Renault Twingo Mk 1

[Bear]

I figure this little car has earned a thread of its own.

The Twingo joined the shed of shame in a different time. It was a simpler time, when I was just starting the shift from camera to car mags and the occasional bit of photography and car-buffoonery with Keith was fun, and somehow I had relationships and things around life that made sense rather than the relentless shower of shit it all became.

It arrived, as you would expect. on the back of a trailer. Keith had acquired it from somewhere, and it had a misfire. Nevertheless, I hooked up a battery booster to it and it started, and chuntered into the garage. "We'll have that fixed in no time!".





It sat. And sat. Somewhere in the timeline cars and money and storage and stuff changed hands, and the Twingo became mine. It gets wheeled around occasionally, and cleaned seasonally, but overall it is just in stasis.

Work started early last year and I stripped a load of bits around the engine before the folded-over inlet manifold confused me and I got concerned that this D7F was going to be more faff than the OHV engine I thought it had. Nevertheless, the time has come to deal with it.



I think I'm going to keep on stripping this one down to the point where I have the head removed. Then make a decision on buying a secondhand engine or doing these repairs. It has 127,000km on it and started easily enough, just had a gasket blown between 2 & 3, verified by shoving a borescope down the plug'oles.

Some minor detail items also need to be fixed. The top corner of the LHS door has lost paint, one headlight (RHD lights, they were produced for these - shame they didn't do matching RHD rears) has a small crack, the rear foglight has lost the red film covering it so will be replaced (will probably put a Celica one in if it fills the aperture), also the bumper has a crack above the exhaust pipe, and the interior light lens is missing (found it - broken clip so it had been done with blutack) - found a replacement one on eBay easily enough. The glovebox catch handle is also broken - that may prove harder to source, this being a fairly late Twingo, but I will try as surprisingly it's one of the few bits broken, most things are good. It needs four new wheeltrims to look smart, though I've been offered a set of Ronal Teddies which are kinda tempting. Finally, the radio LCD has failed, and I am inclined to fix it but similarly, as it has a conventional rather than remote display it seems just as sensible to put a modern head unit in with adaptor lead for the remote.

It has a full-length glass sunroof, which is why I want to save it probably.

[KruJoe]

YES! to the Ronal Teddies!

It just looks a little bit too "normal" in silver with the Clio(?) wheel trims.

[Bear]

The teddies will cost a bit (unsurprisingly), but it's seriously tempting. As is wrapping it in yellow. But I think I'm going to go for making it very clean and tidy first, if it weren't for the paint loss on that door it would look very good.

 

They are Clio trims, I think. I found one for £3.99 new on eBay, now I just need three more (and not to be outbid).

[Bear]

Decided to look at brochures and see what kind of trims it should have, and these are wrong. So I'll figure out what would have been correct or bugger off to France and find a set of Twingo alloys.

 

[John F]

A Mk 1 Twingo is probably one of the few cars that Ronal Teddies would actually suit... do it

[jamespatrickbart]

I will give you ALL THE MONIES for this. Seriously wanted one forever.

 

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[AlabamaShrimp]

Another of the cars I would love but will never own.

 

Why did they make RHD headlights but not change the rest of car and sell it here?

[MarvinsMom]

these are i think one of the very cleverest small cars of recent times.

 

and i like them A LOT.

[barrett]

Another of the cars I would love but will never own.

 

Why? They're still cheap and seem pretty bulletproof. I'll get one at some point, but it has to be a phase one with the green interior bits in one of the launch colours.

 

Interesting to read more about this be, please keep it updated!

[mat_the_cat]

I have some similar but sightly different Renault trims, if they are possibly of interest?

[Bear]

A little bit done today. Not much, mostly I was getting the 500 SEC out of the garage to wash and advertise it (too much to take on right now. Probably was then but I thought I'd get more use out of it!).

 

Today's progress:

 

Pointless bits.

 

Sat in it, took pictures, and cleaned out the spare wheel well.

 

 

 

 

 

Useful bit.

 

Put it in 5th and rolled it forward a bit to turn the engine, then removed the alternator to get more room and remove the wiring loom that runs along the front of the engine.

 

[PiperCub]

Used one of these in la belle France some years ago and despite the fact I'm pretty ambivalent about Clio's in general, I loved it, a fun, odd-looking but practical little car. I've never found an excuse to buy one though but this may change now you've reminded me. 

[stephen01]

will this be for sale soon?

[Bear]

will this be for sale soon?

 

 

Possibly. It depends on how far I go with it and what it's worth when it's done, and if I make use of it when it's finished - if I really enjoy driving it when I've fixed it it might be the first time in years I've appreciated having a basic car rather than some land yacht - I think the last time was an Ignis Sport!

[Bear]

Another of the cars I would love but will never own.

 

Why did they make RHD headlights but not change the rest of car and sell it here?

 

Well, the body engineering would be a nightmare - the engine bay is very tightly packed around the bulkhead.

 

But the demand for RHD lights was clearly enough to make them worth producing...

 

"Twingo2-type headlamp/indicator combination units are now available at £69.50+VAT each from you friendly local Renault dealer.

Currently, the correct part numbers are 7701 046 213 and 7701 046 216, but be sure to confirm that your Renault dealer has checked the descriptions on his little computer before confirming your order because if the wrong bit arrives, you're stuck with the bill for it."

[AlabamaShrimp]

Why? They're still cheap and seem pretty bulletproof. I'll get one at some point, but it has to be a phase one with the green interior bits in one of the launch colours.

 

Interesting to read more about this be, please keep it updated!

I own far too many Fiestas...

[Mr Lobster]

 

Why did they make RHD headlights but not change the rest of car and sell it here?

 

RHD headlights were made for the Japanese market. Twingos were sold new there despite being LHD.

[Mr Lobster]

Possibly. It depends on how far I go with it and what it's worth when it's done, and if I make use of it when it's finished - if I really enjoy driving it when I've fixed it it might be the first time in years I've appreciated having a basic car rather than some land yacht - I think the last time was an Ignis Sport!

I'd love this as I have mentioned! Trouble is I have a £2k Skoda engine fixing bill which rather takes the fun out of things at the moment.  

 

Will have another though. Loved the Mk1 that I had.

[Bear]

I will give you ALL THE MONIES for this. Seriously wanted one forever.

 

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There's actually a few people wanting it - when it's repaired. I'm sure it'll be for sale at some point, when I'm either broke or going nuts about something. Stupid thing is, if I repair the engine in it, gaskets plus belt kit is only about £140 or so; I already bought a new radiator and radiator fan from Amazon's weird discounted car part glitch, plus new engine mounts because they were similarly cheap (it didn't need the radiator or fan, they work fine, but hey - may as well renew them).

 

Even the interior fan works on all speeds and so forth. Failed gasket aside it feels like a car with 70,000 miles. I went through the service history (it's quite detailed, though I think the previous owner must have had his tyres slashed regularly) and it has had an MPH/KPH converter installed, which may mean it's done a mixture of KM and miles in the 127,000 displayed though.

[Bear]

Radiator fan out. There's some horrible horrible sticky gunk in the lower corner of the radiator.

 

 

 

Unfortunately the new radiator and fan I bought from Amazon must be for an earlier car - they physically fit, but the wiring for the fan is different and the radiator has a hole for a sensor which isn't present on this car. I'll find the right parts - they weren't that expensive - and sell these ones.

[Bear]

Decided to poke the Twingo again - with a pointless purchase, I needed new bulbs for the SLK so got a set of yellow-tinted all-weather lights for the Twingo.

 

 

While I was doing that, I put the spare wheel (cleaned up) back in the cleaned up wheel well and wondered what all the various hooks and bits are for on the parcel shelf/tailgate area.

 

Turns out the Twingo has a trick which got mentioned for Renault 16s, Maxis and Mazda suntops, but isn't something I'd associated with it...

 

 

The parcel shelf string unhooks from the C-pillar and is used to hold the shelf up against the back window.

 

At which point, take off the headrest on the front seat, slide the seat forward, slide the rear seat backwards and tilt the backrest back...

 

 

And you can even close the tailgate with the shelf flipped up.

 

[SiC]

Looks perfect for a kip when you've had too much wine in the French countryside.

[Kiltox]

Please roffle this when it's done!!

[Bear]

Such is the popularity of the little thing, and the investment likely in the repairs, a roffle isn't a likely outcome. It might be for sale though!

 

Working out the best way to tackle the engine. As I have a useful lift for raising the front of the car, and can disconnect the wiring, fuel lines and so forth fairly easily - drop engine & box out from below, rather than trying to fit the head gasket in situ?

And indeed if that's happening, there's the nuclear option. A brand new engine for £475 apparently...

[PiperCub]

That interior is hideous - but in a wonderous way that suits the car! 

 

Are these cars still numerous in France or have they mostly died out now?

 

 

Oddly, cleaning the spare wheel and well is one of my odd little traits that I do on a car when I first get it. (You also find tools, jump leads, first aid kits, torches, blankets etc).

[Bear]

The interior looks much better in daylight - this Twingo has spent 18 months in darkness.

[Bear]

No pictures, because I got covered in mank and didn't want to touch the phone, but my "I'm going to do an hour on the Twingo every day until it's done" was productive today. Old radiator out, fuel carbon canister removed from it, and inlet manifold rusted nuts removed so the inlet manifold is out. Tomorrow, assuming I get some money from the C5 anyway, will be parts washer fluid and degreaser time and I'll clean up the undertray I removed.

Looking at the design of the Twingo, I think the easy way to sort the engine is by removing the front panel. It appears to be bolted on. Unfortunately I can't find many online resources for it.

 

There's so much oil, rust and crap around it that I'm really thinking "in for a penny" and the replacement engine route is very tempting indeed, along with a new clutch, it would give the car a very long lease of life indeed. However, relative values and so forth... would a brand new engine, documented, increase the value of it when finished accordingly?

(this logic only applies because "broke" - normally my logic would be "that new engine is cheaper than a cambelt change at a main dealer for pretty much any modern car, it's going in").

[mat_the_cat]

I doubt the new engine makes any kind of financial sense in terms of the car's value, but I'd still be tempted! Have you priced up a gasket set/head skimming etc though? Depending on what you do to the head - is there valve guide wear and so on, it all starts to add up...

[Bear]

Pretty much decided - new engine, new clutch. Wonder how hard it is to do a heater matrix - not that I think it needs it, but with all the work on this, it would be the only old part of the heating system!

 

So here's the engine bay...

 

 

Oily manky mess...

 

 

 

 

Got the plastics away from the inner wing...

 

 

I can get a new expansion bottle for £14. Maybe worth doing, but it's in the sink for now.

 

Inner wings are rust free, so going to clean, waxoyl, then replace the bottles.

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

How much is a new engine then? I would get a SH one if it was me, must be zillions of em knocking about