Titanium 1Seven2

[gez 172]

Hi there.

Ive owned my Ph1 172 for just over a year now, and have loved every minute of it.
I bought the car completley standard and have put alot of time and effort into the car over the 12 months of owning it. Being one of the first produced, it came with the alloy bonnet and gear change light which is always a bonus.

The car was a non runner when i bought it, with a slipped timing belt. so me and my brother had a lot of work to get on with. sooo, engine out.

bought the following:

ph2 head, from ap-developments
head bolts
head gasket set
water pump
alternator
timing belt kit, with tensioners
complete aux kit, with tensioners
new Starter motor
Oil
Oil filter
Gearbox oil

Got the car up and running after collecting the engine back from Ap-developments to have the timing done.

and sounded like a dream

Enjoyed driving it throughout the summer and attended french car show and a few other shows at combe ect, its easily the best car i have owned with its handling and performance.
Then the pain in the arse bit happened, 5th gear went on the car making me drive 100 odd miles home with 4 gears

got the car back home a bit dishartened but eager to fix it....i knew exactly what needed improving on the car and what needed to be replaced, so back in the garage, engine out

Reconditioned ph1 Gearbox
Organic Clutch
Brembo Max front disks
k-tec racing rear disks, complete with bearings
Ferrodo ds2500 front pads
Ferrodo ds Rear pads
Hel Front and rear braided brake lines
Magnecore 'red' leads
Iridium spark plugs
Matched Upper and Lower inlets @ Ap-Developments
Front wheel bearings
Apex 40mm springs
ITG pannel filter
all new engine mounts
powerflex rear dog mount

engine Oil
Gearbox oil
oil filter

The car came with a mongoose back box, which was minging and the rest of the exhaust was rotten...So i started looking into exhaust systems and fancied the OMP racing exhaust, couldn't find one, so i gave prospeed a ring and booked my car in to have a simular style as the OMP but with a few alterations.

Full Stainless steel system:

2.5" decat (non silenced)
2.5" straight through to back box with a 2.5 cut tail pipe.
The back box is bigger and the tail pipe tucked up into the bumper so it looked neat
also made a 182 exhaust surround fit, so it looked more oem.

soooo, after all the work...pics

[/quote]


Loving every minute of the car :star:
Next was to start tidying up bits and peices for the car, first off all I;

detangoed the headlights with silvertec bulbs,
ph2 rear lights
ph2 side indicators
ph2 chrome door handles
nice tailored renaultsport mats

Also bought a TRS yellow tow strap:

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didn't really fancy putting it on so i oppted for the OMP yellow tow ring

Got on a mission with removing weight out of the car

A/c never got used in the car, so i decided i'd shread some weight and remove the A/c
so i gave CitRen a ring, and orderd the clio cup aux set up to remove the aircon, and bought a 172 cup heater motor so i could remove everything to do with the a/c, even in the bulk head.
doing it properly :approve:
Removed the spare wheel, black box with std jack, rear wiper + motor and all the sound deadening from the boot floor, bonnet and bulk head. soo, plenty of weight saved there.


as the car stands now, but ive removed the laguna splitter and had yoko parada tyres fitted.

Apex springs are up for sale, coilovers are getting fitted


comments welcome, good and bad



gez

 

[Nickharding]

I like it apart from the yellow tow eye mate, think it would look better bare metal

 

[Rob]

Really like this and where you're going with it. Coilovers will improve the look and drive ten fold

 

[gez 172]

thanks for the comments

 

[Jackman]

Looking good Gez!

Get your ass on track with me and beefy at combe!

 

[danzman1991]

Makes me want a Ph1 even more!

 

[Cerrone]

Looking really nice mate! I'm not to sure if I like the ph1's but this really does change my mind! Just enough done to make it a head turner!! Do u take it on tracks? If so what are the parada's like?

 

[gez 172]

cheers for all the comments havent been on track with it yet, but im planning on doing a few next year.

getting the k-tec coilovers in the next week or two and the front polybush it. should be happy days then can't comments about the parads on track yet, soon as it goes on track i will let you know.

