Ph1 revival

[Struggler]

***Content warning - PH1 abuse***

So here i am, dusting off my old cliosport.net

This car was previously part of a long thread back in 2011, https://cliosport.net/threads/strugglers-back-ph1-172-project-bit-of-a-read.614966/

The clio ended up in a garage due to financial constraints and a bit of lost interest to be honest. Then late 2021 it had to be moved. I was extremely close to selling it, but once i gave it a clean i realised i didn't really want to. It then moved around a bit to where i could find to store it, including a year sat outside my flat in SE London (see attempted theft damage) but now it has finally made its way home to the new garage my parents built.

So after sitting for over 10 years (still only on 85km) i need to work out what to do with it. Its definitely looking worse for wear but there's life in it yet i hope!
Hopefully the engine has fared OK. Cambelt is definitely needs doing. Starter is stuck, battery is kaput, brakes need rebuilding and there's general surface rust all over the shop.

I guess i will see in the coming weeks how the restoration goes. First job will be to get the engine back out and start cleaning the body up as much as i can. Let me know what you think.

Hoping this is just surface and will clean up ok...

Bit of theft damage

New home

 

[k_Leo]

This is going to be a nice one to read

 

[Marky_]

Ooof, that's seen better days. Will be good to see it roll back the years.

 

[Coops Mk1]

Nice, surface rust looks to just be on the rear beam and coilovers etc, check the actual chassis itself, ideally from behind the rear door cards and peer down into the inner sills

 

[partybish]

Just went back and looked at your original thread, you were really pushing on with the strip out and engine tidy up - with a bit more of a push I reckon you could get it sorted, doesn't sound like too much given the work you put in already those years ago. As Coops said - how are the inner arches and also the sills/petrol cap?

 

[Struggler]

My first plan is to start getting bit of the body stripped ready to get the engine back out.
Removing some bodywork I'm sure will tell a better tale of how it's faired over the years, i will add down where the rear cards used to be to part of the inspection.

 

[Struggler]

So had my first little strip down today, very happy with how easily its coming apart, i was expecting a lot of swearing and snapping bolts but so far everything has been a dream. Not too much at the moment as i only had an evening but will be back next week to strip the engine bay more. Most of the things that are coming off are going in the bin, i don't really trust ,much of the cooling system so will just replace bits with aftermarket.

Now for the dreaded rust - I was actually pleasantly surprised, after a little search on here it would seem that many of these mk2 are much much worse than this. Gave it a prod and it doesn't feel soft or holey. Not completely sure if i should try and get away with just putting some rust treatment on it and hope i can just halt it as it is or get the skirts off and do a thorough job. By all means let me know your thoughts .

 

[Mr Underhill]

So had my first little strip down today, very happy with how easily its coming apart, i was expecting a lot of swearing and snapping bolts but so far everything has been a dream. Not too much at the moment as i only had an evening but will be back next week to strip the engine bay more. Most of the things that are coming off are going in the bin, i don't really trust ,much of the cooling system so will just replace bits with aftermarket.

View attachment 1655558

Now for the dreaded rust - I was actually pleasantly surprised, after a little search on here it would seem that many of these mk2 are much much worse than this. Gave it a prod and it doesn't feel soft or holey. Not completely sure if i should try and get away with just putting some rust treatment on it and hope i can just halt it as it is or get the skirts off and do a thorough job. By all means let me know your thoughts .

View attachment 1655559View attachment 1655560

Wow, that's not bad at all. Seen loads of newer cars worse than that. Agitate the surface rust, give it a few coats of Hydrate 80 and if possible buy a can of B&H Dynax S50 and apply in all the seams and hidden areas. It creeps into all the places you can't get a brush and has anti-rust properties. Get the skirts off and repeat.

 

[Akay]

I dunno, my 02 plate 172 was like that from inside, you need to take the skirts off ideally by drilling out the rivets, I bet they will be packed with mud and shite! Mine needed cutting and welding. Check around the filler cap as well, same deal there with crud getting stuck on the filler neck in the arch.

