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Megane 225 cup



  Ford
So, I'm going to try and create a thread that I will keep updated regularly! i've made a few before now when I initially bought it back in what would have been June 2017. It started out as a fairly low mileage (65k) 2 owner car that just needed looking after in the day to day. Apart from the short stint with its second owner it has meticulously been looked after mechanically all its life, and came with a file thick of papers and invoices. One interesting thing I quite like about it is that the first owner actually spent a few years in France and took the car with him so a lot of the invoices are from a french Renault dealership. When I bought it, it was fairly dirty and not looked after the best in terms of cleanliness as I actually got probably half a large pouch worth of tobacco out of it... and 3 years later actually still finding filters and bits even now. Although not often i must add.

Anyway, I bought it as my second car since passing my test and used it as my daily driver until 12 months ago. Jesus christ. The power from going from a 1.8 diesel focus.. to this thing, took me half my first journey to get used to the throttle :LOL: ever since then i loved it.. and the reason I bought the car you might ask is because when it turned up to show it to me the car has a full miltek system on it. Within the first month or so I spent a grand on it, a remap, full service as the belts were overdue etc and a few other bits which without looking wont fully remember! during the course of me owning it i've tried to upgrade where needed and its always kept clean and tidy although still a few jobs left to do from when i initially bought it like the centre caps for the wheels :oops: From mid last year its been my second car and where I should have been driving it for fun its largely sat on the drive where its caused a few problems with the window regulators, never had electrical troubles until it wasn't used regularly!

Anyway for now I'll try and upload a pic from when I bought it, and over the next few days i'm going to upload a few pics of it now and the jobs ive been doing recently and with some ideas of things I want to do to it in the not too distant future.

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  Ford
So, one thing I've had that's been bugging me for ages was the gap around the aftermarket radio I fitted probably a good 18 months ago, I know it's only a small task but finding one that would definitely fit wasn't the easiest (for me anyway)
 

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  Ford
And with the new surround, which as I've just come to the car seems to not want to sit properly! Most likely due to heat I can imagine. Anyway it's better than it was before and tidied it up a little
 

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  Ford
Another job I did the other week was replace the poor speakers in the front door cards, managed to get a pair of speakers on clearance that were the right depth, just had to cut two tabs off to fit in the door properly. Not mega improvement but still better than the originals.
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  Ford
One thing I would like to sort out if people have any suggestions is to how I would tidy up the door handles? The rubbery coating is peeling off pretty badly and just makes the interior look a bit tired
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mossyv6

ClioSport Club Member
  Trophy,V6,5GT,AG200
Great project car mate.

I have done my handles on my 225 Trophy. You have 2 options (1) buy replacement standards ones as they don’t have the rubbery texture or (2) use thinners to remove the rubbery texture and then paint in the colour of your choice.
 
  Ford
Cheers mossyv6, do you have any suggestions where is best to buy some new ones? I've not seen any on the usual sites although in fairness I haven't been looking specifically for them
 
  Ford
In a moment of madness a while back I tried to clean the black staining off the exhaust tip, and learnt the hard way not to use a Dremel 😳 with the wrong bit...

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  Ford
So whilst I've been off this was the first job I've tackled as it's been irritating me for a long time but usually I don't have that much free time to really dedicate to doing small details which I would like to, so last week I had a new battery dropped off (mine went flat over winter) although the existing one did last 7 years which impressed me. I had some different grades of wet and dry and set to with sorting it out. Massive improvement and took probably around an hour or so
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  Ford
Another time consuming job was trying to get these clean. Only really seen how bad they were when I've had a puncture fixed or a new set of tyres so one of the jobs I've added to the list was cleaning the inner part of the wheels. In all fairness I struggled a lot to get them to a stage I'm happy with and still not 100% but they are better. I've tried auto glym wheel cleaner, magma, which is iron fallout. Even bug and tar remover and in the end I've come to the conclusion that most likely they will need re spraying to be perfect. They've just not been done for so long and probably not before my ownership either.
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  Ford
Whilst I had the wheels off I've cleaned up the brake disc centres and had a go at cleaning the arches. Didn't have much joy with the arches so will have to get some better products and do at a later date. Didnt do the greatest job of spraying up the rear caliper but it was letting the car down as the opposite side had a new one last year as the original was seized, and the front two are still retaining their colour to an extent.
 
