The 1957 Dope Dauphine

[Adey]

so, I am pretty sure its releasing fully as I can actuate it the same distance by hand under the car. I can see a clear space above the friction material when the clutch is actuated. When the pedal is down I can move the friction plate with a screw driver but I am not sure if it is moving up and down the input shaft and coming away from the flywheel. Would it dragging on the flywheel even though I can move it with a screwdriver be enough to cause issues?

 

[Adey]

no messing about. looks like the friction plate is super tight on the input shaft.

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

You need a nice smear of Copperslip on that Mr Ewok!

 

[Adey]

SCHOOL BOY ERROR.

yep clutch friction plate would not move freely on the input shaft. Removed cleaned up with a wire wheel and a light amount of grease saw it sliding up and down like a professional pole dancer.

All refitted and working as it should. Busy afternoon for me and not a mistake i will make again. Cheers to those who have given advice yet again

 

[Adey]

oh look shes parked the other way round. quick pull round the block and it actually very surprising how different it feels and goes! very pokey in comparison to the old setup!

 

[andybond]

Adey , I am assuming that the engine produces little heat as the radiator just passively cools? Does it run warm ?

 

[Adey]

How do you mean buddy? It gets quite warm back there but a rad fan should be with me next week and then i can finish off the cowling down the sides.

 

[andybond]

There doesnt appear to be any real airflow for the rad - hence passive cooling.

Was just curious if this is a characteristic of tthe engine not requiring much cooling.

Now - you just mentioned cowling. Does it draw cool air from somewhere? I know nothing about these cars.

 

[Adey]

Theres a fair bit of air to it surprisingly. The 2 vents behind the rear doors direct some but the car stops at the back seats. Its about a 1 foot + gap from there to the rad with another big air scoop from under the car. The radiator is mounted on the aluminium angle section in this pic. the rear bulkhead is in front of the gearbox. Right hand side has a fuel tank but you can still see the floor around it the left hand side has a scoop.

 

[andybond]

Gotchya! Makes perfect sense with the pic + explanation. Thanks

 

[DaveL485]

I was gonna suggest you had the friction plate in the wrong way around, but it looks like you sorted it

Should be back on the road and ready to catch fire soon!

 

[Adey]

So today i was racking my brain on how and where to retro fit the old temp sensor so that i could have the dash gauge working. I measured the thread at m18 x 1.5. All the inline ones ive found had a m22 thread in them...... I then remembered that the C series Twingo used to have a sensor in the plate on the end of the head. Ok lets do that and find a tap. None in my drawer so i started googling and it turned out its the same size as a lambda boss. Luck would have it i had one of those. Measured up the od at 22mm, whipped the end plate off mine and made it an interference fit then licked all around it with a gasless mig that ive borrowed off jez. I really need to get my self a tig plant, i hate mig at the best of times let alone gasless. Any way a few hours of my eve gone and i now have a working temperature gauge another thing off my list.



Another thing on my to do list is a Renault 5 header tank strap, anyone got one kicking around they could post me please?

 

[DaveL485]

You got a water tight weld with a gasless mig? I can barely believe that!

 

[Adey]

You got a water tight weld with a gasless mig? I can barely believe that!

I havent been out and checked it yet after been left over night. I did have a read last night about how porous they can be. If it leaks I'll whip it off and pop down to a mates and try again with his tig?

 

[Adey]

Rad fan turned up today, relay hasn't though. Its one of them universal type fans but i have my doubts its for a 6v application. Seems to work well though and you can feel a difference between the top and bottom rad hose when it runs. Ordered the last of the bits for the cooling system, the company is called T7 designs. They sell a nice inline fan switch adapter and a range of switches in different specs. I've opted for a 92/82 switch, pretty much the standard Renault values from what i can find (for the ones equipped with the same engine and electric fan). The dash seems to be working well too, if you leave it a while with fan off you can see the needle start to move towards the Red danger zone. Time will tell i guess.

 

[Adey]

Sorted out the rad paneling last night and ran in the wiring for the fan as the relay turned up this morning. It's a 6v relay with a built in fuse so adding some protection. It came with a 30amp blade fuse in but I think I can swap that out to a 15amp based on some online calculators. All the wiring is in place so just waiting on the thermo switch and housing for that to be complete. Once proven I'll wrap it all so it's a little less of a mess. All the fluids should be here early next week so I should be ready to test it properly out on the road. I still need to sort an exhaust out, for now I'm going to try and modify the original until I have some more spare funds to buy all the bits for a complete system. Fingers crossed I can get some proper road tests done next week and nothing too major arises

 

[Brigsy]

Coming together steady away

What did you use for fan surround? Need something similar to make one for the Extra.

 

[Adey]

Coming together steady away

What did you use for fan surround? Need something similar to make one for the Extra.

Im not sure, ill get some close up pics of some off cuts for you. It was on the car from the previous chap and ive just re cut it to suit. Looks to be some sort of 5mm thick plastic board with rubber stuck on top?

 

[Adey]

Saturday evening bodge antics. As I'm temporarily using the Dauphines original exhaust I needed to extend and swap the inlet pipe for one with a bigger flange. Whilst there I tacked on a bit of pipe for the outlet too. The box is properly rotten so was blowing holes for fun. Itll do for now.

 

[Big Steve - Raider]

Christ, is that it for the exhaust!? It’s diddy...