"Serial Renault Deviant" Adey's current Renault R8 adventure

[wuvvum]

Welcome along.  I have yet to scratch the rear engined Renault itch - I did actually win a R8 automatic on eBay many years ago, but when I turned up with a trailer to collect it it wouldn't start, it was jammed into a tight corner with shredded tyres so I had to leave it. 

I do have a 6 though, and I've had assorted old Renaults over the years - a couple of 4s, several 5s, 9 Turbo, 11, 12 estate and a 1938 Novaquatre. 

[Westbay]

Welcome !

[adey]

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Welcome along.  I have yet to scratch the rear engined Renault itch - I did actually win a R8 automatic on eBay many years ago, but when I turned up with a trailer to collect it it wouldn't start, it was jammed into a tight corner with shredded tyres so I had to leave it. 

I do have a 6 though, and I've had assorted old Renaults over the years - a couple of 4s, several 5s, 9 Turbo, 11, 12 estate and a 1938 Novaquatre. 

cheers, nice selection youve had there, some properly quirky stuff!  I do have a list of Renaults ive owned over the years, ill have to type it up one day soon

2 hours ago, Westbay said:

Welcome !

thank you 

[Volksy]

Welcome!

 

A Renault 8 has always been on my list. 

Tried, unsuccessfully, to buy at least three! 

One was a gold 8 Automatic in Llandudno many years ago, which was running (although it had been converted to manual) even got to test drive it. But they wanted way to much for it at the time (must have been 25 years ago).

Two came up in Shipley. One was an S (with the twin headlights). Negotiated to buy them, but when I went to collect the owner had come forward and removed them as the guy selling them didn't have the right to sell them!

Having grown up is Spain in the 70's/early 80's they were everywhere. They made a great burbling noise!

 

I remember two abandoned Gordini 8's in a open lock up in Moutiers in the French Alps. Long gone now!

[adey]

1 hour ago, Volksy said:

Welcome!

 

A Renault 8 has always been on my list. 

Tried, unsuccessfully, to buy at least three! 

One was a gold 8 Automatic in Llandudno many years ago, which was running (although it had been converted to manual) even got to test drive it. But they wanted way to much for it at the time (must have been 25 years ago).

Two came up in Shipley. One was an S (with the twin headlights). Negotiated to buy them, but when I went to collect the owner had come forward and removed them as the guy selling them didn't have the right to sell them!

Having grown up is Spain in the 70's/early 80's they were everywhere. They made a great burbling noise!

 

I remember two abandoned Gordini 8's in a open lock up in Moutiers in the French Alps. Long gone now!

great cars, its one of those where when im out and about people stop for a chat.

once i get to the end of my uploads you will hear some proper burbles as its now running a 1397cc swap, high comp and lumpy cam with a tubular manifold. still got some posting to do for that though

[adey]

So todays plan of giving it a shakedown has been hampered by SNOW! not too much out there, and I used to have fun in the Dope in the snow, but for a first ride out in the 8 ive decided to wait. Having something fail in this weather will be a pin to fix at the road side.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CKbRI4CHKgP/?utm_source=ig_embed

I did also get a headlight to replace the one that has gone dull, but it doesn't have the side light part of it. My current one has a hole through the housing that holds a bulb. Im now trying to source another. Found a gasket kit on ebay also so grabbed that just in case its needed in the future.

 

 

[adey]

o I can't help but try and make things fit. A little out of the box thinking, I drilled the headlight undersized of the bulb and then using a cap head bolt, a washer and a nut with a taper I nipped it up until the hole was the correct size for the bulb. Snug fit for maximum contact. We now have a better looking headlight 👍🏼

Whilst I was there I also had a try at rubbing the bumpers and light surrounds with coke and tin foil. Definite improvement 👌🏻

 

[adey]

OK... I did it... now I can relax a little. More miles on the car coming soon 😁

 

[adey]

Good day and a not so good day.

I realised I haven't changed the gearbox oil after yesterdays first test drive so that was first on the agenda for today. That was a massively slow process with it being super cold and then filling takes an age through a little tube. If I was doing it on the regs id be tempted to get a pressure filler. Any way job jobbed, no major issues there.

Onto the drive, and wow, im shocked at how smooth and compliant it is. That and it also makes me very happy to start using it. Took it for a short run and briefly stopped in to see @Jezer101. Brakes were still a little spongy and the revs were hanging high at idle. But other than that it was a great drive, 50comes up ok, didn't push it past that though.