  Ford
One of the main things letting the car down is the paintwork, which I will hope to get some quotes when normality resumes and get it sorted, front end needs a full respray I would have thought due to the amount of stone chips in it and the lacquer is particularly bad on that. The bonnet has chunks missing, the rails above the door on drivers side and further back too. Also want the boot doing as it's always been a different colour due to half metal half plastic
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  Ford
You can see from a distance it looks tidy but up close there's stone chips galore on it. The wheels need a full refurb, not in terrible condition but one has a matte effect which I suspect is maybe from leaving a strong cleaner on it for too long, and a few have curb marks on them, only one being me though! But like I sayi will want the whole wheel doing so will have to check a few quotes for that. And to finish the wheels I want to swap the bolts over and get some new centre caps.
 
  Ford
Another job for me to do is finish the engine cover that I've had off and resprayed. And find the boot interior light if that's in the wheel space as it's never been fitted as I've owned it, so that's something I want sorting. My plan is to swap all the interior lights over for some whiter looking bulbs too as they are very yellow currently. Get some new genuine mats if I can find some, and in the next few months keep my eyes open for a larger intercooler and check the mapping on it.
 
  Clio 172 Cup
Hi mate looks a decent little car well done on what you have done so far why don’t you do a full stage polish on the paint and see how it comes up mate ?
 
  Ford
I'll post a few pics of the engine cover up for now, the stickers didn't want to attach to the cover which was a pain in the arse and took nearly half an hour to peel the backing off. Then I ruined it with the lacquer which has come out blotchy so that needs flatting off tomorrow and re doing, this time I'll heat the can up in hot water first which I'm told is the reason for it going like that. One benefit of having the engine cover off and cleaning the bay was finding the boost pipe? Clip loose. And oil on the surrounding areas. I'm hoping this is the cause of the wheezing I can hear when in the turbo range and also on a quick drive to my mates last year under heavy load it had a bit of a fit and cut out. So will be hoping tightening this up has cured it of its problems.
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  Ford
Hi baileywolves, cheers for the comments mate 👍 I have had a go with a DA polisher but I'll be honest I don't think I've got my technique right in all fairness as there are still swirls in it. I've used meguiars ultimate compound but I need to get a proper set of pads for the machine. And probably get a better machine too. I have thought about going to autobrite direct in stoke on Trent as it's only 20 mins away from me and getting them to correct the paint and show me how to do it properly at the same time
 
  Ford
Ps if anyone knows of the best place to source some genuine centre caps for the wheels if you could let me know that would be ace, I've seen a few sets around the £70-£80 mark if that's right?? I'm hoping to pick up a battery lid/cover to tidy the engine bay up too. Other things done in my ownership other than the usual servicing have been replacement injectors, the ph2 boot lights, and the wear and tear stuff like steering rack etc.
 
  Clio 172 Cup
Hi baileywolves, cheers for the comments mate 👍 I have had a go with a DA polisher but I'll be honest I don't think I've got my technique right in all fairness as there are still swirls in it. I've used meguiars ultimate compound but I need to get a proper set of pads for the machine. And probably get a better machine too. I have thought about going to autobrite direct in stoke on Trent as it's only 20 mins away from me and getting them to correct the paint and show me how to do it properly at the same time
Nice one mate your prob at same level as me when I got my car I had to get some bodywork done but over past few years experimented with different pads and compounds will never be perfect but it’s fun learning. Nice thing about red is you can see such a difference it’s good that it’s a 2nd car and you can take your time with it. I will be watching your thread I do like these meganes 👍 keep up the work pal
 
  Ford
Thanks mate I appreciate that 👌I'll look forward to getting the bodywork sorted then I don't have to worry about it going over the bad bits. The thing I find is there's so many products out there it's hard to know which ones to pick 🤔 but yes most certainly it's good that I don't have to use it everyday now as its not getting full of crap carting tools round and damaged unnecessarily. Thanks mate I'll try and keep the updates coming 😎
 
  Clio 172 Cup
Thanks mate I appreciate that 👌I'll look forward to getting the bodywork sorted then I don't have to worry about it going over the bad bits. The thing I find is there's so many products out there it's hard to know which ones to pick 🤔 but yes most certainly it's good that I don't have to use it everyday now as its not getting full of crap carting tools round and damaged unnecessarily. Thanks mate I'll try and keep the updates coming 😎
There’s a detailing thread on here mate where we all chat and some members have some great advice and you can pick up some tips and advice on different products worth a look 👍
 
  Ford
Cheers mate I'll have a look at that, I need to get the full membership which I'll get tonight and then have a look at them as I'm sure I'll be able to get some decent tips off there!
 
