Kit's Ph1 172

[KitsonRis]

Thought about doing this since I joined the other week, but not really done much in that week on the car! But thought I would just say what the plans are.

So the car has been owned since October 2012 as a replacement track day car for my step dad, brother and myself. This is it on the first time out at Llandow in the rain, back in Decmeber 2012 (sorry about the picture quality, no idea where my step dad got it from!)


This is me out at Combe back in September


It was then stripped out an two bucket seats put in...mmmm nice and brown! As I have mentioned before, no idea why we chose brown, but being local and less than £100 for the pair it was a bit of a steal!


I then had a 6 month test drive from last July as I sold my daily drive and needed a car and this was spare. I then decided to buy it, bargain at £750!! Then spent £495 (inc VAT and labour!!!) on a cambelt and aux belt change (thanks Trade and Save in Gloucester!! Good guys they are).

So what I intend on doing with the car is keep it nice, clean and looked after. At 143k miles it isn't going to be worth a great deal when I come to sell it in a few years. So I just want to make it stand out a bit and that little bit more desirable. Will be reading the threads on car cleaning!!

I am looking at getting the wheels platic-dipped, as they are quite bad atm and could do with a re-furb at the same time. Not sure what colour. Dark red?? Also was going to get the roof done black too at the same time, not seen one with a black roof so thought it might be different! Also may re-do the plastic door trim in black to bring it back to factory fresh!

For engine and performance, not too sure. Suggestions are welcome! Its quick enough as it is, but any more power that is cheap and easy to obtain I could be persuaded! I do like the idea of puting a sportier exhaust with a more of a raspy noise to it, but not sure of the best way to go about this. Also not on a tight budget, but if I buy an expensive part I may not be able to eat for a week!!

So on the shopping list is:
* new race style steering wheel as I have found a boss in the garage!
* windscreen, as mine is cracked :-/ and maybe a "Renault Sport" sun visor sticker, but not too certain, may have to mock this up on the computer first.
* a stereo, as I dont have one! This was taken out, along with the speakers, when the car went on a diet!


Oh and some of the documents turned up today to put my private plate on! However the V5 has turned up and not the Tax Disc or MOT certificate so the plates are sat on the side looking sad

Some pictures of it when it was cleaned and looking fresh

 

[KitsonRis]

Private plates now on!



Had to have them towards the top of the recess to cover some damage that is behind them.
Feels like the car is mine now!

 

[Ph1 Tom]

I'd just invest in decent suspension, renew all the bushes and take as much weight out as possible. Its cheaper than trying to get more power.

 

[KitsonRis]

I'd just invest in decent suspension, renew all the bushes and take as much weight out as possible. Its cheaper than trying to get more power.

Its already stripped out as much as it can be without being rediculous! Although tempted to run no fron carpets....
A nice set of coil overs would be nice, however they are a bit expensive so may have to wait!.

 

[KitsonRis]

Apart from a good wash and wax today, managed to get the final colour on my fuel filler flap



Just need to sort the back out as its just primer with over spray, tempted to just paint it black to tidy it up, and the fact I already have a tin. Then a few coats of laquer to finish it off.
Got the idea from my first car when I put an Italian flag on my little Fiat, though tit was a good idea so decided to copy it on the Clio

 

[KitsonRis]

managed to get out and do some things on the car this weekend.
First was to fit my new filler flap

Thought it was a bit of fun really!!

Next I fitted my new steering wheel. This is the very nice and tidy job I did to fix the air bag light

its just a fused resistor bought from eBay, the guy is basically sellign exactly what uyou need to sort the air bag light out. i didnt want to buy a "lucky dip" bag of resistors from Maplin for £5, mainly as I will never use that many resistors and there was no gaurnatee that you will get a 3.3ohm one! So I spend £1.50 on this. Resoldered the ends to make the wires fir into the air bag connextor and then heat shrinked it on. Then got my brothers help to fit the wheel

It is his photo and think he may have put an instagram filter on it for some odd reason!! Just need to get a new badge/logo to go in the middle as the one on there looks tacky.

