Restoring Little Bluey - my 182 FF ClioSport in Racing Blue

[Mr Underhill]

I'm starting a new thread on my recent Clio 182 purchase - a 2005 Clio 182 FF in Racing Blue. And by restoration i don't mean concourse, just a decent high standard so she'll last many more years.

My other thread is now getting very busy with my BG daily and track car. That thread is here for anybody who's interested in Black Gold Clio's and trck cars - https://cliosport.net/threads/clio-182-track-car-daily-projects.830168/

I bought this one off a local lad after he couldn't put the time into her with all his other cars.

Paintwork looks really nice at first glance but closer inspection does reveal some imperfections. She's very solid underneath, the engine has only covered 82,000 miles, has a very good stamped service history, two keys and only 4 previous keepers.

Every manual is still there, tools, accident management pack and pretty much every receipt is there as well. I'm looking forward to bringing her to as close to OEM as possible - providing i can source the parts - as it does have a few aftermarket items fitted which i don't like.

Anyway, here are the pictures of the car when i first collected her alongside my restored BG. I've already done some work on the backend which i'll update on here over the next week or so. Hope you enjoy and thank you for reading.

 

[sennaalbronda]

I'm starting a new thread on my recent Clio 182 purchase - a 2005 Clio 182 FF in Racing Blue. And by restoration i don't mean concourse, just a decent high standard so she'll last many more years.

My other thread is now getting very busy with my BG daily and track car. That thread is here for anybody who's interested in Black Gold Clio's and trck cars - https://cliosport.net/threads/clio-182-track-car-daily-projects.830168/

I bought this one off a local lad after he couldn't put the time into her with all his other cars.

Paintwork looks really nice at first glance but closer inspection does reveal some imperfections. She's very solid underneath, the engine has only covered 82,000 miles, has a very good stamped service history, two keys and only 4 previous keepers.

Every manual is still there, tools, accident management pack and pretty much every receipt is there as well. I'm looking forward to bringing her to as close to OEM as possible - providing i can source the parts - as it does have a few aftermarket items fitted which i don't like.

Anyway, here are the pictures of the car when i first collected her alongside my restored BG. I've already done some work on the backend which i'll update on here over the next week or so. Hope you enjoy and thank you for reading.

View attachment 1563773View attachment 1563772View attachment 1563771

Very nice Jon, subbed to this one aswell

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-N950F met Tapatalk

 

[Mr Underhill]

Very nice Jon, subbed to this one aswell

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-N950F met Tapatalk

When I saw the notification from you I thought you were going to repost my old comments about Racing Blue Clio’s 😂

 

[Jekyll]

Definitely subbed.

Knowing how you are and have been, this will be a good car/thread to follow! 😁

 

[sennaalbronda]

When I saw the notification from you I thought you were going to repost my old comments about Racing Blue Clio’s [emoji23]

Dont you tempt me now[emoji23][emoji23]

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-N950F met Tapatalk

 

[Mr Underhill]

Definitely subbed.

Knowing how you are and have been, this will be a good car/thread to follow! 😁

Now’t like a bit of peer pressure Mark 😳😂

 

[RustyMojo]

Obviously subscribed! Make sure you keep us well up to date buddy

 

[Mr Underhill]

Sorry for no updates but i've been busy with the trackcar and restoring/fixing oil leaks on the BG daily. Went totally over the top as usual, but so far so good.

Day off today so i'll bring the thread up to date with what's happened to the RB.

First job was to whip the old beam off, look for corrosion, treat it and then build back up with a restored beam i did earlier and new parts.

Underneath wasn't bad at all, so i just gave everything a clean up and then undersealed, touched up the painted areas and then cavity waxed oiled it. It's ugly but the goal is to avoid any corrosion and the treatments i used are in brush form only.

Even had a go at the exhaust heat shields god knows how long they'll last. I've since bought a large sheet of nimbus heat shield so stay tuned for a Frankinstein monster of an attempt at replicating the rear shield.

Rebuilt the restored beam with new bolts, nuts, brake lines, calipers, brake discs and pads etc....Old brake lines on the rear didn't look great so replaced with stainless steel braided lines.

