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Nicole get a wide on mk1 clio 172 wide track



paddymc

ClioSport Club Member
Im sure this thread is nothing new to you guys on here but I thought I would post it up anyway

Wide on as described by urban dictonary

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Wide-on

This is my 1993 Clio 1.8 16v also known as Nicole, (as papa and...)

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I never really like how it sat because it has the same body as a Williams but not the same wide track and as a result the wheels sat very far under the arches which i was never very happy about. There is no point in denying it, the car would never pass a NCT as it was before I started the work, knackered rear calipers, shot steering rack, bushes hanging out of the wishbones and a lot more. Naturally I wanted to get this sorted and though about replacing parts with standard but in the end I decided to kill two birds with one stone, new parts and sort the lost wheels in the arches.

Williams parts are very hard to find and I was searching for months and I eventually came across a lot of the hard bits that I needed. With them in the post with thanks to deliver-it.ie

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I had a choice. Do the williams track and go the extra mile and make it even wider by using 172 bits.....The hunt was on for 172 parts so.

The main list of parts needed were

Williams steering rack
Williams ARB
williams struts and springs
172 wishbones
172 hubs
172 brakes

eventually got all the bits I needed from renparts but were not the most reliable but the parts arrived eventually arrived
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Picked up a few other bits along the way also, braided lines, poly bushes for wishbones and ARB
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[/IMG]

A few before pictures for prosperity
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so work began
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started stripping all the old bits off and the first major bit was to get the subframe off which was EXTREMELY manky with all the oil over the years and leaking power steering and other various shite

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Cleaned it all up and painted it up with a bit of stone chip and begun to fit the new steering rack and anti roll bar

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Next job was the wishbone bushes, now I dont have a press in the garage so I employed the services of fire but smoked the fookers out!

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the observant among you will notice the LIDL blow torch which is much fun when turned up side down!

With the bushes out it was time to clean the wishbones and hit them with a lick of paint
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In order to fit the new bushes I needed to fit the metal sleeves first which is a very tight fit so a bit of heat and a bit of cold helped along the way.
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With bushes fitted to the 172 wishbones here is the finished project, with new ball joints also
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Came across these lovely wheels online and had to have them! came off a civic rally car, bit more on these later.

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To give a idea of how wider it will be here is a picture of; from left to right, 172 shaft, williams shaft, and standard 1.8 16v shaft
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In order to fit the Williams struts to the 172 hubs I needed to take a mill of the hubs where the struts fit as they dont fit, not a hard job but all fitted anyway and cleaned and ready to go
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Ordered new discs and pads and the whole lot and it was time to start re fitting parts
lovely 280mm 172 brakes

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went to try my lovely comps but the center bore was to small,
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step in daveboy who kindly offered to help out and bore the wheels out. and what a great job he done. Cant thank him enough for that!

Car was starting to take shape now and tried the wheels back on! ohh, lovely and wide!

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Also got new rear calipers from a 172 which are a lot better, much better arm on the handbrake so happy days
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new dogbone mount
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getting there now with finishing touches
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Got rubber fitted to the compomotives and ready to fit them
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that basically brings us up to the present. As I compile this post I realise that it seemed very straight forward and easy, I can assure you it wasn't. The car fought me ever step of the way. Every bolt was seized on solid. I had to make a few trip to liffey valley renault to get me bolts after grinding old one's off or ones that I wasnt happy to use. So it certainly wasnt as easy as it seemed. There was also a few moments when I fubared the engine when in reality I hadn't and it was actually rather embarassing what had happened :S

The next step is a NCT and I can see no reason why it wont be ok. just have to get tracking done and im away


So this is how she stands now, excuse how rotton she is, I havnt had a chance to clean it yet but stand by for clean car picture and a review of how the performance is after all my work.

Also please excuse any spelling mistakes I may or may not have made.Its been a long week.

If the front wheels dont seem like they are much wider thats because the offset on the compomotives is wrong but I am considering spacers to correct this.

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Also I know there is only 2 studs in the wheels, don't worry, that was just for moving purposes

any comments welcome
 

Coops Mk1

ClioSport Club Member
  Lots of Scrap...
nice work, although i cant say i'm a massive fan of the wheels but appreciate the effort thats gone into making them fit etc :)
 

paddymc

ClioSport Club Member
Love it but loose those wheels!!! Turbines or Williams FTW!!!!!


na, think ill be keeping the wheels! its not like its a concourse car where everything needs to be original. Plus do you know how hard it is to get willy or standard turbine wheels in Ireland?

Im a big fan of the wheels my self believe it or not and at least they aren't 17" tsw's or some bollox. The wheels have really divided opinion. Im happy and that good!!
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
The wheels are ok, not like it really matters quite what they look like anyway, easy to change if you ever want to.

172 widetrack feels the arches very nicely, thats what I have on my current mk1.



You are on non cup 172 wishbones, if you want to run some more caster they can be modified to give it by tipping the balljoint forward, or you could replace them with cup arms that have that already done for you.
 

paddymc

ClioSport Club Member
The wheels are ok, not like it really matters quite what they look like anyway, easy to change if you ever want to.

172 widetrack feels the arches very nicely, thats what I have on my current mk1.



You are on non cup 172 wishbones, if you want to run some more caster they can be modified to give it by tipping the balljoint forward, or you could replace them with cup arms that have that already done for you.

wasn't aware that they could be modified to run more caster. and i also wasnt aware they the cup wishbones ran more caster. Now ive a funny feeling that renparts sent me a cup wishbone and a non cup one because the wheels sit a little different in the arches on either side.

I must do a search on the way to modify the wishbone
 


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