Practically Classics Forum

It is a family affair, I blame Dad and growing up in an ex-mining town in the 80s and 90s for my affliction of tinkering with clapped out heaps. Brother is unlikely to do a thread, generally if I'm not there to take pictures and do all the typing he just gets on with stuff, he's more real world than digital world when it comes to telling people what he's been up to.

There is a build thread that I started over on the MK1 Owners Club forum and which my brother updates sporadically here: http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php ... 984-1-6-gl

£300 bought me this without tax or test.


Part way through, it was looking much better just for a deep clean. Also in shot here is my brother's old Rover 216SLi which was an absolute corker but sadly had many problems that made it uneconomical to repair and became a spares car for someone else.


Eventually it really did come up well. You couldn't even tell it was a bad paintjob really.


Very solid little car, but with a lot of issues, mostly things like wires plugged into the wrong place, neglected service items and blown bulbs but so much of it that it's taken a while to work through it all properly. When it went for its first MoT it needed a minor exhaust blow fixing, a bearing replacing, a dust boot repairing and a 50p sized hole welding up that was in a prescribed area. Otherwise it was solid and sailed through on the retest.

A collection date has been arranged of Friday this week and now that money has left my bank account I think I can risk a proper update on what I know so far and what exactly convinced me to purchase this car.

The man who is actually responsible is the same that allowed me to realise the childhood dream of owning a Citroen BX so it's not the first time Wales, French cars and fellow enthusiasts haven't been involved in my car history. Mr Seabrook maintains an enjoyable read of a blog here: http://classichub.wordpress.com/ and it was this particular entry that convinced me to take the chance on the car due to the high resolution images posted: http://classichub.wordpress.com/2013/12 ... ar-for-80/

At a first glance by most, my sanity at taking on such an obscure and rough looking car is questioned by some of my peers. This is entirely understandable, who in their right mind purchases a car with no tax, no test, that's been off the road for 20 years and has been lifted by its roof? They seem to forget I've done this before and am presently working my way through a car that's been off the road for 17 years, has no tax or test and has needed a head rebuilt and new interior which is now not very far from being back on the road due to determination and plain old luck on my part.

Look beyond the obviously bad paint, surface rust and bent gutters and you might just begin to see what I do: a solid, appealing little car that'll be great fun for bombing around town in. This is still a bit of a gamble, it could have hidden horrors and I've not properly seen the passenger side yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic it will be on the whole okay. For me it's ideal because as much as I like that beautifully restored cars exist, I am unhealthily fond of cars that have been knocked about and look their age.

The following images are not my own, they have been taken by others and made public online, I've just rehosted them in my own gallery to save their bandwidth.

Since at least 1993 (when the car was last taxed) it has been in a barn. I presume from the info I've had online that it was this barn where we see a Panhard and a Renault Rodeo sitting side by side. This in itself has probably kept the little Renault in reasonable condition and since the barn appears to be well ventilated I'd hazard that it's the only reason the car hasn't suffered too much from excessive surface corrosion.


For the past year or so, all the cars that were in the barn have been evicted and had been up for sale at quite sensible prices. The little Renault was priced for scrap at £80 and at that price it would be silly not to go for it.


Unfortunately, I can't resist a lost cause. This will be the fourth car that I'll be getting back on the road. The first was my 1985 VW Polo which had spent about 10 years off the road, the second a 1984 VW Golf cabriolet my brother now uses as a daily and had spent about 3 years off the road and the third the aforementioned 1981 Princess which had spent 17 years off the road. Taken this one on only seems like a sensible progression to me.


Water has, unfortunately, got inside but it's also stayed inside so I daresay the floors are probably not too appalling though I do remain realistic about this because old French cars do like to rot. The door card has also got warped by water by the looks of things, but that'll be easy to sort.


Carpet lifted and some rust staining is apparent so it may need a bit of welding in there, but I shan't know until I can get a good poke at it.


Rear arch isn't too bad, a bit of surface rust could be hiding greater horrors but in all honesty I'm not expecting too much of a scare here as it doesn't look to have been attacked with filler. Fairly standard point of corrosion on any car too so if it needs repairing that's no great surprise.


Quality French detailing here.


Roof looks reasonable, there's no obvious kink where the straps had been put so I'm comfortable that this is probably still very solid. The rust in the gutters is just surface stuff, I had to deal with similar on my daily driver so I'm sure that can be remedied easily.


Engine bay looks very tidy with minimal surface corrosion so I might be lucky with this. From what little I've found on the 6, one of my theories for the car being laid up is a gearbox issue so it's going to have to be a softly-softly approach to recommissioning to find out what may be amiss here. You never know though, it may surprise me by having nothing wrong.


Passenger side is obscured and this is the only bit that worries me. The rear door has a big dent in it which I think is making things look wonky. I just hope it's not been hit too hard on this side as that could cause me real problems, though I do expect it's more likely to just be a big dent that needs pushing out.


First view I got of the back of the car was promising, pretty much devoid of rust streaks and with lights intact.


Second view was more reassuring. Seeing the body sit nice and high above the wheels is reassuring as ones with collapsed rear chassis/suspension seem to have the wheels disappear up into the arches. There's a hint of filler in the bottom of the rear wing but again it's a common grot-spot on older cars so I'm okay with that.


As and when I have more pictures I will update again. I shan't be working on the car myself initially - which is very frustrating - as it will be staying in Wales while I'm several hundred miles away in Derbyshire. The reason for this is that I simply don't have the space to store the little thing here until my red Princess is moved to its new home. In the meantime, the 6's caretaker will be doing the fettling work I like to get stuck in on and keeping the car secure as well as investigating it for the problems it will undoubtedly have.

Looks a great project and a nice find

kev

vulgalour wrote: Mr Seabrook maintains an enjoyable read of a blog here: http://classichub.wordpress.com/ and it was this particular entry that convinced me to take the chance on the car due to the high resolution images posted: http://classichub.wordpress.com/2013/12 ... ar-for-80/

Interesting to read that - but I must admit I found it incredibly hard to read using white text on a black background and a small font size. I'm sure I saw somwhere that the easiest to read is black text on a yellow background which is what's used for signs in airports etc.

Apart from that minor grumble - great to see the extra pictures and to read of your plans - looking forward to seeing how this develops

Mike

I've always found white text on black fairly easy to read, black text on yellow can make my eyes 'buzz'... I guess we're all different. It's a nice blog at any rate, I enjoy reading his updates and thoughts.

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Time to check the list, I think. Here's what's left.
 
Braking System
> Handbrake cable - to fit and adjust.
> New rear shoes - very cheap, just haven't got around to purchasing them yet.
> New front hose - passenger side looks cracked, should be replaced.
> Rear hose - To fit.
> Brake fluid & nipples - to purchase.
 
Suspension
> Rear sphere - Have a replacement, as previously mentioned it's an engineering/garage job to get it put in the trailing arm on the car.
> Hydragas reset - Need to get the system pumped up again.  About £50 from flat.
> Pivot shafts - Need to unseize so trim level can be reset properly.  Need to do this on the HL too.  incorrect trim level results in an effectively saggy, undersprung rear end.  This is another garage job, I haven't the tools/means to do it at home.
 
Engine
> Oil - To change, oil and filter acquired.
> Radiator - Minor leak on top hose inlet requires soldering.
> Carburettor - new float needle needed. Service kit ordered.
 
Interior
> Front passenger seat - to bolt down.
> Parcel shelf - to retrim
> C pillar trims - replacements to modify to accept courtesy lights before fitting.
> Carpet - sill trims to fit.
> Dashboard - to finish rebuilding before fitting.
> Centre console - to screw down.
> Rear view mirror - to refit.
 
Miscellany
> Tyres - wheels to be swapped with ones taken from HL.
> Headlights - check adjustment.
> Mirrors - fit replacement door mirrors, several in stock.
> Sills - check condition thoroughly, repair if required.  No obvious damage apparent on initial inspections.
> Track rod ends - check for play before MoT.  Budget for replacements.
> Radio - test and connect if working.
> Exhaust - find and resolve MASSIVE blow somewhere at the front, probably downpipe.
> Handbrake Warning Light - need to resolder the connector at the handbrake.

