Renault 5 Prima Campus Restomod Project
Discussion
So today I took the first step in beginning restoring and modifying my 1994 Renault 5 Prima Campus. I have had this for the last 15 years and it was my first car, bought with 16k miles from a little old french lady. I drove it everywhere, putting 40k+ miles on it in 3 years before moving onto something newer.
Unfortunately the car was only intermittently used after the first 3 years of ownership before finally being parked in my parents back garden for good around 6 or 7 years ago where it has slowly deteriorated.
I have thought about doing something with the car for a while now but between work and moving away for a while it hasn't been realistic.
The car was covered in mould and the sills and front wings were visibly rotten. We dragged it out and pressure washed it before beginning to strip it down and investigate the condition of the shell further.
From a distance the car looks ok but once we started pulling the wings off it was quite clear that parts of the inner wing and headlight panel/front slam panel had completed disappeared and will require patching.
Having taken both front and rear bumpers off and jacked the car up and inspected I am fairly confident the car isn't beyond saving so I have begun ordering replacement sills, front bumper mounting points and wings.
The plan for this will be to build the shell back up with;
- GAZ adjustable coilovers
- seam welded front subframe
- Full polybushing
- GT Turbo rear axle (if I can find one) or the existing axle modified to take discs
- Full roll cage
- Clio 172/182 engine
- Clio 172/182 gearbox with LSD fitted
- Front strut brace
- Clio ECU and full wiring loom
- Undecided on front seats but will remove rears entirely
I originally wanted to use a civic type r engine and gearbox but having researched the clio swap it seemed a much more sensible direction to go in terms of ease (R5 GTX engine mounts work with the clio engine and box etc).
The aim will be to get the car to 800kgs and 200bhp with a fast road/track setup.
Next step is to continue stripping the car out and getting the shell onto a rollover jig for repair work with one eye out for a suitable donor car.
Unfortunately the car was only intermittently used after the first 3 years of ownership before finally being parked in my parents back garden for good around 6 or 7 years ago where it has slowly deteriorated.
I have thought about doing something with the car for a while now but between work and moving away for a while it hasn't been realistic.
The car was covered in mould and the sills and front wings were visibly rotten. We dragged it out and pressure washed it before beginning to strip it down and investigate the condition of the shell further.
From a distance the car looks ok but once we started pulling the wings off it was quite clear that parts of the inner wing and headlight panel/front slam panel had completed disappeared and will require patching.
Having taken both front and rear bumpers off and jacked the car up and inspected I am fairly confident the car isn't beyond saving so I have begun ordering replacement sills, front bumper mounting points and wings.
The plan for this will be to build the shell back up with;
- GAZ adjustable coilovers
- seam welded front subframe
- Full polybushing
- GT Turbo rear axle (if I can find one) or the existing axle modified to take discs
- Full roll cage
- Clio 172/182 engine
- Clio 172/182 gearbox with LSD fitted
- Front strut brace
- Clio ECU and full wiring loom
- Undecided on front seats but will remove rears entirely
I originally wanted to use a civic type r engine and gearbox but having researched the clio swap it seemed a much more sensible direction to go in terms of ease (R5 GTX engine mounts work with the clio engine and box etc).
The aim will be to get the car to 800kgs and 200bhp with a fast road/track setup.
Next step is to continue stripping the car out and getting the shell onto a rollover jig for repair work with one eye out for a suitable donor car.
Cool project. Clio 197 cams go into the 182 engines. Plus an RS tuning remap, that should get you up to 190ish bhp.
Alternatively low boost turbo kits will get you up to 240 bhp.
Saying that, with the weight difference between the Clios and an R5, I’d imagine it’ll go pretty well on a standard 182 engine.
Alternatively low boost turbo kits will get you up to 240 bhp.
Saying that, with the weight difference between the Clios and an R5, I’d imagine it’ll go pretty well on a standard 182 engine.
Gilhooligan said:
Cool project. Clio 197 cams go into the 182 engines. Plus an RS tuning remap, that should get you up to 190ish bhp.
Alternatively low boost turbo kits will get you up to 240 bhp.
Saying that, with the weight difference between the Clios and an R5, I’d imagine it’ll go pretty well on a standard 182 engine.
I had seen those turbo kits and have definitely bookmarked them... I am fairly certain I want to stay N/A purely for how I want the car to drive so more likely things like cams etc. Having said that you can almost guarantee I will want more power at some point...Alternatively low boost turbo kits will get you up to 240 bhp.
Saying that, with the weight difference between the Clios and an R5, I’d imagine it’ll go pretty well on a standard 182 engine.
JJJ. said:
What I interesting project. 170-200 bhp n/a should be really nice. Looking forward to updates.
Thanks, hopefully there will be regular updates to give. I still have my CLK55 to put the finishing touches on and pace will probably be dictated by how easily I can find certain parts to begin with. Currently struggling to find some of the inner wing panels, for example
Fantastic, very much looking forward to this!
I almost ended up with this exact model and colour Renault 5 as my first car in 1994! It was for sale locally at a good price and I thought it was super cool. However, I ended up getting a Peugeot 106 due to my parents negotiating a great trade in deal and free insurance (remember that!?)
Keep the updates coming, I reckon it’ll be a beast with a 172 engine, I had a Clio 172 and a 182 and they were fantastic cars.
I almost ended up with this exact model and colour Renault 5 as my first car in 1994! It was for sale locally at a good price and I thought it was super cool. However, I ended up getting a Peugeot 106 due to my parents negotiating a great trade in deal and free insurance (remember that!?)
Keep the updates coming, I reckon it’ll be a beast with a 172 engine, I had a Clio 172 and a 182 and they were fantastic cars.
AndrewGP said:
Fantastic, very much looking forward to this!
I almost ended up with this exact model and colour Renault 5 as my first car in 1994! It was for sale locally at a good price and I thought it was super cool. However, I ended up getting a Peugeot 106 due to my parents negotiating a great trade in deal and free insurance (remember that!?)
Keep the updates coming, I reckon it’ll be a beast with a 172 engine, I had a Clio 172 and a 182 and they were fantastic cars.
Thanks! I passed my test in 2008 and I assume free insurance for 17 year olds was a distant memory by then. I think the first year to insure the 5 was well north of £1000 for me...I almost ended up with this exact model and colour Renault 5 as my first car in 1994! It was for sale locally at a good price and I thought it was super cool. However, I ended up getting a Peugeot 106 due to my parents negotiating a great trade in deal and free insurance (remember that!?)
Keep the updates coming, I reckon it’ll be a beast with a 172 engine, I had a Clio 172 and a 182 and they were fantastic cars.
jhubs139 said:
I had seen those turbo kits and have definitely bookmarked them... I am fairly certain I want to stay N/A purely for how I want the car to drive so more likely things like cams etc. Having said that you can almost guarantee I will want more power at some point...
Yeah I’d stay N/A. Definitely part of the charm on the 182s anyway. The engines felt surprisingly torquey so will only feel more so in an R5. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff