Clio 172 Cup project - brought blind, no history. am I mad?

[sam-g1nwo]

Sunday morning - annoyed after a pre-facelift EP3 with moon mileage but decent history, that I had previously viewed and shook hands on has sold.

There I was, sunday night - bored - cruising Facebook Marketplace, you know the deal. Lusting over the K20 that had slipped through my fingers.

Suddenly, listed 6 minutes ago, Clio 172 cup - little description, I was buckets, short shifter, PBS pads - the price was right. I messaged the lovely chap selling her as soon as I could, I viewed the car over a dimly lit facetime call10 minutes later - oil on dipstick, check, coolant in header tank, check, let me listen to the exhaust at idle.. smooth...ish... check, then 5 minutes later I trustingly transferred some money to the man on the promise a recovery truck would ship her down from Manchester to London.

Monday, tuesday, wednesday drag. My phone rings on Wednesday night, it was the recovery driver telling me he will be at my house 8:30am sharp tomorrow (thursday).

Thursday morning, wake up to rain at 6:30am - peeking out my window every 5 minutes, waiting for a grumbling diesel to be parked up out side with my new car, that I haven't driven, let alone seen in the day light.

She arrived - better than I expected, a boot full of spares, cup seats, parcel shelf, shifter. Logbook in the glovebox - however I couldn't drive her due to needing more suitable tyres... knowing this I had guessed the cars tyre size and took a punt on some Accelera 651 Sport in 195 /50 /15. These were eventually fitted after a battle with the solid wall tyres the car came on.

[BlindedByTheLights]

Brave move! Look forward to the updates

[PistonBroker]

Great stuff.

I once did similar with a Mondeo off the Retro Rides forum. Though in my case the truck turned up at gone 10 one night. I decided to move it on the drive before turning in and it struggled to start but caught eventually. Transpired the dual-mass flywheel was on its way out and was clogging up the starter motor.

I wish you better luck!

[sam-g1nwo]

continued: Saturday came, I had some time to fully digest what I have brought... blindly!

She has lived on the track most of her life, so has been driven hard most if not all of her life!

So what better way to get to know the mystery car by giving her a quick wash.





A little snowfoam never hurt !







I treated the car to some OEM oils and and filter change on Sunday afternoon, again pleasantly surprised! Has the obligatory 'rust protection drip' .



Carrying on under the bonnet, I was surprised to see that something had previously called the engine bay home....

Lots of nuts in the coilpack and space between the intake manifold!





Much better!

[sam-g1nwo]

A quick look underneath on the ramp, looks ok, has had some paint on rear bumper at some point in its life - with a little overspray on the exhaust tip.

url]|https://thumbsnap.com/7LpqWain[/url]

My first drive out, very impressed for the money I paid.... gearbox smooth... will get dephaser / belts done just for piece of mind!



Yes the reg plate is as it left the factory! Love it!

[trails]

Cracking cars, good luck with it...wheels look like F1's with a split rim type finish...never seen those before.

[sam-g1nwo]

trails said:

Cracking cars, good luck with it...wheels look like F1's with a split rim type finish...never seen those before.

I was also trying to figure the wheel out, as when they turned up I was pleasantly surprised expecting them to be standard OZ F1s of the Ph1 172.

Once I the preventative maintenance has been sorted on the Dephaser, belts and fluids I may look to restore them. But she will continue to be hooned round the track, like she has been for most of her life!

[Kerm1t]

I could have told you that rear bumper had had some paint as that bumper moulding should be black plastic, not that it matters!

As a fellow 172 Cup owner, I'm in for updates!!

[GhostWKD]

Have been keeping an eye on FB Marketplace for a Clio of some sort too (172/182/197/200) and thought I recognised this one...

But then realised I think I remember seeing posts about it long ago You've probably seen this but incase you hadn't; https://cliosport.net/threads/ad52-bhp.736436/

[AD5 2 BHP]

Kerm1t said:

I could have told you that rear bumper had had some paint as that bumper moulding should be black plastic, not that it matters!

As a fellow 172 Cup owner, I'm in for updates!!

Good spot! This is my first foray into Renaults, so I will keep you posted on my updates.

Do you track your Cup? if so, do you have a top 3 track mods?

[AD5 2 BHP]

GhostWKD said:

Have been keeping an eye on FB Marketplace for a Clio of some sort too (172/182/197/200) and thought I recognised this one...

But then realised I think I remember seeing posts about it long ago You've probably seen this but incase you hadn't; https://cliosport.net/threads/ad52-bhp.736436/

Oh yes, have had some comms with previous owner and FB groups trying to piece together some of the cars history. This was quite a useful thread, this chap treated the car to a few bits ... brake rebuild, gearbox swap to 182 (i believe). Has Ktec coilovers, PMS shifter, Rear Arb, buckets. Probably enough for me to track her straight away, albeit for £250 I would like to fit a cage.

Facebook scolling for cheap Clio's became an addition, now I just scroll for 15'' wheels for track...

[trails]

sam-g1nwo said:

trails said:

Cracking cars, good luck with it...wheels look like F1's with a split rim type finish...never seen those before.

I was also trying to figure the wheel out, as when they turned up I was pleasantly surprised expecting them to be standard OZ F1s of the Ph1 172.

Once I the preventative maintenance has been sorted on the Dephaser, belts and fluids I may look to restore them. But she will continue to be hooned round the track, like she has been for most of her life!

Natural environment

I had a LY and a RB182, preferred the RB

[Kerm1t]

AD5 2 BHP said:

Good spot! This is my first foray into Renaults, so I will keep you posted on my updates.

Do you track your Cup? if so, do you have a top 3 track mods?

I don't, it was my daily up until about 18 months ago. (Currently laid up for Winter.) I did take it round Silverstone with PH for one of their taster sessions, but I then bought a Clio 200 and tracked that instead. Would love to get the Cup out on track though!

[Cambs_Stuart]

Good buy! I've got a non cup 172. It's just a fun thing to thrash about. And it gets tracked occasionally...
Hope you enjoy it.


|https://thumbsnap.com/obyiWTRD[/url]

Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Wednesday 15th March 10:43

[Court_S]

That looks great; brave move buying unseen. I have a massive soft spot for the 172 and 182.

[Rich135]

That looks a lot of fun. I have just picked up a 182 Trophy and am busy getting stuck into jobs to bring it as close to perfect as I can.

Have you got quotes for the drive belt/dephaser? I will need that doing too and it sounds expensive!

Rich

[Cambs_Stuart]

Rich135 said:

That looks a lot of fun. I have just picked up a 182 Trophy and am busy getting stuck into jobs to bring it as close to perfect as I can.

Have you got quotes for the drive belt/dephaser? I will need that doing too and it sounds expensive!

Rich

It is expensive, roughly 700 to 800 ish, and it's worth having it done at a specialist, as getting the timing spot on makes a big difference to how they drive. If you're in the south east I can't recommend AW motorworks highly enough. They're genuinely brilliant. It's good time to check for common oil leaks, like the sump pan and rocker cover gasket. If you look at the main pulley through the wheel arch if it's the original you may find the rubber layer in the harmonic balancer is perishing, so get that done at the same time.
If you're into that sort of thing, fitting cams from a 197 while the car is in bits can help up the power a bit. Just make sure the person who is doing it can time it correctly. A re-map at the same time is probably a good idea.

[Bowen86]

Here for updates!

Looks a good buy.

Here's my RB182:

[Rich135]

Cambs_Stuart said:

Rich135 said:

That looks a lot of fun. I have just picked up a 182 Trophy and am busy getting stuck into jobs to bring it as close to perfect as I can.

Have you got quotes for the drive belt/dephaser? I will need that doing too and it sounds expensive!

Rich

It is expensive, roughly 700 to 800 ish, and it's worth having it done at a specialist, as getting the timing spot on makes a big difference to how they drive. If you're in the south east I can't recommend AW motorworks highly enough. They're genuinely brilliant. It's good time to check for common oil leaks, like the sump pan and rocker cover gasket. If you look at the main pulley through the wheel arch if it's the original you may find the rubber layer in the harmonic balancer is perishing, so get that done at the same time.
If you're into that sort of thing, fitting cams from a 197 while the car is in bits can help up the power a bit. Just make sure the person who is doing it can time it correctly. A re-map at the same time is probably a good idea.

Thanks for the info Stuart, I will have a look at all of that. I am in the South East as well (Guildford) so will look up AW Motorworks and see where they are.

Just gettting the Turini's refurbed at Lepsons and putting new PS3's on, as well as rear wheel bearings, so hopefully I can have a spirited drive soon!

[trails]

Rich135 said:

Thanks for the info Stuart, I will have a look at all of that. I am in the South East as well (Guildford) so will look up AW Motorworks and see where they are.

Just gettting the Turini's refurbed at Lepsons and putting new PS3's on, as well as rear wheel bearings, so hopefully I can have a spirited drive soon!

Alex (AW) is based in Essex and as well as knowing these cars inside out, is a very nice chap. Highly recommended.