Project Ph-Unknown

[rosssei]

After selling the 197 and trying to settle down into a sensible car - i soon realised what a massive mistake i had made! As great a car as the BMW was, it just didnt deliver the 'fun' factor that the RS Clios had given.

So when my dad mentioned he was thinking of changing to an M3 i convinced him he would be far better with a 330 Clubsport! His car was sold and i was left with a week to try and sort something to drive!

I searched through countless adds on pistonheads, autotrader etc for a FWD car that would deliver the same driving style as the clios, but that wasnt a clio. After owning 4 clios i was reluctant to get back into one, thinking it would be better to try and find something different.

Unfortunately insurance prohibited a DC5, and a clean DC2 is apparently impossible to find.

So after reading through ph-reeborn's project thread i realised i quite liked the look and shape of the ph1 172s, and it was also a model i had not owned before...the search was on!

Trawling pistonheads and millions of phone calls later either ended up in me discovering the car was a total shed, or that it was far too expensive! Milage was also proving to be a problem as i didnt want anything with too many miles!

A random google search however threw up these three pictures which led me to an add that was 4 months old...

a quick phone call later saw more pictures being sent - as well as the all important camblet question - which has been changed in the last 1000 miles result!

A week later i was on a flight to collect the car - and was pleasantly suprised at the condition of the car. The front bumper needed resprayed due to stone chips and scuffs, there are a few panel dents and the classic melted steering wheel but overall a very clean wee motor.

Took the car for a test drive and knew straight away i had made the right decision being back in a clio! Soon we were on our way back to the ferry (a 9 hour drive) and got the car home early the next morning!

Not sure what direction the car will take at the minute - lots of small plans and if it stays long term lots of bigger plans!

Will frequently update this as anything on the car changes and all C&C welcome throughout the thread

Ross

 

[Whisker biscuit]

Lookin good mate bet ur well chuffed. How many miles are on her then ?

I almost went for a black one before I bought my flamer and since I bought it a mate of mine is dying to get one in silver so its lookin like hes gonna go over and bring one back as well. You England boys may clamp down on sales to Ireland or yous wont have any left at this rate lol.

 

[Guppy]

Looks in good condition!

From your previous car i know it will be a looker

 

[rosssei]

13th July - Week 1

Front bumper was resprayed by Terry Henry at KKRC, fantastic job as always!

Car received 4 Toyo T1R's from StreetRacer, loved them on the 182 so had to have a set as Toyo have recently lowered their prices!

So with the fresh paint on the front bumper - the terrible condition of the paint on the rest of the car was severely noticable!

Still not sure how long i will keep the car etc i was reluctant to do a full detail on the car - especially as there are dents that i will most likely be getting taken out.

So i decided to give the car a quick once over with Menz 3.02, a Yellow Megs pad and the Makita! The car was in an absolute state - must have been through brush car washes its entire life it looked very flat :

quick snow foam followed by clay and detar using PolyClay, Last Touch and finally Tardis -

which left the car looking like this after a rewash -

ready for this -

as it was a bright, but not sunny day i struggled to get decent photos of the swirling - but it was dire :dapprove:

small bits remembered to be taken out and car taped up -

after some 3.02 action i was left with this -

which i was happy enough with - full correction will come in the future!

how the car sits tonight, ready for some Menz 85 and Supernatural tomorrow -

and the first modification was added to the car (i pulled the standard handle off the inside on the trip home ) -

happy with how the car has come up - plans for future include:

Coilovers
Wheels painted (red/candy blue/lime green)? suggestions guys?
New steering wheel
Track days!

Ross

 

[Naith]

looks brilliant, looking forward to updates

 

[Whisker biscuit]

Mate that is lookin super clean, top job.

 

[Ridahz]

Nice RS-1! :approve:

Looking very fresh since you have had your hands on it! Keep up the good work

 

[rosssei]

quick update with the finished pictures for the tidy up session -

ran round with Menz 85 to create some extra gloss then put down a couple of layers of Supernatural

Next in line are clear repeaters, dent removal then some type of suspension!

