My cheap(ish) 172 Cup

[Darren S]

@Darren S will be able to confirm.

The left side looking towards the windscreen is the one I'm least familiar with. It looks a fair bit different to mine there? Easiest way to test is to get a bottle of water and pour some in - it should piss out behind your driver's side front wheel.

The centre hole is roughly where that first wiper rubber is pictured - I did an image on here a while back, I'll get the link in a sec.

The far right one is underneath the washer bottle, iirc. Again, pour some water in there and it should easily flow out behind the passenger side wheel.

 

[Darren S]

The centre one is just to the right of the mounting bulkhead for the wiper mechanism. I've got a clear plastic tube in this image leading down into it.

 

[Brigsy]

From memory there is a little rubber flap in the bottom of the centre rubber scuttle drain. Im sure i tore mine off as it was stuck.

 

[Mr Trailer Man]

From memory there is a little rubber flap in the bottom of the centre rubber scuttle drain. Im sure i tore mine off as it was stuck.

Yeah there is, same on the Meganes.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Thanks for the info guys. I’ve poured water down different holes to see what happens. Standing at the bonnet looking at the car, the left hole no problem, the next one to the right no problem, and the far right one underneath the washer bottle, no problem. I cannot for life of me see a centre hole anywhere. I’ve had a poke around with a flexible plastic tube and had a good look but I can see nothing. From the photo you can see how much water is left after it has drained out from the second hole along. It’s only a little bit and I think with movement of the car, it would probably all come out.
Without taking off all of the wiper mechanism, which I really don’t want to do, are we sure that the Cup has this hole as everyone thinks?

 

[Matt Cup]

I would imagine it being standard on all Clio’s?

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

My thoughts, too. Along with the thought that it’s a little b*****d!

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

All sorted. I stuck my phone down the gaps and managed to match up one of the photos with one that Darren sent. One coat anger death later and some water started to trickle out and I could actually see where it was coming from. I had no idea that the pipe was behind the insulation. I managed to open up the rubber flap And pull out probably a decades worth of s**t. Now everything is draining as it’s should.

Cliosport to the rescue again!

 

[Darren S]

All sorted. I stuck my phone down the gaps and managed to match up one of the photos with one that Darren sent. One coat anger death later and some water started to trickle out and I could actually see where it was coming from. I had no idea that the pipe was behind the insulation. I managed to open up the rubber flap And pull out probably a decades worth of s**t. Now everything is draining as it’s should.

Cliosport to the rescue again!

That water above my central drain stunk when I let it out!

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

That water above my central drain stunk when I let it out!

Same here. I flushed it away with a full watering can. I don't much was collecting around the hole as most would have been draining away through the other hole, but it's better being cleared.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Day 471. Food has been rationed. People are starting to drink their own piss……

I took the wiper arms off and gave them a bit of a tarting up yesterday. I’d rate the quality of this work 7 out of 10 as I was doing it on top of a wheelie bin. Not ideal. I’ve managed to find and do a semi-repair for the scuttle panel where it meets the windscreen. I think lots of us have had trouble trying to keep this piece as flush as possible to the screen and this is the best solution I can come up with as the original plastic clip is long gone. It sits much better than it did before and considering the condition of the rest of the car this is well passible. Now that’s all of the scuttle panel drain holes are running free I’ve got no worries about this.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Next was to clean up the cheap under tray I got off FB knobhead place and fit a rubber grommet that doesn’t belong. I think this needs fitting after the bumper goes back on.

 

[Matt Cup]

I’m pretty sure you can fit that without the bumper as it attaches directly to the subframe.

 

[Darren S]

Next was to clean up the cheap under tray I got off FB knobhead place and fit a rubber grommet that doesn’t belong. I think this needs fitting after the bumper goes back on.

Yeah - as Matt says, it connect via four bolts to the subframe. Just a little elevation is enough for you to reach under and have access to all four bolt points - the front two being the easiest. I've got some small plastic shallow ramps - which only lifts the car by about two inches off the ground - but a lot easier than faffing about with the jack. Make sure that you clip on the undertray around the edges of the subframe before screwing it in - there's three sets of 'lips' on the edge of the tray itself.

As ever, worth just dipping the starting threads of the bolts into some copper grease to make them easier to remove again in the future.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

One saved undertray back on. The bolt hole threads were ok…..apart from the last one I did. It’s stripped! I’ve used a longer bolt but it’s hardly gripped. I’ll have to find an Acme nut that will fit.

 

[Brigsy]

Stick a new rivnut in the stripped one.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Stick a new rivnut in the stripped one.

