Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[CitroJim]

Good progress Zel, all these little jobs all add up in the end... That cloudy instrument binnacle would have driven me crazy...

There's noting worse than a mucky screen, especially at this time of year... A clean one demists so much more effectively, not to mention the safety aspect...

[MattBLancs]

Glad to hear you've a safe place for the disklok gismo and are happy enough to live with the faffing.

I've found WD40 (or more usually Eurocarparts "maintenance spray" which is cheaper) pretty good at softening and loosening old sticky marks. Fairly benigh too so unlikely to melt the dashboard too!


Little job progress is still progress - all good!

[MattBLancs]

Oh, that's other thing was going to say: I remember reading that Rover's k series in 1.4 format was available in two power outputs: 105bhp and 85bhp. Think lower power done to bump it into a lower insurance group.

Anyway, mechanical differences that gave 20 bhp difference?
The throttle didn't open fully on the 85!!


So, not sure if you will feel it, but there is likely a slight difference in maximum power. Other thing to say, am sure it'll feel better without that dead travel at the pedal!

[myglaren]

I've found WD40 (or more usually Eurocarparts "maintenance spray" which is cheaper) pretty good at softening and loosening old sticky marks. Fairly benigh too so unlikely to melt the dashboard too.

I had heard that but can't stand the smell of it so used some acetone to remove the sticky from a bottle label.
Worked very well, mainly at transferring sticky to my hands, the glass desk top and this laptop thereupon.

A splash of acetone has ruined the look of the laptop keyboard. Collateral damage.

[Zelandeth]

It's quite interesting to see the length Renault were going to in the interests of efficiency/getting the best out of their engines. The inlet manifold is quite telling there in how carefully the runner lengths are matched.





I'm more used to seeing that sort of things on cars with more of a sporting pedigree like BMW.

It's telling they knew their stuff though, this isn't a small car for a 2.0 litre engine, yet it feels properly eager. The 2.5 V6 is only a second quicker to 60 if the numbers in the handbook are to be believed, and I imagine would be rather a lot more thirsty in the real world. Not to mention a heck of a lot more complicated to look after.

[MattBLancs]

Very true, I had similar thoughts when saw the exhaust manifold. Yes is a cast iron item, but together with the two pipe down pipe, is effectively a 4-2-1 arrangement and looks to be at least close to equal length.

Would the V6 be a small variant of the "PRV V6" ? I've no direct experience, but have heard that's not a great engine really.

The cylinder head cover on your 2 litre looks very wide - is it 8 valve, single overhead cam? Wondering if there's cleverness within - e.g. offset valves and a hemispherical cylinder head design? My Renault knowledge is pretty minimal so not much of a clue really!

[MattBLancs]

... WD40 .... Fairly benigh too so unlikely to melt the dashboard too.

I had heard that but can't stand the smell of it so used some acetone to remove the sticky from a bottle label.
Worked very well, mainly at transferring sticky to my hands, the glass desk top and this laptop thereupon.

A splash of acetone has ruined the look of the laptop keyboard. Collateral damage.

Yes acetone is much more the strong solvent/ melt things territory! Agree WD40 and the like a bit smelly especially in an indoor/ car interior application

[mickthemaverick]

I use the steam cleaner and then the window vac, no solvent, spirit or soap but a squeaky clean result!!

[Zelandeth]

Very true, I had similar thoughts when saw the exhaust manifold. Yes is a cast iron item, but together with the two pipe down pipe, is effectively a 4-2-1 arrangement and looks to be at least close to equal length.

Would the V6 be a small variant of the "PRV V6" ? I've no direct experience, but have heard that's not a great engine really.

The cylinder head cover on your 2 litre looks very wide - is it 8 valve, single overhead cam? Wondering if there's cleverness within - e.g. offset valves and a hemispherical cylinder head design? My Renault knowledge is pretty minimal so not much of a clue really!

I don't really know much about the V6 engine - or indeed this one (J6R) other than that they've a pretty decent reputation reliability wise.

I thought the same as you looking at the exhaust manifold.



It's not obvious looking at it from this angle, but the two downpipes are slightly offset to increase the length of the forward one. The furthest forward branch is obviously longer, but they've made a pretty decent effort at matching things up for a passenger car rather than serious sports car.

I guess it's easy to forget that Renault were actually making quite a name for themselves in Motorsport back in the 80s, especially where their engines were concerned, so they had the knowhow.

[Dormouse]

The design of both the intake and exhaust manifolds were indeed calculated to improve engine performance - so was the cylinder head. All in all a very useful package and much under rated.

