Renault 6TL "Crapaud"

[Ratdat]

@Ratdat:  Even if it were that bad - and I accept it's a strong possibility with anything old and French - it wouldnt' scare me too much because it looks a simple panel design to repair.  That's an ace picture of your Bluebird too.

 

One good thing is that R4 floorpans fit which makes life a bit easier. Lots of fabrication to do around the chassis legs underneath though but it's mostly flat or quite angular structures.

Look for rot in the ends of the scuttle too. I had to do a fair bit of repair to my mates one there too.

 

[MrDuke]

..........aaaaaaaaand we're back

 

 

Pics will follow when I've finished recovering (started out at 5am) - if I don't recover before dark, you'll get them tomorrow.

 

Fail 1: I forgot to take the camera (not that there was much to snap, see one valley you've seen them all)

 

Fail 2: I left the NOS headlamp and brake discs in the farmer's truck

 

 

Otherwise, fun was had. My Xantia deserves a plaque or monument, or something. Can't believe the clutch still works.

[dollywobbler]

Brilliant! Was wondering how you'd got on. I assume the Dyane is still there?

[MrDuke]

Brilliant! Was wondering how you'd got on. I assume the Dyane is still there?

 

What's left of it, yes - apparently it's already been stripped of desirables and now awaits the scrapman. I caught a glimpse of your friend's 2cv-littered garden on the way out, too

 

Granny is also there, although he seemed confident that it was going very soon.

[vulgalour]

Maximum legend status unlocked for MrDuke who has PM'd me with some extra details and it sounds quite promising.  I certainly wasn't expecting any spare parts to come with the car so that's pretty neat... I'll let MrDuke update us all with his findings.

[skattrd]

Good news on the collection.

Maybe I missed it, but whats the ownership status going to be of the old Renner? Is it a joint affair or is MrDuke looking after collection & storage until there is space @ Vulgalour_towers?

[vulgalour]

MrDuke is caretaker, but I'm owner and the only reason it's not coming to Vulgalour_towers is the lack of space because there are too many Princesses at this particular castle.  Hopefully, the Renault is good enough that MrDuke gets to enjoy it for a bit before Welsh Shitefest when I hope to collect it, initial signs are promising.

[Split_Pin]

Excellent, good to see it's out of that damp grass and of danger. Looking forward to the assessment.

[hairnet]

nutter

 

still nutter

 

and again - nutter

 

[barefoot]

Photos please.....

[wuvvum]

Excelsior.

[MrDuke]

Weary traveller:

 

[Split_Pin]

Aww bless the poor old Ox. Give it a nice bath and an oil change!

[dollywobbler]

Splendid. Any photos of the nearside of the 6? I'm curious to know what it's actually like (but probably not as curious as Vulgalour!)

[MrDuke]

OK - I'm leaving the photo displays to Vulga as it'll be his 'build' thread ultimately, but here's a couple to start you off:

 

 

 

[dollywobbler]

Are the shoes still in it?

[vulgalour]

I hadn't expected it to look that good on that side, that's awesome.  I'm amazed at the three digit phone number too.

[vulgalour]

Curiousity led me to look up Pinged Hill Garage.  The internet is a marvellous tool because it told me it still exists.  The dealer sticker telephone number is still relevant as O1554 89O 436 is the number for Gravells Ltd who are a Kia dealership at the same address in Kadwelly, Carmarthenshire.  Amazing stuff... to me at any rate.  I wonder if this little car has ever actually left Wales?

[MrDuke]

Are the shoes still in it?

 

No, but there's a small sock in the glovebox

[trigger]

A Midgets wank sock?

[HMC]

Fantastic! I know it's not the original colour, but it looks perfect just as it is, just how I imagine them to have been trundling about 80's rural France with an old boy on board.

 

Looking forward to updates!

[500tops]

Love it!

[Squire_Dawson]

Home and dry. Well done.

