Another Clio 182
Discussion
I have been lucky enough to own some great cars in my time and have in the last 7 years owned what have been regarded as amongst the best VW Corrado, BMW E36 328 Sport coupe and Alfa GTV V6's in the country
I like to buy cars that present a good solid base but with clear scope to make my own over time. Not having owned a small, nimble hatch since a 205 1.9 GTi, a 182 was top of my list after selling the previous toy, a Boxster S
The one I found was lurking on eBay, a few emails exchanged with the seller and it was bought, sight unseen - a 2004 plate 182 with 68k on the clock, a decent history including belts done 2 years ago and a decent set of photos that showed that it had been well cared for
Paid what i considered was a good price for it, allowing for the fact that there were several unknowns - ABS, airbag, ESP and SERV lights being on were the main ones but hopefully replacing the standard wheel and maybe a sensor or two will see those put right
Drove home therefore from Sheffield last Tues night across the moors to Shropshire in an unfamiliar car with no apparent safety aids but could not stop grinning all the way, very nimble and responsive, very strong engine and apparently an LSD going by the telltale low speed grumbling that completely disappears at higher speeds
Have a list of jobs to do and parts already being acquired:
Re-fit interior which was stripped, everything supplied with the car
Get original steering wheel re-trimmed by Jack at Royal Steering Wheels
Four new (non ditchfinder) tyres
Engine cover / inlets painted / polished
Fabia front splitter
Good deep clean inside and out
Intend to sell the new Sabelt harnesses and new OMP Superturismo wheel / quick release kit
Intention is to end up with a very clean, mechanically strong 182 and its a great contrast to my Jag S Type R
As she currently stands
I like to buy cars that present a good solid base but with clear scope to make my own over time. Not having owned a small, nimble hatch since a 205 1.9 GTi, a 182 was top of my list after selling the previous toy, a Boxster S
The one I found was lurking on eBay, a few emails exchanged with the seller and it was bought, sight unseen - a 2004 plate 182 with 68k on the clock, a decent history including belts done 2 years ago and a decent set of photos that showed that it had been well cared for
Paid what i considered was a good price for it, allowing for the fact that there were several unknowns - ABS, airbag, ESP and SERV lights being on were the main ones but hopefully replacing the standard wheel and maybe a sensor or two will see those put right
Drove home therefore from Sheffield last Tues night across the moors to Shropshire in an unfamiliar car with no apparent safety aids but could not stop grinning all the way, very nimble and responsive, very strong engine and apparently an LSD going by the telltale low speed grumbling that completely disappears at higher speeds
Have a list of jobs to do and parts already being acquired:
Re-fit interior which was stripped, everything supplied with the car
Get original steering wheel re-trimmed by Jack at Royal Steering Wheels
Four new (non ditchfinder) tyres
Engine cover / inlets painted / polished
Fabia front splitter
Good deep clean inside and out
Intend to sell the new Sabelt harnesses and new OMP Superturismo wheel / quick release kit
Intention is to end up with a very clean, mechanically strong 182 and its a great contrast to my Jag S Type R
As she currently stands
can't blame your choice 
it's like the previous owner did prepare the car for track work but stopped half way. A re trimmed steering wheel will be as nice addition, I think I might send mine to Snappy on CS.
And for the skoda splitter, i've ordered one and couldn't put it on the car, it's such a piece of s**t. save for an OEM one : mine was looking grey before i broke it and the new one just look great
it's like the previous owner did prepare the car for track work but stopped half way. A re trimmed steering wheel will be as nice addition, I think I might send mine to Snappy on CS.
And for the skoda splitter, i've ordered one and couldn't put it on the car, it's such a piece of s**t. save for an OEM one : mine was looking grey before i broke it and the new one just look great
182RS said:
can't blame your choice
it's like the previous owner did prepare the car for track work but stopped half way. A re trimmed steering wheel will be as nice addition, I think I might send mine to Snappy on CS.
And for the skoda splitter, i've ordered one and couldn't put it on the car, it's such a piece of s**t. save for an OEM one : mine was looking grey before i broke it and the new one just look great
I'd heartily recommend Royal Steering Wheels for a retrim, used him twice before and been very impressed, been quoted £115 all in and to my exact spec.it's like the previous owner did prepare the car for track work but stopped half way. A re trimmed steering wheel will be as nice addition, I think I might send mine to Snappy on CS.
And for the skoda splitter, i've ordered one and couldn't put it on the car, it's such a piece of s**t. save for an OEM one : mine was looking grey before i broke it and the new one just look great
As for the Fabia splitter, for £15 its got to be worth a go -)
Car has been getting some TLC with much gathering of small parts:
Ramair air filter
Stainless tube for induction
Clear indicator bulbs
Aluminiun top mount covers
Rear number plate lamp
Lockwood instrument dials
Stainless steel engine cover bolts
Stainless steel slam panel bolts
Aluminium footrest
Renaultsport resin badge
Wheelarch trim screws
Trim panel clips
Artic Blue aerosol
Steering wheel, front seatbelts
Steering wheel insert
Gearlever knob
Front splitter
Steering wheel retrim
Wiper blades (x3)
Battery cover
Rear door cards
Interior trim panel clips
O/S/F window motor
Steering wheel squib
Engine cover decal
Oil filter
Sump washer
Trim screws
ISOFIX bar mounting bolts
Boot trim retaining screws
Some essential, some just to rejuvenate things
Interior is now all back in - relatively straightforward and as it was partially stripped out it was a good opportunity to apply some additional sound deadening and give everything a good deep clean
One thing that was missing was the rear trim panels, managed to secure some good used ones but being from a Cup they were had fabric as opposed to Alcantara trim panels.
