My racing blue 182 in need of some love...

[Luano591]

New member here, just bought a racing blue 182 cup packed, its in need of some serious Tlc, bought it as a trade in, with no mot, 120k miles a damaged front bumper and interior from hell....

It was cheap though! bought it as a winter bit of fun and to do the odd track day in whilst my other car is in bits (E46 M3) which is getting a rebuild for next year and some new bits too

Bmw's current state...

anyway onto the clio, this is how it looked as it arrived

pulled it in onto the ramp to have a check over

as you can see, not mint, but other than the front bumper, wheels and headlights a straight enough looking car.

the interior how ever left a lot to be desired.

steering wheel which i can only presume has been in some kind of fire

and this in the foot well

The drivers window doesn't work, i whipped the door card of and it was wedged up with a piece of wood, I've pressure checked it thinking maybe heater matrix was leaking and it isn't, drain bungs are all ok, doesn't smell like anti freeze so I'm hoping at some point recently the window has been down for a while in the rain haha

also got this beauty under the bonnet.

not sure wether to get a standard airbox to replace it or make one of the pipes to have the filter behind the nearside headlight?

So i sent the car up, heres a little list of what needs doing:
-exhaust hangers, both rear and centre replacing
-exhaust clamp after cat broken
-front discs and pads
-rear discs and pads
-broken nearside rear spring
-incorrect offside front spring
-sumper gasket leaking
-rocker gasket leaking
-air filter s**t
-drivers window doesn't work

other than that its like new.
Im going to give it a service and do the timing belt and dephaser pulley, its quite and goes well, but with no history its not worth the risk i don't think.

what do you guys think to it?

 

[Daz...]

Standard, but filthy, interior for a cup. All of those steering wheels melt unfortunately.

Other than that it's a decent base for a cheap track car.

 

[Luano591]

I changed the exhaust hangers and clamp today after work, as it was hanging down in the centre, and i was worried it would end up getting dragged off when the car was being moved.

before:

after:

I've changed both rear mounts, the centre hanger and the V clamp between the cat and centre silencer, exhaust sits better now and doesn't rattle either exhausts are a bit scabby but seem ok for now.

the old mounts had had it:

also found this spring, not sure if the previous owner had added this as a bodge rather than replacing the hangers or if its supposed to be there:

It sounds a lot better for 20 mins work haha

 

[Luano591]

Standard, but filthy, interior for a cup. All of those steering wheels melt unfortunately.

Other than that it's a decent base for a cheap track car.

the pictures don't do the filth of the interior any justice either, its bad!

I'm quite looking forward to getting it sorted, always had a bit of a soft spot for renaultsport clio's despite never having owned one, I'm going to keep it fairly standard in all honesty, and just have some fun in it, the M3 is a full blown track car so i don't need to go mad with this, was thinking just good pads and tyres, good brake fluid and fun for relatively low cost.

 

[Daz...]

New shocks and springs would no doubt transform it.

 

[imprezaworks]

Have fun. It's the fastest colour so that's a winner.

 

[GavC]

Go for a standard airbox with a performance filter, been proved offers better performance than any induction kit. Generally looks like the interior and exterior will clean up okay. Heres some of my tips:
Seatbelts - Hot bucket of soapy water, remove screws at base of belts so you can pull them outside the car and give them a good soaking/scrub. They'll come up great.
Headlights - Look up Meguiars headlight restoration kit.
Cleaning the cloth seats -

Interior mats - check out these OEM Renault ones, they are ~£19 http://www.renaultpartsdirect.co.uk/product/renault-clio-2-carpet-mat-set/

 

[imprezaworks]

Or fatty induction kit, like Ktec but cheaper. £40 ish. Noise and no performance loss

 

[General Dave]

That Definately needs rescuing!!

If you got it cheap enough and you're going to do the belts and all the work yourself to get it up together you'll more than likely make a profit selling it on once you're done with it. Everyone loves an RB!!

 

[Luano591]

Im going to save it, got a feeling about the car, i like it, its like a little stray puppy haha

 

[Luano591]

So i had a few hours on the car today, got the bumper whipped off and a few bits turned up:

Spent a few quid on some stuff, nothing to expensive, trying to do this on a bit of a budget haha, the lowering kit I've gone for as it was £38+vat through my work, pagid discs and ebc yellows, again not the best pads but should do the job, I've got litres of castrol srf fluid from the bmw so ill bleed the brakes through with that.
The cambelt kit and a dephaser pulley just the usual stuff, a sump gasket and some service bits....

