1956 Renault Fregate restoration...Project Geneviève

[Ricky]

Wow , it's really awesome ingenuity: bravo! :headbang:

But, how the metal part is folded over the flexible rod?

 

[56 Fregate]

G'day Ricky,

Just fold it down with a long stick.

 

[56 Fregate]

By Golly this works. I have trial fitted a short piece and will roll onto the rest of them through the week. The soft 0.3 aluminium polished up nicely with Autosol.

 

[Dano]

Simply brilliant...

 

[Ricky]

It's just amazing.

 

[56 Fregate]

MG, if you were anymore clever you'd break the clever-o-meter gauge

Simply brilliant...

It's just amazing.

Awe c'mon you guys, this stuff isn't at all difficult, just takes persistence.

I've been thinking this process through for 3 years now, and after countless experiments and about 50 failures the process seems really, really ridiculously obvious now. Like I've said before, I just copy what someone has already done, nothing new in that.

A small sample of the failures..

The polishing process is simple too, just buff it by hand with a rag and Autosol.

I've got all the major bits on the car and will have it finished tonight I hope.

Nothin' toit really.

 

[J-man]

More Wow!

 

[FIVEDOOR]

Nothin' toit really.

No, not when you know how, eh MG

 

[56 Fregate]

That's much better, she looks like a proper Fregate now..

 

[Dano]

Love your work Graham

 

[Ricky]

Superbe !

 

[tigre]

good point about the Fregate's weight 1400kg compared to the little Dauphine and the 4CV was also really light and agile<br>when i was at Uni i had a Dauphine and it used to need a push start and it would also run out of juice time to time.<br>the trick was then to hop out and push the car with one hand and steer through the driver's door window with the other hand.<br>on the flat road you can jog along at a good clip just pushing on the front pillar with one hand to reach the nearest petrol station.<br>once we got big cars like R10 and R16 then simply pushing your car solo was no longer an option and you needed two people.

 

[Kenfuego]

Every time I visit this thread I am amazed at your ability to find your way through and reproduce the unobtainable and make the impossible, a great inspiration to any restorer, even if it is many years since I tackled a restoration of any magnitude and I had parts that I could find new off the shelf. I like your ability to construct a jig or simple machine that will do the job to remake a part, and best of all the ability and time to put up a visual record of the process and that takes time and dedication, that all do appreciate.

Keep up the good work

Regards
Ken.

 

[Frans]

Every time I visit this thread I am amazed at your ability to find your way through and reproduce the unobtainable and make the impossible, a great inspiration to any restorer, even if it is many years since I tackled a restoration of any magnitude and I had parts that I could find new off the shelf. I like your ability to construct a jig or simple machine that will do the job to remake a part, and best of all the ability and time to put up a visual record of the process and that takes time and dedication, that all do appreciate.

Keep up the good work

Regards
Ken.

Very true words that Ken. I can only sit back and read about his ventures through the restoration period and then realise my bit of fabrication abilities isn't a patch to what has been done in this thread and don't forget the Floride thread as well.

That was well done 59 Floride!!

Frans.

 

[Sunroof]

Actually I also like the technical drawings. Done on a computer no doubt but some thing I could never do with out the old drawing board and "T" square. I have been building some machinery and tend to draw it all out full size on the remains of cardboard boxes that had big screen TV's etc. The not so old G is a clever guy. Must put in a lot of thinking hours.

 

[JohnW]

Me too, re the technical drawings. Geneviève is pretty good at Mount Panorama too, not just a pretty face.....

 

[56 Fregate]

Awe come on you lot, this project finished 2.5 years ago and I've hung up the tools since then.

Remember my secret formula for success: Have a really good crack, be prepared to fail (lots) and just copy what someone else has already done, simple really.

 

[56 Fregate]

Oh and isn't that a very 1950s look..

 

[56 Fregate]

Here's some more 1950s bling. It's not an original ROBRI but a cheap reverse engineered knock-off that I found laying around the shed.

 

[renault8&10]

Copyright?