I've been trying to get my hands on some genuine cup springs but the ones i've been offered are pretty much useless, so may just keep the Eibach spings on for now. I've also bought brand new front and rear Cup dampers to replace the new aftermarket dampers currently fitted. I'll stick these up for sale later when i take them off.

Had a few parts aqua blasted, replaced the exhaust bushes and cleaned up the exhaust. I was going to replace the Scorpion system on it with a PMS but it's almost new and doesn't sound too bad at all.

 

[Mr Underhill]

With the rear done i began working my way down towards the front starting with the drivers side. I noticed the side skirt was a little chewed up and it looked like it had been off before as it was stuck on with self tappers.

Yes it had definitely been off before, probably to do some remedial work, but why they didn't use rivets to stick the trim brackets back on is beyond me.

Anyway it's an easy fix. Job done.

The rear seats were already removed from the car, so i took a peek down into the rear arch. It's a very scary thing to do I can tell you. A bit of relief when there's no corrosion 😅

By now i'd stuck the wax oil lance into the sill and was happily blasting away, before i realised i didn't get any pictures for reference.

Oh well, at least that's not rusting anytime soon.

Finally i tret a few small areas with Hydrate-80 and touched up the lower sill to tidy it over winter.

The car is going in for some paintwork in the spring as i fully plan on sending the car off for a proper detailing job, so want it perfect before i do that.

Stuck the side skirt back on and began the search for a replacement part - more on that later.

 

[Mr Underhill]

And finally this is where i'm up to.

When i bought the car i noticed the steering was very vague, nowhere near as sharp as my BG. The owner also mentioned a knocking sound on pulling away.

I couldn't really get it on a ramp in the middle of the compound, but i had a feeling i knew what the issue was.

Whipped the wheels off to find moly grease all over the subframe and engine sump. Pulled the discs and hubs off and noticed the CV boot and ABS rings were the wrong ones. Bodge alert! 😅

The driveshaft separated pretty easily as it wasn't even fixed on. Probably had clips on it but no doubt they broke off after bouncing off the sump.

Anyway, i've now bought a Shaftec R396R replacement driveshaft.

I also noticed the wishbones were newish but didn't look quite right. Contacted previous owner who confirmed they'd been replaced with aftermaket cheapo's from AZ Taz. Crikey, they're not even the right length. Might explain the vague steering.

Luckily for me i managed to get myself the very last set of genuine wishbones off Kevin at Kam racing. The drivers side was new but lots of marks on it, but i'm assured this is how they're stored at the warehouse and i don't have much choice unless i refurb some older ones.

So naturally the next plan is to whip all the aftermarket bits off the steering and suspension, replace the wishbones, brakes, discs, driveshaft, track rod ends, steering bushes, dampers etc then get a proper geo setup.

In between that i've been collecting a few small parts which were missing off the car. It's been really difficult getting hold of these items, or at least finding the right people motivated enough to send them out to me.

So a big thank you to Stuart Robinson, Russ Hopkins aka @DavidDave and BTT Motorsport for helping me out.

 

[RustyMojo]

Looking great mate! Thanks for the mention apologies for the new username! I was awarded it by David aka @Cub.

 

[Cub.]

Looking great mate! Thanks for the mention apologies for the new username! I was awarded it by David aka @Cub.

You’re welcome David.

 

[dave120]

Great progress!

Another Treasure Trove of Mk2 bits is @Stu. on here or check out his FB and IG pages called Renomotive. He helped me with a few hard to find parts when I was building my car back up.

He is in Scotland but will courier stuff to you no probs. He even had a few RB 182s in for breaking the last time I was up.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Yeah I mentioned him above.

Great progress!

Another Treasure Trove of Mk2 bits is @Stu. on here or check out his FB and IG pages called Renomotive. He helped me with a few hard to find parts when I was building my car back up.

He is in Scotland but will courier stuff to you no probs. He even had a few RB 182s in for breaking the last time I was up.

He supplied me with the rear seat bracket 👍

 

[dave120]

Yeah I mentioned him above.

