“It's just a daily” - Renaultsport Clio 182
Discussion
Little job I’ve wanted to do was renew the tired old gear knob.
The top of the original was smooth with printed H pattern. However these are no longer available from Renault so I have one with an embossed H pattern.
I’d read that these were a nightmare to get off, but I was in luck as this whole job took me about 30 min.
Much improved I’m sure you will agree.
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The top of the original was smooth with printed H pattern. However these are no longer available from Renault so I have one with an embossed H pattern.
I’d read that these were a nightmare to get off, but I was in luck as this whole job took me about 30 min.
Much improved I’m sure you will agree.
[url]Today’s fix - Climate control
In the early days of having the car back, one day I put the heater on high in the morning and when attempted to drop the temp as the cabin warmed up it strangely continued to chuck out hot air. Even with the AC on full and previously the AC was ice cold.
Oddly enough the next day it was working fine, so whatever the issue, it was intermittent and needed investigation.
I suspected it was something to do with the stepper motor on the heater matrix and a quick search had shown others had suffered a similar fate.
This evening I managed to get time to remove the stepper motors, these are a bit of a t
t to get to as they’re tucked up under the drivers dash area. Upon removing the motors, sure enough the drive lug had broken right through.
Lucky enough I had a sprung hose clamp that was exactly the correct size. It’s super strong now and I dare say the motor would now fail before the drive lug would ever break again.
Boxed it back up and Roberts ya mother’s brother, winning.
In the early days of having the car back, one day I put the heater on high in the morning and when attempted to drop the temp as the cabin warmed up it strangely continued to chuck out hot air. Even with the AC on full and previously the AC was ice cold.
Oddly enough the next day it was working fine, so whatever the issue, it was intermittent and needed investigation.
I suspected it was something to do with the stepper motor on the heater matrix and a quick search had shown others had suffered a similar fate.
This evening I managed to get time to remove the stepper motors, these are a bit of a t
t to get to as they’re tucked up under the drivers dash area. Upon removing the motors, sure enough the drive lug had broken right through.Lucky enough I had a sprung hose clamp that was exactly the correct size. It’s super strong now and I dare say the motor would now fail before the drive lug would ever break again.
Boxed it back up and Roberts ya mother’s brother, winning.
Tonight’s job,
Update the exhaust brackets with some newly fabricated stainless items and fit the PhillipM honeycomb exhaust Bush.
The mounts are a known point for corrosion and are NLA from Renault. When they were available they were apparently £110 a piece and the 182 needs a pair of them. Luckily a lad on the ClioSport group had a small batch fabricated in stainless and black powdercoated. As you can see, my old ones weren’t actually in that bad shape, but all stuff on the car has a life and now seemed as good a time as any to update them.
Also took this opportunity to fit a new honeycomb exhaust Bush. The standard bushes from Renault are frankly a joke, I’ve seen more robust dried flowers in my time.
When I first owned the car, there wasn’t any other option but try and fudge something yourself or keep buying the pants OEM stuff.
Years ago I cut out most of the old mount and put a universal poly exhaust hanger in with some zip ties.
To be fair this has stood up for the last 7 years or so. However because it’s solid, you do manage to make the boot floor in to a bit of an amplifier and the NVH comes right into the cabin.
Now there’s a better solution with the honeycomb Bush, I thought I’d fit one. I must have gotten used to the sound inside the car because this has made a significant reduction in resonance inside the cabin.
Update the exhaust brackets with some newly fabricated stainless items and fit the PhillipM honeycomb exhaust Bush.
The mounts are a known point for corrosion and are NLA from Renault. When they were available they were apparently £110 a piece and the 182 needs a pair of them. Luckily a lad on the ClioSport group had a small batch fabricated in stainless and black powdercoated. As you can see, my old ones weren’t actually in that bad shape, but all stuff on the car has a life and now seemed as good a time as any to update them.
Also took this opportunity to fit a new honeycomb exhaust Bush. The standard bushes from Renault are frankly a joke, I’ve seen more robust dried flowers in my time.
When I first owned the car, there wasn’t any other option but try and fudge something yourself or keep buying the pants OEM stuff.
