'96 Clio 1.8 RSi
Discussion
I thought it was time to share my little project, It's been keeping me busy every now and then which can't be a bad thing.
I bought this Clio back in March just for something to do really, I was out of work at the time and needed to keep myself busy. It hadn't see the best of life on the outside with the odd car park dent here and there, a couple of good creases in the offside wing and a bad repair to a stone chip gone rusty on the bonnet. The wheels weren't in great condition either. Inside it was spot on but just needed a good clean up everywhere.
It had been owned by an 86 year old dear for the past 18 years and always stored in her garage, it's only covered 36k and there's a folder, bursting full of invoices from Renault Leicester from the day it was new. The old girl had traded in an '86 5GT Turbo for it back in '98 when she was 68 years old, she must have been a bit of a petrol head! Paperwork shows she got £1050 for the 5GT which was on 27k miles - price would be a bit different now! After spending almost £7k on servicing and repairs over the 18 years she'd had the RSi she packed up driving and it became mine not long after. I can't see it climbing in value such as the 16v Clios etc.. but I'm enjoying it non the less.
First job was to sort the leaky sunroof. Had I known all I needed was a 10mm ratchet spanner then this may have taken me a lot less time to do but several hours later it was back in and sealed properly.
Aerial sealed at the same time
I'd also removed most of the black exterior trims and given them a few coats of black Plastidip but I think it's going to get peeled off now as I've bought some Forever Black which should do the job much better.
Not the best of images but the creases in the front wing needed sorting so off it went to the local body shop to have the wing and bonnet painted. I'd bought a set of Clio 16v phase 2 Vega wheels off ebay which needed refurbishing so they went in the car and got done at the same time. The original 14" wheels are polished lip with painted spokes and all need refurbishing but to get them done like factory new was going to cost a fortune so they can sit in the garage for now.
A few weeks later it was done (told him I wasn't in a rush...). First stop - 195/50 15 Toyo T1R's fitted
Wheels on and not looking too bad but a little drop in the suspension would do the trick (my daughter insisted on being in the photograph)
Next stop it to get these fitted and the rear torsion bars lowered to give an equal drop front/rear. I went for the SPAX kit as there's not too much available for these nowadays and at 30mm drop it should be just about right, they weren't a bad price too
It's by no means fast but every time I drive it there's a smile on my face
A quick photoshop edit to show what I'm hoping to get it looking like
And I bought a few goodies the other day to get the paint looking like new again along with some Natty's Paste Wax to keep it protected.
I bought this Clio back in March just for something to do really, I was out of work at the time and needed to keep myself busy. It hadn't see the best of life on the outside with the odd car park dent here and there, a couple of good creases in the offside wing and a bad repair to a stone chip gone rusty on the bonnet. The wheels weren't in great condition either. Inside it was spot on but just needed a good clean up everywhere.
It had been owned by an 86 year old dear for the past 18 years and always stored in her garage, it's only covered 36k and there's a folder, bursting full of invoices from Renault Leicester from the day it was new. The old girl had traded in an '86 5GT Turbo for it back in '98 when she was 68 years old, she must have been a bit of a petrol head! Paperwork shows she got £1050 for the 5GT which was on 27k miles - price would be a bit different now! After spending almost £7k on servicing and repairs over the 18 years she'd had the RSi she packed up driving and it became mine not long after. I can't see it climbing in value such as the 16v Clios etc.. but I'm enjoying it non the less.
First job was to sort the leaky sunroof. Had I known all I needed was a 10mm ratchet spanner then this may have taken me a lot less time to do but several hours later it was back in and sealed properly.
Aerial sealed at the same time
I'd also removed most of the black exterior trims and given them a few coats of black Plastidip but I think it's going to get peeled off now as I've bought some Forever Black which should do the job much better.
Not the best of images but the creases in the front wing needed sorting so off it went to the local body shop to have the wing and bonnet painted. I'd bought a set of Clio 16v phase 2 Vega wheels off ebay which needed refurbishing so they went in the car and got done at the same time. The original 14" wheels are polished lip with painted spokes and all need refurbishing but to get them done like factory new was going to cost a fortune so they can sit in the garage for now.
