Renault 6TL "Crapaud"

[mouseflakes]

No, but a 5 Gordini one would...

 

I put a 5TS engine in my old 6. Stupidly I kept the R6 gearbox which was quite low-geared. I don't think top speed was any higher than with the original 1108, but you could scare yourself getting there. I am easily scared though.

[Parky]

You are an absolute legend/mental case (delete as applicable). If you are not in the New Years Honours list for services to shite, a grave injustice has taken place.

 

Have you got any initial plans for it, I.e resto or get it to MOT standard and use it as a daily?

[NorthernMonkey]

That is one pretty little car.

With the patina it's got, it's just crying out for a string of onions and a crate of empty wine bottles bolting to the roof....

[Spiny Norman]

You, Sir deserve your own section on here for saving this awesome slice of slightly mouldy fromage.

[cort16]

I'd drive it exactly as it is I wouldn't want to paint it.

[wuvvum]

I put a 5TS engine in my old 6. Stupidly I kept the R6 gearbox which was quite low-geared. I don't think top speed was any higher than with the original 1108, but you could scare yourself getting there. I am easily scared though.

 

For some reason the 6 TL was much lower geared than the 4 GTL, which always struck me as odd as the 6 had an extra 14bhp and not a lot more weight, so should really have been able to pull higher ratios.

[vulgalour]

Plans initially are to check there's nothing terminally structurally wrong and, providing there's nothing we can find on that front, get the surface rust treated and work through the mechanical bits that need it.  Get everything working, cleaned and book it in for an MoT.

 

Paint can wait.  Ideally paint should wait for as long as possible.  Eventually I want to return it to the delightful metallic green it once was but for starters that really isn't important.  Likewise with the chrome bits.

[nigel bickle]

Wuv's comments are spot on ,its the rear suspension that will eventually decide its fate. All the rest is sortable. The head gasket will fail within the first 500 miles. (They all do that, Sur!)

 

Paul Cunningham (Mr Reno139) is your man for parts & knowledge here. His knowledge is epic - on old Renna's anyplace,

 

Good luck

[barefoot]

Can I bagsy a go in it at shitefest?

[vulgalour]

@Mr Bickle: Hopefully the headgasket won't fail EVERY 500 miles, that could get pretty tiresome, it'll just be what happens when the car is initially pressed into service.  Silly questions, probably, but are these a three cylinder and were they all four star powered?

 

@Barefoot:  I believe there will be some passing around of keys, so yes.

[eddyramrod]

MrsR has just informed me that she had one of these before we met!  I knew about her Allegro, but really...!    This looks like being a cracking save, well done to all concerned (so far).

VA: it's a four-in-line with the gearbox mounted ahead of the engine.

[vulgalour]

Well MrsR continues to sound like a woman of excellent taste.  Reason for me asking about the number of cylinders is that in the photos of R6 engines I've seen, they all only appear to have four spark leads not five (four to plugs, one to coil) which made me wonder if they might have been a three cylinder.

[nigel bickle]

Its a very simple 4 cylinder. No, you'll only need to gasket it once- they just hate 'sitting'.

 

Good luck

[Mr Lobster]

Silly questions, probably, but are these a three cylinder and were they all four star powered?

 

.

Is it an 845 or 1108cc ? Either way they happily run on unleaded, I stick a bit of additive in if I'm doing any long distance / motorway / high speed* stuff but otherwise unleaded is fine.

 

Once they are working and as long as you keep on top of them then they are generally very reliable tbh. Economy is pretty good too.

[wackywacerwill]

This is gonna be good.

[vulgalour]

It's got the 1108 POWERHOUSE in it.  Nice to know it's unleaded friendly.  I have a HBOL heading my way from Alexg that's in a similar state to the car, so that's a happy thing.

[Mr Lobster]

1108 is so good lump and you can liberate a bit of extra power with an R5 carb and manifold which adds about 7bhp or something like that. They can leak oil but they all do that and there's no problem getting parts as they are shared with R4 & 5 which are very well supported for bits.

[PhilA]

Looking at that reminded me of something... the plugs on my GTA count "backwards", that is, 1 is at the flywheel end, and they count upwards towards the pulleys. Is this the same?

 

--Phil

[Parky]

Those engines were in everything! Even the Renault 19 and Clio used those engines up to the mid nineties.

 

They are pretty reliable and a head gasket is no bother thanks to overhead valve goodness. Just remember not to turn the engine with the head off as you'll break the seals for the liners

[Split_Pin]

Was this not called the Cleon engine or something and having its first usage in the Renault 8?

[PhilA]

C1E engine, apparently with options ranging it from 37.5hp all the way up to a heady 45.5hp. I'd guess 0-60 in somewhere around 18-20 seconds.

 

You're light years ahead of Bedford, it's all good

 

 

--Phil

 

 

Edit:  It also appears to be riiiiight on the crossover of the facelift. It has a new face but an old bottom.

[barefoot]

It has a new face but an old bottom.

 

That's me, that is.

[wuvvum]

C1E engine, apparently with options ranging it from 37.5hp all the way up to a heady 45.5hp. I'd guess 0-60 in somewhere around 18-20 seconds.

 

My 6 is supposedly 48bhp, although that could be an SAE rating rather than DIN.  Contemporary road tests reckoned 0-60 in just under 18, which feels about right - mine is nippy off the line but runs out of puff a bit at speed.

[garethj]

I had the 1108cc engine in my old Renault 8.  I don't remember what the top speed was, something like 81mph, but I held that speed on a journey down the M69, M6, M5, M50, A40 and M4.  Fantastic little motor.

[Ratdat]

My mate who lives down in the Vendee has a 1970 R6 as his only car and despite being pretty decrepid, it's kept going fairly well apart from the original engine eventualy croaking last year (it was an 850). It's now running an equally ancient R4 engine...

 

 

It didn't look too bad but when he brought it over for me to fix the front floorpans it turned out to be pretty bad, resulting in about three days of welding. So be warned! ...they hide their rot well!

 

 

[mouseflakes]

Was this not called the Cleon engine or something and having its first usage in the Renault 8?

 

'Sierra' I think was the name - can cause confusion ('....yes, I've got a Sierra engine in my R6'....)

[vulgalour]

@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.

[Mr Livered]

1108 is so good lump and you can liberate a bit of extra power with an R5 carb and manifold which adds about 7bhp or something like that. They can leak oil but they all do that and there's no problem getting parts as they are shared with R4 & 5 which are very well supported for bits.

That is just awesome. A car that is rare and unusual, but for which parts are readily available. Best of both worlds. Fantastic.

[Mr Livered]

1108 is so good lump and you can liberate a bit of extra power with an R5 carb and manifold which adds about 7bhp or something like that. They can leak oil but they all do that and there's no problem getting parts as they are shared with R4 & 5 which are very well supported for bits.

That is just awesome. A car that is rare and unusual, but for which parts are readily available. Best of both worlds. Fantastic.

[Mr Livered]

1108 is so good lump and you can liberate a bit of extra power with an R5 carb and manifold which adds about 7bhp or something like that. They can leak oil but they all do that and there's no problem getting parts as they are shared with R4 & 5 which are very well supported for bits.

That is just awesome. A car that is rare and unusual, but for which parts are readily available. Best of both worlds. Fantastic.