Frayz’s Inferno orange 182 - Back in the old flame

[Titan]

Nice write up on Pistonheads

Renault Clio 182 | Reader's Car of the Week

One PHer missed their old Inferno 182 so much they just had to get it back. Legend

www.pistonheads.com

It's great to see all of the work you've put into it,cracking car.
You must be delighted with the results

 

[frayz]

Nice write up on Pistonheads

Renault Clio 182 | Reader's Car of the Week

One PHer missed their old Inferno 182 so much they just had to get it back. Legend

www.pistonheads.com

It's great to see all of the work you've put into it,cracking car.
You must be delighted with the results

Thanks dude. ?
Ha, yeah someone else text me this morning to tell me about it. Very pleased and proud to have the old girl noticed.
I’m so pleased to have it back and have been loving every minute of tweaking it to what I want it to be.
Nice to have Pistonheads think so too. ?

 

[frayz]

Haven’t had any time on the car lately due to other commitments but have at least started the strip down and clean up of the roll centre hubs. I’ve all new bearings and rose joints to fit when they’re reassembled. The plan is to get them fully stripped, blasted and plated before fitting.

 

[frayz]

Hubs progressing.

All parts that required glass blast have been blasted. I was let to believe the bearings in them were almost new, and they probably were. However due to the corrosion i decided to replace them anyway. Glad i did as they were stuck in pretty damn tight and took a good 16 ton before they broke free of the uprights.
Seemed illogical to me to have them off the car and not fit new bearings so that what i'll do.

I'll chase all threads and hopefully get them to the platers soon

 

[frayz]

Few more parts arrived.

New wipers, boot struts, ARB brackets, 197 RS badge and a cheeky keyring.
Although still no time to spend on the car, I did at least fit the boot struts which make the tailgate feel like brand new. Well worth it.

 

[frayz]

Loving this social distancing, apart from feeling like death. Cabin fever has me doing little jobs on WZD that I’ve just not had a moment to do.

New genuine grille badge, amazing how much difference this has made as mine has a fine rash over it from 125k miles of enjoyment.







Next was a new bonnet sensor grommet kindly donated to me from a kind chap on ClioTrophy.com, you know who you are, thank you sir.





Lastly may result in the death of a few purists.
Removing a perfectly good genuine cup splitter to make way for a Fabia item.
Basically once the ASTs go on, the splitter will be even more vulnerable and at £250 for a genuine one, I think I’ll sandbag that in the garage for a £15 Skoda item.

 

[frayz]

So, next little job was refreshing the tailgate emblems. I’d already replaced these about 7 years, but after 15 years the chrome badges were looking tired again.

I had deliberated at length over if I should fit the cleaner and more modern Renault Sport from the 197 cars. Or do I stay period correct with the original badges?
So much was this quandary I decided to buy both sets of emblems from Renault.

I haven’t polished the car since owning it as is just not had time. But with new emblems going on, the tailgate at least was a must.
So a quick soap, rinse, Iron X, and de tar. 2 quick passes with some Sonax on the rotary, an IPA wipe down and the tailgate was good to go.

I then spent probably another 2 hours blue tacking the emblems to the boot trying to decide what to do. Lol.
In the end I did opt for the newer emblems more compact, cleaner look as I fancied the change. I’m still on the fence about it just now, but I at least have the others if/when I change my mind.

Just need to get time to polish the rest if the old nail now.

 

[glenn]

Just keeps getting better, do you fancy sorting mine out?

 

[Stuflac]

I was going to say the same. The effort going in here is inspiring!

 

[frayz]

Havent polished the old shed since buying it back last June. Today I finally got some time to give it a jolly up.

Took a small walk around video on my phone, not the best quality but you get the idea

 

[frayz]

Just keeps getting better, do you fancy sorting mine out?

I was going to say the same. The effort going in here is inspiring!

Thanks guys.
I know it’s not a Trophy but it’s better than any Trophy to me.

 

[frayz]

So continuing to Carpé Diem thanks to the lockdown, I managed to crack on with another job I’ve been putting off due to time.
I battled some crazy changeable weather today and fitted my AST 5100 dampers. These were fitted alongside PMS spherical bearing topmounts and matching brace.
The drilled sections for the topmounts were treated to Bilt Hamber Electrox and all areas then covered with Bilt Hamber Dynax UB. The topmounts were liberally covered with Dynax UB before and after fitting. All fasteners were fitted with Loctite and paint marked.

