Shed money Clio 172
Discussion
I'm not surprised those wheel cleaners can't shift all of that embedded brake dust. They might be amongst the better high street products, but there are detailing scene products that are more effective. It's also a lot of brake dust!
If you were to get the wheels refurbished and powder coated that'd be an ideal opportunity to ceramic coat them. If they were repainted and the paint needed to cure then you'd have to wait a little before you could coat them.
The wheels on my Swift Sport have fifteen spokes, and ceramic coating them has made cleaning them so much quicker and easier. £20 well spent.
If you were to get the wheels refurbished and powder coated that'd be an ideal opportunity to ceramic coat them. If they were repainted and the paint needed to cure then you'd have to wait a little before you could coat them.
The wheels on my Swift Sport have fifteen spokes, and ceramic coating them has made cleaning them so much quicker and easier. £20 well spent.
Winter wheels back on the clio.
Always good to put them back on, the PS3's are much quieter and more forgiving on the road and I'm sure the OZ wheels are lighter.
The wheels themselves are starting to look a bit tatty, there were rattle canned black when i got the car 3 1/2 years ago, and i think they could do with being properly stripped and refurbished. That's a job for the spring when my finances have recovered from Christmas and setting up my wife's new business.
Also in terms of delayed expenditure the front discs still have 1 mm of life left:
The pads have 30% or so to go as well which is remarkable given the number of track days they've done.
Always good to put them back on, the PS3's are much quieter and more forgiving on the road and I'm sure the OZ wheels are lighter.
The wheels themselves are starting to look a bit tatty, there were rattle canned black when i got the car 3 1/2 years ago, and i think they could do with being properly stripped and refurbished. That's a job for the spring when my finances have recovered from Christmas and setting up my wife's new business.
Also in terms of delayed expenditure the front discs still have 1 mm of life left:
The pads have 30% or so to go as well which is remarkable given the number of track days they've done.
With the clio now heading towards it's 20th birthday, I've not got much to report.
It ticked over a pleasing odo reading:
There are some issues with these clios that are so common it's almost a rite of passage. This one was the bungs in the boot. They eventually leak and you find the spare wheel sitting in a puddle (172) or that you've got damp footwheels (182). I'd noticed the rear was getting steamy and having a look behind the trim there was indeed a trickle:
Fortunately it's a 5 minute job to fix. Push the bungs out, add a bead of sealant all the way round and put back.
It ticked over a pleasing odo reading:
There are some issues with these clios that are so common it's almost a rite of passage. This one was the bungs in the boot. They eventually leak and you find the spare wheel sitting in a puddle (172) or that you've got damp footwheels (182). I'd noticed the rear was getting steamy and having a look behind the trim there was indeed a trickle:
Fortunately it's a 5 minute job to fix. Push the bungs out, add a bead of sealant all the way round and put back.
I'd been getting an occasional clonk from the rear left of the car. Mentally i had convinced myself it was the rear beam bush, but once i got underneath i could see the exhaust was catching on the rear beam, so at least it was an easy fix.
Looking at access to the bush on the driver's side i didn't fancy my chances anyway...
While i had the car in the air i gave the beam a good clean and treatment of bilt hamber.
It's solid, just a bit ugly. Once it's dry I'll paint it.
Insired by spinnaker i gave the car a good going over looking for any corrosion, but apart from the hole under the side skirt, nothing has appeared over the winter.
Looking at access to the bush on the driver's side i didn't fancy my chances anyway...
While i had the car in the air i gave the beam a good clean and treatment of bilt hamber.
It's solid, just a bit ugly. Once it's dry I'll paint it.
Insired by spinnaker i gave the car a good going over looking for any corrosion, but apart from the hole under the side skirt, nothing has appeared over the winter.
The problem with watching how to guides on the internet is that sometimes they make things seem a lot easier than they are in real life.
The rear of the clio had not felt quite "right". A bit vague.
Having a poke around I thought the rear beam bushes looked a bit crusty. So I bought a set of purple powerflex from Ebay, plus a press tool, arranged a playdate for the kids and got to work.
This was the view from the outside:
The major issue with this is that the fuel tank is in the way of the bolt. I lowered the tank, but still struggled to pull it out. General advice from the forums is to not try to lower the beam bracket, as the bolts are notorious for spinning.
