5 GT Turbo Renault 5 GT Turbo Phase 1 Full restoration from Slovenia

[Gianni_D]

I've been travelling and for the last week really sick so haven't done much work.
Just went to the junkyard and got new side mirrors (the paint shop destroyed the mechanism), rear boot plastic, some seals from inside the engine bay, rear seat belts as originals are binding and don't want to deal with repairing. Surprisingly, the 5 I got the parts from was all rust free, with only 32k km on the clock.




I repaired a part of door trim and put on some fiberglass filler on it + on 3d printer parts.


With a bit of sanding... good enough. Two layers of textured paint will cover any small defects left.

 

[Gianni_D]

Today was sunny so I managed to do another two coats of paint on interior plastics.
Honestly you can't tell which is original and which is 3D printed.










Any guess which cover is original and which is printed?

 

[Duncan Grier]

Turned out well, must be happy with that

 

[DaveL485]

3D printing has come a LONG way in a short time! Theyre really good

 

[Gianni_D]

Today I glued some foam inside the speaker grills, and other "vents" I suppose. Looks clean.








I used zip ties to fix the seatbelt slider plastic as I didn't want to melt the plastic as it was done originally. I may do something else if the zip ties will be visible after assembled.




And now for the next big problem. The dashboard is brittle. It cracks just by looking at it. Also I don't know what I'll do about the paint. Some parts need paint for sure, such as instrument cluster cover.

I will probably need to print the windshield vents as they were cracked. I put them together by soldering iron mesh in them but I'm nut sure they will survive another assembly.


The part around instrument cluster was cracked and kept on cracking any time I touched it. Has anyone got any tips on how to deal with these problems?




The repairs are not the nicest looking but won't be visible once everything is assembled.

I have another big problem as the buttons near the clock (and the clock) mounting tabs are broken. I still have all the pieces but don't know if repairing it will actually work.
Another problem I can't see to figure out is the climate control button does not turn fully to the right for blowing into the windshield. Has anyone had a problem like this? I can't see anything in the way of the gears that could limit the range of motion.

 

[Gianni_D]

More of the same problems and fixes with the dashboard.

I managed to repair all the clips for buttons with iron mesh and soldering iron.




Also, how do I remove the coin tray? I would like to fix it or print a gauge pod with a similar shape as of right now the water temperature gauge my dad made is in the ashtray.

I may have found the problem why the heat and blower buttons are not fully turning. I assume the previous owner took everything apart as some things were already broken and repaired in the past. I think that the black plastic button inserts inside the white part are rotated by 90 degrees, so the rib on the buttons hit the hard stop on the heater cluster before it manages to rotate to the end.
Also I needed to melt in some iron mesh as the button ends were cracked.





I still need to make a new tab for the cable on the gear and some kind of a mounting to secure the cable to the main body.


Lastly, another junkyard score. I found the original rear boot vents, and some random plastic parts. I'm still looking for a new left door as the one I got needs quite some bodywork I'm not skilled enough to do as the window frame is a bit bent.

 

[Gianni_D]

Next:
completed the heating assembly, found the missing/broken tab holding the gear.





Here i cut a M3 thread and put some epoxy with the bolt going in. Made a small bushing to get the 5mm diameter to accommodate the cable in the end - I don't know where it is or where it goes. Problem for tomorrow I guess.


But after refitting the whole assembly I of course broke its tabs.. Old plastics, what can I say. It still holds firmly, but if needed I'll use some double sided tape to secure them.

Lastly I just put new foam seal around the perimeter where the old one was disintegrating.

 

[Leigh5t]

Great work!
I didn’t realise just how brittle they’d become. Actually, they were probably that fragile from the factory!

 

[Gianni_D]

Testing out some gauge pod ideas for the coin lid area. I saw something like this before on a youtube video, two 52 mm gauges.

 

[Leigh5t]

If you’ve modelled it up to that extent it might be worth printing the whole thing, lid and pods. That way you won’t have to try and attach the pod to the lid….and you won’t scrap your original lid. Be cool if you could still use the compartment too.

 

[Gianni_D]

The print will be done in full yes. In this configuration it would still be usable, just some extra cables going trough the back side panel.
I may change one of the gauges for a 4 digit 7 segment display that my dad made in order to monitor coolant temperature as the display is now hidden in the ashtray.

 

[Leigh5t]

Sounds great. I look forward to seeing the outcome

 

[Gianni_D]

Quick update.
A friend gifted me his old oil pump as mine has damaged splines. The same guy that sold me big brake kit from his hillclimb car.





Next, I repaired dashboard window vents, put on some fiberglass filler to cover all the repairs and repainted them. Hope they won't break when I'll fit them back in the place.


Decided I won't repaint the ashtray and storage compartments. Just cleaned them up a bit.


Refitted the red trim from the front door cards. Still need to do something to secure them better as a lot of the tabs were broken.


Lastly I started to glue all the door cards vinyl on the cardboard. Somehow the left cardboard around the door latch is really broken and will need to glue some additional support. For right now I just stabilized the area by infusing it with glue.

 

[Gianni_D]

Well this was a bit unplanned but just found a listing on fb marketplace a bunch GTL of parts for only 150 eur so I just went and got them. I just wanted the right headlight, left door and instrument cluster as mine has a small crack in the clear plastic.
The parts I don't need I'll just sell but I plan on keeping the rear windows as they are impossible to get around here.








If anyone from around Slovenia needs a GTL rear bumper its free as long as you come pick it up Probably won't make any sense in shipping it.

 

[DaveL485]

Always wise to grab what you can when doing a restoration....stuff is getting harder and harder to find

 

[Gianni_D]

Just finished sanding the engine bonnet from both sides. I just have 2 small parts around headlights to straighten with a hammer and die and it's ready for primer and spray bondo.



Also I forgot to mention, the last time I also got a working JB3038 gearbox. Are these even worth anything or just straight to the junkyard for scrap metal?

 

[Gianni_D]

More sanding today. I still need to fill the holes from the plastic side bumpers. Maybe just 3M automotive adhesive and sheet metal plugs as I don't want to weld the holes and warp the door skin.

 

[Gianni_D]

More of.. sanding. These bumper grills are really a pain in the ass to do.

 

[andybond]

More of.. sanding. These bumper grills are really a pain in the ass to do.

View attachment 223021
View attachment 223022
View attachment 223023View attachment 223024
View attachment 223025

Are you hand sanding or with machine?

 

[Gianni_D]

@andybond
For the flat surfaces I use a block sander and orbital sander, for the smaller parts by hand.

Right now I finished rough sanding with 120 grit. Next step is to use some fiberglass bondo to correct bigger imperfections in the front lower lip and sides. After that I'll spray a layer of spray body filler on the entire bumper and take a sanding block to fix all the high/low spots before paint.

Honestly I would rather let a bodyshop do this as I don't have any experience in bodywork but I'm yet to find anybody willing to take a full car respray project. Everybody local just wants to do bumpers and other small jobs paid by insurance