Help!! Williams 3

[chrisbooth5]

Have I bought myself a turkey, or am I just worrying too much? you guys know more about clios than i do, so any advice would be appreciated....

I recently parted with a large wedge of (hard earned) cash
for a 95 N plate Renault Clio Williams 3. I wasnt unduly worried, as Id
had a Clio 16v previously which was pristine - well looked after, tidy and
immaculate. Sadly, my rip-off vision glasses were at the menders when I went to see the Williams... It looked great, sounded great, and all boded well,so I bought it.

The first two washes were the worst....

During the first, Id discovered the car had been resprayed.....badly. The
bottom of each front door were pretty rusty, and theyd painted straight
over it - no prep or anything. t**sers.

During the second, I was well pissed off. Both wheel arches were (apparently) immaculate, but on closer inspetion, the paint was peeling from the arch lip, with rust evident beneath. With some wire brushing, Ive got down to some of the bare (decent) metal, though it was extensive and got fairly far back towards the centre of the car. The idiot who resprayed it had even had the rubbery protective final coat appllied with the rust still underneath!!! The sills appear to be affected also, although (hopefully) not as badly - I havent had chance to check thoroughly yet.

When hoovering the car mats, I noticed the passenger side mat to be a little
raised. I probed further and lifted it up.... geez, I was upset when I found
what I found. The entire carpet and underlay were sodden.... totally wet. As
a hose-pipe demonstrated, the door was letting in water around the door
frame. I can only assume the dodgy paint-sprayer replaced the rubber seals
wrongly. I am at a loss as to how to rectify this, as Ive tried re-jigging
the rubber strip with minimal success.

Please, does anyone have any solutions to any of the problems Ive
described? My worry is that if corners have been cut externally on cosmetic
features, then they will have been on crucial mechanical matters also.
Although the engine blows no smoke, and runs ok. so far....

Sorry its so long-winded!

 

[Rajk]

sorry to hear your problems, i would suggest that you try new seals, or it may be the case that the door has been replaced and is not in line with the rest of the car, so at the point at where the door meets the car may have a wider gap and this may be letting in the water, i found this when i replaced a door on my old valver, cured the problem by putting clear silicone seal on the inside of the doors edge,(if that makes sense) and it stopped the water coming in. try and remove the inner mat and dry it out, leaving it in the sun, oh by the way it will stink!

 

[northy]

Ive recently bought a Williams 3, and am new to this game. Rusty rear wheel arches are quite common ive found. (see my post on rust spots) My cars previous owner had the arches done 2 years ago, (just starting to reappear, Ill nip that in the bud soon). The respray went up to the roof line to plend the paint into the existing.

There will be rust - theres no getting away from that. After all it 8 years old. Just take your time and make a list of what needs doing. Then either have a go yourself - or book it into the specialists and have it done. Post a few pictures of the rough bits, they might not be that bad to me

New door seals should stop the water leak. Just check that the floor pan isnt rust, or that will get worse if untreated.

How much did you pay for it ? As a guide they go from around £4500 - £7000 that ive seen.

Keep with it and make it a minter !

RiCh

 

[morgan349]

Ill second what northy_com says on the rust front. I also just brought my williams 3 recently and it did have a few spots round the arches (under the paint)....its bound to happen.

yank out the carpets, keep them indoors to dry them. make sure the footwells are dry any thoughly inspect the bottom of the doors. close the door slowly and check alignment.

Its easy to get disheartened by a few things wrong with a car, but put a bit of time in and shell be spot on...

 

[chrisbooth5]

Thanks guys, must admit Im feeling a bit better about it already! Im wire-brushing/rubbing down the arches and bubbly bits of the sills to clean metal [though Ive already come across a few areas of filler ((] then I intend to treat with fertan, primer, then paint. Any other tips that I should be doing?

I forgot to mention, its done 108,000 miles, but sounds/runs fine, no smoke at all. Are these engines pretty strong? It uses little/no oil, I use redex and have slick 50d the oil. Only other concern is that the power steering is quite whiney when steering - is this normal?

