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Russ's next Ph1 - 172 Exclusive



Daniel

ClioSport Moderator
  Whichever has fuel
WTF has been going on here! (Got your text dude, been on holiday)

What did you take this in against? I do think we should seek some sort of counciling. Sold that RB yet?
 
  53 Clio's & counting
Lol yeah i sent you a pic mate then saw a thread on you off on hols - did you have a good time? :)

Took it in part ex against the S3 dude, and I think we may get a 2 for 1 deal with a shrink? Lol

(oh and yeah RB sold, just having its belts done)
 
  53 Clio's & counting
Starting to strip some of the spangly bits off it to sell this weekend, dug my spare inelts out the garage and will be coming with me to work next week to be matched and cleaned :)

Anyone got a spare inlet gasket I could have? I can't find one in my garage for love nor money, and I had about 20 at one point lol
 
  53 Clio's & counting
Cheers anyway dude but im a firm believer in keeping ph1 lights on ph1s, i really dislike the ph2 lights and its not because i own a ph1, as iv had 2 ph2s as well lol.

even back in the day when it was the craze of fitting ph2 rear lights, iv never done it
 
  Rs200
haha i wouldnt go that far! im already planing my ph1 172 ;) buuuuuuut, after having near enough all of them maybe just maybe you were considering an r27 or something? still on the clio's side daniel dont worry!
 

Daniel

ClioSport Moderator
  Whichever has fuel
I am slightly biased as I own 11 clio's! lol.

But like Russ says, £per smile, they are (imo) unbeatable. I've had imprezas, M3, Evo, BMW V8's.... I always come back to a clio.
 
  53 Clio's & counting
haha i wouldnt go that far! im already planing my ph1 172 ;) buuuuuuut, after having near enough all of them maybe just maybe you were considering an r27 or something? still on the clio's side daniel dont worry!



As Dans has said mate, i have been lucky enough to own a lot of fast cars, but looking at fun per £ the Clio is the best choice - my Elise was mind blowing, and I will have another, but 8k for the Elise, where as my Exclusive with a new engine in will owe me less than 4 figures - you can't have more fun for that cash!

Plus for me an R27 wouldn't be an upgrade - just a newer version of what I have, which isn't what I need, I have other vehicles I use daily, this is just a toy.

For reference my black ph1 172 i did 60k in over 6 years, ended up with 140,000 miles and 193bhp on itbs, and needed little more than service items it's whole life - hell it was even on its original clutch lol.

In my experience, they are very reliable if looked after, cheap to run, and bloody quick - a really great all round package
 
  53 Clio's & counting
Ha lol, im not far behind you


Starting to collect little bits ready to swap the engine, new collant bottle is next
 
  53 Clio's & counting
Next update!


Well my search for a new engine ( See this thread for how the old engine sounded - http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?648722-My-Exclusive-engine-rattle ) came up top trumps 2 weeks ago, when a member friend on here offered me his spare Ph1 172 engine from a Ph1 he stripped for a sum of £135, which I couldn't pass up.

The details were it was somewhere in the 90k mileage wise, and unsure on when the belt was done, but ran well, so I popped to Wales and picked it up (And a gearbox for chip lol).


He also very kindly chucked in a front bumper, rear bumper, side skirts, slam panel and grille, and a spare rear axle lol.


I obviously bought a new cambelt kit and aux belt kit, which along with the head end caps and an exhaust manifold gasket I got from a friend who works for Renault, and for the sake of it I got a new Valeo clutch, plus the usual new fluids etc (All at fantastic prices which I am very greatfull for).


The engine came pretty complete, with inlets, coilpack, loom, coolant hoses, PAS pump, air con pump, exhaust manifold - you name it it had it, so once back home I stripped off all the bits I didn't need.

Here is my filthy 'new' engine:



2012-07-01195913.jpg





2012-07-05183840.jpg









Then yesterday, I loaded up the engine and box, plus all the extra bits needed plus a few spares in the boot of the Clio - running with lowz :cool:




2012-07-07074332.jpg






And headed to my mate Dans workshop to do the swap (And hoping that the current engine which was still rattling and tapping it's tits off didn't explode on the way there lol)


On the way down:



2012-07-07091334.jpg





Once I had arrived, we cracked on and the engine and box was out in an hour and a half, and we then took our time in stripping all useable/better ancilleries off the old engine and fitting onto the new one, once it was cleaned mind you, as it was filthy!



