Renault Clio MK1 1.4 RT

Let me start with a backstory.

And an apology for the bad English and all the errors I made in typing this blog.

Clio

I started working as an apprentice at a local Fiat dealership. When one day an elderly lady drove in for a service on her car. At first the Clio was nothing special, until I took a sit in it and looked at the dashboard. I was quite astonished when i saw that it only had 15 k KM on the clock and lets not forget that the car is from 1995. As a apprentice I didn’t get the chance to drive it, but it was quite something to see an older car (as old as me) with so little KM on it. Back then I said to my co-workers “If I had the chance to buy this car, I wouldn’t even think about it”.

Let’s skip to about a year later. It was in August this year, it was a Saturday and I was working that day. The clock was soon to be 12 and I was ready to go home after a boring day at work when out of nowhere came an tow and on it an Clio that had it’s front end damaged. I looked at it and realised that it was the same Clio that I drooled over. And at that moment I was determined to buy it!

Clio

Dashboard. Proof that it has low km.

Clio at home, still in rough shape

And so came the time to take it apart and assess the damage. At first it didn’t seem much but as I started to take it apart I saw it was more than I imagined.
Both of the lights were smashed, the bonnet would even open completely, the bumper was barley keeping on and the front cross member was damaged beyond repair. Both “quarter panels” are slightly bent and in need of straightening.
But unfortunately it didn’t stop there :(. The radiator and cooling fan were both mangled and pressed against the engine, and at the process of doing that the radiator hit the servo pump and cracked it in half, and leaked quite badly.

Without the bonnet, fenders, bumper and lights.

Without the cross member.

And then started the long process of searching for parts. Today I put the new-old servo pump on, and the new radiator on and connected all the hoses.

Now all it needs is servo oil and engine coolant. And a new cooling fan as they gave me the wrong one.

So far the car has cost me around 250-300 €. Not all the parts are new. Most of them are from the wreckers. And at this moment I would like to thank the donor car for giving it’s parts.

Left side of the car. Slightly bent.

Car finaly back together.

In a couple of days it’ll be off to a friend of mine, a ex co-worker to get it straightened and put together as it should be. And then to a paint shop to get the colour matched and painted as the donor car wasn’t the same colour. I’ll do an update as the car get’s back from the body shop and it’s bonnet and bumper is attached when it looks like a whole car again.

That’s it for now as this is as it sits now in front of my house. I’ll keep you updated as I progress with the repair and do some nice pictures when it’s finished and detailed. If you have any questions i’ll answer them as soon as I get a chance. And again sorry for my English as it isn’t perfect.