After a lot of swearing and head scratching it was out and the trailing arm lowered. The Bush was obviously done. Crusty, cracked and falling apart. So done it was was easy to push out with a cheap tool.
It fell apart on the way out, but just to emphasize how knackered it was:
Naively I'd assumed that the bush shell would be easy to get out. It's not. They are made of thick steel and were rusted in place. The only way I could get it out with the tools I had was to use a power saw to take the flange off the back, then use the bush puller tool to push it out.
Anyway. Once that was done, the new powerflex bushes went in no problem with the tool. And then I had a bright idea. I had some high tensile part threaded M10 bolts that were about 25mm shorter than the Renault ones, which meant they were much easier to get past the fuel tank.
That was the hard side done. With the weather forecast for Tomorrow looking poor, I think the other side will wait for next week. Hopefully it won't take 3 hours...
The rear of the clio had not felt quite "right". A bit vague.
Having a poke around I thought the rear beam bushes looked a bit crusty. So I bought a set of purple powerflex from Ebay, plus a press tool, arranged a playdate for the kids and got to work.
This was the view from the outside:
The major issue with this is that the fuel tank is in the way of the bolt. I lowered the tank, but still struggled to pull it out. General advice from the forums is to not try to lower the beam bracket, as the bolts are notorious for spinning.
After a lot of swearing and head scratching it was out and the trailing arm lowered. The Bush was obviously done. Crusty, cracked and falling apart. So done it was was easy to push out with a cheap tool.
It fell apart on the way out, but just to emphasize how knackered it was:
Naively I'd assumed that the bush shell would be easy to get out. It's not. They are made of thick steel and were rusted in place. The only way I could get it out with the tools I had was to use a power saw to take the flange off the back, then use the bush puller tool to push it out.
Anyway. Once that was done, the new powerflex bushes went in no problem with the tool. And then I had a bright idea. I had some high tensile part threaded M10 bolts that were about 25mm shorter than the Renault ones, which meant they were much easier to get past the fuel tank.
That was the hard side done. With the weather forecast for Tomorrow looking poor, I think the other side will wait for next week. Hopefully it won't take 3 hours...
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Sunday 5th March 08:37
darkyoung1000 said:
Oh nice work, that will make a massive difference to the handling I’m sure. Also the satisfaction from completing any car job that has required a reciprocating saw is going to me massive!
I hope the other side goes as planned when the weather picks up!
Thank you. I wish I'd got the saw out earlier, it would have saved a lot of time! I hope the other side goes as planned when the weather picks up!
If I was doing it again I'd cut the trailing arm bolt out so I wouldn't have bother lowering the fuel tank.
SS427 Camaro said:
How are you finding getting OE Renault parts ? When I went into my local Renault main agents, they said that the 182 had now been removed from the Renault part’s system !
There are some bits that are starting to cause issues, wishbones and driveshaft are fairly common for causing headaches in the community. But there are a lot of good OEM manufacturers that cover parts, plus specialists such as KAM racing and BTT motorsports who can help. Renault Parts Direct in Wolverhampton are a very helpful official source of Renault parts. I should have done both beam bushes before I said which one was the hard side.
The NS one was an utter PITA. While the bush was in better shape and access was better, there was far more corrosion. The main hassle was that the beam bush bolt was bent and the nut seized in place. So I brought out the saw again, cut partway through the bolt and then just broke it with a long spanner. It was a nice change to do this on purpose. Then I couldn't get the bolt out, so used an angle grinder to cut the head off the bolt and dropped the bush with what was left out of the hanger.
The shell was also far more jammed. I tried the same technique with the bush puller I had used on the other side; cutting though the shell, then pushing it out. But it wouldn't move, and I crushed the thrust bearings on the bush tool by trying to force it. Hammering it proved futile.
I did debate making a trip out to buy a blowtorch, but I didn't trust myself not to do a lot of damage. So I got out the biggest G clamp I could find, and used that to push the sleeve away from the arm. This technique, combined with a lot of hammering and pry bar action broke it free in the end.
After that, the bush sleeve and bush went in without too much drama. Lining up the bolt holes nearly reduced me to tears and left me questioning my choices of how to use my free time, but I managed to get it back together. While the arm was out I took the chance to give everything a clean, brush and get a coat of bilt hamber rust converter into the hard to access nooks and crannies:
And here it is. The last bush on the car that pre-dated my ownership. All the suspension and bushes are now no more than 6,000 miles and 3 years old.