[vulgalour]

MrDuke (the caretaker) has kindly uploaded a whole raft of pictures and provided me with more details so what follows is a combination of his and my observations.  I really cannot emphasise enough how much of a boon the caretaker is with rescuing this car, without him I could not have made this a possibility.

 

Off the trailer, we get a good look at the side of the car I hadn't even really seen.  I'd overestimated how much damage there was, it really isn't that bad as long as you ignore the wavy gutter.  That front door could be repaired but I'm told by MrDuke that a spare dent and almost completely rust free door comes with the car anyway with what looks to be the correct colour trim card so I needn't have this door repaired if I don't want to.

 

A better look at the other side which we'd already seen.  That front wing has lost a good slab of paint but appears to be otherwise fairly solid.

 

Passenger side from the rear and a hint of that spare door.  Looks like the original Citroen mudflaps are there too, but they're looking a bit worse for wear now.

 

Driver's side from the rear, and again no real horrors of note on the face of things, the car looks nice and straight.

 

MrDuke got under the car to have a look at the underpinnings.  Even the rubber boots look in good order!  There's evidence of a good amount of rust protection and minimal surface rust under here too, we'll know better what's what when it goes up on a ramp.

 

 

Passenger side wing has been knocked about a bit and is losing paint.  Probably sensible to replace it, but in the meantime I think rust treatment and waterproof paint is going to be the best course, I don't want to be wading into a full respray at this point.

 

This gives an idea of the state of the gutters.  There's some crusty corrosion all the way along both sides and this particular spot is the worst of the damage over the passenger front door where it's been crushed.  Gutters, from what I've learned on other build threads and blogs, are a difficult thing to put right.  Again, I think in the short term cleaning, rust treating and waterproofing are the best options rather than worrying about cosmetics but eventually it will get put right properly.  The dent in the roof is going to be tricky to repair but I think I can probably do that if I can peel back some of the headlining in this spot.

 

The bend in the gutter is jamming the door at the moment and the deformed trim is likely not helping.    I begin to wonder if rather than the car having been lifting by its roof if instead it's had something dropped on it like a beam of wood or something.

 

Let's take a look inside, shall we?  From what I've learned, the 6 is notorious for rotting out where the inner arches meet the boot floor.  On this 6, that seems not to have happened.  Here's the passenger side.

 

Boot floor is exceptionally clean.

 

The driver's side isn't quite as good and there appears to be some substantially sized plates rivetted on which will need investigating at some point.  Not entirely sure what's going on with that so hopefully someone with more 6 knowledge can shed some light on this.  I know the petrol filler neck is on this side and that they throw road dirt up into the C pillars so I'm wondering if it's related to trapping dirt and rotting out here.  Looks like it's been repaired a long time ago.

 

From MrDuke himself "all the gears can be selected fairly easily (the horizontal-shift is just awesome) so no gremlins there, and I've discovered a NOS fanbelt under the seat (hopefully it won't have suffered too much in the wet). Handbrake seems to be functioning OK too, although I won't leave it on for fear of seizure. Rear seats fold & unfold perfectly, seatbelts seem fine (no inertia reels to worry about), windows all go up & down smoothly, and all switchgear is present and intact. Aside from the warping on the door-cards, I can't see any actual damage to the interior trim other than the dash fascia and boot liners, and assuming the mould hasn't discoloured the vinyl I think it should clean up very nicely indeed. "

 

The dash fascia is crumbly so it sounds like the plastic has degraded beyond the point of salvaging and the rear arch plastic trims - there just to protect the paint - are typically fragile.

 

The car has only done a meagre 31,000 miles which is probably why it's so good overall.  The French are very good at interesting dashboards and I really like the look of this one.

 

Pinged Hill Garage is now a Kia Dealership, located in Carmarthenshire.  It's likely this little Renault which was sold in South Wales and presently resides in North Wales has never actually left the land of Daffodils and singing.

 

This could also explain a lot on the lack of rust front.  It's not a system I've heard of before, but I suspect they're all much of a muchness.

 

 

That's a fairly comprehensive look at things I think.  These pictures have made me feel even more confident about this little car.  The thing to hope for now is that the chassis is moderately sound and that the floor pans don't need too much work, I'm not going to make any predictions on that score because I can't sensibly do that.  MrDuke will be getting the car up on a ramp to find out what's going on underneath and if there are any concerns that need addressing.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the shabby paint is actually the original now that I've seen the above and I also wouldn't be surprised if the reason the brakes don't work is down to sticky caliper pistons or something similarly simple to resolve.

 

Originally I didn't regard this car as a barn find, but I'm wondering if I need to change my mind on that.  It's a rare, low mileage, reasonable condition little classic that has actually spent a long time in a barn and judging by the prices of the few pristine examples that do come up I could be looking at something that's worth a bob or two when it's all sorted.  That said, I didn't rescue this to make money, I rescued it because I could and it looked like it deserved it.

[mouseflakes]

Yo Volksalour & MrDuck,

 

My 6 needed sum weldz where those riveted plates are on yours - bit since it's not a monocoque (snigger) I wouldn't have thought the plates here would be an issue? Having said that - I was once failed for rot on a bolt-on panel at the front - it's not even there on the R4 (simply bolted to the front of the chassis to close the gap to the front panel). I argued with the guy (well, asked him if it really should fail since the panel was only bolted on) - he said he'd fail a Metro for rot in the panel under the front bumper so he'd fail my R6 for the same. I couldn't be bothered arguing so just took it home and welded it.

 

The rot on the rear of mine had got through to the outside - it was rotten just to the rear of those vents on the C-pillar. Your's looks a bit better than that.

 

If the rear trailing arm mounts are solid then that'll be a great bonus. Fingers crossed!

 

Does look like it's been lifted - but I think your approach (clean up and rust proof and worry about the appearance later) is the best way to go.

 

The dash on the R6 is great - all asymmetrical and slopey.

 

Good work fellas!

[Ratdat]

It doesn't look too bad at all. I'd prioritize repairing that roof though. If it rots there or leaks through the seams it'll be bad news in future. I would say just pull the headlining out and try to get as much damage out as possible. I'd also pull any floor coverings out ASAP if they are wet.

 

A chap down my road has a beautiful restored R6 850. He did have a load of parts but I think he may have sold most of them now, however I'll ask when I see him next. You've probably have seen his car on RCCC.

[PhilA]

Full of awesome and win.

 

It does look sound. Even though it was full of water... that's partly a good sign, because if it's all full of big holes, the water would all fall out*.

 

My only eyebrow raiser is the roof where it was lifted.. but tbh that can probably be bashed straight and nobody be the wiser. What's the door shuts like on the vertical edges? 

 

The rest of it is typically French.. basic. Easy to repair with aluminium and pop rivets.

 

Good save. Quirky. Going to keep the reversing lights?

 

--Phil

[mouseflakes]

but I think your approach (clean up and rust proof and worry about the appearance later) is the best way to go.

 

I'd prioritize repairing that roof though. If it rots there or leaks through the seams it'll be bad news in future. I would say just pull the headlining out and try to get as much damage out as possible.

 

Oops 

 

Don't listen to me, listen to Ratdat.

[vulgalour]

Obviously, if water is getting in through the gutters they need properly repairing and it does look like it'll likely need brand new gutters both sides.  But before we get in depth with that horrible repair, it makes more sense to do remedial non-weldy stuff if possible to stabilise things until the gutters can be properly replaced sooner rather than later.  Repairing the roof and gutters is more important probably than repairing the chassis (if it needs it) as a rotten roof will lead to a rotten chassis but I can't imagine a rotten chassis leading so easily to a rotten roof.

[Ratdat]

Well... the roof is part of clean up and rust repair rather than strictly cosmetic. My Sunny pickup had similar roof/gutter damage and the subsequent water ingress caused a lot more rust damage!