Clio Campus 172 build

[Aldo]

So I've ended up with a bit of a long term project 172 and it's a rough one.

Around 2012 my mate ended up with this as a repaired cambelt failure, someone had fitted a new engine, threw it all together and shifted it on. My mate spent a bit of time and cash tidying things up, all nice OE bits and bobs. Lower arms, dampers all that sort of thing. And at that stage was looking like this.



It was then sold to another mate who used it as a daily. And it turned into a bit of a workhorse, I'm sure I've got a picture of it towing our Rotax karts somewhere. He ran it till maybe 2017ish before selling it to another one of our mates.

This is where it deteriorated and ended up sitting on a driveway for years. The last owner wasn't into the spannering as much and it got to the stage where it had become a massive job to get it road worthy.

So I step in and make a fair offer to buy it as a parts car.


Offer accepted and it's on route to mine. It starts and drives which is a plus.

Plan was to get under it and determine how rough it was. Think the following pics tell enough of that story...







You'll notice these pictures were taken during a strip down. By this point I had decided I wasn't going to fix the shell and strip the car for parts.

The plan is to find a tidy late model clio, a Campus or similar, and reshell it for use as a road friendly track day car.

 

[DaveL485]

Thats not looking healthy is it!

 

[Aldo]

With the car all stripped down now, I've ordered a belt kit for the engine and some paint to tidy it up.

I also had onsite blasters in at work this week and they done me a solid with the subframe and rear beam.


Going to refresh all the bushes etc. Then pick some sort of rust prevention paint for the subframe and beam. Thinking maybe EM121? I'm not after a show level finish, just something futureproof.

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Worthwhile saving it!!

 

[Aldo]

Worthwhile saving it!!

Haha with the price of fair condition examples just now, I don't think this is a resto candidate.

Plus if I start making things super clean and tidy, it'll turn into a garage queen.

 

[Brigsy]

Quite rusty that but its done alright for a 20 year old car. Might be worth seeing if you can get a rot free 172 shell from a breaker so it still has the sport id.

 

[Aldo]

That would be a real result if I got my hands on a good RS shell... but if a clean non RS is available on the doorstep, that's likely what will happen.

A mate of mine uplifted the shell today. My 4yo isn't very happy that the "racecar" is away to getcrushed.

 

[Aldo]

I've been plodding away with the subframe and beam over the last week. After it was blasted, the bloke coated it in a rust inhibitor which looks like galvy paint but he mentioned it was alluminium based. It was a bit patchy so I've went over it with zinc182 primer. There was also a few areas that it coated with Hydrate80.

To get the bushes out the wishbones, I cut a section of pipe and machined the ends to make cups. They took a fair amount of pressure to shift.

....precarious

Spied a powdercoated ARB and very good condition hubs on ebay. They arrived this week which will save on some rust removal/painting etc

 

[Brigsy]

@Aldo get on this shell mate https://cliosport.net/threads/b-g-182-shell.843956/

 

[Aldo]

I've already been looking at transport costs lol... its 414 miles from me, which might be a touch too far

 

[Aldo]

Got round to using the Bilt Hamber epoxy mastic yesterday. It's easier to work with than I expected, but goes on a bit like interior gloss that you'd use in the house. The finish is average due to the blasters brush on coating leaving loads of brush strokes. But, resto level finishing is not what the car is going to be about.



Rear beam, wishbones and hubs are still to be painted.
All the bushes and ball joints are in the post which will let me reassemble everything and sit them to the side.

 

[Aldo]

Got the wishbone bushes fitted today which will let me get them painted. Measured it from a few points and they seem to be sitting nice and square with each other.



Also picked up a 182 manifold from a Facebook page.



The search for a car/shell continues...

 

[Brigsy]

Another shell going cheap. https://cliosport.net/threads/182-shell.844109/

 

[Aldo]

Another shell going cheap. https://cliosport.net/threads/182-shell.844109/

I was very close to going for it, spoke to a local company about hiring a flatbed trailer for the weekend ... and then my mate with the towbar sold his van last week. So that was the end of that.

However, I've just won a 57 plate Campus on Ebay, a miserable 1.2 8v thing. But it looks like a clean shell, it was sorned between 2012 and 2022 which may explain why its looks so tidy underneath. Hopefully it's as clean as the pictures suggest.

 

[Aldo]

Still dodging on with the subframe etc got the wishbones and hubs painted now.




Rear beam to tackle next. The threaded stubs that hold the pipe clips on have rusted away, so I'm not sure what I'll do with them. Beam bushes should be here tomorrow.

Campus collection with Martin_172 on Tuesday.

 

[Aldo]

I've been trawling Marketplace/Ebay/Gumtree for a decent Mk2 shell to continue this project. But the cheap car market seems to be busy at the moment. Good cars are selling quick and even rough cars are holding reasonable value. I was mainly looking for a non-sunroof car and like I said above, a 172/182 would have been the ideal.

I seen a black 57 plate povo spec Campus pop up on both Ebay and Marketplace and after a message, the bloke was good enough to send over pictures of all the jacking points/fuel cap etc etc and they looked pretty mint. A history check showed the car had done 90k miles in its first three years and was then sorned between 2012 and 2022. Unfortunately, the current owner had no information as to why. Judging by the condition, it seems to have been garaged. Maybe someone moving abroad and leaving a car at home? Who knows.

I made an offer at his starting bid (which was £300 below the Marketplace price) and he accepted, ending the auction early. Road trip to Leeds!

@Martin_172 offered to drive his Mk5 Clio RS Line DCi down, so it was loaded with tools and a tow-pole, and we set off. It's a great wee car on a long run and done 73mpg! Mint!

I had a quick scoot round the Campus when I arrived, and it all seemed as expected. It's had the roof and bonnet painted at some point, which is a bit of a poor job. But all in all, a good wee shell. Handed the cash over and got back on the road. ....Jesus Christ the 1.2 8v is a miserable thing, the gearing makes 70mph a traumatic experience! After about 100 miles, the engine management light came on.... but nothing happened so I just kept her singing/screaming. Then just as we went from the A66 to the M6, the clutch started slipping as I joined the motorway. I didn't think it had enough torque to slip a clutch But, it held out and was behaving at 70/80mph and it made it home doing 40mpg over the 250 miles.

The weather has been grim so I haven't done anything with it yet. Going to give it a power-wash underneath and get it into the garage for stripping. Pics to follow....

 

[Brigsy]

Non sunroof shell is nice. I reckon 90% of povo have a sunroof

 

[Aldo]

Gave the Campus a bit of a scrub and got it into the garage. Hopefully next rime it leaves, it'll be under F4R power!

There's a few wee bits to tidy up on the shell. The usual jacking point mistakes etc, all quite minor. Overall, I'm happy with the shell, ideal for a conversion.

Hoping to get a full day at it next week.

 

[DaveL485]

That is a pretty decent shell! Just gonna strip it out and bung in the 172 kit?

 

[Aldo]

That is a pretty decent shell! Just gonna strip it out and bung in the 172 kit?

Yeah pretty much. Going to run EPAS with a controller, and the Pure Motorsport AC/PAS delete kit (tempted to make a version of the kit myself tbh).

Also planning to keep the Campus non AC heater controls, matrix, blowers etc. And initially I'll run the Campus bodywork, the sport kit can come at a later date.

Secured a set of tidy 172 Cup seats today along with some colour coded door strips.