Jonesaaaay93
ClioSport Club Member
Hello and welcome to my small project!
Now if you are looking to follow a project where I drop some big-a** engine in, or turbo to large numbers then this is not the project to follow... well, that's not the initial plan anyway!
Please note most of the work (if not all) carried out has been and will be done by my good friends Rayo (Phil) and his team at Grange Service Station in Cardiff.
Background
So I've been a member of this site for a few years now, although I've mostly lurked in the dark - not being mechanical at all I don't have much to contribute to solutions and the like. So following on from that I may say/do/state stupid things... purely as I probably have no idea what I'm on about! I originally had an Arctic Blue 182, which I had to sell due to University commitments and basically couldn't afford to keep it running etc on my student loan! After that due to the convenience of living out with the girlfriend; I could use her car to get around so told myself I wouldn't get something until I was in a job and could afford/need my next car.
However, this sensible idea quickly took a turn for the worse when a Liquid Yellow 182 came up for sale! (Psst Spoiler: that's what this project is on!)
So long story short my lesson in life is you get what you pay for! - it was cheap.. for a LY at least, and as such isn't the best condition but we will talk about this below.
The Plan
As I eluded to above, the car is far from perfect condition, which, essentially is the purpose of this project. I'm not looking to transform it into a track slag, or some 500bhp beast. I enjoy the more cosmetic side of things and think that these cars look stunning when 'clean'. Don't be down heartened though, I'd love to turbo it or something one day just because, but that is not the first port of call for me.
Upon First Inspection
Buying the car on just short of 100k miles, at the price I paid wasn't the end of the world - I had no intentions of using it as a daily so the click wont be increasing at a fast pace. However, not long after taking it to it's first MOT it was kindly pointed out that the clocks had at some point been turned back 30k or so.... queue the inner screaming/crying :confounded:. There was no paperwork/mention of a replacement engine or that the clocks where turned back at all (like I said - you get what you pay for). With that aside, the inside of the car smelt of smoke, and the body work wasn't in the best condition. All of that said she seemed to run okay to me so all in I was initially happy with my newest purchase (I can't say recent as this is now over two years on!).
Current State of Affairs
Only a few months down the line the car started to generate an addiction to misfiring. Rayo's intial port of call was of course injectors! We plugged in his little gizmo and sure enough, injector 2 was producing, and I quote the machine code, a 'destructive misfire' (The only destructive work it did was to my sanity!). Injectors replaced, the misfire had calmed down, however it had not completely disappeared. So we plugged it back up and played a fun game of round robin with the injectors, one after another being the apparent cause of this elusive misfire. After changing a full set of injectors and the misfire still not completely disappearing we resorted to spark plugs and leads. Same story. Better, but not solved. Tried a replacement coil pack, lambda sensor, fuel pump, you get the idea. Still no luck, student loan is running thin so she gets stored away for a number of months to be future Steve's problem.
The months pass by and I finally graduate from University (please don't all applause at once), and it's back to the drawing board with an itch to scratch with this misfire. We take another look at the injectors, and would you believe it one of the injectors we previously replaced was faulty (presumably from its initial purchase). So, like a song on repeat we replace the faulty injector. Now although the problem was not completely resolved it was the best it has ever been, albeit a strange situation - when running she purred, no issues at all, as soon as she was sat idle the misfire began to take centre stage again, drive off and back into the dressing room for the misfire. Then when travelling to a friends one evening bang, either a single or a number of the injectors packed in altogether - the destructive misfire was finally here. Smoking more than a cool kid from the 70's it was time for a new plan. I then purchased a full set of second hand injectors with a new rail from a running Clio. Dropped them in. Problem solved. Did I want to jump off a cliff? You bet your a** I did. Nearly 2 years of constantly inconstant running and this is the way I learned that Clios only get along with a certain brand of injector....
So here we have it. My secretly high millage, slightly 'used' condition Clio was finally on the road - and running the best she has ever run!
I think that is enough of a base background for the first post... pictures coming soon...
I hope you've enjoyed the read if you got this far, there is a big surprise which will be dropped in the next update! :fearscream::kissingclosed:
Now if you are looking to follow a project where I drop some big-a** engine in, or turbo to large numbers then this is not the project to follow... well, that's not the initial plan anyway!
Please note most of the work (if not all) carried out has been and will be done by my good friends Rayo (Phil) and his team at Grange Service Station in Cardiff.
Background
So I've been a member of this site for a few years now, although I've mostly lurked in the dark - not being mechanical at all I don't have much to contribute to solutions and the like. So following on from that I may say/do/state stupid things... purely as I probably have no idea what I'm on about! I originally had an Arctic Blue 182, which I had to sell due to University commitments and basically couldn't afford to keep it running etc on my student loan! After that due to the convenience of living out with the girlfriend; I could use her car to get around so told myself I wouldn't get something until I was in a job and could afford/need my next car.
However, this sensible idea quickly took a turn for the worse when a Liquid Yellow 182 came up for sale! (Psst Spoiler: that's what this project is on!)
So long story short my lesson in life is you get what you pay for! - it was cheap.. for a LY at least, and as such isn't the best condition but we will talk about this below.
The Plan
As I eluded to above, the car is far from perfect condition, which, essentially is the purpose of this project. I'm not looking to transform it into a track slag, or some 500bhp beast. I enjoy the more cosmetic side of things and think that these cars look stunning when 'clean'. Don't be down heartened though, I'd love to turbo it or something one day just because, but that is not the first port of call for me.
Upon First Inspection
Buying the car on just short of 100k miles, at the price I paid wasn't the end of the world - I had no intentions of using it as a daily so the click wont be increasing at a fast pace. However, not long after taking it to it's first MOT it was kindly pointed out that the clocks had at some point been turned back 30k or so.... queue the inner screaming/crying :confounded:. There was no paperwork/mention of a replacement engine or that the clocks where turned back at all (like I said - you get what you pay for). With that aside, the inside of the car smelt of smoke, and the body work wasn't in the best condition. All of that said she seemed to run okay to me so all in I was initially happy with my newest purchase (I can't say recent as this is now over two years on!).
Current State of Affairs
Only a few months down the line the car started to generate an addiction to misfiring. Rayo's intial port of call was of course injectors! We plugged in his little gizmo and sure enough, injector 2 was producing, and I quote the machine code, a 'destructive misfire' (The only destructive work it did was to my sanity!). Injectors replaced, the misfire had calmed down, however it had not completely disappeared. So we plugged it back up and played a fun game of round robin with the injectors, one after another being the apparent cause of this elusive misfire. After changing a full set of injectors and the misfire still not completely disappearing we resorted to spark plugs and leads. Same story. Better, but not solved. Tried a replacement coil pack, lambda sensor, fuel pump, you get the idea. Still no luck, student loan is running thin so she gets stored away for a number of months to be future Steve's problem.
The months pass by and I finally graduate from University (please don't all applause at once), and it's back to the drawing board with an itch to scratch with this misfire. We take another look at the injectors, and would you believe it one of the injectors we previously replaced was faulty (presumably from its initial purchase). So, like a song on repeat we replace the faulty injector. Now although the problem was not completely resolved it was the best it has ever been, albeit a strange situation - when running she purred, no issues at all, as soon as she was sat idle the misfire began to take centre stage again, drive off and back into the dressing room for the misfire. Then when travelling to a friends one evening bang, either a single or a number of the injectors packed in altogether - the destructive misfire was finally here. Smoking more than a cool kid from the 70's it was time for a new plan. I then purchased a full set of second hand injectors with a new rail from a running Clio. Dropped them in. Problem solved. Did I want to jump off a cliff? You bet your a** I did. Nearly 2 years of constantly inconstant running and this is the way I learned that Clios only get along with a certain brand of injector....
So here we have it. My secretly high millage, slightly 'used' condition Clio was finally on the road - and running the best she has ever run!
I think that is enough of a base background for the first post... pictures coming soon...
I hope you've enjoyed the read if you got this far, there is a big surprise which will be dropped in the next update! :fearscream::kissingclosed:
