Rosco's silver cup

[rosco454]

Hi,

After buying a 172 cup last week I thought I would put up a bit of a diary thread for what's going on with my car.

This is the first car of my own I have had on the road for a while due to having a company 4x4 and messing about with a race car project.I moved house a little while ago and as there wasn't enough room for the race car and mountain of bits that go with it I decided to sell and buy myself a new toy with some of the proceeds.I had a look around to see what I fancied but couldn't go too mad as I wrote off an impreza wrx about 5 years ago and the insurance man is still not my friend!

I decided on a 172 cup preferably in iceberg silver and started to have a look around for a decent one.Unfortunately as there were none for sale within 200 miles or so I had a look at a few blue ones,most of them turned out to be dogs so I gave them a miss.I eventually came across an Iceberg silver example locally and after viewing it a couple of times to be sure I took the plunge.Its a 2 owner 50,000 miler with full service history and belts done at 38k in 2008.Body work is pretty good and with a visit from the dent man to sort out a couple of very minor car park dings it will be great.Drives nicely and the only real issue was a leaking power steering sensor which was replaced as part of the deal.

Here are a few pics after giving it a little clean (excuse the slight blue of the photo's,my five year old left finger prints on the camera lens and didn't notice till I downloaded the pictures).

Plans for the car are pretty simple in order to keep the insurance man happy.First up was to change the dogbone mount bushes to powerflex ones as the standard ones were shot meaning the exhaust was hitting the subframe and probably not doing the other engine mounts any favours.This sorted out the knocking altogether and the extra vibration is barely noticeable to be honest.Im planning on giving it a service in the next couple of weeks and also change the induction kit for a standard airbox as it sounds great when you boot it but the noise gets on my tits when driving at a steady pace.

Once those little bits are sorted I will be doing a bit of headlight correcting as it has the usual haze at the top of both lights that spoils the front end slightly.The turinis will be getting a refurb as they have light kerb marks around the rim and corrosion has started in a couple of spots,they will most likely be done in the standard silver.Last on the list for now is to get it sitting a little lower (or more level even),so will be saving for a decent quality set of coilovers and solid top mounts.If my impatience gets the better of me I might just chuck on a set of sportlines to get the ball rolling.At some point down the line the belts will be done along with the dephaser and water pump as there is no record of either being done last time and I might splash out on a decent exhaust as well if im feeling flush!

Thats about all to report for now but will update as I go along.

Cheers Ross.

 

[oliver.james]

Nice! :approve: Looks tidy.

Reminds me of when I first got mine.

 

[rosco454]

Thanks mate.I have been working my way through your thread and gaining plenty of inspiration,great looking car!

Cheers Ross.

 

[Martin_172]

i thought all silver cups had climate control no?

 

[Geordie-Chris]

Nice mate - take it you bought this from a place in Newburn? I road tested it a couple of times, but ultimately wanted a blue one, and they were askin way to much for it at the time. I saw it weeks later advertised at a much lower price! Hope you got it for a bargain!

 

[oliver.james]

i thought all silver cups had climate control no?

There's actually more that don't have climate, than do iirc. About 60 without, 33 with.

It was just offered as an option at the same time, I think.

 

[rosco454]

Nice mate - take it you bought this from a place in Newburn? I road tested it a couple of times, but ultimately wanted a blue one, and they were askin way to much for it at the time. I saw it weeks later advertised at a much lower price! Hope you got it for a bargain!

Thats the one! I managed to get it down to a good price which included full t&t on it along with sorting a replacement power steering sensor as part of the deal.I knew at least one of the mounts were shot from the test drive but after swapping the dogbone bushes to powerflex it drives spot on with no nasty knocking noises.To be honest I was just glad to find a half decent one after looking at so many dogs,this one isn't 100% perfect but for the money I cant complain!

Cheers Ross.

 

[rosco454]

Not the most exiting of updates but I changed the aux belt this morning as there was no mention of it having been done with the timing belt.I plan to get the timing belt service done again pretty soon regardless but the aux belt had some marks on it that were bothering me and for the sake of £14.76 from Renault and 20 mins work I would rather play it safe than end up with both belts snapped.

The belt that came off was a gates item so it probably had been replaced in fairness but I wasnt sure if the marks on it were ok or not,those of you with a bit more knowledge might be able to tell from the pics?Doubt it make a large difference either but the old one was a touch longer at 1130mm and the new one being a 1127mm.

