Clio 172 Project

[Ricardo]

I purchased the Clio 172 in July 2008, in the two years I have owned the car it has gone through many changes both mechanically and cosmetically. Changes have occurred on exterior and interior styling, also modifying the car mechanically along the way in the last two years(even as I type this out I’m spraying coats of metallic grey paint on an OZ F1 alloy wheel). It’s ongoing and will continue to happen for which I’ll update the project thread. For now here is the thread showing how it started and where the car has been changed throughout the two years Some months work happened over periods of days leading up to a show or event, other times the car would be left untouched for periods of months and driven as it is. I hope you like what you see, everything I have done is to my own personal taste and the opinions on this thread are my own. The work has been done by either just me, club members, with parts purchased at reasonable prices and sourced on the internet to keep costs down. I believe I have tried to make the Clio 172 better in my own way to how it was when it came off the production line in 2001.

[Ricardo]

2008 From 5 to Clio

Ok, so I’ve owned a few Renault 5 GT Turbo cars in my time starting in 1998. My last Renault 5 is Glacier White whom I purchased from club member Sukhi. I really enjoyed this car in the time I owned it but as usual the classic Renault paranoia is there. I’m constantly looking at the temp gauge in traffic or looking in the rear view mirror expecting white or grey smoke to billow out. It’s not the car as in all the time I owned it (bar the hole in the front of the block in late 2007) it has performed well. Quite frightening sometimes on mildly wet roads, it performed superbly driving to Germany to go on the infamous Nurburgring, and ran consistent 13.9 second quarter mile times at Santa Pod in July (the timing slip still in my draw).



After the Santa Pod meet I decide to run an advert with photos on RTOC to sell the 5, I take a call from club member Chris Smith (Penfold, Shop Boy, and Pride of Kent) So on July 12th we strike a part exchange deal with me driving the 5 down to Kent then driving home in the lovely blue Renault Clio 172, this is how the project unfolds in the next two years……

[Ricardo]

How i bought the Clio from Chris


July: Jobs Done

20th July: Phase 2 lights fitted
21st July: Purchased rear number plate light from Renault
23rd July: OMP steering wheel from E Bay auction fitted
31st July: Purchased 15” OZ Ultraleggera wheels 2nd hand

I’m not keen on the phase one rear light clusters they look a bit ‘euro’ to me, I prefer the updated phase two items as they give the back end a more modern look. So through E Bay I purchase a second hand set. Between my brother and me we replace them round his house. The plug that makes the bulbs work fits both phase one and two but the difference is the wiring goes to different bulbs, once we’ve worked out which wire goes to the right bulb we take the connector apart and swap the wires over.





It’s the small parts that make a difference too so I purchase a new rear number plate light to replace the green mouldy looking one for a nice clear one.



The Clio came with an aftermarket steering wheel from OMP, a nice size just a shame it has garish blue parts on it which didn’t match anything else in the interior. Yet again I scour E Bay for a replacement; I come across an auction for a black OMP steering wheel in decent condition. £23 later the steering wheel is delivered from Kent and fitted to the boss that’s already on the car, much better.





My biggest purchase comes at the end of July, I’ve always liked the ‘Ultraleggera wheels made by OZ so when a set comes up for sale through a chap known as ‘Bass Direct’ in east London I make the move. So I head over, buy them and have them fitted by a tyre fitter the same afternoon.

[Ricardo]

[Ricardo]

August: Jobs Done

2nd August: Purchase new carbon fibre bonnet from K Tec
14th August: Bonnet catch fails
21st August: Clio goes into Renault for a recall on the bonnet catch
23rd August: Apex lowering springs purchased from Adey

So August starts with a big purchase, I love the look of carbon fibre so when I browse the K Tec Racing website I notice they make them for the phase one Clio 172. I make the phone call to them and have the Clio booked in to have them fit the carbon bonnet, I didn’t fancy doing this job myself as the washer jet holes and the hinges have to be drilled. So after the drive to and from Dorset along with a couple of hours in the workshop the Clio now wears a nice and shiny carbon bonnet, the original bonnet is too big to fit in the back so K Tec have it sent back by courier.







Travelling on the dual carriageway and the bonnet lifts up to second stage on the catch, after pulling over and pushing it back down it then repeatedly does it again and again. I then find out that the catch is a recall at Renault so I pop in to the local main dealer to book it in. They query that as the bonnet is aftermarket, its carbon and lightweight it could be prone to twisting and allowing the catch to fail. My argument is that the catch is the genuine part and is faulty hence the recall, so after ten minutes discussing with the manager and the Renault technician they fit a brand new bonnet catch. Problem solved the bonnet catch still works to this day.





The third weekend in August I take a trip over to Swindon for the weekend, while I’m there I purchase a set of Apex lowering springs off club member Adey. He’s just had a full set of AST coilovers fitted to his Clio
172 so he lets me have a full set of original 172 suspension with the springs too. I find the Apex springs especially on the rear lower the Clio the most, certainly more than the Koni springs that were fitted to the Clio.

[Ricardo]

September: Jobs Done

14th September: 50 profile tyres fitted to the orange 100+ Qualifier wheels
22nd September: Purchase clear side repeaters and bulbs from Renault
23rd September: Purchase Brembo ‘Max’ discs from GSF and Ferodo DS2500 pads from Carnoisseur
26th September: Purchase new white Speedline 2008 wheels from Carnoisseur and fitted

Chris Smith still owns the white Renault 5 GT Turbo, he likes it but what he doesn’t like is people stopping him all the time saying he’s ‘Ricardo’ as it’s the one with the orange wheels. He calls me and tells me to take them off his hands so I make another trip down to Ashford in Kent to pick them up. I fit them to the Clio the same day, the following day I have the 50 profile tyres fitted to them as they still have the 45 profile tyres on them from when they were fitted to the Renault 5.





I purchase new white side repeaters and orange bulbs from Renault to clean up the look on the exterior.

As National Day is looming at Mallory Park I decide to upgrade the braking to cope with the days track driving. I purchase the Brembo ‘Max’ discs at GSF car parts then make a phone call to Carnoisseur to order some Ferodo DS2500 brake pads. The shop is local to me so it’s easy for me to pick up the brake pads on the way home from work. Two hours later in the evening and I replace the original Renault brake setup.





I then make another call to Carnoisseur, I really like the look of the Speedline alloy wheels that the Clio Cup race cars use. So, the day before heading to National Day I order a set of Speedline wheels on the proviso he has them delivered to his shop next day before midday. I have that Friday off so I spend the morning packing the car waiting for the call to pick the wheels up, 11am and they’re in so I drive straight over to pick them up. Once bought I take them to the tyre fitter to have them put on straight away so I can head straight to Mallory park with the Clio shod with shiny new Speedline 2008 wheels. The weekend at Mallory Park ends the month of September, the Clio performs really well all day out on track.





National Day 2008 Mallory Park

[Ricardo]

October: Jobs Done

6th October: Purchase oil, filter and washer from Renault
17th October: Purchase coolant from Renault

Nothing much bought for the Clio this month although there’s the trip to the Nurburgring in Germany. I buy oil, oil filter and sump plug washer from Renault then book the Clio in my local garage who also do the MOT’s. As I know them fairly well they give me a decent labour rate on things I have done. They charged me £15 to do the oil and filter change.

The weekend in Germany went really well bar one incident, I did two straight laps and on the second lap just after the first bridge a rear brake pad fell out at about 100mph. The brake pedal went straight to the floor but came back on the second and third frantic try. I nursed the car round the Ring and took it back to the hotel to investigate. On inspection the rear caliper piston was rubbing on the disc every time the pedal was pressed which gave it the metal on metal squeal every time I applied the pedal all the way back from Nuburgring to the hotel. Luckily enough after heading into nearby Adenau a motor factor had a set of rear brake pads for the Clio so they were fitted which enabled us to make it back home.

[Ricardo]

December

Not so much jobs done but a big job needing doing. On the way back from a trip to Lincoln visiting family the gearbox decides the chew up 5th gear completely. I have drive in reverse and the first four gears but there is nothing on 5th. I have a friend who works for main dealer Mini as a mechanic so he takes the Clio into the workshop to inspect 5th gear. We’re hoping by some small miracle that 5th gear nut has come loose and needs re tightening up but once the inspection cover is taken off it’s not looking good. Not only has the teeth and bearings on 5th gear have been sheared off but the ensuing damage has cracked the gearbox internally, time to start saving for another gearbox.

The gearbox problem rounds off 2008 in a bad way, I’ve owned the Clio five months and in that time it has been a brilliant daily driver then performing really well out on track. This is the last thing I expected to happen; as jobs go I’d say it was a big one. The only consolation is that when I do find a replacement gearbox I have the right man for the job, Rick based in Hornchurch who’s worked on many Renaults and known more for his work at BB performance tuning near Braintree.

[Ricardo]

2009 A bad year for the Clio and me

May: Jobs Done
11th May: Purchase oil from Renault

August Jobs Done
4th August: Purchase genuine Valeo clutch
8th August: Purchase new plastic fog-light surrounds and fit fog-lights

September: Jobs Done
26th September: Purchased new interior door handle from Renault

November: Jobs Done
18th November: Purchased 2 Yokohama Parada Spec 2 tyres from Rochford Tyres
21st November: Purchase 2nd hand gearbox from Cit-Ren on 21st, fitted same day
27th November: Cleaning, preparing and priming the OZ F1 alloy wheels

[Ricardo]

As mentioned the work to the Clio happens in fits and spurts, whether I have the money to spend on it or an event comes up and I feel a few changes are needed. In 2009 I lost interest in what the car is all about for me. When I picked up the Clio back in 2008 it felt really well, like I moved onto a much newer and better car personally. Circumstances had changed mid 2008 so I needed a car that could do two things for me. 1: Be a daily driver to and from work along with going everywhere else in between 2: Drive it to and from track days. With the gearbox still only having four gears I rode my luck throughout the entire year of 2009 driving it like it is, I couldn’t afford the outlay of another gearbox, the labour costs in having it changed along with buying a new gear box. Looking back I should have tried to put money away each month to save up for the repairs, a poor effort on my behalf and in doing so I half heartedly tried to sell it as I’d lost total interest in it and bought another car, the Volvo 850R.

The Clio sat on the driveway with the idea of it being sold to part fund the Volvo purchase, as it happens over the shocking six weeks I owned the Volvo I had bad paranoia by constantly looking at the petrol gauge like a hawk! Far worse than checking the Renault 5 temp gauge! The idea of buying the Volvo was to carry the work tools about and have a quick car all in one. It simply drank far too much petrol so it had to go, thank god in some ways the Clio didn’t sell. So the Volvo went and in doing so I found copious amounts of enthusiasm and much needed money to have the Clio repaired.

[Ricardo]

I did buy another JC5 gearbox which came from a Williams Clio broken for spares, a new clutch was purchased from Euro car parts so now all the Clio needed was booking in at Rick’s workshop to have the gear box fitted. I get a phone call from Rick late Thursday saying the gear box will fit but as it’s an early JC5 gear box the mounting points on top of the gear box are in a completely different place to the 172 gearbox, what?!

“You need a 172 box Rich. Your car is on the ramps, its 4pm and I have other customer’s cars that need this ramp tomorrow morning”

“Where the hell do I find a 172 box this time of the day, I’m still at work trying to fit a kitchen!”

“Here’s a phone number of a Renault breakers in Tilbury, they have 172 Clio’s come in regularly”

I make the phone call and they do indeed have a 172 gearbox, so I make my way over to Tilbury, pick it up then drive over to Hornchurch to drop it off at Ricks only to find out it’s a later gearbox! I make the call to Tilbury then head back to drop it off and have my money refunded. Meanwhile I call another Renault breakers based near Norwich called Cit-Ren, they do have the early gearbox for the phase one Clio 172, Speedo drive in the correct place and the price is better than the other later gear box. The Clio went in for the gear box change Thursday morning, it’s on the ramp all day Friday but buying the new gearbox means I have to drive up to Norwich first thing Saturday morning for when Cit-Ren opens at 9am, while I’m at the breakers I also buy an OZ F1 alloy wheel to complete a full set. Rick says he’ll fit the gearbox Saturday lunch time if I bring it straight from Norwich to his workshop, I don’t have a problem with that if it means having the Clio back on the road with all five gears! Sure enough by 5pm Saturday I go to pick up the Clio and its running smooth as you like in all five gears, Rick also fixes the lift up reverse as it never worked from day one. What with a new clutch and fresh gear box oil I drive away from Hornchurch back to my house extremely happy.

[Ricardo]

I moved into a bigger property in October which came with a massive garage detached from the bungalow, finally after years on parking on the street I had a decent sized garage to put a car in and do work on it when needed. This gave me the opportunity to start working on the OZ alloy wheels I bought and accumulated over the months; I wanted a complete set as back up and have the original wheels the Clio came with as spares. I get as far as sanding down and spraying them in primer when just as 2008 ended in disaster so does 2009!









In the middle of December I break my heel bone in three places which means surgery is imminent; I then have to take the following three months off work all unpaid. I also separate with a partner who I’d been with for over a year just after the heel break which means I have to move out of the bungalow and clear the garage of all my car parts and Clio. I’m so glad I did all the work on the Clio before this happens as it’s then left out on the street at a friends house for the three months I’m off work. I cannot walk or drive, I’m housebound from now on unless someone picks me up and gives me a lift somewhere. What a way to end 2009, surely 2010 can only get better?

[Ricardo]

2010 Everyday to Track day

You know who your friends are, in times of need it’s always nice to know they are there for you. With all the time off at the beginning of 2010 I have many friends in the club contact me with support, helping me clear the garage and move my belongings. They also rally round and organise a buffet curry meet near to where I’m staying to get me out of the house for the afternoon, I can’t thank everyone enough for making the time and the effort to travel over to Essex for the afternoon. April is the time I finally have the chance drive the Clio again, it’s been over four months since I last sat behind the wheel and I now make the most of my new found freedom.

Nothing happens to the Clio until mid way through 2010 but from June onwards it gains momentum rather quickly and this is the year where the Clio sees its biggest changes. I now decide that the Clio will go from an everyday run of the mill car to a stripped out track day look Clio.

[Ricardo]

June: Jobs Done
2nd June: Genuine Renault rear discs with wheel bearings pressed in with brake pads

I decide to sort the rear brakes out completely, after the Nurburgring incident and using after market brake pads on what looked like discs that haven’t been changed from new I decide to spend out on genuine parts. Main dealer prices were pretty pricey, while scouring E Bay I came across a Renault main dealer in Wolverhampton selling the complete rear brake set up for a far less price than my local Renault dealer. The kit consists of new rear discs with wheel bearings pressed in along with new brake pads. I order the brakes and they arrive in 2 days, my brother pops round and we have the new rear brakes on the Clio in an hour. I couldn’t see the point in fitting upgraded rear brakes, the standard items are more than up to the job out on the road and on track.

[Ricardo]

July: Jobs Done
27th July: Fitted the K Tec Racing ‘Stealth’ exhaust

I hear the standard exhaust starting to blow so I make another call to the local Renault dealer, after jacking the back of the Clio up I locate the problem to a crack in the pipe attached to the back box. The centre section also needs changing too and Renault gives me a price of £240 for both parts, I’ve already purchased new exhaust hangers from a website on E Bay which worked out more than half the price of the main dealer, sorted. Yet again while browsing the K Tec Racing website I notice they are selling a mild steel version of their ‘Stealth’ exhaust for the same price as Renault. I didn’t want an aftermarket exhaust with the tail pipes protruding the rear bumper so the Stealth seemed like an obvious choice as it tucks neatly behind the bumper. It’s a bigger bore than standard as well so a call to K Tec and I’ve ordered the exhaust.









It’s a fairly easy job to do and the old exhaust comes off surprisingly quick, I fit the new hangers and bolt the new exhaust in place within a couple of hours all while the car is on axle stands on the driveway. The problems I have later on are the original hangers; the rubbers are just not strong enough to take the heavier weight so they stretch almost to the point of snapping. So the car is back up again and I devise a new centre hanger doing away with the original. It’s a strap that’s bolted to the underside of the car and picks up the hanger on the centre section; I raise the exhaust with a car jack, drill a hole for the hanger then hook the hanger through the strap. The back box is raised into place with yet more rubber strap wedged into the original rear hanger. So far good, it’s been three months and the exhaust is still in place and intact, it gives a noticeable burble over the standard exhaust. I have an induction kit air filter, what I’ve noticed after fitting the exhaust is the induction noise at high revs has disappeared. I have to admit after having a standard exhaust for two years you get used to the silence of the car, a few weeks after the exhaust was fitted it has a distinct burble on idle and is fairly loud at high revs. It seems to have quietened down over the months, or is it just me used to it now.

[Ricardo]

August: Jobs Done
8th August: Decided to paint the OZ F1 wheels in VW Orange
12th August: K Tec Racing coilover suspension kit arrived
21st August: Fitted coilover suspension at Sukhi’s in Swindon

The OZ alloy wheels have been sitting around in boxes for a while now, I’m bored so I decide to spray them. I finally chose the colour after deciding whether it should be green or brown I choose orange. As the wheels are in primer already all I have to do is wet and dry flat them down then apply the layers of orange. I have to admit I’m really happy with the colour; they’ll most definitely stand out from all the other Clio’s so I can’t wait to sort out having the tyres swapped over from the Speedline wheels. One evening I’m browsing E Bay again for cheap Clio 172 parts and what do I come across in the auctions, only another Odyssey blue Clio 172 with orange wheels! I don’t like the idea another Clio has orange wheels especially on the same colour car, so after all that work spraying them I decide I won’t fit them on the Clio.







The Clio already has aftermarket suspension in the way of Koni dampers that are adjustable damping along with the lowering springs by Apex. For a while now I’ve being thinking of changing them to a coilover suspension set up. I browse the net and after speaking to a couple of people I decide to call K Tec and order their coilover kit, they are the basic kit with ride height adjustment only but I hear they are a good kit overall. They arrive and I must say they do look the part, I organise a trip to Swindon so Sukhi and me can fit the new kit.





Saturday we have the suspension fitted to the car in a few hours, the front suspension has adjustable camber so between us we guess what we think it slightly negative on camber. This is something I have to address fairly soon properly as I don’t want to wear the tyres out uneven. The Clio is now sitting 40mm lower than Sukhi’s standard 172, it’s not much lower than how it sat before on the Apex lowering springs but between my Clio and Sukhi’s you can see a big difference. The front end sits lower than the Apex setup, the rear is a slight improvement. Overall I’m really happy with how it rides and also how the car sits on ride height, that is until the rear bench seats are thrown out!





The Koni suspension is then sold on E bay for £250 and the Apex springs sell at a reasonable £76, between the two sales I’ve almost recouped the outlay for the K Tec coilover kit, result.

[Ricardo]

[Ricardo]

Clio, how it looks with the K Tec Racing coilovers fitted

[IANMM]

you bored or got the day off mate? lol

looks nice tho

[Ricardo]

September: Jobs Done
1st September: Fog-light air ducts purchased from Auto Performance
4th September: Fog-light ducts adapted to fit fog-light aperture
25th September: Fitted braided front and rear brake hoses, flushed out old and renewed brake fluid
25th September 2010: Ball-joint purchased and fitted, camber setup and toe out done at Code Red Motorsport
27th September: Purchased a pair of black Cobra Monaco S bucket seats with harnesses from E-Bay
28th September: Passenger seat removed from interior to mock up bucket seat sub-frame
29th September: Rear bench seat and other interior parts and plastics removed

[Ricardo]

[Ricardo]

[Ricardo]

[Ricardo]

Another busy month for the Clio, there’s a few things I’d like to do. I make myself busy working on the car, I enjoy doing it and also know at the back of my mind there’s a deadline that things need to be done by, the 9th of October. The Clio will make its return to the Nurburgring after two years away and I intend to have it fully prepared, there have been a couple of jobs that I really wanted doing so now is the time to have them done.

Through RTOC I make contact with a club member called Matt, he runs a website called Code Red Motorsport, after posting about camber setup Matt comments that he can work on the camber. I make a phone call to Matt and in the half hour chat we arrange a date the Clio can be worked on, I also ask if he can do other work on the Clio in the time it’s at the workshop to which he says it won’t be a problem. It’s booked in for Saturday 25th September to have braided hoses fitted front and rear, new brake fluid, camber and toe setting up.

Now that’s organised I look into ordering and fitting a pair of alloy air intake ducts, these will take the place of the fog lights in the front bumper and will allow air to reach the brakes to cool them down on track days. I remove the fog lights out of the plastic surrounds then offer up the ducts to work out how much to cut out, they’re a tight fit but just about squeeze into the surrounds. Once in place I use an adhesive we use a work called ‘Gripfill’ to hold them in place, 24 hours later the glue has dried rock hard and I fit the plastic surrounds back into the front bumper. I chose the black ducts to go with the plastic surrounds to give the Clio an under stated look, subtle changes to the car that should work.

The 25th has come round so it’s off to Kent to see Matt at Code Red, I’ve had the braided hoses for nearly to years now but don’t feel confident in doing this job myself so I’m having them fitted with new brake fluid. The other reason I’m here is to have the camber set up after fitting the coilover suspension, the camber guess work between Sukhi and I wasn’t that bad. Pre set up we had 2 degrees of negative on the passenger side and 1.5 degrees negative on the drivers side. Matt adjusted the drivers side so the Clio had 2 degrees both sides. Toe in was also checked as well and this read at -3mm, another tweak with the spanners and toe in was adjusted to 6mm toe out. The changes have made a big difference; I’m more than happy with the work done to the Clio. The hoses are all fitted without a problem and I come away from Code Red impressed so I have the Clio booked in again for the following week to have the oil and filter changed.

