Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
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Rusty old 1968 Renault R8
- Thread starter Adey.
- Start date
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Had a little time in the garage today, decided to take a look at what failed in the gearbox. 24hr support from Steve Swan (thanks again 
)
Cage in the end bearing seems to have failed and locked up. The end bearing is very stiff on the shaft and has spun slightly in the housing. Hopefully the casings are salvageable?...... worst case I have another chance with the later 330 that's in the car currently
All future stuff for now just collecting parts
)Cage in the end bearing seems to have failed and locked up. The end bearing is very stiff on the shaft and has spun slightly in the housing. Hopefully the casings are salvageable?...... worst case I have another chance with the later 330 that's in the car currently
All future stuff for now just collecting parts
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
been messing about like a child trying to get it poping flames with launch control.... it hasnt worked yet
in other notes, there is a decent oil leak from the timing cover end (can see it on the back box in the vid), got myself a cork gasket and seal set so may tackle that over the crimbo break (today if i can get out of last min shopping 😆)
in other notes, there is a decent oil leak from the timing cover end (can see it on the back box in the vid), got myself a cork gasket and seal set so may tackle that over the crimbo break (today if i can get out of last min shopping 😆)
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Managed to get out of shopping but only for a few hours.... in the morning I tacked the 36-1 trigger to the bottom pulley, this allows me to keep the timing wheel fixed and not have to adjust it every time I remove it. Whipped everything off and gave it a clean. Used the "shopping" time to allow some wrinkle black paint to dry. Came back to it in the afternoon and refitted everything with a fresh lip seal, bottom seal and added a cork gasket to assist. Have given it a little test drive this morning and cant see any issues as of yet so will keep an eye on it.
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Decided with some spare time to give the rear of the car some light prep/treatment. Gave it a clean and then inspected the area. Found 2 small holes by the wing tops which I will address in the future. Hit any rust with a wire wheel and then coated it with Fertan. Gave it 48 hrs dry time then gave everything a quick wipe and then coated with Por15. Used this in the old dauphine and it gave a very good finish. The chap who did the welding has some blue left over so I will hopefully drop it with him sometime next year and get him to paint over it.
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Been putting some limiter bashing miles on the car over the last few days. Been a blast, the car gets loads of love from others on the road and I think it actually shocks them (plus me and the wife) at how well it gets up and goes! once it gets on cam It'll shoot up and clip the limiter in 3rd with relative ease (nearly80mph) Might have to put the draggy in there and measure its performance lol.
Anyway timing cover doesn't seem to be leaking now, well there's no oil sitting on the back box anymore 🤷♂️
I've also decided to spend a little Christmas bonus cash on it. Up first are some custom made Gaz shocks, I've asked them to custom make them in shorter bodies than they list as I like to run the car low. I've also ordered up some Meca parts springs front and rear with some fresh ball joints to add to the mix. to add to these ive also ordered some over fender type arches from MCRacing. Trying for a look on something I saw online but couldn't find the info on. Hopefully all will be here by mid to end of Jan and I can get tinkering again.
Anyway timing cover doesn't seem to be leaking now, well there's no oil sitting on the back box anymore 🤷♂️
I've also decided to spend a little Christmas bonus cash on it. Up first are some custom made Gaz shocks, I've asked them to custom make them in shorter bodies than they list as I like to run the car low. I've also ordered up some Meca parts springs front and rear with some fresh ball joints to add to the mix. to add to these ive also ordered some over fender type arches from MCRacing. Trying for a look on something I saw online but couldn't find the info on. Hopefully all will be here by mid to end of Jan and I can get tinkering again.
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
defo, going to ring around and see what i need to save up for a custom cage in there, if its still a little pricey there is an off the shelf OMP available
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Went to take the car out to caffeine and machine today, and it let me down..... my fault it seems. One of the wires snapped off from the crank sensor plug, my poor workmanship in the past coming back to haunt me . Luckily the wife was driving the support Clio with the kids in, I had the laptop in there that allowed me to see the ecu wasn't seeing a crank signal. Limped the car home after finding the issue using a plaster to hold the wire pressed into the back of the sensor. I may go back and investigate/correct everything I've done previously. Shame as I really wanted to get the car out and about for some use.
I also trailed some new stickers for the car. Need to get back in and do a better job now I have the factory info on where to place them, kind eyeballed it this time. Let me introduce to you, the Faux Gordini
I also trailed some new stickers for the car. Need to get back in and do a better job now I have the factory info on where to place them, kind eyeballed it this time. Let me introduce to you, the Faux Gordini
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
After seeing the real Gordini measurements for the stripes I got annoyed with my work. Its now redone to spec also received my springs and ball joints from meca parts France, so now just waiting on the shocks. On a side note I cancelled my order for over fenders and am now trying to order complete wider arches for the car.
also received my springs and ball joints from meca parts France, so now just waiting on the shocks. On a side note I cancelled my order for over fenders and am now trying to order complete wider arches for the car.
