Restoring Little Bluey - my 182 FF ClioSport in Racing Blue

[Advikaz]

Looking lovely as always Jon -

And the car

 

[Mr Underhill]

Well due a refresh, look at how scruffy that engine bag looks.. 😂

 

[Mr Underhill]

Spring, my arse. It started bloody raining on the one day I began working on my car. 😤

Still, I managed to get the bumper off - I hate doing this on my own - and the radiator, condenser, and dryer. The ECU is out, and I removed some inner liners to check for corrosion.

Everything looks dandy, with only the odd bit of surface rust on some bolts, clips, and around where the slam panel secures. These are easy fixes. It’s all just very dusty, primarily from where I store it.

I’m quite relieved to see no oil on the sump guard—again, just dusty. The underneath is also still nice, dry, and rust-free.

I’m pretty pleased and relieved at the same time. It’s not a show car by any stretch, but it’s a solid, rust-free little car and should last a few more years yet.

Having a cuppa and waiting for the rain to do one.

 

[Colin-S]

Lovely well looked after car Jon!

You'll have those airbox torx screws back to new in no time.

Are you going back to a black for the ECU bracket / airbox bracket?

Do you have a replacement lower fuse box housing - that clip always breaks 😢

Easter Monday = It was always gonna rain...lol

 

[Mr Underhill]

Lovely well looked after car Jon!

Thanks Colin.

You'll have those airbox torx screws back to new in no time.

Yeah those are soaking in some DEOX-C right now and will be getting the Gun Oil treatment..again!

Are you going back to a black for the ECU bracket / airbox bracket?

Yes, both repainted Black.

Do you have a replacement lower fuse box housing - that clip always breaks 😢

I snapped it a few months back and was proper peeved off. I’ve broken 3 now in 7 years. It’s not bothering me too much at the moment, but if you come across any good ones, please let me know.

Easter Monday = It was always gonna rain...lol

Typical!

 

[Mr Underhill]

The rain hasn’t stopped, so I did some work in the garage. I bought a load of new bolts and clips to attach the new condenser to the new radiator and then to the fan shroud. As usual, the missus has been messing about in there and thrown her stuff everywhere, so I couldn’t find them.

Being an impatient old git, I reused the old ones—thank God I’d soaked them in Deox-C three years ago, so they didn’t put up a fight.

Old condenser, dryer and Radiator

New condenser, dryer, radiator and seal kit.

A bit of a story behind the condenser and seal kit, as I’d bought them many years ago for my old Black Gold 182. When I sold it on here, I gave them away with the car for free, then ended up buying them back like the bloody idiot I am. 🤣

Anyway, that’s as far as I got. Going to have a cuppa, hot bath and another go tomorrow. Thank you for reading.

 

[Brigsy]

Looks spot on John, its held out great considering a few years since the refresh.

Keep an eye on coolant temps with new rad on as the core is a different design to oem. I have tried similar new style core on my meg and it was getting hot as fcuk so changed back to used oem and its been fine since.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Looks spot on John, its held out great considering a few years since the refresh.

Keep an eye on coolant temps with new rad on as the core is a different design to oem. I have tried similar new style core on my meg and it was getting hot as fcuk so changed back to used oem and its been fine since.

I fitted one of these on my Black Gold track car and it was spot on Jon. It looks identical but I’ll keep an eye on it.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Early start to put it all back together.

No dramas - everything went according to plan. I spent most of the time going over everything and cleaning up as I went.

New ECU bracket installed—thanks, @Colin-S . The old one had caused a few scratch marks due to some movement, so I touched those up.

I got the airbox and screws back to black again.

I took my time refilling and bleeding the system. I let it run hot, and the thermostat is all good, with the fans kicking in.

I had a good look at the steering knuckles and hubs, and they’re still in amazing condition, so I’ve decided to leave them alone. The geometry is set up perfectly on this car; it’s so smooth and straight. With the MOT just a few weeks away, the last thing I want to do is mess around trying to find a competent garage to set it up properly again. As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I have a few small jobs to do and it needs a proper clean, then I’ll give it a good run out tomorrow. Thank you for reading.

 

[Colin-S]

Back to black - all looking good as new again.

 

[Mr Underhill]

Gave her a proper blast over God’s Country this morning. New radiator seems to be holding up well. No leaks, nice and stable. Car feels great.

Booked in for service, MOT and Aircon Regas next week 🤞🏻

 

[Mr Underhill]

Managed to get booked into Kwik Fit this morning to sort the Aircon - cheers @Brigsy

The chap who did the work also supplied my tyres and is an all-round good egg and a proper petrol-head. I also discovered, he’s at the Nurburgring at the same time as I am, so that should be cool.

Took about an hour and nice to have cool air again ❄️

I also picked up this really mint condition Stereo from @avstar1 last year.

My other stereo is fine, but when I cleaned the sticky goo off, I damaged the stickers.

The small details always bugged me, and they’re what matter most.

The last job was to attach some rather cool top mount covers. A chap I follow on Instagram has a set on his Racing Blue 182, and they look just the trick. They’ll also prevent the top nut from rusting or collecting dirt.

For anybody interested in a set, I got them from Diamond Performance

Overall, it’s been a pretty productive few days off, and the car is finally getting to the condition I wanted. Just a few missing grommets now, but that’s part of the fun of trying to get it back to factory. Thank you for reading.

 

[Colin-S]

That stereo looks mint!

I've had a think about buying those top mount covers a few times - do they just push on? no chance they could come off?

A lot of jobs ticked off the list - well done.

 

[Mr Underhill]

That stereo looks mint!

I've had a think about buying those top mount covers a few times - do they just push on? no chance they could come off?

A lot of jobs ticked off the list - well done.

There’s a few bits of sticky tape inside so I imagine it would become unsticky if you were removing them regularly. But no, once you push them in, they’re solid. Really nice idea and design.