1973 Renault 15 - I've broken my own rules.

[Daniel R25]

Now you need to ask one of our frog members to make contact on leboncoin. I think it is still Impossible without a French Sim...

Dan

[N Dentressangle]

Such a distinctive and interesting looking car - remember them when they were nearly new. They were never common here, and always a good spot, like the Renault 20 and 30.

Wish modern stuff was this interesting 

[HillmanImp]

2 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

Wish modern stuff was this interesting 

Loads of modern stuff is interesting. It's just we're all old and jaded. 

Keeping it on track with low volume oddball Renaults. 

Yeah, you've got all that silly pedestrian protection sizzle but there's still loads of stuff about for Autoshite 2042 to get their knickers wet. 

[2flags]

10 hours ago, HillmanImp said:

Loads of modern stuff is interesting. It's just we're all old and jaded. 

Keeping it on track with low volume oddball Renaults. 

Yeah, you've got all that silly pedestrian protection sizzle but there's still loads of stuff about for Autoshite 2042 to get their knickers wet. 

I just love the name. I have this vision of it being powered by some fat old geezer who's o/d 'd on beans! 

[dikkehemaworst]

A dutch supplier who i used a lot for parts for our Dauphine has windscreen rubbers in stock

http://renparts.com/index.php/rubber-onderdelen-c-22_108_149

[Daniel R25]

Isn't that a Renault 16 Part? Anyway, parts seem to be out there. I can also ask around in Germany.

Daniel

[4wheeledstool]

19 minutes ago, Daniel R25 said:

Isn't that a Renault 16 Part? Anyway, parts seem to be out there. I can also ask around in Germany.

Daniel

That does appear to be a Renault 16 part, but looking on that site, they have new tail light lenses!

😁

[4wheeledstool]

This should give me a clue as to what is missing. 👍

[4wheeledstool]

And one of these for maximum geek points. 🤓 

[High Jetter]

Looks like your '15' badge is slightly on the skew?

[4wheeledstool]

13 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Looks like your '15' badge is slightly on the skew?

It is, and so is the Renault one. Plastic bits missing that they push in to.👍

[Bmwdumptruck]

IIRC the 17 hand some really unusual bucket seats, Always liked them when I was a lad.  

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, 4wheeledstool said:

It is, and so is the Renault one. Plastic bits missing that they push in to.👍

Sounds right for Renno

[ChinaTom]

10 hours ago, 4wheeledstool said:

This should give me a clue as to what is missing. 👍

Forgive the cleon-fonte geekiness here, but where was the 1605cc engine fitted? (Don’t say under the bonnet!)

I can’t think of a car that had it (maybe Alpine?). I know the 18 LS wagon was an oddball spec but sure it was 1647. 

[MorrisItalSLX]

I think I have a genuine Renault 15/17 workshop manual somewhere. I’ll have to have a look.

[4wheeledstool]

5 hours ago, ChinaTom said:

Forgive the cleon-fonte geekiness here, but where was the 1605cc engine fitted? (Don’t say under the bonnet!)

I can’t think of a car that had it (maybe Alpine?). I know the 18 LS wagon was an oddball spec but sure it was 1647. 

US and Canada spec cars - catalyst and fuel injection.👍

[Bag'O'Spanners]

Oh my effing god, that is gorgeous. Remember those back in the day, buckets of cool going on there.

[Datsuncog]

Absolutely fantastic. These are such wonderful looking cars, so hopefully the issues that seem to have kept this one off the road for a while can be sorted.

I've only ever seen one Renault 15 in real life; an early one like yours (L-reg) in a dark metallic blue, going through a local car auction around 1996/97. The bodywork appeared very clean, if memory serves, though the stripey seats were starting to look kinda threadbare in places.

I was an impecunious teenager and briefly entertained thoughts of picking this French oddball up at a bargain price, but to my surprise it bid up pretty briskly before the hammer fell at £650 - well outside my meagre budget of about £300.

The same night I very nearly chucked in a bid for a rough-as-guts Rover 2000 that was failing to attract any punters at £50, but common sense prevailed... I know I dodged a bullet on the P6, but I'm still kinda wistful about the Renault.

A while ago I found a photo online of a nearby shopping centre carpark in the late 1970s; I was most gratified to see this late R15 feature so prominently.

Still reckon they're great-looking cars.

[Volksy]

On 13/11/2024 at 22:26, Bmwdumptruck said:

IIRC the 17 hand some really unusual bucket seats, Always liked them when I was a lad.  

They did, an old friend of mine had/may still have a higher spec 15 sat in his garage with these seats:

Think they were used in the 15/17.

 

 

[Verysleepyboy]

19 minutes ago, Volksy said:

They did, an old friend of mine had/may still have a higher spec 15 sat in his garage with these seats:

Think they were used in the 15/17.

