First project car (clio 1.6 16v mkII)

[vidotti]

Good afternoon,
I am thinking of buying a renault clio 1.6 16v 3-door as my first track toy/car. I heard they are quite reliable, even on track, without modifying things such as engine, cooling and similar things. I thought about modifying it around suspension, brakes tyres and then slowly go on. What would be your reccomendations? Are the gearboxes fragile and is short shifter worth it? Is the engine original cooling system alright? Are 3-door and 5-door versions the same? I have some for sale that are crashed, but the engine and similar stuff look alright, so i could throw things around if the 3-door clio has any faults. The car is 20 years old, i espect some rust underneath and similar stuff...
This is how I would like to modify it. I do NOT OWN THIS CLIO, AND IT IS NOT FOR SALE, found it on instagram!!!
Thanks!

 

[K4M_clio]

Go with the k4m engine (phase 2/3) is the only advice I can give as the earlier k7m commonly suffers with head gasket going especially if your tracking it

 

[vidotti]

Go with the k4m engine (phase 2/3) is the only advice I can give as the earlier k7m commonly suffers with head gasket going especially if your tracking it

Thank you, will keep this in mind!