This afternoon saw me clean the carb abit and all the linkages. Hopefully this will stop the revs hanging high. I flushed out the cooling system now its proven itself and filled back up with coolant. And this is where we got into a little bother. After the carb clean I needed to get the car going obviously to check it over, but it wouldn't catch. So kept cranking, not excessively I don't think but the "new/refurbed" starter has started going slow, got hot and now wont turn long enough to actually start the car....

I did have plans of running it to work this coming week but that'll depend on getting a new starter and getting it running sweet.

Another side thing I've noted (and now confirmed by @PaulyVenturi) the wheels were made staggard. Half inch wider on the rear. I had one on the front and kept looking at it thinking it needed a decent alignment. Looks loads better now the wider wheel is back on the rear.

Overall a good weekend on the 8 and a huge step towards getting it back in use.

 

New starter has arrived today, and has also been fitted. It spins strong and fast, is brand new, so should last a while. Its also smaller in size than the one from 50+ years ago which makes its easier to fit and work on. Car started instantly on it too so win there. I also managed to trim the battery a touch, shaved some off the plastic with a flap wheel on a drill so it clear the bonnet hinge.

Got a few more bits to do on the weekend (it never ends lol) including making some brackets to hold the fan shroud and hopefully the horn. Once I get it into use I will need to get one of the tyres looked at as it'll go down over 24 hrs.

Here's some pics, not much to show though

 

 

[adey]

Fitting turned up for the oil filter. Gave it a trim, filled up a filter with oil and fired it on 👍🏼

Then using the new insta start starter motor I gave it a quick drive to the shops. Its pretty cool 😎 worn out sloping seat is a little odd to drive on so I may look at that very soon.

 

 

[adey]

And we are up and running, put about 20miles on it this morning, and bar a dicky indicator bulb, which i think its the housing/earth, all was good. I need to get a GPS speedo in there so I can correctly gauge how fast I am going against what the dash is telling me. Had it showing me 65mph at one point! It lacks top end power but that said its plenty for pottering about on all the roads near me, it'd only actually be an issue on the motorway I think. Ran a few errands and then popped to a local vineyard where i could pull over and grab a few pics. Am definitely going to enjoy using this over the coming months. Heater is high on the agenda though, gets chuffing cold in there! Side note, I've received my new log book with the historic classification on (y)

Thanks for reading

 

 

[High Jetter]

Excellent. I've always had a soft spot for Regie's products, with experience of a 5, . 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 & 25. Following with interest.

[adey]

Took it out for a little drive again today, I think I'm going to try and get it out for the commute over the next week. I will chuck in a hot water bottle for the early morning start, not even sure where my coffee will go either, and there's no stereo... I'm sure it'll be fun either way. It'll be roughly a 40 mile round trip so wish me luck.....

 

 

[adey]

And it made it in to work. 16 miles complete, no major issues at all. One of the wipers made a bid for freedom though the plastic just shattered, looks brittle. I managed to put it back on and just not use them for the rest of the trip.

 

[adey]

I've been tinkering some more though I've not documented it with pictures as much as I should have. So lets have a quick run down of where I am. Wishbones were dropped and the subframe redrilled to take out the factory positive camber and to add a little negative. I also added some spacers to the bottom shock mount so that the shock had a little more usable length. Looks good now, and still clears getting on and off my drive ( I need to get some decent pictures of it)

I have got a horn fitted, now initially I was stumped by this, more so than I should have been tbh. I was reading a switching 12v on the wiring though when adding any load the voltage would drop off to 0v and nothing would work. I tried a few different bulbs and horns to test it and always got the same result. After a few days of thinking I decided to start chopping the wiring back to find black instead of copper.... high resistance. Chopped nearly a foot of the wiring out and bingo it works. Fresh cable laid back in and we are onto a winner.

New pump has turned up also (the correct one with the heater take off on it) so first up was to test the pipework to the heater matrix. Popped the hose onto it to flush it all out, some rusty water flushed through but no where near as much as I was expecting tbh. Ran it through at varying pressures for a good 5 min. The valve under the dash works fine, the control cable has come out of its clip though so didn't actually actuate it from the dash, that part is still on my list of things to fix (hopefully tomorrow) The old pump has been whipped out after about 50 miles so came off nicely and its been replaced with the correct one. New pipes have been connected to the old heater hoses too. Tomorrow I will hopefully refit the rad and test the system for leaks. Fingers crossed all is well and we have another creature comfort that will make using it more comfortable.

Whilst its apart I have also whipped the rocker cover off. I have given it a few coats of wrinkle finish black, just to hide the crustiness and to make it a little more presentable when it goes back together.

