My 2nd clio... D4F content

[aldo_87]

So the story begins. A distant friend of mine bought a 53 plate 1.2 16v around 4 years ago, not being mech minded at all, never maintained or kept this car in good condition whatsoever (other than washing it)!

Skip forward a bit to summer last year. The car starts having misfire issues "martin_172" lends a hand with plugs and coil pack. The car is fixed and back to normal, however 3 weeks later the problem arises again. The owner takes the car to a local garage who say "it has dropped a valve". When i heard about this I said dont dare give them any money because they are chatting s**t.

Someone else strips the head off the engine to prove there are no valve issues. However a comp test would have been suffice. Head and valve gear are fine. Owner of the car has no money to buy new water pump or belt kit etc etc.

The car sits for a year....

Owner buys a head seal kit and decides to throw it back together and trade in. Offers to buy had already been refused. This is where i come in. I get speaking to the owner and offer a hand to set the timing and button everything up for him. When working on the car I can see potential, clean bodywork, climate control, elec sunroof and only done 50k. Its also one of the early Ph3 facelifts. I warn him to get rid asap incase of a belt failure etc.

I do a little thinking, knowing my GF's Ka will struggle through an MOT come easter. I ring him and offer £500 (being very generous). So now I own another Renault.

The ongoing work and plans are:

• Strip the engine back and make use of the seal kit, valve stem seals etc and reset clearances as there was some burning on the exh valves.

• Major service items, belts, water pump etc.

• Find what the cause of the misfire is.

• Either shampoo the interior or do the sensible thing and fit a RS interior.

• Major detail and attepmt at correction.

• Source and fit xenons.

• Source and fit N/F wheel as it has heave kerbing.

Only one poor Iphone photo at the moment. I have estimated £250 to return to clean condition (minus the mods), going to try and keep it an uber cheap project without cutting corners. Will keep updated with photos and budget.

 

[Tez.]

That will be a nice car .

Ive had a d4f facelift for nearly 9 years and its never let me down getting lazy on the upkeep now

could do with another water pump belts and oil change

hit 70k last month. Ace little car but it is very slow

 

[aldo_87]

Well things are coming on good now. Spent a few days at it and happy with the progress.

All head seals fitted, valves reground, tappets adjusted.
Timing belt kit fitted
New water pump fitted
Head bolts
Head gasket
New plugs
New coil pack (suspect fault and cause of misfire)
New aux belts
Oil and air filters
Oil change
New battery

So got her all back together, checked round and all was good for the first start in a year and a half. Without any issues she started first time however the misfire was still there. After a bit of head scratching and proving we had a spark on all 4 cylinders, so we moved on to fuel. We had fuel to the rail. Out of curiosity I pulled the plug off No1 injector (the only one you can access with removing stuff) and nothing changed, the engine didnt deteriorate or get any worse. I had a test lamp to check if the injector was getting a signal, which it was. I popped up the local scrappy, found a 53 plate 1.2 16v and took an injector from it. Tried it on, and it worked perfect, misfire gone!

Now on to the interior. Most if it has been removed and I got my hands on a 172 interior minus the passenger seat. So scrubbing and refitting a new interior is next. Follwed by a mighty detailing session. Pics to follow in a couple of days.

 

[peter1.2clio]

defos RS interior

 

[aldo_87]

So managed to source a 172 passenger seat and finished fitting it all. New carpets, underlay and doorcards also. Interior is smelling 100% better now. When all the carpets were up, I scrubbed the floor with anticeptic detergent stuff which helped.

Had to remove the rogered dipstick tube using a homemade extractor. Will order a new one from Renault in the new year.

One of the cv joints is clicking but not had the car out to determine which side it is.

Picking up a set of 172 xenons next week which should finish it off nicely.

A photo of how dirty it is. Lots of moss growing on her. So looking forward to the outcome of a detailing session.

 

[Djw John]

I reckon a RS grill will finish that front end off along with the xenons. And maybe the 172 bumpers, sideskirts and wings too

 

[aldo_87]

You might be right there... lol

I'd love to build a rep (not entirely sure why tbh) but not right now!

 

[Djw John]

In all seriousness the grill would look good on it

 

[aldo_87]

I agree. I might bring some extra cash on wednesday lol

 

[Djw John]

Tell Dave I'm wanting commission

 

[aldo_87]

LOL! Stop talking to me before you sell me something else!

 

[Djw John]

Mmm, fancy some 16s

 

[aldo_87]

Another update. Although the weather was crappy today we got quite a bit done. Picked up the xenons from Dave and John on here and was roped into buying a RS grille as well.

Got back to the garage, flattened and machine polished the headlights as they were really cloudy. Started striping the front end to fit the headlights and grille, had the lads round to lend a hand which made things easier. Fitted new plates and gave her a quick wash. Also gave the offside front wing a quick going over with some compound and a hard pad to see how the paint would come up, after a couple of mins I was getting good results. So shouldnt take much to restore to her former glory.

 

[Djw John]

Needs 16s.