Years ago I cut out most of the old mount and put a universal poly exhaust hanger in with some zip ties.
To be fair this has stood up for the last 7 years or so. However because it’s solid, you do manage to make the boot floor in to a bit of an amplifier and the NVH comes right into the cabin.
Now there’s a better solution with the honeycomb Bush, I thought I’d fit one. I must have gotten used to the sound inside the car because this has made a significant reduction in resonance inside the cabin.
PhillipM said:
If your exhaust uses the standard bolt + washer up the middle of the hanger you shouldn't need tie wraps, not that they hurt anything.
Noise levels better? Surprising how much the boot floor resonates from the exhaust noise and movement, it's like they designed it to be a speaker.
Unfortunately my exhaust doesn’t have that bolt setup mate as it’s a BTM/Yozzasport. To be honest it was nice and snug in there, I just added a pair of zip ties as a belt/braces. Noise levels better? Surprising how much the boot floor resonates from the exhaust noise and movement, it's like they designed it to be a speaker.
Yeah I didn’t really think it resonated that much inside till I drove it with the new bush. It’s a significant drop in noise, frankly far greater than I ever thought possible.
Well chuffed, thanks.
pincher said:
Ah, thought you were down my way. Was just after some inspiration on what to do with it, that’s all. It’s completely standard with only 36k on the clock and needs a bit of a refresh inside and outside.
Yep, keep it stock or whatever changes you do make, keep them simple and bolt on and safely store the oem parts. My recommendation would be to just get it to full bill of health, so change all fluids, get the belts done if they haven't yet been serviced and just refresh things such as dampers/bushes.
Some upgrades are to be expected such as a tasteful steering wheel retrim and maybe stainless steel exhaust
Leicester Loyal said:
I was looking at your username for a couple of minutes thinking it looks familiar, I thought I'm sure he had another car on the forum, one which stuck in my mind. The only two cars that have ever done that are an M1 which someone currently has on here and 'The Bomber'. A quick google search reveals you are indeed Mr Bomber!
I'm glad to see you're investing your time into something else, can't go wrong with a 182. I've got my service, MOT, insurance and tax renewal all in the next 8 weeks, so it's going to be a pricey few weeks for me.
Any plans to take it on track, or just purely using it on the road? (This is what I've done with mine).
I look forward to more udpates.
Haha,I'm glad to see you're investing your time into something else, can't go wrong with a 182. I've got my service, MOT, insurance and tax renewal all in the next 8 weeks, so it's going to be a pricey few weeks for me.
Any plans to take it on track, or just purely using it on the road? (This is what I've done with mine).
I look forward to more udpates.
Yes i am indeed Frayz with "The Bomber". Incidentally that car is now being broken for spares as ive had a lot of bad experinces with the people surrounding it and just want out. This is my original 182 so shes just my daily hack, no plans to build a track car, although i have plans to drop a decent drivers seat in it as IMO that's the only downside of a 172/182.
I also have my Cayman R so no need to try and extract performance from the Clio which to me, is mostly perfect as is.
AlexMG said:
Great build thread. Makes me feel like I made the right decision to get a 182 the way you came back to one, even with that brilliant Porsche in the garage too!
I need to replace the gear stick insert too, I had a quick search on eBay to no avail, do you have a link to share? Thanks!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renaultsport-Clio-Gearknob-Decal-Vinyl-Sticker-Graphics-Car-172-182-N2056/163641226250?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649I need to replace the gear stick insert too, I had a quick search on eBay to no avail, do you have a link to share? Thanks!
Sure Alex, link to the decal above
Prise out the old insert, prime and paint.
I used the following:
Matt black plastic primer undercoat
Ford Moondust silver
Clearcoat lacquer.
Then let that dry for 24 hours.
Light key with 2000 wet/dry before applying the decal.
3 to 4 further coats of clearcoat lacquer
pincher said:
Sounds like the way to go - dephaser, water pump etc done less than 1000 miles ago.
I think a sympathetic refresh is the order of the day. It’s going in for some paintwork in a week or two, then need to get wheels refurbed and see where we go from there.
