Iceberg ahead

[Balders172]

Well, I'm not sure If I'm crazy or insane but went out and managed to get another clio after 4 years absence!

Managed to pic up this minter with 59k on the clock with one owner from new!

The aim is to put a few little touches on her and keep her mint!

More pics to follow!

 

[c4pob]

Love a good bit of iceberg!

 

[Crybert]

Excellent mileage on that one!

Iceberg is a cracking colour

 

[Balders172]

Just realised the spelling in the title Could admin adjust?

 

[Balders172]

Been a bit slack on here, so last Tuesday I went to see the guys at rentech in Portsmouth and had a full belts, dephaser and pump change.

Was sitting at 70 most the of the way home and the car seemed to pick up and respond much better than it had done and achieved 42mpg all the way home at the consistent 70 speed.

I've been busy accumulating parts the last few months ( thank you to the people who I've bought off including RTR parts and Paul at renparts.

Today I unboxed all the bits and started work on the girl.

 

[Balders172]

 

[gez 172]

Just saw this on FB. Brilliant collection of parts there! Nice to see a low mileage one being taken care of!

 

[Balders172]

Some progress today, not a great deal mind. I spent the day mainly cleaning down and removing all the all components.

Rear struts removed and polybushed the new ones, these will be fitted after a good scrub down in the arches.

Rear calipers, discs and pads next.

Then made a start on cleaning the calipers ready for a paint tomorrow night.

 

[Balders172]

Some of the cleaning stage, I didn't find them toooo bad considering these are all original calipers and discs from new in almost 17 years.

The front the got stripped. Struts came out followed by the wishbones and ball joints then out and inner tracks rods,

That's all for today!

 

[Coops Mk1]

Loving the eclectic catch cans for the brake fluid!

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks like a mercano set, good effort

 

[Dec_NE]

Seen this on facebook. Got a similar plan in mind for my PB 182 - with a bit less space to play with.

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk

 

[Balders172]

Loving the eclectic catch cans for the brake fluid!

Needs must Sir!

Looks like a mercano set, good effort

Haha, ive literally labeled everything.

Seen this on facebook. Got a similar plan in mind for my PB 182 - with a bit less space to play with.

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk

Pretty much on all the cars i've owned I have done it like this, collect the parts then have a mass build off!

Thanks for the comments guys, solid mounts should be turning up to add to the list.

 

[haimsey]

Best colour too :wink:

 

[Balders172]

Just a small update.

Spent a an hour or so painting the calipers, decided on silver as I wanted a nice clean look.

So it went from this...

To this...

Gave the garage a little tidy to.

 

[Balders172]

Little bit of an update.

Managed to get some solid mounts

These will probably get fitted tomorrow. Massive thanks to Paul at renparts again for delivering off some more goodies for the refresh.

Not much in the way of progress due to ill health but never the less it's still progress! I started off by refitting the new rear shocks, solid mounts and springs.

I then decided to clean down the hubs, they just need a lick of black hammerite before everything comes off or goes on. The near side front is totally stripped however I still need to tear down the drivers side.

That's about it for today until tomorrow!

If you think of anything that's worth doing or guidance I'd be greatful

 

[Balders172]

Slightly late on the update, sorry for the double/triple post just keeping this updated for my reference really.

Painted up the rear hubs and beam to give it a freshen up.

I then refitted the discs, pads and calipers.

I fitted the new braided lines at the rear, which makes the rear end pretty much finished.

I cleaned up the underneath afterwoods, just no pics.

 

[R29TJR]

Great progress.

Garage looks amazing.

 

[Djw Dave]

Cracking project.

Proper garage envy though

 

[haimsey]

Good work. Just used hammerite on the rear beam?

 

[Gus]

Loving reading your thread. Changed the title. Be careful letting all the brake fluid out -its a nightmare bleeding the system and ABS when its gone dry.

 

[Djw John]

Loving reading your thread. Changed the title. Be careful letting all the brake fluid out -its a nightmare bleeding the system and ABS when its gone dry.

That's what I was gonna say, great efforts but hopefully air hasn't got into the abs pump. Not the end of the world, just a pain in the arse

 

[Balders172]

Ah balls really?! Sod it I'll just have to persevere with it, I have a feeling it's pretty empty! Any tips when filling it back up?

Good work. Just used hammerite on the rear beam?

Yep just used some hammerite after masking it off.

Cracking project.

Proper garage envy though

Thanks mate, it's getting there. Need to fit the door lifter and alarm/camera kit.

Great progress.

Garage looks amazing.

Thank you sir

 

[Louis]

Did you wire brush all the beam before painting then? Looks great!

 

[Balders172]

Did you wire brush all the beam before painting then? Looks great!

Yh, brushed and wiped the beam down.

I was going to go all out and do underneith... you can go silly with these things. It needs putting back together sometime soon haha

 

[Djw John]

Well if the reservoir is already dry it's too late.

Bleed them as best you can but it'll feel s**t so go find gravel/grass and get the abs to kick in a few times to get the pump moving then bleed again. Might have to do that a few times.
Or if you have a hooky copy of clip you can manually activate the pump. I believe some versions of the RA tuner can do that too but I wouldn't give that prick another penny!

 

[Balders172]

Been a while!

Cracked on with getting the nearside built up,
Started it off with the steering rack bushes.....what a c**t of a job!

