1987 Renault GTA :: Gone to a new home

[fiatdaft]

I cheat,i use an obd wifi box transmitting to my iphone ,can be usefull .

[PhilA]

I cheat,i use an obd wifi box transmitting to my iphone ,can be usefull .

 

It's tempting to eventually provide a "translation" on the car- thinking that may be easier as I can gather the output from the vehicle and output it in OBD2 format at a standard socket. The OBD2 logical interface is unified, so should be fairly easy then to add gadgets like yours to the car.

 

--Phil

[PhilA]

Been a while.

 

Haven't gotten very far with anything much lately on the car, but this weekend was supposed to be a bust, with Hurricane Karen headed this way.

 

Welp, Hurricane Karen turned into Tropical Storm Karen, then Tropical Depression Karen, then fell apart and became The Cluster Of Rainclouds formerly known as Karen.

Opened the door yesterday, watching the weather reports... saw this:

20131005_092804 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Expected the worst for today. It just plain didn't happen. 86F/30C with 90% humidity. Felt like a sauna. Bright sunshine.

 

After everything was said and done with lunch, charity benefit, talking to the olds etc, headed down to put a bit of time in on the car.

I'd run it on Friday and the expansion tank had sprouted a beautiful fountain of green coolant. Decided to see if the plastic would take any heat or not, with my trusty BBQ lighter. It did, and now merely dribbles. The engine got up to temperature and held pressure. Mostly.

20131006_160143 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Next up was the usual. Empty half a can of Raid around the vehicle. This was up inside my wheelarch, by the A pillar. Was doused and removed with extreme prejudice:

20131006_160128 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Made a repair* to the damp-course membrane on both doors with duct tape. Getting to be more tape than vinyl but eh. Whatever works.

20131006_160157 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Put the door card back on. Bonus points for getting duct tape past where the door card finishes.

20131006_160532 by renault9gta, on Flickr

Phone refused to focus because it was so sunny behind the door.

 

Same on the other side:

20131006_161842 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Bolted everything back in to do with the seatbelts and put the rear seat back in. Finally. It's only been sat in a pile in the back for three years now.

20131006_164508 by renault9gta, on Flickr

Yes, yes, yes... one of the rear trim panels is all torn and broken. I know. I'd just forgotten about it. It's back on the to-do list.

 

Packed up and went home, stopping in for beer and a frappucino for the wife. Know I'm in the south. Local beer named after a road, and Starbucks coffee with their slogan for the place that sells it here.

1381100369066 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Brakes have improved a little but still don't inspire confidence. List shortens. Major structural rust on my windscreen wipers too..

 

--Phil

[Jim Bell]

Jeebers. What the hell are those dead animals?

 

Nice thread btw, but I'm never coming back as those wasp-things freak me the fuck out.

[Pete-M]

 

They look like they were these vicious little bastards.

 

[Junkman]

And what are those?

[PhilA]

Polistes annularis. Paper wasps. The one in the picture is the same shape, the ones here are just more black... but, the same beastie. They are evil incarnate.

[beko1987]

Fuuuuuuuck that! I'd swiftly move to the 'brand new OMGPCPBOGGOSPECTOASTER' camp and NEVER look under the buggar if that could fall out of there!

[PhilA]

Oh, and there were spiders. Quite big ones. I just didn't get a photo (black widow with a body the size of a 5p piece, legspan of a ping-pong ball

 

They are the reason you have to get a vehicle steam-cleaned before export..

 

 

--Phil

[Jim Bell]

I hope you stamped all the spiders heads in.

 

Anything with more than 4 legs should be killed with fire. On sight. Including One Direction.

 

Great thread though. More insect stories pls.

I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway.

[beko1987]

No pics of spiders though please! Dead wasps the size of my bollocks is one thing, spiders another

[PhilA]

Spurred on by reading about cars, drove down to the Renault this evening. Pushed it out into the late afternoon sunshine. Familiar sight.

20131011_171750 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

The old heap of junk isn't aging gracefully. Tried to remove the strip under the rear window and was greeted by CRUNCH

Mmmh, the corner of my window has turned into bran flakes. Need something to halt that, then .. ideally get that removed and a new bit welded in. That'll be fun.

20131011_171805 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Oh well. Turned my attention to the paint. Again, the reason for the original respray- the factory paint has cracked up and gone porous. Looks like a dried up riverbed close up.

