Welcome to the project.. Been long overdue this one!
:D

Williams Clio Number 281
First reg. 06.01.1994
Previous owners - 6
Purchased by me - November 2008 from West Sussex


GYN/281


It’s hard to know where to start this write-up, having not been hanging around here much for a while. But the short story is that GYN is now back on the road having had some much needed restoration work. I feel I should I should do a bit of catching up is needed owned the car for 3 and a half years but never started a project thread. I have to say it’s very good to have it back as it was off the road all of last year. To start with, Here is a quick summary of the last few years..



Spring 2009


Since I bought 281 it’s spent time on and off the road, it’s been a main car and a second car, leisure mobile and a work horse. It’s hid away in a garage in bits and sat on drives through neglected winters in the cold and the wet. It’s faced the chop on several occasions throughout the difficult past few years and fought off its fair share of offers from observing enthusiasts, keen for one of the last bits of the action.

The truth is that even in the modern times when costs soar and this piece of motoring heritage becomes more impractical, the very nature of owning it becomes more and more important to me. I’ve fought against reason to keep it on several occasions. In a sense it’s now become so much more than just a car to me. It’s gained a symbolic nature and i know that if I sell it it’s probably gone for good. I think as sure as I can be, its here to stay.



Working class hero


I Purchased GYN in the winter of 2008 after looking around for about a year. I had previously owned a mk1 Brooklands Green RT a couple of years earlier which I had enjoyed a lot until the day it strangely disappeared and was never to be seen again. I also have some mechanical experience and knew roughly what I was looking for having done my research and gorging on this site. I settled on this one due to the decent service history and the fact that it had recently been fitted with a re-furbed gearbox and new water pump, hopefully saving me the hassle of sorting these in the near future. At the time the body work looked pretty good apart from a dent in the lower rear quarter. The tires were fresh and it ran and a quick drive proved that it still pulled and handled well so I bought it. Two weeks later I drove it back to Manchester and fell in love along the way.

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Breaking from the norm


First thing I did was service the car and replace the oil and filter, (I Wont ever forget that first filter change either). I did a coolant flush and changed the coolant bottle, but the coolant still turned brown after a short time as predicted. There were a few oil leaks on the engine, mainly coming from the rocker cover but also less seriously from around the sump. The engine didn’t visually look its best compared to others that id seen due to a tatty loom and some minor rust in the bay but I figured I would wait to take on a full rebuild/clean up later on and just changed the rocker cover gasket and the plugs at the time.

The first MOT was a fail due to corroded brake lines, which i replaced myself although I think I may redo them at some point to make them straighter.

On the way to FCS 09, Northy pointed out that my car was pretty bouncy at the front. On returning I took the front suspension out to find a leaking damper on one side and a cracked spring on the other. Both front struts and springs were then renewed along with all the bearings and bushes. I did all the brakes at the same time.





Bouncing to FCS 09


I thoroughly enjoyed driving and got to know the car over the summer of 09. I went to Wales a few times and drove around Anglesey and the evo triangle. I had a few near misses around Cheshire on the lethal lanes that exist around here. There have been the usual few moments of panic, some glitches but mainly just plenty of lightweight and primitive hot hatch induced B road ecstasy. I kept it serviced and though the winter I kept it mostly locked up in the garage that I rented at the time as I had use of another car. Unfortunately I was unable to really commit to doing any improvements over this time due to being too busy and I always have wanted to go full on if I started pulling the thing apart.



One of the few winter ventures


Before I came to FCS 10 I removed all the black plastic trims on the front and repainted them satin black along with the boot trim. The bumper strips were masked off and painted as well. This was a bit of a last minute bit of ghetto styling but it bought the car up a treat and it looked the part sitting next to Carol Anne’s pristine new paintwork.





FCS 2010


I had been inspired by hers as well as Talking fish’s car which went on to win best in show that day. I was really keen to give mine some of the much needed body love that it was deserving and also starting to need quite badly in places despite its deceiving first appearances.



Fresh on the outside, summer 2010


We finished off another summer of problem free motoring together and did a few drives to London and the south all with no issues. Everything of importance on the car seemed sweet and I had managed to just about get it through its MOT although the warnings about the rust were becoming quite stern ones. I was using the car as daily and was loving it but the ever increasing need for serious work became a nag in the back of my mind.

The main problem were the sills, namely the driver side which I had managed to push my finger through sometime earlier in the year, there was some pretty nasty jacking damage which had rusted out and it was obvious that someone had patched the rear of the sill a few years earlier leaving all sorts to the imagination about what might lie beneath.
The dent in the rear driver side quarter had also started bubbling into the rear arch causing some concern as I was hoping to save the arches before it got serious. At the time the other sill showed some surface rust underneath but was not as bad. Also, the bottom of the passenger door had started to go.



Drivers side rear arch, autumn 2010


Towards the end of the year the car spat one of the rear pads while driving home forcing me career through a red light and stop somewhere in the middle of the junction after managing to regain some braking pressure. I was pretty shaken, and admit ably slightly pissed at the cars attempt at self destruction. Knowing the tax and insurance was heading out and having been offered a VW caddy for £100 I parked it at my parents and SORN’d the beast. It proceeded to sit there for nearly 18 months without use.



Watching the rust build on the MOT failing offside sill, winter 2010/11 (on SORN)


Thanks for reading this intro, its good to be back!

PART 2 WILL FOLLOW VERY SHORTLY.. Stay tuned!