What have you done to your Retro Renault today?

[guyd]

The ignition warning light has been coming on quite a lot. It let up briefly when the alternator wiring was disturbed recently, but started coming on again. Turns out that the lamp and exciter wires were broken at the crimps in the connector block, and were only being held in place by the sleeving. Although the connector block comes apart easily enough, it proved impossible to open the crimps in order to reuse them. For the time being, a repair has been made using standard spade receptacles.

 

[SCOOBY]

Avi sorned and 19 deployed.....great blast after a summer of tinkering...still trying for window rubbers tho..scrapheap challenge for a bodge from other makes regs Sc

 

[C1JF7P]

Put in a set of NGK iridium IX plugs, some Slick-50, and a few gallons of Shell V-power nitro, and took the old girl for a blast along some of North Yorkshire's finest back roads. I think I need a plastic surgeon to remove the smile from my face!!

 

[devo]

Tightened up the drivers side wiper arm after it decided to try clear the rain off the side window.had to adjust the bonnet aswell cos the wiper arm kept catching it every time it was opened.

 

[devo]

Removed the rear bumper from the ph1 16v.removed the 2 outer bolts and centre nut but the bolts on the 2 inner mounts that pass thru the bodywork wouldnt budge.after3/4 of an hour of messing around with various tools,i found that if you use your temper to rip the bastard of the car,it comes off handy enough.

 

[devo]

Picked up a 19 5 door hatch to cut the sills out of.cut them out and whipped off what i could before the scrap man comes.pity to break it coz it was virtually rust free but it was already partitally stripped.got a good rear beam amongst lots of other bits.

 

[Chris H]

Shame the scrap prices are at rock bottom just now as well. If you can sit on it you'll get more dosh when its collected.

£15 a ton here, 600 a ton for alloy/

I took 15 alloy wheels in, 2 batteries and a cat and got a piffling 77 quid on Wednesday.

 

[Chris H]

As for the old chammy.

Well yesterday I put fuel in it again.

The nearside front has a leak at the valve due to paint flaking. I need to sort that I suppose.

The front indicators keep getting water in them so will flash quickly for a few seconds.

Other than that, as always the 19 is superb.

The rest of the fleet.... well I could only wish for the 19's build quality and reliability.

Mazda RX8 sold, it started knocking really badly I imagine an apex seal was trying to escape I just wanted rid of it as I have no space.

The green S60 2.0T no issues, still fine.

The laguna needs its unlock button on the key card replaced.

The S80 T6 haven't even begun to sort it, well aside from the dash display I started to solder. I need to do a bit more to have it working reliably. Then turbos, sump drop, cambelt etc etc etc

The blue S60 D5, front ends off it, awaiting intercooler on monday, then its cambelt, water pump, full service blah blah

The Honda CBX 750 is bang on like the 19. Well aside from its oil drinking habit its always had.

Forgot about the Disco 2, less said about that the better. I hate jeeps but this one I have taken custody from a customer who refused to pay his bill. Had t since February and the guy was given chance after chance and legal letters etc. So I have an 04 plate Disco 2 V8 with a dead engine.

 

[devo]

I got €35 for the 19.still had engine and box in it plus another gearbox and full of scrap.only had 1 door on it aswell.far cry from when i used to get €150 a car.

 

[devo]

I took 15 alloy wheels in, 2 batteries and a cat and got a piffling 77 quid on Wednesday.[/QUOTE]

Do they take animals in at the scrappys??hahaa.

 

[Chris H]

300 a ton over here a few years back.

The cat was off the red laguna that was stripped and binned, value wasn't even a tenner

 

[SCOOBY]

After working on the 19 all summer I have driven like a daftie,burnt numerous boy racers and been pulled by the plod twice off the nightshift cos its old n fast lol

 

[Chris H]

Drove it down to the garage. Jump started a range rover from it.

Put it in the garage under the s80.

Took the D5 S60 home

 

[C1JF7P]

Rebuilt both rear calipers with full seal kits including pistons. Mercifully, they both came apart with no problems/stripped threads, no corrosion on caliper bodies or slides. Handbrake actually works now!

 

[Chris H]

I brought the 19 home as the d5's handbrake is terrible and needs new cables.

The 19 is the only car which can park on my drive with the handbrake only.

The green s60 is borderline depending on where it is (currently in front of the garage withthe handbrake and in 1st).

the laguna is behnd that and again needs 1st gear, had nothing but issues with laguna 2 handbrakes, the cables pull out of the mechanism, all cables on various laguna 2's. So you can't give it a good yank or you pop a cable.

Then the 19 with just the handbrake on, solid as a rock.

In other news I had to use the 19 to jump start my s80 T6 today, the door was left open when I put it on the ramp and it drained it flat over night.

What I don't like is the fact the 19's rear window isn't working, I need a new rear screen but don't wanna fork out for it. I also need to sort out the water ingress by binning the stupid sunroof and just fitting a plain roof skin to it.

 

[C1JF7P]

I'm still getting used to having a rock-solid, creak-free handbrake; in fact braking in general has never been better!

 

[Chris H]

Yeah the brakes on the old bangers can be made good.

I fitted new discs and pads up front and that totally removed any shudder, so when it was smooth on braking it felt weird for a while.

The pedals are rock solid as well, new stuff is just a soft mush with no feel. Of course newer cars do stop faster thats just progress.

Anywaydone the handbrake on the d5 brought it home won't hold on the hill so went back down got the 19 to come home in.

So new shoes and handbrake cables on the volvo weren't good enough. Ordered the stupid adjuster things and that I'm hoping will sort that out.

 

[C1JF7P]

The rock-hard brake pedal is one of the things I love about the 19 (totally agree re. modern cars - more stopping-power/no feedback), along with the sensible (some say heavy) PAS, I feel more in control of the 19 than any other car I drive.

 

[devo]

I agree about modern cars.Ive an A4 avant as a daily and its like trying to steer a barge compared to even a 19 diesel.

 

[C1JF7P]

Modern cars = excessively complicated, overweight, and ugly!