Restoring Clio Cup 200 Finally!

[Simon2189]

Recently joined this forum and seems a great place. I though I would post my project for people to see. I’ve owned my Clio Cup 200 for 5 years and due to ill health it has been neglected and I’m on a mission to bring it back to life, and I’ve used the lockdown as a great opportunity to get to work as I’ve been shielding so I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands.

This is the car before any work was done.




On the list to do :
Wheels Refurbished
Cup Spoiler re-painted
New Car Mats
Cambelt
Auxiliary Belt
Big Service
Ktec Induction Kit
Ktec Backbox Exhaust
Full Paint Correction
Full Detail Inside (seatbelts, headlining etc...)
Steering Wheel Refurbished
New Number Plate
Stage 1 Remap
Upgrade tyres
New Discs and Pads

First job was to fit new discs and pads all the away around and to get wheels refurbished and spoiler re-painted. I sent the car to a local company which sorted the wheels out and did the spoiler at the same time. This is the wheels before and after.



Really happ with the result and next job was to tackle the interior .........

 

[Simon2189]

Next Job Sort the Inside out and Get the New Mats in.

I filled a bucket up with washing powder and boiling hot water and soaked as much of the seatbelts as possible.


Once the seatbelts had been soaking for a good two hours I scrubbed with a soft bristle brush and Vanish Foam action until all the stains were gone and finished drying the with a hairdryer so no moisture stayed in them. I had quick look online and was told this was the best option and do not use bleach as it will weaken the seatbelt.

I was really happy with the results as they look completely different and I didn’t realise how dirty they were until finished the process.




Gave the inside of the car a good clean using Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner and did a great job and used lots of microfibres and a detailing and brush and finished with Auto Glym Rubber and Vinyl care. I find this product gives a nice finish without leaving a greasy wet look finish.

New car mats in and looks loads better.




Next job was to do a full paint correction and get her looking like new.

 

[Simon2189]

Full Paint Correction

The next job was to sort the bodywork out. As she hadn’t been showed much love recently she needed a bit done to get her to her best. I started off by giving her a pressure wash to remove and lose debris then applied Bilt Hamber Snow foam and allowed that to do its magic then just gave her good clean applying some iron remove fallout after once cleaned and it’s amazing how purple the car went.

I then followed that process by using Dodo Juice yellow clay bar with there lube. I’m not a massive one for using a designated lube and think you can do this just as well with car shampoo but had a bottle hanging about. Once all the bodywork was clayed i continued with the windows to remove a build up of gunk under windscreen wipers.

I started off by using the bonnet as a test panel and used a few combinations to see which was the best combination, some of the products I used were:

Poor boy’s SSr1
Poor boy’s SSr2
Poor boy’s SSr2.5 ( I think this compound is great )
Chemical Guys Hex Logic Green Pad
Chemical Guys Hex Logic Orange Pad
Chemical Guys Hex Logic Yellow Pad
Meguiars d300 Compound
Meguiars Finishing Wax
Meguiars Cutting da Microfibre Pad
Meguiars Finishing da Microfibre Pad



I decided to give the Meguiars range ago as the test panel came up good and I bought the products a few months ago for a 3inch backing plate. I knew doing a whole car with just a 3inch pad will take a while but wanted to make sure I did a good job and I started at 6am so gave myself a good day to complete it in. The d300 compound is a very easy compound to use and there’s no dusting and you don’t have to worry about over working the product and it is a breeze to wipe off after. There was a few areas of the car i used some other compounds on to get rid of heavier scratches and swirl marks but after the compound stage there wasn’t to much hazing so was really happy. I finished off the polishing process with Meguiars finishing wax, using Angel Wax Panel Wipe inbetween steps.

I always find choosing a wax, sealant or ceramic coating tricky as there is so many products on the market but as I was really happy with the finish i had heard great things about Turtle Wax Hydrophobic Sealant as a great product ( so many people may be thinking turtle wax? REALLY, It is honestly a great product and will last about 2 months if applied correctly and is extremely cheap) and it can be applied to plastics and rubber without worry. I am extremely happy with the final outcome after giving the windows a good polish aswell.




Always need to finish with the water test ha.



Finished off with the new number plates from Demon Plates and makes the car look so much cleaner.





She’s getting there slowly next job was a few little bits to finish the exterior.

 

[Simon2189]

DAY OF TINKERING

As the weather was lovely today I just thought I would do you few little bits.

I started off by giving the black plastic trim a freshen up. I find Forever Black is the best product to give plastic bits a new lease of life and once happy I will just use Auto Glym Bumper Care as I find this is a good product for maintaining look ( you always need to make sure you give the Auto Glym product a good shake as it splits).



As this product is very strong i made sure i masked off the area I was sorting out. I applied two coats allowing a good drying time in between coats.


I was extremely happy with the outcome.

I also fitted the wind deflectors. I had some on previously for 3 years but I lost them driving down a motorway so I made sure I put the clips in this time ha. Here is a picture of the newly treated trim and the wind deflectors installed ( that big box on the passenger seat is my exhaust, induction kit and cambelt kit which I am having fitted in Birchdown Renault Specialist Garage near Wrexham on Tuesday). That garage is a cracking place as I always used to take my inferno 182 ff there for everything.



I also gave the headlights and rear lights a freshen up with Meguiars Clear Plastic Polisher.


I am trying to get the exterior of the car looking as stand as possible just in amazing condition as I don’t want it to look tacky so I removed the blacked out Renault badge on the bonnet to factory.




Only a few more cosmetic things to do on this first list until the big work is done on Tuesday.

 

[N0ddie]

My 200 has those black badge covers on also from the previous owner. They are faded and stained so they've gotta go. How easy did you find it to remove? Hairdryer and patience?

 

[Simon2189]

My 200 has those black badge covers on also from the previous owner. They are faded and stained so they've gotta go. How easy did you find it to remove? Hairdryer and patience?

Hi mate yea I would deffo get rid. I thought mine was a sticker as well but it wasn’t it was a cover I’ve took some pics to show you it.




Once I removed the whole badge which literally pulled out as it just clips in, just unclipped it to show you.



Once I took the cover off it I just soaked the badge in boiling water and nail varnish remover for two minutes and the sticky residue form the sticky pads came straight off. If yours is not a cover I would just take the whole badge off as much easier to work on (either way I would remove to sort out)Hope this helps.

 

[Big Ben]

Great effort. Paintwork looks stunning

 

[Simon2189]

Great effort. Paintwork looks stunning

Cheers mate

 

[Simon2189]

Major Progress

The car was booked in yesterday at Birchdown (Renault Specialist) in malpas for new timing and auxiliary belt, dephaser pulley, water pump, service including new spark plugs, fit Ktec induction kit and Ktec exhaust.

All work carried out with no issues they did find that I need new rear coil spring, and theres play in steering rack on near side so I have got it re booked in for the 24th August to have work carried out. About a month ago I had new discs and pads all the way around and the ABS light was coming on shortly after and traction kicking in and diagnosed it as needing new ABS magnetic ring so he just did quick fix till gets fitted.

First Impressions

My belts had long been overdue but due to the Covid virus i have got away with not driving it at all in the last move so was relief was all sorted and had confidence in giving it some on the way back. When I first pulled off I was thinking this induction kit and exhaust were extremely loud and was panicking abit.

Previously I have had decats and and race manifolds on cars but I didn’t want to go down that route this time as I do some motorway driving to commute and would find it to loud.

Once the car had warmed up and had been driving for 10 minutes it settled in and was just what I wanted. You can have the experience you want and can also do long journeys without wanting to max out the radio. I’m also booking myself In for four new tyres on Friday as I need two at front and the rear are crappy budgets so might as well get them done in one hit. I think I am leaning towards the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 over the Pilot Sports 4 as I can get the Goodyear’s at a much more reasonable prise and think people just say PS4s are great as that what everybody says. As these are both great performance tyres I don’t think you will be able to tell much difference but will keep you posted on what I go for.

I will get my GoPro out and film some videos of Exhaust and Induction Kit combo so you can let me know your thoughts guy.

Pictures of tyres and videos will follow shortly.

 

[Simon2189]

BUTTER WAX

I was all set for going down some country lanes with GoPro mounted to the back of my car for some videos of new work that has been done but couldn’t find my GoPro mount so ordered a new one and will film this week.

As I’m still off due to Covid and there’s only so many times you can clean your house and take dog for walk, so I thought i would do something with the car. Over the last few months my car has had a full detail, paint correction and have done many maintenance washes. I had applied Turtle Wax Sealant (Hydrophobic Wax) as the main source of protection as it is a great product with great durability. I was wanting extra gloss though but didn’t want to strip all the turtle wax off by using Angel Wax Panel Wipe and re-apply a different protection/wax.


i decided to give the car a wash using a ph neutral shampoo and applied a product called Chemical Guys Butter Wax. This product is a great topper just to throw over the top to apply extra gloss and it is the easiest product ever to apply and can do the whole car in 10 minutes and requires no curing time. Here is a few pictures of final result, I was extremely happy with end result.




I’m thinking about removing rear seats and just putting a simple rear carpet down and strut bar as I live on my own with my dog so don’t really need the seats ha and I can always add them back if needed, I’m just a bit worried that exhaust may sound a little to loud.

As I’ve got a lot of free time at the moment if anybody wants a bit of help about detailing I would be more than happy to help, I’m no expert at all but like to think I know the score when it comes to paint correction and detailing cars.