Renault Clio/19 Hybrid Engine Swap

Ceb

hi, just got my hands on a 1993 1.1 renault clio, engine is ruined but the body and interior is spotless!!! heres what i need to know, i have an engine from a 1996 1.4 (1390cc) renault 19, how big a job is it to put this 1.4 engine into the clio and what does it require?

BrianD3

I'd say with such a specific question you'd be as well asking on
www.retro-renault.com

Someone there may have done that engine swap and be able to advise. It *should* be reasonably straightforward but you are almost guaranteed to run into some difficulties. Eg you might find that the 1.1 and 1.4 have a different subframe or something and that the sump on the replacement engine fouls it. Stuff like that.

Mailman

1.4 is an energy engine. 1.1 is an ancient design.
better to buy an identical 1.1 for small money as 1.4 will require a lot of changing to work.

Ceb

this is true brian, im a member of retro-renault but unfortunately i havent been able to log onto the website in days, is it working for you? i know there was a clio available with the 1.4 engine in it and am pretty sure its the same one as was in the 19 but i dont want to have to deal with replacing the gearbox or tampering with the electrics too much

it sure is the energy engine mailman, i fear there may be a lot of work in the change over, id like to have a 1.4 clio though, just for the buzz so with any luck ill have some form of success, i may try find a factory built 1.4 clio ph1 and see what the obvious differences are, if it has the same gear box as the 1.1 i may go for it, i have time to work on it as i have another few cars to be driving in the meantime

BrianD3

Retro-renault not working for me either, just checked it there.

Yes the Clio 1.4 had the same engine as the 19 and there should be no fundamental differences between them. But you'd probably find some finnicky differences if you were putting a 1.4 19 engine into a 1.4 Clio. The fact that you are putting a 1.4 19 engine into a 1.1 Clio increases the chances of grief! As for gearboxes there should be a metal plate on the gearbox saying JB3 or whatever so it shoudld be easy to tell if the box in the 1.4 is the same as the one in the 1.1, I'd imagine they are different but probably still a JBx model gearbox. I will have a look at the Dialogys manuals this evening to see if there is anything which might help.

Ceb

jesus you do know youre stuff brian, are you working for renault by any chance? you a member of the r.r. forum? it would be nice to throw a 1.4 into it but if its too much grief may just stick to an identical one, still cant believe how good the body and interior of this car is, such a shame about the engine but hey

BrianD3

are you working for renault by any chance

Nope, although I sometimes get accused of promoting the brand on this forum!

Not a member of RR either but I have browsed it and the poster "Chris H" seems to be the expert there, probably knows more about 90s Renaults than Renault does!

Ceb

yeah he's a lot of help on there, i believe he's also irish so its good to know the old renaults have a few fans over here, i did at one point work for renault but i got 'let go', can you log onto the r.r forum at all? i have not been able in ages