My Clio with the engine in the wrong end

[DaveL485]

Cross posted from TR

https://turborenault.co.uk/threads/the-last-thing-i-needed-was-another-project-car.100276/

I couldnt afford it and I didnt have time for it. So. I bought it anyway... I've just picked it up after a marathon 2-day round trip (from Coventry to Aberdeen and back) from being painted and now it's at home to be reassembled after a fresh lick of iceberg silver.

Back home in the man cave (which has a build thread of its own here but i'm not cross posting sixteen pages lol)

Back end interior back in

Shiny new things make me happy

10/10 shitting bricks refitting these sliding trims, one slip and theres a big fat scratch in my paint. Luckily went on without issues.

Also have the front doors reassembled, with all electrics working.

Brand new windscreen seal just arrived from RPD as well as a bunch of fir trees for the arch liners and the bonnet mat plugs (why is there a bonnet heat mat thing when there's no engine there? ), more reassembly to come this weekend, maybe with oil and plug service at some point.

 

[White16valver]

Nice!!

 

[cat171]

Awesome!!
Just snooped on the link you gave, I love the Chromodora's!!!

 

[Owen]

Awesome! Great attention to detail - off to read the garage thread now!

 

[General Dave]

Nice!! Is that a 21 Turbo it's sharing the garage with??

 

[Simon_16v]

Really like this bar the spoiler.

 

[DaveL485]

Awesome!!
Just snooped on the link you gave, I love the Chromodora's!!!

Gratuitous wheel pics

Awesome! Great attention to detail - off to read the garage thread now!

I sometimes read it back myself just because I can't believe I actually got away with building it. Waited 10 years to build, spent over 3 years building it.

Nice!! Is that a 21 Turbo it's sharing the garage with??

21 Turbo Quadra, 4wd, one of 146 made in RHD and one of the 20-ish surviving ones. Rescued it from a scrap yard 2 decades ago (where the f**k that time went I do not know) and recomissioned it. When I got it Internet wasn't a thing yet and phones didn't have cameras, the first pictures I have of it were taken on a disposible camera and developed We've been all over the UK and Europe in that time, 30k miles in 20 years. I'll likely be buried in it. I've just kicked off a full resto on the shell, it's being stripped and dipped as the rust has taken hold and I need to get it sorted. There's a Phase 1 9 Turbo in there too, under a pile of V6 under-body shields, arch liners, splitters etc.

 

[General Dave]

21 Turbo Quadra, 4wd, one of 146 made in RHD and one of the 20-ish surviving ones. Rescued it from a scrap yard 2 decades ago (where the f**k that time went I do not know) and recomissioned it. When I got it Internet wasn't a thing yet and phones didn't have cameras, the first pictures I have of it were taken on a disposible camera and developed We've been all over the UK and Europe in that time, 30k miles in 20 years. I'll likely be buried in it. I've just kicked off a full resto on the shell, it's being stripped and dipped as the rust has taken hold and I need to get it sorted. There's a Phase 1 9 Turbo in there too, under a pile of V6 under-body shields, arch liners, splitters etc.

WE NEEEEED PICS OF THESE CARS!!

 

[DaveL485]

WE NEEEEED PICS OF THESE CARS!!

I'll do a thread on the 21 when I get around to it. I have a 197 cup too that I should post about!

Teaser, from 2.5km up in the Swiss Alps in 2016, one of my fave pics of the car. How it didnt melt down I will never know, the air was so thin I was well down on power and reduced cooling meant engine temps were much higher. The MAP sensor (it has a standalone ECU) was reading 80kpa static (so 20% lower atmospheric pressure than at home where it was calibrated). One of the other cars I was with was an Ultima Can Am and he reckoned he was 100hp down on his 550hp LS3.

 

[DaveL485]

Yukky brake discs from standing around resolved with a good old flap-disc-ing

Refitted inner arch liners and stuff and put the first proper wheel on as that corner was sorted (I think!)

More tinkering tomorrow. Only got a few hours today as I picked up a free Nissan Micra (ewww) first thing and then got my chainsaw out for some tree murder.

 

[Big_Steve_T]

About time you got those Chroms out @DaveL485 aka Lankey Flea Bag

 

[mintno1]

Looks great this, loved my Ph2 V6, but big soft spot for Ph1's, bet you can't wait to get it all back together and out on the road ?

 

[DaveL485]

Looks great this, loved my Ph2 V6, but big soft spot for Ph1's, bet you can't wait to get it all back together and out on the road ?

Trying to get it done for CSS at the end of the month. I want some use out of it this year before the winter closes in, i'll probably tackle the cambelt service while the weather sucks, its due on time soon. The clutch and water pump have been done though so might have a bash at doing it with the engine in... apparently it is possible. Apparently.

