For the R5 Fans.

Frans

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I don't think there is a post for them 5s but this is my son's R5 way back in ZA. The photos are not good after these years but at least you can see the transformation we achieved. The wheels? He came home one day and showed me the wheels he bought on a special from the local "Wheel and Mag" shop. I asked him what he was going to do with it because they were 4 stud, but neatly displayed in his room. That face was as long as his arms. He then brightened up and said "but you can fix that"
So I did, re-drilled the front hubs and the rear drums and that was the result.

Regards, Frans.

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I have a friend in Perth restoring an R5 Turbo and there's one about 5 minutes from home too. Considering they were never sold in Oz, I reckon it is remarkable!

Great story re the wheels - they look quite good too!
 
I remember, back in the eighties, the local assembly plant/factory in Durban (S. Africa) built 5 R5's with all stainless steel bodies.

Henry
 
John,
This R5 is a Mk1, your close by friend is a Supercinq (Mk2).

Frans,
My but they were rust buckets, even in the TVL, they got big holes in them for nothing. But were very smart cars, I liked them.

Henry,
There were only 5 made with stainless steel bodies, and I believe they were sold to dealers, but were used for Renault ZA shows. But none are left in ZA, and nobody I know, knows where they went.

Ray
 
Thanks Ray, and quite correct detail!

I'd never heard of ss ones - I wouldn't be alone wondering what happened to them. Expensive R5, eh?

Were they made of special quality Russian steel, do you know?

Great design, apart from the rust of course.....
 
Heidelberg imported an R5 for assessment. Probably went to the crusher.
I'd forgotten that R5 - there were rumours. Might have come in duty free for evaluation provided it wasn't sold on? I guess they couldn't get the price right.
 
You could bring in cars that didn't meet ADR's for evaluation. Duty free but they had to be crushed or re-exported within a certain time frame.
 
Yes John,
The Toyota built R5s were made with The Rubbish Russian Steel for 3 years and then with good ZA steel. Can't remember how long they were made for in ZA. All a blurr. I used to be given 3 year old cars that lived in Port Elizabeth, that would never go over the pits with out a new body (re-shell). I used to sell used parts to the local Renault Agent. Or people would come buy parts from me to be put on by the agent. All nice and clean and some painted.

Ray
Three years eh! Goodness. There were R12 doors in Oz that only lasted one year mind you - I think they overdid the electrophoresis and the paint ALL went to the edges! Maybe the steel was an issue too.
 
Rolled steel isn't just sheet steel. It has tight specifications. Factories specify steel quality and certainly test what is delivered. The bad Russian steel story is a furphy to cover either orders of sub standard steel or what is most usual bad handling. Like Italian factories storing unpainted bodies in the open. Unpainted steel panels shipped to Australia arriving rusty and other parts being corroded were a long term Peugeot problem until it was eventually found it wasn't a problem of crate sealing but of the humidity level when the crates were packed. Accessible surfaces were buffed off at Heidelberg with some very long lasting emery papers and the panels painted with phosphoric acid. Heidelberg under C&G was very careless with rust prevention. Which is why Renault went to electrophoresis dipping. From memory introduced in 1970 and in 1971 both Renaults and Peugeots were turning up with box sections completely rusted through. Renault blamed Dulux and Dulux hired a paint chemical company W. Grace to investigate. They sent a man to the plant. I later met him. The problem was remarkably simple. There was a miserable seven minute morning tea break at Renault. The line was stopped but the drying ovens were left on. A car which had already been in the oven got an extra dose of heat which peeled the paint off in the box sections. It took a year for the rust to be right through. There was the potential for a car a day to rust out. Renault was an ethical company, the owners were offered generous trade ins and didn't end up out of pocket. Electrophoresis wasn't bad but where you got rust patches it was because the surfaces hadn't been adequately cleaned before dipping.
 
Sorry Frans, this has become a stupid argument and I will not let it hijack your thread any more.

Ray
 
Rolled steel isn't just sheet steel. It has tight specifications. Factories specify steel quality and certainly test what is delivered. The bad Russian steel story is a furphy to cover either orders of sub standard steel or what is most usual bad handling. Like Italian factories storing unpainted bodies in the open. Unpainted steel panels shipped to Australia arriving rusty and other parts being corroded were a long term Peugeot problem until it was eventually found it wasn't a problem of crate sealing but of the humidity level when the crates were packed. Accessible surfaces were buffed off at Heidelberg with some very long lasting emery papers and the panels painted with phosphoric acid. Heidelberg under C&G was very careless with rust prevention. Which is why Renault went to electrophoresis dipping. From memory introduced in 1970 and in 1971 both Renaults and Peugeots were turning up with box sections completely rusted through. Renault blamed Dulux and Dulux hired a paint chemical company W. Grace to investigate. They sent a man to the plant. I later met him. The problem was remarkably simple. There was a miserable seven minute morning tea break at Renault. The line was stopped but the drying ovens were left on. A car which had already been in the oven got an extra dose of heat which peeled the paint off in the box sections. It took a year for the rust to be right through. There was the potential for a car a day to rust out. Renault was an ethical company, the owners were offered generous trade ins and didn't end up out of pocket. Electrophoresis wasn't bad but where you got rust patches it was because the surfaces hadn't been adequately cleaned before dipping.
Thanks Russell - that's information I've wanted, casually, for years and years. As ever, the devil is in the detail eh?
 
Hey guys I have a bog standard white R5 Mk1 TS that needs some love, but in good condition over all.

I had an accident in it years ago and was lucky not to hit square on a very solid paddock fence.
I came off the elevated, unsealed road, into a ditch and a ripe bush of blackberries.

