I'm really sorry for Ellie, it's a bad news.
1956 Renault Fregate restoration...Project Geneviève
- Thread starter 56 Fregate
- Start date
2,000 kilometre road trip..
From the outset this was to be a fairly ambitious first trip for an old Fregate assembled by a self taught home mechanic, moi.
Myself and a group of other Reno huggers from Queensland did the round trip to Bathurst and back over a period of a week (for more info on this go to the Renault car club of Queensland facebook page), we met up with a whole bunch more Reno huggers for a Reno love-in.
The Fregate made the 2,000 km trip respectably but not without incident, more nuisance value than serious. She went like the clappers for the first 600km until the ignition timing went west, a quick roadside repair and replacement distributor saw us in Bathurst only 6 minutes behind schedule.
This was the problem with the points
the cam lobe post came loose in the base plate and upset the timing.
On the return trip I copped some bad fuel which caused some anxious moments, I made it into a small town, drained the fuel into a mechanics drain tray which showed evidence of water contamination in the fuel. Even after a full tank of fresh fuel she coughed and convulsed a few more times before coming good, but behaved until we made it to Tamworth before dark. No one was keen to travel at dusk because of the risk of meeting up with the local wildlife.
We left Tamworth the next morning before the sparrows were up for the final run home, within an hour I heard an almighty bang, rattle, clang. Fearing the worst I considered it might be time for a tilt tray until I discovered one of the rear shock absorbers had divested itself of the top securing nut which went off like a shot inside the boot. I quickly assessed the car was safe to drive with the shock rattling around inside the rear coil spring and off we set again. The cars handling didn't miss a beat minus a shockie, try that with a leaf sprung 1950s FJ Holden or Chevy.
Next, much to my embarrassment, I miscalculated my fuel consumption figures and ran out of fuel 10 km outside Tenterfield, I had a cupfull of fuel left in the jerry can from the previous days dirty fuel incident and managed to limp into a servo. It's then that I realised that my fuel tank only holds 30 litres, no wonder I ran out.:doh:
The final run home after that was smooth and enjoyable. https://www.youtube.com/embed/MO9SDWEbP1w
Road manners:
She sticks to the road like glue and the 4 coil sprung suspension combined with the sprung bench seat makes for a really smooth ride, even minus a shockie,
The Nankang tyres however, were a real disappointment on the cool a wet roads, cornering confidence was down in the wet. The tyres were really lumpy in the cool temperatures and developed flatspots when parked up on cold concrete, taking a good 30 km to come good after sitting for more than an hour. But once we crossed the Queensland border and the roads warmed up the tyres came good (or better) and the ride smoothed out.
She has ample power to get up the hills, particularly if a run-up can be had. For a 1956 car she rolls along quite well. Fuel consumption was 28.6 miles per gallon.
Once Home I removed the rear shockie for a look-see and found it undamaged and reusable once I fit a new rubber gator because the dirt cover had been knocked loose with 450 odd km of free range rattling.
All things considered I am delighted to have made the trip and returned home without any major incident and with dignity still in tact. The engine, gearbox, diff, wheels and brakes etc. performed perfectly and, most importantly..nothing major broke.
:headbang:
From the outset this was to be a fairly ambitious first trip for an old Fregate assembled by a self taught home mechanic, moi.
Myself and a group of other Reno huggers from Queensland did the round trip to Bathurst and back over a period of a week (for more info on this go to the Renault car club of Queensland facebook page), we met up with a whole bunch more Reno huggers for a Reno love-in.
The Fregate made the 2,000 km trip respectably but not without incident, more nuisance value than serious. She went like the clappers for the first 600km until the ignition timing went west, a quick roadside repair and replacement distributor saw us in Bathurst only 6 minutes behind schedule.
This was the problem with the points
the cam lobe post came loose in the base plate and upset the timing.On the return trip I copped some bad fuel which caused some anxious moments, I made it into a small town, drained the fuel into a mechanics drain tray which showed evidence of water contamination in the fuel. Even after a full tank of fresh fuel she coughed and convulsed a few more times before coming good, but behaved until we made it to Tamworth before dark. No one was keen to travel at dusk because of the risk of meeting up with the local wildlife.
We left Tamworth the next morning before the sparrows were up for the final run home, within an hour I heard an almighty bang, rattle, clang. Fearing the worst I considered it might be time for a tilt tray until I discovered one of the rear shock absorbers had divested itself of the top securing nut which went off like a shot inside the boot. I quickly assessed the car was safe to drive with the shock rattling around inside the rear coil spring and off we set again. The cars handling didn't miss a beat minus a shockie, try that with a leaf sprung 1950s FJ Holden or Chevy.
Next, much to my embarrassment, I miscalculated my fuel consumption figures and ran out of fuel 10 km outside Tenterfield, I had a cupfull of fuel left in the jerry can from the previous days dirty fuel incident and managed to limp into a servo. It's then that I realised that my fuel tank only holds 30 litres, no wonder I ran out.:doh:
The final run home after that was smooth and enjoyable. https://www.youtube.com/embed/MO9SDWEbP1w
Road manners:
She sticks to the road like glue and the 4 coil sprung suspension combined with the sprung bench seat makes for a really smooth ride, even minus a shockie,
The Nankang tyres however, were a real disappointment on the cool a wet roads, cornering confidence was down in the wet. The tyres were really lumpy in the cool temperatures and developed flatspots when parked up on cold concrete, taking a good 30 km to come good after sitting for more than an hour. But once we crossed the Queensland border and the roads warmed up the tyres came good (or better) and the ride smoothed out.
She has ample power to get up the hills, particularly if a run-up can be had. For a 1956 car she rolls along quite well. Fuel consumption was 28.6 miles per gallon.
Once Home I removed the rear shockie for a look-see and found it undamaged and reusable once I fit a new rubber gator because the dirt cover had been knocked loose with 450 odd km of free range rattling.
All things considered I am delighted to have made the trip and returned home without any major incident and with dignity still in tact. The engine, gearbox, diff, wheels and brakes etc. performed perfectly and, most importantly..nothing major broke.
:headbang:
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:banana::banana::banana:
Very cool MG! [emoji41]
Glad you got home intact [emoji106]
Glad you got home intact [emoji106]
Good the trip home was educational then! Pretty good overall for a shakedown run.
I really enjoyed riding in the Fregate in and around Bathurst and at Mount Panorama. Nice flat power curve to get up the hills, good ride and view, comfortable and, of course, pretty stylish.
I'd have guessed a bit more than 30 litres in the fuel tank, but there you are. It's still enough to get from one fuel stop to the next across the Nullarbor.....
See you at Easter then...
I really enjoyed riding in the Fregate in and around Bathurst and at Mount Panorama. Nice flat power curve to get up the hills, good ride and view, comfortable and, of course, pretty stylish.
I'd have guessed a bit more than 30 litres in the fuel tank, but there you are. It's still enough to get from one fuel stop to the next across the Nullarbor.....
See you at Easter then...
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few mishaps, but a nice trip .
.
Yeahhhh, you finally took one of yours out for a nice long drive and didn't trailer queen it.
You'd be pretty set now to do the run to Melbourne for our French car day on the 16th of Oct, you know you have somewhere to stay.
4000km round trip in the Fregate, Bris to Melb, you know she can do it, but can you find the time and patience to. It'll definately iron out any other problems that might pop up.
You'd be pretty set now to do the run to Melbourne for our French car day on the 16th of Oct, you know you have somewhere to stay.
4000km round trip in the Fregate, Bris to Melb, you know she can do it, but can you find the time and patience to. It'll definately iron out any other problems that might pop up.
"Iron out" is one description of course. "Show up" comes before "iron out" - depends a bit on what appears and where it shows up!
Agree totally though, to be serious. She's a lovely thing, Geneviève and quite capable of doing the trip I'd judge.
Agree totally though, to be serious. She's a lovely thing, Geneviève and quite capable of doing the trip I'd judge.
Interesting. I'm reading these old "Wheels" magazines.
Last night's read had an article on Bush Vehicles.
One bloke was getting around in a 1928 Chev.
Another has a Chev with ... um... a DC3 body. (Yes, a Douglas DC3).
It has a top speed of 20MPH .. and gets 14MPG.
Another had made a motor home and mobile workshop, and had driven the wife and daughter around the sticks
sharpening knives (etc) for 20 years, all living in the vehicle. His machine averages 8MPH and does 10MPG.
Dem were the dayz.
Seemed that all of the "cars" were quite reliable, with the main mechanical drawback being "punctures."
Makes a Fregate positively luxury modern motoring.
Last night's read had an article on Bush Vehicles.
One bloke was getting around in a 1928 Chev.
Another has a Chev with ... um... a DC3 body. (Yes, a Douglas DC3).
It has a top speed of 20MPH .. and gets 14MPG.
Another had made a motor home and mobile workshop, and had driven the wife and daughter around the sticks
sharpening knives (etc) for 20 years, all living in the vehicle. His machine averages 8MPH and does 10MPG.
Dem were the dayz.
Seemed that all of the "cars" were quite reliable, with the main mechanical drawback being "punctures."
Makes a Fregate positively luxury modern motoring.
Thanks for the offer John, indeed the mighty Fregate would be ready to back up another substantial trip now that some more tinkering has occurred, the driver might not be up to the task though. Maybe if and when I ever get to retire..
I came back from Bathurst with a list of things I need to improve on, the tyres and wheels being the big ticket item. The Nankangs will be unceremoniously dispensed with when my new rubber arrives via Antique Tyres Aust. I have ordered some European tyres namely Vredenstein, I hope they are good, anyone tried these..?
Yes the car is quite luxurious compared to my Floride, the ride is sensational, the brakes too. The windscreen wipers, heater and demister also had a good workout and passed the test.
Now if I could just figure out how to get some air conditioning inserted without being visible...
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...happiness is when your persistent tappet rattle turns out to be nothing more than an exhaust flange gasket leak.:doh:
Geez, at this rate you might have to hand back that FCD trophy.
I had a friend who retro fitted an under dash unit in his valiant ute. Brand new made in Thailand but had that old retro look to it.
With perfect hindsight, that makes complete sense, doesn't it!! Glad to hear it is fixed.
What are the nails for?
Just asking.
Just asking.
Have those on the DS ( faute de mieux )
They are OK ( keep the rims off the ground and wear well enough), but are not exactly the most adhesive, especially in wet.
Driven within their limits they are OK, but if you are planning a lot of time motoring on your door handles I would be careful
Best Wishes
Andrew
They are OK ( keep the rims off the ground and wear well enough), but are not exactly the most adhesive, especially in wet.
Driven within their limits they are OK, but if you are planning a lot of time motoring on your door handles I would be careful
Best Wishes
Andrew
Comment directed to Vredesteins - had slipped of the thread for a couple of weeks.
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Inside the mind of the Master...
Hmm, not surprisingly, you have me stumped again
With the rods and wheels, it looks like it rolls back and forth, but it appears bolted solid
I know, patience grasshopper
GH I
Hmm, not surprisingly, you have me stumped again
With the rods and wheels, it looks like it rolls back and forth, but it appears bolted solid
I know, patience grasshopper
GH I