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Arite, Here's my current project vehicle. A somewhat sad-looking Renault 9 AMC GTA, rescued from the side of the road for a somewhat pitiful $150. Bodywork is reasonable, it has no rust (Which, for a Renault is actually pretty darngood) but the guy sold it because the timing belt broke. Not really surprising after 129,000 miles of service. Gathering together parts for it (having to order some odds and ends from Volvo and Renault in the UK because not many spares are available here for them any more. This the front. Typical 'Federal' style cues, such as huge foam bumpers and 80's spec headlights, with the running lights/indicators/sidelights on the inner edge.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3204188681/Back end. Missing a couple bits of plastic trim because the people who sprayed the car last time weren't careful with it.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3282002917/Number 4 piston. Top of the exhaust poppet decided to shear off. Made a beautiful mess of the cylinder head and actually mashed hard enough into that piston that it's cracked all the way through.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3210847945/Photoshop. Acropolis rally colours. This is happening. Not sure when, but that's the final colour scheme for the car.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3267841725/--Phil |
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Last Edit: Aug 7, 2022 1:01:23 GMT by PhilA
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Mike
East Midlands
Posts: 3,387
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That's an interesting motor, don't think I've ever seen one before. The rally colours will really suit it. Had a quick google, are they known as a Renault Alliance? Or have I misread that.... Looks like they did a convertible version too.  |
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Mike,
The Alliance was a different model, according to AMC. It was available in 4-door and convertible, with a 1.4 or 1.7 litre engine, auto, manual.
The GTA was marketed as a different model, as a 2-door coupe; 2.0 engine unique to the model (it's a combination of a bunch of different engines, tuned to produce just under 100hp, so the vehicle could compete in the SCCA sub-100hp compact series.
--Phil
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Mike
East Midlands
Posts: 3,387
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Mike, The Alliance was a different model, according to AMC. It was available in 4-door and convertible, with a 1.4 or 1.7 litre engine, auto, manual. The GTA was marketed as a different model, as a 2-door coupe; 2.0 engine unique to the model (it's a combination of a bunch of different engines, tuned to produce just under 100hp, so the vehicle could compete in the SCCA sub-100hp compact series. --Phil Cool! Will engine parts be hard to come by with it being unique to the model? |
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bloody hell, thats the last thing i expected to see in the u.s!!!! good luck with it phila
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"quote hairnet"
I'm not paying nine pound for a pi$$!
[/quote]
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hi visit retro-renault.com  follow link bellow Ash |
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Mike: It's unique only in the combination of different engine parts used to create it; it's a bit of a Frankenstein. No other Renault or otherwise was fitted with a 1.7 block, 1.7 turbo head as used on the Volvo 440 (the na heads are dished, the turbo head is totally flat by the valves) and a 2.0 crank with 1.7 pistons.
The parts are relatively easy to come by, you just have to know what vehicle or engine combo the different bits all come from!
--Phil
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Oh noes! Valves! These ones were forcibly removed with a hammer and spark plug socket...  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3451441586/I think possibly they aren't much more good. Someone suggested I should keep them and re-use them to add better swirl into the combustion chamber, more horsepower  --Phil |
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Last Edit: May 9, 2009 4:56:22 GMT by PhilA
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Some more pics, a little bit of progress made. Sanded down the rear spoiler, because the sun had killed the paint and the plastic. Sun's eaten the paint on the bootlid too.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3336548566/Painted it black! Satin black plastic paint, which according to the tin didn't need priming... stuck alright and hasn't lifted so far  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3357369484/Took a screwdriver to the badges and sanded them down to repaint... ended up the paint can squirting paint instead of spraying and made a naff job, so probably just ebay up some chrome badges for it.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3320698715/That was about it for the topside, had a poke about underneath. Beginning to think it's not actually a Renault, there's no rot  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3364084138/Awful gearshift linkage design. Not much rust, just all worn-out rubber and mechanical parts. Someone has sawed off the catalytic converter and replaced it with a cherry-bomb. As much as that probably improved the exhaust note, it's not going to pass emissions without it  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3204229207/ok, can't do a big run of "really rusty" pictures because there's no rust... hard to believe for a 22 year old Renault. Rusty marks underneath are from where the water pump had sprung a leak, which is more like it  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3364084700/Ousted a plant while poking about in the wheelarch. In spite of it being full of mud there's still no rust...  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3273285634/Drum backplate is the grottiest part underneath. Contemplating getting Renault 5 GTTurbo rear discs for it, so that'd solve having to rub down and paint... ;D Exhaust bungy seems to have been broken by previous owner pulling stock exhaust can off to put on "One of them real big ones like you get on them Japanese imports". Just needs a cherry-bomb to complete then, tucked away nicely.