brc76
RR Helper
Posts: 1,108 
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May 25, 2016 22:26:04 GMT
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Do you want me to look in some junk yards over here to see if I can find some infill rear light panels? I'll be going over to the UK on the 5th - 15th June if I find any.
* just realized that the R8 platform was only sold here as the integra, with yet different rear lights and larger infill panel *
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Last Edit: May 25, 2016 22:34:27 GMT by brc76
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Thank you for the offer. I've beaten you to it though and found (and bought) a centre panel that matches the light I've got. I've found the other light I need but I'm waiting on a payment before I can order it.
In fact, while I think on, where am I with the cars right now?
Rover
Needs nothing, using it daily. Just a few wants to make things even nicer.
Princess
Starting problem to investigate further, corrected part of the problem by putting plug leads in the correct order, two were muddled.
Passenger side outer sill to replace, small repair to inner sill
Boot corners to repair
Replacement displacer and pipe to fit and suspension to pump up
Tyres to fit
Rear light modification to finish and wire up
Front lights to wire up
Front grille to fabricate and fit
Brakes to check
MoT?
Renault
Waiting on welding gas regulator to arrive so I can finish the deseaming and the scuttle panel repairs, the only welding it needs
New front brakes waiting to go on, might need a master cylinder, might need a rebuild kit on the calipers, don't know yet
Starter motor to be sent off for refurbishment when we can pin the chap responsible down
Windscreen to remove and refit to cure leak and prevent welding damage
Reversing light wiring to run
Headlining to fit
Exhaust to fit
Clutch cable to finish fitting (missing the end bar piece, not sure what's happened to that)
Headlight to buy and fit (sourced)
Tyres to buy
MoT?
Lancia Flavia
This is hopefully scheduled for some sparkle stick action later this year. It's not my car, but I do have a vested interest in seeing it sorted so as and when I've got time and I'm allowed to I want to get back on with the unbodging of it that was started last year. Very low priority though.
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Last Edit: May 26, 2016 2:32:25 GMT by vulgalour
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,617
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May 26, 2016 10:32:42 GMT
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 Perhaps just eyelids...Atop the bonnet & lifted by an aftermarket door latch solenoid on the underside of the bonnet... Excellent running-in sticker. May seem ironic on such a weathered car to those who don't know the work you have put in! |
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Last Edit: May 26, 2016 10:34:53 GMT by 79cord
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May 26, 2016 10:43:16 GMT
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At the risk of being a bit internety, this thread is full of win.
The Renault is coming along well, the ideas for the Rover are great as are the suggestions of the Integra or the Ballade front end.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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May 28, 2016 17:17:15 GMT
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Since my day out plans were a bust I turned my attention to the Rover once I'd got some work out of the way and a deadline met. It's turned into a stunner of a day today and I didn't want it to go to waste by being trapped at my desk all afternoon. So, off to the unit we go to tackle some of the scabby bits on the Rover that I've left alone since buying the car. Just a quick blast with the flapwheel, a dash of rust convertor, a bit of primer and some fresh red and lacquer. It's not show winning stuff but it's better than it was. Mainly, I wanted to tackle this bit on the back door which looks warty and unpleasant every time the car is waxed. The back corner and bottom edge also needed a bit of attention at the same time. Here's the before from back in July 2015.  Here's the after. This car is already about four shades of Flame Red anyway so the slight mismatch doesn't bother me. Also gave the bumper edge of the rear arch a fresh tickle as it had a couple of spots coming through.  Before again.  After.  Happier with that. I tackled the front wing on the opposite side too, namely the big blister at the front edge of the arch which is now a hole and the ugly obvious lacquer peel. This is even more of a rushed job because I've got a better wing to finish the welding on - gas regulator still hasn't arrived - so I can get that fitted. From this distance you could see the peel and the rust but you can't see the very quick repair so I'm happy with that for the time being. I also finally cleaned up the centre caps and fitted the Rover badges this side.  