Phase 1 Clio 172 Rescued!

[Leptons]

As I'm sure many a PHer's story begins, mine is down to eBay. Scrolling through one evening to avoid watching reality crap, there it was. Bad photographs, badly written advert, bastardised with stickers and chav mods. But it was local and the bidders weren't biting.
Now I've fancied trying one of these for a while. I definitely didn't need it with having a part finished Track car, works Van and SWMBO's shed in the stable but I had a vision. The poor thing needed saving and the man maths were done. As the auction came to a close the next day my bid went in with seconds to spare, Boom! It was mine!

Edited by Leptons on Saturday 10th June 09:46

[HybridAero]

I can't understand what must be going on in someone's mind to think that those kind of mods look any good.

Good on you for restoring it, I drove a Phase 1 a few years back and it was epic fun, throttle cable so felt raw and old school.

[Leptons]

HybridAero said:

I can't understand what must be going on in someone's mind to think that those kind of mods look any good.

Good on you for restoring it, I drove a Phase 1 a few years back and it was epic fun, throttle cable so felt raw and old school.

It's hard to get you're head around isn't it. Someone stuck all that st on, stood back and thought "that looks ace!"

Back in the day I had a Clio 16v and this is the closest thing I've found to it so far. Like you say, great throttle response.

[Leptons]

Anyway, collection day arrived. The eBay ad stated that the original rear lights were available to the winning bidder so the Lexarse ones were duly swapped, dumped with the seller and off I went in the worlds most embarrassing return journey. Cannily I'd spotted a Sainsbury's not far from the Sellers house and given that the sun was out I figured the stickers and stick on bonnet vent would peel off nice and easy.




I was right, and Ten minutes later things were looking a little better. I could continue the Journey home without shielding my face to passers by. Cushty.

Edited by Leptons on Friday 9th June 21:50

Edited by Leptons on Friday 9th June 21:54

[eltax91]

MORE!!

[jonnyconnor]

Looking forward to following this thread!

[0a]

Great work already... please continue!

[anonymous-user]

This thread is well cusht.

As above MORE!!!!

[Leptons]

The twenty mile return Journey passed without any major problems, however a couple of issues did spring to light.
A) The revs kept sticking at around 2krpm when coming to a halt
B) The back end was Looser than a student on a night out
C) The wheel was off centre
D) The temp gauge was creeping slightly above centre in traffic although I figured it was due to being a warm day and the throttle sticking situation.

Here's the state of play on the day of purchase after removing any remaining glue residue.





Please excuse the rear photo, I couldn't stand any further back!

The observant among you may have noticed If you zoom in on the bonnet there are circa 10, 6 mm holes that some melt has drilled underneath where the Christmas cracker Bonnet vent was. Can only assume this was to provide a cold air feed to:

Bad man eBay air filter


Although I must admit it does sound good

[rossub]

I'm dying to take a drill headlight resto kit to those!!!

[anonymous-user]

In all my years of seeing some crafting looking mods, that right there has to be up in the top 5 all time greats. WTF.

Back end is likely the shocks. Cheap and easy to replace. Also prone to failure and makes a world of difference with a new set.

[rossub]

DoubleTime said:

In all my years of seeing some crafting looking mods, that right there has to be up in the top 5 all time greats. WTF

Although it probably did a reasonable job of supplying some colder air for that all important 1bhp extra

[Leptons]

rossub said:

I'm dying to take a drill headlight resto kit to those!!!

So was I! That was going to be my next update.

I didn't use a kit as such though. 400 grit, 600 grit, working through the grades up to 1500 grit then Buffed them with the Rotary using G3. Finished them off with some SRP and Autoglym HD wax.

Before:


After:


Much better:



Just trying to get Upto speed with updates at the moment. I've had the car about a month now so the threads a bit behind! More to follow shortly.

[rossub]

Good work, always makes an enormous difference

[CoolHands]

Blimey I bet you've doubled your money!

ps on vw polos of a similar vintage there is a temperature sensor that feeds info to ecu which when inoperative does the idle thing you describe. So check if renault have a similar sensor.

https://youtu.be/U0rc6Le3kDU

Edited by CoolHands on Saturday 10th June 17:04

[exgtt]

Rear shocks dead easy to change too, has it got the Ally bonnet?

[Jimmy Recard]

That chav tat, why would you!?


It's looking good now you're doing things properly OP

[Jimmy Recard]

exgtt said:

Rear shocks dead easy to change too, has it got the Ally bonnet?

I assume so, since the bonnet hasn't rusted where the old owner drilled his holes!

[TheDukeGTi]

Top work. Love threads like this.

[Leptons]

Thanks for the kind words chaps!

Regarding the Aluminium bonnet, I'm not actually sure. On the underside of the bonnet there's some light rust around sharp edges so I'd assumed it was a steel one. Possible that the strengthening ribs are steel and the outer skin is aluminium? I'll check with a magnet tomorrow! If it's an ally one I don't know whether to laugh or cry to be honest

CoolHands said:

Blimey I bet you've doubled your money!

ps on vw polos of a similar vintage there is a temperature sensor that feeds info to ecu which when inoperative does the idle thing you describe. So check if renault have a similar

Edited by CoolHands on Saturday 10th June 17:04

I've done a little investigatory work into the throttle issue involving removing the inlet manifold and re-sealing. I did find that 1 bolt was missing and one was sheared completely so after removing and refitting I was hopeful it would be cured but no such luck.
Next up was to clean the ICV however it wasn't clogged or overly dirty and made no difference.

Further investigation revealed the throttle body butterfly is not returning 100% of the way. In my haste I forgot to take any photos so when I next attempt a fix I'll do a proper update. I have noticed though that if I blip the throttle while coming to a stop then the car will idle normally, in essence if the butterfly is allowed to snap shut it shuts correctly. I think what is happening is that the spindle/bushes have worn slightly and the butterfly is catching the housing.