 

[Daz_RT_04]

cheers for all the comments havent been on track with it yet, but im planning on doing a few next year.

getting the k-tec coilovers in the next week or two and the front polybush it. should be happy days then can't comments about the parads on track yet, soon as it goes on track i will let you know.

If you hold fire till the end of January, I'll be selling my Ktec coilovers off my Ph1 if your interested?

 

[gez 172]

UPDATE:

well i ended up buying Gaz coilovers on saturday, height and damping adjusable. so i fitted them along with the eibach camber bolts. the car is sat about 55-60mm at the moment, im really pleased with the suspension set up, car looks spot on and feels alot more precise and firm.
ive tackled each aspect with the clio; minor engine tuning, brakes and now the handling done. I wanted to have the car brake and handle well before i went hunting for more power. So now im happy with braking and handling, i can start looking to push the bhp up more
so plenty of progress yet to come

 

[jordan16v]

The car looks very nice!

I love the phase 1 same as i have

You was abit like me about the TRS tow strap or a towing eye except i picked the other route haha

Looking very well so far, i look forward to seeing what it holds for the future!

 

[JackJack]

love it ride height is great bit of nose down stance.

tow eye looks good imo goes with the calipers

 

[gez 172]

again,Thank you for the possitive comments everyone
not alot to update you on at the moment, and havent taken any pictures of how the car sits on the coilovers as the weather is bad and the car is dirty. Im going to bring the front height down on the car about another 5-10mm this weekend to, and turn the stiffness up a little. Done some millage on them to know what needs tweeking.
Still got the 'weight' bug aswel, so im looking at more things to remove from the car, getting quite hard now as i still want the main bits to keep it as an everyday car for the moment

 

[gez 172]

little update:

fitted my new rear calipers today.
new, fresh gearbox oil and brake fluid
new handbrake cable

going to wash the car tomorrow, seen as we have no more snow. So i'll get pics up of it on the coilovers then

 

[Willliams]

little update:

fitted my new rear calipers today.
new, fresh gearbox oil and brake fluid
new handbrake cable

going to wash the car tomorrow, seen as we have no more snow. So i'll get pics up of it on the coilovers then

Look forward to seeing the pics with the new coilovers on, as I've also been looking at replacing the Apex springs that have ben on it all the time I've owned the car. What made you 'can' the idea of Ktek coilovers in favour of the Gaz ones? Is it just that are a better quality? How has the ride and handling changed since you fitted them also please. Car is looking great btw.. love the OEM look, and that you've kept the rear original bumper!

 

[gez 172]

cheers the gaz coilovers just seemed a better option, with the damping adjustability. So i bit the bullet and bought those instead. the car feels completley different to drive now, the handling is 1000x better, feels more connected with the road. The ride is perfect aswel, a big improvement over The apex springs.the springs were good while i couldnt afford coilovers. Imo if you can afford coilovers, sell your springs and get coillies. i prefer the ph1 rear bumper, now that the car is lower, it looks fatter.

 

[gez 172]

going to wash the car today, seen as its tidy weather. So pics will be up with the coilovers fitted.
Going to look at getting ph2 sidestripes and bullets aswel, with silver door handles. Should look nice, and make the car look a little newer.

 

[gez 172]

going to get pics up by saturday new, clean shinny ones

 

[gez 172]

does anyone know how easy/hard are the side strips to remove?

 

[gez 172]

went up the black mountains today, got a few nice pictures of the car with the coilovers fitted now.
And got a nice picture of me taking the hepin corner. Just uploading the pictures so i'll pop them up on here in the morning
need to look into new tyres too, as the parads are coming to an end already :/

 

[gez 172]

problems sorting the pictures

 

[gez 172]

black mountains, the best picture i took.

 

[danzman1991]

jealous.

 

[gez 172]

another.

 

[gez 172]

sitting 10x better on the gaz coilovers. Havent had that much fun over the black mountains in a long time. Car feels alot more planted and stable.

 

[gez 172]

well, the ph1 is coming off the road in april for an unknown amount of time. No rush to put it back on either.

So my plans are, while its off the road from april

full front and rear polybush kit.
Wishbones with ball joints
track rod ends
solid top mounts
rear anti roll bar possibly?