I spent some time getting the front end straightened out again. One of the under-light trims clips is snapped as is the side clip on the indicator. The headlight had been pushed down and that had deformed the bottom bracket slightly. Annoyingly, my bonnet is now twisted and I couldn't get it twist back the other way. My bumper also looks like it's got bent bracket on the driver's side. I'm really not thrilled about this. Luckily the headlight just needed unbolting and reseating, as did the grille. I'll get the bonnet and bumper sorted eventually, fiddly stuff that takes forever and only really annoys me.  You'll notice the car now has a nose too. I think it was MrBenn on autoshite that sent me that badge, I'm not sure, it was a while ago and I can't remember. Anyway, funny thing is the badge looks too big up close but when you see the car across a car park it looks about right. It can stay for now until I make up my mind on whether or not I like it.  |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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May 29, 2016 19:45:08 GMT
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Today it was decided to make a proper effort on the front brakes. Luckily, my brother turned up because it was one of *those* jobs as it happens. Is there a reason French cars have to have daft brake set ups? It's really annoying. The front discs on the 6 are sandwiched between the two halves of the hub. It's a very silly design and does not make changing discs easy, I was not happy about this job. The wording in the Haynes book was also less than good (as has come to be expected of it) so some improvising had to happen. The advise is to remove three of the disc retaining bolts and put in some longer bar and then the bolts to push the two halves of the hub apart. You can't use a hub puller as there's nothing for the arms to attach to and you have to split the hub to get the disc out. We started by trying out some what should have been toughened bolts with the heads chopped off in place of the rod suggested in the book. That just resulted in a small amount of movement and bent threaded bar.  Then we found some better, longer bolts and some nuts and devised a method that actually worked. We removed all of the disc retaining bolts so it could be pushed back off the hub face, then put a longer bolt through with a nut on the back. Three bolts were used in total to push the hub apart, it worked very well. When the bolts proved to be a little too short we improvised using some closed-end wheel nuts that had a flat seat one side and a dimple the other, rendering them perfect for the job.  Then one of the replacement bolts decided it didn't like being threaded any more so we had to rejig with just two. Much slower going and with a great deal of care taken but we did get there in the end.  With the outer half of the hub off it's really easy to replace the disc but we found it very difficult to keep the bearing, driveshaft and hub halves lined up on the car so removed the hub and put it all together on the workbench before sliding the whole hub back home onto the drive shaft and ball joints. Surprisingly easy to bolt back together and now we know how not to do it, the other side should be much easier. Nice to see shiny things on the car.  In no time the old disc was heading binwards and the new one was sitting pretty on the car where it belongs.  Next was the caliper. The piston was seized and over extended but otherwise complete and in good order. We were particularly surprised when the bleed nipple and flexihose unbolted from the caliper without difficulty. The old brake fluid that came out was a less pleasant surprise, smelled just like rat wee. I was surprised there was any fluid in the system at all.  The second set of brake pads I bought were correct, happily.  They were also very needed.  The caliper as taken apart as much as it would go and with some persuasion the piston was convinced to move again. Another pleasant surprise that. Before reassembling the caliper we wanted to make sure fresh fluid was getting through the system from the master cylinder. Filled up the tiny reservoir, which is a challenge because of the various cables that run over the top of it.  Gave the pedal a few goes and nothing. Cracked off the brake lines from the master cylinder and... nothing. Cracked off the big nut on the end to see if it would at least let all the fluid in the reservoir leak onto the floor but nope, nada, zilch. That'll be a dead master cylinder then, which is hardly surprising. I need one like this which has two outlets on the top and one outlet on the driver's side.   Tidied up, put the wheels back on and left it at that for today. As an aside, I had difficulty pushing the car today to get it where I wanted it to go, just wouldn't budge! Guess which moron had left the handbrake on? Still, at least half the brakes work. |
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Last Edit: May 29, 2016 23:02:43 GMT by vulgalour
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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May 29, 2016 23:03:20 GMT
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Mini update: I found and my brother bought what looks to be the correct master cylinder for £25 delivered. Should be arriving in the second week of June.