 

[DaveL485]

Carried on reassembling the front end today, lots of trims and stuff going back in. Put new rivnuts in to hold the big trim across the front too, with a bunch of new spire clips and stainless bolts and fir trees. Also bolted the seat runners back in too. More on the seats later... i'm a 6'6" adonis (ahem) so the OE seats would mean I have to dislocate my legs and hips to fit in the thing and suffer sore ankle/leg when driving for >1 hour anywhere.
Tried to sort the wiper linkage and stuff but there's a part missing from the linkage, scrappy visit required. Its a tiny circlip thing, no idea where its gone. If anyone has a scrap linkage I can nab a circlip from drop me a PM

Sadly the grille mesh I bought turned up rolled up and the post office retards had crushed it so it was kinked so that's got to go back now. Also bought new side repeaters and they came and the lenses weren't even glued on straight so they went back too. Shabby or what!

Tried fitting the new OE windscreen trim as well, holy s**t its tight, looks like the screen is going to have to come out to get it in. I can't get it more than half way across as it stands. Ive tried sliding it in, clipping it in, i've lubed it, pushed it, pulled it... its not happening. Maybe I should just sell one of the kids and have a whole new screen, because....because.... who needs to eat hot food anyway. Beans, straight out the can is where its at.

Reasonable progress, not sure if I'll make Blyton in it but I'm going to try.

Oh, one more thing, after spending approximately 21.9% of my time trying to remember where things go despite meticulously bagging and labelling all the screws, bolts and fasteners, this one eludes me. Anyone know where this goes? It's on the outside, somewhere, but i'm fecked if I can figure out where

 

[DaveL485]

More checked off the jobs list.

Seats hoovered and fitted in. Yum. Sexy.

I went about refitting the undertrays and found that some of the old bolts had broken and previously bodged with a self tapper, so I whipped the bar off holding the broken fitting and drilled it out and put a rivnut in. The bar itself looks a bit aged so I might look to replace it with a stainless one, there's two of them though and the other one looks a swine to get out so i'll come back to it another day. I did the rivnut for that one in situ.

Back in place with rivnuts fitted (2 broken studs in the end)

Lovely



I had the engine undertray off to the the above mentione bar off, it seems the car is somewhat a geologist, what with the stone collection and all.

Finally won the battle with the windscreen trim, took two people and a lot of pratting about but finally in.

With sides fitted also

 

[DaveL485]

One fog light and trim fitted

Went to fit the other fog and found that where the hooky clips go over the lip in the bumper, the fibreglass of the bumper had frayed a bit, and wouldnt hold the fog light at the top properly. It has a bolt in the bottom too, but still, wanted the light unit (brand new OE items) to be secure so I did some fibreglassy stuff, which worked out really well once trimmed down to fit the clippy bits. You can see where i've cut the original back and re-added material below. You can also see how fairly crude the OE bumper moulding was, its little more than a "Max Power" wide arch kit lol.

Bought some hexagon grille, bonded that in place - not sure its taken though so might need to redo it. The tiger seal doesnt seem to have gripped the grille.

So then it was time to refit the bumper, not much left to do now and I can maybe think about an MOT. The passenger side main beam bulb has karked it so need to grab one of those first thing tomorrow.

Not much left to do now, the thought of actually being able to drive it is tantalisingly close.

 

[cat171]

The seats look ace! I love them ? I was looking at your front bumper, wondering why it looked like that..then I realised the middle bar has been cut out. That's pretty cool!

Did you just buy the windscreen surrounds & put it on an already fitted screen ? How much were they / do you have a part number ? Mine doesn't sit flat one corner (it's had a screen, but I didn't know to replace those bits at the time) & it pisses me off loads!

 

[DaveL485]

The seats look ace! I love them ? I was looking at your front bumper, wondering why it looked like that..then I realised the middle bar has been cut out. That's pretty cool!

Did you just buy the windscreen surrounds & put it on an already fitted screen ? How much were they / do you have a part number ? Mine doesn't sit flat one corner (it's had a screen, but I didn't know to replace those bits at the time) & it pisses me off loads!

The seats look great but also serve a purpose of actually making it viable for me to drive. I'm 6'6" with a 36" inside leg, so the OE seats make the seating position untenable for more than short drives especially without cruise. The much thinner Pole Positions mounted right back against the bulkhead give me much needed legroom so I dont have to basically break my legs in half to fit in it
The windscreen trims went on a screen already fitted and I bought new genuine Renault from RPD...they were under £40 delivered IIRC.

https://www.renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/parts/renault-clio-range/clio-phase-2-windscreen-seal-kit/

 

[DaveL485]

MOT passed Saturday after changing a rear driveshaft boot the hub nut was tight as you like and I snapped my breaker bar!

Took the time while I was in there with a lift to remove and free off all four track rod arms and ends and adjusty bits. Last thing you want when doing Geo is a fight with dirty or stuck parts, also marked the left hand threads for future ref.

Geo being done today (Monday) hopefully!

 

[DaveL485]

Made it to CSS :-D even got the whole car underbody sealed as well.

