Zen and the Art of Clio Maintenance

[19Zen]

Hello fellow Clio enthusiasts

I’ve been driving my 197 for over 7 years now, have browsed the forum sporadically but never signed up to make a dedicated thread, as they say - better late than never!

A brief history of my car – only one previous owner who partxed after a few thousand miles, so have been driving from nearly new. It fortunately hasn’t had any faults (touch wood) apart from the rear windscreen dropping. All parts replaced have been wear & tear - brakes all round, drive belt/tensioner, hub carrier ball joint, engine mounts, link arms, thermostat and cam sensor seals. I’m currently on a 3rd set of tyres, from Continentals to Goodyear F1s and now Michelin PS4.

I love this car and can’t see myself ever selling, so thought I’d join in and make a thread. I don’t have many plans as looking to keep the engine and chassis original, for country roads I think it’s close to perfect, unlike the UK’s road surfaces! The only modifications added so far is a decent stereo/speakers and a lowered Recaro driver’s seat. I’m aiming to just keep her up to spec and add a few personal touches along the way. I’ll try to keep this thread updated with any mods, maintenance and of course some beauty shots.

Here's one to start with taken earlier today...

 

[wootwoot]

I am in the same boat as you. Want to add little touches but keep it pretty much standard IAS I find it really good for the roads I drive

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[19Zen]

I am in the same boat as you. Want to add little touches but keep it pretty much standard IAS I find it really good for the roads I drive

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

I imagine on track that some more straight line speed would be welcome, on roads though there's plenty of power and grip to have fun with. The lack of straight line speed also discourages getting involved in any silly road racing!

 

[19Zen]

I gave my car an oil change earlier in the week and noticed the o/s/f spring was broken. When up in the air you could see the springs weren’t sitting at the same height (pictured) and on the floor there was almost no difference.

The car had been driving fine and only noticed an o/s knock when coming off of speed bumps, which is now gone. As the car is over 10 years old I was planning on refreshing the suspension this spring time so was due and a good job done.

As always after some work the car feels great - a bit stiffer, much better damping over speed bumps and feels tighter on weight transfer coming out of corners.

I don’t think I’ll be doing much else until spring time and have a few plans...

 

[Doogle]

New suspension is like night and day on these, I love how smooth mine is now after replacing loads of bits. Looks tidy! One thing I did which added a bit more pep was change to 200 Cup wheels, they are 1kg lighter per wheel than any of the other OEM wheels and although not massive adds a little to help get it going/turning as its unsprung weight.

 

[19Zen]

The last few times under the car I noticed rust eating away at the edges of the radiator subframe which I've been waiting for some warm weather to treat...



After removing the subframe (4 bolts) I manually sanded the rust away then treated with a rust convertor, followed by epoxy mastic. I then sprayed anti-corrosion wax into the cavities and around the threads for the undertray bolts for good measure.



I've also spotted a couple of minor oil leaks - one which I think is the rear main oil seal and the other appears to be the sump gasket around the rear of the sump. As they're minor leaks at the bottom of the engine/causing minimal mess I'll change the sump gasket around the same time next year and the rear main oil seal whenever the clutch needs changing.

 

[19Zen]

I’ve been working on the car a fair amount the last few months… I recently had to replace the tailgate and bumper, then also swapped to a 200 diffuser at the same time as it came with the bumper! After a few years the new rear end is refreshing, I think the 197 face and 200 booty is the best of both worlds. I was fortunate to find an Albi 200 being broken, although was sad to see it being sold for parts when a gearbox rebuild would’ve saved it. At least it lives on vicariously, keeping a few of ours going…





The ideal of keeping the car standard has somewhat gone out the window... after removing the passenger seat and full size spare to fit in the parts I had a taste of weight saving and have now fitted a set of lightweight wheels. I also fitted an ITG air filter which made a very noticeable difference, as did the wheels.



I still have a few other plans in store… stay tuned

 

[19Zen]

It was all wind and rain outside today so stayed in and changed the LEDs in the speedo, centre display and the start/stop button.

The pictures came out much brighter than they look in person. The stop/start button looks good in red and the speedo looks great fully dimmed, as the blue becomes very solid/dark and the centre screens aren’t so bright.

 

[19Zen]

After waiting years for a passenger side seat I recently came across a pair of FF Recaros to complete the set...


I also had the steering wheel retrimmed as the pleather had been flaking off for a while. I went for a blue 12 o'clock stripe and stitching for the poor man's Alpine A110 look.





Then removed the rear seats to save a bit of weight...



Last but not least, I fitted an Akrpaovic exhaust system today and the car drives so much better, both in traffic and when you put your foot down. The difference in torque ~4k rpm was a surprise! I like that it's not too loud but provides a beefier sound from the stock system and gives some nice noises on gear changes.




I had a good check around while up in the air and found some play in the o/s/r wheel which I think is the bearing in the brake disc, the pads are at 85-90% so will change the rear brakes soon. I also noticed the wire mesh of the n/s flexi on the exhaust manifold is on it's last legs so will have to start looking at manifold options.

The car is where I'd like it now really, I can't see myself going down the route of cams or a meg conversion, having read the forums there's not much else that can be done to improve it from here apart from a set of coilovers. After 8+ years of driving I'm still nowehere near bored of this car and love it more than ever.

 

[turkie172]

I have to say the Akraprovic even just the back box slip-on is a good upgrade and helps under 4K revs I guess since the car is so weak in that area it is definitely a better feeling even if the figures might not show it that well.

 

[Bomster]

Great thread! Which lowering mount did you use for the driver's side Recaro, and would you recommend?

 

[19Zen]

I have to say the Akraprovic even just the back box slip-on is a good upgrade and helps under 4K revs I guess since the car is so weak in that area it is definitely a better feeling even if the figures might not show it that well.

I'd imagine so, the Akrapovic system feels so much less restrictive and the balance of the car feels much better aswell I believe due to the weight saving. The original back box was very heavy and the Akrapovic I could pick up with one hand.

Great thread! Which lowering mount did you use for the driver's side Recaro, and would you recommend?

Thanks. The seat frame was by a company called Rentune if I remember correctly. It's not the typical side plates with a support bar, which retain the top half of the original Renault seat base. It's a full replacement welded square frame that the cushion and backrest bolt onto directly. It def saves some weight and my bum is just a few inches from the floor so you can't get much lower. It's a well built piece of kit and retains tilt, slide and memory mechanisms, couldn't ask for much more. Well, apart from one for the passenger side too.

 

[19Zen]

I took this pic on the weekend while experimenting with some astrophotography and felt to share it in the forum. It was taken in the Lake District, where the roads are pure motoring heaven.

 

[19Zen]

I think a white van hit my car when parked up recently and the dent was pretty bad, I managed to get most of it out using a plastic hammer and a heat gun, along with a full service, front brake refresh and a much needed wash after that desert rain!

 

[burrellbloke]

That is impressive work.

 

[19Zen]

It's not perfect but from some angles like the picture here its hard to see. I may have a professional get the very last bits out but this wasn't bad for a worn plastic hammer and heat gun.

 

[19Zen]

A milestone day for the Clio.

She's been through the wars recently, after being quite badly vandalised straight after a dentman restoration. She will rise again...

Here's to the next 100,000.

 

[19Zen]

After much back & forth, whether I was going to sell the Clio due to the arrival of a new car, I've decided I won't sell for the foreseeable. I've been driving the Clio for too long, too many miles, to just let it go for what they go for.

It's so rare in a lifetime to have a car you drive daily for over a decade, cover over 100,000 miles... it's priceless. It's also the last of the N/A manual hot hatches and feels so raw and analog, there's not going to be another one.

The reason for thinking of selling is mostly due to space, as the only car which could ever possibly replace the Clio has now joined the driveway.