Body side protectors

[ChrisM]

Sparky: I got mine from Hot Tuning an ebay shop for £89 + post totalled at £104 only took 3 days to arrive, well worth it. fits fine
Here is their shop link, drop em a line see if they have anymore coming in.
https://stores.ebay.co.uk/Hottuning-eu

Will: we got rid of Renault around 2002/03 ish due to thier attitude towards the dealer, They put thier cash into the clio sport at the time, just like they did the williams clio, the rest where crap suspension, far to soft, people would test drive the Megs classics and hatches buy them and be back two weeks later asking us to check the ride as it rolls every where, they where brand new cars, and the Coupe well why would you make a car that looks rather sporty then put saloon suspension on it, if you change that suspension for a spax kit WHAT a differance, that little Coupe handles a treat, cost the owner around £350, how much would that have cost Renault? they would have doubled thier sales on the little Coupe, the guy that looks afte rmy Renaults (cambelts etc) drives an 05 1.6 hatch and he says the same yep to soft really, the impresion we always had from Renault the people that bought the williams clio drive hard the rest just want a soft comfortable ride, I once brought a Safrane with full comfort pack back from a dealer in Liverpool, what a superb drive along the motorwaym it felt like it was gliding along, once off the motorway an onto A roads well it bounced, rolled, dipped and lurched every where, we found out this was due to its comfort pack soft suspension to give the ocupants a super smooth ride ( Renault Technical blurb) thier answer remove it and fit standard suspension!, I did drive an 07 CC a few months back that we stupidly bought from an auction (why buy something like this I have no idea) it had 43k on it but did feel remarkably stiffer than mine so perhaps Renault have upped the suspension on them, considering mine had 41k on it when I bought it, perhaps the upgrade was more than just lamps, bumpers and some interior changes.
Driving home last night I tried to think what it reminds me of - and it is a low loader, but the one that carries two cars, it tips one up and the 2nd car is driven under the rear wheel of the first one, truck drives ok in a straight line, and around a bend unless you have to brake, or change direction in that bend or a gust of wind hits it, then you feel the suspension working hard to control the high up weight and stop it rocking, well my CC feels the same with the roof on, as I have said before I think this is why Renault have given the Meg such a large gap between the wheel and wheel arch to allow for that roll, mine has 16" wheels and they look like I have "found" a set from a smaller car t oput on, EOS, Astra TT, or the pugs don't have this large gap, I wonder why. Not so sure on your fix either Will, if you had bought the 07 CC we had I am afraid it wouldn't have been a good fix, in fact heap of junk springs to mind! we should NEVER have touched it just let another dealer buy it obviously didn't learn from the twin top auto we had.
As for the MR2 I think many years ago that would have been called a Targa top, where front and rear screen stay in place, know a few people who have owned MR2,s fantastic little car almost faultless, but when that engine breaks EXPENSIVE! and to work on a complete pig, typical rear engine car (well mid they like to call it) roof off now is such a luxury isn't it, press a button and off it goes into the boot in seconds you just sit and watch, most engergetic thing you will do is hold your finger on the button. Many years ago as a single man I had an MG (rubber bumper model) what a pain in the bum, manually take it down undoing prestuds on the rear unclamping the screen clips, push it back, if you didn't put the cover over it it bounced and made anoying noises, and if it rained you got soaked fighting with the stupid presstuds and broke nails rushing to fix them in place, and it froze you in the winter along with the defening wind noise from the canvas roof, and IT LEAKED from the side windows when parked and from the top of the screen on the move, now I am a lot older pressing a button is much nicer, my wife still ducts as well it is quite amusing to watch..

[willholdsworth]

When I said new, I meant slightly less than 40 odd k on the clock....
last year I bought my 59 plate, 15k on the clock, and I pay £238 a month for it. I am waiting for this to come down in price a little...

[ChrisM]

Afraid I would have to wait a VERY long time for it to come into my price range in fact I may be dead by that time
£238! wow to our house hold that is a lot of cash just to pay for a car, we usually go for around £140 a month but when the recession hit we cashed in a savings plan as it was giving us a massive 0.05% interest, we needed a another car for me so stuff it cashed it in and now I pay £150 into a bank account for the next one, we aim to keep 3 years to next car syndrome it actually means I keep Meg for 6 years bought meg pay money back to account in 3 years, buy wifes car, pay money back again 3 years buy my next car. so we are on a 6 year rotation per person, which is why I was so disapointed last year with my Meg and the cost of its breakages, we should make a bit of cash on the wifes changes after her Coupe goes as she does the lesser miles in the family, but mine well staying where I CC started with 41 on her will get rid at the end of year 6 (or before) will show around 150k, market value possible around £800/£1000 maybe, tried an old banger to do the run but it just cost time and money to keep repairing it and the hassle of it stopping on the expressway and creeping from layby to layby to get home (done it with an old Escort)
Er in doors has another 12 months ish in her 99 meg coupe bought at £5k around 7 years ago with just 7k on the clock and has virtually not put a foot wrong in that time I may have a bit of a struggle to get her out of it, in Capsicum Red with 15" OZ Gran Turismo wheels, and its stock spoiler, deffinatly looks the sporty part, very low geared so it flies around the B roads and lanes to work for her, not much cop on the motor/express way over revs at around 75mph, must say will be quite sad myself to see it go, someone will have a superb bargin!
Love the image though looks quite volvo ey from the rear, love the rims, wheels look like they fit the arches and it doesn't look from this angle half as bulbus as the old one looks tighter and smoother like the EOS, and what is that little thing inbetween the rear headrests, is that its wind break? bit like the Audi TT, press a button and up it pops, wicked!

[continentalgt]

Unfortunately didn't pick the CC up today as planned, apparently it's with a Renault garage having the airbag fault light sorted. Salesman said something about them having to replace a spring behind the clocks, sounds very strange to me but there you are.
Anyway hopefully picking it up Saturday, one of the first things I want to do is clean the roof seals and apply some rubber seal silicone from Halfruds. Is it OK to stop the roof opening in any position to give better access?
I remember trying out a 307cc a few weeks ago and the sales guy was getting paranoid about not taking your finger off the button until the roof was fully open/closed, said it could screw up the ecu software.

[willholdsworth]

Is it OK to stop the roof opening in any position to give better access?

Yup I do it all the time to clean the back window and generaly clean that kind of area, it may beep to tell you there is an error. I dont leave it to long though, no more than 15 mins in that position

[willholdsworth]

Afraid I would have to wait a VERY long time for it to come into my price range in fact I may be dead by that time
£238! wow to our house hold that is a lot of cash just to pay for a car,

Yeah it is quite a bit of money, but compared to fueling an RS 197 ( tend to drive with foot flat because its sooo rapid and allot of fun) and the insurance its quite high, I am actually saving money. Its also the benefit of not worrying about MOTs etc and also repairs are done under warrenty, thats more or less what Im paying for. Its nice to have that security.

Heres my old pride and joy on display at Silverstone ( Renault world series) last year ....

[ChrisM]

Very nice! I remember us getting a Clio was it 172 cup? in as a part ex, the girl took away a 1.4 Clio!!!! wow how slow is that going to feel, but we took it around the car park behind the theater in Llandudno (was our Renault dealer now our Honda dealer) boy was that fun it was sooooo quick and handled like a dream it came in and went out the next day SOLD in one day, twas a blue one.
Continentalgt: Air bag warning light and spring behind the clock, think the salesman means the clock spring behind the steering wheel, which in some models has an airbag conector on it so it will possibly have a new switch behind the steering wheel inside the column cover, your indicator and wiper stalks also attach to this "spring" which is usally incased in a round plastic cover., and your roof I also half open mine as well, to lub all joints/seals and clean back window, it is much easier this way, but I leave my engine running, just watch where you put your arms, You never know! Reason behind running engine my Renault guy is not sure if the car does a system check on startup if the roof is half open it may flag a fault, so I just leave engine running, but even then it will close or open itself depending at what stage you stopped it after a certain amount of time so the haydraulic system does not over strain itself holding it there, like I said watch where you put your arms!

[continentalgt]

ChrisM. Oh right I assume we are talking about some sort of spring that gives in the event of impact and triggers the airbags

[willholdsworth]

Very nice! I remember us getting a Clio was it 172 cup? in as a part ex, the girl took away a 1.4 Clio!!!! wow how slow is that going to feel, but we took it around the car park behind the theater in Llandudno (was our Renault dealer now our Honda dealer) boy was that fun it was sooooo quick and handled like a dream it came in and went out the next day SOLD in one day, twas a blue one.

I bet that was a slow change for her! Yeah the cup was only ever made in that blue colour with muli spoke alloys (turinis) I had a 172 but it was a pearl black full fat (all the bells an whistles) minus the cup suspension, that was great fun to, although the 197 was deffinatly quicker, although some may argue that, mostly those who havnt owned a 197. It was deffinatly comfier and more tech to play with!

[ChrisM]

No, it is a small explosive, that inflates & ejects the air bag, usually covering you in a talcumpowder type substance, they are usually triggered by sensors in the front of the car, some have inertia triggers others impact triggers it depends on the manufacturer and where they are mounted, you are not allowed to post airbags, or dispose of them in skips etc because of there explosive nature, we have a special firm that collects them, if they have to be returned the manufacture sends a container for us the return them, some seat belt anchors are the same but we can "explode" them with a length of cable and a battery, I belive when one goes off there is quite a bang.
Some thing a lot of people do not know about air bags as well if you sit to close to the wheel they are far less effective, bordering on zero in some cases, as the bag does not inflate fully before you hit it, plus there is a very good chance of the cover breaking your nose as it pops off.

see here for example of a clock spring

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SEAT-LEON-1-8T-CU ... 5adfe15f73

Some have casing around them to connect your stalk switches to, just depends on what manufacturer you are with. Kia do th ewhole tihng includung switches, suszuki do just the spring and casing for you to screw the switches to, they are all differant but inside do the same thing.
Hope it makes sense.

[ChrisM]

Will that was the only 172 we ever saw, there where a few knocking around but not bought from us nor serviced by us, perhaps they needed a spealist service center bit like the EVO,s we can sell a new EVO but we can't repair or service it as we are not RallyArt qualified, we are not allowed one in the showroom but a customer can order one and pick it up from us we can PDi it, after that we can not touch it if it is to keep its warranty, we can not even order the tools t orepair it as you need a rally Art center number, which we don't have even thought we are a Mitsi dealer.
Biggest joke was the EVO 9 considering the above, they brought 3 to us to hold a 3 day test drive, which customers came and got a ride in one with a driver then you got to try it yourself, they brough thier own tecs and thier own parts, every night the cars where serviced in our Mitsi workshop and thrashed the next day, and so on, we did notice none of them had chassis numbers! after the 3 days off they went to the next venue, plod turned up around 5 days later with a picture and a reg number which could not be varified on the DVLA, when we rang the EVO team they told us to give a telephone number to plod and forget it, nothing will be done as the cars do not exsist, there are no chassis numbers and no build numbers and fake plates which the DVLA issued to Mitsi for the test drives, crackin, 130mph down the A55 on Anglesey at 7pm in the evening was a superb feeling if w ehad known at the time no tickets then we would have pushed it harder, question is I supose why us we are not Rally Art dealers, supose it was becasue we are the only Mitsi dealer in a good few hundred miles.
Once all the UK had been covered the cars where taken back to Mitsubishi and crushed, what a waste of a non exsistant car. only ever came to us with the 9, never seen them again or before for that matter.

[continentalgt]

No, it is a small explosive, that inflates & ejects the air bag, usually covering you in a talcumpowder type substance, they are usually triggered by sensors in the front of the car, some have inertia triggers others impact triggers it depends on the manufacturer and where they are mounted, you are not allowed to post airbags, or dispose of them in skips etc because of there explosive nature, we have a special firm that collects them, if they have to be returned the manufacture sends a container for us the return them, some seat belt anchors are the same but we can "explode" them with a length of cable and a battery, I belive when one goes off there is quite a bang.
Some thing a lot of people do not know about air bags as well if you sit to close to the wheel they are far less effective, bordering on zero in some cases, as the bag does not inflate fully before you hit it, plus there is a very good chance of the cover breaking your nose as it pops off.

see here for example of a clock spring

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SEAT-LEON-1-8T-CU ... 5adfe15f73

Some have casing around them to connect your stalk switches to, just depends on what manufacturer you are with. Kia do th ewhole tihng includung switches, suszuki do just the spring and casing for you to screw the switches to, they are all differant but inside do the same thing.
Hope it makes sense.

Yes thanks you just beat me to it, found an article on another forum that had piccys albeit from a saloon, apparently the "clock spring" on a Megane refers to a ribbon cable that winds and unwinds as the steering wheel turns in either direction. Apparently it detaches causing the service indicator and airbag fault lights to illuminate.
The poster said that failure is usually preceded by rubbing/scraping noises as the steering wheel is turned.
Would have posted the link to help others only it's a different forum and might not be the thing to do.
Looks like a new one costs around £150 so glad I spotted that one on the test drive