The little Clio that could?

[Hacklebear]

So i have decided that i should do a project thread on here, to try and chronicle just what is happening with my little red Clio.
A quick overview on what has happened so far:

Purchased the car for the princely sum of £740 with a slow leaking PS pump (i overpaid, should of walked away when i seen mold in the carpets)
On the drive home PS pump seized completely (fixed swiftly with a brand new PS pump and Aux belt)
After replacing the leaking PS pump a hairline fracture was found in the metal pipes (on the bend that bolts to the gearbox)
Replaced all PS pipework on the high pressure side with a custom Pirtek one (essentially one HP pipe with only about 2" of metal on it in total)
Fixed the disco that was my rear lights by giving them a dedicated earth point (added bonus this fixed most minor electrical gremlins)
Go outside to start the car and find the starter motor has packed in (quickly rectified with a new starter motor)
The car is starting to idle very lumpy now, check the codes turns out it was an injector (new one fitted)
Car starts to idle lumpy again (HT Leads and Coilpack fitted)
Finally have the engine running happy, and now i am able to drive the car i notice it handles like a pig and struggles to get in to gear
So first point of call is Powerflex bushes for the twisted engine mount (car finds gears beautifully now)
Coilovers, Powerflex bushes for arm, new discs and pads (front and rear), track rod ends, inner tie rods, ball joints, ARB bushes/droplink fitted and tracking done (Still pulling to the left but the camber is -2 on left side -4 on right side and there is a strange single clonk sound when braking at slow speeds/ accelerating at slow speeds)
Now all that is left is heater and passenger side bulb to fix, so i changed the resistor, then the actual motor and finally have blowers, replaced the HID bulb and ballast, now working but bulb is a little cooler than the original now
Some point during all this stuff happening i managed to give the car one hell of an interior valet and remove all traces of mold and damp (treated it to some custom fit mats)

So this is my Journey so far about a month and a half of ownership :disrelieved:
Picture is how the car stands now.



​

 

[GavC]

I love threads like this restoring a car! Sounds great so far, looks like a decent base to start from going by the one picture of her :up:

 

[Hacklebear]

I love threads like this restoring a car! Sounds great so far, looks like a decent base to start from going by the one picture of her :up:

Yeah she is not as Tidy as pictures would have you believe, but she seems to be mechanically strong.
I think she has been raced and spun out a few times (mountains of stone chips on rear quarter) maybe even had a under stear smash in to a kerb at one point, but i am invested in this thing now so she will live again.

 

[Hacklebear]

couple of pictures of random bits and bobs. I should take more and better pictures!

 

[Hacklebear]

So in the epic battle of my Wallet VS the Clio i was coming out ahead, i had a small knocking sound from somewhere in the suspension but that was nothing that had me worried, a quick visit to my local Northeastern Tyres had my tracking sorted out to an extent, things where looking up. Feeling relaxed and confident i would be able to finally enjoy this little wonder, i decided that i would treat my self to a lovely new gear knob (get rid of the RumKish momo one) and some new suspension bits (to cure the knock).

So i wake bright and early ready to take my car in to the shop for a little suspension love (cure the knock) and to my utmost surprise i find that some little f**king scrote has decided to stab my tyre's, to be fair i do live in the ghetto but still tears where shed :'( then i pulled my self together and purchased a ugly set of 16" Megane rims for the princly sum of £50 so i could at least move my car to the shop (still not actually put them on the car yet), and went to camskill to order a new set of Uniroyal RS3 in 205/55/15 then realized my mistake the moment i received an email saying they had dispatched the tyres :/ but on the plus side my gear knob is awsome

A few pictures to go with this wall of text.

 

[Hacklebear]

So this morning i go outside before work and change the wheels over in the snow , eager to drive to work and get out the cold i start her up and i am greeted with the revs hovering at 2K and the limp home light coming on. quick diagnostic check is throwing up TPS issues quick call and £159+VAT i will have a new throttle body for Monday.

 

[jamesycc]

Blimey, think I would have thrown in the towel by now....

 

[Hacklebear]

Blimey, think I would have thrown in the towel by now....

Yeah, i am too pigheaded for my own good sometimes. but i have a soft spot for the Clio so i will soldier on. In truth i don't really mind it i enjoy doing the work and it keeps me out of trouble, my only regret is selling the E38 as now i don't have a car on the road.

 

[dann2707]

Why did you pay that much for a tps when you could have bought a second hand one for pennies?

 

[Hacklebear]

Why did you pay that much for a tps when you could have bought a second hand one for pennies?

I want to avoid using second hand parts as much as possible, i do appreciate some times bits i change will need to be recon items but for the most part i think its best to avoid parts that are on average over ten year old and used.
To be fair its probably going to turn out that its corrosion in the fuse box but the previous owner has had a conical filter fitted at some point and i think the scum that got through is clouting up the TB i cleaned it but its not great.

 

[Hacklebear]

Been a bit of time since the last update (no internet due to a house move) so i have decided to bring you all up to speed.

With the storms that have been bringing ungodly amounts of rain to the north east i found my car had started trying to collect as much water as possible in the foot wells, so removed the front scuttle panel and cleaned out the drain holes, there was a lot of standing water in this thing :/ (the wipers where a pig to remove even with the tool)

Anyway the car still had the low speed knock and the TPS code issue so i decided to double check the front suspension and replace the top mounts that i bought so i stripped the front suspension back and re assembled the full lot and raised the car up another 1cm as it was to low for me (the bearings in the old top mount where shot and full of rust so i should of replaced them the first time i guess (whilst i was at this i removed the strut brace from the rear).

The new throttle body body made no difference at all to the car, so sent that back, at this point i'm scratching my head wondering if it might be the throttle potentiometer (thing on the pedal). I put the car on a proper diagnostics instead of using my torque app and was greeted with a new code lambda sensor fucked (on top of TPS) so i changed the lambda sensor cleared the codes and the car was perfect

So with the car being as close to done as i can tell i decided to take it to a MOT center and get the once over, so a mock MOT was carried out and the car had no issues at all i have probably forgotten about some little bits but that is it for now.

 

[Hacklebear]

if this works should be a few images from the past week

 

[Hacklebear]

Any one want this brace? It is free to a good home, or any home for that matter.

 

[Hacklebear]

Quick update as i have been neglecting to fill in what i have been doing with the car, i have the Rainsport 3's fitted to the car now and i find them quite a nice ride. I have done a complete oil and filter change and some other bits as well. I am sure there is more but in all honesty i cant remember (I think I am going senile).

Still have the rear strut brace if anyone wants to collect it, and i also have the front wind deflector things free to a good home (condition average)

 

[RichieJA]

Good work I'm in a similar place, bought mine 2 weeks ago
It's had
New rear abs sensor
2x new tyres
New rear view mirror
New gear gaiter
New head unit (replaced awful flip out DVD player)
Radaitor leak fixed
Awful badly fitted fake k&n replaced with a cold air feed new k&n silicone pipes heatshielded between battery and light
New washer motors and cracked bottle fixed
Water and ac pipes moved as they were being damaged by clutch cable

This week its getting new aux belt and pulleys
Speakers replaced as there blown
New rear brake pads and shocks
20mm front and 10mm rear spacers

Week After that it needs a Scratch and some light scuffs on bumpers Sorted

On the plus side before I bought since August its had
Timing belt water pump battery alternator 2x tyres

It's also remapped lowered and has cat back scorpion

Love the wee thing
Hopefully be perfect by new year touch wood

 

[Filters]

Any one want this brace? It is free to a good home, or any home for that matter.

Ai go on I'll take it ogg your hands

 

[Hacklebear]

Ai go on I'll take it ogg your hands :wink:

PM me your address and ill sent it to you (as long as its not £50 quid to ship).

 

[Hacklebear]

Good work I'm in a similar place, bought mine 2 weeks ago
It's had
New rear abs sensor
2x new tyres
New rear view mirror
New gear gaiter
New head unit (replaced awful flip out DVD player)
Radaitor leak fixed
Awful badly fitted fake k&n replaced with a cold air feed new k&n silicone pipes heatshielded between battery and light
New washer motors and cracked bottle fixed
Water and ac pipes moved as they were being damaged by clutch cable

This week its getting new aux belt and pulleys
Speakers replaced as there blown
New rear brake pads and shocks
20mm front and 10mm rear spacers

Week After that it needs a Scratch and some light scuffs on bumpers Sorted

On the plus side before I bought since August its had
Timing belt water pump battery alternator 2x tyres

It's also remapped lowered and has cat back scorpion

Love the wee thing
Hopefully be perfect by new year touch wood

Get a progress thread up, i would love to see some pictures as well as the bits you have done to the car.

 

[Stay Puft]

I'll have the freebies if noone else does! Fellow flamer!

 

[Hacklebear]

I'll have the freebies if no one else does! Fellow flamer!

PM me your address and you can have the wind deflectors

 

[J.beazley]

Davyy beat me to it but i do have a triangle shaped box under the tree so hoping its some deflectors

 

[Hacklebear]

Quick update as i have been busy getting my life in order for Christmas;

The car is still feeling neglected although it has had a few more bits done, i replaced the exhaust hanger again as they appear to be made of butter (I have now done the turn it in to a tool box modification)

The problem with my leak was still present with all the rain so i decided to re clean my scuttle gutters (I did not do a good job first time)
i started by removing my wipers

then used some welding wire to make a pipe cleaner and started to sweep the pipes

the center drain was the main problem

after fishing that out i lifted the carpets and dried out the foam

when it was all dried out (about 4 hours in front of an industrial heater) i placed it all back and removed the RS sticer that was backwards in my front window

i forgot to change the cabin filter last week so it got done this week.

and to top everything off my log book finally arrived with my updated reg so i can now put the new plates one

for some reason i can never figure out how to do pictures on this thing so they are ridicules in size

Oh and Filters if you are still after the brace let me know your address so i can arrange the courier bud.

 

[GavC]

Awesome progress! I must clean out my gutters at some point just as a preventive measure

 

[Hacklebear]

Awesome progress! I must clean out my gutters at some point just as a preventive measure

Cheers looking back its crazy how much i have actually done to this car! The rubber pipe in the middle was chock full of s**t and getting access is a bit of a pain in the ass but its worth doing, i finally have a dry interior after it rains.