Its now completely filthy and at the detailing Antichrist I have no idea what to do about it lol

 

[Marky_]

Love this. Top work

 

[DaveL485]

The Clifford on the car loves to scoff the battery. At best I get 2 weeks before it drains it flat, common trait for em it seems as my 172 was the same. I have a trickle charger but the battery sits under the front luggage liner and removing that every time I wanna hook it up is a pain. The charger came with crocodile clips and ring terminals though so I fished the ring terminals out, chopped it up and extended the cables so I could route it all and fitted it to the car so I can plug the charger in easily. I need to mount the plug properly somewhere but at least connecting it is considerably easier now.







And I put this on, had it stashed for a while, shiny brand new. Will mostly be driving with gloves so I dont get it manky!

 

[Djw John]

Love it, very very nice.

You can get TRS steering wheel cover from demon tweeks to save you wearing gloves in summer!

Also, you've probably figured it out by now but that bit of black plastic up the top that you weren't sure where it goes? In the corner of the scuttle, it directs water from the screen towards the drain holes. Kinda.

 

[DaveL485]

Also, you've probably figured it out by now but that bit of black plastic up the top that you weren't sure where it goes? In the corner of the scuttle, it directs water from the screen towards the drain holes. Kinda.

Its still on my workbench, so next time I pull the scuttle apart ill check it out. Thanks!

 

[DaveL485]

Service time. No wonder these things cost a fortune at garages, access sucks balls.

Anyway, it was a nice day so I pulled it out of the garage to work on it in the sun, plugs, oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, then I changed the wheels to my rough roll-around wheels and put camber bolts in all four corners ready for a proper geo setup. Whoever fitted the oil filter last needs a swift kick in the spuds too, FAR too tight and took many many swearwords to get it off.

Set at max negative camber on the bolts just to see how far over it would go.

Took it for a test drive afterwards and it seems to be a lot happier for the service.

I would have said the work done on a "normal" car would have taken me maybe 2 hours tops, this took me 5! Though, as well as the twatting around with the oil filter I tend to tippy toe around this thing very carefully so I dont end up damaging anything.

 

[DaveL485]

New thermostat Saturday morning. Fiddly bugger, not helped by me not taking the engine covers off save the bits that come out with the dzus clips.

Future warning for other owners, the back seal on the stat is integral to the setup and as the stat opens and shuts it slides in and out of that seal. You could not replace it with tiger seal or goop, and the stat needs to slide its body within that seal to work properly. It does not come with the stat itself and it's NLA at Renault (9616838180), grab yourself a spare now from Citroen (p/n 1340 42 available from Citroen dealers for £18) as it WILL need replacing at some point. I've ordered myself another one now I know it fits, to keep in my cubby hole of obsolete parts

View attachment 124193

Here is a video of how the stat opens and closes so you see what I mean - the shiny metal body slides in the seal.



Car now running at the right temperature, which is pleasing after the t**t about to get the housing in and out.

 

[DaveL485]

And a bit of a detail this week for a run out to Caffeine and Machine tomorrow

 

[-Rob]

Some clean legal plates and that's one stunning V6. Cromodoras and the Pole Positions finish it off for me, good work!

 

[Coops Mk1]

Looks lovely, agree needs standard plates though, those things do nothing for it ;-)

 

[DaveL485]

Some clean legal plates and that's one stunning V6. Cromodoras and the Pole Positions finish it off for me, good work!

Thanks, One of my fave bits is seeing the "Recaro" text through the windscreen when I look back

Gratuitous C&M pics from a week Saturday.

 

[cat171]

Please get normal plates for it.

 

[DaveL485]

Please get normal plates for it.

I have some, in the boot, and they detach and reattach on massive strips of Hook and Loop fastener...but I quite like them, Plod hasn't nabbed me yet and I really like the fact it irks @andybond

 

[cat171]

That's how mine are, trust me it would look much nicer if you put the proper set on.

 

[andybond]

View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156View attachment 1397156

I have some, in the boot, and they detach and reattach on massive strips of Hook and Loop fastener...but I quite like them, Plod hasn't nabbed me yet and I really like the fact it irks @andybond

It wont when I nick them

 

[Greeny.]

Incredible build, very jealous, lovey car (minus the plates).

 

[20vKarlos]

lovely looking motor.

more more more!!

 

[DaveL485]

Snapped by a mate at caffeine and machine this Saturday. Good bacon batch and coffee too

 

[DaveL485]

Five cars, five totally different experiences... C63 AMG 507, 600hp tuned 996, Huracan Performante, and a Boxster (I do so enjoy asking him how the hairdressing course is going). I'm the poor boy of the group LOL.

 

[DaveL485]

Quite a while since I updated this, done about 2000 miles in the last year, jump in and turn the key and off we go.

Retro Rides this weekend just gone, they very kindly waived the pre-98 rule for the Vee and let me on the club stand and on the hill in the morning. It got loads of attention and I almost lost my voice rabbiting to people about it, so left with a real feelgood factor

 

[cat171]

It looks great apart from the number plates.