Renault 6TL "Crapaud"

[Parky]

I know I am in a minority of one, but I can't help but wish you'd painted it....

 

That's said, glad to see it coming back from the dead no matter what the bodywork looks like

[dollywobbler]

As long as it's solid and heading back to the road, I can't get too fussed about cosmetics - though the lack of gutters does make me feel a bit cringey. I think I've seen too many Minis that have had that treatment and I was never a fan. Still, as I say, solid and back on the road is more important than little styling bits.

[plasticvandan]

Me and my dad went to look at a minor van for sale once,these are known for gutter rot on the van part.the owner proudly said they were rotten so had cut them off and filled it,we walked away after telling huim that the gutters were what held the roof on!

[vulgalour]

The deseam is the quickest way to solve the gutter issue. The reason for leaving the bit on the A pillar is because it's still solid, it's very close to the windscreen which I don't want to damage and gives me a good reference point if I put gutters back on the car.  Not worried about the roof flying off since it's all seam welded together.  More cash and time available would mean a different approach, part of me really wants to get it repainted in a modern Mazda metallic green and get the interior pristine, which would be lovely but makes absolutely no sense with this project at this moment in time.

[KruJoe]

I enjoyed my bit of a poke about on Friday night. It was nice to meet Crapaud after my previous two nights of him(?) featuring in a dream.

 

 

What's going on top of the gutter seam filler? A dash of FOAD green?

[vulgalour]

Probably the green the bonnet is painted as it's good at keeping out the weather and hides a multitude of sins.  Tricky one really, whatever I do it's going to be obvious that the repair was done recently.

[UltraWomble]

Probably the green the bonnet is painted as it's good at keeping out the weather and hides a multitude of sins.  Tricky one really, whatever I do it's going to be obvious that the repair was done recently.

Vinyl elephant arse roof covering.

Hides a multitude of sins & looks period.

[Ghosty]

I don't think it matters considering there's a blue door and flaky paint, just stick some bonnet green over the necessary areas and be done with it.

[vulgalour]

I want it to look shit in a very particular way.  I'm probably going to paint it with the green and the flat it back and feather it out into the other paint so it looks like it was done ages ago.  Likewise, the bonnet is going to get rubbed back all over to allow the high and low spots to show as they are on the rest of the car, at the moment the bonnet looks too new for everything else.

 

OMG FURSED PATEENUR

[DeeJay]

You're going to go all pineapple on us.

[vulgalour]

Please, pineapples are expensive.  I can afford maybe an apple.  Cox.

[DeeJay]

Not a Barry apple?

 

 

 

 

(It's a real variety).

[vulgalour]

Only if I were going this route.  Which I'm not.  Apart from maybe the wheels which I really like.

 

[Parky]

I have seen some pretty impressive results with vinyl wrap. And I would imagine that when you peel it off years later it will take all the green paint with it!

[Angrydicky]

There's a really rough, hand painted Austin Somerset that occasionally attends club rallies. That is minus its roof gutters too, and talking to the owner, he cut them off and welded them up then filled them in 1980!! They were bubbling up a bit last time I saw it, but the whole car was ropey and lived outside permanently, it really put my Somerset to shame in the battered old Austin stakes!

[vulgalour]

That sounds beautiful, AD.  I hope you can get some pictures of it if you haven't already.

[michael1703]

Due to laziness,rather than cut and fold a piece of steel,I bought a length of guttering for a VW camper, think it was about £7 for a metre from vwheritage.com

[Angrydicky]

Here you go Vulgs. It looks worse in real life!

 

Note the smaller Hillman Minx wheels on the back, fitted by the owner to lower the axle ratio for towing a great big caravan with it (it does have a 1500 B series under the bonnet, same as mine).

[vulgalour]

That's absolute perfection.  I hope it never gets restored.

[Timewaster]

As for pineappling it....

 

Good luck fitting a roof rack now!

[Ghosty]

Weld one on!

[vulgalour]

What, more updates?  Yeah well, you'll just have to deal with it.

 

Mike and I hauled the engine and gearbox out of the engine bay again so we could fit those stiffener brackets that go from the engine mounts to the bellhousing.  This was a chore and I wish I'd known what they were before the engine went in the car.  What's more, with brackets fitted it's nearly impossible to put the nut on the bottom of the driver's side engine mount because access is something that happens to other cars.  Had to remove the bonnet, gear lever brace and steering column to get the engine and gearbox out as well as putting the lifting straps on in such a way that they cleared the locations we needed to fit the stiffener brackets.  This was not a particularly fun job. 

 

 

That done, a bit of info on the headlights.  They are handed and have very specific fittings, not at all what I'm used to seeing.

 

On the outer side at the top there's a spring that the tab that makes the lights handed sits in.

 

On the inner side at the bottom is a clip of sorts that holds the bracket that doesn't have an adjuster in it.

