Wanted 15/02/18 Renault 30 Project - gone to a safe new home

[bub2006]

In the words of Peter Griffin.

Thank you Conway,thank you very much

[Datsuncog]

In my view, it's always easier to simply keep hold of a borderline car than to make the decision to pass it along for a more enthusiastic party to work at. I've done it way too often - hell, I'm doing it right now - but ultimately it never ends well for the car.

 

No doubt we're all a bit disappointed that doubleyeller is no longer in a position to get the R30 back on the road, but I've known that 'millstone' feeling and it ain't good. Circumstances sound challenging to say the least, and better it get passed on in the hope of work being done, than have it sit outside for another year or two.

 

This project was always on the upper end of 'brave', but the crowdfunding did exactly what it was intended to do - raise funds for essential work to at least get the car mobile again. But for the donations of time and money, it seems the only way this semi-legendary car would have been moving anywhere would have been on the business end of a HIAB. Now it's capable of moving and stopping, and inroads have been made at securing the necessary panels for further restoration. As has been stated, all the money raised was spent on the car, and it'll go with all those parts fitted. No-one's been bilked or scammed. My understanding is that the mechanical stuff and underside are all relatively sound; and it appears a potential buyer is already interested. I'm hoping that the wealth of recent pics and honest appraisal from experienced folk as to what else needs done will help secure its future.

 

Doubleyeller tried bloody hard, and certainly did much more than I would ever be capable of doing. The future for this car was bleak and there were no guarantees it could even be saved, yet a fair few of us chipped in because we shared his view that we'd rather live in a world with more R30s on the road than fewer. And nothing's changed there. Whatever happens now, the future still looks brighter for VPE than it did back in November. And the unexpected levels of generosity proved that this forum is more than just an idle chit-chat exchange. It really is quite a special place.

 

Looking forward to further updates.

[pshome]

Hi Peter, I'm already on the Tagora forum, you'll know me as "arogaT"

 

 

It's a small world!

[The Moog]

Gents can we keep it civil please.

[Parky]

Fair play Doubleyeller. I had concerns about this when something as ordinary as rear discs were found to be unobtanium. It was never going to be straightforward or easy in any way and I think it takes a big man to know when he's bitten off more than he can chew.

 

I do hope it stays within earshot of the forum. Maybe you could get the eventual buyer on here so we can monitor progress?

[wuvvum]

Gents can we keep it civil please.

I think it's stayed remarkably civil thus far.  Nobody's even mentioned Hitler yet.

[Tagster]

Oh, was looking forward to that. Don't get me wrong, but was looking forward to seeing someone else's trials and tribulations rather than the usual of just suffering the pain of my own!

[Parky]

I think it's stayed remarkably civil thus far.  Nobody's even mentioned Hitler yet.

ISIS like Renault 20's and 30's and obtained supplies from Hitler - PHAKT

[doubleyeller]

Fair play Doubleyeller. I had concerns about this when something as ordinary as rear discs were found to be unobtanium. It was never going to be straightforward or easy in any way and I think it takes a big man to know when he's bitten off more than he can chew.

 

I do hope it stays within earshot of the forum. Maybe you could get the eventual buyer on here so we can monitor progress?

 

I can certainly ask! He has this morning sent me an email detailing what he considers needs doing to the car, based on his brief look around. He mentioned his estimate of £10 - 12k to see it fully restored...... seems a bit steep, but I suppose that really would be a totally comprehensive restoration.The fact he owns a concours R20 TS (In the family from new) gives me quite some confidence in his good intentions.

 

I really don't want to see things end badly for the R30 - it was a life ambition to own this car. I chewed off the original owner's ear to sell it to me when it was still on the road back in 2006, but it was out of the question at the time. Sadly it went off the road shortly after, and has deteriorated massively in the intervening 10 years, having been stored outside on a farm. I should have left it where it was, but hey, I've made the start for somebody. Let's hope it lives on!

[Wingz123]

Would love to see it saved - there must be someone willing to take it on? Shall I write to Tim and Fuzz....

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I can certainly ask! He has this morning sent me an email detailing what he considers needs doing to the car, based on his brief look around. He mentioned his estimate of £10 - 12k to see it fully restored...... seems a bit steep, but I suppose that really would be a totally comprehensive restoration.The fact he owns a concours R20 TS (In the family from new) gives me quite some confidence in his good intentions....