Thanks for taking the time to read, here's some pics

 

 

[adey]

As an update, we have warm air available in the front of the car. Took a while to bleed up, but me being a dunce had the nose high as my drive slopes towards the garage. Turned the car around and it pretty much bled itself (y) Now everything is where I want it I need to get it aligned so that's next on the list of jobs. Drives so well in comparison to the Dope, don't get me wrong, id love to have it lower, but its amazingly practical as it is, and comfy.

 

[adey]

Fitted a new rocker cover gasket this afternoon along with setting the tappets. Doesn't sound it in the video but it's loads quieter and smoother.

 

[adey]

The wife and I popped out for some food yesterday but stopped in to take a look at a place called Retro Sect. A retro shop tied in with a car salesroom also selling retro cars. Young Retro motor club were there at the same time. I didn't get many pics as it was a flying visit (I was hank marvin) so grabbed a few of the 8 taken buy others

 

[tooSavvy]

I remember a story about Kwik$hit and an old Renault exhaust.....

Guy rolled in with a blow in the front pipe and *madly keen pipe-monkey hit the clamps... It [apparently] had one clamp sort of spot-welded to the sump [..???] and tho old sump just ripped up and, well, Mega $hitstorm ensued 🫠

Ooooh 😕

🚙💨

[dozeydustman]

Welcome and well done on getting this up and running. The R8 is a handsome little car.

[adey]

Took delivery of my gradulux venetian blinds for the 8 today, properly stoked to get these. Really wanted them for the dope when I had that 😁 need to tweak them a little to sit correctly but loving the look already.

 

 

[adey]

[loserone]

That's brilliant 

[adey]

its been a while, I've hit some of the body work rust with a sander and coated it with jenolite. Miles have been piling on and I'm trying to use it as much as possible. It could defo do with a new exhaust soon too, its blowing a fair bit so gets a little too noisy at certain revs, Id love to put a tubular manifold on and a single weber 40 or something but ive not seen a exhaust manifold pop up for sale ever (may pop a message on the RCCC fb page) . I have also fitted the renault 4 wheel centres, not sure how i feel about them yet.... the front i feel needs to look a touch lower too, i may look to make a splitter just to give it the illusion of being lower

 

[adey]

Did a thing, well a few. Put some yellow film over the headlights, a touch unsure on this at the moment but its easy to sort if I decide I don't like it. Next up, a mk1 golf repro cheapo front splitter. Came in from Germany, fit isn't 100% but perfect for the 8. Adds some extra lows at the front but without actually lowering the car any further. Giving off some old school racer vibes.

 

[adey]

26 minutes ago, loserone said:

That's brilliant 

thanks, this is from a few years ago. probably go a week or so of uploads to get through to catch up with where it is now 

[loserone]

I figured it will take a while.  

 

However I'm now figuring out if I can collect Venetian blinds for the 205 in the summer 

[adey]

popped to a few local events, highnam court and forge brunch club 

[adey]

Its not looking good for the 8 at the moment. The last few times I've driven it I've had the odd misfire. Assumed it was carb or ignition related, but it would clear and not cause me issues. Odd....

Anyway on Wednesday I pulled up at home with it after the commute and it was tapping a little more than normal and misfiring again. A few revs it cleared and I didn't think much of it.

Decided to take a look today and go over the basics. No mixing of oil and water and no over heating. Whipped the plugs out to make it easier to spin and do the clearances to be greeted with number one looking like its coated in baked on oil.

 

Could be worn valve stem oil seals maybe? not sure yet. Ideally I need to comp check. Any way I carried on and reset the valve clearances and on start up was met with a loud tapping that coincided with a miss. When it stopped tapping (louder than the vid) the miss stopped too. bit confused by this. Also there seems to be mega blow by and smoke from the exhaust. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards piston or valve damage, what say you guys? Its done well to be fair, I've put a few hundred miles on it since getting it up and running, didn't open it up, just sent it. Not ideal as I was meant to be driving it to RRG in August.......

 

 

[adey]

I'm going to give it an oil filter change and see how she behaves. Considering the engine was unknown (possibly not ran since 1989), I've not even removed the carb or checked any basics with timing and such, just flushed it and sent it with some fresh oil, coolant and plugs She is doing good.

There may be a few miles left in the old girl yet. I still need to set the idle and bits up really as the carb is a little sticky, but it works. Also I adjusted the throttle cable as it had loads of slack (like nearly half of the pedals throw), I have gained a few ponies there for sure.....