a clio 16v Dimma since January 96 when it was 1 year old. Originally dark blue and standard apart from the kit. Lowered it, had it smoothed and painted in Imperial blue which really showed off the curves of the car. It has the 17" compomotives on it and use to be in Max P many years ago, a double feature with the Williams but at that time mine was standard. Got the interior all decked out with Recaro Speeds and re-trimmed in black and blue Nappa leather with an alcantara dash. A few years back, I was travelling down to Isle of Man and aqua-planed off the motorway in extremely heavy rain. The car spun off down a ditch and took off the front bumper, bonnet dented but the worst damage was i took out a stumpy tree on the passenger side door so obviously that was wrecked and the side sill and roof had slightly caved in to the sun roof section. Got a pay out of 12k and bought it back for £1800. Spent £600 getting the roof and sill cheaply fixed, a new door and standard bumper. Stripped it out, caged it and put in buckets and harnesses with a side-exit exhaust which just constatly blew massive flames. Anyway, the pic i have posted is one driving round Knockhill a couple of years back. The car is now being restoed to its former glory and turning into a show car again to tuck away in my garage. My track car is now a scooby which i imported and again stripped etc and weekend car is an AC Cobra which replaced a Plymouth Prowler.

Anyway, hope to scan loads of old pics in to show you guys all the different stages this thing has been through and hopefully we will see a happy ending again as it rolls out the garage doors gleaming again. I told the garage just to think of it as a long term project, no rush but its been nearly four years, anyway, as i said no rush.

Wheels to go back to silver of course.

Cheers,

Matthew

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  Evo 6, E92 320d
A proper icon, love the dimma cars. Good luck with it mate.
As for the odd bits you need try ebay, scrappers, wanted section on here. Also worth pm'ing winston on here as he is often breaking older clios.
 
  '92 172, Lotus Elise
very nice! think this is the 3rd imperial clio! :D

seals etc can still be gotten brand new from renault if you want to go down that route
 
  Exige S1 + Honda S1
picture at knockhill back in the day?
where u from?

I was at loudoun castle (shame on me) car show a few weeks back and saw a red dimma kitted valver. Had terrible paint and filler etc
 
looks like a proper good project to get it back to its former glory mate, sounds like you got a hell of a pay out for it and spent the money well :p
 
  Hyundai i40
will be watching this

great car back in the day, good to see there are still a few alive
 
  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
picture at knockhill back in the day?
where u from?

I was at loudoun castle (shame on me) car show a few weeks back and saw a red dimma kitted valver. Had terrible paint and filler etc

Hey its Matthew, I organised the trip with the cars to Loch Lomond which you were on (tunnel run) :rasp: . Hows things? Phil isnt it?

Knockhill it was, car handled amazing with the wide track but power was short in some respect.

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll try a few of them and see how i get on.

Matthew

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  Exige S1 + Honda S1
Ahh hello! Didnt recognise you with the helmet on haha
Didnt know you had a dimma clio as well, need to pop over and have a look sometime!

are you coming to the free track night Carlo is organising on wednesday 9th? details on pistonheads.
 
  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
be watching this thread as it progresses.

awesome dimma mate, love em.

Cheers buddy, to be honest i need to dig out loads of old pictures to show what changes this car has been through. I'll never sell it as it was my first car.

It seems that Clio Dimmas these days have fallen victim to extreme colours and modifications but I plan to just keep it subtle and class.

I plan to have the car finished externally within a mth or two then it comes back to my garage to have the interior built up again. I sold my Recaros and dashboard so i'll need to renew it all again, standard seats etc will do for the meantime but its not the same.

Matthew
 
  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
Ahh hello! Didnt recognise you with the helmet on haha
Didnt know you had a dimma clio as well, need to pop over and have a look sometime!

are you coming to the free track night Carlo is organising on wednesday 9th? details on pistonheads.

Sounds tempting as I have not sold the Cobra as yet. I'll get in touch with him and see but it might be tempting fate. Regards the clio, I'll give you a shout when it comes back home, should be soon enough.

You owned a V6 did you not?

Cheers,

Matthew
 
  Exige S1 + Honda S1
Ahh hello! Didnt recognise you with the helmet on haha
Didnt know you had a dimma clio as well, need to pop over and have a look sometime!

are you coming to the free track night Carlo is organising on wednesday 9th? details on pistonheads.

Sounds tempting as I have not sold the Cobra as yet. I'll get in touch with him and see but it might be tempting fate. Regards the clio, I'll give you a shout when it comes back home, should be soon enough.

You owned a V6 did you not?

Cheers,

Matthew


Yea, and a williams, and a 172 with ITBs etc, had a fair share of clios. Going to look at another williams at the weekend, give me a shout if I dont see you on wednesday night.
 

The Chubby Pirate

ClioSport Club Member
  Golf R
Nice one mate, Dimma is a true classic, im, sure i had that edition that the dimma was in (i was just a nipper when it came out im sure)

Hope to follow this story up!

Where you based matey?
 
  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
Nice one mate, Dimma is a true classic, im, sure i had that edition that the dimma was in (i was just a nipper when it came out im sure)

Hope to follow this story up!

Where you based matey?

Me too, still got all the old mags as well. I'm based in the west end, yourself?

SOme pictures I have attached from different stages of its life. This Dimma was actually built by Renault and sold new in the showroom with the kit, quite rare I imagine.

Below: Day i collected it from Wolverhampton

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Below: Back at my family home although it was garaged

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Below: The Max Power photoshoot (issue with pineapple Astra on front)

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Below: Side damage after accident

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Below: Side damage after accident

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Below: Subsequently car was changed for track use

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Below: Knockhill

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Below: Knockhill

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Below: Flames

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Below: The beast as it was

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Max P show
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  Exige S1 + Honda S1
I remember that issue when it came out, my mum had a valver at the time so I cut out the pics and pinned them on my bedroom wall haha.

Whats the plans with it now?
 
  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
I remember that issue when it came out, my mum had a valver at the time so I cut out the pics and pinned them on my bedroom wall haha.

Whats the plans with it now?

To sit in the garage and look good hopefully. It can be a mean and class looking car if done right although I'm undecided as to what seats to put in it. The Recaro Speeds I had tailored to my design had such a great grab in them and were so comfy but its been years since i looked at the seat market.

Saw the car today, bodywork needs polished and theres a few areas to be sorted. Its a pain in the ass as i need to buy loads of bits, fog lights, a wee clip that holds on the front grill, passenger wing mirror and so on.
After the accident the bumper had split in two (still got a piece) so i put a standard clio bumper on for track use and it lost a lot of its looks. Its good to see the new front bumper on, we had to make good the below average quality bumper when it arrived from Dimma a few years ago.

I kept the side exit exhaust although was hesitant to do so cos its a bit crazy. I may change the tail pipe though, a bit more Merc SLR orientated and subtle.
 
  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
Ok i have the car back now, fully resrayed etc but still needs a good bit.

Wheels are being refurbed as we speak but i had 4 wheel nuts shear off on the front left. The discs need replaced anyway so do i just remove the discs and the threads come out with them or do the wheel nuts threads go through the disc and then into a hub therefore i need to get them drilled out?

Thanks
 
  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
wow loving this project log :D

keep up the good work

Here you go.

Putting new discs on, maybe upgrade hoses, get a new manifold heatshield and the interior needs a major makeover. Replacing various window seals etc too.

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Back at home, wheels going back to silver.
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  Cobra,Impreza,Dimma, BMW
I was dubious about what my girlfriend was going to say as it is a 13 year old car although it will probably come out once a year at the most. She didnt like the spoiler. I know it is part of the kit and something everyone recognises as a Dimma but what do it do. Hmm, suppose given the fact I will never drive it, it can stay on and just look original.
 
  330Ci (Fail)Sport
Looks awesome, esp with the repray. I love the Dimmas.

Doesn't matter what your girlfriend thinks, its not like she is going to be seen in it everyday, or even often by the sounds of it. Besides most girls have their things like loads of shoes, bags etc, you have a Dimma lol
 

Addz

ClioSport Club Member
  Trophy, TVR Tamora
awesome car :) love dimmers, thats what made me want a vee

any pics of your other cars?
 
  dci126 & H&R'd 1*2
Lol at that last pic, you're as "bad" as my family doc, he uses an Alpine A610 for towing

Especially love the Cobra with that hardtop, such lovly cars, not much cars around that keep looking cooler and cooler over the years and that don't look dated
 


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