The 172 "project" thread

[Martin!]

I thought it was about time I had a thread up on here to keep updated as and when the Clio changes....so most of this is copied from another forum I use...enjoy!

I bought the 172 late January, with the intention of keeping it standard...didn't last too long, as the mods rolled in....what you see here is from Feb until now....and i'll update as I go along.

So much for keeping it standard! The first small mods arrived today for it, so here we go...i'm sure i've been here before...

Standard car...

The first small things that arrived today...

Silver indicator bulbs for front and rear, to get rid of the "fried egg" effect, and bright white xenon sidelight bulbs to match the xenon headlights.

Bulbs fitted...

Fronts...

Rears...

Finally got round to fitting the "pure white" sidelight bulbs, so the sidelights dont look shite next to the Xenon HID's...

Before...

After...

Should've cleaned the lights for the after pics tbh, but it was only washed yesterday lol!!

Another small update....

Ordered a new numberplate on Monday, arrived today, so just been out and fitted it, looks much better, sized to fit the bumper recess perfectly.

Before

After

 

[Martin!]

Another small update....

What with FCS coming up in a few weeks, it's time to get the car in shape for it! Which unfortunately means spending money !

Anyhow, latest purchase....

16" OZ F1's

This is now the beginning of a very long process, bloody car modifying! It's just too addictive

Small update today, and not a very good one to begin with

After the whole pot hole incedent (of which nothing is going to happen about! w*****s!) I thought the bent wishbone I replaced had sorted the wheel sitting further back than the drivers side one, but it looked odd still, so measured it up centre to centre today, and it still sits roughly 20mm further back than the drivers side. Got it on the lift today to check it out, and the subframe is well and truely bent, looking at it, it's been done for some time as it's all rusted up where it looks to have been knocked back "to shape", badly. Another unseen expense before FCS. Money is going to be tight to get it all done now! Gutted.

On the plus side, I now have new engine mounts, top engine and top gearbox mounts replaced today, and what a difference!

Not many pics, and they're off my phone, so not the best...

New mount in place...forgot to get some before I fitted it.

Old one...the part in my hand is meant to be bonded to the main part!

This part is meant to be filled with oil...but it's ripped open, no wonder it was knackered!

No pics of doing the gearbox one, as it was a b**ch and I was pissed off lol

And last but not least, one to cheer me up a tad...

A new rim, needs lowering and rubber! :lol:

Car feels so much better now though!!

And another update.....

Thought the rear wheel bearing that I replaced last month had gone again, so got it on the lift to check for play, and well, the wheel was red hot to touch, but no play....spun the wheel to see if it felt rough, only to notice a huge crack right down the disc...

I didn't think it'd be too bad to replace cost wise, but then it turns out it's best to buy the whole assembley, including bearing and ABS ring....as you'd just f**k the bearings pressing them out of the old disc, and the chances of getting the ABS ring off in one piece is slim to none...joys!

£98 for 2 rear discs.

I feel violated!

 

[Martin!]

Another small update, with little in the way of pics...

I recieved the new rear discs yesterday, so fitted them after work last night, no more cracked disc, yay!! I've got a couple of pics of this to put up later once my phone's charged.

Today seen me start the job i've not really been looking forward to, replacing the bent subframe.

All was going great, disconnected gear linkage, bottom engine tie bar, drop links, ball joints, all easy so far, then it was time to undo the 4 big bolts that bolt the subframe to the chassis....first bolt came out no problem at all, the second however, ballache! Why oh why, rather than fix captive nuts to the chassis, did they think it was a good idea to fit them in a "cage" instead?! Yep, it spun the nut, inside the chassis leg...so, I had to strip all the arch liner out, remove the horns and foglight to get to the "access" (I use that term loosely) point, couldn't get a spanner on it, because of the part of the cage, so out came the welder! Job jobbed!

Once the subframe was unbolted, it was just a case of unbolting the steering rack, 4 bolts, and then manouvering the subframe out with the wishbones and anti-rollbar still attached, then remove said parts on the floor to swap onto the replacement subframe. This part should have been the easy part! Oh no, not with my/French cars! The first wishbone came out no problem at all, as did the roll bar, but the wishbone on the bent side had other ideas. Both of the bolts were seized in the sleeve in the bush, so I got so pissed off with it, out came the angle grinder with cutting disc attached! The wishbone was then cut out of the subframe, but the bushes are shot, so, at that's where i'm at with it atm, car in pieces, left on the lift.

I've decided i'm ordering a full front end polybush kit, may aswell while it's all in bits, and it should stiffen things up even more! Once they arrive, i'll fire it all back together and take it from there!
Pics of the bent subframe!

What the normal side looks like...

The damaged side... (ignore the part where the wishbone bolts through, I had to cut it out as the bolt was seized in the bush!)

Then today I thought whilst the car was in the air in pieces, i'd give the calipers a quick lick of paint...

Before...

