Seventies Renaults

[peugaultcitroman]

Hi . . . . Anyone about care to chat about 70s Renaults ?

[Stickyfinger]

Pervert !......

does anybody care for "standard" 70's stuff, it seems it the decade Classic Car owners forgot unless its a Mk1 Escort

[harryp]

Hi, PC . What had you in mind? Have had R16's and 20TL and a poorly R12

[demag]

I had a R16. It was an absolute rust bucket but what a gorgeous car. I loved it.

[daviemck2006]

Vauxhall introduced the cavalier, saloon, coupe, and sports hatch in the 70's, absolutely great cars which I loved. My brother and I shared a sports hatch 2.0 gls, and when he was at home I got to use my dad's 1.3 gl Astra mk 1, another great car, and they appeared in the late 70's also although dad's was a 81 X reg.

[peugaultcitroman]

Hi HP . . . Many thanks for your reply (And to anyone else who has replied to any of my msgs. I will get back to you) So, What R16s have you had then ? Was your 20TL Mid Green Metallic with Tan Cloth and Vinyl interior . . ? They nearly all seemed to be !! LOL. Are your current Cars listed, Xantias eg ? Are you a fan of Peugeot 604s, As I am ?

[Undertheengine]

Just joined, so late to this.
I had an R12 Break, bought in 77 when it was two years old. Did around 300K km in it. Not a car to love, but it was unbustable. On one trip alone it did Portugal, Spain, France, Scotland, Morocco, Germany, Italy and Greece.

[demag]

My 16 was the TL "cooking" version but it went well and I remember the headlamps were awesome, really really bright. It was a metallic grey colour with huge soft armchair seats similar to the Cit DS. I think they were black or grey.
I was in Turkey earlier in the year and saw dozens of R12's over there. I think they were made under licence from Renault up until quite recently.

[harryp]

Hi, First up was a green R16TL, very, very quiet, rather too soft suspension and very underpowered. Next was another 16 but TS, ex Scotland, "poor road" version with thicker torsion bars. Seemed to be well down on power coming back from Carlisle and found that the carbon build up on the inlet valves matched the tract diameter. I did wonder how on earth it ran at all. Following standard decoke, valve radius, rings and all shells; went like a rocket. Handling was very good for it's day. Replaced the shocks with heavy duty adjustables and I really loved it. Made the mistake of replacing the carb feed rubber fuel tubing with the plastic variety. Going up the A38 on Jan 1st in the late '70s when the temp was -12C, 6-8 ins of snow, noticed I had used 1/4 tank to cover 30 miles when smoke poured through the screen vents. Would appear the tube probably fractured on starting the engine and burnt out the engine bay! Followed that a few months later with a R20TL. Again an extraordinarily comfortable and quiet car, used for country commuting and monthly trips down to Cornwall. For such a small engine it went very well. Bigest problem on long late runs was staying awake . The ads at the time were quite right, the seats were like deluxe arm chairs and coupled with the relative silence, didn't seem like driving at all. Only car I have owned where a normal conversation could be carried out at 70 with the rear passengers whilst facing the front and not raising your voice .

[peugaultcitroman]

Hi harryp . . . Are you about ?

[Peter.N.]

They were a lot more reliable than the modern ones.

Peter

[harryp]

Just re-read your post, oops. My R20 was metallic beige which I thought really suited the car

[peugaultcitroman]

Hi harryp . . . Thanks for you interesting reply re your R16s etc. I've never heard of different torsion bars or suspension options on 16s, apart from changes on models through production ? My Dad had a Black Dauphine before I was born, Then his first 16 was a Silver Met TS, Followed by two White ones, Then some years later a White TX, That was Fantastic ! They were all from New. Then just about the time I started work, from School, At Weldale, Reading, He bought one of the first 30TSs, Gorgeous light blue metallic, Deep blue Velour trim. Reg KRX 388 P. Hope it's still about. The 16 were from P. Baldock and Sons, Bracknell, P.S. Harwood on I.O.W. and TX from Weldale. Also my Mum had a very nice White, Ex-Demo 16 Auto from Baldocks, with very nice wheel trims, very similar to those on a Citroen SM, if you know the ones. They even had dummy 3 stud nuts. Never seen any others before or since ? I had such a good time working there, and drove so many new, and used Renaults. The 18TS 4-Speed Manual was Really great to drive, better than the 5- Speed GTS, Strangely ! You're right re comfort, 16s, 20/30s were amazing. I know the colour you mean. I should remember the code and name . . . Was it Bronze Metallic ? What are your current Cars Make, Model ?

[harryp]

Hi PC (trust this is in order!!?)
You seem to have enjoyed quite a range of vehicles
My R16 was metallic blue and as all my cars, bought second hand. Chap I bought it from said he never exceed 40mph in it and only (bravely) nursed it up to 60 on long motorway journeys - basically it had covered 60,000 miles of gentle running in. The thicker torsion bars made a significant improvement in the handling but still left the ride supple. I reckon there was not a lot of difference in ride between it and the Xantia - or is that the rosy glow of time . I remember it would completely iron out the sleeping policemen of that era at 40, but the accompanying bang was sufficient for me not to do it much at all out of sympathy for the suspension!! The R20 was probably bronze as you suggest, but as usual for the era, were all rust buckets. Body rusted through at around 7 years and 200K miles. Found out that the 5 speed box from a 17TS dropped straight in; only problem which I could not resolve was that the speedo over-read by 50%
Sadly, was not really up to speed on the internet when we moved here 7 years ago, and I scrapped a flawless R20 boot and bonnet. There were to rebuild a shell I had had welded, and they together will all the spares went to the scrappy as I had nowhere to store them. I could weep!! It would have doubled the remaining R20TL population to 2 . Currently have the two cars listed in my signature plus my wife has a zero road tax DS3 she uses for commuting. I am retired, but car, garden and house keep me relatively busy.
This topic has brought back many happy memories - thankyou .
Now back to repairing my drivers window and ultrasonic alarm .
Take care, regards

[demag]

Harry I remember my 16 having very soft suspension. The clutch cable broke it was a pig to change. I rebuilt the carb, twin choke Webber. Somehow I put the linkage back wrong so both chokes opened together, the power was awesome but it was a nightmare in traffic. Like a light switch. No power-full power!

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