You can see the marks im on about in this one.

Lastly one of the new belt fitted.

A quick test drive to check for squeeling and jobs a goodun,stand by for more uninteresting updates coming soon!

 

[rosco454]

Another less than stunning update but here we go nonetheless.

When I bought the car it had a viper filter fitted but the cold air feed was missing.I wanted to replace it with the standard air box but had a bit of a saga to get hold of one.As it happened a lad at work has recently bought a cup so I asked if I could look at his to see where the feeds went etc and he mentioned he was going to buy an induction kit.Seemed ideal for both of us so a swap was done,leaving me with a very dusty air box and cafs.

Cleaned it up and gave it a coat of trim wax

Replaced the filter as the old one was BLACK and dated 04!

And lastly fitted into the car.Took it on a 270 mile drive to Scotland yesterday and while it doesn't sound as good low down it gets rid of the boominess while at cruising speed.

Cheers Ross.

 

[-J-]

Yay another silver cup, looks well mate.

 

[cliojack]

interior looks mint! very clean car. are you gona lower it?>

 

[bennno2005]

Sounds like a good buy! Is the drivers door a slightly different shade to the rest of it though?

 

[Sam]

Your plans sound good for it mate.

Id get all the belts done though if your unsure about tham before you start spending money on wheels on coilovers.

Get it running sweet first, then looking good.

Sam!

 

[rosco454]

Thanks for the comments guys!

The drivers door is the same colour as the rest of the car,must just be a trick of the light in the photos.Probably didnt help that my little lad had put finger prints all over the camera lens without me knowing!I will have to get some fresh pics sometime when the car is clean.

Bonxy the belts should be done the weekend after next with any luck,really looking forward to it been done so I can stop worrying about them and have peace of mind.

The car will be getting lowered soon as the nose high stance needs sorting out but first I want to get a couple of bits done to bring it up to scratch - oil change,new ngk spark plugs and sealing the rocker cover bolts are top of the list at the moment.Concentrating on getting it running and driving 100% before I start with any fancy bits.

Cheers Ross.

 

[-J-]

The drivers door is the same colour as the rest of the car,must just be a trick of the light in the photos.Probably didnt help that my little lad had put finger prints all over the camera lens without me knowing!I will have to get some fresh pics sometime when the car is clean.

You will notice the colour difference more as you look at the car in different lights, take a look at mine, in some of these photos its Silver, in some its blue -

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?607486-Long-over-due-update-RS2-ed-and-caged-Cup

 

[rosco454]

You will notice the colour difference more as you look at the car in different lights, take a look at mine, in some of these photos its Silver, in some its blue -

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?607486-Long-over-due-update-RS2-ed-and-caged-Cup

Yeah,the iceberg seems to change completely dependant on the light.Especially the wings,bumpers etc with them being plastic which often look a totally different colour in the evening/early morning.

For the first couple of weeks I had the car I was convinced the light was playing tricks with the colour of the mirrors until I realised one was titanium and the other iceberg!Spray shack will be on the case once I have some spare pennies.

 

[rosco454]

Had a good day with the car today,spent the morning with a local forum member who knows what he's doing and had the following work done;

Timing belt kit fitted
New dephaser pulley
New crank pulley bolt fitted
Rocker cover removed and re-sealed
Oil & filter change

The service book showed the belts had been changed about 12k ago but as it was just written under a service stamp with no receipt etc I had doubts in my mind they had actually been done let alone done right.I also figured while the belts were off I would take the opportunity to have some other jobs done as well.Once the car was stripped down we could see the belt was new as were the rollers/tensioner,however not only was the timing slightly out but the bolts holding the rollers on weren't the tightest and the crank pulley bolt was worryingly slack.Also I knew the rocker cover had been leaking from the bolt holes but decided while it was in bits I would just have the lot done.I was glad I did as on cylinder number 2 and to a lesser extent number 1 the cover was leaking and was pissing oil into the spark plug holes.I had my existing aux belt re-fitted as it is only a few weeks old and has done next to no miles.


For anyone interested here are a few (read loads of) pics I took along the way;


Engine mount bracket and cover removed.

Renault locking tools in place along with the crank pin

Belt,dephaser and exhaust cam pulley removed

Exhaust pulley and old dephaser

Rocker cover off and cams removed to check condition of head which was spot on

Renault sealant applied and cams back in.

Rocker cover on and torqued up (was cleaned after pic)

New dephaser pulley fitted

New belt kit

Belt kit fitted and everything locked up.

Oil and filter

Filter fitted

Fresh millers oil

Finally all back together again.

Really pleased with the result,the car drives spot on and is really smooth.Just as important though I was more relaxed/comfortable on the way home knowing that it had been done than I have been since I bought it and to my mind thats money well spent.I had thought about taking the covers off to check if the belt had been changed before I had the work done but so glad I didn't in the end as if I saw the bits were new I would probably have still been driving round with loose bolts,incorrect timing and the plug holes would have had more oil in them than the sump!

I cant take any credit for any of the above as all I did was drink tea/enjoy a bit of banter/admire the work of someone who knows whats what.All in all a good result all round!

Cheers Ross.

 

[rosco454]

Since having the dephaser/belts changed at the weekend the car has been running lots smoother especially from cold where its a lot less rough.It also feels a bit quicker at high revs as well but it could just be the placebo effect!

Still a few jobs to be done though & I have been getting an annoying knocking noise from the rear of the car when going over bumps which I traced to the exhaust mounts being perished and already bodged at some point.I was going to do the poly bush trick but the alloy casing on the rear mount had a crack in it from what looked like a bit of over zealous persuading in the past .:S

With that in mind I ordered a new centre and rear mount from Tom at West Renault yesterday.They arrived this morning so chucked the car over the pit at work and swapped the mounts.Only took about 20 mins to do both and pleased to report the knocking is no more.

Old & new centre mount (old one was ready to snap when the weight of the exhaust was on it).

Old & new rear mount.Note the time/budget concious version of the poly mount fix!

Both mounts went on easily enough although the centre one didnt hang quite straight due what I assume is a pattern part exhaust.

Cheers Ross.

 

[Chris205]

Nice work mate good to see another silver cup in the north east, that's three now

 

[rosco454]

Cheers mate,who's is the other one? I knew yours was knocking about as it was on ebay just after I bought mine.

 

[mitch1503]

Nice one fella as said by chris205 nice to see another silver cup about.. Mines often in the north east

 

[rosco454]

I feel like the poor relation with you two having the optional climate!

A week or so after I bought the car I bought a skoda splitter as mine had been smashed off at some point by the previous owner and I couldn't face paying the amount Renault remove from your wallet for one.Due to my laziness I couldn't be arsed to jack it up and do it on the drive so have been putting of fitting it for weeks.I finally got round to it yesterday as the ramp was free at work,was dark when I finished so had to wait until this morning to get pics.The fit is ok,the only bit that looks a bit untidy is at either end but I did the best I could by trimming back the mounting flange at around 45 degrees so its not visible when looking at the wheel arch and trimmed the rear edge to follow the bumper as well as possible.

Cheers Ross.

 

[mitch1503]

Nar mate the air con is jst extra weight and hava look at how everythings more money on the aircon equipped cars e.g cam belt thinking of removing mine in the new year as it doesnt get used anyways

 

[rosco454]

The cheaper belt changes were part of what attracted me to a cup in the first place! Im the same as you,I rarely use the aircon in my other cars so not having it doesn't really bother me.

 

[Ash']

Nice car mate! really do like the silver cups! Good progress too i need to get the belts etc done on my RB its a horrible feeling driving around on old belts

 

[rosco454]

Thanks very much,im trying to work my way through and sort out any niggles with it before it gets a few fancy bits.

I know what you mean about the old belts,it was getting to the point where I was dreading taking the car out in case it made the dreaded ping,clatter,clatter!

Cheers Ross.

 

[rosco454]

Not an update as such but I had a couple of free hours this afternoon and rather than start a fresh thread in media thought I would just put the pics in here.As I have had a company car for years its a while since I have bothered to clean one properly but im enjoying keeping on top of the clio.Might even invest in some decent gear once the ancient meguires stuff I have from years back is all used up.I didn't have time to get anywhere interesting to take pics as the light was fading but im sure you get the idea.

Cheers Ross.