So i thought id get the horrible job out the way first, so made a start on the cambelt, and resealing the rocker cover at the same time.

old belt:

the belt had been changed previously, and it seems the timing is out exhaust cam slightly out of time, this picture is with the crank pin in:

when i tried to fit the tool it highlights how far out it is, fitted in the ex cam it was miles above the inlet:

obligatory cam shaft photo, looks as id expect for nearly 130k:

sealed it with some sealant we use on certain Vag engines, super thin when compressed, rocker went back on all torqued up to spec, put the new dephaser pulley and full timing belt kit on...

was straight forward enough, been a while since I've done this type of engine so just took my time, but all timed up perfect, we have the pulley immobiliser tool which made getting them off and back tight a lot easier, worst part of the job seemed ti be getting the lower timing cover back on haha, going to finish the job in the morning, change oil and filter and then make a start on the brakes, maybe do a bit of cleaning too

 

[imprezaworks]

Assuming you work for Ecp?

@JB21 rates those springs.

 

[Luano591]

Assuming you work for Ecp?

@JB21 rates those springs.

No I work in a garage in scunthorpe, (partner now but still in the workshop everyday) we use Ecp frequently and they do us some good discounts for certain things,especially when you say its for your own car haha, for the cost i thought they must be worth a try, absolute bargain! Same with the yellow stuff pads, think it was about £100 for front and rears

 

[imprezaworks]

Did you get ebc yellow stuff? Interested to know your thoughts as I didn't rate them. Pagid own pads are great tbh.

 

[Luano591]

Did you get ebc yellow stuff? Interested to know your thoughts as I didn't rate them. Pagid own pads are great tbh.

I went for yellow stuffs yeah, i used them on a puma engined fiesta track car a few years back (similar weight id say, but less power) and they were good, they may have changed the compounds since then how ever, they do blue stuff now which they didn't back then... The srf fluid helps massively with fade aswell, and i think i may do the brake ducts from the fog lamps, one is missing anyway.
I've used pagid motorsport Rs29's in the bmw and they are unreal, but thats with ap callipers and 265 front tyres, i was hoping the standard brakes with decent fluid and yellows will be up to the job on the clio

 

[imprezaworks]

Good stuff.

 

[JB21]

@Luano591 Those springs will be fine as long as your shocks are fairly fresh, looked at yellow stuff myself as they were great in my old 6MPS but only lasted a day at Oulton.

I'll have some ys if you can do the fronts and rears for £100? could do you a deal on a tidy steering wheel from a 182 FF?

 

[car.crash]

You'll want to swap those spark plugs for ngk.

I used to slate ebc until my new car came with yellows.
I'd easily put them on par with ds2500 on a daily driver for half the cost.
I've used
Ds3000
Ds2500
Carbotech xp10
Ebc yellows
Carbon Lorraine rc5+
And without a doubt the ebc yellows are the best value fast road pad. Not sure they would hold up to track abuse though.

 

[JB21]

You'll want to swap those spark plugs for ngk.

I used to slate ebc until my new car came with yellows.
I'd easily put them on par with ds2500 on a daily driver for half the cost.
I've used
Ds3000
Ds2500
Carbotech xp10
Ebc yellows
Carbon Lorraine rc5+
And without a doubt the ebc yellows are the best value fast road pad. Not sure they would hold up to track abuse though.

Not a hint of fade on my 1700kg 6MPS so in theory should work great on a 1000kg Clio, read they are pretty gash though on track on the 1*2.

 

[bloke]

Watch out for pagid stuff as a lot of it now isn't pagid, just stuff in paid box. That's the benefit of Euro owning the name.

As long as the Bosch plugs are the correct ones they'll be fine. It's when people have the super4 they don't run properly.

 

[Luano591]

@Luano591 Those springs will be fine as long as your shocks are fairly fresh, looked at yellow stuff myself as they were great in my old 6MPS but only lasted a day at Oulton.

I'll have some ys if you can do the fronts and rears for £100? could do you a deal on a tidy steering wheel from a 182 FF?

ill double check the cost today, and ill get back to you, but yeah we could work something out, or id be interested in buying the wheel...

You'll want to swap those spark plugs for ngk.

I used to slate ebc until my new car came with yellows.
I'd easily put them on par with ds2500 on a daily driver for half the cost.
I've used
Ds3000
Ds2500
Carbotech xp10
Ebc yellows
Carbon Lorraine rc5+
And without a doubt the ebc yellows are the best value fast road pad. Not sure they would hold up to track abuse though.

ferodo stuff I've used in the past has been terrible, wouldn't waste my money. Thats what I'm going for is a performance to cost ratio, yellows seem to be a good option, aslong as they haven't changed much since i used them previously

Watch out for pagid stuff as a lot of it now isn't pagid, just stuff in paid box. That's the benefit of Euro owning the name.

As long as the Bosch plugs are the correct ones they'll be fine. It's when people have the super4 they don't run properly.

