Renault 6TL "Crapaud"

[purplebargeken]

Seemingly The French find The English speaking The French tres sexy. Obviously this does not do it for starter motors. 

[vulgalour]

Maybe it was shy.  Maybe I shouldn't have been looking at it.  #Tittybangbang

[purplebargeken]

There you go! Problem solved.

[Eddie Honda]

Rather than use the original golf ball type halogens

A 410?

 

I used a variant that has the same mounting bracket but is more like an H4 in shape.

plain H4

 

It ups the light output considerably without looking overly modern, a sensible modernisation. I've already forgotten what the bulb type is called.

410 conversion?

 

Quite easy to get the orientation out on those old round based things as the lug is so tiny.

[vulgalour]

That's exactly the ones, Eddie.  I didn't even bother with alignment as I'll be fitting new headlights but you're right, the lugs are not the easiest thing to get in the right place, especially since the slot on the Renault is bigger due to having the left/right adjuster as part of it to rotate the bulb accordingly.

[vulgalour]

Headlining made today and first fit attempted to check everything was as it should be.  This style of headlining is very easy to make, it's essentially a length of fabric with pleats in to hold the wires.  The key is getting the pleats in the correct locations so you have good even tension front to back.  On the whole I managed that.  I salvaged the plastic strip from the old headlining that goes into the tensioning strip at the back of the roof and sewed it into the new headlining.  It won't be seen when fully fitted.

 

At the moment this is just loosely in on the wires.  For the most part the tension is really good, at the back especially so.  The wrinkles will disappear when I put the side tension on, a job I'm saving for when I know I don't need to do any more work with the wires that run above the headlining and the welding that the roof and passenger side gutter still needs.

 

The front wire I've misplaced slightly, not by a great deal but by enough to cause a sag that you can't pull out.  It's an easy task to relocate the wire and refit.

 

The scariest part will be removal and refitting of the windscreen, a vital job because it's the only way to get the tension on the front of the headlining properly.  It's a job I'll have to do anyway to see if I can resolve the water leak on the driver's side of the screen and deal with any rust or damage that might be hiding.  If it were a laminated screen I wouldn't be so nervous about it and if replacement screens were easy to get hold of I'd just buy a new one and have the pros fit it for me.

 

Mike told me he got the indicator working too, it was just a duff connection.

[Eddie Honda]

IIRC "the wire" has the technical term "listing rod"

[purplebargeken]

The rabbit headlining is totally acceptable.

[Parky]

I believe "Lapins sir le toit" was in fact an option in the 1974 Boutique catalogue

[fraser.innes.3]

 

Yup, an ex 1979 Renault 5 owner here who can totally vouch for that.

It's as if they just bought a shitload of bits from Bendix, Lockheed, and Girling one day and specified that under no circumstances were they to be interchangeable. Also to mix and match bits, just because it has Girling up front don't mean it's got Girling at the back....

 

 

 

This practice extended at least to the 90s too! We used to have a Megane coupe, and there were 3 types of disc listed for the 16v. Friendly factors let me have all 3, to speed up the job and I'd just bring back the wrong two. Nope, none of them fitted and I ended up buying a pair that were listed for the diesel!

I think that Renault brakes were interchangeable between models. I have a 2001 Megane cabby, which is fitted with clio 172 discs and calipers up front from the factory, but still has the standard drums at the back. It looks like they just stuffed on whatever was available in the factory at the time.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That headlining is 109% class in a glass!

[purplebargeken]

Kind of looks ok pleated and baggy. 

[anonymous user]

The rabbit headlining is totally acceptable.

It reminds me of the chap who had rabbits tattooed on his bald head, because from a distance they look like hares

 

 

 

 

 

sorry

[vulgalour]

Few little jobs done today, not a huge amount, but a bit.  First up, getting that old exhaust off.  It was rusted up and even though the nuts came undone fairly easily the backbox did not want to let go so I just cut through the main pipe as it wasn't worth saving.  The old exhaust could be sacrificed this way because I had a whole new system to go on.  New on the left, old on the right.  In the second picture you can see just how comprehensively ruined the old backbox was.

 

 

The tensioner was cleaned up and fitted complete with a new nut.

 

Another job that wanted to be done today was fitting the new clutch cable which meant an opportunity to remove the dashboard for better access and to inspect what's what behind it.  There were many dead wasps hiding behind the dashboard that were cleared away and a hint of why the scuttle has rotted out where it has.  There are two holes inside the scuttle section and it's packed with foam.  When I cut out the rot on the passenger corner I will get as much of this foam out as I can in part because I don't want to set fire to it but also to get rid of the problem.  It would also appear from rust staining that even though the water has been appearing on the driver's side it could well be getting in on the passenger side.

 

Little bit of history laminated to the parcel shelf and a hint of the travels the previous owner has been on, or intended to make.  Take the National Express when your life's in a mess, it'll make you smile.  All human life is here from the feeble old dear to the screaming child...

