Renault 11 TXE 5 door upgrade to 11 turbo specs (+ a bit)

[Alby1310]

Some of you will have seen my search in the wanted section for a 3 door 11 turbo that I could buy and import to Australia. R 11's (& 9's) were never sold in Australia and while a few 5 GT Turbos have been brought in under our personal import rules, no 11 turbo has ever appeared here. A couple of standard 9's and one 5 door 11 TXE is it.

I've owned lots of Renaults and have been lucky enough to own a few Alpine Renaults (when times were better, haha). But I've loved the 11 Turbo rally cars ever since first seeing one back in the 80's and had my heart set on one of these, even though they make no financial sense whatsoever in Australia. Hence the search for one. Quite a few people on this forum were very helpful & supportive & kept me motivated. However, after some months of looking and getting a fair way down the track on 2 possibilities which both ultimately fell through, I changed tack slightly.

Late august, just before a 5 week overseas trip, I drove up to the place where the only Renault 11 in Australia resides and bought it. Unfortunately its not a 3 door turbo but a white, 5 door TXE, 1985 model. It's completely standard and in excellent condition and has the advantage of the earlier headlights which I love. Pity about too many doors, gutless engine & wallowy handling, ha ha. But that all inspires me to rebuild it as a 5 door turbo!! So the plan for the next 12 months is to fix the handling, get some decent wheels, improve the brakes, efi the engine, and then either replace the engine with a turbo one or rebuild the current engine to improved turbo specs. Should keep me enthused & off the streets for a while.

Here's some pics of the car & were its been residing for the last 10 or 15 years.

 

[Alby1310]

Got back from trip & in early October went up to the hills to see what I'd bought. Previous owner & good friend Rob had pulled the car out of its resting place, given it a good clean and even had the engine running. Looks a lot better now:


Couldn't resist putting my 5 Turbo steering wheel and the road wheels I intend to run on the car to see how it looked, not bad for a 5 door I reckon:

 

[Alby1310]

Well, that's it for now. A month has gone by and we've been flat out recommissioning the car, fixing all the things required to get it registered, and starting some improvements along the way:

• Got the engine running very well
• fixed a couple of small rust spots
• bought a set of AVO struts & shockers - installed the rears but fronts waiting on some bits still to arrive
• went right through the front end, replacing some rubbers & joints & installed 19 16v springs on the std front struts as a temporary measure
• installed Clio 159mm discs and calipers on the front & the larger Clio drums on the back (will convert to rear discs next year)
• Sourced & installed an 11 Turbo front bumper
• did a lot of tidying up, painting, etc.

Hopefully get it registered in next few weeks, enjoy it as is until early next year & then focus on

• finishing the suspension plans, including some lowering, but not too far
• hopefully installing a complete 11 turbo engine & gearbox
• then start the usual continuous development that turbo Renault's always attract, Lol

I should say this is going to be a road car set-up for fast road and occasional track day use.

Cheers everyone.

 

[DaveL485]

Most excellent, will enjoy following your thread.

Reminds me a little of my old 11 Turbo.

 

[Alby1310]

Hey Dave, thanks.

Loved your previous comment "Us band of brothers will suffer together, in pure chaotic harmony." Suits owning these cars very well!

Also love your white 3 door turbo. As you imply, similar look, but better being a 3 door & without the side cladding - makes lines look a lot cleaner. Think the side cladding on mine will be coming off very quickly after rego. Also wondering about the feasibility of changing the rear wheel arches to similar to 3 door look. Looks a lot better & would let me run a wider rear end, but probably a big job considering the rear doors position. Still, will toy with the idea.
Cheers

 

[DaveL485]

Also love your white 3 door turbo.

I bought it in the early 2000's. Some guy had spent a stack of money restoring the shell and painting it, reassembled it to a full car and then run out of love for it and left it in a council garage for 4 or 5 years. I found an ad for it for sale on the (very early) internet and dropped him a line and it was still there. Picked it up for next to nothing and with a new fuel tank, new carb, new tyres and a bit of routine maintenance off it went. Me and the OH at the time ran it along side her 9 Turbo, and my 21 Turbo's.
I had it a few years, and when my daughter arrived and she moved to a bigger car, the 11 stood for a while and started to suffer a bit in the crap UK weather. I sold it to save it, to a fellow 21 owner called Paul Rombaut with a small spares package and he looked after it really well and put a few quid into it, which was good to see. He had it a few years, this is the last pic I saw of it under his care in 2009.



Paul moved the car on eventually after offering it back to me, but I just didnt have the time, room or money for it. It cropped up a few years back on ebay, looking in a rather poorer state than the above. It was very sad to see. About a year later it turned up on my doorstep almost, up the road in Leicester and I am led to believe the engine was taken out for a 5GTT. The shell was scrapped

I take small solice in the fact that I saved it from an earlier death in that council garage and it had another ten years or more on the roads.

 

[Alby1310]

Wow Dave, fantastic story! Sad ending but as you say, we can each only do our bit to extend a car's life. For me that usually translates to passing it on in better condition than when I got it. Well done.

 

[JRohde90]

Hi, I just bought a 1985 R11 Turbo, or what I believe to be is a R11 Turbo, but after seeing this post I believe now I may have bought this car!? Did you end up doing the turbo swap and by any chance updating the interior to later black seats and carpet etc?

Would be crazy if so haha