20131011_171731 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Began to rub it back with 800-grit and a constant stream of water from the hosepipe.

Discovered a miniature ding in the corner, so small it doesn't show up on the camera. I only noticed it because the paint rubbed back and left an O of primer in a sea of bare metal.

20131011_172239 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Some lovely* bodyshop person has marked it for repair by scratching through it with a screwdriver, or possibly a machete. The score marks went pretty deep into the metal:

20131011_173822 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

 

Rubbed and rubbed back to bare, shiny metal. Found the cans of paint I'd bought last year:

20131011_173845 by renault9gta, on Flickr

Sellador para Uso General!

 

Threw on a coat of white once the primer was dry (about 2 mins, it was 28C out)

20131011_174640 by renault9gta, on Flickr

My camera hates white paint

 

It's relatively straight. Needs rubbed back and another coat, but by that time it was starting to get dark.

20131011_174426 by renault9gta, on Flickr

Fear my awsum camrafone skilz.

 

It's not much, but it's a step in the right direction, and colour.

 

Paging Vulgalour, Vulgalour to the courtesy desk please, your painting is required, thankyou!

 

--Phil

[mouseflakes]

I hadn't really taken in the fact that this is a two door before now. I like it.

 

Looks the buzzness.

 

Wasps see? Buzzness, wasps. Buzzing wasps.

[vulgalour]

You don't need my help, looks like you're doing just fine on your own and tackling it in the same way I would.  You've probably told me this before, but should this car be silver?  I'd be tempting to just get some wheel paint if that's the case, might be cheaper, certainly seems to be over here at any rate and it's ideal if you're not too fussed about a perfect match.  Mind you, so's Hammerite.

[PhilA]

You don't need my help, looks like you're doing just fine on your own and tackling it in the same way I would.  You've probably told me this before, but should this car be silver?  I'd be tempting to just get some wheel paint if that's the case, might be cheaper, certainly seems to be over here at any rate and it's ideal if you're not too fussed about a perfect match.  Mind you, so's Hammerite.

 

It's meant to be Sterling, a nice airy light silver, very much like cheap cutlery.

 

It's my toy so I'll paint it the way I want it (until I get bored of it), potatochop from aeons ago:

Renault rally colours by renault9gta, on Flickr

1987 Acropolis rally colours. It'll be all-white initially, as yellow seems to go on best over white and it's the base colour for the car.

 

 

Because I can.

 

--Phil

[Jim Bell]

Awesome work fella.

[Junkman]

Fuuuuuuuck that! I'd swiftly move to the 'brand new OMGPCPBOGGOSPECTOASTER' camp and NEVER look under the buggar if that could fall out of there!

 

I'd swiftly move to England. On the next ship.

[PhilA]

I'd swiftly move to England. On the next ship.

 

Nope. I'll take the wasps over scrappers with a hiab.

 

If I'd left all my stuff out over there as I can here, it'd have been gone the first evening. Including the car.

 

 

No thanks. I can spray these with nerve poison and get rid of them.

 

--Phil

[Junkman]

I leave my cars and stuff out all the time.

Those bleedin alloys were sitting in my driveway until I finally took them to the tip myself after six odd weeks.

I put three bicycles out there a few weeks ago. Today I finally had enough and took them to the tip as well.

Nobody takes anything away in England, unless you pay him to do it.

I couldn't live door to door with those nasty looking insects for a second though.

[Pillock]

 

No thanks. I can spray these with nerve poison and get rid of them.

 

Apparently the same works on "legitimate metal recycling operatives" too.

I suppose if it's legal methods you're on about, well that might be different.

[Ian Nexus]

I was stung by one of those wasp things that had attempted to take up residence in my old Toyota, it felt like getting electrocuted, my arm swelled up like michelin man, it wasn't a pleasant introduction to the deep south at all, I have gotten used to the insects and snakes here now.

[Jim Bell]

Wasps should eat spiders then the snakes should eat the wasps.

 

Then I could just shoot the snakes.

[PhilA]

Then you get these little thieves, that are worse than magpies because they can open doors and drawers to steal shiny things. They have a fascination with shiny things.

 

Ian, I know what you mean about the stings, and being electrocuted is a god description. All the insect life here is bad tempered.