£12k is probably an underestimate if he's planning a ground-up rebuild.

 

The rear discs saga is probably the biggest challenge of all, unless he has a hidden stock of them already.

[Daniel R25]

Hi,
I am quite relieved.

One just cannot justify a car being a burden in life. There are enough serious hassles one has to face.
Great if the buyer can spare 12k for a restauration.

Daniel

[doubleyeller]

Hi,

I am quite relieved.

 

One just cannot justify a car being a burden in life. There are enough serious hassles one has to face.

Great if the buyer can spare 12k for a restauration.

 

Daniel

 

Thanks Daniel - as another who owns a Renault 30, you will truly know the never ending mental agony they cause with their eternal dogged refusal to ever go back on the road!

 

I should have kept the £100 Fuego Turbo, but I sacrificed that particular project to concentrate on the R30 project

[Talbot]

I contributed to this a little.  Not as much as some clearly did, but nevertheless I still have a vested interest in what happens to the car.

I also didn't agree with buying new tyres.  But that wasn't my decision, and it's not my place to say what is the right or wrong thing to spend the money on once it's been sent.

I cannot possibly imagine trying to work on a prime slice of 70's french chod with unobtainium parts that is stored 40 miles away from where I live, and I have no transport to get there.  That's just absurd.  I can't even get a clutch and a couple of brake pipes changed on the Discovery that's been sat on my own driveway for over a year!

I hope the car is saved.  But I hope Doubleyeller feels a weight lifted from his back more.

[doubleyeller]

I want to find a good home for it. The R20TS guy looks like a promising prospect. He actually has somewhere INSIDE to keep it! He wants it for pretty well scrap money. Well fair enough, it essentially is scrap. I think only Junkman and Conelrad could testify accurately to just how appalling the bodywork is, the photos don't cover it. I demonstrated the level of corrosion to Conelrad by shutting the driver's door and watching the rusty chunks fall off the car floor!

 

I don't want it to fall into the hands of a Delorean twunt, as the engine and gear box are both superb and have only 45,000 on the clocks. 

 

So I'd rather sell it to the 20TS guy for peanuts than get £500 for it by openly advertising it, as I know what fate would await it!

 

I have emailed him back.

[Datsuncog]

I don't want it to fall into the hands of a Delorean twunt, as the engine and gear box are both superb and have only 45,000 on the clocks.

I'll arrange to block Mrs DC's uncle, just in case...

 

 

(Not really: I highly doubt he frequents this fine forum, despite having a shedful of weapons-grade rammel)

[doubleyeller]

I'll arrange to block Mrs DC's uncle, just in case...

 

DSC_3357.JPG

 

I do hope I have not offended!    Nothing against Delorean guys except when an R30 is made into a sacrificial lamb!

[Angrydicky]

The number one priority with this is to 'vet' any potential interested parties to ensure it goes to someone who at the very least is as determined as the rest of us to ensure its long term survival. Once it's gone, you don't have a say in it any more. I'd be inclined to give it to this bloke FOC on the condition it gets restored - he can't say fairer than that.

[Datsuncog]

I do hope I have not offended!    Nothing against Delorean guys except when an R30 is made into a sacrificial lamb!

 

Heh, no offence at all! They're not really my bag, though he's a big fan. Here's one he built earlier, though - does look well.

 

 

Although I do quite like the styling and they're a bit of an icon round this neck of the woods, I'd far sooner have a R30 than a DeLorean any day... and there's still enough scabby Volvo engine donors to keep the stainless steel oddities going, without needing to cannibalise anything as rare as the TS (though I do know a fella who built an all-electric DeLorean - so maybe there'll be less need for robbed PSA V6s?)

 

https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/electricdelorean/about/

 

Anyway, Mrs DC's uncle probably has more than enough shite to be getting on with. Those four Trabants, for a start. (And I've had my beady eye on the pre-facelift P6 for a few years now.)

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

I don't want it to fall into the hands of a Delorean twunt, as the engine and gear box are both superb and have only 45,000 on the clocks. 

 

They also make GR8 engine/box donors for a stunning* Limbo Cuntass (I may have mis-spelt that) :

 

 

Note 4-stud hubs for added authenticity*...

[Junkman]

£12k is probably an underestimate if he's planning a ground-up rebuild.

 

Although you are probably right, 12k would at least make it a very, very good driver.