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Got some new pressed ali plates for the 8, the old ones were a bit faded and battered. New ones are thinner and flimsier than the originals but they will do Need some brighter/warmer morning so I can use it for the commute.
In other news ive had notification of postage of the custom gaz shocks, ive also placed an order for some new brake components. Nothing mad but the car should be feeling nicely refreshed over the next few weeks.
Need some brighter/warmer morning so I can use it for the commute. In other news ive had notification of postage of the custom gaz shocks, ive also placed an order for some new brake components. Nothing mad but the car should be feeling nicely refreshed over the next few weeks.
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Insurance time again. Not as cheap as usual but adding in the engine swap bumped it a little. Still through Lancaster insurance as a broker. Mods declared, SDPC, 5k miles and 2 x sp30s for £144.
I did try a few others, tried that new custodian insurance but they came in at nearly double
I did try a few others, tried that new custodian insurance but they came in at nearly double
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
The car drives amazingly in comparison to how it was. I didn't even think it was bad! Loads soother and soaks up the shitty roads nicely. Even took it for a blast on the M50, noisy but will sit at 70mph with little stress
Will give it some more use then get everything aligned
Will give it some more use then get everything aligned
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Still not received the replacement gaz shocks but the "bodge" is working perfectly tbh. I "adjusted" the rear ride height after a few miles use. Loving how it rides now. Took it for a run out to Hereford to a little Sunday morning coffee meet up. Had a very spirited drive home.... alignment and some rack height adjustment is next on the list. Apart from being noisy its such a nice place to be now
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
Decided to take the 8 out for a run to a car show this weekend. Its been sat for a few weeks whilst away but started straight up and drove an hour each way with ease. The car was actually used in some promo material and now features in a top trumps set for the show. Here are a few pics taken by others. I failed to get many at all as i was smashed by jet lag and not really functioning.
Adey.
ClioSport Club Member
How to waste about 20+ hours of time and be in a worse position then when you started.....
The car has been running fine, very well in fact. The only major issue I had was the brake lights intermittently sticking on. The easy options would have been to wire up a new switch, or replace the original. perfect time to upgrade the master cylinder to an AVP kangoo MC and braided lines all round that has a new brake switch included whilst there I wanted to replace the steering joint.
First up was to drain the fluid then remove all the old hardlines and MC setup. bit fiddly but not too hard to do, just time consuming on your back. Once that was out of the way I was then able to disconnect the steering column and remove the rack. Angle ground off the original fixing and replaced with a sub standard piece of chod! I've genuinely had tougher souls on my shoes than this feels.... any way, the old one was destroyed so it'll have to do for now, even though the column now has some flex up and down 🤷♂️ frustrated so added a reinforced replacement to my basket and refitted the rack, that's about 5 hours work for me
Next up was to fit up the new MC and adapter, tight squeeze but again not too bad. braided lines laid in place and connected up to the already braided flexis to the calipers, rear was a pain to do, mainly for the removal of the compensator valve. Once I had swore at it a few times I was able to replace it with a T piece and connect up the rear of the car. I then mounted 2 new reservoirs to feed each side of the MC. Topped off the fluid and started with a few rounds of pressure bleeding. Everything came through nicely so I thought I was onto a winner. Concludes another 5.5 hours.
The next job was to get the MC rod setup. There are a few lengths available and they are also adjustable. This needs setting somewhere close to .5mm according to the manual, but basically close with a slight gap so that the MC can be completely disengaged and the fluid can go through the return port. Got this done and went to give things a try. Flexed the brake pedal from underneath but got next to no movement on the front caliper. Did this a fair few times, assumed id not got the rod set correctly or bled it properly. A few more times on both making sure I was happy and still got the same result... 🤦♂️ found it I stomped on the pedal to the bottom of its stroke I could get some pressure at the caliper but did note that when pumping it never built anything up. Dropped the car on all 4 wheels and gave it a test drive hoping that it just needed some "use" this was not what it needed... also found that the throttle cable had gained length, likely due to me changing its routing slightly under the car then laying in the new brake line. The end then needed some angle grinder action to get it to the right length to remove the floppy pedal and get full opening at the carb. Anyway, pushed the pedal so far that i knocked the MC feed pipes and adapters out! Made a big mess on the drive as I didn't realise 6.5hrs
A bit of reading and some back and forth with good old chat gpt, it suggested a few things, the MC wasn't bled properly and could need doing on the bench, it was a complete miss matched part (though its sold as an upgrade and others use it) or the MC was faulty.
Decided to give bench bleeding a shot, removed the MC and the adapter after draining all the fluid again. Have never done this so didn't know what I was looking for or feeling for, it actually took a fair amount of fluid internally and "moved" fluid around so set back on refitting it all. Followed by multiple rounds of pressure bleeding and rod setting. guess what.... still the same issue. Even if I over set the rod I still didn't get force enough to stop me spinning the discs by hand or with a bar. Starting to lean towards a failed MC now.... Took the front calipers off the discs to see if I could build pressure and move the pistons, expecting them to pop out quite quickly, got next to no movement. Now I was starting to question myself, how well it braked previously and if the front pistons had seized (thinking back id still expect to build up some pressure in the pedal wouldn't I?) so next I whipped off the calipers, boots and checked for corrosion, looked clean and I could lever the piston forward a few mm and then compressed them back easy enough, slapped back on and now I have walked away. Probably another 4.5 hours there
So now I have an immobile car, with no working brakes, and worse steering than it already had and I'm meant to be driving it to Goodwood for Retro Rides in 2 weeks. All I want to do is burn the thing. I should have got onto a lot of this sooner but have now ordered up a new MC which should be here early next week and just for good measure the steering joint (could possibly get one made from solid ali?), yet more brake fluid and 2 new front calipers and new pads, just because. Will any of it be here in time, I doubt it...... To make it worse I've been sick as a dog the last week so haven't been thinking about it much, should have got onto ordering a week ago but genuinely thought I had a month or so to go till Goodwood 🤦♂️
The car has been running fine, very well in fact. The only major issue I had was the brake lights intermittently sticking on. The easy options would have been to wire up a new switch, or replace the original. perfect time to upgrade the master cylinder to an AVP kangoo MC and braided lines all round that has a new brake switch included
whilst there I wanted to replace the steering joint. First up was to drain the fluid then remove all the old hardlines and MC setup. bit fiddly but not too hard to do, just time consuming on your back. Once that was out of the way I was then able to disconnect the steering column and remove the rack. Angle ground off the original fixing and replaced with a sub standard piece of chod! I've genuinely had tougher souls on my shoes than this feels.... any way, the old one was destroyed so it'll have to do for now, even though the column now has some flex up and down 🤷♂️ frustrated so added a reinforced replacement to my basket and refitted the rack, that's about 5 hours work for me
Next up was to fit up the new MC and adapter, tight squeeze but again not too bad. braided lines laid in place and connected up to the already braided flexis to the calipers, rear was a pain to do, mainly for the removal of the compensator valve. Once I had swore at it a few times I was able to replace it with a T piece and connect up the rear of the car. I then mounted 2 new reservoirs to feed each side of the MC. Topped off the fluid and started with a few rounds of pressure bleeding. Everything came through nicely so I thought I was onto a winner. Concludes another 5.5 hours.
The next job was to get the MC rod setup. There are a few lengths available and they are also adjustable. This needs setting somewhere close to .5mm according to the manual, but basically close with a slight gap so that the MC can be completely disengaged and the fluid can go through the return port. Got this done and went to give things a try. Flexed the brake pedal from underneath but got next to no movement on the front caliper. Did this a fair few times, assumed id not got the rod set correctly or bled it properly. A few more times on both making sure I was happy and still got the same result... 🤦♂️ found it I stomped on the pedal to the bottom of its stroke I could get some pressure at the caliper but did note that when pumping it never built anything up. Dropped the car on all 4 wheels and gave it a test drive hoping that it just needed some "use" this was not what it needed... also found that the throttle cable had gained length, likely due to me changing its routing slightly under the car then laying in the new brake line. The end then needed some angle grinder action to get it to the right length to remove the floppy pedal and get full opening at the carb. Anyway, pushed the pedal so far that i knocked the MC feed pipes and adapters out! Made a big mess on the drive as I didn't realise 6.5hrs
A bit of reading and some back and forth with good old chat gpt, it suggested a few things, the MC wasn't bled properly and could need doing on the bench, it was a complete miss matched part (though its sold as an upgrade and others use it) or the MC was faulty.
Decided to give bench bleeding a shot, removed the MC and the adapter after draining all the fluid again. Have never done this so didn't know what I was looking for or feeling for, it actually took a fair amount of fluid internally and "moved" fluid around so set back on refitting it all. Followed by multiple rounds of pressure bleeding and rod setting. guess what.... still the same issue. Even if I over set the rod I still didn't get force enough to stop me spinning the discs by hand or with a bar. Starting to lean towards a failed MC now.... Took the front calipers off the discs to see if I could build pressure and move the pistons, expecting them to pop out quite quickly, got next to no movement. Now I was starting to question myself, how well it braked previously and if the front pistons had seized (thinking back id still expect to build up some pressure in the pedal wouldn't I?) so next I whipped off the calipers, boots and checked for corrosion, looked clean and I could lever the piston forward a few mm and then compressed them back easy enough, slapped back on and now I have walked away. Probably another 4.5 hours there
So now I have an immobile car, with no working brakes, and worse steering than it already had and I'm meant to be driving it to Goodwood for Retro Rides in 2 weeks. All I want to do is burn the thing. I should have got onto a lot of this sooner but have now ordered up a new MC which should be here early next week and just for good measure the steering joint (could possibly get one made from solid ali?), yet more brake fluid and 2 new front calipers and new pads, just because. Will any of it be here in time, I doubt it...... To make it worse I've been sick as a dog the last week so haven't been thinking about it much, should have got onto ordering a week ago but genuinely thought I had a month or so to go till Goodwood 🤦♂️
