Nicole ? Papa ! - Clio 197 F1

Hi all,

About time i posted a thread about my new purchase!

Prologue

At the tender age of 17 my Dad purchased a Nimbus grey R27, bloody lovely car! With the Recaro seats and the cup pack it was a little pocket rocket and was a car 17 year old me could only dream of.

Some years later...

The ratty MX5 i owned suddenly became a liability, eating through alternators regularly, rusting everywhere and the final straw where it left me broken down after 5 laps of Oulton Park.

I had my fun in the MX5 game and decided it was time to move on, they really are great little cars but i was ready for a change.

So whats next?

The list of replacements was varied and odd, ranging from E46 M3, to TVR to Fiat Panda 100hp. All i wanted was a car that had that special something, it needed to be a little bit mad and not bankrupt me.

The list was finalized to a Clio 197 and a Megane R26.

After talking to a few people, including dad it was decided a 197 would be the next best step leaving the door open to upgrade to the R26 a few years down the line.

The search was on

My only requirements for the Clio was it had to have the Cup chassis and the Recaro seats. After searching through a whole heap of cars and a number of viewings i couldn't find a decent car.

Most had hugely inflated prices or were in a shocking condition.

There was one car however on eBay, a blue F1. It had a few niggly issues and was a high miler but...

Cup pack? Check

Recaros? Check

Good history? Check

Price? Bang on budget

Whats the catch? Its over 3 hours away

After speaking with the owner via this forum i had a decision to make.

Do i let it slip through my fingers?

Do i have a mad dash down their as soon as i can and buy it?

You know where this goes!

Dad? I've bought car, fancy a trip to Gloucester?

So off we went. Viewed the car and all seemed well, a test drove revealed the car was a good runner. Need i say more? It was bought there and then and i drove it back to mum and dad's house.

Obligatory picture of car on driveway:

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Look at those seats!!!!!!

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Now to shift that rotbox Mx5

After dealing with a few idiots and hilarious low ball offers a chap and his son came and bought the car for a decent price with no hassle. Off it went to be pressed straight back into track duties. The Mrs was more sad to see it go than me!

Obligatory picture of car being driven away:

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It's clio time!

Now i had shifted the MX5 it was time to collect the Clio from my parents house.

Beep beep beep

Turns out when a clio has 0 fuel it's turns into an 80s alarm clock. £60 of Tesco 99 momentum sorted that right out.

Quick nighttime blast?

A friend popped over so we nipped out to see what the clio could do on some twisty roads. Turns out it's brilliant, but as it was dark we couldn't go too mad.

Working nine to fiiiiiive

Morning came and I don't think I have ever been this excited to drive to the office, was pretty short lived when I realized it was raining and had been all night.

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Home time!!

After struggling to concentrate all day due to the new car I rushed out the door at 5 ready for a blast home.

What can I say?

Car is fantastic, short ratio box doesn't work at all on a dc or m way. But get it on a country road and it's always in the power band, which is handy when you have to overtake 3 lorries and various tractors.

On a twisty bit of road I found it very composed and hugely grippy. Chassis is nice and taught on the open road but a little crashy in town.

Car's now back home and parked in its spot.

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Fancy going for a drive?

Mrs called up saying she was on her way home, she suggested I took her out for a spin! You don't have to ask me twice :laugh: . We live a stones throw from Saddleworth moor so a quick hoon to the top and back was all that was needed.

Car really is fantastic, I know this road well and it holds up so much better than my MX5. Suspension really flows out here and it's handling is pin sharp. One thing I am finding though, the chassis is so composed I find myself driving a lot faster than I could in the MX5 which means making progress really does require the road to yourself!

Unfortunately for us an old boy spun his MX5 backwards into a fence just as we hit the good part of the road. So a gentle jaunt to the top for a few pics then we came home.

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Car was then booked into to have the tracking done as it had a slight pull to the left. This has now been cured and the steering feels much better.

Spare center caps also turned up making the car look right again.

Nice pouch

The clio doesn't really have it key, it has one of these daft cards. I'm dabbling with leather craft at the minute so made up a little pouch for the key rather than a key ring. I'm really pleased with it!

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So what are you doing about this silver?

The mrs, much like me is a stickler for detail. We both hated the silver trim and centre console that adorns the dash. It was not only looking cheap it was also quite worn.

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Deeply dippy

I'd been wanting to try plastidip for a while now, it's a spray on substance that coats anything in a rubbery plastic like layer. I thought the matte black version of this would tone down the interior and maybe give it a nicer feel.

After turning the bath into my spray booth I was ready to paint...

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After using probably 5 coats on everything I had a nice texture that should hopefully wear quite well. I'm really pleased with this and for £14 and a few hours I'd certainly recommend it.

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What's next? I should have a small fortunes worth of service parts arriving this week, will service the car myself next weekend then set about using the car some more, there's a potential trackday on the horizon too!
 
Welcome along, great write up so far.

I love the dash paint, I did the same to mine as it too was looking blotchy and really cheapened the interior.

Keep the updates coming


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AWESOME start to a progress thread. Really well put together. You've made an effort there mate.

GREAT car. Full sticker pack is a win in my eyes.

Glad you're enjoying it. Looking forward to more.
 
Wow, great pics, great car, and great progress so far... keep posting. The read was entertaining! Gordini wheels?

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Just out of interest did you add the gordini wheels or were they on when you bought them - look quite good I think.
 
liking your idea of plasti dip but wondering how the rubbery texture will hold up?

It will hold up very well if you do enough coats, the more the better. I've used it on my external grilles, diamonds and will be doing my diffuser next. I also did my mates bullets and badges for his 172, with loads left.
 
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Just out of interest did you add the gordini wheels or were they on when you bought them - look quite good I think.

Previous owner had them fitted, i wasnt a fan at first but the blue of the car and the wheels does make it stand out which is quite nice!

Thanks for the positive comments. Will try and keep the updates coming!
 
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It will hold up very well if you do enough coats, the more the better. I've used it on my external grilles, diamonds and will be doing my diffuser next. I also did my mates bullets and badges for his 172, with loads left.
Plastic primer and satin black for a diffuser... haven't seen a single matte black diffuser that looked good (imo) on a 197...

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Previous owner had them fitted, i wasnt a fan at first but the blue of the car and the wheels does make it stand out which is quite nice!

Thanks for the positive comments. Will try and keep the updates coming!
Why do I think the Gordini wheels are black on the inside... ? Car looks in top shape nonetheless

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Welcome to the club & to your new car. A great introduction to both yourself and the car. You certainly live in an area with some good driving roads. I'm in a minority on here in being a real fan of the Gordini wheels & they certainly suit your car. Hope you enjoy many happy miles of ownership.
 
Cracking progress thread mate!! 10/10 for effort!

Love that pouch! Careful though you will have a group buy being set up for you next :wink:
 
as above..very well put together..nice start to your thread..car looks great too..
get it tracked..you will love it..
look forward to your next step..
 
Fabulous car and a 'proper' way to start a build thread !

The only pressure now being you've set the bar quite high for yourself :smile:

Continue enjoying hugely....
 
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Time for a Friday bump!

Goodiessssssssss!!!

After getting home from a works trip to Belfast i had a few packages turn up, i now have most of the stuff needed to give the car a little service and TLC. OEM Oil and Filter, some Platinum plugs, cabin filter and some Powerflex mounts (Upper torque arm and lower engine mount). Will also change the air filter when i decide which one i want.

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Cold and grumpy

Seeing as how we have had our 3 days of summer up here in the north its been a lot cooler in the morning, this is resulting in some epic learner driver style kangaroo driving when the car warms up. I suspect its the Map sensor, there's a ghetto fix i know of so I'll give this a try and see if that sorts out this flat spot I have.
 
a regular service is the way forward with any car so thumbs up..
give the map sensor fix a go..it does help..some people report a full cure some temporary..
 
Small update from the fun packed weekend i had...

God i forgot how good this car was

On Saturday morning i had chance to drive the Clio properly, the last few weeks its been filling in as a station car for the Mrs and has been used for general pottering around, in other words it needed a good thrash.

Out on some of my favorite roads i had chance to really open it up, i forgot just how good the car is. It loves to rev and the chassis has a really nice flow to it when your pushing on, it's got real character in the way it drives and that really does matter.

Time to break out the spanners

So it was now time for some light servicing and general titivating.

First job was to drain the oil, easy enough. Luckily I had done my research before hand and had the 8mm square socket for the drain plug. Oil was drained without a hitch and i then moved onto the oil filter and that's where it went all wrong.

Geoff Capes with a 12 foot long wrench

That is how i presume the oil filter was last attached, when you reach up to unscrew a filter and it doesn't come off with your hand its usually a bad sign.

Not to worry, i'll try the old screw driver trick, so hammered a screw driver through, Would it turn? No

Chisel? No

Oil filter wrench? No

Right F this where is the crow bar?

After a couple of hours of hammering and general b*stardization me and dad managed to get it off.

The resulting mess:

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New filter was screwed on hand tight and car was then filled back up with oil.

This disaster kind of set the tone for the rest of the day.

I don't really care anymore

The the next bits i had to do were to fit a few powerflex engine mount inserts. Or as they shall be known the evil yellow lumps of doom. I had popped out the lower engine mount dogbone and put the inserts in easy enough. Coated them in copper grease hoping they would slip in, not a chance! It looks like the gap is real tight with these fitted so i'm going to need to lever it in. However the chassis brace bolts are seized meaning i cant really lever it in... Popped the powerflex inserts out and put the dogbone back in. I will revist those seized bolts with fire and my breaker bar.

So how about the upper torque arm insert? No that's not going in today that sodding metal collar wont come off right i'm done with this!

Dont you need to do the spark plugs/ Arghhhhhhhhh rage.gif Yes i do, luckily this only took 10 minutes...

Aaaaaand relax

Car was put back together and i'm pleased to say it all works! Seems to drive a little better and the "fix" for the map sensor has lessened the flat spot but not eradicated it.

A very frustrating weekend, but you learn from these things i suppose! I'll have another crack at these parts at some point but for now the car at least has had a service.
 

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