Clio 182 - road car / track car / race car

[Hyperhatch]

Its so satisfying bolting bits back up isn't it.... makes you properly feel like you are moving forward....
Feel your pain on fitting the subframe up by yourself... ha.... can remember doing it with the car in the air, the subframe on my chest holding it up to bolt in...

You're definatly right about the satisfaction, its's starting to resemble a car again which is nice! My main concern was damaging the powder coating on the sub frame. I used two trolley jacks with microfibre clothes on them to prevent damage. There must be better ways....

 

[RustyMojo]

Cheers, TBH the spend is down ATM as I had all the bits or had already paid for them. The problem is the clutch I want is expensive so the build might be coming to a stop shortly. I have the £££ but COVID-19 makes it hard to justify the expense ATM. TBH there's so many bits I want to do I'll just try and stay busy. Things like repairing the sills etc

ha ha, exactly what I’m doing! Repairing rust! Cleaning wheel arches etc. Currently on the OS sill straightening jack points and removing rust. To be honest I seem to have caught the rust at the right time. It would’ve been a job I would’ve left and left! So every cloud. Can’t say this time would’ve been better spent under the bonnet replacing my dying alternator, PAS pump (or fitting EpAS) but it is what it is.

 

[Nafoff]

You're definatly right about the satisfaction, its's starting to resemble a car again which is nice! My main concern was damaging the powder coating on the sub frame. I used two trolley jacks with microfibre clothes on them to prevent damage. There must be better ways....

Ha, trying to prevent damage... a bit stupid isn't it as its going to be skimming the road shortly (however I am exactly the same...ha).
When I bolted mine up and torqued up all the bolts to the correct specs the powdercoat on the wishbone-arch braces cracked.... doh

 

[Hyperhatch]

I’ve kind of cornered myself ATM as i’m waiting for some consumable parts. Etch primer, black hammerite and special engine cleaner for the soon to be shinny engine parts.

I’ve started with the engine but as always it proved to be a tough start. When I had the cam belt changed the mechanic couldn’t get the water pump off as a couple of bolts rounded off. No worries at the time as the car does minimal millage. Now it’s apart I thought I can get to all the bolts now and the I still have a new OEM water pump to fit so i’ll swap it out. How I was wrong! Even with the correct tools the bolt heads seamed to of been made with cheese. So I took the grinder to them and cut them off.

The funny thing was after removing the pump I could unscrew a complete of them with my fingers. Anyway they all came out with a set of mole grips. Turns out the water pump had no gasket on it and was siliconed in

As for the engine I have zero intentions of chasing power. I just want it to work reliably and tbh I just want to use it. So I’ve removed most of the auxiliary parts ready for cleaning. The PAS pump, water pump, drive shaft bracket, coil pack and any remaining brackets have gone ready for cleaning.

First up I scrub down of the cruddy oily bits with engine gunk cleaner.

That’s now brought us up to date. I’ve tested a couple of little bits of clean areas with a wire brush and i’m looking forward to getting one of the last cleaning jobs out of the way.

One part did turn up, new header tank arrived and has been bolted into the engine bay.

Hopefully the bits I’m waiting for turn up in the post tomorrow 🤞

 

[D4w5on]

Feel your pain. Just did my water pump and had same issue with bolts. Wished I removed engine would of been a lot easier


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[Hyperhatch]

I’ve turned my attention to the engine for the moment. First up i’ve been cleaning the aluminium bits at the top. I’ve used some cleaner which is working well bits it’s hard work. I’m trying to avoid painting the top of the engine and associated bits. I’ll be happy with the frosted aluminium look once it’s clean.

All the grimes off and i’m waiting for some attachments for the dermal to finish off the clean up.

I then moved onto the block. I’ve spent hours cleaning this up. With it all ready I taped over the bits that don’t need to be painted.

I’ve gone with black. I did want to go silver but I was talked out of it by a friend. Also the gearbox is silver so there’ll be a good contrast once they’re bolted back together.

Next up will be finishing the engine. I’ve had to order a new plastic cambelt cover as the old one was damaged when we pulled the engine out. Then i’m going to work on the sills so all the cutting and painting is finished.

 

[Hyperhatch]

Many hours have been going into getting the sills back together. The worst one was the front drivers side. It was down to me letting the car slip off the jack a few years back which caused damage to the side skirt. I sourced a spare one from a breaker a few months back ready for when I started putting the Clio back together.

First up I bent the metal back to it’s rough position and then used my vice on a trolley tack to pinch it all together. This was hard work in the single garage!

Once I was happy I made some sill reinforcers to try and stop it happening again. I’ve fixed these to the car using clinch nuts (Riv nuts......😉). It’s hardly air jack technology but hopefully it should last.

Then I treated each corner with rust repair, etch primed them and then painted them.

Whilst the skirts were off I cleaned them properly ready to be fitted again.

I expect the side skirts to have to come off again so I also clinch nutted these on and fitted dome headed bolts.

I’m happy to get this done before the car comes out the garage but it hasn’t been easy. But the best bit is I’ve bolted some of the panels back on the car. This is a good thing 😀

 

[Eddie555]

Lol. Rivet nut.. innit.. [emoji1787]

As you know I've been doing the same job apart from mine escalating into doing my wheel arches as well.. It was bad enough doing mine on the drive so I'd hate to think what a PITA it was inside the garage...

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[Hyperhatch]

6 months today this car will be attending a trackday at the Nurburgring 😳

Well that’s if it gets back together and the world pandemic settles down 😂

Attention has turned to the engine. With the block painted i’ve cleaned up the head. This looks good apart from the engine mount / cam belt cover. I’m in two mind wether to paint them or spend more time on them............ or just accept it’s a track car and get on with something else!

I ordered the power steering delete pulley for PMS. This delivery also included the new bolts for the new water pump. I’ve fitted everything but i’m still waiting for the new plastic cover from the breaker to replace my damaged one.

Today’s job was to remove the sump as the seal was weeping a little and I want to clean it up. What a total pain in the ass! 7 of the bolts wouldn’t come out. I think they were put on with a 3/4’ breaker bar 🙄

So a 5 min job turned into a several hour job.

Still onwards as moment is good still.

 

[Eddie555]

Excellent work there buddy.. Thankfully i had a brilliant day today and everything went back together as smooth as silk..

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[Hyperhatch]

I realised the other day that the more the Clio looks like a car the more it motivates me and the happier I am so......

Today I made started on the nearside of the car. I removed the hubs and shocks etc as one so it didn’t take long to bolt the assembly back in the car. The bottom will need to come back out when I insert the drive shaft so it’s not torqued up correctly. The brake lines are in place and connected properly however.

With this all in I bolted the wing in. Firstly I gave it a good wash inside and out, removed all the tar, rubber and then polished it.

When re fitting the wing I used new nuts/washers.

It actually resembles a car again 😀

 

[Hyperhatch]

I’ve been crazy busy with the Clio but with not much to show for it in many ways. I’ve been waiting on little parts but ultimately waiting for the clutch. But by the end of this week it will be ordered.....

First up a big mistake from me. I ordered a new Padgid 197 MC from euros. Only problem is I either ordered the wrong one or they sent the wrong one. The rear pipe outlet is M10 and not M12 so the brake line doesn’t fit. The problem is they are impossible to get hold of ATM so I’ll have to resort to plan B

Next up I’ fitted the sump gasket. My torque tench didn’t go down past 40NM so I’ve purchased a new 1/4 drive one. This has come in very handy.

A little time was spent fitting some consumable parts as well.

I’ve been ordering some missing clips which has had mixed results. First up these chimney but clips for the wing mountings.

Next up I made a mistake as I order 13mm P clips with rubber inserts to hold the fixed in fire extinguisher pipe when I needed 8mm. Late night drinking on eBay was to blame for the mix up as I knew I needed M8 ones!

All the fixed pipes are in the engine bay now to allow 4 nozzles. The P clips are secured with M5 clinch nuts......

It’s a shame as I feel I’m not achieving much ATM but it’s all hidden little bits. I have bolted a few more powder coated bits on.

The big bit of the puzzle is just around the corner and I can’t wait

 

[Nafoff]

Its all progress mate,
the big stuff can't happen without the small

 

[Hyperhatch]

I’ve taken the plunge and order some big bits. I’m now aiming to put the engine/gearbox in next weekend

First up there’s been no scrimping with the clutch. Gone with the Sachs items...

Gutted to spent £12 on this one Camshaft Dephaser Soleniod Sensor Seal 😳

I’ve also taken delivery of a full set of silicone hose’s. I nearly went with grey, thought about yellow but went with black in the end as I want them to age well and not look grubby

So i’ve got a week of final engines prep and then fingers crossed it all drops in 🤞

 

[JezzaMac]

I ordered the same coolant hoses. Make sure that your current hoses have 2 black ends that go into the heater matrix as mine had one black and 1 silver and you can’t remove the silver one so I had to find someone willing to butcher a set of hoses to send me just 1 black end!

You will also require another 2 clamps of some kind to clamp the heater matrix ends into the hoses! I went with some Mikalor clamps!

