32 replies to this topic

[Andy_VX]

My Brother and i have been looking for a light, fast and cheap car for a while and we finally decided the only way to go was the Clio, we want to use the car for hill climbs / auto tests in our local car club. It also doubles up as a car we can lug kayaks around with.

 

After a bit of looking around we managed to find a local car for silly money! It needs some TLC but it's very easy to work on and unbelievably cheap for parts. The paintwork has a few scuffs and the interior was discussing!! We spent the entire day cleaning the interior and it's come up nicely. 

 

Mechanically it needs a couple of niggles sorting. The first of which is very familiar to a VX owner.... engine mounts, not sure which one yet but it bangs when you're revving it hard in 1st and 2nd. The other issue is that there's some play in the offside wheel. We took the wheel off today and had a good look around and discovered it was the track rod end that had some play. We managed to get a pair for £15 lol. 

 

So overall we're pleased, the car handles very well even with play in the track rod ends! I'll keep you posted on the auto tests, we have on booked for the 1st of June!

 

photo by andydavidyeates, on Flickr

Edited by Andy_VX, 07 May 2014 - 09:54 PM.

[rob999]

I've owned one before, great little cars and perfect for thrashing on TD's.

[Strugs]

Looks tidy enough..  

 

I continue to toy with the idea of an FF 182 as a daily.. 

[Luke84]

I miss mine. Wonderful little things

[Andy_VX]

Thanks, previous owners always seem to reminisce which i suppose must be a good thing! To be fair that picture really does the car justice. The wheels are in terrible condition and in need of a refurb. (thinking of white??) and there are a few scuffs on the front bumper and the offside rear wing, other than that the paintwork is shiny and must have been polished fairly often. 

[CocoPops]

I still have a soft spot for th 172/182. I had a 172 and then a 182. Did 33k miles in 11months in my 182, never missed a beat.

[ArticMonkey]

Loved my 182 cup and then ff. Never liked to be pushed on a cold start but once warm it was spot on. Only issue I had was 2nd gear kept popping out. Easily fixed.

Edited by ArticMonkey, 08 May 2014 - 06:43 AM.

[MrGman]

Another ex owner here, also had a Trophy and Meg R26, cracking cars and if i had more space I'd have another trophy thats for sure. 

 

Any excuse to dig out some old photos !!

 

 

 

[G-Bob]

Ooooooo... Like the r26. I've been looking at them on piston heads.

[slindborg]

Looks tidy enough..     I continue to toy with the idea of an FF 182 as a daily.. 

I ran a 182 as a daily for a year or so after the VX, aside from winter, I'd rather run the VX... Despite the 182 being faster on normal roads

[Strugs]

Looks tidy enough..     I continue to toy with the idea of an FF 182 as a daily.. 

I ran a 182 as a daily for a year or so after the VX, aside from winter, I'd rather run the VX... Despite the 182 being faster on normal roads

Often thought I'd aim for a 182 *and* a VX..

[Andy_VX]

Nice to hear there are so many previous owners on here! Lovely cars you had there MrGman! 

 

picked up the new Track rod ends today, perfect at £6! We then set up the tracking with the old school method which was surprisingly accurate! It handles so nicely now, it just keeps on gripping and can keep up so much speed! 

 

Going to sort the engine mounts next and then remove the pointless fog lights and run pipework into the air box for some extra cooling plugged my scanguage in yesterday and was surprised by the high intake air temps. 

 

1606872_10154107051465302_6947812626322047553_n by andydavidyeates, on Flickr

 

 

Edited by Andy_VX, 09 May 2014 - 08:24 PM.

[MrGman]

I've set up my own geo a fair few times now, always been really pleased with the results, i did learn you need to use a solid steel rule ideally though.

 

I'll have a route through the garage as i've got a few clio bits and bobs kicking about, might be something of use to you as i've started clearing it all out, only threw away a near new mid section exhaust the other day!! 

[Andy_VX]

Yeah that's a good point about the rule, we need to adjust again anyway because the steering wheel isn't quite central.

 

Oh awesome, thanks very much, i'm sure there's lots of things we could use!   You don't have a sun visor do you? Some bellend thought it was a good idea to write who he loves all over it.... lol! 

[southpaw]

Was just reading this and then saw your avatar picture - realised it was you I saw on the m27 this morning

[Andy_VX]

Ahh yes on my way home from work, were you in a VX? 

[dewismotorsport]

Great little track cars. Friend has a 182 trophy, they feel like a new car if you refresh all the bushes, steering rack bushes are known for going, anti roll bar ones are a pita as the bracket is hard to get done back up. Get yourself a new dog bone mount as they are so prone to causing big play which sound like what you have between changes.

[dewismotorsport]

Oh and injectors fail quite often as well so worth getting a couple spare

[Andy_VX]

Hi, yeah we took all of the engine mounts out today and the upper right side mount had completely split! got a new one on order so i'll get that done next week. Most of the bushes were done by the devious owner so that's all good now. there does seem to be an oil leak from somewhere though so that's the nest thing! might just pull the engine out when we do the mounts and have a good look at it. Could be gearbox. 

[Andy_VX]

The offending mount! 

 

 

 

Edited by Andy_VX, 11 May 2014 - 09:12 AM.