Sell the oz f1's and buy silver 16" speedline turinis
ph2 sidestrips and bullets
cup spoiler
jms remap.
Top dash flocked maybe
And then just get bits and peices on the cars body work tidied up.

 

[gez 172]

the weather has been crap today, but the car needed a clean, so thought it would be rude not to take some pictures.

here they are

also took the yellow OMP tow ring off, which i think the car looks better without

comments welcome as always.

 

[JackJack]

Looks good, but its not as nose down as it used to be.

 

[gez 172]

cheers mate. Not as nose down now but i think it looks better, the apex springs we're a little too nose down imo

 

[d6n]

looks good mate!! I've fitted your springs now, they look really good, ride not so good but not as bad as everyone makes out! But £60, can't complain.

 

[gez 172]

cheers mate. Glad your happy with the springs! Exactly, cant complain for the price they were.

We'll a little dissapointing update. Was going down the M4 on monday and the driveshaft decided to go
so was stuck in the hard shoulder having a look, and it looks like the outer Cv has gone, which isnt bad, just a pain in the arse.
Just left me to crawl home in the car with the hazards on.

 

[gez 172]

little bit of help needed please.

Looking at venom motorsport site at the polybushes for my car. Theres a list of all the bushes and for the arb ones theres either 23mm or 25mm bush to choose from. Which mm would i need?

 

[gez 172]

Took some pictures of my clio today after washing it, and it was a nice day...so any excuse for a few.

Stripped to rear out for the time being aswel, see how i get on with it stripped. may get annoying so ive kept all the interior parts. just wanted to clean things up so it was an excuse lol.

nice diesel

comments welcome as always..

 

[gez 172]

car is currently off the road for now. going to do a few things to it over this year while off the road.

i'm looking into relocating the battery in the boot and doing the 'cup' racer airbox mod, putting the air box sideways and running two ducts to the bumper.
carbon cansister has been removed, more sound deaning removed from under the carpets. need to take the rest out under the front seats ect. should save a few more kg's.
and possibly the fron fog lights out to run brake ducts from the front bumper.

 

[DanielJames]

Very nice car bud, some nice mods!

I like it apart from the yellow tow eye mate, think it would look better bare metal

I think it would look better in the bin

 

[gez 172]

cheers mate

lol, the tow ring isn't on it now, hasnt been for a while

 

[gez 172]

Haven't updated here for a while:

Removed the interior to get all the sound deadening and foam off the floor. couldn't belive how heavy all the stuff on the cars floor is when added up, i also found an old thread on cs about removing the rubber spacers from the seats sub frame to lower them so i though while the seats were already out i'd give it a go and find out.

Took the rubber spacers out and refitted the seats. should have done it alot sooner, car is nicer to sit in now. the difference is 100x better, would suggest everyone who isn't happy with the original driving position to give it a go at least.

car is now up on 4 stands being taken apart slowly when i have time.

wheels, coilovers, subframe, wishbones ect being taken off for replacing, painting or upgrading

the list is:

Poweflex polybush kit for the front end (wishbones, anti roll bar)
Balljoints
Track rod ends
New coilovers kit
Eibach wheel spacers (front) to run more neg camber
Paint subframe, wheels, wishbones and a few other bits and peices
New tyres all round
engine oil change and filter, brake fluid, possible gearbox oil change too
make brake ducts

Pictures of the car before taking it apart:

foglights removed:

crap picture of the underside, exhaust tucked up nicley:

up on all 4, ready to be taken apart

driveshaft grease made a little mess

also, a question to ph1 owners who have taken the a/c out aswel. im using the cup heaters aswel. what do you block up the hole with?

dont fancy welding a plate, any suggestions would be appreciated


plenty of updates to come


comments welcome

gez

 

[gez 172]

Update:

Started stripping down the car today plenty of progress.

calipers and disks off:

Halfway through:
cleaned up under the arches, alot better under there now, no driveshaft grease or other mess under the arches:

just to compare how much of a mess was under there:

After:

and the other side:

 

[Nickson]

Looking good mate!

 

[gez 172]

thanks still plenty to do yet. should have a new set of coilovers by next week too