Encase anyone was wondering what I've replaced the polo with, here is the answer!
Many may think I've gone mad, even I questioned my sanity. But I honestly don't think I could have chose a better car for my needs & budget.

Say hi to No.76





Yes, I know.... the headlight covers. I haven't picked it up yet so give me chance lol!

It's rather clean, only a few stone-chips up front and the odd mark as to be expected for a 14 year old car.
It's on 75K, due a belt in a few thousand but I'm not taking any risks. The garage I'm having it from are giving me a 3 month warranty, the day before that's up is the day this will be in a garage getting the belts done haha.
Obviously, i managed to get several hundred off the asking price for belts. It's coming with a fresh MOT, service and they're fixing a couple of issues we spotted when viewing (exhaust mount, fog lights not working) and today I found out the alternator wasn't working properly so a new alternator too. It's got near brand new tyres also which is always a bonus.

Wheels and interior on these are a little erm, odd? shall we go with? However fear not, collecting F1's on Saturday and I have a Ph2 interior sat in the garage already. I'm not fully convinced on swapping the interior, I feel the leathers may grow on me. But for £51 I couldn't say no.

I say to myself now that I don't want to do a lot to this, but I know for a fact that it'll get out of control and before I know it I'll be fitting cams and ITB's
For now I'm thinking:
182 downpipe, decat and exhaust of some description
Matched inlet and aftermarket intake
Springs and shocks (seems these cooksport springs and cup shocks are a popular one)
Rear ARB and polybushes wherever required, touch of bracing too maybe
Uprated discs and pads
Steering wheel retrim is 100% needed
Few other subtle changes too, I'm one for all the little touches.

Shall update tomorrow once I've collected it, on weather or not it made it home in one piece.

Sorry dude, we're gonna have to ban you...

I've always liked the 172 compared to the 182. Mainly because the 172 looks like a normal 1.2 Clio to the untrained eye whereas you know a 182 when you see one.

They are also pretty quick compared to a lot of other hot hatches around at the time.

But it is French and made of plastic....

Used to work on these a fair bit when I was at Renault!

Thought you were getting a silver one though?!

Plastic is lighter than metal tho....
I was originally, until I found these.

There really are a great hoot to drive. Coming on the clubs track day in July???

Yeah, I'll be there showing all you polo guys how its done

Not done a great deal to this over the past month, but I have a few random updates.

Removed headlight covers, bloody stuck down with sealant, right mess.


20150114_141215 by B-shaw55, on Flickr


20150114_141510 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Thought I'd see what was up with the exhaust, whoever fitted it (bearing in mind it was new in 2012) was a moron.

This bracket shouldn't even be there, not that it lasted long anyway


20150117_162857 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

This should only have 1 rod so the hanger can be swapped easily, instead another had rod welded in, meaning I had to cut one off to swap the hanger.


20150118_115908 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Rod for the mid section hanger had snapped clean in half, so I did what I could with what I had to hand, not great by any means but it's better than before - nothing.


20150118_170840 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

New hanger fitted, with some reinforcements.


20150118_170859 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

All of this was done whilst it was raining/snowing/getting dark, loads of fun haha


20150118_171051 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Interior trims were filthy, so I got at sorting them out. All covered in some sort of vile rubbery coating that had gone sticky. Gave myself blisters cleaning it all off.


20150113_141914 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Looks so much better though!


20150204_161704 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

As these could be removed easily, decided to paint them.


20150204_162128 by B-shaw55, on Flickr


20150204_182011 by B-shaw55, on Flickr


20150205_182942 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Paint reacted a little, don't think I let the basecoat dry enough before putting clearcoat on. But hey ho, they're a million times better than before.


20150206_171054 by B-shaw55, on Flickr


20150206_171105 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Gloss finish, straight from a can. I'm just too good


20150206_171320 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Headlights needed some work doing, as they were dull and clouded. Removing them was quite the operation, but got there in the end.


20150213_131742 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Before, can see where its all crappy.


20150211_150307 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Comparison


20150212_152616 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

Both done


20150212_170348 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

They're not perfect, i need to polish them properly with a rotary polisher. Just used 1200,2000,2500 grit papers then T-cut on them.
Massive improvement anyway until i can borrow a polisher.

Fitted, and something new


20150213_170440 by B-shaw55, on Flickr


20150213_170401 by B-shaw55, on Flickr

That's all for now.
Booked in for belts on the 30th March, so all my cash is going towards that.
Wheels and coilovers next though

So hi to no.76? the 172's are limited & numbered? Or your 76th car

Always like clio's

I'm digging the couler ✌️

the 'Exclusives' were numbered 1-172
I've a numbered plaque on the door step

Certainly haven't owned 76 cars hahaha!

always had a soft spot for these, my mate did a sport lookalike with a 1.9 diesel and had full colour coding and renaultsport interior, shame about the noise though. French may have a bad rep but i couldnt say no to a clio sport or a 106 rallye

French have an awful rep, but that's mainly from people who have never been in/driven a sport.
Have to bear in mind, the Sport's are made in a different factory, they're built better than the average Renault. I've no interest for anything that's not a RS lol, I'll agree that a standard clio is a bag of shit, I'd never own one lol!!

Several updates!

End of March, I had the belts done. Found some right bodges but they're all sorted now thankfully. Could have been catastrophic :(



I then said to myself no car parts until the end of the year, so with that in mind, I drove to Wales to collect car parts







Then I ordered more parts



Then some more parts arrived, and I made a start.

Braided hoses all round, fresh fluid, new front discs and pads (Brembo Max discs & Ferodo DS2500 pads)





Replaced gearbox dogbone mount, and put fresh gearbox oil in

Then got on with the exhaust



Whipped the inlet manifold off, gave it a paint, cleaned the bay







Also fitted new plugs, and a home brew induction kit.

Something else turned up whilst I was doing all this





Did a few other jobs too, fitted a few missing trim pieces, replaced broken hazard switch.

Off to Scotland (Highlands) in a fortnight for a roadtrip.
Will see how it fairs on a long long drive, 453 miles just to get to the property we've booked. So yeah, wish me luck haha

Everything coming together lovely mate, lovely intake manifold and steering wheel looks boss and exhaust looks tidy too.

you had me searching for 172's on autotrader twice already lol

Nice to see this coming along mate, be intrigued to see it at the track day from how it was in Jan at RR day :)

Doubt itll look much different. Shame I cant get wheels/suspension done for then tbf.

So, did Scotland. All 1300 miles of it, without a single problem.

If anyone ever gets the chance to drive the highlands, do it! Best roads I've ever been on, and the views are bloody incredible.

I'll vouch for that. Its incredible how many people I speak to here who have never taken the time to explore their own country!

Here's a picture I had taken of a wee place called Auchmelvic Bay. The west coast of the Highlands is littered with beautiful beaches of white sand and turquoise water. When I show people they have no idea that this kind of thing is on their doorstep.

Where did your trip to Scotland take you?

I did a Scotland trip in Huyi it was awesome. Loved it :)

Yep, it's unbelievable up there, really is.

We stayed in a place called Contin, north Inverness
Saturday we went round some nearby loch's, not sure on the names or the areas. Were a few dams and stuff. That's where I got the rainbow pic.
Sunday we went from our house up to Thurso, then from there to Durness, then Durness to Ullapool and from there back to the house.
It was somehting like 298 miles, and many many hours. Totally worth it though. Few we were with didnt come with, they decided to go look at loch ness instead. They missed out big time!
Went onto a beach just before we got to Durness, I couldn't believe the sand and whatnot, it was incredible. Although we doubt it ever gets warm enough for a proper beach holiday lol.

We then drove back from Inverness, via Glencoe etc, so went past Ben Nevis and various other mountain ranges.

Had a really good time, would love to back in the near future.

I was glad I was in a non-lowered car though, I was often thinking to myself that I'd have been shitting it at points in the polo haha.

Where did you go Mark?

Nice pictures. That's what it's all about!

I'd love to a Scotland trip!

looked like an awesome trip in Scotland some amazing views there, I have a few mates in Edinburgh/Livingstone/Glasgow, Going to a 21st birthday party up there and going to make a week of it to explore the highlands as well!

I was meaning to ask you how the Brembo Max faired up on your track visit to Blyton park and if you experienced much if any brake fade? also I couldnt tell if they were vented or not by the pic?

I bet this thing was awesome on track!