A few weeks later it was done (told him I wasn't in a rush...). First stop - 195/50 15 Toyo T1R's fitted
Wheels on and not looking too bad but a little drop in the suspension would do the trick (my daughter insisted on being in the photograph)
Next stop it to get these fitted and the rear torsion bars lowered to give an equal drop front/rear. I went for the SPAX kit as there's not too much available for these nowadays and at 30mm drop it should be just about right, they weren't a bad price too
It's by no means fast but every time I drive it there's a smile on my face
A quick photoshop edit to show what I'm hoping to get it looking like
And I bought a few goodies the other day to get the paint looking like new again along with some Natty's Paste Wax to keep it protected.
Edited by frg530 on Friday 10th June 14:09
ChrisR99 said:
Looks nice, please keep it as standard as possible though. There can't be many left now. 
I will. I don't plan on doing anything that can't be put back to standard and I'm keeping everything that comes off it ready to go back on or go with sale when the times comes. Howmanyleft is showing 19 licensed and 21 SORN as of Q4 2015.Passed up the opportunity to buy a red one of these for £700. In my defense, it was a very faded red and high miler! In hindsight it would be great to own one, and I've always had a huge soft spot for the sporty versions of this shape clio. Enjoy it, the new alloys suit it unbelievably well! Out of interest, what's it like compared to modern equivalents?
JoeCastle said:
Passed up the opportunity to buy a red one of these for £700. In my defense, it was a very faded red and high miler! In hindsight it would be great to own one, and I've always had a huge soft spot for the sporty versions of this shape clio. Enjoy it, the new alloys suit it unbelievably well! Out of interest, what's it like compared to modern equivalents?
Thanks. I wanted to keep the look OEM with the wheels, Renault do a 15" version of the RSi original ones that were fitted to 21 TXi's but they're like rocking horse s
t to find. In all honesty I haven't really got any experience in anything newer of this size to compare it to. I spoke to Renault Leicester earlier about getting some dealer 'plates for it but they can't make them up unless the car goes in for some work and they're raised as a job. Ah well.
It needs a cambelt kit fitting but I'm fairly sure it's not going to be heading back to the dealer for that to be done.
It needs a cambelt kit fitting but I'm fairly sure it's not going to be heading back to the dealer for that to be done.
Thanks again guys.
If the weather had been forecast a bit better this week I might have got it booked in at the garage for the suspension kit to be fitted but it seems a waste of time at the moment as I'm not going to be enjoying it in all this rain that's forecast here for the whole week. Summer eh...
I'd like to think I can get the remaining bits done by the end of the summer though. Need a decent PDR bloke to come out and have a look at a few small car park dents down both sides, any recommendations for someone in the Mansfield area?
If the weather had been forecast a bit better this week I might have got it booked in at the garage for the suspension kit to be fitted but it seems a waste of time at the moment as I'm not going to be enjoying it in all this rain that's forecast here for the whole week. Summer eh...
I'd like to think I can get the remaining bits done by the end of the summer though. Need a decent PDR bloke to come out and have a look at a few small car park dents down both sides, any recommendations for someone in the Mansfield area?
I've always liked these but I can't work out why. I was a child through the 90's so that could be it. I always liked the Renault advertising then and the typeface they used.
This is bonkers money though
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-Clio-1-8-16v-/26...
This is bonkers money though
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-Clio-1-8-16v-/26...
Edited by BlueHave on Tuesday 14th June 03:03
Had a go at the scuttle panel trim today with the Forever Black. It comes with a 'sponge on a stick' applicator which is fairly easy to use but does leave the odd streak here and there so I found it best to 'finish' with a very light buffing using a microfibre cloth. Two coats later and I'm happy with the result.
Before. It wasn't too bad to start with but certainly looks better now.
During. I'd bought a fresh set of retaining clips from ebay a couple of weeks ago as I knew there'd be a few broken ones when I removed the two pieces of trim.
After
Next up for the Forever Black: door handles, bumper inserts, door trims and st loads of other things...
Before. It wasn't too bad to start with but certainly looks better now.
During. I'd bought a fresh set of retaining clips from ebay a couple of weeks ago as I knew there'd be a few broken ones when I removed the two pieces of trim.
After
Next up for the Forever Black: door handles, bumper inserts, door trims and s
t loads of other things...Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff