Restoring Little Bluey - my 182 FF ClioSport in Racing Blue

[16V F7R]

Sell me this and do my Valver next please!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Sell me this and do my Valver next please!

I’ve only done 6 miles since I bought it 😂 And it’s impossible to put a price on it. The sheer amount of time I’ve spent on it is priceless. Can’t wait to get it out on the road.

 

[16V F7R]

Enjoy driving it. It’s the best bit, well done 👍

 

[sennaalbronda]

Uhm, i might have been jealous and also bought a RB 182 cup.
I salute you @Jon Wright

 

[Mr Underhill]

Uhm, i might have been jealous and also bought a RB 182 cup.
I salute you @Jon Wright

Nice! What are your plans with it?

 

[sennaalbronda]

Nice! What are your plans with it?

nothing mayor really, just making it all nice again and removing those horrible 6.5J turini's for some normal 182 wheels. just looks so much nicer

 

[Mr Underhill]

nothing mayor really, just making it all nice again and removing those horrible 6.5J turini's for some normal 182 wheels. just looks so much nicer

Cool. Get a project thread up for it and i'll follow.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Busy times with work, house extension and selling off the race car, 4x4 and trailer. One of the benefits of OCD is when you come to sell things, its pretty easy.

Now left with only 2 cars, my BG and of course little Bluey.

Next up is the MOT, Aircon re-gas and geo set up.

Then it’s off to the bodyshop to get some small paintwork rectifications before finally getting a full detail.

I estimate it’ll be completed by end of April, so can’t wait to get out and enjoy it over the summer.

 

[Mr Underhill]

MOT day yesterday and of course it failed due to my own stupidity 🤬

Basically because of my insistence that my RB should be as OEM as possible, I declined to change the handbrake cables. I wouldn’t care I’d already bought 2 new ones from Borg & Beck but felt the originals were in decent nick. Of course the first proper yank by the MOT tester snapped the OS rear cable.

I guess everyday’s a school day with old cars.

The other small issue that cropped up was the 3rd brake light intermittently not working which would mean an advisory.

Anyway I popped down to test the one off my BG and that’s working so I’ll just replace the unit.

Pretty easy to remove with a bit of masking tape and a flat head screwdriver.

Starting from the top centre and working slowly towards the right it slowly prized out.

Re-test on Wednesday so I’m confident it’ll fly through now. The tester did say his jaw dropped when he stuck it up on the ramps, so I guess I can take something away from that.

At least my Aircon re-gas went without any hitch. Never comfortable removing the pipes in case it won’t reseal but no issues there.

Anyway I cheered myself up by sticking a new positive cover on the battery and applied my stickers 😁

 

[Simon1975]

Amazing read. The level you've gone to bring this car back to better than original is amazing. I wish I could do similar to my rb 182 cup but I don't have the skill and is mainly a track car now. I'll keep a eye on what's next and follow with interest enjoy driving it

 

[Mr Underhill]

Amazing read. The level you've gone to bring this car back to better than original is amazing. I wish I could do similar to my rb 182 cup but I don't have the skill and is mainly a track car now. I'll keep a eye on what's next and follow with interest enjoy driving it

Thank you Simon. I’m just over halfway through so looking forward to the next phase. Thanks for reading and plenty of updates to come 😊

 

[Mr Underhill]

Dropped her off for her MOT re-test this morning. Got a call an hour later all passed no advisories. Nice Birthday present, but still peeved with myself for not switching those handbrake cables and checking the high level brake light.

Anyway, now we can start to move onto the next phase and the remainder of the restoration.

Took a visit to Romax wheel refinishers yesterday armed with some original 182 CUP alloys. The plan was to get the original factory RAL paint number, then see if they could match that in powder coat. When i got there and went through my options I decided to go in a different direction 🤣 Watch this space!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Picked up the Cup alloys from Romax, great guys and really quick turnaround.

The small Renault badges had seen better days so set about tidying those up.

Bought some Jenolite Primer & Chrome spray paint and although not perfect, turned out ok.

Drying times say around a couple of hours but I left these for 12 and it’s still a bit soft. Left a small thumb mark in one of them so I’ll redo again when I’ve got less time on my hands.

Centre caps weren’t great either but came up ok with a rattle can.

Final paint choice on the wheels was something close to factory. because of the multi-coloured centre caps, I figured I’d go for one of their in-house colours in a Light Shadow Chrome Grey. They really pop and will look great on a Blue car.

Now just need to decide whether to go 205/45/16 or stick with 195/45/16’s like my BG. Decisions, decisions.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Mr Underhill]

A couple of annoying jobs today after the MOT last week.

first one was to change the NSF driveshaft after one of our techies spotted a tiny leak when checking the car over on a ramp.

This was a refurbished one from Shaftec who kindly sent me another one out under warranty. I did think at the time the rubber boot going into the box was a little distorted, so I guess it didn’t seal properly. Switched that over so fingers crossed that’s fixed.

The second issue was with the NSR rear caliper which had a faulty handbrake arm affecting the efficiency of the handbrake.

Again another new part replaced under warranty.

Of course this unexpected work scuppered my plans to switch the wheels over, so that’s a job for tomorrow. I’ve only done 15 miles in this car since I bought it last August so you can imagine I’m pretty desperate to have a good drive in it 😂

 

[Mr Underhill]

My tyre guy came down with Covid so I couldn’t switch the wheels over. So instead I whipped the wheels off the BG to try the 195/45/16’s. So much better to drive than the 205/45/16 tyres imho so that’s the route I’m going to take.

Gave under the bonnet a good clean then put the bonnet cover which I got off @RichValver on. Looks really good although my camera skills aren’t up to much 😂

Giving her a proper run out tomorrow to see what falls off 🤔

 

[Mr Underhill]

Drive out across the North Yorkshire moors today. Car was faultless and lovely to drive. The BG is feral compared to this. All the hard work certainly paid off.

 

[16V F7R]

She’s a gem. I bet you seriously enjoyed that today 👍

 

[Mr Underhill]

She’s a gem. I bet you seriously enjoyed that today 👍

I had the missus with me so was on my best behaviour. But yes, the car was really lovely to drive. The amount of people that waved to me and commented on it was weird too. I think it’s the colour

 

[ajracer]

Lovely to see you enjoying the car at last after all your hard work.
Probably one of the best build threads this forum has seen.

 

[16V F7R]

I think it is more the car rather than just the colour. Any petrol head would salute you surely.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Lovely to see you enjoying the car at last after all your hard work.
Probably one of the best build threads this forum has seen.

🫢There’s some seriously good threads on here so nice of you to say

 

[Mr Underhill]

Spare seat belts sent off to Kolour Koncept this morning for Re-Webbing. Big thanks to @David Stuart and @DavidDave for helping me out with these.

Honestly i'd be screwed without the help of some of the good people in this forum 👏👏

I was tempted to go for a different colour but i'm sticking to OEM for now. Can't wait to see the results.

 

[SharpyClio]

Looking great! Some cracking roads in the moors. The perfect car for hooning around up there!!

 

[Mr Underhill]

Looking great! Some cracking roads in the moors. The perfect car for hooning around up there!!

No hooning in this one. I drive it like an old fart BG gets a good B road blast though.

 

[SharpyClio]

No hooning in this one. I drive it like an old fart BG gets a good B road blast though.

Not entirely sure I believe that you don't occasionally open the taps on the RB... but pottering about is still good on a nice day!

 

[RustyMojo]

yeah come on Jon, kick it’s head in! That’s what it was exactly designed for. It’s almost sacrilege not spanking a clios arse

 

[Mr Underhill]

Not entirely sure I believe that you don't occasionally open the taps on the RB... but pottering about is still good on a nice day!

Honestly i bought it in August last year, did 15 miles taking it back and forward from storage, then on Sunday i did about 50 miles to make sure nothing fell off. I've never revved it past 5,000 rpm.

It's in our workshop getting the GEO done and told the lad doing the job i'd be watching him

@DavidDave Honestly fella i'm done with flying about. Once you've had a race car and done years of blasting around a circuit you realise how dangerous it is on the actual roads. Might change my mind if I splash out on an FK2 though

 

[Mr Underhill]

Steering geometry done today and the car drives amazing now.