Been a loooong time since I've updated this, blimey.

Way back in August I attended OrigineRS at Goodwood, had 45 mins of tracktime which flew by in no time. Mate got a few snaps (and some guy on FB)









You should all know, the day before i went to this show is the last time i washed the car, I still haven't washed it.

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Not a lot has really happened in the past 6 months to the car. Radiator sprung a leak.... turned out to be the fan cowling had warped and was pressed against the rad. over time itd caused a few holes it seems.





Got a replacement radiator from euro car parts (I know, this was a silly choice)
Turned out it needed a blanking plug that it didnt come with.



Got all that fitted, trimmed the rad cowling straight so it's no longer in contact with the rad. All has been good with that since, touch wood.



Then came the MOT, failed on a split steering arm boot. I was pissed off with cars (my moms lupo had been off the road a while with brake issues, fix one thing and two more broke) so I gave it to the garage for this. Unlike me but i was too angry and it was too cold haha.
Got that done and it passed with no advisories.

After getting my moms lupo sorted, finally, I had motivation to tackle some minor jobs on the clio that had been bugging me for some time.
1st up was the brake light switch, my brake lights werent coming on unless i was on the brakes hard. That was probably the easiest fix I've ever done on a car lol. Nice and simple.

Next up was the screen wash pump, it had gotten to the point where it wasnt even making it over the wipers, next to useless.
got a new pump and went about fitting that.
Passenger side wiper arm was a right b*****d, took 3 of us to get the bugger off on a frosty January evening outside my mates.
Following morning I ripped everything out, cleaned the tank and swapped the pump. For some reason it wouldn't work at 1st but then sprang into life after a couple of goes.



Was great to be able to clean the screen, don't realise how much you take it for granted.

Next up was my annoying leaking boot. Took me forever to figure out where it was leaking from, finally found the suspects on my break at work after a downpour. Grommets that seem to have no point down either side.
Originally thought it was around the lights, as after the 1st hose test thats where it came in from. sealed that up thinking all was good. Following day i come out to a boot full of water again haha.
Broke a grommet on removal but just siliconed it back in place.





Still not sure its 100% cured it, but It's still dry for now.

Went to the Club Polo Rolling road day at Aldon Automotive, Wasn't going to run it but I got talked into it after realising it was only £15





Glad I did do it, I was expecting around 160/165bhp at the most... what I got surprised everyone, including me and the guys at Aldon...



171.4bhp....
So an actual 172 with as near as it gets, 172bhp.

And on that Bombshell... Until next time.

Tiny tiny update, getting a little closer to being able to throw £££ at this so got down to sorting a little job out.
Got those Sparco wheels a while back, the guy lost the centre caps though, tried emailing OZ direct to get replacements but multiple emails got ignored, they're not the most helpful people then haha!
Anyway, measured up what size I'd need and went about purchasing some ebay specials and some stickers to go with.
They arrived, but they were slightly domed, thought the stickers never going to stick to these so instead of returning them for a £5 refund i had a go at butchering them with the dremel instead lol!



Right is domed shape, left is after being shaved down with the Dremel

Skim of filler to get everything nice and flat



Paint (some leftover Porsche silver I had in a can)



Completed with these cool retro stickers I found



Got bored today and though I'd test fit to see if I can get an idea of what spacers I'll be needing.
Seeing them against the car, the colour combo I don't think I could have gotten any better, I'm so pleased with them!







Cannot wait to get them on the car, shame It's still going to be some time before that happens haha!
The size of the shopping list of parts is ever increasing, and It's all stuff I want to do before I feel the car's ready to have wheels.

Basic list...
20mm front spacers
10mm Rear spacers (maybe, undecided still)
Bilstien B14's
PMS rear ARB
PMS solid top mounts
PMS front strut brace
OEM Wishbones (cup)
Poly ARB bushes
Tyres
Any other bushes etc that may need replacing

Also I want to do interior changes
Accord TypeR Recaros (green trendlines basically)
Subframes to suit
Standard ph1 doorcards
Carpet rear (no back seats)

Anyone want to donate? aha!



Almost forgot, did a sly buy on a spoiler. One I've never seen before but I reckon it should look cool along with other mods.
I'll bung that on too once everything else is done.