Jenic's AG200

[jenic]

Well I didn't expect my project thread to start on day 1 😂

Today I drove the long old drive down to Portsmouth and traded in my Civic runabout for an AG200.

The car is a regular 200 with cup pack, plus BT/Nav and what I believe to be a dealer option leather interior which is a bit marmite. The car has had 1 owner from new, I'd be interested to talk to the first owner to understand the history and interior a little better, I believe they're a friend of @Owen from some FB stalking.

I was a little disappointed when I collected the car by a couple of paint issues, but my uncle who I went with did remind me it was a 12 year old car. The issues are cloudy headlights, but they should restore, a really bad touch up job on the rear bumper about the size of a 50p piece, presumably due to loading damage, and some marks on the drivers side sill from getting in and out. The rest of the paint is very good condition wise, it was ceramic coated at some point and it does look like the paintwork has been well kept.

The car drives really well, good power and the GB is lovely which was important.

Plan is to keep it stock, as it is an unmodified example. It's due a service later this year, but I negotiated a deal without the service the dealer offered as I want to do it myself, so that will be the first thing I do.

Anyway, a couple of pictures:

Dealer shot of the interior:

Will do another post with the collection day events next.

 

[jenic]

So on the test drive everything worked perfect, even the wipers...

About half way home this changed, they got slower, and slower, and stopped. This was less than ideal as the rain was getting heavier.

We pulled in to services and bought some fancy window cleaner, they actually had a really nice selection of detailing products, and polished the windscreen to try and create a rainX effect. And amazingly it worked, just the one crappy picture of it beginning to streak up but as long as we maintained 60 the screen self cleared and we made it home.

Got back home around 4pm, and took the linkage off.

It was a bit mucky under there but not too bad:

We managed to dismantle the linkage, clean up and relube, before re assembling:

The sense of relief when it finally came apart was much welcomed, the right side was so so bad, but went back together lovely.

Unfortunately, on the way home we seem to have blown the motor, a bit of diagnostics work by myself is showing us getting the high signals as you would expect so I was pretty sure it's just a motor issue:

@Yorkshire Pudding also recommended whacking the motor and that did spring it into life, for a few minutes, then it died.

So tomorrow I'll go get a motor and fit it all back, hopefully it's going to be fine then. But what an unexpected polava, could have done without this tbh, not the first part of my ownership project that I was expecting.

 

[MarcB]

@jenic looking at the scuttle drain it looks like there has been water ingress from previous.

Check the rubber bungs either side and get a hose down there and get the drain holes cleaned.

 

[jenic]

@jenic looking at the scuttle drain it looks like there has been water ingress from previous.

Check the rubber bungs either side and get a hose down there and get the drain holes cleaned.

Cheers, will check that out tomorrow too!

 

[Ocsltd]

Subscribed. Quite jealous to be fair, would love an AG.
Please keep the updates and pics coming..... 👍

 

[t90_lle]

Subbed… the AG colour is definitely growing on me!

 

[Owen]

Such a great colour! Looks lovely Mike.
You’ve got me intrigued re possible friend on FB, I can’t think off the top of my head who it could be!

 

[jenic]

Had a pretty busy day today, after a trip to the gym because I'm some sort of mentalist that doesn't like rest, I nipped to euros and bought the massively overpriced motor.

Gave the whole area a good clean and tried to grease up bits we could (strut tops bolts etc) and then installed the new motor and refurbished linkage.

Manky strut top:

All cleaned and fitted:

Someone has been in here before, the rubbers on the drain holes were missing, but it's been suggested these are best removed anyway!

Then we put the trim back and tested the wipers, a bit slow to start tbh but using a hose pipe to keep the screen wet the linkages seemed to work the grease around and it now is behaving as good as you would expect a clio to behave.

This afternoon I had to venture up north to Settle, where I experienced a blizzard, before cutting back across home to York. The wipers behaved all the way, I'm slowly gaining confidence with them again.

Driving the roads up in the dales was awesome, really brought a smile to my face and took me back to my old clios.

Finally, since the main reason I have a normal car alongside the Porsche is to fit a bike in it, so I tested my bike box did indeed fit!

Such a great colour! Looks lovely Mike.
You’ve got me intrigued re possible friend on FB, I can’t think off the top of my head who it could be!

I will pm you rather than put their name on here!

 

[jameswrx]

Good stuff. Really must do mine under there.

Bike box! Never seen one, interesting bit of kit.

 

[Chris V6 255]

Looking forward to seeing progress on this.
I do like those seats 👍🏻

 

[jenic]

I've been away for the past couple of weeks, so the clio has just sat in the airport car park. Came back to a dead battery, I'm hoping it's just a battery issue as it hasn't really been used since the start of the pandemic. Chucked a new battery in for what they cost and we'll see how it goes.

Today I drove up to Newcastle to collect some speedlines, going to get them refurbished black, have some F1s ready to fit too.