I’ll have to go down the Acme bolt route as I can’t get under the car to drill and don’t have the other tools. Failing that it’ll be a cable tie 😂

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

A few more jobs done today. First up was to polish the headlights a little as they are full of scratches. Last time I sorted them I didn't have enough 2K clear coat left to give them a good coat and I think they've suffered. Maybe next year I do them properly but for now a quick machine polish bring them up ok.
I also gave the roof another cutting polish but I think it'll need a full wet n dry and then a full polish to bring it back. It's smooth but there are millions of little marks in the lacquer. The photo should show it better.
As for the bumper......well the traffic is bad here so i'm not taking the car out just yet to see the colour match (it's under the carport) and I really can't tell if it's a good match or not. However it is it's better than before.. I bought the best paint that was recommended and did my best but it's not ideal unless you have a room to work in. And when refitting I can feel the stress on the bumper whilst trying to get it back into position and secure. It looks ok but we now know that the little kiss the car had in the past means it's difficult to line things up. If anything else happens to the front end I'll be looking for a new bumper rather than try to repair this one again.
Bonnet got a quick machine polish and the black stickers were added to the bumper before the plates went back on. A bit of that black trim gel bullshit was put on and the lights checked. I've had enough this week. Golf tomorrow and pics to follow eventually..

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Pics (edit-sh1t pics)

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

And here is the big reveal. I absolutely did my best to make this a good job. I’ve already documented the difficulties I faced and you can now see how it is turned out. I got the paint from Saint Helens Paint and it was the correct colour match. Even doing the best I could with this just goes to show that it’s impossible to match paint work up well if you don’t have the car to do so. From some angles and in some light the match looks very close, but I’ve deliberately taken these photos to show how different it looks from different angles.
The car will definitely have to go to a body shop to be sprayed up to get the correct match. I’ve already had a few recommendations from one nearby so I will be using those.
The moral of the story, it’s okay trying to do jobs yourself, but if you don’t have the correct facilities you are going to struggle.

 

[Matt Cup]

Big improvement from before. Just watch your gate post 🤐

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Not much of an update....

Removed the gold acme bolts and screws that hold the side skirts on and fitted silver acme bolts so everything is uniformed. I know the skirts are riveted but I bought the rivets and a cheap riveter and it just dissolved whilst using it. The bolts look fine even though they are not OEM and i'll fit the correct rivets if I ever have the skirts repainted.....and that won't be happening any time soon.

The rear badges were removed last week as they were falling off. They have been cleaned and I bought the correct tape to refit them. Maybe next week they will go back on.

I still have some jobs to do but they are all small things. I bought a battery powered wet vac for the seats and that will be used in the next couple of weeks.

The bumper is still bugging me but it's not urgent to have it repainted. I'm looking to buy an apartment in Haslingden so may need to get this done before I go there. The place has underground parking, so no more bird s**t issue. Yippee!!

I'll say it again about the exhaust....the car feels great with it fitted. It's probably the best thing i've done to it along with the wheels and tyres being sorted and the suspension parts refreshed.

I am toying with the idea of having Snappy sort a wheel out for me, as close to OEM as possible. He did one for my old 182 Cup and it was brilliant.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Who are you booking it in with for paint? Travis Autos in St Helens is brilliant. If you want someone Manchester based, N J Autobodies in Whitefield is bang on

NJA is a few minutes away so i'll be using them. I don't know if it was the same business but back in 2002 they did a full respray on my red 205 GTi there. The job they did was mint.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Nothing to report except I'll soon be moving to a place with underground parking, so no more birdsh1t and sap on the car. Oh, and i'll be asking a fellow member to have a listen at the infamous 'clunk'.

That's not a euphemism btw.

 

[Polynesian]

Glad to hear you are happy with the new exhaust.
Snappy did a wheel for my MX5 recently and it’s spot on. The comms were very good through the process too.
Re your rear badges, I have to ask what/where/who is the correct tape? As I have this very job ahead of me (amongst 2000 other things).

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Glad to hear you are happy with the new exhaust.
Snappy did a wheel for my MX5 recently and it’s spot on. The comms were very good through the process too.
Re your rear badges, I have to ask what/where/who is the correct tape? As I have this very job ahead of me (amongst 2000 other things).

Snappy did my wheel on my old 182 Cup years back and I went to his place to collect it. It was mint.

Matt recommended this tape to me which I now have ...

3M VHB DOUBLE SIDED TAPE ROLL STRONG ADHESIVE STICKY TAPE ACRYLIC GREY | eBay UK

3M ULTRA STRONG DOUBLE SIDED TAPE. Type: 3M Double Sided Tape. Colour: Grey. Material: Acrylic Quality. Simple to use, simply peel of the foam and stick it on. Easily cut with scissors & weather resistant.

www.ebay.co.uk

It's a bit fiddley to get the backing off but it's very sticky. I've not fitted them yet, though.