Ross

 

[fUbAr]

love it, they look so good in black!

fog light?

 

[Naith]

have to say it again... fit

clear indicators, ph 2 rears and black wheels?

 

[rosssei]

fog light was smashed when i got it

either replacing them or going to put twin CAFs in? opinions?

Ross

 

[saltyhair81]

That is mint.

 

[Revels]

All your cars look awesome, this is no exception.

That pic make me want a black ph1! Hmmmm.

 

[rosssei]

^^ thanks very much for the kind words

its got a long way to come but im glad i managed to get a well looked after one with lowish miles that was most importantly standard!

means i can work away and have it exactly how i want

 

[Ali]

Wow! Awesome!

 

[MikeyK18]

Looking good ross!

Give me a shout if your looking a retrimmed PH1 wheel

 

[Needster]

Stunning.

 

[Ali]

have to say it again... fit

clear indicators, ph 2 rears and black wheels?

God no! Clear indicators aye. Black wheels, choice of fags tbh!x

 

[rosssei]

^^ it will be keeping the ph1 lights and rear end - thinking about ph2 rub strips though...

wheels may be going black with a coloured lip

either that or one of these

in 15x8

or

in 15/16 x 8?

any ideas?

 

[Jon.L]

looks mint fella, any pics of your old cars that seem to be spoken of so highly!?

 

[Tigger]

You just can't keep away from our heart-warming banter (sleggin match) :rasp:

Welcome "back" I suppose, and can't wait to see how this one turns out

 

[Ali]

offfttt the ROTA police will be along soon.

 

[jesus]

Good choice!

 

[rosssei]

few small updates arrived today in the post

new purchases include:-

Uprated KTEC engine mount and upper gearbox mount
Full Powerflex Bush Kit
OMP 330mm steering wheel and boss

car is stinkin at the minute as i love driving it too much!

 

[W17GLE]

Makes me want to go out and get mine looking that shiny again. Good choice of car

 

[Nafoff]

very nice

good purchases, i was thinking of going with the powerflex's and the engine mount upgrades

 

[rosssei]

todays job was to do upper engine mount:

out with the old -

gone

got carried away and started removing for gearbox mount -

and new one in place -

ran into problems here - when i went to tighten the top bolt down in the upper gearbox mount i got it tight to just on the top thread, but it didnt want to tighten any more - just turning the spindle

anyone any ideas how to get this tightened more or is this tight enough? would an impact gun help?

finally to end my bad luck i reassembled everything - connecting the battery i got a few sparks from the connection which led to a small fire and welded wrench glowing red hot...ended up in a burnt hand fail...

hopefully dogbone and gearbox mount tightened tomorrow!

 

[Nickharding]

s**t mate hope your alright, looks like your doing a fantastic job though!

Looks nasty that, recover soon!

 

[StevenMc29]

Looked good at Kirki mate. Needs lowered though (like my own)

 

[Cro]

Come on Ross, I expect these kinds of things from Trev :rasp: Goodies look good, but thats you on the left hand for a while

 

[rosssei]

left hand it is

bad news again - while pressing the old dogbone bushes out the mount itself

looking at it looks like its been battered previously

new one coming asap!

 

[rosssei]

well good news and a bit more done over the past week -

got a new dogbone from Renault and fitted it with the polybushes fitted

quick picture of the upper engine mount fitted too - the solid mounts have made such a difference to how the car drives - best investment i have ever made on a clio!

second task for t he day was to replace the throttle cable as the standard one was a bit jerky and lumpy - just the usual common problems

and the new one in place -

finally did an oil/filter/plug service on it to treat the wee motor a bit!

next is fitting the rest of the poly bush kit!

ROss

 

[riles79]

looking very nice mate did you use a rotary buffer on it?

 

[Eliganza]

paints come up lovely, very tidy motor

 

[rosssei]

yea used the makita for the correction - thanks guyys

 

[Ben]

Excellent mate, hope your hand is alright.