Glacier White 200 Cup

[Addison]

The sun was out today so I gave the Clio a wash 'n wax. I purchased some Gtechniq C4 months ago and had been waiting for some good weather to apply it. The instructions suggest you need at least 12 hours of dry weather after applying it for it to cure properly.

The plastics on my Cup were a little faded. The door strips had developed a stripe effect on them which varied between grey and charcoal. The door handles were a shade of charcoal and the wing mirrors were definately not black.

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I opened up the box of C4 to discover a tiny bottle inside with some applicator pads.

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After applying the C4 the plastics on the Clio did look a lot better - in fact they looked blacker than I have ever seen them.

View attachment 144305

The wing mirrors are also looking good.

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The real test will be to see if the trim stays black over the next few weeks. I have used other trim restorers in the past that have not really worked - they look good when they go on but after a few weeks and a couple of rain showers they start to fade and leave streaks on the car.

I then used most of the remaining C4 on @EthanMenace Clio Trophy to brighten up his faded plastics.

As the weather was still good after the wash 'n wax I went out for a quick blast with @EthanMenace to the local reservoir to take a few photos of the clean Clio - it was in good company.

View attachment 144307

Both look great, the trophy is a gorgeous car I'd love to own one before they skyrocket in value.

Keen to know how the C4 gets on though so please keep us updated. I've wanted something for some of my plastics so if it holds I'll grab some myself.

 

[burrellbloke]

Keen to know how the C4 gets on though so please keep us updated. I've wanted something for some of my plastics so if it holds I'll grab some myself.

I will let you know in a few weeks time. C4 is expensive for the quantity you get in a bottle. Let's hope this is a quality over quantity matter.

 

[burrellbloke]

The rear geometry of the Clio has now been sorted out with a 30 minute shim from Pure Motorsport.



Today @EthanMenace and I took off the rear right wheel, took off the 36mm hub nut with a hefty impact socket.



Once the rear disk was removed the ABS ring looked like it had seen better times.



The ABS ring was given a quick clean up with a wire brush. The stub axle came off.



After following the excellent fitting instructions from Pure Motorport the faces of the rear stub axle and rear axle were cleaned up with a wire brush before the shim was put in place.



Everything was torqued up.

Now the rear wheels both have 2 degrees of negative camber on both the drivers side and passenger side of the car.

We then attempted to do the rear beam bushes.



Plan A had been to undo the bolts holding the rear beam bush, which pivots with a bracket onto the chassis, to see if the rear beam could flex enough to pull down by 50 to 60mm to get the bush out. Plan B had been to undo the brackets either side of the rear beam that hold it on to the chassis and lower it to get access to the rear beam bushes. After looking it became clear that the first plan would not work as the petrol tank was in the way to get out the bush bolt from one side. We tried to remove the brake line bracket, that is attached to one of the brackets which holds the rear beam on to the car on the passenger side, but the torx bolt would not undo to release the brake line bracket.



At this point @EthanMenace and I decided that we did not want to damage the brake line bracket and would leave the rear beam bushes for another day. There was not enough flexibility to undo the brackets connecting the rear beam to the chassis as the brake lines were still attached.

 

[burrellbloke]

I ordered some coilover socks on the recommendation @PITA from an eBay seller.

They arrived today. The eBay seller is very efficient and was sending me messages to keep me updated that he had received the order, made the order and dispatched the order, so he comes highly recommended. They were ordered on Saturday and arrived today.



I bought a set that are described as Bilstein blue. I will try and get them on the Clio at the weekend.

 

[PITA]

I ordered some coilover socks on the recommendation @PITA from an eBay seller.

They arrived today. The eBay seller is very efficient and was sending me messages to keep me updated that he had received the order, made the order and dispatched the order, so he comes highly recommended. They were ordered on Saturday and arrived today.

View attachment 144427

I bought a set that are described as Bilstein blue. I will try and get them on the Clio at the weekend.

Good stuff! I took a peek under mine the other day and they look new (apart from the rust inhibitor lol). I’ve seen pics of not very old Gazs with rust all over them

 

[burrellbloke]

Happy 11th birthday Clio.

 

[burrellbloke]

I applied some Gtechniq C4 trim restorer two weeks on the Clio to deal with faded black plastics. In the past I have used trim restorers which have looked fine when they were applied, but after a few weeks they would fade and leave dark streaks on the paintwork.