Then onto the inner arb bushes again this was a c**t to do but not as bad as the rack bushes.

Then onto resembling the new wishbones, ball joints, inner and outa track rods and suspension struts, I also managed to make a handy tool to undo the inner track rods too!

I'll have to take some more pics tomorrow today's been a long arse day!

Long story short I dissembled the drivers side ready to start the refresh, went to do the steering rack bushes on the drivers side to only realise I would need to undo the nearside again... doh! Never the less the steering rack is fully bushed now!

More update pics tomorrow

 

[Chris_Beer]

Good work making this one mechanically sound. It will drive lovely after all those bits refreshed.

I need to finish mine off with the wishbones and ARB bushes and probably the rack too. Any tips on the bushes? Everyone says they are a nightmare (including you) lol.

Also... nice workshop you have to do it in !! Are they the floor pads Halfords have on offer at the moment? Just concrete floor?

 

[Balders172]

Good work making this one mechanically sound. It will drive lovely after all those bits refreshed.

I need to finish mine off with the wishbones and ARB bushes and probably the rack too. Any tips on the bushes? Everyone says they are a nightmare (including you) lol.

Also... nice workshop you have to do it in !! Are they the floor pads Halfords have on offer at the moment? Just concrete floor?

Yes mate they are the Halfords ones.

You'll need the following for the rack bushes

16mm socket
Medium reach extension
13mm ratchet spanner.
A pry bar
2 people ideally
Lots of patience

If I was doing it again I'd use a ramp however I don't have that luxury really so I would leave the rear of the car on the floor and jack the front as high as possible. I found room was the main issue to be honest, I think I've used muscles today that I've never used because it was so cramped lol.

When doing the drivers side rack bush there is a bracket holding on the rack, at first I thought I wouldn't need to get that off..... I was mistaken get that fucker out the way your new bush with fit on with ease after that.

Once the bushes are on and the clamps are ready to be tighten up you need someone really to prise them shut as you do the bolts up.

 

[Balders172]

Got cracking on tonight doing nicertys.
First of all I sorted out the discoloured patches on the heat shield.

It went from this...

To this....

I then set about cleaning the hub and painting it. I also took the time to get a sponge out and give the arch a bit of clean.

So again it went from looking like this... (granted it's the drivers side I had a picture of but you get the idea)

To this..... tadarrrrrrr!

I'm pretty chuffed with how it's going to be honest. I've pretty much finished the nearside front now baring the caliper, discs and pads.

So far I have completed the following on the NSF.
- Inner track rod
- track rod end
- inner arb bush
- outer arb bush
- steering rack bush
- wishbone
- ball joint
- braided line
- cleaned and painted hub
- arch cleaned down
- new bolts throughout
- cooksport spring
- shock gaitor
- top mount
- front strut
- lick of paint here and there

Next up is repeating the exact same for the drivers side front which should be happening throughout the evenings this week.

Thanks for looking

 

[c4pob]

Great updates. Well done.

 

[Matthew]

This is exactly what I want to do. Great progress mate.

 

[Balders172]

Thanks mate,

Its slow progress however i'm lucky enough to borrow the Mrs car so no major rush.

 

[Clio_fool]

Good going there sir. This has also confirmed my belief that rack and arb bushes are easiest to fit with a few £ in somebody else's pocket[emoji23]

 

[Balders172]

Another weekend spent on the French money pit lol, I moan but I enjoy it really.

Started off by fitting new discs and pads and the freshly painted calipers.

After this I decided to crack on with the upper gearbox and engine mount. During this I drained down the gearbox and gave it some fresh oil.

Old mount was pretty shot once I got the b*****d thing out.

In with the new! I managed to crack the sodding casting when tightening up the bolts so I'll have to rip it all out again to replace that. I made the roocky error of over tightening on the far right bolt that connects to the suspension pillar and it just popped!

It'll just have to sit whilst the new casting arrives.

Moving onto the engine mount (much easier)

All torqued up and sitting nicely.

I was pissed off with myself still for snapping the battery tray/upper gearbox casting so I moved onto something less stressful... filling the gearbox back up.

Going through some pics I found ones I had missed off.

When I renewed the arb bushes.

That's all for today.

Tomorrow will be an attempt to bleed the brakes.

 

[Balders172]

Feck it was cold tonight! Managed to bleed the brakes!

I've got to say this bit of kit is brilliant!

I managed to strip down the gearbox mount again for the new casting that is being delivered off tomorrow.

 

[Balders172]

So I've managed to put the car back together (at last) however upon start up it seems slightly on idle and hesitates when i blip the throttle. Would anyone know what this would be down to? The car has been sat for just over 3 months, could it just need a good run?

 

[Dec_NE]

So I've managed to put the car back together (at last) however upon start up it seems slightly on idle and hesitates when i blip the throttle. Would anyone know what this would be down to? The car has been sat for just over 3 months, could it just need a good run?

Breather / vac pipes on upper inlet on OK?

 

[Balders172]

I'm pretty sure it's ok however i will double check them, thank you.

Just a tad annoying after putting everything back on...

 

[Dec_NE]

I'm pretty sure it's ok however i will double check them, thank you.

Just a tad annoying after putting everything back on...

I know the feeling - i'm 95% of the way through putting my 182 engine back in and hopefully going to have it started tonight or tomorrow... we will see!