He supplied me with the rear seat bracket 👍

He is a good guy!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Began stripping out the suspension today. Everything came off pretty easily as I suspect the parts have been recently replaced in the last year or so.

I’ll be replacing pretty much everything with genuine parts and bolts, except the springs and hubs which I’ll refurbish.

Got both sides done, so next job will be removal of the subframe to get that powder coated.

I’m not going to go as far as removing the engine, like I did on my BG, because most things are in pretty good condition. Rather I’ll work my way around it, get some of the brackets off for aqua blasting and give everywhere a good clean and tidy up.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Nothing special here but an update nonetheless. Sorting through the parts I’m keeping and restoring to a decent standard. Again, finish isn’t the priority on these parts as it’s not a show car and will be in daily use. But they’re well protected against corrosion which is what counts.

I was going to treat the top spring platforms with some gold passivate to get a factory finish, but sadly there was some pitting. Instead I mixed up some paint to give a goldish finish.

Even the brake pipe Clips get a bit of TLC 😊

 

[dave120]

Looking good. It will all be worth it in the long run!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Looking good. It will all be worth it in the long run!

Yeah. Learned so much from doing the BG, that I'm just going to be more efficient with this one. No point in going over the top where i don't need to.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Started reassembling the front dampers and finished off the brake calipers.

Totally rebuilt the calipers with new seals, pistons, bolts and HEL stainless steel bleeders. Hate the factory ones as they’re so soft.

Gave the springs some anti-corrosion treatment, some extra layers of paint and then rebuilt the dampers.

All parts are new with genuine CUP dampers, gators, spacers and top mount kit.

Still need to remove the subframe but it’s been too cold and work is taking priority at the moment. Still, got a few good days off over Christmas so hopefully the weather holds up and I can get stuck in.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Took advantage of the balmy weather and set about removing the subframe. What a nightmare 🤦🏻‍♂️

One thing I’ve learned about this car is the real reason the previous owner sold it. Now’t to do with “needing the space” or “got too many cars”. More like I’ve tried to fix it on the cheap and I’m now out of my depth 😂

Bodge alert - so the two bottom photos are what I saw when I got underneath to look at the subframe.

The 2 upper bolts on the steering rack, both cross threaded, not all the way in but very tight. The lower bolts weren’t exactly tight either. Probably explains the knocking sound, along with the dodgy driveshaft 🤨 Can’t believe he’s been driving this car on the road 🤦🏻‍♂️

Anyway, got the bolts out then went on to remove the 3 bolts from the heat shield below the manifold. I normally leave the steering rack hanging so needed these out first.

Got those out then went to remove the subframe bolts and both rear nut cages were missing, meaning the bolts were spinning 😵‍💫

As I’m now going to have to take the steering rack out now to re-thread, I thought fook it, Engine out 😂

Followed by the subframe.

Engine bay’s not too bad thank god and there’s not a lot of rust under the arches either.

Just the usual bubbles around the wishbone stabiliser and where the brake pipes attach, although none on the other side which is good to know.

Gave those areas a good coating with Hydrate-80, then I’ll primer it up with B&H Electrox, then paint in Racing Blue when

Haven’t really had a good look over the engine yet but I’ll tidy it up for the winter, then take it out again in the summer and give the parts a good refurb.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Apologies in advance for the pictures. I’m pretty much up to my eyes in engines, engine cranes, stands etc and have little to no room to take nice pictures.

Quite a productive couple of days on the RB starting with the steering rack brackets and sorting through some bolts.

This is the direction the upper bolt which goes into the steering rack bracket was going. Obviously forced during previous assembly as room ipretty tight under there.

Easy fix with an M8 1.25mm tap to re-thread.

Job done!

Steering rack bushes looked in decent condition but I changed them anyway.

Gave the rack and the brackets a clean up and that’s that job sorted.

Went through some brackets and bolts that I’m keeping, then gave them an overnight soak in a bucket of warm water and B&H DEOX-C.

Discovered a broken battery/gearbox mount bracket when removing the engine. NLA so will be on the lookout for a second hand one.

