Renault 6TL "Crapaud"

[the judge]

Do it!! Panels in either zebra print or cadbury purple. Have an arty blast with it,it is yours after all

[robinmasters]

Whilst it would be a shame to modify something like this, but it would be criminal for it to be preserved as is and left unused as a result.

 

Probably been suggested already, but:

 

[plasticvandan]

As progress on this has been limited to splashing some dulux about and taking the engine out,I wouldn't worry about it getting vanned,not this year anyway

[ruffgeezer]

Vulgs, for my 2p, I'd get what HAS to be done sorted first, and then try riding around in it for a bit, if you find it is uncomfortable to drive for you, or you just plain don't like it, you can pass it on as a fairly original car.

 

Big mods like that will really reduce the amount of people who might want it, and I'd hate for you to put the work into saving it for it to end up wasted.

[Louise2cv]

I hope you don't take offence to this but have you really got the time/money/health/space and equipment to do this conversion?

 

Its just that I have read about different projects (polo, hand painting the princess etc) and they either seem to stall or get left unfinished.

 

It wasn't that long ago you were thinking of sacking the 6 off altogether on account of your state of mind and circumstances.

 

Do you not think it is a big enough challenge as it is? It might not be desirable-rare but I imagine its rarity might impact on finding parts and you are probably going to need to improvise a lot, and while you could argue that that is all the more reason to do the conversion, if you do get overwhelmed, run out of funds or whatever a half restored car has got to be a better prospect for selling on than a half "converted" van.

[vulgalour]

I suppose I get too excited and enthused about ideas, ways to make things better.  Really, I should stop trying.  As Louise points out it's likely to end up just not happening anyway, look at all my other failures laid out behind me.

[Louise2cv]

Sorry Vulgalour.

 

Its not really about not trying, but I think you are sort of doing yourself down by not seeing what a project it already is, just getting it back on the road as a car.

 

Unfortunately I err on the side of pessimism, so I am probably failing to see the "better to have tried" side of things.

 

Of course you could just used all the "no advice" to fuel a defiant "that'll show em" project

 

I only said it because I would hate to see you ending up disappointed IF something went wrong, not because I assume something will go wrong.

[vulgalour]

It's okay, I'm in a foul mood this morning for no reason at all.  I like you, that was mean of me, I take it back.

[dollywobbler]

I think Louise has only said the sort of thing my wife always says to me when I eye up a potential project. Reality checks are rarely fun in my experience!

 

My track record is even more piss-poor. I think the BX Mk1 estate is the only project I've manage to improve in any way, and that was still pretty piss poor!

 

Having a bit of photoshop fun is fine though. The artist's impression really does look nice, but I'd certainly put the idea to one side until the car is further along. 

[Louise2cv]

Tbf...

 

Actually thinking back to the Ami it might be one of the easier conversions to try out: am I right in thinking the Ami just had panels stuck in the window recesses with sikaflex or something Ian? It looked really smart.

[plasticvandan]

Personally,having read about you and your cars over the years,there is only one sensible,happy solution.get rid of everything apart from the princess.(apart from maybe a soulless daily) the longer you float about like a butterfly on dead ends like the Renault,short of cash,time or inclination, the longer the princess is going to sit,gently corroding and seizing up. The Princess IS you,you are the princess (no gay jokes intended) you won't be happy till its fixed,working and getting improved. Everything else is just a distraction or money pit.

[purplebargeken]

As one who is terminally unable to finish what I starte

[vulgalour]

Bank Holiday Monday, traditional for doing stuff you want to do just because. Who am I to argue with tradition? Started small by polishing the hubcaps, because I could. Interestingly, shortly after getting the Renault home I found a set of NOS hubcaps for 20 Euros on Leboncoin. I didn't buy them because I didn't think they were too important but now I'm thinking they could have been a wise purchase. Mind you, I have heard Leboncoin is difficult to buy from if you're not in France.

 

That wasn't too hard to do. I might do the bumpers to match. Next, turned my attention to the roof. If I'm to do anything with the Renault I need to sort this roof out. Shiny new set of hammer and dollies were available to me and with the headlining out I could hopefully get to the worst of the dents. First I had to work out how to remove the headlining itself, I was expecting it to be held into the window surrounds, which it was on the rear quarter lights that were easy to remove. At the back, there's a plastic strip attached to the headlining that pushes under a metal groove/flange thing, the only way I could see to remove this was to carefully pry it out with a screwdriver.

 

That meant I could work out how to remove the sides. Unlike the rear plastic strip, the sides have a barbed groove/flange that the headlining fabric is stuffed into, the fabric held up with conventional wires across the width of the shell. For the most part, it was easy to remove without damaging the fabric and I was well on track to removing the headlining whole which is not always possible.

 

Unfortunately as I got closer to the gutter damage over the front doors I found the headlining had gone brittle and no matter how careful I was it tore on the edges in a way I won't be able to repair or refit. Thankfully, it looks like an easy headlining to make and refit. The nail in the coffin for the original was when I got to the windscreen. I had intended to leave the windscreen in and carefully bundle the headlining on the dash board but as I free the fabric from near the A pillars it just tore across the line of the windscreen seal. I was expecting it so wasn't too mortified though I'm aware I'm now going to have to remove the windscreen if I want to fit a new headlining.

 

With the headlining out I could see if there was access to the dents. The good news is that there is some access, the bad news is that the strengthening beams get in the way so I'll need to get the slide hammer on some of the dents I can't get to. Managed to very nearly get the profile sorted on the drivers side, a light skim of filler after repairing the gutter should see this resolved nicely.

 

On the passenger side I had equally reasonable success with the roof skin pulling back in line with the strengthening beam as it ought. You can see the two obvious dents where the strengthening beam is in my way. Again, some filler will be inevitable on this, but not a great deal.

 

 

I had a go at straightening the stainless gutter trims, it's hard going but it's possible to get them reasonable again. I suspect I'll just hang on until I can find replacements. There wasn't anything more I could really do on the bodywork today, I was happy enough with this so far. Turned my attention instead to the engine which is still locked up. Decided to take the clutch off and it could really do with replacement as expected. Then I took the sump off to see what I could find in the bottom of the engine.

 

Sludge, and obvious water contamination. It does look like the bolts I need to get at the remove everything are all where I need them to be which is fortuitous so the next task will be to carefully dismantle and clean the innards, find out what damage there is and replace parts or engine as necessary. Oil strainer/pick-up is also pretty gunged up, I suspect it will clean up well enough.

 

 

I need Mike's experience with engines for me to be confident to undertake the next stage, it'll also be easier with two of us working on it. He was unavailable so I assessed what else I could do and realistically it wasn't a lot. The Princess could be turned around so I could make a start on the displacer replacement next weekend, but a flat battery and me being unable to push the car on my own put paid to that. Happily I did see that the condition of the metal replaced and waiting to be replaced hasn't deteriorated so I feel a little more comfortable about that for now.

 

I did a bit of panel beating on the bad rear wing of the Lancia Flavia but then ran into access problems. Ideally, I need to chop off the badly repaired bottom section of the rear wing, beat it back into shape off the car and then reweld it, a big job but one that deserves to be done right.

[vulgalour]

Over on the www.renault4.co.uk forum (aka Clementine's Renault 4 Garage), user mr-reno139 posted this fabulous Renault 6 picture.
 

[jonathan_dyane]

Great progress, at last this thread is making me happy again instead of sad!

 

Believe it or not this is one of my favourite vehicles on here...

[vulgalour]

New paint arrived today. After work I decided to get myself over to the unit to try it out. It seemed thin enough in the tin and having used these sorts of paints before you can sometimes go straight from the tin to the car. I prepped the bonnet by getting rid of dirt, loose paint, rust, etc. Then got to work.

 

 

Hmm... that's not great. I've brush/roller painted stuff before with great results, normally apply with the brush and dress out quickly with the gloss roller then let the paint smooth from lightly orange peeled to almost flat. Work fast and it's a fairly low effort job. A cut and polish afterwards sees it very smart indeed. This paint doesn't do that yet so I need to flat the panel back and try again when I've found the right thickness and technique. Given that the old pale flat green was brush/rollered on going by some of the less well finished areas it feels right to be doing the same, I don't want to get the car professionally spray painted, that's not what this is about.

 

 

The colour is great, I'm really happy with that, I just need to spend more time on the application.

[sloth]

i thought you was keeping the patina?

[Taff]

with regard to the doors mate, I "couped" a chopped Austin A50 a few years ago. Welding up the doors and keeping everything flat and straight was an absolute f**kin nightmare.  From a "how long is this going to take me?" point of view, I wouldn't even entertain doing it.

[purplebargeken]

^^

 

You are dead to me.

[Taff]

^^

 

You are dead to me.

 

wait until you see the pictures later, you will want to dig up my corpse and desecrate me

[scruff]

What paint are you using??

[vulgalour]

@Sloth:  I was.  I changed my mind.

 

@scruff:  It's just described as 'synthetic enamel', Regal brand.  It's not one I've used before.  Definitely not as nice to use as the Dacrylate stuff I used in the past.  It smells solvent based though not as potently fragrant as cellulose.

[vulgalour]

@Taff:  That's this one, isn't it?

 

[Taff]

@Taff:  That's this one, isn't it?

 

 

That's the one, and that's me nursing a hangover that would kill an englishman

[purplebargeken]

Taff, you actually fitted in that? Wow!

[Taff]

The drive home was awkward, very slumped in an attempt to get some vision and use of controls at the same time. The first job was to chop 4 inches out of the seat frames and then everything got easy again. So much so that it remained mechanically unchanged for 4 years and 15,000 miles. The car lives on, it's currently got a 2 litre pinto and auto box in it. Tons of filler, too

[vulgalour]

Tiny little update.  Mike and I got the engine on the engine stand.  Bit of a faff as the engine stand seems to be at least four sizes too large (or the engine four sizes too small) but will make life much easier.  We were going to marinate the bores but somebody had consumed all of the Cola we bought for the purpose.

 

[purplebargeken]

The mysterious coke drinking garage elf eh? Bastard.

[Noel Tidybeard]

Tiny little update.  Mike and I got the engine on the engine stand.  Bit of a faff as the engine stand seems to be at least four sizes too large (or the engine four sizes too small) but will make life much easier.  We were going to marinate the bores but somebody had consumed all of the Cola we bought for the purpose.

 

20150629-01.jpg

shouldv'e bought rola cola nobody wants to drink that peter kay

[Taff]

"clears throat"

 

old diesel. old brake fluid. old transmission fluid. olive oil.

 

anything but cola. please