Once fitted, keen to protect my investment they were liberally coated with as much ACF50 as I could get on them and fully covered with Motamec damper socks.

Im currently waiting a pair of locknuts from AST they forgot to add. Also the keen eyed among you will see the ABS wires not clipped up. The OEM cable brackets have past their best, so I’ve ordered some stainless items. Once the parts arrive it will just be getting the geometry setup.

Also big shoutout to @MrBlonde and @Dr Jekyll on the Whatsapp today for their help discussing ride heights. Basically they took the piss until I slammed it. Haha.
As you can see from the photo of the rear, the initial AST settings were somewhat 90s Super Touring haha. I also took this opportunity to tweak the bumper mount brackets so they do not foul on the new power ride height and I warmed and reformed the arch liners to be smooth in the domed areas usually present to accommodate the brackets.
Ride height is currently quite conservative, but this will probably be tweaked as the car settles and I find what I like.

For obvious reasons I’ve only driven it around the block to ensure no knocks or issues but the most noticeable initial impression is the plushness of the ride.
Initially of the 12 damping settings I’ve set the front to 6 clicks up and the rear to 5 clicks up.
Remember I had these specifically valved and sprung for fast road use and they feel beautifully compliant.

Looking forward to matching these to my Roll Centre Hubs and other bits and pieces. Once set, I’ll get my spacers, studs and 2118s on.

 

[frayz]

So, today’s cleaning job, the scuttle.
I was keen to check the scuttle drains were nice and clear as this can cause trouble at a later date. I think looking at it, this was last done before I sold it in 2015 and hasn’t been done since.

Wiper arms and scuttle panels removed and cleaned. Also took the opportunity to remove the wiper mech and give it a clean lubricate all the moving parts. I removed and bleached the washer bottle too as this was pretty grubby.

All areas cleaned and any metal parts were treated with ACF50 before I replaced the panels. Fitted new clips as the old ones were old and brittle.
Also need to replace my header tank as that’s looking pretty old these days.

Anyway... photos.

 

[frayz]

Stainless ABS brackets arrived. Also arrived were the strut lower lock nuts from @Simon@ASTUK, thank you sir. ??
Brackets are pukka, but like many of these things, the supplied hardware was s**t. The only stainless M6x12 I had was a countersunk so had to add some panel washers. Quite possibly the most overkill and pretty fastener for an ABS bracket on a Clio but at least they look nice ?

Lock nuts fitted and brackets on, these completes the damper fit except for geometry.

 

[glenn]

Please take my car and give it back when it's as clean?

 

[frayz]

Please take my car and give it back when it's as clean?

Lol. Got enough on my hands here mate. ?

 

[frayz]

So, remember the roll centre hubs that looked like they had been at the bottom of Davy Jones Locker?

Let me refresh your memory...





Well after a heap of work, wire brushing, glass blasting etc.
They arrived back from zinc coat this morning. Once built I think these have come out pretty tidy.





Also the next piece of the refresh puzzle arrived. As noted I want to refresh the header tank, so made sense to order a new rad. Nissen unit arrived almost next day!!

 

[IRK]

Really enjoying following this thread - inspiring me to really start pulling my Clio apart for a full nut and bolt rebuild (which at this point I’m not sure is a good or bad idea!)

What is the exhaust you’ve got fitted? I’ve got a Milltek at the moment but always preferred the single centre units. Orbisoud is the dream, but rare as rocking horse s**t.

 

[frayz]

Really enjoying following this thread - inspiring me to really start pulling my Clio apart for a full nut and bolt rebuild (which at this point I’m not sure is a good or bad idea!)

What is the exhaust you’ve got fitted? I’ve got a Milltek at the moment but always preferred the single centre units. Orbisoud is the dream, but rare as rocking horse s**t.

Thanks. I have a BTM/Yozzasport.

 

[frayz]

Today’s job,

Fit PMS rear spacers and wheel stud/nut kit. Also decided now the suns coming out to get my summer wheels on. Yes they’re doing “driveway durability testing” at the mo. But they have confirmed 100% that I’m done with black wheels. My Turinis will get a colour change at some point.

Forgot to get any pics of the spacers going on, but it looks hard as nails now front out 15mm, rear out 10mm on the 2118s and 888s.