Next job was to refurb the subframe and anti-roll bar.

 

[Mr Underhill]

First thing i spotted when disassembling the subframe was the bolts were pointing in the wrong direction. This is one of the longer bolts on the wishbone which should be the other way around, then separated by a spacer nut, followed by the small stabiliser bar and then a locking nut. It was the same both sides 🤦🏻‍♂️

Anyway, onto the subframe. I was going to get it powder coated but decided it’ll last longer if I restore it myself. Treatment is pretty much the same as the rear beam axle but instead of a coating of Electrox primer, I used Etchweld which is perfect for Zinc/Galvanised steels.

Didn’t get any pictures worthy of sharing but here’s the subframe along with the anti-roll bar and wishbones.

Final coating after Degeasing, Hydrate-80 and Etchweld was Black Epoxy Resin. It’ll never rust 😂

I used genuine inner/outer anti-roll bar bushes, brand new genuine wishbones - last set in the country apparently- restored the original wishbone bolts and replaced the anti-roll bar bolts with new zinc plated equivalents. The only part that’s not factory are the inner bush brackets which are coated in yellow passivate. I just painted it Black.

And that’s pretty much it. I might get the subframe back in tomorrow if the weathers not too bad. Thanks for reading.

 

[frayz]

Doing a lovely job on this Jon 😎👍🏼

 

[Mr Underhill]

Doing a lovely job on this Jon 😎👍🏼

Thanks fella 😊 After 4 years fighting with the BG, this one’s a bit easier and I know where I’m going with it now.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Subframe back in and steering rack fitted correctly.

Did a bit of tidying up in the engine bay and painted under the arches.

Back at work tomorrow so that’s pretty much it until the weekend, then I can get the engine back in and start building the suspension back up.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Rubbish weather today mean’t a day in the garage cleaning up the engine.

Removed all the ancillaries, boxed them up and sent them off for aqua blasting.

Gave the engine a proper clean up with degreaser. Took about 5 hours as it was absolutely filthy but the gearbox and rocker cover came up a treat, so I’ll probably leave them as they are.

Got some Hydrate-80 on the block then painted one side. Not sure if I like the Matt Black finish 🤔 Might just do Charcoal like the BG.

Managed to pick up a replacement battery/gearbox mount tray from BTT Motorsport which arrived today, so that’s gone for blasting also.

Hoping the weather picks up tomorrow so I can get outside and finish off a few jobs under the engine bay.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Some parts I sent for blasting earlier in the week. The engine will pop with these on.

 

[Mr Underhill]

I thought I’d do a quick summary of the work I’ve done so far on the RB as it’s easy to get lost with all the updates.

Work completed so far

• Rear Beam Axle completely refurbished along with brackets, hubs and carriers
• Brand new Purple Powerflex bushes
• Brand new Genuine body to beam bracket bolts
• Brand new Genuine rear calipers and HEL stainless steel bleed nipples
• Brand new Genuine rear discs, Motrio pads and axle nuts.
• Brand new Genuine rear ABS sensors
• Brand new stainless steel braided lines inc rear axle lines
• Brand new 10.9 high tensile nuts and bolts in hubs, beam axle and lower damper
• Brand new Genuine ‘Cup” dampers
• Rear springs clean up
• Complete restoration of the rear section, including chassis legs up to and in around the fuel tank
• Descaled, degreased, application of DEOX-Gel, followed by several coats of Hydrate-80, followed by Electrox Primer then finally Epoxy-Mastic and undersealing
• Cavity waxed with Dynax S80
• Rebuilt, repaired the two rear heat shields
• Replaced missing old heat shield screws with Genuine Renault ones.
• Removed, cleaned, polished and refit rear exhaust section
• Replaced rear exhaust hanger mounts with Pro-am Racing stainless steel versions and applied additional paint and protection for longer life
• Aqua blasted rear exhaust brackets and fit brand new Powerflex bushes
• Complete nut and bolt refresh and restoration of brackets
• Repainted areas in Racing Blue where factory paintwork had faded
• Removed lower body kit, cleaned, repaired and applied some paintwork - these are getting completely replaced
• Removed old rusty screws and replaced with Black rivets
• Descaled, degreased, application of DEOX-Gel followed by several coats of Hydrate-80 along the sill and applied primer and paint to tidy up. These will be repainted when it goes in for some remedial work in the Spring
• Checked the rear quarter - including petrol tank nozzle and lower sill area. All good. Then cavity waxed the inner sills and all vulnerable areas
• Removed bumper and all inner wheel arch protectors
• Removed and fully restored subframe with Etchweld primer and Epoxy-Mastic
• Removed engine
• Replaced steering rack bushes with brand new Powerflex and repaired cross threading on the brackets
• Complete restoration of the inner arches, chassis legs, in and around headlamp area and pretty much everywhere else
• Descaled, degreased, application of DEOX-Gel, followed by several coats of Hydrate-80, followed by Electrox Primer then finally repainted in Racing Blue