  Ford
So, another small update for today, I've had the spare wheel out and found more fag filters, dog hair, general bits of crap in there, and after cleaning that noticed there was some paper under the seats where the boot lining hides. Took the back bench up and found a mess which I've never noticed before now. The good news is I've found the boot light that fits on the side. The bad news is it won't work even with another bulb in it. If anyone could point me in the right direction into tracing the problem that would be great
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  Ford
It's 183807404815 on eBay mossy, it is listed as fitting other Renault's but includes the 2.0 and for £5 posted it should be alright, ordered at 3 and posted out an hour later, cheers for the links to the handles I'll have a look at those
 

mossyv6

ClioSport Club Member
  Trophy,V6,5GT,AG200
It's 183807404815 on eBay mossy, it is listed as fitting other Renault's but includes the 2.0 and for £5 posted it should be alright, ordered at 3 and posted out an hour later, cheers for the links to the handles I'll have a look at those

Thats great mate, I will have a look at that. Thank you.
 

Clio_fool

ClioSport Club Member
You've got a great project there mate and it helps being a second car so you can take your time doing jobs on it.
As I said in the other thread, capsicum cups were rare when new, I bet they are like rocking horse s**t these days!
 
  Ford
Cheers Oss, appreciate the positive comments 👍 is there a way of finding out how many are left do you know?
 

Clio_fool

ClioSport Club Member
  Ford
Interesting stuff, it's a shame so many are broken but hopefully that will eventually see the prices go the other way when there are fewer and fewer.
 

Clio_fool

ClioSport Club Member
With cup suspension they are a great drive. Unfortunately most people have blinkers on and can't see past the R26, the same way Clio buyers can't see past 172 cups or trophys and think any other model isn't any good. Stick with it mate, I think you've got a great car👍.
 
  Ford
Absolutely spot on there mate, and totally agree 👌 I will do mate cheers and thanks again, will hopefully get it to a decent standard soon enough so I can just keep on top of it and drive it 😎
 
  Ford
Today's not gone to plan. After already making a hash with the lacquer on the engine cover, I've heated the lacquer up for attempt number 2. Sprayed and it's f*cked it again so the stickers are coming off, rubbing down and will spray the whole lot again. Ordered new stickers and will take it to a pro to apply the lacquer. Pissed me off after waiting a number of days for the stickers as it was in a good order with the prep.
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mossyv6

ClioSport Club Member
  Trophy,V6,5GT,AG200
That’s a shame mate.

Whenever I have done my engine covers I have given them a wet and dry with 800, wipe over with panel wipe to degrease it (very important) and then just applied colour coat straight to it. Lacquer next (if required) and leave to dry for a couple of days and then apply decals last - this allows easy removal if you f@ck them up and no need for repaint.
 
  Ford
Cheers mossy, I've done the same principles in prepping it apart from I was going to lacquer over the top to seal them in but in fairness I might put them on top next time. It's the lacquer that's made a mess of the job unfortunately it just wouldn't spray evenly enough. And made it look patchy. I could have left it but it would annoy me after it looking well up to that point and there's no point doing a job half cocked
 

mossyv6

ClioSport Club Member
  Trophy,V6,5GT,AG200
Ps if anyone knows of the best place to source some genuine centre caps for the wheels if you could let me know that would be ace, I've seen a few sets around the £70-£80 mark if that's right?? I'm hoping to pick up a battery lid/cover to tidy the engine bay up too. Other things done in my ownership other than the usual servicing have been replacement injectors, the ph2 boot lights, and the wear and tear stuff like steering rack etc.

Have you thought about refurbing your originals caps? The centre diamonds push out.
Otherwise look on eBay for 57mm Renault centre caps - loads for under a tenner posted and decent quality.
 


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