Another R17 owner planning to upgrade

Shoji said:
Dirty rotten job. Wire wheel to surface clean 47 years of WA dirt. Found a bit of surface rust where the brake controller is fitted. Must of been vaping at some stage. Not too bad really and treated with rust converter. We will continue...
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Looks good John. That's nicer than under the front of the R8 - I'm finding a couple of patches where I replaced areas of rust damage in the 1980s with small galv panels, Fishoil and self-tappers. Just a hint of structural rust where it probably doesn't matter too... :( The 17 was definitely better built.

I've finally developed a method of cleaning 56 year old coil springs for painting. Belt sander belts, turned into strips and then cut longitudinally into 1-2 cm strips, then reciprocation, wrapped around the coil and working along the wire from end to end, then upside down and repeat, then along the outside of the spring. So much brown dust - I could barely believe it! I must be getting slow - took a couple of weeks to think how to do it...... Rust converter on today, primer tomorrow by brush.
 
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JohnW said:
Looks good John. That's nicer than under the front of the R8 - I'm finding a couple of patches where I replaced areas of rust damage in the 1980s with small galv panels, Fishoil and self-tappers. Just a hint of structural rust where it probably doesn't matter too... :( The 17 was definitely better built.

I've finally developed a method of cleaning 56 year old coil springs for painting. Belt sander belts, turned into strips and then cut longitudinally into 1-2 cm strips, then reciprocation, wrapped around the coil and working along the wire from end to end, then upside down and repeat, then along the outside of the spring. So much brown dust - I could barely believe it! I must be getting slow - took a couple of weeks to think how to do it...... Rust converter on today, primer tomorrow by brush.
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Wow John, I just take the stuff to a sand blaster/powder coater and he sorts it. Lazy I know! Hey, any protection paint is good. Careful with the dust and hope your wearing PPE.
I will take the rear axle to this fellow to blast and coat, along with few other bits.
 
Shoji said:
Wow John, I just take the stuff to a sand blaster/powder coater and he sorts it. Lazy I know! Hey, any protection paint is good. Careful with the dust and hope your wearing PPE.
I will take the rear axle to this fellow to blast and coat, along with few other bits.
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You're a man of luxury.... Happily no dust as I'm carefully hand sanding - heavy stuff, iron oxide. Nearly there. As usual, the master cylinder caused bad language.
Front wishbones ready to go sml.jpg
 
JohnW said:
PhD finished then?
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Shoji said:
YES. We are now planning her future path. Murdoch has given some research work. but about to dry up, as they look at $ flow in this Covid age.
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Woo Hoo!!!! Congratulations Lisa. End of a labour of love, eh? Yes, the unis have little money. All my Curtin work was gratis.
 
JohnW said:
You're a man of luxury.... Happily no dust as I'm carefully hand sanding - heavy stuff, iron oxide. Nearly there. As usual, the master cylinder caused bad language.View attachment 123213
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Were both doing similar jobs currently. Nice work John. I don't believe you used bad language or wash your mouth with soap. Zen approach with a labor of love.
 
JohnW said:
Thanks for that - good advice and just when needed!
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I think of it as cold galv and it's a nice thickness. Being the underside of the car, I can push it into the seams and not worry about a perfect finish. Brush on of course but can be sprayed for larger areas if thinned down. The wattyl etch primer is the same but only suitable for spraying.
 
Shoji said:
I think of it as cold galv and it's a nice thickness. Being the underside of the car, I can push it into the seams and not worry about a perfect finish. Brush on of course but can be sprayed for larger areas if thinned down. The wattyl etch primer is the same but only suitable for spraying.
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It's my backup if my tin of German primer runs out!
 
Finished surface prepping the underside, so from the rear trailing arms it will clean and painted. Stripped the rear axle of all parts and will have the springs, brake back plates and the axle sandblasted and powder coated. A lot of other parts to strip/clean and coat of paint which I'll do myself.

I also manged to separate the brake controller as it was seized. Actually surprised to get it going again. Hope it doesn't leak later.
If it was jammed in the load position, what is the effect?

Rear axle brake back plates.jpg
 
Shoji said:
I also manged to separate the brake controller as it was seized. Actually surprised to get it going again. Hope it doesn't leak later.
If it was jammed in the load position, what is the effect?

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You will lock the rear brakes under heavy braking if there is little weight on the rear wheels, and if done on bend will make for an interesting experience.
 
Shoji said:
Finished surface prepping the underside, so from the rear trailing arms it will clean and painted. Stripped the rear axle of all parts and will have the springs, brake back plates and the axle sandblasted and powder coated. A lot of other parts to strip/clean and coat of paint which I'll do myself.

I also manged to separate the brake controller as it was seized. Actually surprised to get it going again. Hope it doesn't leak later.
If it was jammed in the load position, what is the effect?

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Jammed in the loaded position means full braking at the rear, so yes, easier to lock the rear wheels if no load. I've no doubt they are available somewhere but with luck it won't leak on you. Happy cleaning - the longest part of these jobs!
 
Thanks Col & John. How do these work? Correct me if I'm wrong here. Under load you have full braking capacity? No load, partial?
If that is the case, then I should notice that it will have less braking ability from here, now I have fixed it?
 
Are they the same as R12? If so

www.renault12shop.com

Remdrukverdeler voor Renault 12.

Remdrukverdeler voor Renault 12, R15, R17. Onderdeelnummer: 7700685456. Klik op de foto voor afbeeldingen uit het P.R. boek.
www.renault12shop.com

I think mine might be jammed as it’s the only part of the system I didn’t touch and I’m getting the rears lock first on a hard stop. Certainly helps turn in!!
 
If the brake controller is like the one my car it works like this. It's a device to the rear brake lines. It has a tube angled down at the front and a ball bearing in it. Under normal, even hard braking the fluid transfer to the rears is unimpaired. Under emergency braking with a huge shock of fluid movement the ball bearing is forced up the tube and blocks fluid going to the rear brakes so they can't lock and you spin out.
 
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