My Clio's dying :(

[Lowe]

Rust.. lots of it.

It's all on the inside and has got to the point that it probably won't be worth saving. Took it to the body shop this weekend and the guy was like 50/50 whether to save her or not. He's gotta get some prices of basicly the whole front end and then from that I can work out what to do. He took the splash guard off the passenger side and then couldn't fix it back in place since the clips were pushing into rust.

Gutted.. such a shame since she's virtually mint on the outside.

So.. what to do.. Save her, get another Clio and convert that, or something entirely different.

[5lab]

volvo t5. it'd be nearly as quick as your clio is now, and thats at stock. or you could get a 850r which is quicker still, but loads more cash. probably wont rot like a clio.

or just drive her till she fails an mot

[Zak33]

sad days

[Zak33]

volvo t5. it'd be nearly as quick as your clio is now, and thats at stock.

not quite chap... that Clio is fearsome fast

[[GSV]Trig]

Get another Clio, 3 door tho, get stripped out totally to bare shell, get it all seam welded then swap the bits over...

[Shad]

Well speaking from personal experience, it's a tough choice. When I was presented with the facts and the figure somewhat larger than the value of the car just to restore the bodywork, I had to think about it too.

If it was me I'd probably throw money at it. I'm glad I did with mine. But at the end of the day, it might be time for a change. After all it's been a fun project car and a great learning experience. But maybe it's time to lay her to rest.

You could always get something and drop a B16 turbo in it

[Lowe]

Tempted Trig, problem is I'd take on the problems of that car, past present and future.. The thing with my Clio is I know she's sound - everything's blummin brand new on her!

The idea of buying a poverty spec 1.2 RN though and converting that could be funny, but there's the suspension and brakes, interior etc.. it wouldn't be a 5 minute job. The engine conversion's going to cost about 450 quid, but I'd probably need new suspension (4 different types on Clios). Brakes would be "easy" enough to swap over, as is the interior. But if there was anything wrong elsewhere I'd have to budget for that as well...

[[GSV]Trig]

If u strip it down to rolling shell u'll know the state of it tho n then decide just how far ur gonna go with it...
Its never a 5 minute job with anything tho chap...

As for the conversion, u've got 1 car with the bits already, wheres the conversion costs coming from?

tbh its gonna b a case of fixin urs as u know the problems/good bits, or take the risk with something else....

[5lab]

how fast is the car? id have thought you'd struggle to get much more than 200hp out of that ikkle renault engine?

if all the rust is underneath then it might be easy to sell

[McMav]

conversion cost I think he's meaning swapping the engine and stuf over.

[Lowe]

Cost is mainly the wiring and the time it'd take them to do the job and the disposal of the other car/engine. The majority of the work is done, as I think it'd just be a case of swapping the subframe over.

[Lowe]

how fast is the car? id have thought you'd struggle to get much more than 200hp out of that ikkle renault engine?

if all the rust is underneath then it might be easy to sell

Power to weight is the key, not out and out power.

It's 150-160bhp with about the same in torque, but only weighs 800kg. Do the maths...

[5lab]

aye, that will be pretty nippy. but not a world of difference from 250hp in 1400kg, surely?

anyways, i can see why you wouldnt want a t5 (if you like your go-cart-esq cars), i was just saying.

budget permitting, how would a mini suit ya?

[Lowe]

Can't fit in Mini's, I'm too big. Clio's are about as small as I dare go lol.

T5 would be nice, but a sod to run. The Clio is fairly cheap to insure (450 quid) it's not too bad on fuel since I only do small mileage ('bout 10-15 miles a day) and believe it or not it's reliable. Sure daft stuff breaks but it keeps on rolling which is the important bit. And, should something big break, it's dirt cheap to replace.

[Skii]

Turning japanese I think I'm turning japanese I really think so

da dah da dah dah dah dah

CRX ?

[Butuz]

Damn thats sad news. Maybe time for a complete change? Pick up a real nice S13 200sx 1.8t with some mods for under 2 grand, ripe for moding, insurance not too bad either.

Butuz