[Dormouse]

One of the engines, in my opinion, that was super efficient for it's time is the Fiat Twin Cam.

Over the years I have made many different engines "breathe" better but this took less effort than most.

The Renault 2.0l engine here was similarly efficiently endowed from the factory.

[MattBLancs]

A quick Google session, it's pretty much a hemi head in 8 valve form looking at some pictures from a breaker. A set of rocker arms linking the central camshaft to each row of valves
https://eurofrance24.com/cylinder-head- ... nault.html

Combustion chamber

Then was reading the Wikipedia page: is a longer stroke 2.2 plus 12 valve as well as 8 valve variants. As well as the turbocharged variety as per 25 Turbo. So lots of options for even more go if desired!

Also spotted that hypothetical heat shield for a carb model is quite correct:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File ... 5_1988.jpg

Wiki image

[Dormouse]

Yes. The hemi head allows bigger valves. The combustion chamber shape is also optomised and in road going tune is fairly economical.

[Zelandeth]

Too cold to really do too much today, but given it wasn't actively raining or windy I did venture out for an hour or so until I started to run out of feeling in my finger tips.

First up as it hadn't been started in a little while was to get the Cavalier started up and run it fully up to temperature. Was pleased to see that it started right up without any drama despite the temperatures being well below zero.

Rear window demister isn't doing too badly either...I've had cars less than half this age where half the elements don't work. Only having two out is a pretty good show I reckon.



It wasn't as though you could tell that the temperature was basically hovering right on dew point all day today or anything...



It was left running long enough to get it fully up to temperature, fully demist everything and to get some decent heat into the interior. Never going to do as well as you would actually out driving with the engine under load, but better than just leaving it sitting all winter untouched I think.

The battery in the Renault has always sounded a little low so I stuck it on the charger for a few hours. There's a whole bunch of free space in this engine bay which makes finding somewhere to wedge the charger and/or extension lead far less of a pain.



Was showing as full within a few minutes, so either the battery isn't at it's best (given how little the car has been used that wouldn't surprise me - and being a Halfords cheapie), the connection to the starter could be a bit better - though 80s Renault starter motors have always tended to sound like they're struggling to some extent in my experience. I'll check the obvious candidates though just to be safe.

A package arrived which contains a set of lower ball joints, drop links and anti roll bar bushes.



Hopefully some combination of these things will deal with the knocking the current suspension is doing. I'll be chucking the car at a garage for that though, sod crawling around doing stuff like that at this time of year.

My usual solution to sticky residue left by tape and such is usually WD40. However the marks on the dash here really don't want to move.



Though granted, I may have more luck if I were to attempt this again when it's not -2C outside...

I've had a message back from a friend who does bodywork repairs professionally and they are happy to have a look at the 25 at some point over the next couple of months with a view to sorting the couple of bits of rust I've found. The instruction they'll be given here unless there are any *seriously* major show stoppers will basically be "If it needs or is going to need sorting in the next ten years, sort it." They're hopefully going to be able to offer some ideas on how we can best approach sorting the paintwork out too, though that's always going to be a major balancing act. What it really *wants* is a full strip back and respray - but can I really justify chucking probably the best part of three grand at sorting the paint on a car that's worth what, two grand on a really good day? Either way - once the welding work has all been done, one of the first things that will be happening is that it will be getting sent to a professional outfit to be rust proofed. Yes that will mean another sizable bill, but the peace of mind will be worth it I think. This is always going to be a car where if you start trying to make the numbers make sense you'd run away screaming I reckon - which is probably WHY they're basically extinct...They're just never going to be worth anywhere near the same in monetary terms as a Citroen CX, BMW 7-series, a big Volvo or a decently specified Saab 9000 from the same era. However this one has landed on the driveway of someone who doesn't really care about the numbers - and while I can't afford to have *everything* done in one hit, I'm not just going to say no to improvement work "because it's not worth it."

[MattBLancs]

Probably stating the obvious, but check the earths as well as the starter's 12 volt feed - both could be showing the strain when starter engaged.

I'd try multimeter tests as follows:

• Battery voltage, after sitting over night,

• During cranking,

• Measure volt drop battery terminal to engine block during cranking,

• Measure positive connection to starter to battery positive during cranking if it's accessible enough to do so.

The above should tell you where the power is going (or if all seem good, that the starter is just not very efficient)

Wow loads of room, those cable drums are pretty bulky surprised it slips in with ease!

Looking at the pattern in the adhesive mark, it looks like duck tape to my eyes. Think it does eventually give in to WD40 but also goes funny when exposed to UV - which of course it would do sat on the dash top. Any clues what it might have been for? Seems odd position.