Put the new suspension on today, the one was basically empty of all fluid! Whoops! Now I just need some tyres as they insides of the fronts are verging on bold. But wanted to get the suspension sorted before getting tyres and tracking done.

Next job is the orange paint......engine cover, mirror covers and wheels. Yes, I could be mad with wanting to go bright orange!!

 

[gudger12345]

Looks good mate.

 

[KitsonRis]

Another week and another few jobs done.
First was the tyres, got a new front pair fitted. Handles loads better, I now dont wheel spin when gently pulling away in damp conditions.

Fitted my ClioSport.net tax disc holder


Slowly building up a good layer of wax and it being clean. Beading has improved loads! It was as if no-one washed my car for years.




Next job is to fit the rear wheel spacers when they turn up, oh and to start paiting the wheels, engine cover and mirror caps when the weather improves!

 

[RichyMa]

Looks good, what colour you doing the wheels in?

 

[KitsonRis]

what colour you doing the wheels in?

Ford Focus ST orange....yes I am I just need to wait for some good weather in order to start getting them primed and coloured. Have to do it one wheel at a time as well so for a period I will be having some serious odd colours on the go as the spare wheel is still the original silver!!

 

[RichyMa]

Ford Focus ST orange....yes I am I just need to wait for some good weather in order to start getting them primed and coloured. Have to do it one wheel at a time as well so for a period I will be having some serious odd colours on the go as the spare wheel is still the original silver!!

Thats a bold colour

Look forward to seeing how it turns out

 

[1812lsd]

I have one of these badges if you want one?

Steering wheel not included

 

[KitsonRis]

I have one of these badges if you want one?

Thanks, but I have one being made up so its ok. Thanks for the offer though!!

 

[KitsonRis]

Just came back from a weekend in Chester. Thought I would go for a little drive around North Wales seeing as I dont go up there often. Did the A525 between Ruthin and Llandegla, Horseshoe Pass and the Evo triangle. Took about three hours, and very little traffic despite being good weather on a bank holiday!!
Some pictures I managed to get:

Top of the Horseshoe Pass (in a little side road behind the cafe)

and sorry about Ash, he wanted this one to make the final cut!


Parked up at the top end near the Sportsman's Arms Pub on the Evo Triangle




Was worth the fuel money and getting up early! Will do something like this again.

Also saw a black Ph1 V6 on the M40 southbound today, T44*** was the number plate, was very nice, oh and a red Ph1 172 near Chester too, not too sure what the number plate was as I was concentrating on the road ahead

 

[KitsonRis]

Got some new stickers made up and were delivered today. One to replace the gash one that came with my steering wheel



And the Renault Elf one in the back window was looking naff and discoloured and was starting to peel so I had one made up. Similar style to the ClioSport.net one and not a single piece sticker. Looks a lot better



Jobs for the weekend: Polish the car as there are some marks on the roof and bonnet that look like water marks, so want to try and make them better. And remove and prep the mirror covers for painting.

 

[KitsonRis]

As promised, a few pictures of my mirrors during painting.....

Sanded

Filler Primed (which is weirdly a nice colour!!)

Primed (again the matte white is pretty cool)

and on the car

Will try and get a better photo some point over the weekend,.

Oh and this has happened to one of my wheels...what a shame

need to paint the inside of the rim black, laquer and leave it to harden, will be done by Sunday! Then onto the next one. Going to be a loooooong job!!
Also, peopl'es opinion on the centre cap...orange to match or black, or black diamond (which may be very hard to do!)

Once the wheels have been painted I may do the badges orange too, not sure yet

 

[KitsonRis]

Wheel update.....THEY ARE DONE!!!!
Been about 6 weeks doing it and quite a bit of paint, but totally worth it I think. Mixed reviews between my friends from "looks tastefull", "good, but not on my car" to "are you on crack?"





Didn't realise how much my brake pads give off dust until I put the orange on! The fronts are quite soft pads and within a week they look very dirty! eed to get a small sponge to clean bewteen the spokes to keep them their nice colour.