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Last Edit: May 29, 2016 23:03:35 GMT by vulgalour
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Driver's side of the roof has already been welded, tidied and given first fill. Today I gave it second fill and once that's sanded back I should be able to put a final coat of paint on it. Not looking too shabby, all things considered.  The passenger side was much more difficult to do. There's more damage on this side of the roof and the metal needed much more work to be weldable but it is now done. After it was welded and dressed back I got some filler on the whole length so I can smooth it out and make it look tidier. There's only two more bits of welding needed to the bottom corners of the scuttle to do but I hadn't the time to take off the wings today to do it.  For the MoT, no welding is required at all now. The A pillar sections of the guttering are staying, they're in good shape and it's pointless making work for myself removing them. I've tidied up the sharp edges, ditched the damaged stainless trim and will leave them alone. If I do decide to put full gutters back on the car it will be easier with these sections still present. The other item of note is a decision on the finish of the car. For the most part it will stay looking as it does now, I don't want to change that. It's really liberating having a car you don't need to worry about dents and scratches on. Any repairs I do will be repainted in whatever colour is suitable and to hand. Filler work will be finished so that it's not obviously filler, so no lumps or steps as you'd get from a half done job, but I shan't be taking all of the dents out. Indeed, on the driver's side of the roof I've gone to some effort to keep some of the smaller dents over the front door. That will mean this car's appearance will evolve. Any rust that looks like it's getting too bubbly and turning into holes will be removed, welded up and the area repainted, any rust that's just staying as surface and not getting worse will be left alone. I will be cleaning the Renault once I've got the roof filler work finished and paint on and then it will get a protective oily rag wiped over the bodywork and that's how I'll maintain it cosmetically. It's an exciting project for me because it's so different to how I normally look after a car and with me nearing completion on the work needed for the MoT roadworthiness seems likely before too much longer. I still haven't started the engine but I know it turns freely so there's nothing more I can do until I get the starter motor sorted out, the chap responsible is effectively the Scarlet Pimpernel at the moment. Here's the list of works still to do to be 'finished': Replace headlight Run wiring for reversing lights Fit spot lights Refit points, check leads are in correct order Refurbish starter motor and refit Repair and check radiator Fit front disc brake, disc pads and master cylinder before bleeding system Repair bottom outer corners of scuttle/windscreen surround (last bit of welding) Fit exhaust Buy and fit tyres Refit dashboard Fit headlining Refit rear side windows Not a great deal left to do, happily. |
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What about painting the repaired areas in olive drab or some NATO equivalent, but sprayed nicely rather than daubed on with a yard brush so you can see someone still loves it?
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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It's a tricky one, the paint. I don't want to lose the character it has now but by the same token I can't do nothing because it will crumble away before my eyes. I've found that green isn't the best colour to blend in the repairs with, strangely. I've used orange, blue and beige and they all look more 'right' than any of the green I've used, they look like the repairs were done historically rather than recently, especially the orange for some reason.
As I deal with rust bits that need dealing with I'll blend in with flat colours in aerosol form, fogging out like you would with a regular repair just in a different colour to whatever it was painted. If I have the car for a few years, every year it'll gain a few more small touch ups like this which will allow it to visually evolve. I think you really do have to do it slowly too for the look to be right, if I tried to do it all in one go I think I'd spoil it and the end result would be too forced and look bodgey rather than time-proven.
It's a funny one, the look of this car. I want to do as little as possible cosmetically but I'm aware I can't be complacent when it comes to rust, particularly as I haven't got the thickness of sacrificial steel that much older cars have.
