vtec-e's base Clio for daily duties - MOT day

[vtec-e]

 

I bought this 3 door Clio as a run about and in a sorry state in need of some tidying up. In addition to exterior scrapes about the corners, it had some well scuffed plastic wheel trims, one had 20% missing, and a musty smell of damp in the interior. Mechanically it was in good condition and only 50k miles after 13 years. Plus it had full length rubber strips down the sides, so ideal for use as a park anywhere car, which my previously daily and just retired Civic had done. By making lots of little improvements I now have perfectably acceptable transport for pan UK trips. It has its own charm, a small smooth engine, not much in the way of mod cons, but includes PAS, central locking, 2 electric windows, a trip computer, ABS and skinny tyres. Having saved it, it is now a keeper.

 

 

 

Here are the boring waffly details, so scroll down to just view any photos.

First job was to check the scuttle drains, which revealed plenty of compostable material in the scuttle and fresh green vegetation nicely sprouting - a 'green' Renault.

 

 

 

Once the compost was removed then the drains came into view, and could be cleared.

Looking better, even the scuttle drain is visible.

With the drains working, next was removal of the interior carpet and foam insulation underneath. Fortunately the water had collected in the rear, and not where the large electrical connector under the passenger seat is. Once the connector begins corroding, all sorts of electrical gremlins start, so a bit of a lucky result there. Also luckily the foam could be saved and dried out after several days. I used gaffer tape to hold it together, since removing it had caused many tears just by the weight of water in it. The brown cardboard sections, once stiff as a board, were now just wet mush.

No obvious rust on the rear floor despite being flooded for some time.

Just before the MOT, whilst poking my head underneath I saw a cable hanging down, so securely cable tied the O2 sensor wire before it got ripped off.

And sealed up the chipped rear light assembly to stop the water.

The mechanism to release the spare had never been used as far as I could see, so needed a few hard bangs to drop the spare on the ground (it lives on the underside of the boot like the old Maxi's). The spare was unused, and still had the coloured bands around the exterior after 13 years! So that had to go on, pre-MOT, of course.

The wheels had a rust clean up and a couple of coats of black Hammerite.

 

The MOT was passed with 1 advisory, the rear exhaust bracket was broken and the exhaust hanging on by just the back-up grey cable. So I made a temporary bodge by threading plenty of blue wire round the rubber support (indicated by the green arrow) and the exhaust mounting. This bodge stayed in place for the next 9 months whilst waiting for a suitable part to be in stock at Autodoc. The first part to arrive was broken, so had to go back, and then they had no stock!

Then it was on to a general clean under the bonnet.

Afterwards

The next job was moving on to cleaning the misty and cloudy fog lights. Straight forward for the near side, front off to do the driver's side.

 

 

There was no evidence of a cam belt change, so with the probability it was 13 years old, it got changed by my friend/mechanic. New water pump etc, coolant and aux belt too. Afterwards the engine felt much smoother, especially at motorway speeds.

 

Something I noticed after it rained and the hatch was opened, was drips of water. I removed the plastic trim inside the hatch, and thought it was coming through the Clio badge. The badge could be unclipped/prised out, so I added some sealant around the old rubber seal. This seems to have solved the problem.

While all these improvements were being made during the first 4 months of my ownership, I was also drying out the wet foam on the front bulkhead/firewall. I did this by lifting up the foam at the floor and getting as much air into to it as possible. The musty smell has gone, and the interior is now all dry. There is still some condensation during the winter months, but I expect that, with what is now a 15 year old car.  

 

I bought some new rubbers for the rear quarter lights to replace the flaps of torn rubber when I bought it. Making this small upgrade made a big difference to the feeling of ownership.

For the next MOT, the old noisy 7 year old value tyres were replaced with new Falkens. Driving from the tyre garage to the MOT tester, the right front suspension clonked away a treat, the sound was like loose wheelnuts inside an old steel hubcap. However the car passed with no advisories, even with the original Bridgestone on the rear, I'm pleased to say.

Next up was to investigate the intermittent clonk(s) on the right suspension. Putting the right corner on an axle stand, and the wheel off, and the trolley jack under the hub, I could see and hear the play in the top mount as hub  was lifted. So with help from my friend/mechanic and his tools, I changed the top mount. As well as stopping the clonking, a lot of background noise was removed, so I replaced the left hand top mount as well. This wasn't so straight forward as the drop link nut did not want to come undone, so we had to cut it off and replace the drop link and top mount. Again another reduction in noise from the suspension area. Together with the application of some sound insulation lying around from previous projects, a big reduction in noise, vibration and harshness was made.

 

For the next MOT, just 1 advisory to look into, excessive travel on the handbrake. So it was out with the centre console, and take up the slack. A job I should have done a while back!

Talking of jobs that should have been done earlier, there was the occasional squeak from the front brakes when driving on the motorway, that stopped with a gentle application of the brakes using the left foot. I suspected a sticking caliper pin, and after finding a dry caliper pin, and lubricating it with Ceratec lubricant, the squeaking  has stopped. Another win!