As I had previously retrimmed an Alfa GTV headlining I was not going to let this bother, Alcantara ordered, rear panels done with the fronts being retrimmed over the weekend
Done some tidying up of the engine in the last few days
The plastic engine cover was always looking ripe for injecting a personal touch but really wanted to do something with the inlets - problem is that they leave the factory as pretty rough castings
Took a lot of work with sandpaper, wet and dry and metal polish to get any kind of shine on them but very happy with the end result
Before
After
Ramair air filter
Stainless tube for induction
Clear indicator bulbs
Aluminiun top mount covers
Rear number plate lamp
Lockwood instrument dials
Stainless steel engine cover bolts
Stainless steel slam panel bolts
Aluminium footrest
Renaultsport resin badge
Wheelarch trim screws
Trim panel clips
Artic Blue aerosol
Steering wheel, front seatbelts
Steering wheel insert
Gearlever knob
Front splitter
Steering wheel retrim
Wiper blades (x3)
Battery cover
Rear door cards
Interior trim panel clips
O/S/F window motor
Steering wheel squib
Engine cover decal
Oil filter
Sump washer
Trim screws
ISOFIX bar mounting bolts
Boot trim retaining screws
Some essential, some just to rejuvenate things
Interior is now all back in - relatively straightforward and as it was partially stripped out it was a good opportunity to apply some additional sound deadening and give everything a good deep clean
One thing that was missing was the rear trim panels, managed to secure some good used ones but being from a Cup they were had fabric as opposed to Alcantara trim panels.
As I had previously retrimmed an Alfa GTV headlining I was not going to let this bother, Alcantara ordered, rear panels done with the fronts being retrimmed over the weekend
Done some tidying up of the engine in the last few days
The plastic engine cover was always looking ripe for injecting a personal touch but really wanted to do something with the inlets - problem is that they leave the factory as pretty rough castings
Took a lot of work with sandpaper, wet and dry and metal polish to get any kind of shine on them but very happy with the end result
Before
After
NateWM said:
Impressive parts list, and ffantasticjob on the engine bay! Always loved these cars and had a brief fling with a Mk1 172 fixer upper, but just couldn't get on with the bus like driving position. 
I've had three Clio's and agree the driving position isn't great. I've got two brand new Sparco Rev's in the loft that I bought at Autosport (20% off so couldn't resist) so I'm hoping they will massively help.More progress today:
Cleaned the Alcantara on the seats and gave the leather a deep clean - fortunately not too worn at all so come up very well
Fitted Silvertec front and rear indicator bulbs and LED sidelights
Fitted new bootlight complete with LED bulb
Flat blade wipers fitted
Yellow rev counter face installed - personal touch - not to everyones taste but easily removed
Did not like the injector cover in black so repainted and lacquered it in silver - much better
Removed RenaultSport decals from rear panels
Slowly but surely coming together - looking forward to finally getting my newly re-trimmed steering wheel
fitted tomorrow
Next weekend I'll hopefully get my 98 RON map installed
Cleaned the Alcantara on the seats and gave the leather a deep clean - fortunately not too worn at all so come up very well
Fitted Silvertec front and rear indicator bulbs and LED sidelights
Fitted new bootlight complete with LED bulb
Flat blade wipers fitted
Yellow rev counter face installed - personal touch - not to everyones taste but easily removed
Did not like the injector cover in black so repainted and lacquered it in silver - much better
Removed RenaultSport decals from rear panels
Slowly but surely coming together - looking forward to finally getting my newly re-trimmed steering wheel
fitted tomorrow
Next weekend I'll hopefully get my 98 RON map installed
Got my Royal Steering Wheel re-trimmed wheel back on this weekend, as ever by Jack a lovely job at a very reasonable price
Yellow rev counter mod - I like it and thats all that matters
As I had a Fabia splitter (£13 as opposed to £90+ for a genuine Renault item) to fit I decided to do a proper job and take off the front bumper, good opportunity to give everything a good clean with good old Surfex HD before putting it all back together, I bought a load of new clips / screws etc when I bought the car so all attachments going back on are nice and new
Yellow rev counter mod - I like it and thats all that matters
As I had a Fabia splitter (£13 as opposed to £90+ for a genuine Renault item) to fit I decided to do a proper job and take off the front bumper, good opportunity to give everything a good clean with good old Surfex HD before putting it all back together, I bought a load of new clips / screws etc when I bought the car so all attachments going back on are nice and new
Edited by Andy665 on Sunday 25th January 17:19
RacingBlue said:
Looks good so far. They're fantastic little cars aren't they?
I even quite like the rev counter mod as well - I've never seen it done before on an 182.
Absolutely, can't beat a decent sized engine in a small, light car for instant responseI even quite like the rev counter mod as well - I've never seen it done before on an 182.
Enjoying going through it and putting it back to how it should be / tweaking things to personal taste - one thing I learned many moons ago was never do anything that is not easily reversible, even things like the engine cover, rather than just doing the cover that was on the car I bought another so the original is there to be refitted if I want to go back to OE
Fidgits said:
Sorry who did the steering wheel for you? Do you mind me asking how much?
www.royalsteeringwheels.comUsed Jack several times before, you have choice of materials, stitching etc, basically tell him what you want and he'll quote, even lend you a spare wheel or donut on exchange so your car isn't off the road. Wheel on the Clio was £125
Edited by Andy665 on Sunday 25th January 18:17
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff