Well ive gone and done it......25 years after owning 2 of these buggers i went and found one!
Renault Monaco 1.7 Manual in Chocolate Bronze. 44K mile 5 owners and past featured on Pistonheads as shed of the week.
400 mile round trip to pick it up travelling through hurricane Jorge and finally got home to see what the actual issues are.
Its been standing for a while from what i could so the normal issues - interior smelt like curse word although not too bad a day hoovering wet carpets, cleaning mould and treating leather and it almost smells like my old ones, slight dodgy bolster but the leather is in good condition and even better with some good leather cream. (i still have an original seat from one of my first ones but thats another story!)
Check all the fluids and connections, spark plugs in and a bit of high octane fuel and she starts almost first time (Battery jumped). next have a look for parts
cam belt and water pump, dizzy cap and rotor to start, spend a complete weekend making room inside then push her inside into the dry and warmish to start the fun.
up on the jacks at the front nice and secure, front wheels off....about 10 years of shot and rust buildup all over. a quick clean and things don't look to bad but normal jacking points are non existent for rust.
front grill off front bumper off (and one bumper mount) and a quick steam clean of the engine bay. everything looks there so all good so far.
Saturday and a huge hangover and the cam belt and waterpump change starts and its not long before I'm cursing the french designers of this thing! no space cant get torx screws out, etc etc.
everything came off pretty easy in the end although the luxury of a nice warm dry garage to work in was miles away from my first mechanical joys with these things! lots of space on the gear box side of the 1.7gtx but not on the critical bits!
cam belt and water pump done got the thing firing again ok. lights off weekend finished. next parts reviewed and ordering still to do but i have all filters reay to change and oil to flush through for new stuff but a full de-gunk needed to clear all the curse word the steamer didnt get.
carb off for a clean and id thought id try and just surface brush and clean before taking it apart. a hour in the kitchen with carb cleaner and lots of residue left over. both accelerator botton flaps now opening. carb back on
£20 of high octane fuel in the tank. wheels on and dropped level. still the fuel light on so probably a dodgy sender unit. son in the driver seat turning her over with a bit of direct fuel. lots of crappy smelling fuel to start then with the choke flap set from the carb with the cable disconnected i found the sweet spot and she starts and runs on the key. be it just under 2k rpm so high for idle.
thats it for now.....next jobs get it out in the open properly gunk the engine and curse word build up then run it for a while to get the good fuel through the system. oil change and replace and engine ancillary bits.
I'm looking at changing the entire wishbones, shocks bushes, discs and pads on the front but will focus on the rust patches first. if i can drive it and its semi ok ill get it to my mechanics workshop ramp for a thorough inspection but i don't think it will need the entire seals done! (hopefully)
i will never please everyone with the look but i want clio turbines like my old ones, slightly lowered and will properly leave the paint with the years of patina here and there...bird curse word, lack of cleaning, lacquer peeled but ill see what happens when i get her roadworthy, the bits i have polished have come up quite nicely.
This is now a keeper so will update progress as it happened (subject to time) if this self isolation happens ill have more time at home to play! lol
love to know your thoughts on this little project.
Mr T
Renault Monaco 1.7 Manual in Chocolate Bronze. 44K mile 5 owners and past featured on Pistonheads as shed of the week.
400 mile round trip to pick it up travelling through hurricane Jorge and finally got home to see what the actual issues are.
Its been standing for a while from what i could so the normal issues - interior smelt like curse word although not too bad a day hoovering wet carpets, cleaning mould and treating leather and it almost smells like my old ones, slight dodgy bolster but the leather is in good condition and even better with some good leather cream. (i still have an original seat from one of my first ones but thats another story!)
Check all the fluids and connections, spark plugs in and a bit of high octane fuel and she starts almost first time (Battery jumped). next have a look for parts
cam belt and water pump, dizzy cap and rotor to start, spend a complete weekend making room inside then push her inside into the dry and warmish to start the fun.
up on the jacks at the front nice and secure, front wheels off....about 10 years of shot and rust buildup all over. a quick clean and things don't look to bad but normal jacking points are non existent for rust.
front grill off front bumper off (and one bumper mount) and a quick steam clean of the engine bay. everything looks there so all good so far.
Saturday and a huge hangover and the cam belt and waterpump change starts and its not long before I'm cursing the french designers of this thing! no space cant get torx screws out, etc etc.
everything came off pretty easy in the end although the luxury of a nice warm dry garage to work in was miles away from my first mechanical joys with these things! lots of space on the gear box side of the 1.7gtx but not on the critical bits!
cam belt and water pump done got the thing firing again ok. lights off weekend finished. next parts reviewed and ordering still to do but i have all filters reay to change and oil to flush through for new stuff but a full de-gunk needed to clear all the curse word the steamer didnt get.
carb off for a clean and id thought id try and just surface brush and clean before taking it apart. a hour in the kitchen with carb cleaner and lots of residue left over. both accelerator botton flaps now opening. carb back on
£20 of high octane fuel in the tank. wheels on and dropped level. still the fuel light on so probably a dodgy sender unit. son in the driver seat turning her over with a bit of direct fuel. lots of crappy smelling fuel to start then with the choke flap set from the carb with the cable disconnected i found the sweet spot and she starts and runs on the key. be it just under 2k rpm so high for idle.
thats it for now.....next jobs get it out in the open properly gunk the engine and curse word build up then run it for a while to get the good fuel through the system. oil change and replace and engine ancillary bits.
I'm looking at changing the entire wishbones, shocks bushes, discs and pads on the front but will focus on the rust patches first. if i can drive it and its semi ok ill get it to my mechanics workshop ramp for a thorough inspection but i don't think it will need the entire seals done! (hopefully)
i will never please everyone with the look but i want clio turbines like my old ones, slightly lowered and will properly leave the paint with the years of patina here and there...bird curse word, lack of cleaning, lacquer peeled but ill see what happens when i get her roadworthy, the bits i have polished have come up quite nicely.
This is now a keeper so will update progress as it happened (subject to time) if this self isolation happens ill have more time at home to play! lol
love to know your thoughts on this little project.
Mr T
