5 GT Turbo Another Red Renault 5 GT Turbo On It's Way Back To The Road

[Leigh5t]

Hi guys,

I thought it was about time I created a thread for my 5, so here goes...

It's January 2005, I'm 18 years young, apprentice toolmaker, proud owner of a mighty 1 litre Peugeot 205. Life couldn't get much better.
I'm at work and get a hurried phone call from my older brother. The brief conversation went something like this -

Me - Hey up.
Him - I've found your car!!
Me - What? what are you talking about?
Him - Your next car!
Me - I don't need a car.
Him - Never mind that, we're going to look at it tonight.
Me - Wait, no, what, what even is it?
Him - ...A Renault 5 GT Turbo.

Later that night, Little Chef car park on Little Eaton roundabout, in rolls a little red 5... It's safe to say that I didn't take much convincing. £1600 later, the love affair began.

The earliest photo I can find. Sorry for the terrible photo!


A few years later, RTOC national day at Mallory. 2006/7 ish i think.


I daily drove it until November 2010 when I garaged it while I played around with some other projects, Saxo vts and a VW bay front camper. I didn't plan on it being off of the road for much longer than a few months, maybe a year... 13 years later, a wedding, two kids, two kitchens, a bathroom, a house extension, some wrinkles and a whole load of grey hairs, here we are.
I finally have a bit of time to get in the garage so I'm going to get the 5 back on the road.

First things first, I needed to clear some space in the garage.

What a mess!


She's a little dusty


Getting it running - thanks @Brigsy for your help


First clean



Getting the kids involved




And this is how it looks now.

Body kit, exhaust, petrol tank, brakes, fuel & brake lines and front suspension all removed. A few more bits and bobs to get out of the way then I can properly assess the situation. There's obviously rust to deal with but it isn't actually as bad as I expected. I'm sure there will be plenty of surprises yet though.

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me!

I know there is a huge amount of knowledge and experience on this forum so I'm sure I will need to come cap-in-hand for your help over the next few months years decades that it will probably take me to get it back on the road. Like many have before with their project threads, I'd like to think that I will contribute something back to the community along the way.

Cheers guys.
Leigh.

 

[andybond]

@Leigh5t thank you very much for taking the time to register and post. Its greatly appreciated.

We do love a good 5 GTT resto on here , some highlights of mine are @Chris74# resto amongst others.

Ill look forward to following your progress!

 

[Leigh5t]

Thanks Andy.

I’ve already been through a fair few of the restos on here and you guys have done some unbelievable work. I will definitely be referring to them throughout.

I don’t plan on doing a full nut and bolt. It’s not practical for me at the minute and I’d hate for it to take forever or not get finished. I want to do the necessities, get it back on the road and take it from there. I’m more than happy to work on my cars though so I’ve no doubt it will escalate. If that happens then so be it. I just want to enjoy the process.

Thanks again.

 

[Duncan Grier]

Looks a very nice example glad with life getting in the way (as it does ) you were able to keep it & safely covered up.

Looking forward to you bringing it back to its former glory and hopefully the dreaded tin worm not too bad

 

[Leigh5t]

Thanks Duncan,

Honestly, it does not feel like it’s been 13 or so years. It’s crazy how time flies, especially when you have a family. I can’t complain though because life’s been great and, as you say, I’ve managed to hang on to the 5 in a relatively safe environment. I do have a supportive wife, bless her, so that has helped. However, she does think I’m crazy! But she’s happy for me to do what makes me happy. Suppose I’m not off galavanting. Or maybe she thinks there’s a Disney trip under that dust and rust!

I can’t dedicate the same amount of time and money to this as some of you guys on here have done, and honestly, I’m in awe of some of the restorations. But I will make it solid and get it back on the road.

 

[Adey]

that's awesome, keeping it away like that has kept it from a lot of the elements. looking forward to how this comes along. Nothing wrong with just getting it up and running/usable. Thanks for sharing

 

[Leigh5t]

Thanks Adey,

The garage and cover have helped, without a doubt. It’s not been the absolute perfect environment, as it does get damp in there over the winter, but it's still way better than outside.

 

[Renny 5]

I was actually wondering when you was gunna post a thread nice to see it out again, think last time I came round to yours it’d not been used in a while and that was years ago!!! I’ll have to pop round with mine and drag Danny Afro out for a nosey.

 

[Leigh5t]

Ha ha I know, it’s taken a while.
Mate, it’s probably 10 years ago you were last round. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Yeah, come and have a cuppa and a chat soon. I’ll drop you a message.

 

[Chris74#]

@Leigh5t thank you very much for taking the time to register and post. Its greatly appreciated.

We do love a good 5 GTT resto on here , some highlights of mine are @Chris74# resto amongst others.

Ill look forward to following your progress!

Got my cup of tea in hand, gonna enjoy this!!

 

[Leigh5t]

No pressure

 

[Leigh5t]

Some of the parts I've removed so far


The fuel tank is pretty disgusting but I'm sure it will clean up ok. I do need to repair the dreaded 'bung' though as it did used to leak when putting more than about half a tank in it.


Reserve pump bracket has seen better days.


Much like the non-existent filler neck/non-return valve bracket


I'm not sure what brand the exhaust system is, it was on when I got it. It seems of decent quality and will definitely clean up.



Front suspension all came apart no problem. Some of it will clean up but most of it will need replacing.


Shocks look alarmingly worse for wear. They could well be the originals
Obviously aftermarket lowering springs. I'm not sure what drop they are.



Calipers are very tatty. I'll most likely rebuild them myself. I'm not sure about the rear comp valve. I'll look at this at some point in the future.

 

[Renny 5]

CGB motorsport is a place you can get a lot of OEM parts from. Some people do moan on their quality but I’ve not really found an issue with them. If you wanna run coilovers I’d recommend GAZ gha’s.

 

[Leigh5t]

Cheers mate. Yeah, I had a few bits from cgb way back when. Gt turbo spares have plenty of bits too.
The problem is, I used to get bits direct from Renault for a fraction of the price people are asking for them now! i’m going to struggle to palate that
To be honest, I’m happy to just go with standard shocks and lowering springs. Sunday driver over here

 

[Brigsy]

In for updates!

Exhaust looks to be an old ktec system. Similar look to scorpion but sound way better, had one on my white gtt.

 

[Leigh5t]

Interesting that it might be a ktec system. Cheers for that, Brigsy. I always liked the look and sound of it so it will be going back on. Albeit, a bit cleaner!

 

[Leigh5t]

What are you guys re-making the hard fuel lines out of? As you'd expect, mine disintegrated as I removed them.

 

[Brigsy]

Copper 8mm microbore pipe works ok for fuel line replacement.

 

[Leigh5t]

Cheers mate. Copper is pretty easy to work with at least.

 

[clarky_gtt]

Red gt turbo restoration you say?

Let me know if you need any help or advice. It's been known I've restored a few over the years