Pearl Black 172 PH1

[Filipe Dias]

Hows fitment with these?
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I have one from ebay but the fit is horrible and it rattles.

To be honest, the fit is not OEM like, but they don´t rattle . I assume quality control / dimensional control is not accurate The only rattle i have in my car is from the rear seatbelt !

 

[Filipe Dias]

Are these blue colour like oem?

The center vents are black. Only the side vents are blue

 

[Filipe Dias]

Well, time for a big update

Decided to open the wallet and buy some upgrades for the Clio. The shocks of the car had been replaced a couple years ago (about 3000 km) with new Renault items, but the Bushes were still the original. The car was not knocking and passed the MOT with flying colors but i knew that i should replace them . So in order to address it i bought this :

Clio Cup Wishbones

Original anti roll bar bushes. I have read many times the poor fitment of the Powerflex ones and could not be bothered about it. You may also notice the Exhaust gasket set.

New coolant tank and Renault antifreeze

Regarding the lower engine mount, decided for the Powerflex since the reviews are all good and will provide a minimum increase in NHV.

And with all this parts will install my 182 exhaust manifold and 182 Cat to be fully legal.

To be continued

 

[Filipe Dias]

- 182 Exhaust Manifold in place
- 182 Cat installed
- Cup Wishbones
- Anti Roll Bar bushes
- Tie Rods
- Powerflex lower engine mount

And now i am facing this problem

The 182 manifold/cat is too long to attach to the original cat back exhaust. Also notice how bad my center muffler is. Someone was there before and made a mess of it.

Will update during the week as the work continues

 

[Filipe Dias]

And the car is back on the road

The engine bay with new coolant tank and fresh coolant.

And the 182 Manifold and cat together with the Std ph1 rear muffler. Quite happy with the 182 manifold. It seems to have some more torque down low.

Today I am going to give it a good outside clean and then will post some pictures .

 

[Filipe Dias]

Well, went to give it a good clean and noticed the car behaving a little weird. It seemed to be low on power and with a lumpy idle (Worse than the usual) . Decided to change a few things.

- 2 X Lambda sensor
- Coil Pack
- Spark Plugs

Before starting the operation

Plastic cover off

The correct spark plugs

 

[Filipe Dias]

The old coilpack. I believe it´s still the original. So 20 years. The wires have only a couple of years. I have a receipt for them from Renault.

Intake off

The old spark plugs

And the new ones

Torque to spec

The new coilpack

In place

 

[Filipe Dias]

And then was time to replace the o2 sensors. Glad i sprayed wd40 in the previous days. They come out really well !

New vs old.

In place

The pre cat one

All done regarding the o2 sensors

And the underside is looking good despite being filthy !

Went for a drive and the car is definitely smoother.

 

[Filipe Dias]

Took the Clio this weekend for a drive and it´s definitely smoother . Love the way the 182 manifold changes de powerband.

 

[Filipe Dias]

And time for another update . Decided to start cleaning the underside of the Clio. I always try to perform this on my cars for several reasons. First i can see if it the car needs something in short order (Leaks, Split rubbers etc) and besides that, it´s satisfying . Specially in cars like this that lived the whole life in southern Europe where there is no snow or salt on the road .

So, let´s start.

Left hand side rear arch

A closer look

Very dirty from 20 years of driving

 

[Filipe Dias]

After a few hours with lot´s of different products and brushes.

A little bit better.

 

[Filipe Dias]

And now the right hand side

Before

 

[Filipe Dias]

And after

Not perfect by any means, but much better.


Will keep updating as the work moves on

 

[Krarl]

I wish cars in the UK looked like this but they're all orange underneath 😂

 

[Filipe Dias]

The work continues

Removed the muffler




In very good condition considering it´s age.

How the underside was looking

 

[Filipe Dias]

Gave the exhaust a good clean and after that high temperature silver paint. Turned out very good in the end.

Decided to repeat the process in the center section. It was looking a bit sorry for itself

After a few coats

 

[Filipe Dias]

And here it is the result of the rear section of the car after a good days of work.

 

[Filipe Dias]

 

[Filipe Dias]

 

[Filipe Dias]

Gave the rear wheels a clean .

And the exhaust in place

And now let´s do the same thing to the front of the car

 

[Filipe Dias]

And the front of the car is almost done. When removing the plastic liners found a lot of dirt behind it and the bolts securing the liner were rusty. Removed all the dirt , washed and gave it cavity wax on those areas, despite having 0 rust. Thank god.

Some pictures:

The amount of dirt behind the plastic liner

And the cavity wax that i have used

And now how the front is after a good clean.

 

[Filipe Dias]

Not perfect but considering it´s age, it´s ok.

I was thinking about changing the rear brake and front´s since i was there, but the brake pads on the front and rear are almost brand new. Will run them until the end and then will replace everything.

Next step is finishing cleaning the underside of the engine and gearbox (It leaks...as all of them) .

Thanks for reading

 

[k_Leo]

Amazing work!!!

 

[Filipe Dias]

Time for another update

The front end cleaning is done.

Noticed my rear lights had seen better days, decided to attack them with some polish compound. In the end ceramic coated them.

Before

And after

 

[Filipe Dias]

One of these noticed that a bolt was missing from the plastic engine cover.

After this the car was ready do drive again. So decided to visit a small local exhaust shop to solve the exhaust leak that i had near the cat and backbox .

This gave me the opportunity to check the underside and take a few pictures.

 

[Filipe Dias]

 

[Filipe Dias]

After this decided to go for a drive. Unfortunately there is still a small leak near the backbox. That did not stop me having some fun .

On the way home

That´s all for now

 

[Filipe Dias]

Went for a drive early in the morning Fabulous!

 

[k_Leo]

The beautiful Arrábida, we almost crossed went there around 12am today.

 

[Filipe Dias]

So, time for a small update. Last weekend decided to take the day off and went on a small road trip with my father. On the total about 800 km were made on a single day, and 550 of that on Mountain Roads .

Some pictures for you guys.

Leaving at 04:30

Sunrise

Endless mountain roads and the best part, 0 traffic.

 

[Filipe Dias]

 

[Filipe Dias]

And to finish it off

The car performed great, not using a single drop of oil or coolant. The fuel consumption was 6.4 L/100 , about 44 mpg?

Good times.

 

[imprezaworks]

Superb.

 

[k_Leo]

Awesome roadtrip and photos, we have such good roads.

Those places are familiar to me.

Abraço

 

[deanoE30M3]

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what are you using to get it that clean..

The road trip looks epic, bet the Clio was a load of fun..

 

[Robbie Corbett]

what are you using to get it that clean..

The road trip looks epic, bet the Clio was a load of fun..

Sunshine and no salt must be a pretty big part of it!

 

[Filipe Dias]

what are you using to get it that clean..

The road trip looks epic, bet the Clio was a load of fun..

To get it cleaned i used wurth industrial cleaner and All purpose cleaner with different mix ratios

 

[Filipe Dias]

Sunshine and no salt must be a pretty big part of it!

That´s true ! The only cars that show rust around here are the ones that live just right the beaches and seafront , other than not , not a single spot of salt on the road to be seen

 

[deanoE30M3]

To get it cleaned i used wurth industrial cleaner and All purpose cleaner with different mix ratios

did you use a clear wax after looks like it’s been treated..

 

[Filipe Dias]

did you use a clear wax after looks like it’s been treated..

Just a cheap wax . Would like a good one but don´t have any feedback of them