Scotty's 172 Project

[ScottyRS]

Hi All,

I'm new to all this.

I had the great idea of picking up a cheap 172 and then doing a few bits to get it roadworthy. The aim was to drive it around the roads until next summer and get used to the car and how it drives. Then work on it uprating things as I go along and then drive it around some track sessions next summer.

Well...

I decided to take a punt and bought a 172 with the triangle lights (I now know this is a phaze 2 but excuse my ignorance. I literally had no idea about 172's except for they were quick and the first breed of the Clio Sports (after Williams type).

Here is the car:

You may look at the pics and think... arr it looks like a sound car. Pump the tyre up and bobs your uncle.

Oh... so wrong!

The car has no Tax or MOT and has been left since 2009. On first inspection the Tyres were all completely slick... They have been driven well beyond their legal limit & the disks were completely shot. I decided to get it moved using a transporter.

Whilst getting it onto the transporter the guy ripped the front bumper off and smashed the front fog lamp. I was pretty annoyed at this and swiftly got a discount off the car.

I had the garage give the car an MOT as i knew this would flag everything i need to change to get it right. I knew about the tyres and brakes... but...

The garage phoned be a few days after dropping the car off and said. Mr **** the car has failed the MOT. I was like, ok so whats the damage. They replied with... 4 pages of MOT failures. Thats even before the advisories. The total failures was 36!

You may ask what it failed on... a few things I shall list.

Front Discs - £80
Front Pads - £18
Rear Discs with bearing and abs sensors - £300
Rear Pads - £26
4 Tyres (Went for Uniroyal Rainsport 2) - £420 with tracking and alignment
16 Wheel nuts as only 2 on each wheel - £28
CV joint boot kit - £14
Antirollbar bush kit - £5
All round Springs - £170 (Went for H&R 30mil drop)
Xenon Bulb - £80ish
Window Wipers - £30 (Went for Champion Contact Blades)
2 Tie Rod ends Outer - £30
2 Tie Rod ends Inner - £30
2 New reg plates - £25
+ more like seat belts, horn doesn't work, fluids, other bulbs etc

Things that were not a failure but needed changing

Bosch 4 year Battery - £63
Timing Belt - £50
Micro-V Belt as it was missing - £16

After this a full service needs doing with spark plugs, oil, fuel & pollen filters and an oil change.

There is more things left like a new drivers seat as the side airbag has gone off, new front bumper to find, new barrells to fit as they just spin.

So... the bill for parts so far (just the prices listed) - £1,385. The labour charge is about £400 for this too. So £1,785 just to get the car right. That doesn't include the price of the car!

The photo is of the car as it looks today when I visited the garage. I really hope to have it all sorted and back in the next few weeks.

I've never done a project like this before and if you had said i would do this a few weeks ago I would have said "Don't be stupid".

Many may read this and say... why didnt you just buy a car that was ok in the first place...

Well. The answer to that is the car is 10 years old and i knew things would gradually need to be replaced over a year or two so throught i could buy cheap and replace pretty much everything and get it done all together so there was a solid starting block. (I didn't want to have to replace everything all at once mind!)

I shall keep you all up to date with the progress. Once i get it back from the garage i shall continue to keep sorting bits. I hope to get some 16" Sportline Turini Alloys for next summer.

 

[PP200t]

Re: Scotty's Clio Sport 172 Project

Just on the start you've been had over for some bits if thats what the garage are quoting/charging. Rear discs inc bearings and and rings are £100 genuine, frot brembo discs are £45 and the bulbs can be picked up for £20 pair.
Oh and the cambelt needs the kit changing not just the belt mate, don't just do the belt!
Apart from that a nice looking car. Hope it was cheap!!

 

[ScottyRS]

Re: Scotty's Clio Sport 172 Project

I doubled the discs when writing it. They were 150. The bulbs are the right price though. They as Lucas ones not cheap crap off ebay or net.

After all this is done I'm just hoping the drive it good. I've never drove a Clio Sport. We shall see.

 

[leeds_182]

Re: Scotty's Clio Sport 172 Project

The timing belt aspect scares me.

 

[ScottyRS]

Re: Scotty's Clio Sport 172 Project

The timing belt aspect scares me.

I just dropped the belt down expecting it to be an easy job like my Focus.

I just phoned the garage after reading your comment Leeds_182 and they said it's a 6 hour job and possible engine drop. Ouch! I've told them i'll have the belt back and shall replace with a full kit once the car is all sorted out. The bill is going to be around £400 just for labour on the belt...

How long have other peoples taken to change and is there anywhere cheaper that will do this around the midlands area?

 

[Andyk1801]

Good luck pal... How much did you pay for the car?

 

[ScottyRS]

Good luck pal... How much did you pay for the car?

£600 so can't really moan.

 

[Andyk1801]

Probably work out well once you've sorted it. As it will probably price the same as a decent one but you an be confident in the parts that you have changed. I hate buying new cars. The first couple of months any noise or rattle and I panic lol

 

[PP200t]

Ah fair enough then. Good on you for doing it this way, I dont have the money or patience to do something like you.

 

[guysy]

Not something I'd think of tackling myself but fair play for turning it around.

If the cars been that neglected get cam belt and aux tensioners and belt changed over and think about having the dephaser changed at the same time, if the oils not been changed frequently the dephaser could start making noises later on (if it isnt already).

 

[Terzo204]

It might seam like a lot of money but you will no doubt have a cracking car once it's finished.

Good luck and enjoy it. These cars really are great.

Mike

 

[ScottyRS]

Thanks for the support and advise guys. I really am a noob and your guideance is excellent so far. Like you guysy i am always dubious about parts on a 2nd hand car even if the person is trying to convince me of something. I like to get things changed, simply for piece of mind.

I didn't quite realise what i was getting myself into with this one but in the long run it should be worth the trouble and beans on toast for the next few months.

I shall now be getting the cam belt, aux tensioners, aux belt and dephaser changed. I have messaged Fred at BTM for this job.

I have 2 questions.

1. Is it worth changing the water pump at the same time as i assume this is ridiculously hard to get to and easy to change whilst doing the belts?
2. The aux belt is missing from the car but it starts fine and drives (luckily it seems from reading other posts on here)... i guess they realised the cost of getting all this changed and decided to neglect it. I don't want it started up again as i fear for the cambelts condition. Does the belt move if i tow the clio to BTM on the road? I just don't want to cause any damage getting it to the place for changing.

 

[JonC219]

As long as its not towed whilst in gear, the belt will not move

 

[ScottyRS]

As long as its not towed whilst in gear, the belt will not move

Thank You Jon. It will be awful having to tow it away from the garage after 1.5k spent on it but after everyones advise i want Fred to sort the engine before it's re-started. I shall keep people up to date with the progress.

 

[guysy]

If you havent found an answer to your first question above, read in here post #9 http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?633685-Water-Pump-Change-with-cambelt

Water pump doesnt have to be changed unless you want to for peace of mind, or its fucked and needs changing.

 

[ScottyRS]

Just a quick update. Full replacement interior has been sourced and currently resides in my living room. I don't want it getting damaged in the shed or by the wolves so leaving it on the spare sofa until i get the car back from the garage.

More to come soon

 

[subarufreak]

nice project this

 

[ABOO]

You have bigger baby batter production units than me my friend!
Hope it works out for you....

 

[Cw Tuning.]

should turn out a good motor mate

 

[ScottyRS]

Ok... another little update.

Replacement bumper now purchased. The paintwork isn't perfect but it is complete and pretty good. The other bumper got ripped off when getting it on the truck and is literally only just hanging on. This is the last item before i get the car back from the garage later in the month. I shall re-visit this project after the new year. It will be stored until then.

 

[ScottyRS]

Another update. The car now has the following done:

All the following are brand new parts.

2x Inner toe rod ends
2x Rack ends
1x Cv joint boot
1x Hella Ballast
Lucas Xenon Bulbs
2x Antirollbar bushes
Front & rear H&R Lowing Springs
Front & rear Discs and Pads
4x Uniroyal Rainsport 2 tyres
Bosch Battery
16x Wheel nuts
Blade Window wipers
Rear bulbs all replaced

A few other jobs have also been done including sorting the horn, tracking, alignment

This is phase 1 of the work now complete.

The following picture shows what parts are being fitted on phase 2. (note: I got 2 cambelt kits a didn't know which one it was until the current was removed)

 

[ScottyRS]

Something a little more interesting and an update on phase 2:

The engine was dropped out to change the cambelt.

The cambelt kit, dephaser pulley, water pump, tension pulley, aux belt, oil, filter, coolant have all been changed.

I'm just waiting for a new alternator to arrive and then can fit the bits back on including replacement bumper and xenon ballast on the headlight unit.

 

[ScottyRS]

Another update. After nearly a month of waiting for the alternator to be shipped from Valeo's factory in Italy it finally arrived.


It is an updated version of the original Renault one. Pretty much identical as you can see. The damage on the old one is evident. The metal casing is also cracked and completely seized inside.

Next job... fit it and put the car back together ready to get out on the road and test drive. Then interior changing time

 

[ScottyRS]

Just to add more detail to this as i've not added a reply for a while now.

The car failed it's MOT on emissions. This was obviously a little heart breaking since i've put so much money and parts into it.

I decided to take it to another garage to get some more work done and find out what the issues were.

They plugged it up to a computer and ran it through. It became clear all the sensors were pretty mashed.

I decided to change the Spark Plugs for the best ones i could find as well as change both Lambda sensors. There was also a very slight leak on an exhaust seal. Luckily this resolved the emissions issue and also reset all the fault codes.

I had the interior seats replaced with my replacement ones (they are only short term until i can source some bucket replacement seats). I also had a front wheel bearing replaced due to it being noisy.

The car passed it's MOT with no advisories at all... I cannot believe it... finally a road worthy car from the brinks of the breakers yard.

I have been driving it to work and back the past 2 weeks and have found it drives really well and the power is fantastic.

I do have the following issues now:

1. There is a bad grinding/vibrating from the engine when accelerating with a bit of power in 1st and 2nd. I believe this is the bush rubber. I am going to replace all the mountings with powerflex ones. Could someone advise me of where i can get an uprated top left engine mount? This moves around quite a bit.

2. The second issue that i've only just really found today is the car seems to have an issue with "holding back" or feel like there is a drag when driving from cold. When changing gear and off the power it almost feels like the brakes are on with the way it pulls back. What is this? Could it be leads/coil pack issues or something else? It seems to get better when warm.

 

[ScottyRS]

Today I managed to rope Kev in on the job. He is very good at technical mechanical situations and has a good problem solving logic. He clearly was ideal for the job. The only issue was the fact I hadn't told him what he would be doing. I said I needed help with the clio. I'm pretty confident if i had told him I needed to change 3 mounts he would have ran a mile. I know I would have lol.


I now had the following parts:


1x Powerflex Polybushes for the Dogbone mount
1x Upper Engine Mount (Original part from Renault Birmingham)
1x Upper Gearbox Mount


The first job was to jack the car up and attempt to tackle the dogbone mount that I failed to do on X-mas day.

Unfortunatley after using a longer bar from Kev and both having a crack at it we failed. Due to not being able to put our weight behind it or have room to extend the bar (due to being limited under the car) it was decided we move on. This job will need to be completed at a garage with a ramp and a long breaker bar.


We decided to tackle the upper gearbox mount next. This is located under the battery.


We got down to the mount which holds the gearbox to the frame. We jacked the gearbox up with wood on top to stop any damage. We couldn't get the center nut out of the rubber mount. After trying a few methods and bashing heads together I finally tried a brute force technique and "BANG". the nut freed off. I thought I had snapped the bolt in half (which can only be purchased from Renault) but luckily i hadn't.

Here is Kev very happy with the extraction

Next we tackled the Upper Engine Mount which holds the engine to the frame.

Amazingly enough Kev advised me that when Jacking the car up to meet the new mount the engine was actually raised about an inch and a 1/2. This is how much the engine had dropped on the faulty mount.


After about 4 hours work we had managed to successfully change 2 out of 3 mounts. We pulled the engine forwards before doing all the mounts up to pull the manifold away from the subframe. It has very little clearance.


Next it was time for a test drive... all I can say is WOW. Finally i was able to put the power down to the tarmac!


I must say that Kev was an absolute joy to work with. He was amazing help and without him it simply wouldn't have got done. It would have also cost a small fortune at a garage. I really hope i can rope him in to doing other jobs as i really enjoyed the lads session working on the car .

 

[ScottyRS]

I've not done an update for a while now so wanted to fill the gap.


About a month ago I took the car to my normal garage to have the gearbox oil changed. It was a bit of a faff but I'm glad I had it done.


There was a couple of nice cars there too:

It was nice to see there was oil still in there. Not much mind.

After it's refresh I decided to treat it to a present

 

[ScottyRS]

I have now had the two complete top suspension mounts changed by the garage. These have made a further difference to the steering and handling of the car. The trouble is now the camber of the front wheels is slightly out. I'll need to get this re-done.


I also decided to give the car a bit of a spruce up with the ignition system as I've not really touched this apart from a new battery and spark plugs.


I set about getting things changed:

The spark plugs have only been in there for about 2000 miles and look like that.


I replaced the Spark Plugs, Coil pack and Ignition Leads. All precautionary but well worth doing in my opinion.

 

[ScottyRS]

Still no "track focused" upgrades but the car is slowly but surely coming along!


I had Dave at DMB print me some Renault Sport stickers to liven the look up slightly. I wanted them to be subtle and not look silly or scream "boy racer". After all I am still driving it to work atm.


Before ordering them Dave made me send some measurements in:

After waiting a week they finally arrived.

I couldn't decide on how to do the rear sticker. The image shows it higher up the bumper but I decided to centralise it in the end. You'll probably agree.

Here are the finished results: Let me know if you like.

 

[ScottyRS]

After having a Clunking/Vibrating Steering problem for the past month I finally found the problem.


After securing the top engine mount again I decided to re-assess the top gearbox mount. Out come the necessaries and immediately the problem was apparent.


The two bolts had sheered their nuts and had dropped completely out. There was nothing holding the mount to the body.


After a visit to B&Q. I purchased the correct nuts & bolts M8's and proceeded to secure the bracket again.

As you can see... this didn't entirely go to plan. After torquing the nut up the bolt sheered in half... this was only about 20nm aswell. Complete garbage from B&Q.


I then proceeded to option 2 and got myself some high strength bolts with copper coated anti-rust locking nuts.


After some seriously fiddly work getting the bolts in the bottom of the fixing tray I torqued it all up nice and tight!

Now the car steers exactly how it was built to... no noises or vibration... Nurburgring... very very nearly ready!!!

 

[Matt e]

After it's refresh I decided to treat it to a present

hope you got it cheap! wont be in the car for long

 

[ScottyRS]

After the rear exhaust mount rubber mount completely splitting and the back box resting on the metal at the bottom of the mount it was time to get it changed.


At work today on lunch I changed the mount. Pretty easy to do, just a little difficult as the car is lowered so visibility wasn't exactly excellent.


Bracket and Mount completely removed:

New Mount added and original bracket removed (isn't required with current exhaust)