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I use a Tesco pre-mix screen wash. Seems fine with nothing growing in the washer bottle. In the past I have had stuff growing in the washer bottle so another vote for trying a different washer fluid (and never topping it up with plain water in the summer).

My longest trip so far - 110km in 30C temperature to pick up a pallet truck and it went very well. I think the Rodeo is becoming reliable now. I was keeping it to 80km/h and the temperature gauge was sitting at 100C all the way but no water came out this time. I ordered the new radiator a...

Sounds like yours is working well already. My distributor wasn't working very well at all. You probably wouldn't get much vacuum advance on cruising on an 850 engine as cruising will have quite a big throttle opening. I think that's a trick for larger engines. I wonder how much speed I...

I went out onto a dual carrageway to tune the high rpm and it turns out the Rodeo is sensitive to timing after all. If you get to the sweet spot of precisely 28 degrees at 4000rpm (90km/h) it'll start accelerating again. My new speed record is 95km/h and it'll sit at 90km/h on full load...

I've been out tuning this afternoon and have come to the conclusion that the 747cc (680) engine isn't all that sensitive to timing. There will be a timing setting at each rpm that gives maximum torque. On a modern or tuned engine you'll get into a position where you get into detonation...

Yes photos! It would be good to see the conversion. If you have all the RHD parts then everything is ambidextrous apart from the bulkhead which will need some bits welding on in the RHD style.

Not sure what the thermostat is. It's a new one. Car idles at 80C so probably about that. EDIT> It's a Gates part opening at 83C. I think it's a lack of cooling capacity as the radiator is 50 years old and maybe a bit blocked. I think the water pump is OK as the interior heater runs...

In the MG the needle sits in the middle of the gauge all the time so maybe 80C. I've never fitted a temperature gauge to a Renault 4 before so don't know how they normally behave but I think the Rodeo doesn't have quite enough cooling. I've been running with the heater on full to supplement...

I was hoping I fixed an overheating problem by fiddling with the gauge. But still got to 95C this afternoon.

Could check it if I owned a thermometer. Figured the important thing to know is when the water starts to boil.

Turns out you have to calibrate them. The bezel comes off with a lot of prying and force, then the needle pulls off with more force than you want to use. Just pop the needle back at the 100C mark while the sensor is boiling away in a kettle. Reassembly is possible by prying the bezel back...

That's a good call. The gauge over-reads by 20 degrees!

The 123 distributor is in. The distributor cap is a bit bigger than the original and the leads are tight against the dynamo. Looks like a 90 degree cap would work better. I've only done a rough tune so far and haven't connected vacuum advance, but already it is so much better than the...

The sensor installed in the water pump. The theads don't screw in all the way. I think it's some sort of plumbing thread that seals by itself with a taper. The temperature gauge needs power, ground and a wire to the sensor. The two thin wires are for lighting and I've left them...

Worth some notes about how to fit a cheap temperature gauge as there have been questions recently. I've got an overheating issue to diagnose and I'll need a temperature gauge for that. I thought about throwing a thermocouple into one of the hoses but gauges are cheap so decided to go that...

Are the early conrods white metalled and you need to know the standard size for machining the big end bearing? What's the engine type? 800-01 would be 845cc. 680 - xx would be 747cc. With the engine type someone with an old book ought to be able to find the spec.

I ended up cutting down the original sleeve. It's a risky thing to do as I think the length of the sleeve controls the end float on the distributor drive gear which should be around 0.15 to 0.5mm from memory. I measured a lot and found when the original sleeve was slipped onto the old...

That looks like an 845cc engine. You can buy adapters on ebay if the thread in the sensor is too small.

Thanks for the parts diagrams. I can see which parts I need now. Anyone have any spare?

I've found a photo of the later distributor mounting. I don't have the enlarged casting for the bolt hole on the top. I only have the bolt hole on the side. But the 123 distributor doesn't need to be rotated so I could pin it in place at TDC and clamp from the side hole. I think the...