 

Frustratingly, the two headlight mounting brackets are mirrored, which is why I can't use the spare headlights I've got in this hole.

 

So, I decided that I'd take the wire wheel to the passenger side bowl to see if it could be cleaned up to be repaired.  Results were less than satisfactory and I stopped almost as soon as I'd started.

 

What I did notice is that the brackets that make these lights handed are just spot welded on.  With care I can very likely remove them from the above bowl as they're in much better shape than the rest of the unit.  I can them convert one of my spare drivers side headlights to a passenger side one.  Since the brackets aren't fixed to the actual reflector bowl but the decorative surround I don't need to worry about damaging the silvering either as it shan't matter.

 

With that out the way I turned my attention to the ball joints.  This was to be another horrible job.  Started on the driver's side and learned by trial and error how best to remove the two rivets holding the ball joint in place.  The third fastener was a captive bolt, the nut for which came undone surprisingly easily.  After some effort with spinny tools and hammers, the old ball joint was off.

 

On fitting the new one, before I'd even finished tightening it, one of the bolts sheared.

 

Never mind, I found another suitable bolt and nut and had the lower ball joint all buttoned up and ready to go.

 

The upper ball joint put up more of a fight, this one has three rivets holding it in.  I was thwarted in my attempt to fit the new ball joint because the upper collar I need to remove is also spot welded to the upper arm and to be honest I just hadn't the patience to deal with that.  I had been at the unit at this point for six hours, much longer than intended, most of which was faffing about getting the engine in and out again.  Here's one dead old upper ball joint.

 

In other news, I found and reinstated the factory jack.  I'd hidden it under the back seat.

 

Got the gear linkage properly secured and fitted the throttle return spring.  I think the throttle cable needs replacing, it's not only frayed but has a habit of sticking when you've pressed the pedal down because the cable doesn't move smoothly in the sheath.  I also fitted the two tiny pieces of new fuel hose needed, I just haven't put clamps on yet as I couldn't find them.

 

Can anyone tell me what this is and where it goes?  With it sat on top of the air filter the wire is pretty much at maximum extension so I assume it must go on or near the carburettor, I just can't find anywhere it looks to fit.  Seems to be some sort of sensor.

 

Tried out the seating position properly today and the gear change.  I like the latter but not so much the former, the pedals and steering wheel are very offset which has caused me problems with cars in the past.  I might get on with it, I might not, I shan't be driving the car enough for it to cause me the problems the Maestro did.

 

The only thing that's jammed on the dashboard is what I assume is the heater control which is stuck on RED.  I haven't attempted to force it for fear of breaking it, it's jammed so firmly it's like it's been bolted down.  The choke pull works, it could just do with a little fresh grease to make it smoother to operate.

 

 

[mouseflakes]

Can anyone tell me what this is and where it goes?  With it sat on top of the air filter the wire is pretty much at maximum extension so I assume it must go on or near the carburettor, I just can't find anywhere it looks to fit.  Seems to be some sort of sensor.

Pretty sure this is the temperature sender. If I recall correctly it's attached to a stud on the head somewhere.

 

This is really bugging me because I remember fitting one - just can't recall which Renner it was on or where it was attached.

 

EDIT: Ah! Found an example of one fitted. Not exactly the same engine - this is one the older 850 (Ventoux?) I think- but look out for something like this (I've drawn a ring round it). Looks like a bit of an afterthought to me. When I put an R11 engine in the back of my R10 I recall I just had to tap a stud into the R11 block in roughly the same location to attach the old R10 sender to.

 

[purplebargeken]

Cracking work Sir!

[vulgalour]

Cheers, mouseflakes, that does make sense as that's about where the wire reaches to.  It's also almost impossible to get to that area with the engine in the engine bay.  Renaaauullt *shakes fist*

[mouseflakes]

It's also almost impossible to get to that area with the engine in the engine bay.  Renaaauullt *shakes fist*

Prolly explains why no-one seems to have managed to photograph it on an R6 then

[RayMK]

Cheers, mouseflakes, that does make sense as that's about where the wire reaches to.  It's also almost impossible to get to that area with the engine in the engine bay.  Renaaauullt *shakes fist*

 

It would seem appropriate to buy a cheap Goona and hammer 6inch nails into it whenever the 6 gives you Renault grief. 

[wuvvum]

I wouldn't worry too much about it - it's not like the 6 has a temp gauge, it just has the standard French "it's fucked" light, and by the time that comes on you'll have spotted the steam coming from under the bonnet anyway.

[vulgalour]

I have been asked thus far where the temp gauge, rev gauge and radio are.  My first response is always a Gallic shrug.

[MikeKnight]

Yeah, I suspected that was a temp gauge.

 

Just never seen one outside of actually being in a water channel/thermostat.

 

This one is like, "Oh, water temp? Just bolt it on there.. that's near the water right? Only an inch away? That'll do. Time for garlic and wine. HOH EHOH EHOH."