Also got the standard CUP wheels on and not sure if I like them. 🤔😂

 

[Jekyll]

I think the cup wheels really suit it when there a tad lower than what you have it set at.

 

[Mr Underhill]

I think the cup wheels really suit it when there a tad lower than what you have it set at.

Good shout Mark. It’s on Eibach Prolines which aren’t too dissimilar from Cup springs. Really trying to stay as close to OEM. Couldn’t bear bouncy lowering springs on it.

 

[SharpyClio]

I think the cup wheels really suit it when there a tad lower than what you have it set at.

I was about to say the same, i still think it looks great though. Will have to have a Yorks meet so I can see it in the flesh.

 

[Mr Underhill]

I was about to say the same, i still think it looks great though. Will have to have a Yorks meet so I can see it in the flesh.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah once it’s all sorted I’ll be rocking up to a few local meets to see all me grandkids 😂

 

[ajracer]

I think they look great.
I have the same springs as you but it appears my car sits a little lower but could be just camera angle.

 

[Mr Underhill]

I think they look great.
I have the same springs as you but it appears my car sits a little lower but could be just camera angle.
View attachment 1589482

Yeah I think it’s the angle.

Here’s a side shot I took on my potato coming out of work.

I think the fact yours are more factory colour helps too. I tried to be a clever arse and go for shiny. Doesn’t work. Glad I didn’t sell my Turini’s 😂

 

[ajracer]

Im still on the fence with wheels on my car.
Once I’ve finished refurbing the brakes I’m going to try the Turinis again as you can see the calipers more.
Both types look good on these cars but for some reason we keep poncing about changing our minds! lol.

 

[SharpyClio]

I’m looking for a set it turinis in time. Fancy being able to swap between them… I’m glad it’s not just me. 🤣

 

[Jekyll]

Good shout Mark. It’s on Eibach Prolines which aren’t too dissimilar from Cup springs. Really trying to stay as close to OEM. Couldn’t bear bouncy lowering springs on it.

I fully get it. What your car is, isn't about the looks as such.

Wasn't trying to be negative or shout you down, I just think the oe wheels look better with very small arch gap. But lows and spacers are needed to achieve that, IMO.

Yours is perfect how it is for what you want 👍

 

[Mr Underhill]

This is why I try and do everything myself.

So after I had my geo set up at work, I took the car over to Tyrespot in Darlington.

Unfortunately the guy I was going to use came down with Covid so I reluctantly took the car to them. I say reluctantly because I’ve had issues with them in the past over wheel alignment.

Long story short they had 2 attempts at setting my tracking on my BG Clio and on both occasions the car drove in a straight line but the steering wheel was a mile off centre.

After trying to tell them they basically told me I haven’t a clue what I’m talking about and to go away. In the end I made a kit, used some string and did it myself. I had it checked at another garage and it was almost bang on.

Anyway I digress. So on the way home, after they did the wheel/tyre swap, about a mile into the journey I noticed a knocking sound which progressively got worse. More under decelleration than anything.

I thought something had come loose, given I’d stripped the car back completely, so pulled over. Nothing obvious and after pulling back and forward on the wheels I thought I’d try and make it to my storage unit a few miles down the road. Anyway it got worse so I pulled over and had the car recovered.

Now I never said anything in my last update because I didn’t want to embarrass myself 😂

Anyway I’ve just gone down to the yard armed with jacks and toolkit and the video explains the rest.

 

[Mr Underhill]

A few pictures i took last night as i was leaving work. I think i'm quite settled with the alloys now and looking forward to getting on with the next part of the project.

My mate saw the car yesterday and asked why i hadn't been to work in it sooner. He spends most of his time on Mars, but it got me thinking about the day i got the car and how it has changed.

If you hadn't followed the story, you couldn't really tell the difference between the before and after pictures below. Other than the obvious change in alloys not a lot seems to have changed.

This is not the same car by any stretch of the imagination. Not just the restoration part (phase 1) but the way it behaves on the road (phase 2).

I think i'm about 60% through the restoration now and the to do list is finally getting shorter. I'll sign off now until i get some proper updates, but as always, thanks for reading and following the journey.

 

[Krarl]

I see you still have the wind deflectors 👀

A man of culture