My TL Light Restoration

[Sam Fish]

My rear silencer came and is now fitted. A fair bit quieter which is good, but I miss the rasp a bit! I am going to cyt the tailipe down a bit!



Fitted a DAB stereo too. I have really missed having some music. I took the centre switch consoles out of the dash and routed the wiring.
I borrowed a permanent live from the cigarette lighter wiring, a switched live was already there.... Its seems there is wiring behind the dash for all the optional extra's that my car doesn't have, which makes it easy to add them - so I stole a socket from a GT Turbo and fitted that to power my chilled coolbox

There is also the wiring for a clock, but my dash does not have one in the upper console. Does anybody have one in perfect condition they would sell? I have a rubbish one, but it looks awful.

The cardboard front parcel shelf was falling apart in mine, so swapped one out of the LeCar donor car here. Still not great, I think I'll make one from aluminium eventually.

I stripped the interior completely yesterday to give all the trim a clean and fit the new front seats.

Where did renault fit the speakers? I borrowed some rear quarter trims and put some speakers in there.... I fancy 4, but don't want to cut the door cards!





Rear bench has a sheet over it, until I can find a replacement..

 

[sparkie]

they fitted one single speaker in the centre console. - its where you've got a cubby hole. - the grille kinda clips in.

 

[Sam Fish]

I have had to extend my limited mileage this year to 12,000 - I think I may come close too!

Since I last updated I have been down into the depths of France (last summer) again - which put 2000 miles on it.

The light restoration I did on it is lasting well. The main bits of welding I did are still totally corrosion free and protected. I thoroughly waxed the car again before winter (clear waxoyl).

There are a couple of really tiny bits (3 or 4) that have bubbled - where I only used the wire wheel to remove the rust. You really need to sandblast to guarantee it wont come back, luckily I did in all the tricky places.
I am not worried about them for now as they have wayoyl on.

The rear suspension that was blasted/zinc'ed/painted in 2K has lasted perfectly, it still looks like it did two years ago!

The steering column joint (can't really call it a universal joint!) had very perished bushings and play, so I ordered a new one from Euro Car parts - part number below - cost around £3.00.
Also fits other classic Renaults - Snap them up!







As you can see, it was FINISHED. Although there wasn't much play when up to speed, as the steering is so light anyway.

I am really getting tempted to take the car off the road now and use an old clio instead - Maybe starting a bare shell restoration.
I love these old Renault 5's, I think they are great little cars that can be an example to modern car manufacturers - Light, cheap, efficient and simple - I think the Ford Ka was the most recent car that ticked all those boxes... what do you think?

I have Just bought this too:


I couldn't resist, and have borrowed the money to do it. It is a car that my Dad used to run - winning the last ever Renault 5 TS one-make championship (Daily Star).
It is the same car pictured here (originally dark green with yellow bumpers):



So it has gently rolled onto its roof in the gravel, but the good thing about knowing the cars history is that I know the story and how slight it was. The dent in the rear quarter (as seen in the newspaper picture) is still there.

I had resprayed a red/white/blue TS and had it for sale, offered with this green/yellow one for £1500 (the pair) - I needed the money when I went to college.
Andre Sever bought them both and restored the green one, giving it a respray inside and out, new AVO dampers and other bits and pieces.
It still has the Yellow engine and sticker from my Dad, which is nice.

I am not 100% sure what I will do with it for now. I would really like to restore it and register it on the road. I have a NOS front splitter that the TS cars ran, and a NOS early front bumper. I would love to change the colour too.
It is also genuine TS, from the diamond plate. Who knows, it all comes down to time and money! It is a keeper though.

Does anybody have any pictures from the TS championship, with a dark green and yellow TS in? We didn't ever take pictures of things in those days
I would be really grateful for any pictures of it!
Thanks
Sam

 

[herbacious_harley_37]

Re: the speakers on a mk1 I was going to say there was a mono speaker in the central console but Sparkie beat me to it !

Sam I love that little blue car looks like something out of the Pink Panther that Inspector Clouseau might drive !

 

[Sam Fish]

So, Somebody crashed into my golden tl the other week. It wasn't a nice accident.... Passing Over a junction, a driver turned right across my path (oncoming). They were blind to oncoming traffic and were sat in a hashed area, but decided to play chicken and hope nobody was coming.
Unfortunately I had zero chance to avoid hitting them head on. Although I had anticipated a risk, so slowed to around 20mph - which must have been my impact speed.

Pretty devastating, especially as the shell and mechanicals are so good. The car is ultra reliable.

I am going through the annoying insurance rubbish. The third party really has no idea about the highway code, so is disputing the claim. My dad is the approved workshop to repair it, but I guess it may be written off, despite and agreed value. I am going to insist that it is put back on the road, it is far too good to scrap.

So I could possibly do with a couple of good panels, if anybody can help?
Bonnet
FR wing and headlight
Any inner wing panels, although I understand the rareity of these.
Late tl grey bumper

The turret and suspension pick-up point locations seem to be unaffected, but I need to measure a few things to double check. But the front right inner and outer wing took the most of it. The battery and radiator took a pounding too.
My dad insists he has repaired far worse to race winning results, so I am confident it can be as good as new.

I'll post a couple of depressing pictures at some point.
Any help is much appreciated. I can't let another shell die.

 

[r5gordini]

Hi Sam,

Oh no! What awful news. The other driver sounds a bit of a nightmare. I should have a lot of the parts you require. I will PM you my phone number and we can chat tonight if you like?

Andrew

 

[sparkie]

in the unlikely event that r5gordini can't help, i have driverside front wing and a bonnet too.

 

[Sam Fish]

Thanks Sparkie

 

[turbo2_slayer]

i have a panel that goes where headlight is mounted if you need it

 

[herbacious_harley_37]

Dear Sam,

I have just read about your accident I do hope that common sense prevails and you are allowed to repair your lovely TL you worked so hard on it to restore it as well. My Supercinq automatic Henri Tudur needed a new steering rack gator to pass his MOT he also needed two new drive shafts as they were knocking and the O/S worn through. There were advisories for new tyres and wiper blades so those were both renewed last week and my neighbour has made further adjustments to the carb and Henri is running much better in the last two days I did 100 miles in him and used 10 litres of petrol so he's much better now. I also have mastered the knack of starting him the user manual says to depress the accelerator whilst pulling the choke out when cold and following Andrew's suggestion I leave a few seconds between turning the key and then starting.

I do hope that your lovely TL is back on the road soon.

Regards

Harley

 

[Sam Fish]

i have a panel that goes where headlight is mounted if you need it

Ah, yes please! That would be really really helpful. Could you please message me price and location? I can come and collect...
Many thanks.

 

[Sam Fish]

Thanks Harley. Glad to hear yours is running well.

Pictures below:





I could also do with the bumper hanging brackets. Such a shame to see all the blasted/zinc'ed/painted bits all smashed-up
We'll see how it goes... still more to sort out regarding insurance.

 

[r5gordini]

Hi Sam,

Nice to talk to you on the phone today. Sorry again to hear of what happened.

Let me know how it goes with the insurance and what transpires.

Andrew

 

[Sam Fish]

Thanks Andrew!
Will be in touch soon hopefully.
Sam

 

[herbacious_harley_37]

Dear Sam,

Have just seen the photos that you have posted- bad damage but repairable. I am wondering if you get no joy with the insurance if you could pursue the third party through the small claims court with the argument that your R5 is a classic car and that the damage is repairable and that being a classic car the car is worth repairing. You dont need a solicitor to represent you in a SCC you can represent yourself.

Regards

Harley