The instructions for the C4 say that you need to apply the C4, buff it off after a short period of time, then leave it to cure for about 12 hours of so. After I applied the C4 I was expecting the weather to remain warm and dry. That evening the weather was damp. Despite the weather not being the best the C4 has not faded.



It has been raining over the past 2 weeks, we have had frost and fog, the car has been washed this weekend, the C4 has not left any streaks.

@Addison

 

[Addison]

Wow they've stayed much darker than I'd of expected. Looks just as good as a brand new trim. Looks like I'll be investing in some, thank you!

 

[Onrus]

Does the c4 work on the rubber window trim?

 

[burrellbloke]

Does the c4 work on the rubber window trim?

Not really. I did try it on the rubber window seal that runs horizontal at the bottom of the drivers side and passengers side windows. When you buff off the C4 you can instantly see that the C4 has not "taken". The rubber might be very slightly darker but not noticeably like the plastic trim.

 

[Onrus]

Thanks bru.

 

[LiamP]

@burrellbloke, really enjoyed following this thread, just got a matching cup so this has given me a few ideas

Regarding the exhaust do you know how many db it was on your track day / do you think it’s worth the extra in price?

 

[burrellbloke]

@burrellbloke, really enjoyed following this thread, just got a matching cup so this has given me a few ideas

Regarding the exhaust do you know how many db it was on your track day / do you think it’s worth the extra in price?

The Akrapovic is certainly a luxury. I did a very unscientific test with the noise app on my Apple Watch. The OEM exhaust on my Clio measured 69db when idling after starting.



After the Akrapovic had been installed I measured it again and it came out as 82db when idling after starting up.



Lydden Hill had a static noise limit of 100db which the car passed without a problem. I don‘t think that a standard manifold and an Akrapovic is likely to cause any noise issues on a track day.

The Clio has a remap to get the best power out of the car and not a pops and bangs map. The car has a nice gurgle and pop in gear changes when it has warmed up. It is not too noisy and does not drone on longer journeys.

Is it worth the money? I think that answering that question depends on whether you mean is it worth the price compared to other exhausts? To be honest I don’t know, but I do not regret spending the money on the Akrapovic.

 

[burrellbloke]

I have booked the Clio in to Ren-O-Tec in Chelmsford, Essex to have the rear beam bushes replaced. I gave up on installing new Powerflex bushes to replace the OEM bushes recently and decided it would just be easier to pay someone else to sort the bushes out.

Has anyone used Ren-O-Tec before?

 

[Joec1996]

I’ve taken my car too ren-o-tec mate they’re very helpful but they were charging me only a little less than what a main dealer would they did what I asked them too do check the cambelt and water pump and gave me peace of mind and they were really friendly. With this lockdown there’s no where too wait either due too the rules and it’s on an industrial estate so it’s not near the Chelmsford town, long walk mate

 

[LiamP]

Thanks for that, really helpful

 

[burrellbloke]

I’ve taken my car too ren-o-tec mate they’re very helpful but they were charging me only a little less than what a main dealer would they did what I asked them too do check the cambelt and water pump and gave me peace of mind and they were really friendly. With this lockdown there’s no where too wait either due too the rules and it’s on an industrial estate so it’s not near the Chelmsford town, long walk mate

Thanks.

I am going to drop the car off the day before they are going to work on it, and pick it up the following day.

It is good to hear you describe them as helpful.

 

[Big Ben]

I have booked the Clio in to Ren-O-Tec in Chelmsford, Essex to have the rear beam bushes replaced. I gave up on installing new Powerflex bushes to replace the OEM bushes recently and decided it would just be easier to pay someone else to sort the bushes out.

Has anyone used Ren-O-Tec before?

Alex at AWMotorworks is near Braintree. He does everything for me well worth visiting

 

[burrellbloke]

Alex at AWMotorworks is near Braintree. He does everything for me well worth visiting

Thanks for the tip. I am about 15 to 20 minutes from Chelmsford and about 45 minutes from Braintree.

 

[Joec1996]

Yes mate They’re really helpful and the mechanic who was checking over my car took the car out too and they gave me a copy of paperwork with advisories and for price breakdown etc like a main dealer would the only reason I stopped going there is I live more Frinton-On-Sea area and the day I went it was a long wait especially with all this covid stuff so I just started going main dealer in Colchester as I didn’t know where else there was a Renault specialist.