Monaco 172 (make it mint)

[botfch]

Picked this up today for £400, 55k miles on the clock but it hasn’t moved in 5 years.

Started almost straight away on the key to my surprise, sounds like the water pumps knackered and the rear brakes are seized on so had to drag it back.

Plan is minimal mods but renewing everything so that it’s close to just left the factory condition.
Also found a cliosport letter in the docs dated 2004.

Will get it washed and some decent photos next weekend.

 

[PP200t]

nice find with the low miles. With a bit of work it will be lovely! At least bits aren’t really expensive for them. Look forward to the progress.

 

[Crybert]

That’s a bargain! A genuine 44k miles? You’ve robbed someone Of that!

 

[Stefan.]

That’s a bargain! A genuine 44k miles? You’ve robbed someone Of that!

*55k

 

[Krarl]

Turn it into a track car

Go on

Do it

😂😂

 

[Crybert]

*55k

Great input.

 

[Stefan.]

Great input.

Great reading on your behalf 😉

 

[mossyv6]

Nice find mate.

Be great reading your updates on saving this low mileage 172.

 

[welshname]

Best colour. Subscribed!

I miss mine.


Monaco 172 Rear by Rhys Bartley, on Flickr


Monaco 172 by Rhys Bartley, on Flickr

 

[frayz]

Weekend with a polisher, some bullshit shine.
Coming to ebay with a £10k price tag soon. 😅👌🏼

 

[botfch]

That’s a bargain! A genuine 44k miles? You’ve robbed someone Of that!

Once I’ve flogged the cat out of it, will be effectively a free car too.

 

[botfch]

Turn it into a track car

Go on

Do it

😂😂

Already been there once and spent far to much..

Just want this to be a nice car to drive on a sunny afternoon.

 

[yeecup]

bargain.

 

[djspt]

Topper mate, miss my old Monaco. 👍🏻

 

[Alastair.]

Will look forward to this, how come the plate is blanked out?

 

[botfch]

Will look forward to this, how come the plate is blanked out?

Mate had his plates cloned after sticking pictures up on the web, saving myself the hassle.

 

[Austin-182]

What a find! Where was it advertised?

 

[botfch]

What a find! Where was it advertised?

Word of mouth,
It was 5 mins walk from my house.

 

[botfch]

Gave it a quick clean yesterday to see what it's going to need bodywork wise and get some protection on the paint.
Seems to be in really good condition, going to need some paint on the rear bumper, a few rusting stone chips touch ups and the usual filler cap fix.
The spoiler also had a bad repair at somepoint in the past so will be swapping over cup spoiler on the artic "donor car".

 

[DomP182]

Let's see some photos of the bad bits! What's underneath like?

 

[botfch]

Let's see some photos of the bad bits! What's underneath like?

Haha all in good time, crawling underneath cars in the winter is a young mans game.

 

[DomP182]

Haha all in good time, crawling underneath cars in the winter is a young mans game.

Tell me about it! Replaced my seats last weekend, I'm so stubborn (probably just stupid) couldn't be bothered to jack it up and it's on Grams springs. Quite a squeeze!

 

[botfch]

Well figured I’d strip the rear beam off the 182 so I could get it powder coated then I can swap parts onto the 172 without leaving it in bits.
Naturally 3 of the 6 captive bolts decided they don’t want to come out and I can’t get at it with a grinder... thanks Renault.
Will have to go at it with a multi tool next time, also whacked myself in the nose with a wrench, so all in a bad day.
Oh if anyone wonders what happens if you fit the spacers the wrong way round.

 

[Krarl]

This is the issue with low miles cars

Had someone paid top dollar for the car because it was low miles then they'd have been stung because quite clearly a f**king spaniel has previously worked on it 😂

 

[Amos91]

Dropping the fuel tank bolts is so much easier than those captive bolts!

 

[David Stuart]

This is the issue with low miles cars

Had someone paid top dollar for the car because it was low miles then they'd have been stung because quite clearly a f**king spaniel has previously worked on it [emoji23]

That’s true.