Then this afternoon I decided to tackle a couple of small jobs, first of all the headlights, they were faded particularly at the top so I had a go on them with this stuff I got given by a friend a few years ago:

It works surprisingly well, saves going for a full sand down refurb which I'm a bit scared I'll mess up.

Here is the half way point, drivers side almost done, passenger side not touched.

Drivers side done for now:

Passenger side before, it's mostly the top that's bad:

Passenger side after:

I'm really happy with the result for less than an hours effort, they could be better but for now it's a massive improvement.

I also took the plate off, if you look at an earlier picture it's a mess, gave it a good clean and replaced the screws. I'm keen to keep the plates as they are the original supplying dealer ones. It came up well:

 

[jenic]

More service things today, wheels are still at the powder coaters, they're being super slow, but not really in a massive rush.

Went to my uncles to use the pit, did a full service (air/cabin/oil/GB oil/plugs), check out the state of the GB oil in the pic below 🤮

Took the inlet mani off and gave it a little clean up too, could do with doing a better job at a later date and take the lower half off too.

Mid clean:

After (for now):

New wipers too, this has made a massive difference, they wipe so much better than the Bosch ones they replace, and they look nicer too:

New mats too, the old ones were original, but horrible:

Changed the stat, it now warms up to where it should be, before and after:

Also cleaned up the rear plates and fitted new bolts:

I also repaired the rear washer, the pipe had split under the arch liner so I had to pop to the motor factors for some bits to repair it, this meant I got a trip out in my uncle's Twizy which is fun!

I have found a split in my MAP sensor, so have siliconed that up until I can buy another one.

The car drives so much better now, the gear changes are slick and general drivability seems much improved. It's hard to say exactly why but the MAP and the stat are probably the main reason I suspect.

 

[Clio_fool]

Good work👍. I'm glad your happy with it, what's it been like to live with?

 

[jenic]

Good work👍. I'm glad your happy with it, what's it been like to live with?

Cheers.

I'm starting to trust it more, when the wipers broke on day 1 and then the battery failed the first time I relied on it I lost confidence. It's a fun thing to drive, it's got a decent set of features, and people do comment on the colour so it's alright I guess. I'm excited to get the new wheels/tyres on and the alignment done, it's fun having something to tinker with again.

It also complements the Porsche really well, one of the reasons I wanted NA was so I don't jump in the Porsche and it feels slow, which it would if I'd bought something FI. I would prefer something newer but I don't think there's any good NA hot hatch newer than a 200 out there.

 

[jenic]

Got my wheels back on Tuesday, a lad in my village owns a tyre place to he took them to work for me to get the tyres put on. Also did a quick sealant on the alloys too, think my poorboys stuff is still at my parent's house so had to use some AG stuff I found in a gift pack.

The bolts were pretty rusty looking so I gave them a quick wire brush and spray with some galvanising paint, probably won't last but it's better than rusty looking for now

Gave the arches a quick wipe over, the paint started flaking off the caliper so gave up cleaning that for now

Dirty:

Slightly less dirty:

Fitted:

I much prefer the look to the stock cup wheels, might even wash the car this weekend. Wheel alignment is booked in for Tuesday too.

I want to replace the B pillar stickers next, seen some nice looking ones on eBay but a bit worried about removing the old ones.

 

[Ocsltd]

Looks great! Loving this thread. 👍

 

[jenic]

This week I got the alignment done, it wasn't that far out at all but the steering wheel was misaligned. When I cleaned the arches I sprayed penetrating fluid on the TREs but they were brand new, suspect they never had it aligned properly after fitting them.

Really been enjoying driving the car the last few days, it's an awesome little toy, and I definitely trust it a lot more now I have decent tyres and it drives straight!

A couple of small updates, swapped out the interior bulbs for LED, bought the ones recommended on clio197:

Before:

After:

I did plan to do the number plate lights, but someone has broken one of the lens' in the past and glued it up. So I got some eBay special LED array ones, the fitment was terrible, had to Dremel it to get the original connector to fit.

This pic shows the LED array on the left and an LED bulb in the original fitting on the right, massive difference!

Finally today I gave the car it's first wash, obligatory SF pic:

Got to say, I'm very happy with the cars now, nothing silly fast but both brilliant driver's cars which after the M135i I realise is more important to me these days.

 

[jenic]

This car is a money pit, today’s unnecessary purchase:

 

[Krarl]

A steering wheel?

I dunno mate, they're kinda necessary 😂

 

[jenic]

First proper breakdown.

Having a couple of days up in the lakes, driving along and hit a pothole, heard a weird noise. Pulled over and the front spring carrier/base of shock is touching the tyre.

No idea whats failed, but now waiting for recovery to come and take me home.

 

[jenic]

It wouldn't be a clio thread without one of these pics, looking like a snapped spring, I'm now waiting at a services to be relayed home which is a bit s**t.

Don't think I'll have enough light today to start taking it apart so that's a job for tomorrow afternoon.