 

 

Anyway, Mrs DC's uncle probably has more than enough shite to be getting on with. Those four Trabants, for a start. (And I've had my beady eye on the pre-facelift P6 for a few years now.)

 

DSC_3413.JPG

 

It's a Series II P6.

[Talbot]

If I had the cash, I would love a DeLorean.  Yes, they are horribly flawed, have a terrible engine, everyone assumes they are always a BTTF car and the gullwing doors are not really practical, but I think the styling was absolutely spot-on and a water-cooled rear-engined design is just the level of Engineering complexity and absurdity that appeals to me.

 

Might have to put a modern V6 in it though.  And one with the correct angle between the cylinder banks.  A Peugeot/Citroen ES4 (I think that's the code) 3.0V6 with 200hp should be ideal shirley?

[Datsuncog]

It's a Series II P6.

I stand corrected - had thought the Series II designation referred to the 1970-on cars with the plastic grille and bonnet blips to accommodate a V8, but then I'm no Rover expert. Either way, this one hasn't run for a fair while, though does seem moderately sound. Original Irish car, I'm informed.

 

 

(Apologies - veering off topic somewhat now)

[Tagster]

If I had the cash, I would love a DeLorean.  Yes, they are horribly flawed, have a terrible engine, everyone assumes they are always a BTTF car and the gullwing doors are not really practical, but I think the styling was absolutely spot-on and a water-cooled rear-engined design is just the level of Engineering complexity and absurdity that appeals to me.

 

Might have to put a modern V6 in it though.  And one with the correct angle between the cylinder banks.  A Peugeot/Citroen ES4 (I think that's the code) 3.0V6 with 200hp should be ideal shirley?

Ahem!...... The PRV V6 a terrible engine!!! Granted a bit of a bad joke stuffed in a car with the pretensions of a Delorean, but I think to brand it a terrible engine is a bit rough. Fine for an R30 or Tagora or 604 and their ilk. Or are you a PRV hater........ Boooooooo

[HillmanImp]

My offer to go and take photos of any areas of the car any prospective purchaser is concerned about, still stands as its only a mile or so from my house.

 

When Junkman was over there I was surprised he didn't spot this P6 which is for sale about 50 metres away.

 

 

Seller doesn't have a price that he wants for it as I asked but he's a very reasonable chap who works on cars for fun so a fair offer would probably be accepted (no XBoxes).

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....and it's brown!

[doubleyeller]

My offer to go and take photos of any areas of the car any prospective purchaser is concerned about, still stands as its only a mile or so from my house.

 

When Junkman was over there I was surprised he didn't spot this P6 which is for sale about 50 metres away.

 

received_10213890230026867.jpeg

 

Seller doesn't have a price that he wants for it as I asked but he's a very reasonable chap who works on cars for fun so a fair offer would probably be accepted (no XBoxes).

 

Thanks for the offer, but I have a comprehensive photo album of all areas of the car. There are now 2 Renault 20 owners interested, both of whom have seen the car previously. This car was my pride and joy, secured only after 10 years of trying. Having spent so many hours on such an inhumanely difficult project, I feel somewhat depressed and humiliated that it has got to go. I am going to let my friend get it loaded, I really don't want to be around to see it leave     Personality wise,  I much prefer one prospective buyer over the other, although I have confidence in the good intentions of both. One way or another it will be going to a good, safe (and indoors!) home.

 

Junkman went to see the Rover when he was here. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

.....Might have to put a modern V6 in it though.  And one with the correct angle between the cylinder banks.  A Peugeot/Citroen ES4 (I think that's the code) 3.0V6 with 200hp should be ideal shirley?

Yes it should. "And don't call me Shirley."

[HillmanImp]

Junkman went to see the Rover when he was here. 

 

Have you seen the other stuff the owner has? He has an really varied collection of old cars. I have spent quite a lot of time crawling over them. There is a pre production 1974 TR7 that keeps winking at me. 

[doubleyeller]

Have you seen the other stuff the owner has? He has an really varied collection of old cars. I have spent quite a lot of time crawling over them. There is a pre production 1974 TR7 that keeps winking at me. 

 

Always plenty of interesting stuff to be found. My favourite is all the 1970s/1980s Citroens at the Citroen specialists, top end of Bradford. Took loads of photos and posted them on here ages ago, but nobody was really interested.