Popular Post Mattwho? Posted August 2, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted August 2, 2022 The story for this project starts about 6 years ago, I was on my OE in the UK, my then flatmate asked if I wanted to join him and his mates on a trackday at Snetterton which was just down the road. One of his mates Jon, had a Renault Clio 172 Cup which he proceeded to thrash all day and after a few passenger laps I had a new found love for the little French hot hatch. The search for one was halted when an insurance quote came back for £4,500 and a car itself was £1,500. The trackday lads wound up being my friday pub locals with drinks frequently flowing and track cars bought and sold by all of us. Currently the fleet has an E92 M3, Mk7 & Mk6 Fiesta St's along with a Porsche Boxster. Fast forward a few years, after a problematic and uneconomical supercharged Mini being sold just after the Covid Lockdowns, I was in search of a new car. A workmate had a Renault Twingo for sale, his wife had owned it from new, it hadn't seen a wash in at least 2 years but seemed to be reliable and the price was right as he needed it gone. The Twingo 2 was based on a Mk2 Clio which gave it a great platform to build on and the 1.1 turbo had 100hp from factory which in the city gave it enough pep to be a bit of a laugh. A trip to the Peak district and a few fun driving roads brought back the love for the French Hatch and sticking a set of track tyres on it only helped. Twingo below. My wife and I made the decision to head back to NZ and sell up most of our possessions including her Fiat 500 and my Twingo. Jon ended up buying the Twingo as a stopgap before he left the UK to head to Saudi Arabia. Once back here I had a quick look for Renaultsport Clio but didn't see many around, decided to cut my losses and soon moved onto an MX5 alongside a Golf as a daily driver. After a few months of working from home on the kitchen table, I decided to make my own permanent office and needed to buy some furniture. After seeing how expensive decent office chairs can be. I decided to look at Pick-a-Part to see if there were any car seats that I could make into a suitably comfy office seat. I saw they had a Renault Clio in stock and after going through the photos a few times and running the VIN it turns out that it was a Renaultsport 172. No parts seemed to be missing so after a bit of discussion with my wife, we jumped in the car and went to have a look. On investigation of the car, someone had tried to remove the spoiler without removing the screws however the rest looked ok. Parts were there and it seemed too good to be true. A carpark negotiation about the practicalities of this project and how it would be feasible was entered with my wife. She's a good one and was happy for me to buy it providing the MX5 would be listed for sale in the near future. A price was agreed on from Pick-a-Part and collection was arranged later in the week. How it looked at collection about to go on the trailer. They shut the gates behind as they didn't want it back! Steering was locked so was a prick to get on the trailer A photo I received later that day after I had to rush to work. In its current hiding place. Its not pretty, but there is potential. The previous owner apparently scrapped it due to losing the keys. The key is coded to the body control module (UCH) and then also to the ECU. With no easy way to override the immobilizer, I can imagine it being an expensive exercise to get going again without importing anything The next day I purchased a new ECU, body control module and key from a Renault breakers in the UK and that is currently on its way. It's deregistered so needs to go through compliance once it starts and a few things are fixed. Hopefully with a good wash and polish it will start to look a bit better. The interior is coming along nicely and after a good clean is looking far better. Some of the previous owners seemed to care about it with decent tyres on it and receipts for various repairs and services. Pick-a-part helpfully removed the cat converter and drilled a hole in the fuel tank to drain it. If anyone knows a way to fix a hole in a plastic fuel tank, advice would be appreciated. Plans at this stage are to get it started and then get ready for compliance, no damage has thankfully occurred on the underside so it shouldn't need a repair cert. It needs a new exhaust so that will get made soon, new brakes are on their way and a full flush and service will happen too. Thanks for reading! 26 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUL8R Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 Haven't fixed one before, but would it be possible for the likes of a plastic bumper repair specialist/welder to do? Assuming of course they're happy to touch it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty360 Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 We have had a plastic welder, repair a fitting that had been torn out of a tractor spray tank that would have had all sorts of shit in it. I could chase his contact for ya if ya like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattwho? Posted August 14, 2022 Author Share Posted August 14, 2022 On 12/08/2022 at 17:13, CUL8R said: Haven't fixed one before, but would it be possible for the likes of a plastic bumper repair specialist/welder to do? Assuming of course they're happy to touch it? I believe they can do, some seem happy to look at it others have gone with a no-thanks approach. On 12/08/2022 at 21:02, rusty360 said: We have had a plastic welder, repair a fitting that had been torn out of a tractor spray tank that would have had all sorts of shit in it. I could chase his contact for ya if ya like? That would be brilliant thank you. Currently the fuel tank has been 'repaired' with a bung screwed in both sides with gaskets. Currently waiting to put some fuel in it to work out if the fix holds. If not, then hopefully Rusty360 contact can do it. This week, a box arrived from the UK. It was being stored by a mate over there and contained everything that we needed for day to day life before flying out but we weren't able to fit within our baggage limits. Objects of note were, 3 backpacks, 2 Thermos flasks, cookbooks and a 1/4 drive ratchet and torx bits I left in the shed after packing my toolbox. All useful stuff.... The box also contained Renault parts, notably an ECU, UCH module, Key and Key Reader. I had new parts shipped to him from Autodoc (like Rockauto but euro) and these were brake hoses, ignition barrel and key, brake rebuild kits and a couple of other service items. Its been a bit of a shitty week at work so stress levels have been high and the car being 30 minutes away didn't encourage any enthusiasm towards fitting the new parts. Today, I was driving past and had an hour or two spare so decided to put them to good use. The parts were changed and this is now the result. It lights up and also cranks over. Just need to reconnect the fuel system properly and should be good to start. Also confirms the car has done 186,000 km. Hopefully manage to get it started tomorrow. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kws Posted August 14, 2022 Share Posted August 14, 2022 What a save. Shame they dereg it, but its worth getting back on the road. Cool little car 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattwho? Posted August 20, 2022 Author Share Posted August 20, 2022 On 14/08/2022 at 15:10, Mattwho? said: Hopefully manage to get it started tomorrow. Hahahaha nope. So it cranked and cranked with no response. No spark and no fuel, seemed to be an immobiliser issue. So I bought a new UCH/ECU/Key set from the UK, whilst talking to the seller about the new set I casually mentioned "Yea the red light is on and its good to go so I don't know why mine is faulty" Turns out red light on is bad. Lots of Renault reading later. The relay box in the engine bay goes wrong and this has an immobiliser relay. Took the relay out, sprayed a load of contact cleaner on the relay terminals and in the box then refitted. Turned the key and it started. Sat beautifully at idle and revved happily So whilst idling put it in gear, let the clutch out and nothing. Didn't move forward or anything. Even tried starting it in gear and no movement. There is a circlip that holds the diff in place and its quite common for this to pop out. I'm hoping it's that. The fix is to buy a ring and bolt it to the diff so one of those is on the way, it will be a gearbox out job so might as well do a clutch too. Just awaiting everything to turn up to my mates place in the UK. Positive is that it starts and seems happy. Negative is that it might need a new gearbox. Deep joy 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfashark Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 Good stuff! On the bright side, a gearbox is a relatively simple thing to deal with compared to some of the gremlins that Renaults of this era can have. VW diffs of the recent past have a similar issue where they are retained by a ring of rivets but thankfully there are off the shelf kits with super high strength bolts to replace said rivets. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattwho? Posted August 20, 2022 Author Share Posted August 20, 2022 Thanks mate, pretty happy with it overall and hopefully a new clutch and the diff ring will sort it. Apparently the gearbox can come out the top rather than needing to remove the subframe which may be an easier option. You are correct with it being more simple than some of the other issues! The electrical issue took probably a week to diagnose. It's a bit of a silly diff design and the later model Renaultsport had a 4 bolt diff ring rather than the circlip. Will just get some H/T bolts to make sure it wont break in the future. Another way to look at it is futureproofing as one less thing to go wrong! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8Pete Posted August 20, 2022 Share Posted August 20, 2022 These guys might be worth a chat. They should be sympathetic to a french car owner https://www.plasticsconstructions.co.nz/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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