 

[jenic]

Mk2's are so much easier to work on, what a s**t design to get the strut out.

It took me until it was out to work out what had failed, the bottom spring carrier/plate had corroded badly and broken away from the body.

 

[Krarl]

Seen that happen on a few Scenics and Kangoo's

Only ones stored on the middle shelf of the Pacific though🤣🤣

 

[jenic]

Seen that happen on a few Scenics and Kangoo's

Only ones stored on the middle shelf of the Pacific though🤣🤣

That's the thing, the rest of the car is really clean, no rust underneath or on any suspension/chassis components except the front shocks. A lot could have been replaced though, the front rad support has at some point.

 

[Clio_fool]

My shocks are rusty too. Seems Renault skimped on the coatings on the mk3.

 

[jenic]

The MK2 was so much better. Two shock bolt and bosh, shock came out.

Onto the passenger side, pinch bolt nut came off easy, but the bolt was seized good, time for fire

The bolt is out, the shock is moving but it's way more seized than the other side. Stopped for the evening now, might do some more tomorrow evening if I have time after work.

 

[jenic]

I bought a bigger hammer and broke loads of wood but got the b*****d out last night:

The 'good' one is only bent because it was also pretty corroded so I stuck it in a vice to see if It snapped when I whacked it with a hammer 😂

Springs and top mounts actually look decent, but I'm just replacing with all new, I don't want to have to do this job again.

 

[Clio_fool]

Not putting lowering springs on while you have the chance?

 

[jenic]

Not putting lowering springs on while you have the chance?

I considered it, but I want to keep this one standard. I think my modding days are behind me 😂

Got it all back together tonight, excuse the copper slip, I was being impatient with the brush. The only thing I need is new pinch bolts now, got some on order to collect in the morning and then it's done.

As always, hours to dismantle and minutes to put back together. Absolutely loving the new Milwaukee tools as well, spring compressors with an impact gun is life changing.

 

[Clio_fool]

😂 I said the same about mine and I've driven it 4 miles and already got mods to go on🙄. Did you get the shocks from rpd? I was looking the other day and they are slightly dearer for mine☹️.

 

[boultonn]

I bought a bigger hammer and broke loads of wood but got the b*****d out last night:

View attachment 1593868

View attachment 1593869

The 'good' one is only bent because it was also pretty corroded so I stuck it in a vice to see if It snapped when I whacked it with a hammer 😂

Springs and top mounts actually look decent, but I'm just replacing with all new, I don't want to have to do this job again.

State of those 🙈
Love an AG though, tbf these need spacers more than lowz.

 

[jenic]

😂 I said the same about mine and I've driven it 4 miles and already got mods to go on🙄. Did you get the shocks from rpd? I was looking the other day and they are slightly dearer for mine☹️.

Yes all from RPD, except the pinch bolts, I'm picking them up from my local dealer tomorrow. I was going to send the springs back when I saw how good the old ones were but then decided it's best to just use all new. The only thing I've reused is the dust covers/bump stops as they were perfect.

State of those 🙈
Love an AG though, tbf these need spacers more than lowz.

Yes, in hindsight I should have maybe got cup racer speedlines for the larger offset.

 

[MarcB]

Good read and nice updates.

Only thing I would do is change the wheel bolts as they will rust again in no time.

Im running TPI wheel bolts.

 

[jenic]

Good read and nice updates.

Only thing I would do is change the wheel bolts as they will rust again in no time.

Im running TPI wheel bolts.

View attachment 1593920
View attachment 1593921

They look mint! I had them on my Trophy from the group buy on here about 10 years ago now. Do you know the correct size? Or even better have a link?

 

[MarcB]

@jenic

For the standard Clio 197 you want to contact https://www.taperpro.co.uk


The bolt size you want is -

M14 x 1.5
28mm
60° Tapered

 

[jenic]

Collected the pinch bolts this morning, got them straight on and it’s all done!

Went for a super quick spin, rides lovely, also a knock I had which I was sure was an engine mount has gone away too, presume it was the drop link which I’ve renewed.

 

[jenic]

Always something to do when you own a Clio, the windscreen washer motor started intermittently playing up, grabbed one from the scrapyard while I was there last, didn't even know I'd need it at the time but seemed worth grabbing.

Fitted it today and it's now working a charm. Much more powerful too, had to adjust the jets down, the old one must have been on the way out. Lots of crap came out of the bottle so that might have buggered up the old one.

The other issue I've had is the non-return valve wasn't working for the rear washer, I've no idea where it's supposed to be, I assume in line somewhere so I decided to just fit one near the pump, this has also sorted this issue.

All in all, a successful day!

 

[Stefan.]

I could see you selling this a while ago sadly.

You never seemed to gel with it.

 

[jenic]

A set of matching Recaros finally came up, kerching!!!!!

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[Clio_fool]

So are you keeping the car then or just looking to increase its value? HSC are selling one they bought off Facebook a while back for £8k and in surprised they haven't bought yours tbh.