Not too sure on the engine cover, may remove it completely. Was only painted to see if I liked the colour before doing the mirrors and wheels. Inlet manifold needs to be black I think to match the rest of the car.



Also a bit of fault finding. Had a bit of a "flat spot" when pulling away from low revvs - like doing ~60mph drop into 4th to 30mph then pull away in 4th back to 60mph and it would struggle, not the wrong gear. Spoke to my step dad and he said this was the symptoms it had last year when the injector went. Checked the injectors, HT leads and plugs, turns a plug was loose. Now its fine, glad that was a simple fix.


^^ How a Saturday should be spent, outside in the sun fiddling with the car, gave it a good once over as I was at my parents and they have a nice garage and not the side of the road like where I live!!

Decided to treat her to a new Pipercross air filter from people reccomendations.



Next job is back-to-black the exterior plastic trim and look at painting the front bumper as that is looking a bit tatty. Oh and maybe flush the coolant system out and put new fluid in.

 

[KitsonRis]

MOT Test time......
Well I had a test Friday and the car failed Three things: front shock was leaking, inner CV joint gaiter (off side) needs replacing and a mis-aligned light.

Fitted a new shock, as I had one I have been meaning to fit for a while (second hand just to get through the MOT Test really along with the other front). There was no oil in the one that was "leaking", whoops! Ride is a lot better now. Thinking of putting some nice adjustable coil overs on in the near future, not sure if it will be worth it, or ideas on how much to spend!

Not tackled the CV gaiter, have the new gaiter just need to fit it next weekend. Will be digging around for some hints/tutorials in how to do this as a quick search reveals its a pig.

Also picked up on a coolant leak, and thank god it was then! The little blanking plug on the side of the rad had perished and snapped. Coolant was everywhere and not in the engine. No-where stocks 172 parts. Then went up the scrappy and had a look at any Renault of similar engine and they all have different radiators on. They either have no blanking plug, or a metal one which is not like mine. I then said to my step dad "what would be good is another 172 to get that off, but being the kind of car they are you wont find one up here". Two seconds later we stumbled across a Ph1 172 Exclusive (god the interior is awful!) And that didn't have the same radiator as mine!! Is this a common problem with Renault and not fitting the same parts to the same car? Managed to get one of the metal plus to fit and now coolant doesn't pour everywhere!!

Just need to do the inner CV gaitor and then go for a re-test.

Also got some Toyo Proxes fitted to the front, very pleased with those.

 

[KitsonRis]

FINALLY MANAGED TO DO SOMETHING TO THE CLIO THIS WEEKEND!!!
Apart from wash it, I did some trim restore on the black plastic. Brother gave me some G-Techniq C4 black trim stuff and blimey doesn't it work!! Think I am going to re-do the door trims, but the mirrors and door handles are reallly good. Couldn't get some good pictures though that showed this off. But would reccomend the product.
Need to do the bits behind the wipers and the fog light surrounds. But I have bought some wipers that I need to paint black first, just to tidy that area up. And I am going to put some air ducts in the fog flights so will do the surrounds when I take them out. Saves doing it twice.

Managed to get out for a good drive around the Evo triangle on Sunday, is a nice bit of road that!!

Have a different rear bumper to put on, the one on the car is bent. Just need to put in a new numberplate light. Hopefuuly arrives to do this ob this weekend. Then sort out the front bumper, needs a repaint.

 

[KitsonRis]

Managed to get a few bits done over Christmas. First of was new wiper arms that I painted black as the ones on it were grey and faded. Also used some G-techniqs C4 ont he wiper scuttle to bring that back to life along with the rest of the black trim. Looks so much better!!

Then I removed the sound deadening from under the bonnet and gave that a clean. Instant improvment on the tidiness of the engine bay. However still need to sort that out. Thinking of painting the inlet and fuel rail guard black and getting a battery cover.

its amazing how simple things can make such a big difference, just like doing the exterior black plastic trim back to black.

