Hi Damien - thanks for speaking up! And yes I will be interested in any 20 parts you may have. Will PM at a later date.
(You have a 17?? Very jealous!)
Cheers,
Tony.
1981 Renault 20TS
- Thread starter BlackC2
- Start date
(You have a 17?? Very jealous!)
Cheers,
Tony.
Gorgeous!
Parts: $0.00 ; Supplies: $0.00 ; Maintenance Items: $0.00
TOTAL: $0.00
Cost of Petrol Job 1: Give it a thorough wash then take it for a spin
Again, as part of getting to know the car, I subjected it to a thorough wash. But not before removing the non-original crome rings on the wheels. I actually think it looks better at the moment with them, but I'm trying to ease the back towards orginality as much as practical, so they have to go.
The car was prewashed with a foam cannon after washing each wheel with dedicated wheel cleaner and three different brushes. At least those awful green wheels came up cleaner than I thougth they would. While the foam was soaking I went round every crease with a boars hair detailing brush to get any muck out of those hard to get to places. Yes, I'm very aware of a popular saying to with polishing and fecal matter, but it's another good way to find out what's actual damage to surfaces and what's just muck. And it's fun anyway.
And yes, the photo is quite right. I will definitely electrocute myself washing the car some day soon...
The washing made me aware of a few more horrors that will be addressed when I start spending small amounts of money. But, so far there's nothing catastrophic showing up. (I'm biding my time until I pull up the carpets...)
Once clean I popped around to the local servo and put in about 30 litres of premium (along with a squirt from the botle of valvesaver left in the driver's map pocket by a previous owner). I was loathe to put in more than that in case a full tank resulted in a leak - I'm sure most of us have experienced that before!
My wife has taken an interest in woodworking of late and she had expressed an interest in going bush to find some fallen timber she could snaffle for a bit of carving practice. As I wanted to stretch the legs of the Renault, we took of to the north east of Hoabrt. This was my wife's first ride in the car and I kept quiet just to see how she reacted. Given this was the first decent run I'd taken it on, I wasn't sure what was going to happen to react to!
As it turned out - with tyre pressures now up to where I prefer them - 30psi all round - (don't start, we all have our views on this!) the Renault confidently negotiated my favourite "nearby" road (Grasstree Hill Road for those down here) and then very comfortably cruised at 80 then the hundred as we got to more open roads near Richmond.
Being a proper old French car, I had no qualms about going on the (wet) dirt as directed by The Navigator. And, no surprise, the 20 was just as comfortable bumming along the fire trails. Up and down hills, over corrogations bad enough to pop it out of second gear as we scrambled around some uphill hairpins, it was very much the right tool for the job! And no doubt this was the most work it's had for a while - it's in much better mechanical condition than cosmetic!
No issues had arisen by the time we stopped to grab our wood (above) and Kiri had commented on how well the car was powering along and how comforatble it is. (I'm sure we all agree that spousal approval makes any car ownership experience better!) And she's kind of picky - I don't think she really likes the Alfa much...
We kept going North and I picked up the pace on the bumpy, wet dirt road to "amusing" level and, again, no apparent complaints from the car (or passenger). After we hit tarmac again and a lovely winding uphill section we stopped for a picky and the only casualty was now visible - the bumps had shaken both headlights lenses loose. You can see the one on the right clearly, the left less obvious:
So the trip proved a great success. We all know old cars don't like to sit and I think this one has been doing just that for quite some time. A good run was definitely in order! It was also an opportunity to (quite literally as it turned out!) shake loose any weak points so they can be addressed.
Cheers,
Tony.
TOTAL: $0.00
Cost of Petrol Job 1: Give it a thorough wash then take it for a spin
Again, as part of getting to know the car, I subjected it to a thorough wash. But not before removing the non-original crome rings on the wheels. I actually think it looks better at the moment with them, but I'm trying to ease the back towards orginality as much as practical, so they have to go.
The car was prewashed with a foam cannon after washing each wheel with dedicated wheel cleaner and three different brushes. At least those awful green wheels came up cleaner than I thougth they would. While the foam was soaking I went round every crease with a boars hair detailing brush to get any muck out of those hard to get to places. Yes, I'm very aware of a popular saying to with polishing and fecal matter, but it's another good way to find out what's actual damage to surfaces and what's just muck. And it's fun anyway.
And yes, the photo is quite right. I will definitely electrocute myself washing the car some day soon...
The washing made me aware of a few more horrors that will be addressed when I start spending small amounts of money. But, so far there's nothing catastrophic showing up. (I'm biding my time until I pull up the carpets...)
Once clean I popped around to the local servo and put in about 30 litres of premium (along with a squirt from the botle of valvesaver left in the driver's map pocket by a previous owner). I was loathe to put in more than that in case a full tank resulted in a leak - I'm sure most of us have experienced that before!
My wife has taken an interest in woodworking of late and she had expressed an interest in going bush to find some fallen timber she could snaffle for a bit of carving practice. As I wanted to stretch the legs of the Renault, we took of to the north east of Hoabrt. This was my wife's first ride in the car and I kept quiet just to see how she reacted. Given this was the first decent run I'd taken it on, I wasn't sure what was going to happen to react to!
As it turned out - with tyre pressures now up to where I prefer them - 30psi all round - (don't start, we all have our views on this!) the Renault confidently negotiated my favourite "nearby" road (Grasstree Hill Road for those down here) and then very comfortably cruised at 80 then the hundred as we got to more open roads near Richmond.
Being a proper old French car, I had no qualms about going on the (wet) dirt as directed by The Navigator. And, no surprise, the 20 was just as comfortable bumming along the fire trails. Up and down hills, over corrogations bad enough to pop it out of second gear as we scrambled around some uphill hairpins, it was very much the right tool for the job! And no doubt this was the most work it's had for a while - it's in much better mechanical condition than cosmetic!
No issues had arisen by the time we stopped to grab our wood (above) and Kiri had commented on how well the car was powering along and how comforatble it is. (I'm sure we all agree that spousal approval makes any car ownership experience better!) And she's kind of picky - I don't think she really likes the Alfa much...
We kept going North and I picked up the pace on the bumpy, wet dirt road to "amusing" level and, again, no apparent complaints from the car (or passenger). After we hit tarmac again and a lovely winding uphill section we stopped for a picky and the only casualty was now visible - the bumps had shaken both headlights lenses loose. You can see the one on the right clearly, the left less obvious:
So the trip proved a great success. We all know old cars don't like to sit and I think this one has been doing just that for quite some time. A good run was definitely in order! It was also an opportunity to (quite literally as it turned out!) shake loose any weak points so they can be addressed.
Cheers,
Tony.
In the 1980's my R20 ran badly on Shell. Perhaps the local Shell servo didn't have 98 in their 98 bowser. 98 was Super back then.
You are prompting fond memories for me.
When I had my 20, also a very late series 1 with a couple of series 2 bits, we took it from home in Melbourne up to Kakadu.
Driving up North of Alice Springs towards Darwin, it was horribly hot and my partner and I agreed that the aircon didn't appear to be working. (An aftermarket under-dash unit we had fitted when we bought the car.) Then we got out of the car and realized what a great job the aircon was doing...
we hammered the 20 around Kakadu National Park for a week, including up some rough "4wd" tracks. The car took it in it stride, except that we had 2 flat tyres. fortunately the second one was a slow leak, we could stop and pump up every few km. the car was so comfortable and unfussed over the rough tracks, but we had to replace most of the front suspension bushes over the next year....
When I had my 20, also a very late series 1 with a couple of series 2 bits, we took it from home in Melbourne up to Kakadu.
Driving up North of Alice Springs towards Darwin, it was horribly hot and my partner and I agreed that the aircon didn't appear to be working. (An aftermarket under-dash unit we had fitted when we bought the car.) Then we got out of the car and realized what a great job the aircon was doing...
we hammered the 20 around Kakadu National Park for a week, including up some rough "4wd" tracks. The car took it in it stride, except that we had 2 flat tyres. fortunately the second one was a slow leak, we could stop and pump up every few km. the car was so comfortable and unfussed over the rough tracks, but we had to replace most of the front suspension bushes over the next year....
Parts: $0.00 ; Supplies: $0.00 ; Maintenance Items: $0.00
TOTAL: $0.00
Unforced Error Zero Dollar Job 1: Repair paint damage caused by me...
After the 20s Big Adventure, it was up to my (least) favourite job: painting the rear drivers side door that I'd ripped paint off when removing the non-original rubbing strips.
The main problem was that the rip had taken ALL the paint off, right down to the metal, and left "tall" square edges that needed to be feathered ready for paint. I put a lot of elbow (then electric-powered) grease into sanding down those edges, but they were so think that the area of the feathering was going to be enormous. And even with the electric sander, I was having real trouble. The combination of the angles and the depression caused by all the sanding made it hard to be sanding in exactly the right spot.
In the spirit of "near enough is god enough in my mind" I tried to start the painting still with some only half-feathered edges. And of course as soon as the first coat of primer went on, the edges just curled up and away from the surface.
After a long time trying to get a reasonable result, I gave up and started painting anyway. The whole car needs painting anyway, and this was still going to be better than it was. And it's sealed at least.
I was still able to use cans left over in my cupboard - I've got Etch Primer that seems to be breeding - but there was only one can of primer/filler, so it was a bit tense. Once dry, the whole area was flatted back ready for colour. Still no cost - there were two cans of custom mixed paint with the car - so that was a win. Five coats of colour were applied. I'm leaving them it for two weeks to cure then will have a go a cutting and polishing for some kind of gloss.
I'd been planning on doing the whole panel in body colour - as it's supposed to be - but decided it would just annoy me with one door mismatched.And I wanted to make the green paint last. So it was- you guessed it - back to the Cupboard of Endless Freebies for some semi-gloss black chassis paint. It's enamel rather than the presumably acrylic body colour. But it'll do for now.
That green line under the door is the sill that I'd, in a previous post, carefully removed the black paint from. So even though it's now more correct, it's not necessarily any better looking!
You'll notice the trim strip is now off the car. While I was sanding, I noticed it wasn't that well connected and when I prodded it a bit it became seriously not well connected. So I took it off rather than have it come off whilst on the Derwent Bridge. As you can see, it's not the first time it's been off, or had a "repair". I'll need to spend some money and get some proper trim clips (if I can) that fit properly. I've had a bit of a search and there's some likely candidated out there, so fingers crossed.
At the same time - and this is entirely your fault Simca - I removed the rear badges ready to relocate to the correct place. Unfortunately, and entirely as expected, they came off but left stains and craters behind. So they needed paint. Hence why I was needing my two cans of (evidently already used at least once) body colour to last.
Some spot putty of indeterminate but not of this century was used on the left side, along with etch primer, but they both ended up being more of a guide coat as i had to do a fair bit of sanding to get rid of some of the craters. So it was then all taped up ready for the two different primers:
As you can see, "just the badge areas" became "alright the whole lot". There was a nasty little bit of wear/surface rust just beneath the lock that decided me in committing to the whole area.
Once allowed to dry, the primer was flatted back, masking was done again, and the colour was applied. It was tense stuff with an unknown but small amount of paint left, but I juuuust made it with four coats, with the last being a coat and a half. I'd be more comfortable with a little more depth, but we''ll just have to be careful come cutting time. After cutting, I'll reattach the badges in the correct spot...
Finally, somewhere in all of that, I did another 'ledge' - removing the brushed dark green paint under the grey tape. It takes quite a while for each panel, so I'm doing it one at a time and working my way around the car. This time it was good news - no rust!
Cheers,
Tony.
TOTAL: $0.00
Unforced Error Zero Dollar Job 1: Repair paint damage caused by me...
After the 20s Big Adventure, it was up to my (least) favourite job: painting the rear drivers side door that I'd ripped paint off when removing the non-original rubbing strips.
The main problem was that the rip had taken ALL the paint off, right down to the metal, and left "tall" square edges that needed to be feathered ready for paint. I put a lot of elbow (then electric-powered) grease into sanding down those edges, but they were so think that the area of the feathering was going to be enormous. And even with the electric sander, I was having real trouble. The combination of the angles and the depression caused by all the sanding made it hard to be sanding in exactly the right spot.
In the spirit of "near enough is god enough in my mind" I tried to start the painting still with some only half-feathered edges. And of course as soon as the first coat of primer went on, the edges just curled up and away from the surface.
After a long time trying to get a reasonable result, I gave up and started painting anyway. The whole car needs painting anyway, and this was still going to be better than it was. And it's sealed at least.
I was still able to use cans left over in my cupboard - I've got Etch Primer that seems to be breeding - but there was only one can of primer/filler, so it was a bit tense. Once dry, the whole area was flatted back ready for colour. Still no cost - there were two cans of custom mixed paint with the car - so that was a win. Five coats of colour were applied. I'm leaving them it for two weeks to cure then will have a go a cutting and polishing for some kind of gloss.
I'd been planning on doing the whole panel in body colour - as it's supposed to be - but decided it would just annoy me with one door mismatched.And I wanted to make the green paint last. So it was- you guessed it - back to the Cupboard of Endless Freebies for some semi-gloss black chassis paint. It's enamel rather than the presumably acrylic body colour. But it'll do for now.
That green line under the door is the sill that I'd, in a previous post, carefully removed the black paint from. So even though it's now more correct, it's not necessarily any better looking!
