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ClioTrophy Moderator
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2018
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- 2,129
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- Yorkshire/Lancashire
- Trophy No.
- 407
- Thread starter
- #21
A Fine Sunday.
February 2026.
It's rained a lot recently, even more than usual it seems. So, when a few hours this weekend were promised fine, I made the most of it with the Cup. I was able to get a couple of hours in under the bonnet on Saturday, popping in the new headlight bulb and getting busy with some limes on some engine components. Sceptics can scoff all they like at my admittedly somewhat odd activities, but sometimes the old tricks are the best in this game they call 'detailing' these days...
Anyway, the engine bay is coming along well enough for now, it'll never be concours like our old Mini, but that's not the point with this one. As many of you will know, I love a good period magazine, so once the rain arrived on Saturday, I had a trip into the loft to find the 'Autocar' mag from 2002 which had set me on the course of my Clio obsession. It was fun reading the 172 Cup test again all these years later, where the Cup more or less wipes the floor with Mini Cooper S of the period, satisfying.
Sunday Service - The Cup finally gets a proper wash.
Sunday dawned clear so I was out early doors with my double buckets, it was a fairly full on day of fettling. There were a few bits of paintwork which needed a little bit of correcting, new plates and lamp to fit, and the rest of it a nice bit of layering up with various products. What never fails to amaze me with these Clio's of this era is the quality of the factory paint... if it's been looked after, it comes up like a mirror with a bit of effort. It's nothing short of amazing for 24 year old paint to be fair.
After a few hours I'm happy enough with progress. I've still got stuff to do, like get it up in the air and get all the wheels off and give the arches a good deep clean, but it'll do for now.
In hillclimb prep news, my race licence arrived during the week and I've signed up for the 1st practice session of the year at Harewood, crossing fingers I'll get a place... Before then, I have to work out a clever solution for fitting the timing strut to the front of the Cup without drilling holes in the bumper (I've some ideas, I just need to see my mate Alan and see if he's got time to modify a towing eye for me), I also need to bite the bullet and order my helmet, race suit and some silly boots & gloves. I had hoped cutting out the second breakfasts might bring me down a suit size and help the power to weight ratio, but I'll be honest I couldn't resist a mid morning bacon bagel at my favourite local cafe on Saturday morning.
So, that part of the prep is not going too well so far.
February 2026.
It's rained a lot recently, even more than usual it seems. So, when a few hours this weekend were promised fine, I made the most of it with the Cup. I was able to get a couple of hours in under the bonnet on Saturday, popping in the new headlight bulb and getting busy with some limes on some engine components. Sceptics can scoff all they like at my admittedly somewhat odd activities, but sometimes the old tricks are the best in this game they call 'detailing' these days...
Anyway, the engine bay is coming along well enough for now, it'll never be concours like our old Mini, but that's not the point with this one. As many of you will know, I love a good period magazine, so once the rain arrived on Saturday, I had a trip into the loft to find the 'Autocar' mag from 2002 which had set me on the course of my Clio obsession. It was fun reading the 172 Cup test again all these years later, where the Cup more or less wipes the floor with Mini Cooper S of the period, satisfying.
Sunday Service - The Cup finally gets a proper wash.
Sunday dawned clear so I was out early doors with my double buckets, it was a fairly full on day of fettling. There were a few bits of paintwork which needed a little bit of correcting, new plates and lamp to fit, and the rest of it a nice bit of layering up with various products. What never fails to amaze me with these Clio's of this era is the quality of the factory paint... if it's been looked after, it comes up like a mirror with a bit of effort. It's nothing short of amazing for 24 year old paint to be fair.
After a few hours I'm happy enough with progress. I've still got stuff to do, like get it up in the air and get all the wheels off and give the arches a good deep clean, but it'll do for now.
In hillclimb prep news, my race licence arrived during the week and I've signed up for the 1st practice session of the year at Harewood, crossing fingers I'll get a place... Before then, I have to work out a clever solution for fitting the timing strut to the front of the Cup without drilling holes in the bumper (I've some ideas, I just need to see my mate Alan and see if he's got time to modify a towing eye for me), I also need to bite the bullet and order my helmet, race suit and some silly boots & gloves. I had hoped cutting out the second breakfasts might bring me down a suit size and help the power to weight ratio, but I'll be honest I couldn't resist a mid morning bacon bagel at my favourite local cafe on Saturday morning.
So, that part of the prep is not going too well so far.