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3363263761/Gave up looking for rot on the car after finding none here.... beginning to trip out so I moved on to the insides  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3364082044/Carpet showed signs of heater having widdled rusty water everywhere from the engine, and the heater pipes were bypassed in the engine bay. Got a new heater matrix for it. Well, new is relative, this one marked 'Valeo June 1984'  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3226877750/Judging by the missing screws and control cables some muppet had made a bodged attempt at pulling the dash and heater box out. I'm guessing probably at the dealership, looking at the replacement heater core which is the updated faulty-heater-core-recall unit fitted by AMC... sadly that didn't seem to have worked so well  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3226023403/Lifted the dash out. Isn't too bad, despite the sun. Only broke two clips off, oops. Could have been worse, as the plastic feels like porcelain  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3282371304/Discovered at the same time that the speakers have seen better days  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3282822542/All that tucked away inside... trying to figure out why it needs so many damn wires  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3281550061/Yup, old one had a hole in. Also appears to have been the first thing to have been installed in the cabin when it was new, as it was for sure the last thing out  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3282823552/Wife told me I couldn't buy any speakers yet because I spent money on a new piston and cylinder head (dash can't go back on before the speakers are replaced, true Renault design) decided to try remember how it all went together in my head and turned attention back to the engine.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3363257271/Lifted the pistons out, piston I bought earlier on the far right. Not too shabby, just all caked up with crud  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3364081292/Dirty but overall in good nick. Need to check the endfloat, drop the gearbox off and lift the crank out. Got some new bearings for it, and need to find a good machine shop around here that can balance it for me  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3211692752/8 valves of glory! Got some citrus engine cleaner which had the benefit of kinda cleaning the thing up and smelling of oranges  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3122301665/Take four manky pistons:  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3393557492/Add one can of nasty-smelling cack from Autozone:  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3435206005/Result:  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3436010448/Now they're cleaned up, taking a look at the markings, it's evident this engine has been apart for a fairly major overhaul in the past- one of the existing not-too-screwed-up pistons has been marked on the CROWN with a laser thingy, the others are hammer-and-stamp punched... and now this new one I have makes pistons from 3 different engines Seriously considering getting them all weighed and balanced Waiting now on my valve spring compressor to arrive, as well as TDC timing pin, then I can redo the valves in the new head- one of the exhaust valves leaks... don't trust anywhere around here not to screw up doing a 3-angle cut, so the valves are getting a lap with carborundum instead. This plan is turning into something a bit more now, as I'm learning more about the vehicle I'm wanting to tune it up more and more... More to follow --Phil |
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Cool looking car you have there. Complete lack of rust is a proper result we can only dream of over here  Like the plans as well, rally colours will look awesome! |
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recarouk
Yorkshire and The Humber
Posts: 435 
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Awesome project there matey, my grandad used to have a renault 9 when i was a young lad, brings back fond memories, glad your saving another  |
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Cool looking car you have there. Complete lack of rust is a proper result we can only dream of over here Like the plans as well, rally colours will look awesome! Total lack of rust down here is odd too- climate here is hot and damp from being a swampy area. Only slight advantage is the rot that does tend to form is usually black rust instead of red rust like the UK's weather likes to generate. Basically means once it's made a scab on the top surface, so long as it's not too damp it spreads really really slowly. Worst part of the topside is the roof- the sun gets to the paint. Along the sharp edges, of which this car has many, the paint burns to a powder in the sunshine and just washes away as dust. Upcoming respray will be its third coat of paint since 1987... Only issue I have, having taken the engine to bits is all the wear areas rot really badly. I pulled the tappets out of the old head the other day, covered them in spray-on oil and stuck them in the boot with the pistons, which had the same liberal coating of oil. Came back 2 days later and the things are covered in rust   www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3512032978/Spent a few hours with metal polish trying to buff them back up to smooth which was aggrivating. Also noticed that some Billy-Bob "mechanic" has been grinding at the surface of the tappet shims. Evidently they never heard of case-hardening, so that's ruined a set of shims. They'll do as measurements to get the valve clearance right though. Since brought them in so hopefully they'll last a bit longer before going bad! Been doing a bit of shopping about too, found a place that does fast road cams for these engines, and a guy over here that makes extractor exhausts for the SCCA class racers. If it's going to be plastered in stickers and lights it might as well go like it looks... --Phil |
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Lex
South East
日本車 <3
Posts: 2,404
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I like it!
Think it would suite a more normal paintjob with a nice set of small / wide wheels, but its your car, your call!