 

[Hyperhatch]

I ordered the same coolant hoses. Make sure that your current hoses have 2 black ends that go into the heater matrix as mine had one black and 1 silver and you can’t remove the silver one so I had to find someone willing to butcher a set of hoses to send me just 1 black end!

You will also require another 2 clamps of some kind to clamp the heater matrix ends into the hoses! I went with some Mikalor clamps!

View attachment 1470253

Yeah I still have both black ends. There’s a guide on here which details which jubilee clips to get. All 16 are in the post ATM so fingers crossed they should be the correct ones 🤞

 

[JezzaMac]

Yeah I still have both black ends. There’s a guide on here which details which jubilee clips to get. All 16 are in the post ATM so fingers crossed they should be the correct ones [emoji1696]

I followed the same guide. Think I struggled with 1 clamp that was a bit tight but I got there in the end!

 

[JackJack]

Fair play to you doing all this in a single garage

 

[Hyperhatch]

It’s a big one tonight.......

the engine and gearbox are back together 🥳

All the bits are listed previously but at last I’ve bolted the new lightened flywheel, Sachs pressure plate and clutch and the rebuilt gearbox with gripper diff back together.

My aims to get this all in the car at the weekend. ATM i’m slightly ahead of my target.

In other news i’ve purchased a second hand 197 master cylinder that’s arrived with the correct M12 ports. Euros sent me the wrong one so that’s going back.

All the silicone hoses are built up ready to go in with stainless steal clamps.

I’m desperate for one of these if anyone has a spare one? It’s a heat shield off of a 1.2 clio with the part no 77 00 429 924. If you have one I have the cash waiting!

It’s full steam ahead this week so late nights here we come 👍

 

[Hyperhatch]

Tonight i’ve managed to get the engine to a stage where i’m ready to drop it in the car tomorrow night 😳😃

First up I bolted all the metal work and brackets onto the gearbox. The media blasted items look smart. I will get the top of the engine, engine mount etc done when the cam belt is done next time as it might be all coming apart.... (this is 3 years away)

Next up the the wiring harness. Some bits had seen betters days so time was spent repairing them. Spare plastic trunking was donating from a Honda Civic type R which is in pieces at my mates house as he’s dropping the K20 from it into an Elise ATM.

Then I bolted up the water pipes.

I think it’s already. A final clean up tomorrow and we’ll see how we get on.....

 

[Hyperhatch]

Great day today, the engine and gearbox are back in the car 😁

Getting the engine in wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. The biggest issue getting the engine out was the alternator mounted on the PMS bracket fouling on the body so I took it all off to put the engine back in.

I was going to be happy with this but I cracked on and mounted all the gearbox end brackets, bolted the manifold on, connected all wires to the rear of the car, re attached the gear linkage, connected most of the wiring , mounted the the ECU and brackets, re connected the fuse box.

All in all a good day but there’s still plenty to do!

 

[Hyperhatch]

Some more progress. First up I bolted the headlights back in. I have made some blanks for the headlights but I've put the normal ones back in as I'm planning on MOTing the Clio......

Next up I fitted the new radiator.

I spent time refurbing the slam panel. I think this is the last major piece to paint so its the end of an era

With this all bolted in I filled up the coolant ant touch wood there are no leaks atm

Next job will be the drive shafts. I've dug them out of the loft and painted them black ready for them to go in.

 

[Hyperhatch]

Following on from the last post I’ve now fitted the drive shafts into the Clio.

Next up some nice bits. Turns out my lower inlet and upper inlet were held in by about 2 bolts so I’ve had to wait for a new set to come from the Clio breaker. This was £22 I could have done without spending! They arrived yesterday and some brand new OEM HT leads from RPD came today. I’ve had all the new gaskets sat on the side for a few months now so tonight I’ve bolted them all in.

OEM bung.....

I’m dead happy with how it all looks. The colours match the outside of the car perfectly.

The final liquids arrived today as well. I also have a Sealey pressurised brake bleeder coming this week. I’ve never bleed the brakes on my own before but COVID-19 has cornered me with this so we’ll give it ago!

Due to the garage constrictions I’m going to bypass finishing the battery relocation, fire extinguisher install completion of the EPAS and drop the old girl on it’s wheels and fire it up at last! Then with a car I can drive in and out of the garage I’ll finish all the above listed items. Happy days we have a plan! Sounds simple?! Did I mention the new wheels......

 

[Nafoff]

Interested to see how it goes with the pressurised brake bleeder. May look into one

 

[Hyperhatch]

A 12 hour day on the car with mixed results.

The bad bit - Bleeding the brakes went to s**t. 197/182 hybrid MC didn’t work so I’ve gone back to 182. No problem apart from I lost a lot of brake fluid so need to purchase some more.

The good bits -

I dropped the car off of the axil stands and pushed it outside for the first time this year

I then installed the EPAS which was a little taxing at first but enjoyable in the end.

Next up my plan was to pop the original battery on that I had been charging up all day but turns out it’s duff. So to plan B and I ran the car off of the new battery lashed into the front of the car.

No word of a lie the Clio only fired up after 3/4 seconds of cranking! Happy days. Due to low coolant (more’s on order but it’s due early next week) I only ran it for a very short time. Enough to establish it goes in gear, has a nice bite point and has adjustable EPAS.

Happy days but I feel like the list of remaining items has got longer again!

BTW new wheels are 16’ TD1.2s. They will be my road tyre and wet tyre with Rainsports. At the moment they have some cheapos on but it should get us through the MOT.

I’ve had this car in 16’ and 15’ wheels and it looks so much better on 16s.....

 

[Usr117063]

What was happening with the bleeding? It 100% should work. Ive done it myself a while back and remember having a bit of a situation bleeding the abs pump but it was all good in the end. Did you get a cheap 5L of fluid to start off with?

 

[Hyperhatch]

What was happening with the bleeding? It 100% should work. Ive done it myself a while back and remember having a bit of a situation bleeding the abs pump but it was all good in the end. Did you get a cheap 5L of fluid to start off with?

Big leak, 197 MC and 182 res didn’t mate well and I crossed threaded one of the lines. I’m going standard 182 MC as I’ve had enough with it TBH. Today was brilliant but that bit was s**t. I’ll sort it out when I need to but there’s plenty more to keep me busy

 

[Usr117063]

Those lines are not easy to work with, Ive buggered one of the fittings before. I think its best to thread the mc side first before the pump as it has the flexi.

Did you swap over the seals from the 182 mc for the res barbs?

Tbh, its not an essential upgrade, you could say its more personal preference due to pedal feel. Im using the 197 mc as I want 197 calipers on the rear. One of the things to bare in mind is putting the brembos on the front, which require more fluid to move the pistons than the standard calipers, is that the rear still requires the same amount of fluid, so they will be locking up or wanting to lock up quicker than the fronts.

 

[Hyperhatch]

Still chipping away and I now have an excel list to finish the car #rockandroll !

The new battery is now permanently mounted in the car and the cable is run to a terminal point at the front via an in-line fuse.

I’ve also dropped of the 2118s to be refurbished. They’re not coming back white.....

The spends gone silly on the car but I had to have a new set of tyres. First decent new set of tyres i’ve ever purchased for the Clio 😂

 

[Hyperhatch]

Tyres are here and the wheels should be ready Tuesday. I’m looking forward to getting them on the car.

Pulled another all day shift today. I’ve had to pull the fuel tank out to check for corrosion*. Good job as there was some behind it. That’s all cleaned up and painted now.

Now I can get in and out the car I finished off the fire extinguisher install. There’s still a couple of brackets to make for the inside nozzles and I need a new end for one of the cables but it’s all done apart from that.

Also had time to puts dash back in with the new EPAS knob.

*yeah I drilled a hole though the fuel tank that’s why I had to remove it 🙄 #idiot

 

[Usr117063]

Does the abs work fine with the yaw sensor closer to the dash?

 

[Hyperhatch]

Does the abs work fine with the yaw sensor closer to the dash?

I’ve never had an issue with it and it’s been there along time. Cheers

 

[Hyperhatch]

C5EAD version 3.0 done*

*Apart from all the fettling bits

 

[Eddie555]

Well done mate.. looks proper smart..

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[Hyperhatch]

Well done mate.. looks proper smart..

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Cheers! It’s been a long hard slog but at last I can see the end line and see the results 👍

 

[Hyperhatch]

My 2118s are back and they’re now liquid yellow with anthracite stickers to match the graphics!

 

[frayz]

Thoroughly enjoyed seeing this go back together. Great job, work looks superb, as does the finished car

 

[Hyperhatch]

Thoroughly enjoyed seeing this go back together. Great job, work looks superb, as does the finished car

Cheers & thanks! I’m still a little way away from completion but it’s great to having it st least looking like a car again. I’m looking forward to driving it next!

 

[Twingo 1??]

I have loved watching this thread. What are your plans to do with it now?

 

[Hyperhatch]

Cheers, tbh at times I feel like I’m talking to myself 😂

Next up is new pads and discs for the front, alignment/corner weighting, MOT and finish all the little bits. My aim is to put a few road miles on it and then a trackday (or evening) at Bedford in preparation for the Ring trackday in October.

After that I literally want to use it as much as possible!

Cheers