After... (poor pics as camera was going dead!)

One last thing I forgot to mention, or get a piccy of. I picked up my new splitter from Skoda yesterday!

Well, I got home from work tonight to find a nice package sitting for me....poly bushes have arrived, not bad considering they were only ordered Sunday!!

Top notch service from K-Tec Racing

As seen as it was a nice afternoon/evening, I went down and fitted them to the wishbones too!

Piccies, as always lol.

Can't wait to get it all back together on the car now!!

 

[ekaJ]

Another small update....

What with FCS coming up in a few weeks, it's time to get the car in shape for it! Which unfortunately means spending money !

I hope this was written in the past


Car looks good though!

 

[Martin!]

Phoned Renault up today to order 4 new wishbone bolts, £5.36+ vat each! Pick those up Friday, then it can all go back together on Saturday, including new wheels fitted!

Can't wait!

Ok then, so the car is now back together, and the new wheels are on!

Poly bushes have made a remarkable improvement over feel and steering response, the car feels so much more planted now, although this is probably in part, due to having decent rubber on there too, instead of ditch finders!

I shall be fitting my splitter later today too hopefully, so I will update with more pics tonight!

New wheel pics....

Before anyone says, I know it needs lowering!! Eibachs are on order!

Also fitted my splitter today, looks much better than none! All for the bargain price on £10.61+vat from Skoda! It's from a 2007> Fabia. I have the part number if anyone is interested. (Flies not included )

Update!

Car is now lowered on Eibach Sportlines, this, coupled with polybushed wishbones and anti-roll bar, makes the already awesome handling even better, it's like a little go-kart now, love it!!

All set for French Car Show now!! Spent too much to get it ready, but meh, what the hell!

As per the title, went over to Revolution in Gateshead this morning for my new lowering springs, Eibach Sportlines, and fitted them this afternoon, and now, I think, the 172 is ready for FCS!!

Happy days indeed!

Piccies...

They'll still need to settle a bit more, as these were taken with hardly any mileage done, it's even sitting slightly lower now than in the pics...

Take one 172 on 16" OZ F1's...

Add in some Eibach Sportline lowering springs...

And get the results...

Then take it home, wash it, and get some decent pics!

f modifications...

RS Clio 197 style Renault Sport badge bought today to replace the dated looking RS badge of the 172.

Costly at £27.15 for a daft little badge, but looks so much more up to date IMHO.

De-badging was never going to be an option, so don't even bother asking why I never just got rid of the lot.

Piccies as always!

Before...

After...

 

[Martin!]

I hope this was written in the past


Car looks good though!

Haha yeah it's copied from another forum I use!

Bang up to date now with the new RS badge on the rear done today

 

[Rob]

Car looks great, brilliant choice of mods with the 16" o.z f1's!

How hard was fitting the poly bushes? I think I'll be doing that in the near future.

 

[subarufreak]

car looks good, wheels would look better one mine though ;-)

 

[172-Tom]

Car looks spot on.
Where did you get the anti roll bar from? Cost?
And is it hard to change the engine mounts??

 

[Martin!]

Cheers for the comments

Polybushes weren't bad to fit at all, just a case of using a vice to press the metal outer sleeve into the wishbone itself, making sure it's nice and square, then a tack of weld on them to hold them, then just a case of lubing up the bush and pressing it in with the vice too.

ARB bushes were even easier, it's just a case of undo a nut and bolt on each one, slip the old one off, new one in, and tighten the bracket back up.

All the polybushes came from K-Tec, think it was around £100ish for the lot.

Engine mounts are easy to do, just a case of unbolt the old, and fit the new! 10 minute job really for the top one, gearbox one takes a little longer as you have to take all the battery tray out and whatnot.

 

[172-Tom]

deffo a good buy then? Im not great with cars but i managed to do the spring myself so do you recon id be ok doing the above?

 

[Martin!]

Yeah, it's simple mate, but then i'm used to working on all my own cars, so would say that.

It isn't rocket science though!

 

[Martin!]

Bit of an update over the past week...

As much as I liked the F1's, I wasn't overly happy with the over all look of them on the car, so time for a change!

This time, it works, and it works well. Yes, I maybe a sheep and following the masses, maybe it has been done to death, but there is a reason for that!

Turinis in anthracite

Much happier now, and I love the car again (which I put up for sale at one point!), which is the main thing!!

Piccies, they're a bit crap due to the horrible weather we're having atm!

Then today I bought the JMS induction set up....

I have of course fitted it with the race filter in there, and I am quite frankly blown away by the difference it has made. The car pulls so much smoother, throttle response is almost instant, it's totally transformed the car to be honest. Oh and then there is the induction roar! It's verging on obscene when you touch the throttle even just a little bit, probably the loudest induction roar i've had besides ITB's....love it!

Best money spent on the car so far me thinks!!

Piccies!!

Before...

After...

 

[mx1_champ]

lookin good mate keep it up