Love is the other odd thing too. There will be plenty of people that think I don't love the car when they see it because none of it is shiny and I've not forked out for a paint job. As its got nearer to completion I've had a quite a few people ask when I'm painting it and some are horrified when I tell them I'm not. A full respray makes no economical sense (even if I could afford it) and once you repaint a car like this you can't just undo it if you liked it the way it was before.
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2 options.
Gibbs oil (google it) will protect it, or, you could clear lacquer over it to protect it and give it a satin sheen without losing any of the 'look'
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Linseed Oil is surprisingly effective too, I caught an article where someone was testing various oils and preservatives as recommended for bare metal on steam engines and that's the one that performed strongest. I'm not going to use engine oil, the more I've seen the more it appears to be one of the weakest preservatives used and requires reapplication far too often. I've had Gibbs recommended before but I've never seen (knowingly) it used in practice. Lacquer would work but that would freeze it in time, I don't want to do that, I want to let it evolve positively and gain more interest through use. Today I stole a few minutes while having lunch and commandeered Mike into helping replace the master cylinder that arrived this morning. Â A fiddly job, made more annoying by a lack of access and, for the lower bolt and pedal plunger assembly needing two people to keep it all lined up and frustration at a minimum. Old (right) and new (left) on the bench, thankfully it is the correct part and they are identical apart from condition.  Cleaned the pedal plunger bit up because it looked a bit worse for wear before putting it all back in the car.  The brake fluid reservoir was fitted with a new copper crush washer to replace the old one. Â Refitting is slightly more fiddly than removal, there's very little space to actually get tools, let alone hands, into the gaps around this part. Â All three brake lines reattached without any bother at all.  Pedal side of it all went together fairly easily and was given a new split pin. Â Pedal actually feels to travel properly now even without fluid in the system, it feels more as a brake pedal should where before it was just sort of floppy.  We bench tested the starter motor and it sounds all kinds of broken. Â The solenoid isn't activating, the bearings sound like they're made of gravel and it's spinning pretty weakly when it does bother to actually work. Â Only had enough time to refit the points but not to gap them yet. Â I'm hoping to find some time over the weekend to get the front brakes finished. Â Starting the engine is still going to have to wait a while. New back panel arrived for the Rover today and the driver's side light is in the post. Â I already know the light clusters are a straight swap but I wasn't so sure on the rear panel aside from it being the correct width. Â First obvious difference is lock location, I never use the lock on the boot lid so this doesn't bother me too much but I should be able to move it if I really want to without too much trouble.  I offered the panel up to the boot of the 400 and the size and shape matches with one obvious exception: no holes for lights. Â The Concerto rear panel houses the reversing lights and fog light (singular) so they need a different set up to the 400 boot lid. Â The number plate recess is slightly different on the Concerto compared to the 400 but not so much that it causes any need to modify beyond making two new screw holes for the centre fixing that's hidden by the plate.  The easy solution, technically, is getting a Concerto boot lid. Â There is a line of spot welds on the 400 boot lid so I suspect the only item changed between Honda and Rover is this outer panel pressing which will be the same on a Concerto saloon or hatchback. Â Rather than undoing spotwelds and such I think it will be much less work to make some suitable light holes, drill fixings holes where needed and making a new removable trim piece for the bottom of the boot lid. Â That solution also costs less and allows me to revert to the stock 400 rear end without any difficulty.  |
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I don't get this mod, the rover light look far better to me that the honda ones. Seems a lot of work for a negative result?
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Personal preference. I like the Honda lights more than the Rover ones.
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Yeah, I get that I'm just not understanding how you prefer coloured lights that don't fill the gap properly compared to blacked out lights that do, lol. Be dull if we all like the same thing  |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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 There won't be a big gap under the lights, there'll be an infill trim to smooth it all out as on the Concerto pictured above. Every time I've contacted a Concerto breaker they've already sold the corner trims, which is slightly annoying, and I don't really want to buy a whole tailgate just for the little bit at the bottom I could make as a removable piece. So I'll make my own plain trims to fill the gap and repaint them to match the car, it should look like I've done nothing when I do it. |
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dikkehemaworst
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,635
Club RR Member Number: 16
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wow , renault content and i didn know.
really like the ressurection of the renault 6. sort of thing i would love to do but just can find the time in between life..
haven't seen one since 1979 i think , when my neighbour had one.
good luck with the simpathetic resto! loving the pics !!