I wasn't exceeding the speed limit, but in hindsight was too quick for the conditions ( sleet, 2C and more than likely colder in places on the road ) it was a poor unsealed tassie B road overdue for a re-surface. I was in a rush to pickup my sick daughter from primary school.

I am not sure I still have the photo of the 'crash scene' but it looked more dramatic than it was.. the car is white the blackberries left deep purple streaks all over the car..
I almost hit an oversized fence post the size of a wooden power pole in width. It glanced the rear quarter of the car and knocked out the rear quarter passenger window and put a dent in the metal work.

I since replaced the glass, but a misunderstanding with the type / model, mine have holes in the glass for the hinges, the replacement one I in the car is taped in place as it has no holes for the hinges.

A local had me pulled out of the ditch and I was on my way within half an hour, a little shaken.. only a flesh wound.
The car has since been in storage, I have some photos somewhere.


I also have some 5 Alpine turbo gear, engine dash, dials rims etc... undecided if they will end up in the 5 at all.
 
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Hey guys I have a bog standard white R5 Mk1 TS that needs some love, but in good condition over all.

I had an accident in it years ago and was lucky not to hit square on a very solid paddock fence.
I came off the elevated, unsealed road, into a ditch and a ripe bush of blackberries.

I wasn't exceeding the speed limit, but in hindsight was too quick for the conditions ( sleet, 2C and more than likely colder in places on the road ) it was a poor unsealed tassie B road overdue for a re-surface. I was in a rush to pickup my sick daughter from primary school.

I am not sure I still have the photo of the 'crash scene' but it looked more dramatic than it was.. the car is white the blackberries left deep purple streaks all over the car..
I almost hit an oversized fence post the size of a wooden power pole in width. It glanced the rear quarter of the car and knocked out the rear quarter passenger window and put a dent in the metal work.

I since replaced the glass, but a misunderstanding with the type / model, mine have holes in the glass for the hinges, the replacement one I in the car is taped in place as it has no holes for the hinges.

A local had me pulled out of the ditch and I was on my way within half an hour, a little shaken.. only a flesh wound.
The car has since been in storage, I have some photos somewhere.


I also have some 5 Alpine turbo gear, engine dash, dials rims etc... undecided if they will end up in the 5 at all.
Hi Vivid
I interested in the dash and dials as I have the Renault 5 evaluation car Renault had. It was used by the marketing managers wife then sold to Bob Watson and converted into a GroupB rally car mid mounted motor and rear drive.
 
I also have an evaluation model. 956cc, vinyl sunroof and through the dashboard gear change. Vivid, can we talk about the engine and wheels please.
 
I'm staggered by these evaluation models surviving. I thought that these things were brought in duty free and had to be crushed or exported. Well, well. It might explain the occasional rear-engined Simca 1000 - there used to be one in Adelaide and there definitely is one in Perth.
 
I believe that my example was driven by the wife of the managing director for a while. I bought it from the Renault dealer in Whitehorse Rd. Probably around 1979ish.
Renault had shutdown the Heidelberg operation by then, I believe.
A clever car.
 
Somebody must have loved them and paid the duty. ADR standards were lower then. There was a procedure for registering imports that didn't meet standards. Possible in the 1970's but not the 1980's. The last time I saw the R5 it was parked out on the edge of the yard looking unloved. They fared better than the 504 assessment car.
 
Somebody must have loved them and paid the duty. ADR standards were lower then. There was a procedure for registering imports that didn't meet standards. Possible in the 1970's but not the 1980's. The last time I saw the R5 it was parked out on the edge of the yard looking unloved. They fared better than the 504 assessment car.

Yes more reason to give mine love as its original and unmolested.
I think mine has done its head / water pump.. I tackled a very big hill in it, and boiled the coolant.
It made it up the hill, but I couldn't stop, and lose momentum it was that steep.. and long, and high.. and its little box got revved off.

Not a difficult or unfamiliar fix, the body repair will be a little more challenging.

I also always had problems with the hatch hinges not sitting right, and the hatch hinge having heaps of play.
something needs to be spot welded.

such a fun little car, I always found it amusing pulling up next to a mini at the lights, the only thing smaller on the road.
having the near miss put me off driving it for a bit, opting for something I didn't mind wearing out on tassie roads.

Currently I'm driving RX4s, too many of them.. either registered or just out of rego.

In Tasmania you don't have to put cars over the pits when you change ownership / buy.
 
Rolled steel isn't just sheet steel. It has tight specifications. Factories specify steel quality and certainly test what is delivered. The bad Russian steel story is a furphy to cover either orders of sub standard steel or what is most usual bad handling. Like Italian factories storing unpainted bodies in the open. Unpainted steel panels shipped to Australia arriving rusty and other parts being corroded were a long term Peugeot problem until it was eventually found it wasn't a problem of crate sealing but of the humidity level when the crates were packed. Accessible surfaces were buffed off at Heidelberg with some very long lasting emery papers and the panels painted with phosphoric acid. Heidelberg under C&G was very careless with rust prevention. Which is why Renault went to electrophoresis dipping. From memory introduced in 1970 and in 1971 both Renaults and Peugeots were turning up with box sections completely rusted through. Renault blamed Dulux and Dulux hired a paint chemical company W. Grace to investigate. They sent a man to the plant. I later met him. The problem was remarkably simple. There was a miserable seven minute morning tea break at Renault. The line was stopped but the drying ovens were left on. A car which had already been in the oven got an extra dose of heat which peeled the paint off in the box sections. It took a year for the rust to be right through. There was the potential for a car a day to rust out. Renault was an ethical company, the owners were offered generous trade ins and didn't end up out of pocket. Electrophoresis wasn't bad but where you got rust patches it was because the surfaces hadn't been adequately cleaned before dipping.

Not saying this info is useless, but it belongs in the useless info thread!

Thanks for sharing Russell!
 
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