BIG UPDATE:
This thread has had its fair share of ups and downs, this has mainly been down to how long it has taken, which in no large part has been down to life being more important, understandably other things have had to be put first - jobs, growing up and buying a house, weddings etc... and moving house has happened a fair few times meaning the car has had to go into storage more than once. The reason I mention all of this... well it is happening again.
After buying and being in our current house around 3 years (and building a garage to pretty much store/work on the clio) we are now going to be moving. Redundancy and then a new job offer for my wife has meant we will be moving to the outskirts of Birmingham (where they talk funny and call roundabouts islands...WTF???). This also comes with some other exciting news however in that we will actually be renovating a barn and moving into that once done (a once in a life time opportunity really). Timings are a little fluffy at present as my wife starts her new job in January, but the barn work will not start until Spring so we are trying to decide when will be best for me to follow as there is a fair bit to sort out, one of those things being the clio build...
Where the clio will be stored is currently an unknown, however what I do know is that it can't go into storage in its current state. After stripping all the underseal there is a lot of bare metal which would obviously just rust if left. So instead of potentially giving up again this time there is going to be a major push to get it in a much better state. I am possibly working to a deadline of the end of February/start of March to have to move the car, at this point I am aiming for it to be a rolling weathertight shell, this means the below needs doing:
Fabrication needs finishing
I now have all the extra cage tubes so 8 tubes now need profiling, the turret tops need cutting to size, tunnel brace needs welding in (this is currently with a fabricator being produced), A and B pillar gussets need making, the numerous holes, the wing trim holes and the rear arches need patching, nuts for the false floor need welding in and holes need to be cut in panels for the roof scoop and aero catches (aero catches need to be ordered). The cage welding was going to be done by my next door neighbour however with the looming deadline I can now not rely on favours so this will be going to a fabricator at the extra cost.
Paint
What can I say about paint, it needs a lot - basically all over... Inside, outside, underneath and the engine bay (pictured above). Before this however I need some new panels. About 3 weeks ago I managed to sell the lightened doors and tailgate in favour of some fibreglass panels that have now been ordered. The doors and tailgate (pictured below) are coming from CCF and I have ordered an older cup roof scoop and a cup spoiler from CM Composites (pictured below). Once I have these items I need to purchase some aero catches for the bonnet and tailgate and some door hinges from Renault. The doors do not come with holes for the side trims so I will be matching the rear 3/4's to these and welding those holes up. I do still need to pick up a new fuel filler flap and a new rear badge (as the fiberglass tailgate is ph2 shape unlike my ph1).
View attachment 158997
(Shamelessly stolen from
@Russ Rallye's thread, thank you chap)
A colour has not bee chosen yet but it looks like it will be going grey inside and will be a solid colour outside (to keep costs down). I have a couple ideas but am still very much unsure on it - part of me is saying white for ease.... but we will see. I need to have a further discussion as how far the painter will be going with re-assembly, I am wondering if he will want to check fitment of the panels so it will depend on how far this stage goes to what I will be doing in the next stage.
Windows refit
I already have the polycarbs for all the way around. This process along with fitting a heated windscreen (that I need to purchase) will probably happen once I have the car back fron paint, but by the looks of it, once the tailgate and spoiler are painted the window needs to be bonded on before the composite cup spoiler is bonded to the tailgate (there may have to be a bit of juggling with timings there).
Running gear and engine refit
A lot of the items to get the full running gear back on the car I have, and it has all been either cleaned/ painted or is new. However there are still a couple of items thats I need to purchase such as Powerflex bushes for the rear beam, ream beam mount bolts (to mount to the car), Powerflex steering rack bushes and the biggest, some new solid top mounts.
This leads me onto the engine as this is probably a good idea to drop in once I have the running gear bolted on. The engine hasn't run for probably about 5+ years so I will probably be dropping the engine off with Beaniesport to have it looked over. The plan is to have a new cambelt fitted, new gaskets throughout and also a new (to me) sump fitted that has a couple of extra sensors in. Once it comes off the stand I will also be fitting a new clutch before the engine goes back into the shell (the clutch, and all the gaskets are all yet to be purchased). All of this will potentially happen when the car is away (see below).
I think that is about it, but it feels like a lot to plan and think about. I have this week been to a couple of fabricators and painters to get quotes and knowledge on timings and I am hopefully working to the idea that the car will go away in December and January and perhaps come back to me for February. I will then take February off work and use this to re-assemble the car and sort out the house for moving... Then hopefully, I will have a weather-tight, rollable shell, somewhere to store it and a house cleared to move... we shalt see. Either way, it is going to be interesting. Here goes...