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Lobster

Lobster

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In the spirit of trying to be productive during these challenging times, and following Malcolm's plea for Project threads, I thought I'd share my current Renault situation....

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F6 : last week I finally got around to replacing one of the gear linkage bushes I bought from Melun at Thenay last summer. Can't say it feels hugely better despite the old one being a bit floppy although I haven't really driven it so time will tell. Otherwise the plan was to tax it from April and get it used. Plus finally get a bit of rust below the filler cap sorted and get the new rear door painted and fitted. However, that's all on hold for the moment so it sits patiently waiting for the moment...

Twingo : Been in use all winter. Needed a new crank sensor but otherwise pretty much without issue although does tend to suffer from the windscreen bring full of condensation of a morning. Can't find a leak anywhere though. Otherwise, heater motor resistor needs replacing (is a Clio one the same?) and the brakes could be better (i.e. They're a bit rubbish). Whether they just need cleaning up and deglazing is something I may look at in the next week, though I do wonder what upgrades are possible? Would meatier Clio 16v discs and pads make much difference? I've seen pics on Generation Twingo of Twingii with cross drilled discs which certainly look sexier if nothing else...
 
Check the Twingo rear drums - seized auto-adjusters are like satan; braking can be improved incredibly with a service and make sure the shoes are set correctly to start with :laughing: Horrid job but lovely feel once set right.
PS does that have a (secretly leaking) sunroof?
 
Lobster said:
In the spirit of trying to be productive during these challenging times, and following Malcolm's plea for Project threads, I thought I'd share my current Renault situation....

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F6 : last week I finally got around to replacing one of the gear linkage bushes I bought from Melun at Thenay last summer. Can't say it feels hugely better despite the old one being a bit floppy although I haven't really driven it so time will tell. Otherwise the plan was to tax it from April and get it used. Plus finally get a bit of rust below the filler cap sorted and get the new rear door painted and fitted. However, that's all on hold for the moment so it sits patiently waiting for the moment...

Twingo : Been in use all winter. Needed a new crank sensor but otherwise pretty much without issue although does tend to suffer from the windscreen bring full of condensation of a morning. Can't find a leak anywhere though. Otherwise, heater motor resistor needs replacing (is a Clio one the same?) and the brakes could be better (i.e. They're a bit rubbish). Whether they just need cleaning up and deglazing is something I may look at in the next week, though I do wonder what upgrades are possible? Would meatier Clio 16v discs and pads make much difference? I've seen pics on Generation Twingo of Twingii with cross drilled discs which certainly look sexier if nothing else...
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The heater motor resistor won't be anything special and one from something else will do. They normally sit poking through from the inside of the air duct for cooling. The resistor value only needs to be about right (assuming you can't get the correct part) since the worst that can happen is the slower fan speeds won't be quite the same as they were. eBay often has ones for MGFs and Rover 200/400 and they'd more than likely be fine - with minor tweaks to the fitting.
 
Couldn't really be bothered doing anything practical (other than eating, I'm getting increasingly good at eating absolutely everything in the house in these days of being stuck at home) so decided to do a bit of internet research on Twingo heater resistors.

Good news - easy enough to order and cheap. Bingo.
Less Good news - According to assorted Frenchmen on YouTube, most of the dash needs to come out.

Verdict - By the time I can actually use it again, it'll be summer. And who needs a multi speed heater blower anyway. I think I'll stick to easier stuff for the moment and come back and tackle this one later.
 
Do it know while you have time (assuming you are in lockdown) and it will be ready for next winter when you need t
 
In the sprit of being productive, my wife and I cleared the garage out and for the first time in 30 years I have two cars in there. My MGB is back in and my R4 is nestled in beside it. Having done that , I will start looking at the new '72 R4 which is in next doors garage. Will take pics at some stage when its warmer!
 
About the resistor unit on the Twingo: If you have only fast fan speed, there is no need to replace the whole unit. It's a thermal fuse, located on the resistor unit, that fails and can be replaced separately since it's a common part found in all electronic supplies shops. The down side is that, the dashboard has to be removed in order to gain access to the resistor unit.
 
Twingo brakes update... everything good at the rear, front less so. Pads have plenty of material however the picture explains the reluctance to stop at speed.... if I can work out what of the many choices I need to order then that's the plan next. Frustratingly, I get discount at the local Renault dealer so normally go in there with the chassis number - but they're closed - so it might just have to be Mister Auto.
 
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After a couple of days of doing other stuff - work and building a massive plastic shed mainly - I've had a look at sorting the Twingo brakes. With help of Mr Reno of this parish (thanks, Paul!) I've managed to get them ordered from Mister Auto so we'll hopefully have proper stopping ability later in the week!

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In the meantime, it's been good, dirty fun getting Waxoyl-y on the back end.

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I find "autodoc" way better, they even have massive selection parts for renault 4l.
I like tie twingo ;)
 
"Big sparkly stick" made me chuckle :)

Could be a magic wand; could be welding :welder:
 
Sundays are sometimes full of positivity and productiveness. Unless, of course, they aren't.

I'd planned, once I'd finished lounging around, to change the oil and filter on the Twingo.

I bought a couple of filters latest time I was in France and bought oil last week so we were all set. Out with the ramps, drive Twingo up, crawl under. And then it all went wrong.

Hey, that looks a bit crusty, I thought.

Prod.

Hmm, very crusty. Bother.

So what now? I really don't know. I'm not going to turn up a decent front subframe for it easily or cheaply and changing it would be the sort of Big Job that I really don't fancy and probably massively uneconomic to pay someone to do.

I think I'm going to sit outside and have a beer whilst I contemplate matters and (hopefully) await some helpful words of encouragement. I'm working tomorrow, was planning on using it. Rather think I might not now.
 
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Heh, I think it might be a bit much for a bit of old tin, filler and underseal to sort. Not that I've ever done that sort of thing before anyway... :whistle:

The ever helpful Andrew McGraa tells me its not as big a job as I thought so if I can find a second hand subframe then we should be ok. Still going to miss most of the summer though, sadly. Might just run it up to my friendly local old car place in the next week or two, see what they reckon.
 
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