2012-07-07101203.jpg


2012-07-07121036.jpg



On a side note, with how metallic the oil was that came out of the old engine, im guessing it's pretty terminal, but il be taking it apart in a few weeks so il update then.


Another interesting thing we found, as soon as we pulled the old engine out, we noticed the size of the exhaust ports - cleaning up the block to check the engine number confirmed it, it was a Ph2 engine!

Here are the exhaust ports of the old engine:




2012-07-07133152.jpg



2012-07-07133200.jpg






And here are the ports on the Ph1 engine that went in:



2012-07-07135847.jpg



2012-07-07135841.jpg





So im not sure if this car has had an engine change in the past (From looking at it, how old the bolts/nuts are etc, if it has been swapped it must have been quite a while back) or if because it's a late registered Ph1 and that it's an import that maybe it was a parts bin special, who knows! But a Ph1 engine has gone back in, so thats the important bit ;)


No more pictures im afraid, Chip popped in in the afternoon, and collected the box I picked up for him, and we stopped for about an hour or so while we had a chat, looked at his steering rack bushes and he very kindly let me have a drive of his Ph1 turbo, which I will put a post up in his project thread shortly.


We were finished in the evening, (I think working out the time it took us taking out breaks for lunch and dinner, we did the engine swap, clutch, and cambelt change in about 7 hours) and after swapping throttle bodies around (As the one that came with the engine was sticking and idling high, so I swapped back to my original one) we were done and packed up and I headed home.


It's sooo nice to have a car thats not tapping his head off, and although Iv been taking it easy, opening it up on the test drive it feels a very strong one - it pulls very well!



So it went perfect then? No.

Bloody typical, as soon as it had warmed up, and was sat idling while we tidied up, I noticed a noise, so went and had a listen, gave it a rev, let it idle and yet - dephaser is making a noise :(

My own bloody fault, I considered getting a new one, but as I literally had no idea how good this engine was - for I knew it wouldn't even start (It had been out a car for a while) I thought id take the chance.

Good news is the engine feels great and drives very nice, so il put a few weeks of driving and me and Dan will fit a new one, and give the car another oil/coolant change and a check over.


All in all, a very productive day, and one working Ph1 toy :D
 
Last edited:
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
Thats a b**ch about the dephasor, but judging by the rate Dan was working at Im sure it wont take you and him too long to sort out.

At least its not knocking from the big ends or anything really terminal like that.

Thanks again for your help with mine, had replaced everything else but hadnt even considered the rack bushes as I havent had them go before, I mentioned it to Mike at MWM though when I spoke to him yesterday and he said its not unusual at all on these cars, and that he gets them in relatively often where they just feel vague and not at all like a 172 should cause of this.
 
  53 Clio's & counting
Thats a b**ch about the dephasor, but judging by the rate Dan was working at Im sure it wont take you and him too long to sort out.

At least its not knocking from the big ends or anything really terminal like that.

Thanks again for your help with mine, had replaced everything else but hadnt even considered the rack bushes as I havent had them go before, I mentioned it to Mike at MWM though when I spoke to him yesterday and he said its not unusual at all on these cars, and that he gets them in relatively often where they just feel vague and not at all like a 172 should cause of this.


As you say matey, at least the engine doesn't rattle or smoke it's head off, so im pleased - a dephaser seems like a 2 minute job after the engine swap lol.

Glad to help, it is an easy one to miss, as I said on Sat, it took me ages to realise that was the issue on mine!


As I said yesterday mate fast work!


Cheers dude, just need to move the drivers seat about now, faaaar too close for me to be comfotable! lol
 
  53 Clio's & counting
Well it was always going to be better than it was lol, though the one in mine is even worse than yours was!
 
  LY Megane R26 230
Hi mate,glad you got back safe and sound after your road trip and the engines up and running.

Sorry to here about the dephaser,didnt realise it was on its way out,will sort you out with a few beers at the trackday to make up for it :eek:
 


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