1956 Renault Fregate restoration...Project Geneviève

You're a machine MG! It's amazing how much you've already achieved as Philippe said. Engine bays can be a bit painful to clean up and it looks like the Fregates have plenty of nooks n crannies to get into! It's going to look brilliant when her final colour goes on :)
 
Just a pro-tip, Graham: do not toss the old harness until you're ready to install the new one. There's still a lot of valuable information there- routing, wire colors, wire sizes (can be knocked back a bit if you're going 12V), terminal types, style of harness wrap material. You might need some unobtainable terminals and connectors from the old one.
 
Hotrodelectric said:
Just a pro-tip, Graham: do not toss the old harness until you're ready to install the new one. There's still a lot of valuable information there- routing, wire colors, wire sizes (can be knocked back a bit if you're going 12V), terminal types, style of harness wrap material. You might need some unobtainable terminals and connectors from the old one.
Click to expand...

Thanks Hotrod,

While I've got you here, can you recommend a wire size suitable for this car, given that I'll be installing a modern fusebox and headlight relays to share the load . And do you know of a suitable harness wrap that looks a little old school rather than plastic tape..?
 
Last edited:
The rotisserie

Many cars never get properly restored underneath because it is too difficult, or access is restricted.

I made this rotisserie from demolition scrap three years ago and it's about to prove it's worth again. The entire car can be moved around the workshop with ease, and of course, it allows full access for repairs, cleaning, painting and sorting out cables, brake lines and the like. It's a must have for restorations in my opinion.

This body shell weighs in at 460kg stripped compared to about 250kg for my Floride, so the rotisserie needs to be strong to avoid accidents.

attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • 006 (2).jpg
    006 (2).jpg
    94.6 KB · Views: 1,298
  • 008 (2).jpg
    008 (2).jpg
    95.7 KB · Views: 1,327
  • 011 (2).jpg
    011 (2).jpg
    96.1 KB · Views: 1,278
  • 029 (2).jpg
    029 (2).jpg
    98.6 KB · Views: 1,304
Last edited:
The horrible part..

This mess will take a week to sort out. There are plenty of rust repairs to be done, cleaning and scraping, remove the steering box and arms as well as checking the fuel and brake lines.

attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • 015 (2).jpg
    015 (2).jpg
    98.4 KB · Views: 2,018
  • 019 (2).jpg
    019 (2).jpg
    99 KB · Views: 1,266
  • 020 (2).jpg
    020 (2).jpg
    96.7 KB · Views: 1,238
  • 021 (2).jpg
    021 (2).jpg
    98.8 KB · Views: 1,376
  • 022 (2).jpg
    022 (2).jpg
    97.1 KB · Views: 1,255
  • 026 (2).jpg
    026 (2).jpg
    94.9 KB · Views: 1,250
Even the body design seems over engineered looking underneath it. I wouldn't be surprised if they have very little body flex providing a fairly rattle/squeak-free cabin. I'd also imagine the NVH would be far superior to the rear engined lightweight Renaults. I wanna go for a spin when she's done! Great job MG :)
 
Yes, she's a pretty solid O'l girl alright. Even though there's rust holes in all the usual places including a gaping great hole in the front of the sills, most of it is all solid
I shone a torch along inside the sills and it's still got the factory black steel coating on the side rails and looking up into the 'A' piller it's the same, clean and rust free, better than I first thought. (I'll try and get some close up pics...)
 
59 Floride said:
Thanks Hotrod,

While I've got you here, can you recommend a wire size suitable for this car, given that I'll be installing a modern fusebox and headlight relays to share the load . And do you know of a suitable harness wrap that looks a little old school rather than plastic tape..?
Click to expand...

For the tape, Mercedes Benz sells an excellent quality cloth tape made by Tesa. It's expensive (~30.00/roll here), but I'll recommend it to anyone looking for a cloth tape, but not the bulkiness of friction tape. Wound on carefully it looks good and is pretty hard wearing. Not as easy to wrap or as stretch-y as plain electrical tape, but the results will be worth the effort. Figure on about two rolls, that should cover everything. Of course, you can cheat and use something like Scotch Super 33 electrical tape for the run to the back. Plain friction tape works well as a little extra protection wherever you need it, like at a metal pass through spot.

Going on to wire sizes: The biggest you will likely need is 10 gauge, and that will be just your charge circuit. Everything else will be either 14 gauge, which is primarily the fusebox runs and the ignition switch and wipers, or 16 gauge, which is pretty much everything else. You might use some 18 gauge for small circuits like the dash lamps. The sizing to your headlights will be determined by what lamps you run.

Do you have a copy of the diagram so I can see what you have going on? I know wipers is a question mark. Everything else should be pretty easy to determine. My only question for now is are you going with an alternator (a small one, 45 amps should work for you) or staying with a generator?
 
My initial fix for the wipers would be a resistor in series with the 6V motor after pulling all apart and cleaning and lubricating. Perhaps you could have slightly less resistance than the DC motor so you speed them up a tad, or even two switched resistors to give two speed wipers. Just a thought.

That body looks pretty good to me. Nice.

Cheers

John
 
59 Floride said:
Thanks John, Converting Hotrods figures to Australian was on my to-do-list.
Click to expand...

I added a question mark so I don't actually know exactly and perhaps I should of worded that better, so a translation from American English is needed.
On the looms, I would use the 3M electrical tape I sent you and have some more for you if needed. It ends up a mat black colour when stretched and looks better than normal shiny electrical tape as well as its thickness which adds better insulation.
 
63-1092 said:
I added a question mark so I don't actually know exactly and perhaps I should of worded that better, so a translation from American English is needed.
On the looms, I would use the 3M electrical tape I sent you and have some more for you if needed. It ends up a mat black colour when stretched and looks better than normal shiny electrical tape as well as its thickness which adds better insulation.
Click to expand...

I'll give the loom tape a trial and see how it looks. I'm happy to use plain tape in concieled areas but much of the loom goes through the firewall and is exposed in the engine bay, that's why I want something that looks a little different. The 3M might be the go.
 
HRE said:
Do you have a copy of the diagram so I can see what you have going on? I know wipers is a question mark. Everything else should be pretty easy to determine. My only question for now is are you going with an alternator (a small one, 45 amps should work for you) or staying with a generator?
Click to expand...

The wiring diagram is fairly basic and typically Renault. The only thing that spins me out are the crazy multi function switches that defy logic. I won't be following the standard diagram too closely as I'll be using plug-in connector blocks, Concealed fuse box and other modern refinements (all hidden of course), and yes, a 45amp alternator is a must.

attachment.php
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • scan0013.jpg
    scan0013.jpg
    96.8 KB · Views: 1,645
  • scan0014.jpg
    scan0014.jpg
    96 KB · Views: 1,539
63-1092 said:
Token Yank, mm2 would be a little more useful for us Aussies. 1.5mm2, 2.5mm2, 4mm2 and 16mm2 would be an equivelent for your gauge sizes?
Click to expand...

Well, shucks, I can't help it if you guys measure in that weird metric stuff. Besides, it was late, and I was (somethingmumblemumble). :p

Yah, as I understood it it was .8mm=18 gauge, 1mm=16 gauge, 2mm=14 gauge and 5mm=10 gauge. 16mm would be a battery cable sized between 6 gauge and 4 gauge- I would go with 19mm. Shouldn't need any larger, though.

Sorry 'bout all that. I just automatically go AWG. It's how I roll.
 
I was always told that if the wire constantly glowed red, you shoulda used a bigger wire......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top