Not sure that there can be many around with fewer miles - it probably owes me almost as much as it’s worth already but it’s a bit of a labour of love to remember my dear old dad
Just keep it as mint as you can then. That's what im attempting to do with mine.I think a sympathetic refresh is the order of the day. It’s going in for some paintwork in a week or two, then need to get wheels refurbed and see where we go from there.
Not sure that there can be many around with fewer miles - it probably owes me almost as much as it’s worth already but it’s a bit of a labour of love to remember my dear old dad
Also currently driving around without a rear wing as some kind soul decided to scratch it whilst in its previous ownership.
So that's with my friend Andy at Spikes Vintage Restoration for a fresh coat of Inferno Orange
So some kind soul saw it upon themselves to key the rear wing during the cars previous ownership.
So I dropped it off last week to a mate of mine Andy @ Spikes Vintage Restoration. Quite frankly, Andy is the best painter I’ve ever seen in my life, and the quality of his work is off the scale, check him out on Instagram @andythepaint.
Completely overkill for my little Clio, as it’s now the most perfect piece of paint finish on the whole car.
He also dusted over my Cup washer blanks.
So I dropped it off last week to a mate of mine Andy @ Spikes Vintage Restoration. Quite frankly, Andy is the best painter I’ve ever seen in my life, and the quality of his work is off the scale, check him out on Instagram @andythepaint.
Completely overkill for my little Clio, as it’s now the most perfect piece of paint finish on the whole car.
He also dusted over my Cup washer blanks.
Dusted under the rear wing with some Bilt Hamber Dynax UB before refitting it.
Also did the same when I took the front bumper off to fit the Cup washer blanks.
Also on the look out for a recently rebuilt gearbox with a Quaife diff. If you have or know of a good gearbox I have cash waiting here for the right one.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/FWP3bquh.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/KbeN8s82" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/KbeN8s82.jpg)
Also did the same when I took the front bumper off to fit the Cup washer blanks.
Also on the look out for a recently rebuilt gearbox with a Quaife diff. If you have or know of a good gearbox I have cash waiting here for the right one.
23sp said:
Nice attention to detail, had 3 clios, 1.2 RN, 172 Cup and 200 Cup. 172 Cup same shape as yours was by far the best. This thread has got me on the look again for one!
Ive had a good few hot hatches and this bar far the one ive loved the most.I think if i could put a proper drivers seat in it that sits me at a sensible height and maybe an LSD in it, that would be my ultimate fun daily.
Not much happened on the little Clio lately as I’m still on the hunt for a proper gearbox with diff (think I’ve found one) and hunting for some Recaro Pole Position / Cobra Nogaros.
I did however acquire an ITG Maxogen induction kit for it. The filter element had seen better days so decided to treat it to a new one. Also my car previously had a slightly oversized battery so annoyingly I’ve had to get a smaller 063 size battery to get the carbon airbox in.
Haven’t really driven it yet so can’t comment on the outcome of performance / racket etc. But it looks pretty.
[url]
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I did however acquire an ITG Maxogen induction kit for it. The filter element had seen better days so decided to treat it to a new one. Also my car previously had a slightly oversized battery so annoyingly I’ve had to get a smaller 063 size battery to get the carbon airbox in.
Haven’t really driven it yet so can’t comment on the outcome of performance / racket etc. But it looks pretty.
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|Cambs_Stuart said:
Fantastic thread. I bought a cheap 172 at the start of the summer as a fun 2nd car that could also transport children.
I'll be following this with interest and seeing what i can learn.
Sorry about the thread highjack, but geography wise I'm in Cambridge, and i was looking for a Renault sport specialist. Have you had any dealing with Mark Fish in Harlow? For me he'd be a bit easier to get to than AW motorworks.
No personal dealings with Mark other than he has been very helpful over the phone if ive called to enquire about something, ive heard nothing but good things from people that used him though. AW is my closest so ive used Alex for the stuff i cant be arsed to do.I'll be following this with interest and seeing what i can learn.
Sorry about the thread highjack, but geography wise I'm in Cambridge, and i was looking for a Renault sport specialist. Have you had any dealing with Mark Fish in Harlow? For me he'd be a bit easier to get to than AW motorworks.
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Monday 9th September 13:14
Best of luck.
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