Jobs done recently were to tidy up the plastic wheel trims that had been kerbed. A bit of rubbing down with various grades of wet & dry, and then several coats of Euro Car Parts Aluminium spray, followed by a couple coats of Toolstations clear lacquer. There is a reasonable colour match, and looks OK when walking by, so we'll see how long it lasts. As the trims looked tidier, I refreshed the black Hammerite on the wheels too.  

Its not perfect, with a few imperfections, but perfectly adequate for daily duties and parking in any supermarket car park. 

That brings the story up to date, and all these fixes, improvements means the car is much quieter and smoother on the motorway, and is used regularly for long journeys. The radio can be heard at the default low volume setting and a small amount of wind noise is evident. The Clio is a much nicer and enjoyable drive, keeps up with traffic, with the added bonus of still sipping petrol and doing over 50mpg  

A definite win.

Thanks for reading.

[Brigsy]

Recognise your name off cs! Tidy runabout, cant beat a clio for daily use imo.

Ive not ticked the mk3 box yet, maybe in the future if my blue dci gives up.

 

[vtec-e]

On 24/07/2025 at 16:51, Brigsy said:

Recognise your name off cs! Tidy runabout, cant beat a clio for daily use imo.

Ive not ticked the mk3 box yet, maybe in the future if my blue dci gives up.

 

Spot on. The Clio was my first Renault and I'm pleased with it as you can tell I'd run a dci, but obviously ULEZ dictates it would have to be a EURO 6 engine now. No reason why your dci's shouldn't continue to rack up the miles. The only part that seems to go rusty underneath on the Mk3 is the front subframe to support the radiator, but ask me after the next MOT 😄

[vtec-e]

The Clio joined a few other classics and moderns in the local club for a day of autotesting and other driving tests in the sun. Most fun test of the day was the driver having to thread their way through a series of cones and garages to burst some balloons, with a pillow over their head so they couldn't see! The driver did have a passenger to direct and burst the balloon 😄

Two 6 cylinder engined beauties caught my and others attention, a Rover 95 and pre-war Riley 15/6

Thanks for viewing. 

 

 

 

[vtec-e]

Took the Clio to the local Cookham Classic car show. Originally this C6 was parked next to me in the punters car park, but it was moved to the show area before I could get a picture of it next to the Clio. I have rarely seen one in the flesh

I like old commercials, and wondering what has happened to those old businesses

Possibly the largest car at the show, 1960 Cadillac

Oldest car ? 1922 Bullnose. My friend has a 1924 Austin 12/4 van with a similar engine, a short stroke version of the 12 hp engine.

This Sunbeam might have been older ?

Unbelievably clean Crusader

 

Thanks for viewing

[High Jetter]

Nice spots!

[MrBig]

Looks like a nice show. Was Chris Barrie there? He certainly used to live in Cookham.

[Rust Collector]

Fantastic work on the Clio @vtec-e, it’s great to see a car like that being given some proper care and attention to make it as good as it can be.

I had a 5 door mk3 and it was brilliant as a daily, we have a 3 door mk2 dci now which isn’t quite as practical but is stupidly good fun - I have it earmarked for a refresh as it’s feeling a bit tired now, but is such a good car that I think it’s worth spending some time and money on to make it right.

[vtec-e]

I'd run an older dci if it was possible because most journeys I do are long enough to get a diesel upto temperature. But now that I've reduced the NVH on the 1.2, it 'hums' down the motorway at 70 mph. One big improvement made recently was to put some foam pads where the glovebox lid sits against the rubber stops. The lid wasn't obviously rattling, just slightly loose. The front suspension still has a loose bush somewhere, and the skinny tyres can be heard on rougher surfaces, but I'll live with these issues.

The charm is in the simplicity of the car 😄

[Peter C]

I'm 10 minutes away from Cookham, shame we couldn't hook up.

[vtec-e]

This must have been one of the the biggest local shows in South Bucks, with over 100 vehicles around the cricket field, plus at least a dozen bikes. I was looking out for the MG or Sierra as I was aware you lived close by from some of the M40 shots and your other postings. The show is on each year so may be next year ? 

[vtec-e]

A good result, always pleased to get a pass.

 

I'll record some other improvements / maintenance done last year here, in case it is of use or help to other Clio owners.

One of the weak points on this model of Clio is the front radiator subframe. This is not structural, it sits in front of the 'real' subframe to support the radiator, but will cause an MOT failure if too rusty. This Clio had had a replacement fitted just before I purchased it 3 years ago, but it already had started to rust slightly. So I treated the rust to some Kurust treatment and then a coat of Hammerite. When the weather warms up a bit I'll check the paint, probably at the time I change the oil as the plastic tray is a bit faffy to get off.

Otherwise the underneath of the Clio is surprisingly good, no doubt helped by the relatively low mileage.

A couple of improvements made during the year were to stop the drumming from the glovebox and lid. I thought it was nearside suspension play, but the problem was closer to home. There was no play in the glovebox lid catch, but a couple of pieces  of sticky backed foam made a big difference. Investigating the glovebox further revealed there was play in the bracket that the front lug of the glovebox fits in, so more sticky backed foam was used to remove the play. Now, I'm sure the car is almost as quiet and smooth as when it left the factory, and perfectly OK for long journeys 😄

Thanks for reading