You'll notice the trim strip is now off the car. While I was sanding, I noticed it wasn't that well connected and when I prodded it a bit it became seriously not well connected. So I took it off rather than have it come off whilst on the Derwent Bridge. As you can see, it's not the first time it's been off, or had a "repair". I'll need to spend some money and get some proper trim clips (if I can) that fit properly. I've had a bit of a search and there's some likely candidated out there, so fingers crossed.
At the same time - and this is entirely your fault Simca - I removed the rear badges ready to relocate to the correct place. Unfortunately, and entirely as expected, they came off but left stains and craters behind. So they needed paint. Hence why I was needing my two cans of (evidently already used at least once) body colour to last.
Some spot putty of indeterminate but not of this century was used on the left side, along with etch primer, but they both ended up being more of a guide coat as i had to do a fair bit of sanding to get rid of some of the craters. So it was then all taped up ready for the two different primers:
As you can see, "just the badge areas" became "alright the whole lot". There was a nasty little bit of wear/surface rust just beneath the lock that decided me in committing to the whole area.
Once allowed to dry, the primer was flatted back, masking was done again, and the colour was applied. It was tense stuff with an unknown but small amount of paint left, but I juuuust made it with four coats, with the last being a coat and a half. I'd be more comfortable with a little more depth, but we''ll just have to be careful come cutting time. After cutting, I'll reattach the badges in the correct spot...
Finally, somewhere in all of that, I did another 'ledge' - removing the brushed dark green paint under the grey tape. It takes quite a while for each panel, so I'm doing it one at a time and working my way around the car. This time it was good news - no rust!
Cheers,
Tony.
You are doing a great job.
I look forward to the next installment.
I like that blacked out lower part, it suits the car.
The Alfa is gorgeous, too.
I look forward to the next installment.
I like that blacked out lower part, it suits the car.
The Alfa is gorgeous, too.
I'll raise you another couple!
If only! (Re noise) - took it for a spin today and it's not exactly quiet atm...
But can def relate to the rust - there is surface rust to varying degrees absolutely everywhere!
Cheers,
Tony.
So plush inside!
Parts: $0.00 ; Supplies: $0.00 ; Maintenance Items: $0.00
TOTAL: $0.00
Unforced Error Zero Dollar Job 1: Repair paint damage caused by me...
After the 20s Big Adventure, it was up to my (least) favourite job: painting the rear drivers side door that I'd ripped paint off when removing the non-original rubbing strips.
The main problem was that the rip had taken ALL the paint off, right down to the metal, and left "tall" square edges that needed to be feathered ready for paint. I put a lot of elbow (then electric-powered) grease into sanding down those edges, but they were so think that the area of the feathering was going to be enormous. And even with the electric sander, I was having real trouble. The combination of the angles and the depression caused by all the sanding made it hard to be sanding in exactly the right spot.
In the spirit of "near enough is god enough in my mind" I tried to start the painting still with some only half-feathered edges. And of course as soon as the first coat of primer went on, the edges just curled up and away from the surface.
View attachment 125158
After a long time trying to get a reasonable result, I gave up and started painting anyway. The whole car needs painting anyway, and this was still going to be better than it was. And it's sealed at least.
View attachment 125162
I was still able to use cans left over in my cupboard - I've got Etch Primer that seems to be breeding - but there was only one can of primer/filler, so it was a bit tense. Once dry, the whole area was flatted back ready for colour. Still no cost - there were two cans of custom mixed paint with the car - so that was a win. Five coats of colour were applied. I'm leaving them it for two weeks to cure then will have a go a cutting and polishing for some kind of gloss.
I'd been planning on doing the whole panel in body colour - as it's supposed to be - but decided it would just annoy me with one door mismatched.And I wanted to make the green paint last. So it was- you guessed it - back to the Cupboard of Endless Freebies for some semi-gloss black chassis paint. It's enamel rather than the presumably acrylic body colour. But it'll do for now.
View attachment 125164
That green line under the door is the sill that I'd, in a previous post, carefully removed the black paint from. So even though it's now more correct, it's not necessarily any better looking!
You'll notice the trim strip is now off the car. While I was sanding, I noticed it wasn't that well connected and when I prodded it a bit it became seriously not well connected. So I took it off rather than have it come off whilst on the Derwent Bridge. As you can see, it's not the first time it's been off, or had a "repair". I'll need to spend some money and get some proper trim clips (if I can) that fit properly. I've had a bit of a search and there's some likely candidated out there, so fingers crossed.
View attachment 125165
At the same time - and this is entirely your fault Simca - I removed the rear badges ready to relocate to the correct place. Unfortunately, and entirely as expected, they came off but left stains and craters behind. So they needed paint. Hence why I was needing my two cans of (evidently already used at least once) body colour to last.
View attachment 125166
Some spot putty of indeterminate but not of this century was used on the left side, along with etch primer, but they both ended up being more of a guide coat as i had to do a fair bit of sanding to get rid of some of the craters. So it was then all taped up ready for the two different primers:
View attachment 125167
As you can see, "just the badge areas" became "alright the whole lot". There was a nasty little bit of wear/surface rust just beneath the lock that decided me in committing to the whole area.
View attachment 125168
Once allowed to dry, the primer was flatted back, masking was done again, and the colour was applied. It was tense stuff with an unknown but small amount of paint left, but I juuuust made it with four coats, with the last being a coat and a half. I'd be more comfortable with a little more depth, but we''ll just have to be careful come cutting time. After cutting, I'll reattach the badges in the correct spot...
View attachment 125169
Finally, somewhere in all of that, I did another 'ledge' - removing the brushed dark green paint under the grey tape. It takes quite a while for each panel, so I'm doing it one at a time and working my way around the car. This time it was good news - no rust!
View attachment 125170
View attachment 125171
Cheers,
Tony.
Looking at the masking - I recognise the Saturday Paper! Just as one would expect in a discerning Renault owner
Ian.
Parts: $0.00 ; Supplies: $31.00 ; Maintenance Items: $0.00
TOTAL: $31.00
Less Than 30 Dollars Job 1: Repair headlights
Last post, I mentioned that our little trip into the sticks had rattled the headlight glass off the headlights. Not being the type of issue that can be ignored if I wanted to keep driving it, I had to make that the next job.
First off, I persuded both lenses to come out of the surrounds - there was no chance of them falling out themselves, as it took a bit of wrestling to get them out. This revealed another previous previous repair effort. Most of the chrome has corroded away long ago, so someone has come in with a paint brush and silver paint to try and remedy it. As much as it'd be nice to track down some kind of electroplating business and see if the chrome could be restored, I'm still not prepared to spend that much time or money on this project. So, like the previous owner, I have to rely on 'paint'.
Before any painting could be done, the main units needed a serious bit of cleaning. Remember these lights were present in the engine bay when it was soaked in degreaser, scrubbed and the jet washed...and they still looked like this!
So they got a good soak in Marine Clean and then scrubbed and steam cleaned:
Though I've had experience with "chrome" paint before and never been impressed, I still coughed up($21) for some this time in the vain hope it might work a bit better on these smooth surfaces. As it was, it came out a silver/grey colour and ran really easily. The end result is certainly an improvement, but no substitute for actual chrome:
Meanwhile, the opportunity to polish up the stainless steel surround while the lights were out of the way was too much to ignore, so I broke out the two drill bit attachements for polishing metal. They came as a kit from Supercheap (or Repco) ages ago when I used them to polish the ally cam cover for the Alfa. First there's the calico wheel and coarse polishing paste then a second round with the soft pad and compound. as we all know, stainless is a bit stubborn to polish sometimes, so it took the best part of an hour to go round the whole surround twice. (Well, an hour in my mind at least...)
The second outlay for this project was some waterproof silicone sealant to refit the glass to the housings. I was able to get a cute little stubby cartridge for the caulking gun, so 'only' had to pay $10. I wasn't patient enough when I then went to reinstall the finished lights and the silicone hadn't set, so I had to do a second go...should've waited overnight to be sure.
After also thoroughly cleaning and dressing the black grille, the job was done. I made sure to drown the adjusting mechanisms with silicone lubricant and they adjust really nicely now. My secret to adjusting to the correct height? Not bother - I just adjusted them until they looked good...
Have done a couple of decent runs with the car since and nothing's come loose, so - fingers crossed - that's Job Done!
Cheers,
Tony.
TOTAL: $31.00
Less Than 30 Dollars Job 1: Repair headlights
Last post, I mentioned that our little trip into the sticks had rattled the headlight glass off the headlights. Not being the type of issue that can be ignored if I wanted
to keep driving it, I had to make that the next job.First off, I persuded both lenses to come out of the surrounds - there was no chance of them falling out themselves, as it took a bit of wrestling to get them out. This revealed another previous previous repair effort. Most of the chrome has corroded away long ago, so someone has come in with a paint brush and silver paint to try and remedy it. As much as it'd be nice to track down some kind of electroplating business and see if the chrome could be restored, I'm still not prepared to spend that much time or money on this project. So, like the previous owner, I have to rely on 'paint'.
Before any painting could be done, the main units needed a serious bit of cleaning. Remember these lights were present in the engine bay when it was soaked in degreaser, scrubbed and the jet washed...and they still looked like this!
So they got a good soak in Marine Clean and then scrubbed and steam cleaned:
Though I've had experience with "chrome" paint before and never been impressed, I still coughed up($21) for some this time in the vain hope it might work a bit better on these smooth surfaces. As it was, it came out a silver/grey colour and ran really easily. The end result is certainly an improvement, but no substitute for actual chrome:
Meanwhile, the opportunity to polish up the stainless steel surround while the lights were out of the way was too much to ignore, so I broke out the two drill bit attachements for polishing metal. They came as a kit from Supercheap (or Repco) ages ago when I used them to polish the ally cam cover for the Alfa. First there's the calico wheel and coarse polishing paste then a second round with the soft pad and compound. as we all know, stainless is a bit stubborn to polish sometimes, so it took the best part of an hour to go round the whole surround twice. (Well, an hour in my mind at least...
)The second outlay for this project was some waterproof silicone sealant to refit the glass to the housings. I was able to get a cute little stubby cartridge for the caulking gun, so 'only' had to pay $10. I wasn't patient enough when I then went to reinstall the finished lights and the silicone hadn't set, so I had to do a second go...should've waited overnight to be sure.
After also thoroughly cleaning and dressing the black grille, the job was done. I made sure to drown the adjusting mechanisms with silicone lubricant and they adjust really nicely now. My secret to adjusting to the correct height? Not bother - I just adjusted them until they looked good...
Have done a couple of decent runs with the car since and nothing's come loose, so - fingers crossed - that's Job Done!
Cheers,
Tony.
Parts: $0.00 ; Supplies: $0.00 ; Maintenance Items: $0.00
TOTAL: $0.00
Unforced Error Zero Dollar Job 1: Repair paint damage caused by me...
After the 20s Big Adventure, it was up to my (least) favourite job: painting the rear drivers side door that I'd ripped paint off when removing the non-original rubbing strips.
The main problem was that the rip had taken ALL the paint off, right down to the metal, and left "tall" square edges that needed to be feathered ready for paint. I put a lot of elbow (then electric-powered) grease into sanding down those edges, but they were so think that the area of the feathering was going to be enormous. And even with the electric sander, I was having real trouble. The combination of the angles and the depression caused by all the sanding made it hard to be sanding in exactly the right spot.
In the spirit of "near enough is god enough in my mind" I tried to start the painting still with some only half-feathered edges. And of course as soon as the first coat of primer went on, the edges just curled up and away from the surface.
View attachment 125158
After a long time trying to get a reasonable result, I gave up and started painting anyway. The whole car needs painting anyway, and this was still going to be better than it was. And it's sealed at least.
View attachment 125162
I was still able to use cans left over in my cupboard - I've got Etch Primer that seems to be breeding - but there was only one can of primer/filler, so it was a bit tense. Once dry, the whole area was flatted back ready for colour. Still no cost - there were two cans of custom mixed paint with the car - so that was a win. Five coats of colour were applied. I'm leaving them it for two weeks to cure then will have a go a cutting and polishing for some kind of gloss.
I'd been planning on doing the whole panel in body colour - as it's supposed to be - but decided it would just annoy me with one door mismatched.And I wanted to make the green paint last. So it was- you guessed it - back to the Cupboard of Endless Freebies for some semi-gloss black chassis paint. It's enamel rather than the presumably acrylic body colour. But it'll do for now.
View attachment 125164
That green line under the door is the sill that I'd, in a previous post, carefully removed the black paint from. So even though it's now more correct, it's not necessarily any better looking!
You'll notice the trim strip is now off the car. While I was sanding, I noticed it wasn't that well connected and when I prodded it a bit it became seriously not well connected. So I took it off rather than have it come off whilst on the Derwent Bridge. As you can see, it's not the first time it's been off, or had a "repair". I'll need to spend some money and get some proper trim clips (if I can) that fit properly. I've had a bit of a search and there's some likely candidated out there, so fingers crossed.
View attachment 125165
At the same time - and this is entirely your fault Simca - I removed the rear badges ready to relocate to the correct place. Unfortunately, and entirely as expected, they came off but left stains and craters behind. So they needed paint. Hence why I was needing my two cans of (evidently already used at least once) body colour to last.
View attachment 125166
Some spot putty of indeterminate but not of this century was used on the left side, along with etch primer, but they both ended up being more of a guide coat as i had to do a fair bit of sanding to get rid of some of the craters. So it was then all taped up ready for the two different primers:
View attachment 125167
As you can see, "just the badge areas" became "alright the whole lot". There was a nasty little bit of wear/surface rust just beneath the lock that decided me in committing to the whole area.
View attachment 125168
Once allowed to dry, the primer was flatted back, masking was done again, and the colour was applied. It was tense stuff with an unknown but small amount of paint left, but I juuuust made it with four coats, with the last being a coat and a half. I'd be more comfortable with a little more depth, but we''ll just have to be careful come cutting time. After cutting, I'll reattach the badges in the correct spot...
View attachment 125169
Finally, somewhere in all of that, I did another 'ledge' - removing the brushed dark green paint under the grey tape. It takes quite a while for each panel, so I'm doing it one at a time and working my way around the car. This time it was good news - no rust!
View attachment 125170
View attachment 125171
Cheers,
Tony.
Looking at the masking - I recognise the Saturday Paper! Just as one would expect in a discerning Renault owner
T.
Ah well, in that case the plaudits for good taste in reading go to your wife. Please pass on the message
Ian.
I've got ahead of my posts so will throw in another one today. Don't know how interested others are in this, but I do get satisfaction from typing up and sharing anything I do. (It's a bit much to expect Mrs. BlackC2 to be interested all the time...)
Took a run with the wife over to Sandy Bay for coffee and as comfortable as the 20 is, the 'ambience' was diminished by the smell of burning oil.
After that intial wash of the engine bay, there has been surprisingly little in the way of leaks. Well, in number at least. There doesn't appear to be anything leaking in and around the block but, as suspected, both the rear cam cover nut and the oil filler cap are clearly leaking quite heavily. I'd thought that the distributor was also a culprit, but looking closely in the cleaned up area, I think the leak from the cam cover nut was running around the back, over/through the distributor and down to the bell/transaxle housing where it ws being sauteed. Taking the distributor cap off revealed there was some oil inside the cap, perhaps being there for quite some time, which might explain the rag and yogurt wrapping it all had when I purchased the car.
In one of those late night eBay trawls, I'd weakened and spent money on a new cap, an air filter element (the old one was clearly retireable), an oil filter and a sump gasket. The latter purchased for reasons I am not currently able to recall...
Given that at least one valve clearance needed adjusting (judging by the noise) and a new set of plugs had been included with the car, a project took shape.
First off, everything had to come out. All the air filter housing was to come out and, of course, the cam cover. The preheating exhaust tubing had been bothering me with its rust since I first saw the ad, so it was to get attention as well. As you can see below, the valve gear is not the cleanest - an oil change is imminent. With access to the carb, I steam cleaned/degreased the outside. (Am interested in people's suggestions on what I should go back in and lubricate, and with what...?).
Meanwhile, with all the air cleaner gubbins out of the way I could see down below and clean it all up in the continued hunt for rust. Nothing serious this time:
The underside of the cam cover was, not surpisingly, filthy with old oil. I was interested in how blocked the breather canister on top of the cover was, but of course direct access is limtied. I thought at first that the little square bump in the middle of the right hand open area was the feed, but later realised - after sticking the pressure steamer into various nooks and crannies - that it's actually in under the ribbing at top right of shot:
So into a big bath of Marine Clean (the last of my supply...) to soak overnight:
And it was clear that I was not the first to look into stopping the leak from the oil cap (that's a homemade gasket right there!). I took that as clear evidence not to even try, I went to Supercheap and bought a Tridon model to replace it. (Who knew they'd have one in stock! Must fit a lot of things...):
While in the mood for drowning things, I commandeered the bath (with permission from Mrs. BlackC2) to soak the preheating duct in Deox C to remove all the surface rust ready for painting. Results were visible after 20-odd minutes but it had to stay in overnight to get it all:
The following day, I retrieved the cam cover to find the Marine Clean had done f*&% all. Probably just cleaned the baked on oil really thoroughly. So again with steam/degreaser/steel wool. Even then I didn't get it all. Got to the point - having soaked me, the steam cleaner, the garage floor and various random tools with sprayed muck I just declared the underside "pretty good" and left it at that. I think next time I'll try oven cleaner - as much as I hate using it. (Again, any suggestions for baked on oil deposits?)
The topside was clean though and, with a wipe of wax and oil remover, a (newly purchased) can of black engine enamel was applied. It went on very nicely in three coats, the last being a heavier coat:
Over in the engine bay, I took out the plugs ready for replacement. (And yes, I now have a new short and short recirculating socket extensions after the argument about access with cylinder no. three...). Their condition was very good, and I reckon they weren't telling any tales of internal horror. The bad news, though, was that the new plugs included with the car were the wrong ones! Probably why they were in the map pocket and not in the engine. Fortunately, with the existing plugs being so new, I gave them the slightest of cleans, checked the gaps and they were ready to go back in.
Unfortunately, the distributor cap I'd ordered was also the wrong one - the terminals need to poke out at right angles to clear the battery and the new one didn't do that. So the old cap was degreased and scrubbed with a final spray of connector cleaner which turned out the best to expose the contacts nice and cleanly.
(Post continued below)...
Took a run with the wife over to Sandy Bay for coffee and as comfortable as the 20 is, the 'ambience' was diminished by the smell of burning oil.
After that intial wash of the engine bay, there has been surprisingly little in the way of leaks. Well, in number at least. There doesn't appear to be anything leaking in and around the block but, as suspected, both the rear cam cover nut and the oil filler cap are clearly leaking quite heavily. I'd thought that the distributor was also a culprit, but looking closely in the cleaned up area, I think the leak from the cam cover nut was running around the back, over/through the distributor and down to the bell/transaxle housing where it ws being sauteed. Taking the distributor cap off revealed there was some oil inside the cap, perhaps being there for quite some time, which might explain the rag and yogurt wrapping it all had when I purchased the car.
In one of those late night eBay trawls, I'd weakened and spent money on a new cap, an air filter element (the old one was clearly retireable), an oil filter and a sump gasket. The latter purchased for reasons I am not currently able to recall...
Given that at least one valve clearance needed adjusting (judging by the noise) and a new set of plugs had been included with the car, a project took shape.
First off, everything had to come out. All the air filter housing was to come out and, of course, the cam cover. The preheating exhaust tubing had been bothering me with its rust since I first saw the ad, so it was to get attention as well. As you can see below, the valve gear is not the cleanest - an oil change is imminent. With access to the carb, I steam cleaned/degreased the outside. (Am interested in people's suggestions on what I should go back in and lubricate, and with what...?).
Meanwhile, with all the air cleaner gubbins out of the way I could see down below and clean it all up in the continued hunt for rust. Nothing serious this time:
The underside of the cam cover was, not surpisingly, filthy with old oil. I was interested in how blocked the breather canister on top of the cover was, but of course direct access is limtied. I thought at first that the little square bump in the middle of the right hand open area was the feed, but later realised - after sticking the pressure steamer into various nooks and crannies - that it's actually in under the ribbing at top right of shot:
So into a big bath of Marine Clean (the last of my supply...
) to soak overnight:And it was clear that I was not the first to look into stopping the leak from the oil cap (that's a homemade gasket right there!). I took that as clear evidence not to even try, I went to Supercheap and bought a Tridon model to replace it. (Who knew they'd have one in stock! Must fit a lot of things...):
While in the mood for drowning things, I commandeered the bath (with permission from Mrs. BlackC2) to soak the preheating duct in Deox C to remove all the surface rust ready for painting. Results were visible after 20-odd minutes but it had to stay in overnight to get it all:
The following day, I retrieved the cam cover to find the Marine Clean had done f*&% all. Probably just cleaned the baked on oil really thoroughly. So again with steam/degreaser/steel wool. Even then I didn't get it all. Got to the point - having soaked me, the steam cleaner, the garage floor and various random tools with sprayed muck I just declared the underside "pretty good" and left it at that. I think next time I'll try oven cleaner - as much as I hate using it. (Again, any suggestions for baked on oil deposits?)
The topside was clean though and, with a wipe of wax and oil remover, a (newly purchased) can of black engine enamel was applied. It went on very nicely in three coats, the last being a heavier coat:
Over in the engine bay, I took out the plugs ready for replacement. (And yes, I now have a new short and short recirculating socket extensions after the argument about access with cylinder no. three...). Their condition was very good, and I reckon they weren't telling any tales of internal horror. The bad news, though, was that the new plugs included with the car were the wrong ones! Probably why they were in the map pocket and not in the engine. Fortunately, with the existing plugs being so new, I gave them the slightest of cleans, checked the gaps and they were ready to go back in.
Unfortunately, the distributor cap I'd ordered was also the wrong one - the terminals need to poke out at right angles to clear the battery and the new one didn't do that. So the old cap was degreased and scrubbed with a final spray of connector cleaner which turned out the best to expose the contacts nice and cleanly.
(Post continued below)...