Throughout September I’m on the lookout for a pair of bucket seats, I’m pressing on with stripping out the rear seats but won’t do this until I’ve bought bucket seats. After scouring E Bay for weeks I come across a pair of black Cobra Monaco seats on there and they’re local to me. I go to have a look at them, the chap has a price in mind and I agree to buy them. A pair of seats, harnesses and sub frames for £200 and in pretty good condition. I’ve potentially saved a fair bit of money buying them. Now I have the seats I start to remove the interior, the passenger seat comes out too so I can mock up the sub frame.

[Ricardo]

October: Jobs Done
2nd October: Oil and filter change, new reverse switch fitted (mileage 99911m)
2nd October: Turns 100K
6th October: Bucket seat sub-frames from a Fiat Punto modified to fit the Clio by AM/PM fabricators
9th October 2010: Block brake air ducts to stop air entering front wheel arches at high speed
16th October: paint OZ wheel in metallic grey

I’m back at Matt’s place to have the oil and filter changed; the reverse switch is also changed for a new one as the reverse lights are permanently on.

There’s only a week until the trip to the Nurburgring and these bucket seats have to be in by then, the Clio is coming together just how I want it and the bucket seats in place will be a big job done. They come with sub frames from a Fiat Punto so my job is remove them from the seat and offer them up to where the Clio front seat was to see how they line up. The Fiat sub frames are narrower so I take them to a metal fabricator to ask them to modify them to fit in the Clio, we’re going to Germany on the Friday and I pick up the modified sub frames on the Wednesday. So after work Wednesday the seats go in. I have to drill the holes to hold the sub frame to the chassis of the Clio, once that’s done I drop the sub frame over the holes and put the bolts in to make sure it’s all lined up which it does. The sub frames are then bolted to the seats and then fitted in the Clio, all done after work and finished in the dark at nearly 10 o clock.







A little job to do on the brake ducts, it turns out that at speeds over 80mph the steering goes light caused by air entering the ducts and filling the wheel arches. The ducts are taped up to stop air flow, problem solved.





The OZ wheels have been away in boxes for over a year, in that time they’ve been primed painted orange and then back in boxes again. As I have nothing to do and a can of Ford Sea Grey metallic paint knocking about I decide to take a wheel out of the box and paint it to see what the colour will look like.

[Ricardo]

The trip to the Nurburgring 2010, how the Clio looks so far

[Ricardo]

This is where I am with the Clio at the moment, I’ve had it over two years now and there are still plenty of things I’ll be changing. I have a shopping list I’m working through and have ideas of where I’m going with the project. A rollcage is the next big purchase, interior wise I’m thinking of flocking the top part of the dash that’s in blue, all other elements of blue like the carpet and door cards will be changed too. But for now this is where the project is, I’ll keep updating the project thread whenever there are changes.

[James5]

Rich, looking very good very tastefuls mods done, I think it's about time youe worked on the engine maybe a nice turbo conversion or some itb's

[Ricardo]

Thanks James, yep agreed with the engine. That will be my focus of attention for 2011, once the cage and the interior is done I'll start looking into possibly going turbo cost dependant. For the time being I'll enjoy the Clio now that all the elements suspension and brake wise have been upgraded, I'm looking into booking a couple of UK trackdays to enjoy what I think is a Clio track ready (bar a cage and harnesses)

[wrightygtt]

Lovely colour that, nice work

[Penfold aka The Dealer]

Car has certainly come along way since my ownership.

Love the way you paint your wheels when you get bored.

[Big Steve - Raider]

Ricki to the D!

[Brigsy]

Pmt the winning team Turbo conversion would be a winner

[T.K]

Excellent write up and a car I would very much like to own.

[Ricardo]

November: Jobs Done

9th November: Purchase 2 new OZ F1 wheel centre caps
13th November: Won Renault 21 turbo air-box
15th November: Purchase cooker hood plenum
19th November: Air-box arrives

Ok, this month I’m concentrating on induction, oh and trying to get those damn OZ wheels finished off. They’re now becoming a right royal pain in the ass! I’ve had them over a year now, been in primer, orange, primer and now onto a metallic grey. I’ve painted one wheel and like the colour, so after scouring different branches of Halfords I’ve managed to accumulate enough cans to finish off the other three wheels. Now the days are drawing in earlier it’s becoming harder to do any proposed work on the Clio, either weekends or by halogen light in the evening but I’ll save that for jobs that really need to be done and can’t wait.







Where I live there’s a ‘store’ room that runs from the front of the house right through to the back attached on the right hand side of the house. Since I’ve been living there it’s looking like a parts place, the 172 interior is in the loft but what it also gives me is a place to work which is has plenty of light and in the dry. I decide to get the wheels out one evening and decide to primer and paint the wheels, I paint two centre caps to see how they turn out and also paint two wheels in the metallic grey. Bad news, its cold so the top layer condensates and ‘pickles’ leaving the paintwork crazed. The only consolation is I haven’t done all four so now I’m going to have to find a place that’s a room temperature at least to get them finished once and for all

[Ricardo]

Induction

Boredom sets in every now and again so I think about what I can do ‘PMT’ home brew style on the Clio, nothing wrong with being a little different, saving money but getting the same results. At the moment the Clio has an induction air filter attached to the end of the original hose that runs off the throttle body inlet. I’ve seen all these CDA, BMC carbon type air-box setups on various Clio’s; the phase one Clio 172 cup cars used an air-box from a Renault Espace V6. After browsing the internet I came across an air-box setup in a phase one Clio 16 valve (Group A) apparently, the air-box they use is from a Renault 21 turbo, what caught my eye was the main inlet was fairly big, 100mm to be exact. This looked interesting, so I headed to E bay, luckily enough there was one on there with a starting bid of £5, I had to wait a few days but was well worth it as I was the only bidder and won it for…. £5!

Phase 1 Clio 16V setup



Renault 21 Turbo airbox

[Ricardo]

Now I knew I won it I started working out how to run it in the Clio, pipe work from the throttle body to the first outlet on the air-box. Two things, the outlet size is exactly the same as the throttle body, the outlet on the air-box has a pipe connector which means I can run the ISVC? Pipe straight to it. My options are to either purchase a 90 degree silicon hose or flexible ducting. The next part is to run ducting from the 100mm outlet from the air-box to the front of the Clio to pick up fresh air. The whole reason for me doing this is to rid the air filter which sits in the engine bay sucking in heat; we’re in need of good old fresh air. So my options are to either run it to the fog-light on the passenger side, run it to the lower part of the front bumper or run it to the slats that are just below the passenger headlight. I’m open to ideas, the fog light is easiest, and I’ve already mocked up a system using a cooker hood plenum bought from Screwfix. This will work a treat as it also has a 100mm outlet to attach the ducting to it, the air coming into the ‘cooker plenum’ duct has more size in volume than a 100mm round pipe an this will sit directly behind the bumper cut outs in the bumper below the passenger headlight.

Cooker hood plenum from Screwfix



How it is at the moment



21 turbo box in position





This shows the cooker hood plenum in position, ducting will run from the 100mm airbox outlet from the left side of the picture dwn to the white 100mm outlet

[Adey aka Ewok]

get the battery shifted, youll have loadsa space then. looking good tho, not thought of taking the air from near the suttle area with the bonnet jacked slightly?

[Ricardo]

I'd like to keep the bonnet as it is Adey, yeah it's a tad tight with the battery where it is so a change in that department might happen but for now it seems to work. The box is nestled nicely in place in it's current setup. I can go both ways either running ducting to the foglight or run it to that white duct, it's only 6" from the box to the white duct

[Ricardo]

On close inspection I realise that the brass outlet protruding from the outlet on the air-box lid is much too small in diameter to take the pipe that runs to the ISCV on the Clio 172, this means I’ll have to find an alternative way.



My original idea was to run flexi ducting from the throttle body to the air-box doing away with the OE inlet pipe and using the brass outlet, not so. So at work we have the plumbers in, after speaking to them I have a push fit pipe insert that is coincidentally the same outer diameter as the internal diameter as the ISCV pipe. This would require me to drill a new hole in the air-box outlet pipe to accommodate this new fitting for the ISCV pipe to slide onto. So one evening in the ‘store’ room I do such a thing, a 16mm flat bit is used to drill a hole in the outlet pipe then between a Stanley knife and sand paper I ‘file’ the hole out to a very tight 17mm in diameter. The push fit pipe is indeed a push as it’s a damn tight fit! This is just what I’m looking for as I don’t want any air leaks, I could super glue the outer diameter of the white connector just to make sure but overall I’m happy with the new location.





The ducting also arrives courtesy of Autoperformance online, a company run through E bay selling many various parts. I’ve ordered 102mm diameter which will run from the big outlet on the air-box to the white plenum, 76mm will run from the throttle body to the top part of the air-box.

[Ricardo]

It's been a bit quiet over the Christmas holidays what with the 'adverse weather conditions' so today was the first chance to pop the bonnet and try out the R21 turbo airbox with the flexi pipe. The R21T box turns out to be the Espace V6 box, either way it has to be better than the air filter that was fitted.

So i remove the oe inlet pipe and filter then offer in the box, the cooker hood plenum is now defunct as there's not enough room behind the headlight to squeeze in the 100mm flexi pipe. I now decide to utilise one of the foglight ducts instead, they're both taped up to prevent air circulating the inner wheelarches which created lift at speeds of over 80mph. So, the 100mm flexi now runs from the foglight, up behind the headlight and direct to the airbox. Once the flexi is attached to the box i then cut the other, smaller flexi pipe which runs from the other end of the airbox to the throttle body. I also attach the ISCV pipe to the white outlet i drilled and fixed to the neck of the air filter lid. Hey presto, another job done

[Ricardo]

I've also ordered a HID kit with 4300K bulbs so i'm waiting for that to arrive. Next on the list is maybe have the inlets matched, there's talk of an RR day coming up so (taking with a pinch of salt) it might be interesting to see what it does with the K Tec stealth exhaust and the bigger airbox with the direct feed. I don't think i'd get the inlets matched and done in 3 weeks before the RR day.

[James5]

I've also ordered a HID kit with 4300K bulbs so i'm waiting for that to arrive. Next on the list is maybe have the inlets matched, there's talk of an RR day coming up so (taking with a pinch of salt) it might be interesting to see what it does with the K Tec stealth exhaust and the bigger airbox with the direct feed. I don't think i'd get the inlets matched and done in 3 weeks before the RR day.

Rich looking good matey loving following the project I do love a good write up

You won't go wrong with a Xenon kit either, I fitted one recently to my little GTT and it's so nice being able to see a night

[Ricardo]

You're not wrong with the 'Xenon' upgrade, i drove on a B road in pitch black the other day and couldn't see much of anything in front of me! 4300K is more an OE look, the next K rating of 6000 has a blue tinge to it.... Each to their own

I've been browsing the net on the subject of matched inlets, a good move, good gains.... Along with a sports exhaust, Decat and decent filtration it should be a different car to drive. In doing this though i'd then need to recalibrate the ECU

There's a company that matches the upper and lower inlet ports, recalibrates the ecu, raises the rev limit, in house..... £540 ??

[Brigsy]

Airbox setup looks reem

[Ricardo]

A couple more jobs done

Saturday 15th January

The HID kit arrives so i fit this after half a days work on the Saturday, it takes me about 30 mins by the time i've swapped the bulbs over and fit the ballast kits and tucked them away out of view. IMO look so much better than the original 'yellow' look. The kit cost me £64 delivered





Monday 17th January

Rained off at work so i take a trip to the local breakers after seeing an interesting dashtop in a 1.2 Clio, it kills 2 birds at 1 time for me. 1 it's a dark grey which matches the black buckets, i'm slowly losing all traces of blue interior. 2 i lose the dash airbag as it's no longer needed due to the ECu being activated already.

So after sitting in the Clio that's perched on top of a Laguna i remove the low spec dashtop.

1.2 and 172 dashtops




The dashtop is easy to remove, 2 torx each end, 3 on top and 2 behind the steering column under the dash clocks, i also take the shroud off the 1.2 a sit's the same colour.

Note the dash airbag still in place


Airbag removed


Dash airbag is held in by 5 torx, after a call to Matt from Code red i also disconnect the airbag connector

So, 1.2 dashtop slots in place and torx screwed back in places, just to note the A pillar plastics had to come off to let the dashtop come out.

[Ricardo]

I also purchased a 2nd hand decat pipe this week as well, so the only thing left that will be done on the breathing side are the upper and lower inlets. Once again Matt from Code red will work his stuff on a set as soon as i've found an 'RS' lower inlet. So thats the V6 airbox with 100mm diameter ram air, matched inlets, decat and sports exhaust. I'm also thinking of working on the throttle body iself.

[HAndy]

very nice

[Adey aka Ewok]

Why you waiting for an Rs lower? They can still be taken out you just have less material to take out than a normal 172 lower? Got a complete upper and lower you can have if you cover postage

[Ricardo]

Why you waiting for an Rs lower? They can still be taken out you just have less material to take out than a normal 172 lower? Got a complete upper and lower you can have if you cover postage

Cool, I ca PayPal you the postage fee just let me know how much