1988 Tungsten Grey R21 Turbo

[DaveL485]

From the same idiot that brought you the Phase 1 R9 Turbo thread, the 21 Quadra thread the Clio V6 thread, and the (very short) 220 Trophy thread :

A 1988 Phase 1 Renault 21 Turbo in Tungsten grey.

So...here we go again

 

[RustyMojo]

From the same idiot that brought you the Phase 1 R9 Turbo thread, the 21 Quadra thread the Clio V6 thread, and the (very short) 220 Trophy thread :

A 1988 Phase 1 Renault 21 Turbo in Tungsten grey.

View attachment 1578386

So...here we go again

View attachment 1578387

Love it, my Dad had one of these briefly! What a great find!

 

[timmy c]

nice find. I look forward to reading all about it here!

 

[DaveL485]

Love it, my Dad had one of these briefly! What a great find!

I actually found two, bought them both, I havent picked No2 up yet so there will be (yet) another thread along in coming weeks for that one

 

[JP83]

They just look so cool

 

[alistairolsen]

I approve of this

 

[R3k1355]

I'm very impressed with the garage/workshop, plenty of room for projects in that!

 

[Ph1 Tom]

Tres cool

 

[DaveL485]

I'm very impressed with the garage/workshop, plenty of room for projects in that!

Ta, I built it myself, granted I am biased but its flipping ace with power, heat, light, compressed air etc, Project thread from wasteland to chod haven here: https://turborenault.co.uk/threads/my-new-garage.16605/

This was early 2015.

 

[colesy]

One of my earliest memories is my dad getting caught speeding in one of these when I was 4. Love a 21!

 

[Scrooge]

Such a cool looking car. Love it.

 

[16V F7R]

I cannot get over how many projects you have, and older, full on ones at that! Your a sucker for punishment or in heaven!
I love the 21, I’ve not driven a quadra only a 2wd. To me I think it is one of the best looking retro cars hands down.
subscribed.

 

[DaveL485]

Your a sucker for punishment or in heaven!

Ummmmm both?

 

[DaveL485]

So, cracked on and got it apart, suspected head gasket issues so rather than tart around I decided to do the lot anyway.

Due a service much?

Head off, all apart, mega clean up operation and sort the 2 broken exhaust studs. Couldnt get them out with the welder, unusually

Got the head in the pillar drill, 2mm pilot hole first, left one fine, right one the MF drill snapped just as it broke through the bottom of the stud leaving me with a broken stud with a broken drill bit stuck flush in the middle

I solemly finished drilling and tapping the other stud

Now the head is in for spark erosion of the stud/broken drill bit - fifty quid I didnt wanna spend but it is what it is.

 

[DaveL485]

After my fun with the head was somewhat spoiled, I took the front brakes apart ready for new stuff, while I was there I was very pleasantly surprised how good the car is under the arches. This might not mean much to you, but the apparent, unexciting, plain wheel arch here is in fact the opposite to a seasoned R21 person like myself. Usually there is rust issues under here.

Then decided to give the sand blaster a go with some of the scrappy engine bay bits - mmmm crusty!

And after a few minutes in the blast cabinet...

More to come soon!

 

[16V F7R]

That arch does look tidy! What about the rest, will you be in 9 territory?

 

[DaveL485]

That arch does look tidy! What about the rest, will you be in 9 territory?

I've been over it and it's really, really good. Needs one tiny patch on one of the bumper mounts and thats it. Quite amazing for a 34 year old car.

I've had 3 chaps that know their classic Renault's after it already lets put it that way!

 

[16V F7R]

What a gem! Awesome 😎

 

[DaveL485]

Prepping the block for the rebuild

And the head

New exhaust studs, nuts and washers

Cam and rocker shaft laid

Head gasket positioned

Torqued down, manifolds on, dipstick sealed properly and bolted in.

 

[DaveL485]

Hurled some hi temp black at the parts I blasted off

Reassembling stuff, replacing some of the crusty old bolts

New cambelt & tensioner

This was fine until I turned it by hand to find there was NO compression at all, carried on reassembling stuff but it chewed at me a bit, started to worry as I bolted the dizzy back up to then realise there was no plugs in the head lol. Fitted a new set of TR7IX and we were good and it fired up no problems

Aux belts on

Rad in

Expansion tank cleaned up and refitted, coolant filled

Run it up and the solid line starts up with a jet of water - sigh.

 

[DaveL485]

I cut all the fan wiring out, whoever fitted these beasts on the rad used underrated cable and it had got VERY hot

I think that is going in the bin! So is this utterly pathetic air filter, about 1/3 the size of the filter in the OE airbox. Worst mod ever.

Looking a bit better now, I ran the engine up to fan temp, left it running with one fan on for a bit and then left it to cool off before head bolt retorque and valve clearances.

 

[DaveL485]

Last job Sunday was to look at the back brakes, the handbrake didnt work. The calipers, discs and pads all look very good so I chucked a pair of new handbrake cables on and it adjusted it up. All working!

 

[DaveL485]

Oh, yeah and the aux coolant pump, that didnt work. tested the pump and its fine, but the timed relay isn't looking good These are impossible to find now and are not just a timer relay due to the way its powered on and off so i'm looking at a way to replicate the functionality - it's about time we got a fix sorted for these.

 

[Naughty Boy]

Good effort!

 

[Rojer]

@Touring_Rob is an electrical engineer I'm sure he could sort something out 😉

 

[Flob]

@Touring_Rob is an electrical engineer I'm sure he could sort something out 😉

This is how it happens. All the dad's at school seem to have dug out all their broken s**t old stuff and now I'm trying my best to be invisible at pick up time.

@DaveL485 could definitely help sort something if you need. Would need a few details about the relay though - it's logic (so when it's on and when it's off), it's rated current and maybe a picture of the top of the IC. ✌️

 

[Flob]

IC looks like a simple timer. What's this relay actually doing? Turning coolant pump on for a preset amount of time then back off?

That's probably fixable but could make a whole new one fairly easily... Would be a little surprised if there isn't something already available that could replace that. Let me know what it's doing exactly and I'll have a search for you 👍

 

[jameswrx]

Could you use a turbo timer for the job? (Assuming the goal is to keep pump running after ignition goes off for x mins?)

 

[DaveL485]

IC looks like a simple timer. What's this relay actually doing? Turning coolant pump on for a preset amount of time then back off?

That's probably fixable but could make a whole new one fairly easily... Would be a little surprised if there isn't something already available that could replace that. Let me know what it's doing exactly and I'll have a search for you 👍

This relay controls an aux coolant pump that only works after the car is turned off for ~10mins.

A normal timer relay with delayed shut off wont work because when it gets ign live its on all the time, then when you turn the ign off it delays shut off. This gets an ign live, stays OFF, then when the ign live drops, it turns ON and then stays on for 10 mins and turns off again.

I've bought a basic timer relay, the plan is to combine it with a normal 5-pin relay to get the desired effect. I can do this for about £20 if it works... having bespoke stuff made is just too expensive to be realistic.

 

[Flob]

This relay controls an aux coolant pump that only works after the car is turned off for ~10mins.

A normal timer relay with delayed shut off wont work because when it gets ign live its on all the time, then when you turn the ign off it delays shut off. This gets an ign live, stays OFF, then when the ign live drops, it turns ON and then stays on for 10 mins and turns off again.

I've bought a basic timer relay, the plan is to combine it with a normal 5-pin relay to get the desired effect. I can do this for about £20 if it works... having bespoke stuff made is just too expensive to be realistic.

Sounds like a plan.

You might be surprised by cost though, for £20-30 you could make a custom one if you are prepared to reuse the original relay base and case.

 

[DaveL485]

Sounds like a plan.

You might be surprised by cost though, for £20-30 you could make a custom one if you are prepared to reuse the original relay base and case.

I'd rather a solution that didnt relay on me having to collect, prepare and reuse old parts - it's just more hassle and car people are shite at it. Having done a few group buys for bespoke parts i've learned a few lessons! What you suggest would be a nicer solution all told and it is tempting but i'll see if I can get this working first. Should know shortly after the timer arrives

 

[Flob]

I'd rather a solution that didnt relay

I hope thats pun intended

 

[DaveL485]

I hope thats pun intended

Freudian slip?!

 

[DaveL485]

Head retorqued and valve clearences set

I think I went a bit too big on the air filter...

Got the coolant pump thing sorted out finally!

I'll put more detail on this in the next post. Also made the fan loom from scratch.

Wheel refurb complete, new tyres arrived!

 

[DaveL485]

Coolant pump relay info @Touring_Rob - it works

Adjustable delay off

 

[Daz...]

Only just seen this, love the work you've done so far!

 

[DaveL485]

Driveshaft oil seals were leaking, so they got done too

Then I put the hubs back together and chucked the new discs, pads and calipers on, the slider pins torx T40 were rounded out as per usual so I welded 13mm nuts on the end as I didnt have any new ones

And bled all four brakes, this car has had new rear brakes and wheel bearings recently which is good to see, no broken nipples

 

[DaveL485]

Always nice to work with shiny new things

Cleaned up the centre cap threads on the wheels

Surprising what gets down there

Bodywork going back on

Using new stainless fasteners and spire clips all around - in case it ever darkens my door again at least I know none of these will break up!

 

[DaveL485]

About that air filter cone

Quick change of plan... this was supposed to be for my Quadra...

Wheels on and back on the ground!

 

[Ricardos]

Last pic, what a fantastic looking car Dave 😎