Nice to see a car like that in the US too ;D
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Resto-UKal |
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I like it! Think it would suite a more normal paintjob with a nice set of small / wide wheels, but its your car, your call! Nice to see a car like that in the US too ;D I'm considering that. To begin with it's just going all-over appliance white, with various bits (grille, mirrors, spoiler etc) accented in black. I kinda like the Ronals, their only problem is that they are actually quite wide for the car (195/60/R15) and without modifying the arches fitting wider rims is a pain because of the low lip on the back. I don't feel up to hacking at it too badly as the bodywork is in pretty good shape (in a lot of cases I'm for mods that can be undone without too much hassle, so nothing exceptional lol) Thankfully it has similar offset and the same bolt/pcd as mk2 Golfs so the wheels available are of good selection, even over here- however, for now the ones it has are round and they do work, so maybe if someone Photochops it I might be convinced --Phil |
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May 10, 2009 12:54:09 GMT
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This is a really interesting car, great to see folk lavishing skill and attention on such obscure material. Keep it up!
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1974 Lancia Beta Saloon
1975 Mazda 929 Coupé
1986 Mazda 929 Wagon
1979 Mazda 929 Hardtop
1982 Fiat Argenta 2.0 iniezione elettronica
1977 Toyota Carina TA14
1989 Subaru 1800 Wagon
1982 Hyundai Pony 1200TL 2-dr
1985 Hyundai Pony 1200 GL
1986 Maserati 425 Biturbo
1992 Rover 214 SEi 5-dr
2000 Rover 45 V6 Club
1994 Peugeot 205 'Junior' Diesel
1988 Volvo 760 Turbodiesel Saloon
1992 Talbot Express Autosleeper Rambler
2003 Renault Laguna SPEARS OR REAPERS
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May 10, 2009 14:44:31 GMT
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This is a really interesting car, great to see folk lavishing skill and attention on such obscure material. Keep it up! There are days when I look at it and remind myself that it's just a Renault 9, and one with a Joan Rivers facelift but I've spent time and money on worse projects and this one has potential. Mostly because it's beginning from the bottom of the barrel and any repair or modification is an improvement, I think... ;D --Phil |
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Woot! Finally (4 week wait) my tools arrived from the UK.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3544661060/Top Dead Centre timing pin. I'm still trying to figure what's wrong with stamped-in timing marks on the crank  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/3543850881/Deep-reach valve spring compressor. Same model as Halfords sell but I managed to find it cheaper at a local place that stocks the same brand tools (Laser). Took a while to order in but it's still cheaper than the alternative method suggested to me- get a drill press and use that to compress the springs. In other news, I managed to pump up the rear left tyre as it appears to have a slow leak. Weather's been 80% humidity, 30+ degrees C and I have no shelter to work on, so once the summer rolls on a little I should be able to continue work... --Phil |
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May 19, 2009 13:08:18 GMT
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This is a great project! I've never heard of one of these cars before - what an interesting oddity! Your plans for it look great, can't wait to see it evolve!  |
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Mar 14, 2010 16:52:42 GMT
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Dug this up from the fifty-odd's, can't believe I let it just sit there this long. A bit has happened since I posted on this vehicle last. I've rebuilt the new cylinder head, with new gaskets and seals, got a set of shims and got the clearances correct. After a tornado picked up the last carport and dumped it in the canal out back, the car had been sitting outside and I'd been a bit stuck for things to do on it, short of jacking it up and staring at the undersides. A few months back we had a new carport put up, and I'd vowed to try and put in at least an hour on the car each day if the weather allowed. That lasted about a week until the mojo began to run out, and then it rained a lot for a few days rolling, work got in the way and other projects around the house took precedence. Got cracking yesterday after spending $6 in nuts and bolts and $23 in engine chains. Lifted everything out the way and hoiked the engine and transmission out.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/4430716500/Doesn't look too bad, but the water pump has seized up solid. Engine hasn't seen a whole lot of maintenance in the past few years.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/4430717148/This is one reason why I keep working at this wretched vehicle. It's dented, mechanically worn out but not rusty.  www.flickr.com/photos/philandrews/4430717782/I'm stuck at home on-call for work this weekend, so next up is to dump the engine and gearbox on a pallet so I can drag it about, clean the muck off, split the two and lift the crank and flywheel so I can do the main bearings and seals. --Phil |
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Ross
Part of things
Posts: 83
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Mar 14, 2010 17:17:07 GMT
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I'm liking this thread |
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Mini eh? Rolls Royce Merlin bolts straight in them you know.
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Like the plans as well, rally colours will look awesome!