Thanks again for your replies - its reassuring to know others have the same things happening to them. One guy posted in a newsgroup that it must be a cutn shut job - now that had me worried!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Louise]

how much u pay for it out of interest?? Re Power steering.. mine whines a bit at slow speeds.. Ive heard its nothing to worry about...

 

[chrisbooth5]

Hi Louise, I got it about 8 weeks ago, it cost £4k

 

[dan c]

just a point but can you use redex with a cat?? thought is poops up the emissions? and my steering whinges as well when parking.....hey, dont get disheartened i have had loads of times where i think s+*t, ba"%a*d car!!! but when you beat the nuts off corsas, saxos and all the rest with ease its well worth it. i think they a fab cars.

 

[eves]

they are quality cars!! stick with it matey, slowly but surely do bits to it and make it into a real stunner!!!!

my clio whines like crazy at slow speeds and when parking!!!!!!

rust appeared around my back arches, got it sorted bout 6months ago she looks gleeming now!!!

 

[king.stromba]

Take your wire brush and become familiar with its function. Do not let it out of your sight. Sleep with it, eat with it. Give it a girls name.

The rust is your enemy. You must kill the rust, or the rust will kill you. Now let me hear your war cry..........

 

[northy]

Thats a good price for a Williams. I was a bit upset with mine the day i washed it. Found a few things id missed when giving it the once over.

I tell you - the next time i buy a car ill take my bucket and a sponge.

Dont forget to check on the inside of the wheel arch - where the seal sealer is used for rust. You might have to dig abit of sealer out, treat the rust and reseal. This is where mine is needing work. Also remove the rear passenger side panel - as this allows you to get accsess RIGHT into the sill.

Buy shares in waxoil pal. I use enough of the stuff on my motors to protect from rust.

RiCh

 

[chrisbooth5]

LOL! Will do, I shall call it Sharon

rust is the enemy, rust is the enemy, rust is the enemy, rust is the enemy, rust is the enemy, rust is the enemy... yeah!!!

Thanks again for all your amazing responses - this clio forum is excllent - Im amazed by how quickly Ive received so many kind, helpful replies

Cheers!

 

[northy]

How you getting on ?

 

[chrisbooth5]

Getting there - slowly!

The passenger side arch aint too bad, rubbed it down (made a small hole when scraping off the rubbery paint stuff - oops!) and Ive sprayed it with fertan. Spent yesterday scraping/brushing the drivers side arch - much worse... the edge of the rim is all perforated (once id started stripping off the bodged paint work) and theres rust mixed with filler. To be honest, not sure what to do next! Do I strip right back to good metal and use body filler myself? (as if I rubbed all the rust off, Id lose a fair bit of the wheel arch rim!!). What do I do with the other arch now the rusts treated - do i primer, paint... and where do you get that rubbery paint from?!!!

Bl**dy rust!!

 

[Illusion]

Just outta interest mate, how much u pay for the little Willy?

 

[chrisbooth5]

I paid £4k for it, quite good price, but itd done 107k miles when I got it

 

[northy]

The rubbery stuff is factory applied called - anti stone chip.

Halfords sell the stuff, but i think you will need a compressor and spray gun to use it. Ill find out the name of the stuff ive used in the past. And post tomorrow.

Normally you clean back to good metal, remove all traces of rust, treat the metal with rust killer/stopper, then either primer or - if needed apply the anti stone chip coating and then spray with body colour.

Body filler is ok if used propally, and not for a bodge. If its baddly gone and rusted through, welding in a new arch might be your best option in the long run.

Get a picture posted and i can see how far youve got.

RiCh

 

[chrisbooth5]

cheers Rich - much appreciated. digi-cam is u/s at the mo unfortunately. next job on me list - get camera mended!!

Chris

 

[northy]

Hi Chris,

This is the stuff i use -

http://www.dinitrol.co.uk/automotive.htm

It looks complex at first but all the info is there you will need for stone chip and cavity wax.

 

[chrisbooth5]

Cheers - appreciate that!



Chris