 

[Struggler]

Wow, that's not bad at all. Seen loads of newer cars worse than that. Agitate the surface rust, give it a few coats of Hydrate 80 and if possible buy a can of B&H Dynax S50 and apply in all the seams and hidden areas. It creeps into all the places you can't get a brush and has anti-rust properties. Get the skirts off and repeat.

Purchased! and slopped a load down in the rear arches and under front jacking points where it looked a bit surface.

Long term plan is to get the car to a rolling shell then work on the body:

• Cage mounts welded
• Seat rails welded
• handbrake opening welded

When i get to this point i will hold my breath and take the sills off . Time will tell how bad it is.

In the meantime, i picked up an engine crane to remove the engine but have found that between 10 years ago and now i have lost one of the engine hooks! damn things. So instead i basically took as much as i could off ready to remove.

Things that have now been removed:

• Bumper
• Headlights
• Radiator
• Hoses
• Inlet
• Exhaust
• Aux belt ancillaries (it was only the alternator from the last build)
• Gear selector (PMS one coming).
• front brakes (need a rebuild kit and repaint)

Thankfully this being already pretty stripped, removing what is there has been pretty painless.

And in response to the question "why are you taking the engine out". Because i want to . I am in no rush to get this car finished, I am planning some track days in the spring so i can take my time. It's also much easier to work on the body and the engine when they are separate and i quite enjoy these things anyway.

Picked up some KTR Jenvys, GEN90 ECU, 225 injectors and a PMS breather plate at a reasonable price.

and some

and some lairy CatCam 5503422s. Will need to buy some Vernier pulleys as i am told these are non-VVT versions.

Ending up with a lot of parts to get rid of, hopefully i can sell most of it and recoup some money but car being stored so far away is difficult. I may have some flash sale one weekend.

And that was it for today, light faded and I had to leave. Next job is to convince my dad to get rid of that damn motorobike so i can have some more room!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Purchased! and slopped a load down in the rear arches and under front jacking points where it looked a bit surface.

Long term plan is to get the car to a rolling shell then work on the body:

• Cage mounts welded
• Seat rails welded
• handbrake opening welded

When i get to this point i will hold my breath and take the sills off . Time will tell how bad it is.

In the meantime, i picked up an engine crane to remove the engine but have found that between 10 years ago and now i have lost one of the engine hooks! damn things. So instead i basically took as much as i could off ready to remove.

Things that have now been removed:

• Bumper
• Headlights
• Radiator
• Hoses
• Inlet
• Exhaust
• Aux belt ancillaries (it was only the alternator from the last build)
• Gear selector (PMS one coming).
• front brakes (need a rebuild kit and repaint)

Thankfully this being already pretty stripped, removing what is there has been pretty painless.
View attachment 1657625

And in response to the question "why are you taking the engine out". Because i want to . I am in no rush to get this car finished, I am planning some track days in the spring so i can take my time. It's also much easier to work on the body and the engine when they are separate and i quite enjoy these things anyway.

Picked up some KTR Jenvys, GEN90 ECU, 225 injectors and a PMS breather plate at a reasonable price.
View attachment 1657626

and some
View attachment 1657627
and some lairy CatCam 5503422s. Will need to buy some Vernier pulleys as i am told these are non-VVT versions.

Ending up with a lot of parts to get rid of, hopefully i can sell most of it and recoup some money but car being stored so far away is difficult. I may have some flash sale one weekend.
View attachment 1657622

And that was it for today, light faded and I had to leave. Next job is to convince my dad to get rid of that damn motorobike so i can have some more room!
View attachment 1657623

I think the level and standard at which you're working requires the engine out anyway. Very satisfying to get into all the nooks and crannies knowing it's as good as you can get it. Take your time and look forward to seeing it progress.

 

[Struggler]

So spent the other weekend getting the engine out. Pretty straight forward when you've already stripped the PAS/AC and other bits off.

Subframe definitely needs a bit of TLC at a later stage but due to space had to go straight back on after the engine came out.

Then went and attached the ABS controller and associated wiring:

Gave the engine bay a good clean, was pretty happy again how its faired over the last 10 years.

Gearbox got a good clean (don't worry, i refitted the NS shaft before going at it with a jet wash). I think i might even get away with not having to repaint it to be honest.

And finally some engine pics.

Remove the spark plugs and dropped some oil down the cylinders before trying to turn it over slowly for the first time in a decade. Had an initial panic as there was a clunk and no movement of the pully, but closer inspection found that the stand was bolted hard against the flywheel. Up moving this it turned over absolutely fine .

Plan now is to start building the new brake lines at the front before dropping the rear beam and stripping it down. Never made brake lines before so that should be interesting. The engine will likely stay out now until the spring, really makes the car so much easier to manoeuvre around the garage with no engine in it!

Anyway, thanks for your attention.

 

[Struggler]

Not sure i love the like function that has been added sometime in the years since i was an active CS member! People just like an leave.

It's been a full year since i last posted and I've done basically nothing! Well, I've collected a lot of parts, but thats it.
So main focus has been the rear suspension, and I will let the pictures tell most of the story.

Rear beam off

floating clio

absolute mortal battle with the rear bush housings! I hate press fit. Won in the end after likely ruining my neighboars evening.

Making way for these beauties (pure motorsport solid mounts)

Then i went at it with a sanding disc and wire wool attachments followed by a lick of paint for basically everything. Unfotunately i didnt take any pictures... sorry.

This is all back together with teh following mods:

• Painted whiteline arb
• rear beam flatted and painted - job isnt perfect but its enought for underneith the car
• New brake lines using a t-junction to go internal
• Pure motorsport 10mm spacers
• GAZ rear mcphereson adjustable suspension
• pure motorsport rose joint rear beam
• rear calliper rebuild

didnt change the discs, they look rusty but theyve probably covered <1000mi since i fitted them back... 2012.

oh and i managed to stub my foot on a garden step... always wear shoes kids

I was really excited to get it rolling again and see the new rear stance. The 10mm spacer kit makes a massive difference but still may go wider in time. I will wait until i get new wheels before i make the final decision there.

pt2 coming up (looks like there is a 10 photo max)

 

[Struggler]

pt2 - So i had a little time left with the car so got to work on the rear cage. Like an idiot I bought the cage just before i stored the car and it came unpainted. I
spent the best part of a day sanding all the surface rust off it but finally got it ready to paint.

As you can see i am clearly reusing the card i sprayed my ARB on...

primered and ready to paint - i did also paint it but again i didnt take any pictures.

Its now refit in the car, I have just bolted it in in each corner at the moment as i want someone to weld some base plates in for a proper bolt in set up.

Next job is going to be the interior. Hence the cage painting. I made some extremely poor decisions when i young and reckless and cut the rear seat rail out of the car and just bolted the seat to the floor skin. So now i cannot use subframes and have a lot of dents in the floor.

bought some proper seat rails now and new subframes. Just need to find a friendly welder now to do it all.

I will also be getting this hold plated over so i can run a hydraulic handbrake. Sneak peak of my aforementioned sins included.

Anyway, thanks for reading! and if you're a friendly welder please do get in touch!

 

[Struggler]

This forum is really a shell of what it once was sadly. But i want to push forward with my project thread purely so i have somewhere to look back on this in the future (I should probably download my updated to be honest).

So - Absolutely no progress was made over the winter, but that was part of the plan. Now that spring has sprung I'm getting back to work. First job is to start overhauling the front suspension. Given how tight the garage is it was necessary to get the front so it can move around enough to get down the sides with no wheels.

Enter this fun dolly! (i know the picture is from post rebuild but im setting the scene).

From here managed to get all of the pretty much everything short of the subframe off for some TLC. (subframe will get painted later).

Nice little line for some wishbone painting - hung up the ARB mounts while i was there but wont bother putting the ARB back on just yet.

Also had a set of 197 brembos i bought a while ago, tried taking the pins out and they just fell apart, a common problem im told.

I needed to get them shaved down anyway so found some people on facebook to mill the 5mm reuqired to fit under 15s and overhaul them. Shout out to Mike Arter and Max at M.S Custom Engineer (if theyre even on here). They came back looking amazing!

Also sent my hubs off for a roll centre correction kit to be fitted.

Then it was basically a case of giving the bushes a clean and putting it all back together. Gave the hubs a lick of paint too, i wish i had done them back but I didnt have any black spray and was impatient, so now theyre blue.

I'm not sure what to do about the shocks, they have a lot of surface rust, i may just sand this off and paint them rather than look at new shock absorbers.

Very pleased with the overall result. Also fitted some spacers and stud conversion kit.

A coupe of take aways:

1. Had a wheel bearing changed but it still feels like it has play - are these the kind of wheel bearings that need that first torque down with the driveshaft to seat?
2. Discs probably need replacing - i was hoping to get away with keeping them but a poll on here suggests im being foolish
3. My brake lines look too long! Ive not tried it with the wheels yet as theyre arriving tomorrow, but it looks to me like theyre going to hit the wheels. What do you think?
4. Decided half way through that im going to just buy new inner rods for the steering rack. The gaitors have gone and the rack needs a paint so might just change it all while its out.

 

[Advikaz]

That looks mega mate

 

[Louis]

This forum is really a shell of what it once was sadly. But i want to push forward with my project thread purely so i have somewhere to look back on this in the future (I should probably download my updated to be honest).

So - Absolutely no progress was made over the winter, but that was part of the plan. Now that spring has sprung I'm getting back to work. First job is to start overhauling the front suspension. Given how tight the garage is it was necessary to get the front so it can move around enough to get down the sides with no wheels.

View attachment 1741936

Enter this fun dolly! (i know the picture is from post rebuild but im setting the scene).

From here managed to get all of the pretty much everything short of the subframe off for some TLC. (subframe will get painted later).

View attachment 1741941
View attachment 1741942

Nice little line for some wishbone painting - hung up the ARB mounts while i was there but wont bother putting the ARB back on just yet.

Also had a set of 197 brembos i bought a while ago, tried taking the pins out and they just fell apart, a common problem im told.

View attachment 1741944

I needed to get them shaved down anyway so found some people on facebook to mill the 5mm reuqired to fit under 15s and overhaul them. Shout out to Mike Arter and Max at M.S Custom Engineer (if theyre even on here). They came back looking amazing!
View attachment 1741950

Also sent my hubs off for a roll centre correction kit to be fitted.
View attachment 1741946

Then it was basically a case of giving the bushes a clean and putting it all back together. Gave the hubs a lick of paint too, i wish i had done them back but I didnt have any black spray and was impatient, so now theyre blue.

View attachment 1741947
I'm not sure what to do about the shocks, they have a lot of surface rust, i may just sand this off and paint them rather than look at new shock absorbers.

View attachment 1741948
View attachment 1741949

Very pleased with the overall result. Also fitted some spacers and stud conversion kit.

A coupe of take aways:

1. Had a wheel bearing changed but it still feels like it has play - are these the kind of wheel bearings that need that first torque down with the driveshaft to seat?
2. Discs probably need replacing - i was hoping to get away with keeping them but a poll on here suggests im being foolish
3. My brake lines look too long! Ive not tried it with the wheels yet as theyre arriving tomorrow, but it looks to me like theyre going to hit the wheels. What do you think?
4. Decided half way through that im going to just buy new inner rods for the steering rack. The gaitors have gone and the rack needs a paint so might just change it all while its out.

Lots of work going into this! Just read it from the beginning. Don't stop posting on here regardless of the lack of replies. People do read, they just like if they have no input.

Regarding your questions,

1. Yes, they'll feel better once torqued up. It's a pretty monumental torque figure too.

3. Brake lines should be fine. I ran the same setup and they stay pretty static. Just check clearances once wheels are on.

Id keep an eye on those brackets too. I don't fully understand why he removes material!

 

[Struggler]

Cheers dude! yeh i want to keep the posts going just so i have my own record to read back on. Though looking at this thread i definitely need to proof read more.

Thanks for the feedback on that though, perhaps once the wheels come tomorrow I will put a drive shaft in and just torque it down to hopefully seat the bearing properly and recheck as well as the brake line clearance.

 

[Louis]

Cheers dude! yeh i want to keep the posts going just so i have my own record to read back on. Though looking at this thread i definitely need to proof read more.

Thanks for the feedback on that though, perhaps once the wheels come tomorrow I will put a drive shaft in and just torque it down to hopefully seat the bearing properly and recheck as well as the brake line clearance.

Don't put wheels on and move it without shafts in. Your bearings will collapse.

 

[Speedo Gonzales]

Don't put wheels on and move it without shafts in. Your bearings will collapse.

THIS!

 

[Struggler]

Eek, Ive been doing this!
There's no engine in at the moment so I the weight on them is significantly reduced, still a no go? Are you better of just having the shafts in dangling? I'm worried they'd get damaged when rolling the car around.

 

[Speedo Gonzales]

Yeah the bearings will be fucked if there's nothing holding them together

 

[Struggler]

Hmm, well hopefully the amount ive done it so far hasnt done any damage to the other wheel bearing.

I have put the shafts back in now, and i can confirm once torqued up the play in the new wheel bearing has completely disappered.

Also new wheels got delivered today!

So on they went, and decided once it was off the dolly to give her the first taste of freedom for the year!

I would have rolled it all the way out and given it a clean but as you can see we do not have the space. My parents are away and insist on squeezing all of their cars on the driveway for the week so space is limited. But still, I consider this a win!

Put the rear bumper on so i could check out the stance, very happy with the result, this is just using the PMS 10mm axle spacer. I guess the risk is there will be some rubbing but only time will tell here (or someone who has done this set up before, its hardly original!).

In a couple of weeks an old colleague has volenteered to help with some welding of the seat rails, ideally i would also weld some base plates for the cage but we shall see how the seat rails go to begin with. Will check back in with updates then!

 

[Louis]

How's the line clearance?

 

[Struggler]

I completely forgot to check! I'm quite annoyed with myself. Will check in next week and update!

I'm more worried about the wheel to the rear quarter at the moment!

I guess I could max out the shock stiffness and raise the ride height. Or just remove the 10mm axle spacers.

 

[Brigsy]

Assume et is low ish on the wheels? I would remove the 10mm spacers to save tyre to arch interface.

 

[Struggler]

Ugh you're probably right, but it looks so cool!

I wonder if anyone does 5mm axle spacers...

Wheels are second hand, i was trying to find the et stamped on the rim but failed. Looks like they come in et25 amd et35 based on the team dynamics website. I dont think theyre et25 surely.

 

[KevC]

Another Ph1 owner reporting in. I don't log on too often but the project threads are what I look out for. Good it going.

 

[Shrab86]

Keep the posts coming, I’m just about to start again on my Clio.

Finally found someone willing to weld it.

Top work. It’s getting me motivated.

 

[Struggler]

Small update today, decided to take the dash out to tidy up behind.

Id already made the following mods:

• Cut down the mounting frame - I figured this is to hold the the airbags and the weight of the dash, but with the airbags this want really required. I kept the mounts at the ends and left it at that
• Cut down all the HVAC ducting with the exception of the screen defog.
• Fibreglass (badly) any unwanted holes, mainly the recirc
• Chop down wiring

The want was to chop down the work g further. When I built it back in 2010, Bluetooth speakers hadn't really taken off yet so I retained the stereo in the glove box, this bad boy used to play dvds I'd you wanted

The years hadn't been that kind to the dash...

But it cleaned up ok in the end

It also looks like muggins over here removed the electrical components from the ignition barrel (I had fitted switches to feel cool), I've ordered a new barrel from a breakers in the hope I can Frankenstein something together and keep the same key all around.

Yeh that's about it now, plan is to make a new centre console in the space where the vents/stereo used to be with a use charging port and some switches and gauges.

Which got delivered today! I really wish there was a race dash for the ph1 similar to the ph2, I don't want to change the whole dash but there isn't a good place to mount a clusters. If you had time and a 3D printer you could make an insert that replaces the hole where the vents and stereo was and screws on to make a smooth finish. Oh well!

Also, this was parked in my work foyer today. So thats fun.

 

[Struggler]

Little update - I've been away quite a lot over the begining of summer so progress has been a little slow.

I've also grew very bad at taking pictures, so im just throwing this together.

Made a little dash insert with the new gauges and some sheet plastic. It's a little rough around the edges but you shouldnt see most of that once fitted in. Installed some plugs for easy dash removal.

Switches are:

1. Fuel pump
2. USB ports
3. Gauges

All wired up via the little fuse box which is wired to the isolator.

Bought a new battery also and some better wiring.

Painty painty!! Note to anyone, wrapping the doors up like this does not stop overspray getting on the door sills or even the side skirts, going to have to get the clay bar out to try and tidy those up!

Then just a case of reassembly!! Ive also added internal brake lines, a hydraulic handbrake and a bias valve.

Battery behind the drivers seat!

Then rolled it out to bleed the brakes! I was thinking one or two leaks, but it turned out to be 50% of the joints leaked! most of them just needed nipping up a bit more but had to change a whole T-piece under the bonnet which was infuriating and messy. Oh well, we well earned jet off after that (first one since last summer). I forget how nicely she cleans up all things considered.

Realised id only ever jet washed it with the wheels on so it was nice to finally flush all the s**t out of the arches too! Rear arches are going to need replacing soon .

That is basically the interior done! ive ordered some race door cards to go in but now it is really just the engine to do! which is terrifying.

 

[Speedo Gonzales]

This reminds me of my mates old PH1, his was on a W reg, in titanium and had PH-QUICK on the sideskirts too 😂

 

[Brigsy]

This reminds me of my mates old PH1, his was on a W reg, in titanium and had PH-QUICK on the sideskirts too 😂

I remember that, but cant remember whos it was😂

 

[Speedo Gonzales]

I remember that, but cant remember whos it was😂

Danny Hawkins

 

[Struggler]

I put those stickers on back in 2012 when it was still cool. Not sure if they'll stay.

I'm still toying between a clean look or a bit of livery. Given that I will use it on the road it might be best not draw too much attention to myself with loud graphics.

 

[Struggler]

Update time! So, as for the work done so far i have only a few open items:

1. Strange clunk when pushing the brake pedal hard (https://cliosport.net/threads/what-could-this-be-brake-pedal-clunk.853157/)
   • Need to have someone look as i press to check for a pad jumping
   • Might just put a new master cylinder on, theyre pretty cheap
2. Fuel pump unresponsive
   • Hard wired to a 12v switch
   • Checked 12v at plug
   • checked ground
   • Might just buy a new pump and put it in for what they cost
3. Front coilovers a bit crusty, may replace if some nice ones come up at a good price

Next step is getting to work on the engine!

Initially tried to take the whole top off without taking the cam pulleys off but that didnt work so got to work painting the block with the head still on.

Not sure if i regret painting the block blue, I also have blue coolant hoses so might change those for black to balance it out! (flywheel is getting replaced)

Finally a week later i managed to borrow a timing kit to get the pulleys off and I was back to getting the head off.

Then I learned that renault made the lovely choice to make the head bolts out of cheese. First one came off OK but the second...

I learned that this is not exactly uncommon so had to just crack on with the removal. Ended in 5 snapped bolts so a 50% success rate.

A lot of swearing later and some cobalt drill bits ruined and the broken bolts succumbed to my might.

Head is off! I initially had a panic as i could see some surface corrosion on the tops of the cyclinder walls (hard to oil when the engine is at this angle, but some cleaning managed to make it practically indetecatable.

Photos of said corossion post clean up, looks like some mild pitting, if someone has more experience with these things please pipe up! You cannot feel it with your fingernail so I am hoping it will be OK.

 

[Struggler]

Head is now back at my flat in London, next job is to strip it down and send it off for some headwork! Will be stripping the head down myself as soon as the valve spring compressor arrives.

Main driver for this is that I bought 422 cams (non-VVT) that will require uprated valve springs so head needed to come off. Then i learn about the weak two piece valves and other potential head improvements so thought why not get it all done in one go!

Sexy new valves!

 

[PP200t]

Brilliant project! I like the colour of the subframe and axle and the other bits. At first I thought why not black, but seeing it finished it looks really good!