 

Anyway, enough Divine Comedy for now, here's what little there is behind the dashboard.  With it all out there was a delightful lack of bodge or wiring danger.  With gentle persuasion the hot/cold lever was made to move again, spending a long time just wiggling it side to side until now it moves with the proper lever attached.  The fan control panel has a smear of some sort of gunk all over it that was hiding behind the decorative plate, which seemed a bit odd.  All of the dead wasps were vacuumed out from behind the dashboard too.

 

I was very careful with the dashboard, it's 40+ year old plastic and rare in right hand drive format, I'm highly unlikely to find another.  It will be a lot easier to clean up properly out of the car.

 

I could now inspect the bulbs too.  At least one appears to have blown so I'm just going to replace all 5 of the bulbs with new ones. I notice there are what look like two empty sockets in the white section of the cluster, there doesn't appear to be anything that fits in them and I'm not sure if that's by design or not.  I'm also uncertain if this car even has a dip/main telltale.

 

The bulbs are push-fit into little holders.  I can't imagine these are any fun to change with the dashboard fitted.

 

Happily, I managed to resolve the issue with the sagging headlining section without doing any sewing.  In the roof sides there are holes that the tensioning bars slot into and at the front there are two identical holes set close together.  I'd just put the bar into the wrong hole, fitting it in the proper hole put a healthy amount of tension across the entire headlining.

 

 

The clutch cable was mostly fitted, Mike spent quite some time in the footwell dealing with the typical French issue of clutch pedal clips.  The gearbox end hasn't been connected yet, it may be easier to remove the starter motor with it sitting loose.

 

 

[jonathan_dyane]

Great stuff! Nice to see an update; I can't wait for you to get it running! 

[vulgalour]

There wasn't when it was removed.

[cobblers]

There should probably be at least a good stout plain washer.

[mouseflakes]

a hint of why the scuttle has rotted out where it has.  There are two holes inside the scuttle section and it's packed with foam

Renner used to fill the A and B post of the early R16 with foam too, with predictable results. Nutters.

[Noel Tidybeard]

maybe this will help

http://only-carz.com/image.php?pic=../data_images/gallery/02/renault-6-gtl/renault-6-gtl-07.jpg

[vulgalour]

Ah yes.  What's strange is the blue telltale on that is an extremely dim red on mine, even with a super-bright LED torch pressed to the back of the filter.  I had found the same picture and dismantled the dashboard a few minutes ago to test this.

[wuvvum]

The main beam telltale is red on mine too.  It's not massively bright, but it's visible enough in the dark.

[dieselassist]

...an old school 'new head lining' fitting trick is, after completely fitting ;with all fixings/glued onto the windscreen lip n windscreen in etc etc and if theres still areas that are sagging, grab the tea making kettle n boil repeatedly to steam shrink the headlining tight... a 'cleaning steamer' is probably the modern day alternative to the tea kettle approach...

 

Great to see this progressing so quickly; I was on my way to Cork last weekend with a transporter on tow, n spyed a shiney white R6 on the other carriageway, presumably going to the Clonmel Vintage car show - the owner was really giving it some up the fast lane - it looked miniscule on the road in comparsion to everything else...I didn't get any pics, as I was driving, unfortunately ...

[vulgalour]

I've heard of the kettle trick.  I've cheated a bit by using a fabric with some stretch in it so it evens out the tension nicely over the entire run front to back.  Providing I can get the edges to tighten up properly it should look pretty good.

 

I'm sure I've seen pictures of that white R6 you mention before, similarly it was giving it some on a fast road.

[twosmoke300]

Looking good .

 

Oh and get a washer under that tensioner nut - who do you think you are ? Colin Chapman?

[Split_Pin]

I haven't dipped into this thread for some time so this was a grand holiday afternoon read. Great work there, a daunting project from looking at the first picture of the car in the long grass.

[vulgalour]

There will be a washer fitted, promise!

[KruJoe]

"Justice at last in WASHERGATE scandal"

[twosmoke300]

A nice m10 form c please

[vulgalour]

In readiness for a few hours of Renault repairs tomorrow I got the dashboard and sunvisors into some soapy water tonight so they can go back in sooner rather than later.  It was a little bit grim.

 

Caretaker Kes had already done a cracking job on the brushed metal trim on the dash.  All the plastics, however, were covered in dust and mud and that grime you get from someone smoking in a car for a very long time.  Didn't realise how smelly things were until yesterday when we came back to the house and it stank of stale tobacco just from having the dashboard in the living room for a few hours.  Nasty.  All clean now, happily.

 

 

While I do still have the cowling that goes under the steering wheel, it is in poor condition.  Historic repairs and damage to the screw-tubes are the main problem which can probably be resolved with suitable glue and scraps of plastic.  It's an item on my Would Like list, but not vital.

[Ghosty]