And that’s pretty much the work completed so far.

 

[Bluebeard]

Loving it Jon, must be very satisfying.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Loving it Jon, must be very satisfying.

Very expensive 😂 But yeah it’s keeping me out of trouble and nice to see it progressing

 

[02teasda]

Love reading your threads Jon, truly awesome work. Keep telling myself I’ll get around to doing my 172 cup to the same standard when I get the time. I live in Darlington as well, where do you get your parts blasted?
Cheers, Sam

 

[Daz.]

I keep getting surprised how much stuff is NLA but I forget how old these cars are getting these days....

 

[Mr Underhill]

Love reading your threads Jon, truly awesome work. Keep telling myself I’ll get around to doing my 172 cup to the same standard when I get the time. I live in Darlington as well, where do you get your parts blasted?
Cheers, Sam

Thanks Sam 😊
I use a lad called Wayne in Stockton. He has a Facebook page called Aquablasting UK. Very good and quick turnaround.
I saw a 172 Cup last year as I was pulling into SG Petch where I work. I was in my Black 182 and it was going the other way. Sort of waved at each other 😂 but I’ve never seen it since. Now wondering if it was you 🤔

 

[Mr Underhill]

I keep getting surprised how much stuff is NLA but I forget how old these cars are getting these days....

The galling thing is I threw out or gave away a lot of the parts I’m now having to buy back 😞

 

[ajracer]

Great skills mate and the speed your working through the jobs is pretty astonishing!

 

[02teasda]

Thanks Sam [emoji4]
I use a lad called Wayne in Stockton. He has a Facebook page called Aquablasting UK. Very good and quick turnaround.
I saw a 172 Cup last year as I was pulling into SG Petch where I work. I was in my Black 182 and it was going the other way. Sort of waved at each other [emoji23] but I’ve never seen it since. Now wondering if it was you [emoji848]

Ahh great I’ll look him up cheers! Need to tidy my engine bay up. Yes it probably was me as I live just off McMullen road, I’ll keep an eye out for you in future, don’t see many 172/182s around town [emoji1360]

 

[Mr Underhill]

Great skills mate and the speed your working through the jobs is pretty astonishing!

Thank you fella 😊

 

[Mr Underhill]

Last few jobs over the weekend building the arches back up and fitting a couple of captive bolts to the subframe.

It’ll save me a lot of pain later should I need to remove it again.

Tidied up the inner wheel arch protectors then refitted to the freshly painted arches. Pretty pleased with how it looks although won’t stay clean very long 😂

Ran out of time with other things going on, but got a few brackets back on the engine, dropped the oil and stuck a new genuine oil filter on. I’ll build it all back up through the week after work, so hopefully I’ll be able to get the engine back in next weekend.

Appreciate all the kind words and thanks for reading 😊

 

[Mr Underhill]

A few more engine brackets arrived on Tuesday from Aqua Blasting, so I put a few late shifts in after work to build the engine back up.

It’s not perfect and had to paint the alternator and air-con compressor due to time constraints - major building work to the house at end of Jan).

But it’s clean, tidy and oil free. Hoping to get the rest build up so I can get the engine back in this weekend - weather permitting.