 

[Ash']

Ross once again really nice, scrubs up well, wishing i went for a iceberg cup now lol . Get on the detailingworld forum they can soon point you in the way of the right detailing gear!.

Silvavision bulbs, 3/4 front number plate would be a cheap and effective mod

 

[Tombola]

Looks good mate. Love a Cup!

 

[Jimbo_M]

looks clean dude!

 

[rosco454]

Thanks for the comments guys,bar a couple of small marks it does clean up pretty well even if I do say so myself!

Ashey must be a mindreader as im hoping to get a few of the following little bits sorted over the next couple of months;

* Coolant change
* New NGK plugs
* Gearbox oil change
* Strut top fix washers
* 3/4 front plate & new rear to match
* Silvertec bulbs
* Mirrors covers resprayed

Then once the winter is out the way I might start with a few bigger things like wheel re-furb & suspension.


Cheers Ross.

 

[rosco454]

Quick update as I managed to get one of the above list sorted.I bought a set of strut top washers from Meek racing on here and fitted them at lunchtime.Borrowed a cordless buzz gun from one of the fiters at work which made a lot easier (no pissing around with allen keys etc) and job was done in a couple of minutes.

Washers

Fitted,strut tops were cleaned up after pic was taken.

Cheers Ross.

 

[Chris205]

any improvements mate?

 

[S TAYLOR]

Looks good exactly how a project should be! Nice too see your sorting out all the important and mechanical issues first, before dealing with your arch gap! Your a good role model.

 

[rosco454]

any improvements mate?

The washers have pretty much sorted the creaky steering and cant go wrong for £6.50.I do have the worlds most annoying creak from the back nearside though when pulling away/beginning to reverse,I can only think its either a shock on its way out or the brake dragging ever so slightly until the car is moving.Either that or my ears are deceiving me as to where its coming from and its the anti roll bar bushes,whichever it turns out to be they are all easy fixes though so not to worry!

Looks good exactly how a project should be! Nice too see your sorting out all the important and mechanical issues first, before dealing with your arch gap! Your a good role model.

Thanks you,don't think I have ever been described as a good role model but first time for everything!Although I am trying to get it 100% the arch gap does make me wince every morning as I walk to the car!As I don't want to to spend a fortune on suspension I think I will most likely go for a set of eibach sportlines and new cup dampers all round as opposed to buying a cheap set of coilovers,the car handles pretty well as it is and don't want to ruin it.

Cheers Ross.

 

[Tombola]

Looks lush mate,m love a silver Cup, somehow looks cleaner than a M. Blue one?!

 

[chris1984]

Looks good mate, very clean cup!!

 

[rosco454]

Thanks for the comments all.

Had a nightmare this week with it,I should add nothing to do with the car it was all my own doing.I have been messing around with cars since I was about 14 years old & in 14 years or so that have followed I have never had such a stupid mistake.......EVER!

Easy enough job,coolant change.Airbox off,bottom hose off ready to flush and fill with type d and I get a phone call to say my little lad has had a funny turn.I chucked the car back together,lobbed some coolant in and went home to see the boy.He was ok in the end but sitting at home later on a horrible thought entered my head "im sure the coolant I put in was red".My heart sank when I went to work and read the container with the dreaded words organic acid technology.Arse!Existing coolant was glycol and I had committed the cardinal sin of mixing the two :dead: In my rush to get home to see if the boy was ok I must have just grabbed the nearest thing to hand.

So,airbox off,hoses off,rad out,thermostat off,everything flushed through,everything reverse flushed through,everything possible brushed out and then back together with fresh type d and then bled.Bit of a chew on but lesson learned,I was lucky in that it hadn't been in long enough to react and for a couple of hours work I could live with it.

The next day paranoia set in as my yellowed header tank was making the coolant look murky (looked like that when it went in but I had it in my mind that I didn't get all the old coolant out even though everything was running clear as a crystal when flushed).So back in bits again and same procedure as above,back together and filled with clean water,driven for about five miles then drained and everything out again to be flushed through once more.Finally back together after everything was thoroughly drained and blown out along with a new (secondhand but much clearer header tank) and filled with type d and bled through.I have ran it for around 20 miles since and im happy the only thing in the system now is type d

Only pics I got were right at the end as I was in such a foul mood at myself for having to do so much work for such a stupid mistake.Absolute ball ache!

Cheers Ross.