It is steadily getting to be a smaller list. Had another go at getting the engine to run. Removed the base plate from the carb to find the float had jammed in place so removed that and inspected the float needle to find it worn, but didn't look as bad as the one I took out of the HL. Rebuilt it all and the same problem of the car firing and then flooding persisted and after speaking to the people at SU we came to the conclusion the float needle is dead so Dad bought a service kit to get that sorted out. Happily, we also found that the car will draw fuel from the tank without issue so the rest of the fuel in the jerry can went in the tank so there's no more awkward jiggling of tanks in the engine bay. We also checked that earth strap that was getting hot when trying to fire up the car and found it was loose, tightening the nut made the car turn over much happier and the earth strap no longer warms up. Good, that's engine progress of a sort.

Earlier this week I attempted to get a fresh key cut for the ignition but found that the key cutting place I use doesn't do them. I could have driven around for ages to find a solution but then Dad suggested we just copy what the previous owner of the HL had done and raid the penny jar. One 1981 two pence coin and some solder later and we have this.


Works a treat too, no more swearing at the stub of a key that was almost impossible to use. Just got to drill a hole in it so I can put it on the keyring.


I managed to find someone selling their last Morris Ital window winder on eBay which, as it happens, is the same as the 1981 Princess handles. Luckily, I still had the Princess spacer on the door and now we have a full compliment of correct handles in the car.


Rear seat properly fitted and quite possibly the most comfortable bench ever made by human hands. Also note the clean passenger door cards. Fitted a replacement door seal but the original doesn't seem badly damaged so that's staying with the car until I've had chance to inspect it and see if a refit will sort it as the replacement seal is a slightly different trim colour and doesn't properly match the HLS' interior.


Drivers seat also bolted down. Holding off doing the passenger seat until I've resoldered the wire that connects the warning light to the handbrake.


While I wait for the carb parts to arrive I'll continue to fettle the interior and work through the rubbish and spares so that the car looks as good as it can. Really, I'm genuinely surprised at just how much more improved its already looking, particularly inside.

Like a woman I once knew, scrubs up well don't she!

vulgalour wrote:I've always found white text on black fairly easy to read, black text on yellow can make my eyes 'buzz'... I guess we're all different. It's a nice blog at any rate, I enjoy reading his updates and thoughts.

Just looked again and on this monitor at home it's a lot clearer and I was able to read it without screwing up my eyes and leaning over the desk at work - it must have been the monitor I was using - moving office in a few weeks so I'll try and drop it so it gets damaged and then get a new one

Mike

The red one is a big surprise as to how well it's come up, even to me. I can ignore the paint, but to have got so lucky with that interior and to have been able to clean up so much of it really was surprising.

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With Dad's car away at the garage getting fixed, the Princess has been enjoying living on the drive. For some reason, being on the drive gets rid of the condensation issue I've been getting on the street and, as expected, the tyre and valve tampering has completely stopped.

In between other jobs, I've been plodding away at the seat covers and managed to get the driver's seat cover to a point that it could be tried on. I still need to put a finishing edge on the bottom of the cover but other than that it's done.





I now know that each front seat requires 53 squares, slightly less than my original estimate. Each square takes about 15-20 minutes to make and a cover takes about an hour to sew together and tidy up the edges. So that means a seat cover costs in the region of 18-20 hours.

For the rear seat I'll just be making a square blanket that gets folded in half. That will be 12 by 12 (144 squares) and I need to make another 62 squares to have enough for that. A total of roughly 50 hours will have been invested in that. Happily, I don't have to just sit and make these all day long, I just make a square and sew a section whenever I have a spare moment, or if I've sat down to watch a programme or a film.

With the time required to make these things, it's no surprise I'm probably the only person that's ever bothered. Without my long standing wrist injury I could probably make them a bit faster, but it certainly wouldn't be by much. In total I'll have invested about 90 hours in these seat covers, but only something like £20 in materials and they're a lot nicer and more entertaining than anything you might otherwise purchase for £20.

The main purpose for these is to protect the fabric on the top of the seats where UV damage makes them very brittle. The pink tartan blanket will be put in the HLS and will go with the car unless I find a more suitable cover before it's rehomed.

The Renault has landed earlier this afternoon in its new home. There's no pictures as of yet, but the initial report from the legend that collected the car for me does make it sound like a promising project. What I can tell you is that owner #1 had the car for 10 months, owner#2 had the car until yesterday and owner #3 is me and the V5 is present.

This is the first picture I have of the 6 now that it's been liberated from the field in Wales. More news as it comes to me.