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I reckon the orange on the Renault looks ace! Love to see some progress on the Princess though |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,281
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Princess is going to get some love soon, I'm just so close with the Renault now I want to push on and get it done before getting some wedge action on. I had an unexpected half-day today so spent my spare time on the Renault, it's rare I get the luxury of bonus car time. Decided the best thing to do would be to get the brakes finished and take some pictures to illustrate how the front discs are done. After removing the wheel and putting it on stands, put the car in reverse to undo the hub nut if you haven't someone to help brace the wheel and then undo the nuts holding the disc to the outer hub. After that, put some bolts through the holes in the hub so the end of the thread rests on the disc face.  I had three bolts I could use and this makes life easier. Fit a nut on the bolt between the outer hub and the disc brake. Working on one bolt at a time, tighten the bolt with a spanner holding the nut to ease the hub apart. It's steady going, but quick enough really. Changing discs is hopefully not a job you do that often.  You do need to get the outer hub to move quite a long way and my bolts weren't long enough. I spaced them out with some sturdy wheel nuts that have a solid dimple in one end and good flat face the other. This allowed me to remove the outer hub completely and safely.  With the outer hub off, you remove the old disc, put the new one on and refit the outer hub. I was quite lucky on this side as the hub halves went together very smoothly. A little bit of hammering was required to knock the outer hub home but once you've got enough driveshaft thread through you can put the bolt on and tighten it up. You might need to use the hammer to help a bit as I did on this one but eventually you get the hub safely back together and can then bolt the disc in place. After that be sure to tighten the hub nut.  With both discs now renewed, the new pads could be fitted. It's a bit of a faff and I found the best way was to bolt the carrier to the hub with the pads in and then fit the caliper and shims and pins in situ. The last thing to go on was the dust shield and then the brakes were bled pushing out lots of air and a bit of really disgusting contaminated old brake fluid.   The old pads that came out were very dead.  After getting the fronts bled the brake pedal felt quite good and my brother and I jacked up the rear end to see if they worked on the pedal. I knew the rear brakes did work on the pedal when it came off the trailer over a year ago but hadn't tested them beyond that. Happily, both wheels stop satisfactorily on the pedal and the handbrake works, whether it's good enough for the MoT remains to be seen but I'm satisfied that we now have functioning brakes on all four corners. But wait, there's more!  The filler work on the roof was completed and the paint put on. I've gone for a unique approach of layering different coloured aerosols to make the repaired areas blend in with the rest of the car and not jump out. It's so effective I'm running with it for everything. Some dents are left in on purpose because they're part of this car's story and will be a talking point when I get to using the car, I'm sure. The camera has mostly picked out purple on the passenger side but there's red, blue and beige over the green and blue paint already on the car in this area.    The small bit of damage that was welded on the rear wing was given the same treatment, to good effect.   The driver's side got the filler work finished and the final coat of paint on, orange instead of purple on this side until the orange ran out.   Of note is the small peep/overtaking mirror that I got for very little on eBay. It was originally destined for the Princess but was far too small so became a neat addition for the Renault.  I think the next job is likely removal and refitting of the windscreen so the reversing light wiring, headlining, rear side windows and dashboard can all go back in as that's the biggest job on the list. I will attempt an engine start when I have the help available which might be this weekend. I'm running out of jobs to do, which is very nice. I have very little on my shopping list too, just two generic exhaust clamps, the headlight and a set of tyres. |
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I was initially a bit dubious about your paint plans, but it actually works very well.
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