 

 

Fuego had similar seats as well - but not with the funky underleg supports

[PhilA]

Remember seeing these around and about, then they all kinda vanished, only to be seen parked up on driveways collecting moss.

They all finally disappeared when they were too fragile to be picked up with a hiab.

Joke back in the day was the number on the back was how many miles it would go before it broke...

 

Nice to see one in one piece. They still look good today. 

 

Phil

[4wheeledstool]

56 minutes ago, Volksy said:

They did, an old friend of mine had/may still have a higher spec 15 sat in his garage with these seats:

Think they were used in the 15/17.

 

 

These appeared in the post 76 cars.👍

The lack of functioning number plate lights has been annoying me, so I sorted them out today. The bulbs has rusted into the holders, so after soaking them in penetrating fluid for a couple hours the bulbs were smashed out and the holders were cleaned up. A couple of new bulbs were slotted in and voila!

[Matty]

Aftermarket exhaust? Looks a bit borey for standard. Looks just right style wise and one less job to do 👌 

[2flags]

I expect it gives a nice faaaart on overrun!

[MorrisItalSLX]

On 14/11/2024 at 13:44, MorrisItalSLX said:

I think I have a genuine Renault 15/17 workshop manual somewhere. I’ll have to have a look.

Indeed I do!

I got it with the folder of technical notes from a second hand bookshop in Goulburn, presumably both came from a Renault dealer somewhere in Australia. I can’t imagine there were many 15/17s sold new here, even less still surviving.

[Zelandeth]

My folks had one of these back in the very early 80s.  Theirs was apparently seen off by problems with the complex (for the time) electronics behind the dash leading to dead gauges, and an unknown overheating issue later on writing the engine off because there were no warning lights or gauges working to warn of impending doom.

Their problem was slightly exaggerated by the fact that they lived on Shetland at the time, and there were only two of them on the island.  Finding anyone willing to work on something as "exotic" as this proved to be a problem.

The instructions from the mechanic were something along the lines of "Aye, laddie.  You need to find the lass with the green one.  She's got a good engine but the body's fucked.  Your body's fine but the engine's fucked."

Sadly no solution was worked out, and as with many cars at the time it ended up after being drained of fluids etc, forming an artificial reef at the bottom of one of the cliffs.

[2flags]

5 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

My folks had one of these back in the very early 80s.  Theirs was apparently seen off by problems with the complex (for the time) electronics behind the dash leading to dead gauges, and an unknown overheating issue later on writing the engine off because there were no warning lights or gauges working to warn of impending doom.

Their problem was slightly exaggerated by the fact that they lived on Shetland at the time, and there were only two of them on the island.  Finding anyone willing to work on something as "exotic" as this proved to be a problem.

The instructions from the mechanic were something along the lines of "Aye, laddie.  You need to find the lass with the green one.  She's got a good engine but the body's fucked.  Your body's fine but the engine's fucked."

Sadly no solution was worked out, and as with many cars at the time it ended up after being drained of fluids etc, forming an artificial reef at the bottom of one of the cliffs.

I now have this vision of a kilted highlander screaming "Well fuck you, you ungrateful bastard!" as he hurls the offending car into the sea from a high cliff!

[4wheeledstool]

On 15/11/2024 at 15:03, Matty said:

Aftermarket exhaust? Looks a bit borey for standard. Looks just right style wise and one less job to do 👌 

It's got a cherry bomb type thing bodged on.

On 15/11/2024 at 21:41, 2flags said:

I expect it gives a nice faaaart on overrun!

It does sound OK, but the intention for this car is bone stockness.

Been playing with lights again.

I prefer the look without the big Raydots on there, but I do quite like the look of the yellow fog lights. I think if I make brackets to set them back in line with the number plate, they'll look decent.

Had to try out the number plate lights in the dark.

Belter!

 

 

[2flags]

Looking good. It's the little jobs that make it seem like you are making progress. One little bit at a time. 

[4wheeledstool]

Got a little bit of tinker time on this the other day,  I managed to bleed the cooling system so it doesn't slowly fill the expansion bottle any more. It drives and ticks over pretty well now. 

Sadly, it appears that the alternator has stopped working. I've not tested any connections or anything yet, but I imagine it won't be particularly easy to find any spares for it.

Found a much better badge for the tailgate, it has all three prongs on the back as well as being a lot less damaged.

A bit of digging on a French Renault forum led me to a shop specialising in old Renault bits, I ordered and received a pair of these.

They're reproduction parts, but they're a lot better than the cracked and faded ones on the car. 👍

Heater fan now works again after cleaning up its switch, so that's one less thing I need to sort out. Next job will be to either clean up, re build or replace the alternator so I can continue to get it ready for a bit of road use. 😀