Then I was given some Team Heko wind deflectors. Just a bit of bling really! I think they look smart and quite descrete

Then I have got my brake duct inlets fitted. Not plumbed in yet, just wanted to get them in then I am going to get them fitted up in the coming weeks. Again just a bit of show as I have never boiled the brakes on track!

Next job is to get the front bumper painted and save up for a set of new wheels, and look at doing the suspension bushes soon too. Things should be easier to do at my place as I was also given a tool chest for Christmas so I don't have to go home to use the tools there.

Oh and this photo I managed to get from over the summer when it was actually sunny! It's just a nice photo as I don't get chance to use my fisheye camera much anymore as its such a pain to get the photos developed!

 

[KitsonRis]

Weekly clean today, but now it is raining, oh well I know it was clean at some point this week! The amount of cleaning and effort is paying off as it is now really easy to clean as the dirst isn't thick or stuck to the paint work.
Have noticed my front wheels are taking a battering and the orange is fading, especially in the spokes. Damn brake dust!! Think I will have to invest in a fresh powder coating sooner than I thought

Did manage to clean the inside of the boot shut. This was it before:

Minging.
And after a bit of tlc and nearly chopping my fingers off!

Loads better!!

 

[KitsonRis]

Finished my rear wiper blank.....aka the original plastic surround, painted in satin black and a blanking grommet glued in place!

Looks a lot cleaner without the rear wiper I think. Good simple mod.

Next is the front bumper being painted. And currently investigating what coil overs to get for after the MOT test in June, if it passes then i will do something "unecessary" like coil overs as the money could be spent on getting it legal.

 

[Fantom]

Looking good I like the Orange

 

[KitsonRis]

Finished the inlet and fuel rail guard yesterday, hopefully this will help tidy up the engine bay.

Need to purchase a battery cover too, got one eyed up on eBay, I just need to pull my finger out and pay for it! Also gave the enine bay a bit of a clean and de-grease too. That is looking lots better anyway!!

Currently painting my grill / bit of trim above the bumper while the weather is nice. New front bumper on its way too. Then hopefully that will sort the front end out as there is a lot of paint flaking on the current one.

Once it is looking smart, it is time for some performance upgrades! Coilovers here I come!!

Oh and soon to be fore sale is a front bumper (needs a repaint!), and inlet and fuel rail guard, if people wnat first dibs on any of that then let me know!

 

[KitsonRis]

Brake lights were constantly on....managed to fix that!
Had a brief panic as I thought I shorted something out as I noticed it after washing it and thought I got water somewhere where it shoudln't go. but remebered my step dad had the same issue when he took it to Llandow when he owned the car. Turns out a small piece of plastic fell off from the brake pedal to turn off the lights. so I glued it back on. SORTED!
I do like simple fixes.

Bought a pair of standard front lights to replace my after market ones. Next weekend's job is to do a refurb of them and get them fitted.

 

[KitsonRis]

Got some original light. Needed a refurb. Used the 3M kit and was really pleased with the results. I think they look a lot better than the aftermarket ones I had on there.
Some pictures before / during / after.

Before:

During:

Also took the chance to clean behind the bumper when it was off, my OCD kicked in!
After:

Yes I know the bumper needs seeing to. It has been "next month's job" for about 6 months now!
Need to change the bulbs. I had nice bright ones before but as they were different conenctions I couldnt swap them. Will order some this week
Thought the black grille bit was a bit different, I like it. It was either that or under the number plate painted black, which I have seen quite a few of and I wanted to be different.

Also have developed a noise, sounds like road noise and only happens when moving. Quie noticable at 40-50mph and then changes tone with any amount of left hand lock and under breaking. Sounds like from the back of the car. Could be rear brakes, but the discs and pads need changing anyway, hope that sorts that noise out!

 

[KitsonRis]

Bought some MTEC bulbs after reading some posts about what bulbs to pick. It was these or the Orsam ones, but someone said they didn't like the MTEC ones as you could see the blue of the bulbs, but I quite like that so I got them.