I went to see a low mile silver 182 last year it was just under £4k and had turinis and trendlines and about 40k miles.

Went to see it and didn’t even chap the guys door. Was an absolute dog with clear accident damage and bad paint repair.

Low miles is nice if it’s a proper classic and in good condition. Otherwise take condition over miles on these kind of cars.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Krarl]

That’s true.

I went to see a low mile silver 182 last year it was just under £4k and had turinis and trendlines and about 40k miles.

Went to see it and didn’t even chap the guys door. Was an absolute dog with clear accident damage and bad paint repair.

Low miles is nice if it’s a proper classic and in good condition. Otherwise take condition over miles on these kind of cars.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly this mate. All my cars are over 100k miles

All in better condition that most other cars with half maybe even a quarter of the miles

 

[Bluebeard]

I sold my Monaco (50k, repaint, new belts etc etc) for £5k about 2 years ago.
A guy bought it to put in to his collection and it hasn’t moved since.
It’s lovely having these tidy low mileage cars but I just don’t understand not using them. Driving is the best bit!
Look forward to your updates.

 

[botfch]

Started stripping the artic and having more “fun” with captive bolts.
Going to be refurbing most of the suspension & subframes and fitting it to the Monaco.

Lot of concerned old people staring at my house now.
No doubt I will be getting a letter from the parish council when it is village of the year voting time.

 

[Krarl]

When someone mentions that bits of Clio are missing just ignore them. I did it when I stripped a Seat Leon on the drive, everyone kept looking up the driveway past the gate. So I rolled it out onto the front and stood on the roof with a Stihl saw chopping it up

Should have seen how many people started curtain-twitching 😂

Then they did it when I started lifting a Clio into the air...

 

[Big_Steve_T]

Great thread!! I shall be following this one to see how you progress!

 

[botfch]

Small bit of progress, stripped the subframe and rear beam down ready for blasting & powder coating once the restrictions are lifted.
If anyones got tips on removing the abs sensors without wrecking them would be appreciated.

 

[DriftKing]

I used 8 or 9mm long socket and hammer for abs sensor.

 

[botfch]

Starting to make some slow progress on this.

Bent one of the sills back into a usable form for now.

Then got the car up on some breezeblocks/timber so I can start stripping out the engine and various bits

Cut the good stuff off so the pikeys don’t rock up and cut it off.

 

[botfch]

Plan going forward is once all the heavy stuffs out is to stick it on a jig so I can tackle the rusty bits underneath.
For the sake of a few £100s it seems worth it not to have to crawl around under there with a flap wheel.
Engine runs but somethings knackered probably the water pump so I’m in two minds about just doing that and the belts or rebuilding the engine.
I’m leaning towards the latter as it’s going to piss me off if I put it back in and it drops a valve.

 

[botfch]

Stripping down continued.

Dust and rust all over the place but managed to get all the liners out without wrecking the mounting points.
Organised all the screws in bags so I know where they came from.

This might explain the engine noise.

 

[Krarl]

Lucky there!

Also, has that been at the bottom of the sea or a f**king canal!!! 😂

 

[botfch]

Lucky there!

Also, has that been at the bottom of the sea or a f**king canal!!! 😂

I’ve got no idea why the struts are so bad, the wishbones and the rear beam are the same.
Thankfully the shell seems to be ok so far.

 

[Krarl]

I’ve got no idea why the struts are so bad, the wishbones and the rear beam are the same.
Thankfully the shell seems to be ok so far.

Gonna say, they look absolutely fucked!

Oh and your master cylinder is leaking too so your brakes will be dogger🤣

 

[botfch]

Rear stripped.

Spots of rust just starting behind both door cards and along the rear arches.
Going to tackle the hidden stuff myself and leave the rest of the arch primed for the body shop.

No idea what the previous owner used to clean the rear light and the rear window it’s like a cats gone mental at it.