They aren't super 4's and it was bosch plugs that came out of it, think it should be good.

Going to finish of the belt and change the sump gasket today, hopefully get some replacement shock absorbers ordered too.

Cant wait to get out and have a drive in the thing

 

[Luano591]

Got the belts done and had it running, lovely and quiet now, dropped the oil, and made a start on the sump gasket, left it for now though as it was b*****d freezing at work without firing the heater up haha

looks like it might just squeeze out without dropping the subframe (engine mount is still off)

 

[bloke]

if you don't drop the subframe a bit then you need to lift the engine up.

 

[Luano591]

if you don't drop the subframe a bit then you need to lift the engine up.

Without taking any more mounts off than the offside one?

 

[bloke]

upper mount and the dog bone.

 

[Luano591]

Got round to finishing the sump off today, took the dog bone off and the 13mm out the slam panel and it whipped out easy.

crap picture of the inside:

fairly clean for a nearly 130k motor i thought. Gave the sump a quick rinse out, no swarf or anything untoward to be found in here which was a bit of a relief

Thought id just pop the new pollen filter in, here is what i found haha

Anyway, popped that together, fitted the lowering kit, just on the old shock absorbers for now, a new set is ordered but I wanted to get it through its mot, old shocks don't look to bad for the age in all fairness, gave them a clean and bobbed it all back together.

Also made a start on fitting the front discs and pads, but got distracted giving the callipers/carriers a bit of a spruce, as can be seen above, nothing fancy and not perfect but should look better at a glance etc, ill do the same with the rears when i get round to fitting them.

comparison of the new vs old spring:

Also picked a carpet up from another member on here @ashley_t to replace the dingy thing thats in it, so cheers for that mate
Should get started on the interior later in the week, rear brakes left to do, and headlights to sort on the outside and it will be looking something like

 

[Jekyll]

Sounds like a good project to follow. Great work so far mate.

 

[20vKarlos]

This is coming along quite well!

I shall have to dive into the deep end soon as my Clio 172 bargain is in a right sorry state! You think yours is bad 😂😂

 

[Luano591]

This is coming along quite well!

I shall have to dive into the deep end soon as my Clio 172 bargain is in a right sorry state! You think yours is bad 😂😂

how bad can it be haha? the interior I've yet to tackle, smells like something wet has died in there !!

 

[Luano591]

Haven't done a lot to the car today, just put the wheels back on and moved it out the work shop, this is how it is sat with the springs on, literally 2 seconds after coming off the ramp:

looks about right i think, hopefully get the rear brakes done tomorrow night and rip the interior out
The wheels are going away to be refurbed also, and front bumper should be done by friday

 

[Jekyll]

Sounds like its gong to turn into a money pit with all the bits you keep adding!

 

[Luano591]

Sounds like its gong to turn into a money pit with all the bits you keep adding!

ahhh probably true, but then what cars aren't? in all honesty its nothing extra from what i originally planned haha, wheels are in dire need of a refurb, think the previous owner used kerbs to guide him!! and it should still be worth more than it will stand me at, not that that was the point of it but it justifies it some what

The M3 is the real money pit, and its currently in millions of bits :/

 

[20vKarlos]

how bad can it be haha? the interior I've yet to tackle, smells like something wet has died in there !!

Oh it's bad! It's a Poorly cared for example

 

[Luano591]

Oh it's bad! It's a Poorly cared for example

get some pictures up lets see this haha!! little pic of the interior of mine now the seats are out... found £2, car was a bargain now!!

the seats them selves...

Got the rear brakes finished today, look better for a little spruce up i think.

Then some parts turned up, any guesses?

And the bumper came back from paint, looks much better

popped the grills back in and started fitting the lip, then my drill went flat, and i was ready for tea so i left it half on haha

Ill get that finished tomorrow, do the headlights tomorrow aswell, and the wheels should be back, then can hopefully get the bumper and under trays/arch liners back on saturday morning.

Its coming together

 

[imprezaworks]

Shame they painted the little black tabs on the front bumper. Now everyone will assume it's been a category A write off lol

 

[20vKarlos]

Looking a lot better already :up:

 

[Luano591]

Shame they painted the little black tabs on the front bumper. Now everyone will assume it's been a category A write off lol

i know haha, its my own fault really, i forgot to say they needed masking off and it was done as a bit of a favour so can't do much about it, hopefully ill be able to talk it down to cat D and light water damage lol

 

[imprezaworks]

Glad you saw my sarcasm

 

[bloke]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renaultsp...085906?hash=item25c7df3c52:g:aiUAAOSwnFZXUGDM

 

[dann2707]

Epic progress already. Getting stuck in so quickly that's what I love to see!