With the bush in a vice and using a hammer and punch I still can't get the rest of the bolt out. Next time I'm paying someone else to do this.
The NS one was an utter PITA. While the bush was in better shape and access was better, there was far more corrosion. The main hassle was that the beam bush bolt was bent and the nut seized in place. So I brought out the saw again, cut partway through the bolt and then just broke it with a long spanner. It was a nice change to do this on purpose. Then I couldn't get the bolt out, so used an angle grinder to cut the head off the bolt and dropped the bush with what was left out of the hanger.
The shell was also far more jammed. I tried the same technique with the bush puller I had used on the other side; cutting though the shell, then pushing it out. But it wouldn't move, and I crushed the thrust bearings on the bush tool by trying to force it. Hammering it proved futile.
I did debate making a trip out to buy a blowtorch, but I didn't trust myself not to do a lot of damage. So I got out the biggest G clamp I could find, and used that to push the sleeve away from the arm. This technique, combined with a lot of hammering and pry bar action broke it free in the end.
After that, the bush sleeve and bush went in without too much drama. Lining up the bolt holes nearly reduced me to tears and left me questioning my choices of how to use my free time, but I managed to get it back together. While the arm was out I took the chance to give everything a clean, brush and get a coat of bilt hamber rust converter into the hard to access nooks and crannies:
And here it is. The last bush on the car that pre-dated my ownership. All the suspension and bushes are now no more than 6,000 miles and 3 years old.
With the bush in a vice and using a hammer and punch I still can't get the rest of the bolt out. Next time I'm paying someone else to do this.
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Monday 13th March 11:17
Just been for a little drive across town. It feels fantastic. It doesn't glide over bumps, but it's a lot more controlled. Various rattles that i didn't realise were coming from the bushes are gone and it's generally feeling tighter and "newer". Makes all the sweat and swearing worthwhile.
Spinakerr said:
Great stuff. That looks like a proper pig of a job, with corrosion fighting every step.
Nice work persevering and getting a better ride out of it. Rust, sweat and tears.
It was the classic combination of a job I've never done before, rust, terrible access, done on the driveway with a deadline to collect a child. At least it wasn't raining. And I don't think I broke anything important...Nice work persevering and getting a better ride out of it. Rust, sweat and tears.
320touring said:
Top work!
Looking at the pictures, I think that may be something that gets farmed out to the tame Clio fondler for the 182 and 172...
I would 100% recommend getting a professional to do this! And to help them out the bolts through the bushes can be replaced with M10 x 100 high tensile zinc plated hardware. The slightly shorter bolts makes it much easier to re-assemble. Looking at the pictures, I think that may be something that gets farmed out to the tame Clio fondler for the 182 and 172...
As is traditional in springtime, I gave the clio a wash and polished the headlights.
This time I've got a plan to stop them yellowing, a 3m clear coat kit that I saw Accelebrate use on his MX5.
So instead of going over the lights with a wood pad, i used a 3000 grit pad that came in the kit.
This is then followed up with a wipe with some special chemical in it.
A word of warning for anyone that uses this kit. These wipes dry fast, so if anything goes wrong, let it dry then go back with the 3000 grit. Don't go back with the wipes or it will go streaky.
Like this:
After that earning experience the lights look like they're well protected. If you get up close you can see some lines left by the wipes, but you need to really look hard.
It's a great kit. I've ordered another to do my legacy with.
Next up will be MOT time. Here's hoping it's less expensive than last year...
This time I've got a plan to stop them yellowing, a 3m clear coat kit that I saw Accelebrate use on his MX5.
So instead of going over the lights with a wood pad, i used a 3000 grit pad that came in the kit.
This is then followed up with a wipe with some special chemical in it.
A word of warning for anyone that uses this kit. These wipes dry fast, so if anything goes wrong, let it dry then go back with the 3000 grit. Don't go back with the wipes or it will go streaky.
Like this:
After that earning experience the lights look like they're well protected. If you get up close you can see some lines left by the wipes, but you need to really look hard.
It's a great kit. I've ordered another to do my legacy with.
Next up will be MOT time. Here's hoping it's less expensive than last year...
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