Gris Eclipse Phase 1

[Optimista]

Hi all,

Let me present you something unique, let's head back to 2008 when birth of this car started

It was rainy day in May of 2008. in Croatia and faithfull to BMW driver stereotype, E36 M3 was speeding through the town carrying too much speed and crashed 2 or 3 cars, and one of them was a parked silver phase 1.

If you think this looks bad, take a glance at the M3.. And yes, the driver tried to escape with the car in this state..

And then, the sad owner of the phase 1 got to thinking, what to do next, he just couldnt bare the fact he has lost his loved car and that was the end of that era..

Lucky for him, it was still 2008. and clio 2 was still kinda newish, and he had an splendid idea. Contact Renault and check if they have new chassis avaliable.. Few weeks later this showed up on pallet from Slovenia.

 

[Optimista]

Since this was all on forum, the members went wild when they saw this project 😂

This meant a bare chassis, brand new, and everything had to be reassembled from the old car, and the bad bits had to be bought new.

He then decided the want's to paint the car in a colour that Clio 2 never recieved, but it was a new Renault colour back then.

Gris eclipse B66.

Painting the interior

New Phase 1 front subframe

Stripping the old car

 

[Optimista]

Starting to look like something from the inside

The state of old shock

On it's wheels, kinda

 

[Optimista]

New bits from Renault

Engine in, and everything on front end was wrapped in powerflex

Ready for lick of new paint

 

[Optimista]

Shell painted, new wheels

Assembly

 

[Optimista]

Assembled finally

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Thats amazing, out of curiosity, what did Renault charge for the chassis back then?

 

[Whisker biscuit]

Assembled finally

View attachment 1668756

View attachment 1668757
View attachment 1668758

Well that’s just f**king beautiful 😍

 

[G. Brzęczyszczykiewicz]

 

[Optimista]

AS the years went on and owners changed, the car got updates..

aluminum pulleys

in 2010. New engine

Ligthened flywheel

Pipercams BP270

And then the same owner went ahead and designed cyclops intake manifold on this car, some of you may remember this..

 

[Optimista]

State of the car in 2015.

And here you can see a clip from the setup of the car at the time.. Check out the channel, he has lots of videos of it



And that was last reply to that thread all the way to year 2020. when car was found it this state.

And bought by a mechanic.

Engine out and rebuild, i think it had spun a bearing or something like that, dont remember anymore

 

[Optimista]

Bascially he threw a lots of money in it..

New koni shocks

And the car was slowy getting to it's former glory

Diff plate..

 

[Optimista]

And the luck was going on strong with this car, it changed the owner in 2020. and returned back to Split and got a shiltload of care and money spent on it..

Ported intake, silicone hoses, new injectors, carbon bits, interior damping, and whole interior painted to refresh the old plastic and leather seats

 

[Optimista]

Thermosticker for the seats ( like you have prints on t shirts ), painted fenders, tessa intake

CS 197 Brembo on front

 

[Optimista]

I know the car for last 3 years, been in contact with previous owner from Split, and always admired this example...
And 2 months ago, he sent me a message with an offer I couldnt refuse.. I sold my phase 1, and waited for him to return from overseas

Basically he is a proper gearhead, but kinda leaning to Italy

And finally when I arrived in Split to pickup the car, this was what waited for me.

Alcantara wheel with renault sport colours stiches

And a bit of cleaning at home

 

[Whisker biscuit]

Bit rude but how much did you hand over for it ?

 

[Daz...]

That’s bloody lovely.

 

[Optimista]

And write up after a while of owning it.

The colour wasnt growing on me on the pictures on forum, but in person, it's very unique colour and suits the car very well, i'm in love..
It still has the cams, and a remap. The car pulls like a train in comparation to my old oem phase 1, goes really well.

The koni shocks are amazing, powerflex is still on the car and no change in clearance even after 15 years. The light parts ( flywheel, pulleys ) are making a unbeliveable difference, the throttle is responsive like 2 stroke!

Interior feels almost like new, and the car isnt showing it's age.

So the current setup would be

• Rebuild engine 10 000 km ago
• Pipercams BP270
• Tessa larger throttle body
• Silicone hoses
• Ported intake
• Lightened flywheel and aluminum pulleys ( crank and water pump )
• Remap
• K&N filter in standard box
• Belts done
• Koni yellows with eibach sportline
• Brembo at front with brembo maxx discs
• DS 2500 pads all around
• Ultraleggeras 16" with continental contisport3
• 172 mani, sport cat, middle and rear muffler, I think 2.25" diameter
• Rear shim spacers, 10mm

I'm just in love with the car, this is what a clio sport should feel like, asking you to floor it.

And of course, no car is perfect, so i changed the bits that I could, at first

Bare in mind, the powerflex on wishbones and arb is in great condition but dog bone is shot!

Replaced with hard mount for now, I have strongflex insert laying around

Got an wheel aligment

Rear right ( for UK drivers the drivers rear ) scrubs sometimes, especially is somebody is in the rear seats.. As the car has rear shim spacers, I thought it needs a camber, but it already has 2 degree of camber.. Rear beam bushes are OEM and I hope the polyurethane bushes will solve this, before I do anything else

And a new plastic for gear selector, as old one is shot and has tons of play

Rear caliper is new but the pad is not catching the disc on all the surface, which is strange.. I lubed the sliders but the problem stays the same.. Bare in mind on this side there was a faulty caliper before and I think it maybe wore the disc or the pad in the strange way.. we'll see with the mileage if this problem still persists..

And payed a visit to my buddy, also renault sport enthusiast

And thats about it for now.. I have a lots of things in plan for it, but the important thing is , it's mine now, so I'll take it easy

Weighted the car with 1 dot above half tank of fuel

Custom plate

 

[Optimista]

Thats amazing, out of curiosity, what did Renault charge for the chassis back then?

TBH would know that

Well that’s just f**king beautiful 😍

I agree!

View attachment 1668767

LOL, it's funny cause this is the sad truth.. I cant get syncros from Renault anymore, they stopped all their production for older cars.. They went to s***s

Bit rude but how much did you hand over for it ?

It was a friendly price, 6000 euros

That’s bloody lovely.

yep!

 

[Whisker biscuit]

It was a friendly price, 6000 euros

Massive bargain 😵

 

[Optimista]

Catching the sunset

 

[Optimista]

Bought Sabelt steering wheel. Although oem one is fresh and has renautl sport colors stiching, the siting position is very bad and I cant get used to it whatever I try.. Maybe if I had longer hands it would be good 😂

Also bought RS floor mats, but what I didn't know, aparrently there's a difference between PH1 and PH2 pedals, because when i press the clutch pedal fully, it catches the floor mat.. THe solution is to pull the mat as back as possible.. Just standard renault thing with PH1 and PH2 difference.. f**k me lol

Also switched the switch for passenger window as the one in the car was requering strong pull to work.. Replaced the bulb also..

Cheers

 

[Filipe Dias]

Lovely!

 

[Optimista]

Went on a drive today on a mountain top to strech it's leg from sitting in garage

 

[Optimista]

After 5 years of searching, managed to find OEM almost perfect state, blue carpets... Thought I'd never find them

New wheels bolted

Ronal 16" x 8J

Shame the brembos are hiding behing now 😂