I am pleased with them, a lot brighter than the old bulbs I had in the other light units. I just need to sort the adjustment out more. Wasn't sure how to do this but posted in the Lighting forum and got a response to show me how. That will be a job for this week in the evenings as it is really hard to get the alignment right in the day as you can't see the beams!!

Was out biking earlier nt he Forest of Dean and managed to get some photos of it parked up. When I get the front bumper painted (again, it is always "next month's" job regardless of what the month is!) I think it will be worthy of a post int he Ph1 Appreciation thread!! (just don't look too closely at the wheels as the brake dust is slowly eating away the orange, so a fresh powder coat sometime soon is on the cards).

 

[KitsonRis]

Had a constant droning noise which I thought was coming from the rear end. Wasn't coming from the engine or gear box (thankfully!!) then I narrowed it down to rear brakes / wheel bearings. Bought a set of genuine rear discs and Brembo OE pads from George at RTR Sports (thanks, what a great guy and prices!!). Managed to get them changed. Bit of an issue with trying to get the drivers side pad carrier on as I didn't realise the bit it bolts to moves. proper senior moment as I thought I had cocked up somewhere!! No pictures of this as I just wanted to get it done without faffing around.
Glad I did change them as the inboard pads were down to the metal, whoops!! All works fine. Brilliant.
However still have this droning noise. Not sure what this is :-/
While the rear wheels was off I gave the rear arches a bit of a clean. I do want to properly wash them and get them all sparkley!

Then I moved onto some bling.....

Fitted these.

Before:

After:

Do need to paint some more parts, like that bit on the engine mount but need to figure out how to do this without removing it from the car.....
Would like to have a nice painted block....one day Engine bay cleaning and tidying is a job for the summer.
So for sale a Ph1 172 inlet manifold and fuel rail guard lol

 

[KitsonRis]

Blown a bulb already :weary: they aren't even month old fml. Need to order some

Like a bit of an idiot left the windows open last night. Didn't realise this as they weren't below the wind deflectors. Got in it this morning and there was quite a pool of water in the driver's foot well. Any excuse to make it more race like and removed the carpets!

TBH it looks quite smart and a lot tidier. I like it.
Need to get some new mats too, the originals are starting to show their age. Not sure what I want though. Last fully stripped car I had was a Mk 1 Fiesta (proper bit of kit with a 2lt Zetec!) and I riveted rubber mats to it and it was pretty smart tbh. But not sure if I want to paint the inside to give it some life again.
Next weight saving job is removing the roof lining.

 

[KitsonRis]

Track rod ends changed. Really simple job to do. The old ones were awful and had so much play in them!
However there is still a grumbling noise. So it is time to change the front wheel bearing tomorrow

I really need to take more progress photos during tinkering!!

 

[Ph1 Tom]

Blown a bulb already :weary: they aren't even month old fml. Need to order some

Like a bit of an idiot left the windows open last night. Didn't realise this as they weren't below the wind deflectors. Got in it this morning and there was quite a pool of water in the driver's foot well. Any excuse to make it more race like and removed the carpets!

TBH it looks quite smart and a lot tidier. I like it.
Need to get some new mats too, the originals are starting to show their age. Not sure what I want though. Last fully stripped car I had was a Mk 1 Fiesta (proper bit of kit with a 2lt Zetec!) and I riveted rubber mats to it and it was pretty smart tbh. But not sure if I want to paint the inside to give it some life again.
Next weight saving job is removing the roof lining.

Roof lining doesn't save much weight, I'd take it out, remove the sound deadening and put it back in with some Velcro strips. It's horrible running without unless it's a track only car.

I had a mk2 fiesta and the carpet in that was just felt so nice and light, it was the stuff underneath that had a rubber backing, shame the Clio isn't the same.

 

[KitsonRis]

Roof lining doesn't save much weight, I'd take it out, remove the sound deadening and put it back in with some Velcro strips. It's horrible running without unless it's a track only car.

Not thought of doing that, sounds like a good idea. Ideally I want a second car and then track this.