 

-Phil

[Junkman]

What do you do to avoid those critters then? Buy everything in flat back?

[PhilA]

Not much, other than "out of sight, out of mind" tends to work. I sat and watched that one unscrew the lid off a water bottle because it had a bright silver metal cap.

It lived at a friend's house for a while, she fed it off a bottle after its mother was killed by a car. Once it was old enough, it was released, then the house tidy-up began, finding all manner of sweets wrappers, paperclips, coins in little stashes- behind the couch, in-between cushions.. you name it.

 

Cute but destructive! Raccoon aren't too bad, they generally tend to clear off when people turn up. Possum and alligators... those are just walking teeth. Avoid.

 

--Phil

[Jim Bell]

That looks friendly enough.

 

Kill that one last.

[Ian Nexus]

I managed to get stung by one of those red wasps again yesterday, it attacked me while a was refueling the weed wacker at my mother in laws. Now nursing a painful swollen arm...its things like this make me miss England's safer insects!

[PhilA]

I managed to get stung by one of those red wasps again yesterday, it attacked me while a was refueling the weed wacker at my mother in laws. Now nursing a painful swollen arm...its things like this make me miss England's safer insects!

 

Do what I do. Never work in an area they are known to be without a can of RAID that's full and will make a decent jet of spray.

 

--Phil

[PhilA]

Alrighty then... *deep breath*  .. where were we?

 

Oh yeah. Somewhere last year. I stuck the interior in it and threw a bit of paint on. Now there's progress.

 

The weather's suitably shite today.

 

20140128_102913_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

What better day, off work because the roads are going to freeze (I don't think Southern Louisiana even owns a gritter truck) so went check on mother-in-law's house and decided to see if the car would spin over.

 

20140128_103730_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

 

Got it all opened up, fluids checked..

 

Greeted by Angry Cold Lizard in the the door jamb.

 

20140128_103133_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Engine's still there. My photograph skillz* are still most excellent also. (I was shivering with the cold, the wind chill was about -5)

20140128_103433_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Forgot that I'd not disconnected the battery. It was dead flat.

 

20140128_103447_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Primed the fuel system by jumpering the fuel pump relay contacts. Whatever greb was in the lines, coupled with air etc should in theory pump back to the tank and mingle with the year-old fuel.

 

 

20140128_104333_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

With the relay removed... I shot a little video.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSbnxGP8uDE

 

Not bad, really.

 

To prove it, I drove to the end of the driveway.

 

20140128_105552_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Heater still works also, really very well. The where-the-air-goes flaps seem to have decided to stop working properly though. Another thing to look at on the list.

 

Locked up, tucked away but not forgotten about, again.

 

Hopefully work resumes shortly this year. The fact it starts and runs and drives and steers and kinda stops fills me with confidence* that it should be good to drive about in.

 

 

--Phil

[PhilA]

Had a brief moment this evening to do things, so drove down to mother-in-law's whilst bread dough was rising.

 

Unfortunately, it was also dark. Impromptu spotlights:

20140130_181230_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Grabbed the 8mm and the 10mm spanners (I'm surprised at my memory sometimes) and pulled the idle stop motor and the intake lid off:

20140130_181240_W 107th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

The throttle stop had jammed due to inactivity, the intake hat thing has a small bimetallic strip device valve thingy which operates the hot-cold flap (oo-err) inside the airbox. I purchased a spare one. That left dangling wires and a gaping hole, so I need to bring that back tomorrow before the engine fills up with lizards.

20140130_181255_Louisiana 3235 by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Brought that lot home and took the idle stop motor apart to inspect for problems. Grease was still all good from when I'd sorted it last time. Motor had jammed up though and freed off with a small SNAP when I twisted it with my pliers.

20140130_184041_W 25th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

Reassembled and put it onto a 12V power supply. It now.. moves. In a slightly disconcerting way.

 

Replaced the piece with the broken off pipe:

20140130_185753_W 25th St by renault9gta, on Flickr

 

...and as an afterthought checked that the "foot off the gas" switch was still working. Hold thing, hold camera, and SHAKE WHILST PRESSING SHUTTER BUTTON

20140130_190446_W 21st St by renault9gta, on Flickr

Yup, just under one-fifth of an Ohm. That'll work.

 

Tomorrow, refit, if all goes well. Hopefully before the sun goes down.

 

--Phil