Project 182: The Sequel

[BurnyC]

After having sold my previous Clio 182 a little while ago (funnily enough it ended up back on the forum!) as I needed something a little more commuter friendly, I'm now in the fortunate position to have another Clio, but keep it as a project car! The idea is to use it for 'fun' drives at weekends, track days and eventually I'd love to enter it in some hill climb events. My mate has entered a local championship in a MR2, and seeing his videos and hearing his stories gave me some inspiration!

So after a lot of looking around at some very tired examples, this popped up for sale about an hour away last Saturday night, and by the Sunday afternoon I'd left a deposit. Fast forward to today and it's now home and sitting proudly on my driveway. The main reasons for buying it is that it's been so well looked after mechanically, with a ton of paperwork to back that up. Some of the highlights include Cooksport spring teamed up with new Cup pack shocks, new Brembo HC discs with DS2500 pads and a recent Yozzasport cat-back exhaust. All that needs doing immediately is tidying up a few cosmetic issues, which I got started with the minute I got it home...

DAY ONE

Overall, it's in very good condition on the outside. Few minor marks/ding/scuff here and there, but for a 10 year old car in black you can't complain! As with every car though, there were a few things I wanted to sort. First thing I did was give it a quick wash...

Mmm, bead-tastic. Whilst most of the paintwork is in great condition, there was some unsightly overspray from a repair to the rear arch where apparently someone scraped it. I didn't hold out a lot of hope for sorting it, given that I am a detailing amateur...

...I had this lying around though, unopened, so thought it can't hurt to give it a go! Pretty pleased with how much I managed to tidy it up, and I reckon with a proper detail it could be sorted completely.

There was also a crack to one of the rear lights, so I got onto Renparts and made sure I had one ready to go on it when it got home. Easy, but satisfying.

I also really appreciate the guy I bought it from, Matt, chucking in a lot of parts...

...a travelling companion...

...and the most incredible air freshener known to man!

All in all, very chuffed with it. Future things are to replace the steering wheel, as whilst it's not terrible it has gone a bit melty and one of the thumb grips is starting to fall apart, and for track work a smaller wheel is much needed. I also want to sort out the gear knob insert, fix the slight hazing on the headlights and a few other little bits and pieces, before finally unleashing it on a track!

More to come as the tidy up continues, and the track lets closer...

 

[Dan...]

Looks a really tidy example! I love all of the little touches you've done so far

 

[M@tt_182]

Ah man totally forgot about the horse , if it's of no use I'd love it back! Glad you've got to work on it straight away, I'll keep my eye on the progress, gutted to see it go but glad it's in good hands on the forum

 

[BurnyC]

Alright, so a few little bits and pieces...

I've signed up for the Prescott Hillclimb Drivers School next year, and have planned to do a track day at Castle Combe. In terms of the car, it had it's MOT coming so I thought I'd put it in a week early, just in case. I knew it needed new wipers so I fitted some Lucas flat blades.

However, on Thursday I had a slight issue involving suddenly needing some headlight washer blanks. I didn't want to pay over the odds for some of the oblong ones you see for sale, so popped into Halfords for some 13mm rubber grommets, which look surprisingly decent! Especially as the car is black.

After a tense 45 mins wandering around the near by industrial estate, it passed with flying colours! Only one advisory for slight play in a ball joint, which I'll get sorted before it sees a track. Even got a comment on it being a nice example, which is a massive complement on a 10 year old Clio!

 

[BurnyC]

Mammoth update time! So, since the last update in October 2014 there's not been a whole lot to report...it's mostly been given run-outs at weekends and kept ticking over, and at one point I even considered selling it. However, it's such a brilliant car and drives so well (even compared to my previous 182), I decided I couldn't part with it just yet. So, I decided to treat it...

In January of 2016, I took it to this place to get the cambelt, aux belt and dephaser pulley changed. Some seriously amazing cars here, and whilst they don't normally work on such humble machinery as the Clio, it was done as something of a favour through my work. They also have an ex-Renault Master Tech (as well as one or two of the guys having a Clio track car themselves), so it's fair to say it was in very good hands! Hopefully one day I'll be back with some slightly more deserving machinery....

I also changed the slightly melty steering wheel for a nice OMP, which has transformed how the car drives. Such a big difference to the huge bus wheel it comes with.

Then I took it on its first track-day in my ownership at Hullavington Airfield, and it was brilliant. Ran faultlessly all day, even with two of us driving so not getting much rest all day! Sadly no photos or GoPro footage, as I forgot the mount. I've also done a couple of days at Prescott Hill Climb and those were great fun. Such a different challenge to normal track driving, but the little Clio seems well suited! Again, it ran faultlessly and acquitted itself well. Some photos below, hopefully some GoPro footage soon (when I can be bothered to get it off the camera and clip it up).

And that brings us to how it stands today; after being treated to a good wash and wax, it still scrubs up nicely! Plans include maybe a couple of events at Prescott, and a couple of track days, and before that, sort out the cloudy headlights.

 

[imprezaworks]

Which wheel is that mate

 

[BurnyC]

Which wheel is that mate

It's an OMP Targa in suede, 330mm I believe, which seems to be the sweet spot. I also spent a bit more on an Oreca boss as the OMP one it came with was causing problems with the steering angle sensor, as it doesn't have the little tabs necessary to slot into it. Oreca one seems better made overall too.

 

[imprezaworks]

Cool. Yeah I went with the momo because of those issues.

How much was the wheel?

 

[BurnyC]

Cool. Yeah I went with the momo because of those issues.

How much was the wheel?

I think it was about 130ish including the boss, and I made a little back from selling that on. I still have the original so tempted to get it re-trimmed at some point, but as it's not a daily driver it seems a bit pointless!

 

[imprezaworks]

Been looking at suede wheels, sparco 383/the Renault sport wheel. This looks pretty good though

£140 on eBay

 

[BurnyC]

Been looking at suede wheels, sparco 383/the Renault sport wheel. This looks pretty good though

£140 on eBay

Yeah the Sabelt Renault Sport one is nice! I wanted that one but couldn't really justify the extra just for the branding. The OMP one is great and I'd definitely recommend it, seems to be wearing fairly well too.

 

[imprezaworks]

Cheers for that. Gives me something to stick on my list lol

 

[BurnyC]

Small update but a huge difference, I finally got around to ordering the 3M headlights restoration kit and what a massive improvement!
Before:

After:

 

[mossyv6]

That is a massive improvement, so much better. Did it take you long?

 

[BurnyC]

That is a massive improvement, so much better. Did it take you long?

Thanks, it's a small thing but it makes a huge difference to the look of the car. I had the help of a mate who's done it before, and it probably took a couple of hours to do both. We didn't rush it or anything because it can be easy to mess it up and then it's difficult to fix!

 

[Jekyll]

That makes a big difference.

Faded lights always let's the front end down.