 

[KitsonRis]

Ok update on the front wheel bearing......it still isn't changed!
Issues with me being such a pathetic man and not being strong enough to undo two bolts (in my defence it did end up with two people undoing them!) and then the hydraulic press wasn't beef enough. Managed to source a second press. But won't be able to get on another until Monday to push the new bearing in
Not regret starting this job at all, it's been fun. Only annoyed mother a little, but I will fill her up with wine later to shut her up. The worst thing is I may have to do the other side if this doesn't stop the noise.

But this is defo not a job to do at home!! I can confirm that.
It is annoying as I want to spend some time and money on the car for cosmetic and unnecessary things. It needs a good clean, and I mean a good one, maybe pay someone to put a machine polish over it. But the MOT test is in two weeks and I can see that coating a bit of money

 

[KitsonRis]

Ok.....so "progress" is the wrong word. Car is still not working and it is in a worse state than when I satrted to change the front wheel bearing.
Got the new bearing pressed in, brilliant!! Came to fit the hub and had the usual fight when putting the lower suspension mounts to the hub. Got that done. Went to put the caliper on and it wont fit. Turns out the mounting points for it have been bent in the press when pushing the old bearing out.
Step Dad has been brilliant in helping me out for this (plus other car jobs!) and has even lent me his MX5 track toy to get to work as I can't take any more days off this week (shame it wasn't his Focus ST!)Thought the MX5 will have a few more comfprts than the Clio but no....it is louder, more road noise, can't here the radio, its a bit of a harsher ride than mine! I was expecting it to be comfortable as it hasn't been turned into a track car yet, it is in the process of it so still has all the trim and standard suspension. it has helped me still be in love with the Clio as if I got into it now and it was amazing to drive I would be on eBay looking for a replacement! But no, the Clio will be fixed and will be staying mine.

 

[KitsonRis]

Actual progress!! Bearing is now changed and it is fixed. Thanks to @Kelv for the new hub, fast postage and kept me updated at all times. So the awful noise has stopped....only to reveal the exhaust (I hope it's exhaust) knocking, plus I think it is blowing a bit. Excuse to whack a KTec Supersports Stealth on???
Get the MOT test out the way which is next week and then I will start thinking mods, and the front bumper painted!!!!!!!!

 

[KitsonRis]

Oh and more pictures of when I am doing work!!

 

[KitsonRis]

As my insurance policy is pay for it in 10 months and i have budgeted for 12, and also I said I would treat it if it passed the MOT test (which it did on Saturday) I have just purchased some noise ingreedients to release my inner chav - a Fatty's induction kit (with a little help from Dr Jekyll and McGerhkin for what is needed for it to fit a Ph1!). Hopefully will be here for the weekend!

Also need to decide if I want to take the car off the road when the insurance runs out in September and get a run-about and spend the time doing some jobs on it that I can take my time with without having to worry about finishing it in an evening/weekend. And then turn it back into a track day racer like it was first purchased to be!!

 

[Mattyxsi]

Sure I've seen this in charter alley ?

 

[KitsonRis]

Sure I've seen this in charter alley ?

Yes, you would have! I live around there.

So after a bit of tlc last weekend I had noticed the insides of my sills were sarting to get the dreaded rust problem, so decided to stop this before it got worse.

So I used Hammerite Kurust to stop the rust and then painted the inside of the rear wing in black Hammerite. I think it looks a lot better. Just makes me want to re-paint the rest of the interior!

Hopefully it will keep this at bay.

Soruced a front bumper to get painted, saves taking mine off the road for a week. Will get this sorted ASAP. Once this has been done I think it will make the whole car look a lot better as the flakey paint on the bumper is letting the whole look down.

Just waiting for the induction kit parts to turn up to I can get that fitted; all I have is the ally jointer, cable ties and some jubilee clips.

 

[KitsonRis]

Noise stuff turned up :tongueout:

However the hose seller on eBay said it was a 70mm internal diameter but it actually isn't! So the it doesn't fit onto the cone filter :tired: however I have bought another joiner for it, so have to wait another few days to fit it.