1976 Renault 16TS

[Saru]

So here's my new-to-me 1976 Renault 16TS.



Back in the day, Renault actually made cars in Australia. Weird, hey? The '76 R16 was the last of the R16s made in Oz and has more than a few Frech bits in it like the Jaeger instruments instead of the aussie-spec VDOs.



It's a bit rough around the edges but it's (mostly) cosmetic. The engine was (apparently) recently overhauled as was the front suspension. The rear suspension mounts aren't rusty, which is normally the biggest concern and the rear suspension is in good but not outstanding condition.



The ride is amazing. It's close to being as good as my 94 Pug 405.



Of course, being French, it has weird stuff. The column-shift 4-speed is fabulous, the handbrake is umbrella style on the right under the dash. It has a few mystery switches and dials that all make sense when you know what they're for but you'd never figure out.

It's also weird looking, but I like it.



At the moment, there are 5 "spiderweb" pressed steel wheels in the boot, two with tyres. Because the spare is under the bonnet, the boot is massive. With the 5 wheels in there, there's still room for a weeks luggage for me and the Mrs.

It really is quite awesome.

[Snoozin]

Class act! That is pretty cool indeed, any plans for her?

So whats the story with the engines on these, (ie what/how much hp etc) and can we see a pic of the engine bay too!!!!

Dunno about throwing the mrs in the boot with the tyres, and the luggage though

[Saru]

Plans? Yeah -- drive it every day! (Oh, and re-attach the interior rear-vision mirror and fix the tacho and indicators) And eventually get the spiderweb wheels cleaned up and fitted.

Opinions on getting some thin whitewalls on the tyres? See: i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/SaruSeven/Renault16.jpg

Engine pics soon-ish. These were just quickies this morning. Basic story with the engine is it's a 1.6L pushrod (but the cam is up high in the block) alloy block and head. On the TS, depending on who you ask, the head was designed by Gordini or the big G just did the tuning. 87hp at the flywheel stock. Enough power to chirp the wheels from a rolling start in 1st gear still (though that could be the crappy korean tyres this one wears). Standard 32 Weber. The engine is so far back in the bay that twin webers would necessitate cutting the firewall.

Dunno about throwing the mrs in the boot with the tyres, and the luggage though

LOL.

[arthurbrown]

Amazing!

try picking up one like that in teh UK - nigh on impossible due to the handful that haven't rotted away being in the hands of renault 'pervs' (nearly as bad as datsun pervs for keeping it all to themselves )

Love it. That would look great scraping tarmac.

[michiel]

Beauty! Well done, that's a cool car. When I was a kid my neighbours used to drive around in 16's (with a huuuge folding caravan behind it), I always thought the styling was something else, way cooler than our GS/Kadett/Carina or whatever we had while they still had their 16.

[HoTWire]

Nice one Saru ,.. thought you might have got one when loads of Renault 16 links appeared on your Delicious

White walls look ace,.. what stuf pattern are they?? There are some REALLLLY nice French 3 stud wheels about,.. is it 3 stud?

[akku]

nice. I do like these. Proper quirky little things. Shame they are all gone now.

[qwerty]

Tres Tres Cool! Looks awesome! I'm gunna move to australasia

[Saru]

Yeah, it's 3-stud.

BUT... because of the rear wheel-arch being the way it is, fat wheels are out -- and most of the cool 3-stud wheels I've seen have been fat ones for the RWD 8 and 10 and the Alpine A110.

The stock wheels are 14x4.5 with 155 section tyres. I've heard of people fitting 195 tyres on what must be wider wheels by doing some massaging of the rear bodywork.

On the plus side, 4-wheel torsion bar suspension = STICK. :lol: No-one really seems to get that into it with these, perhaps it ruins the handling.

This is my current inspiration:


I've got a set of those wheels that are pretty shagged and rusty but resurrectable.

So the plan is basically: like the blue one, but rattier looking.

Thusly:

Ace!

[Ratdat]

Fanstastic That's exactly the same as the one my parents had when I was a lad. A 16 is very high on my wanted list along with a 14 and a 17 ;D I could easily become a Datsun AND Renault perv!

[rmad]

Brilliant!

Winding it down just a bit wouldn't hurt too much would it? ;D

[Saru]

A bit seems to be the go. The blue Aussie car and the white one above both seem at least 1" lower than mine.

I'm hanging for a repro set of the Autobleu tuning kit:
www.r16site.com/facts/Options/Autobleu.htm
it's the twin mufflers that are the biz

[DarrenW]

Absolutely ace. They are such a rare sight here nowadays, can't remember the last time I saw one! Looking forward to seeing it with the spiderwebs on ;D

[Ashley]

Very cool. I now want one!!!

[Saru]

Took some inspiration from DarrenW as is the trend with all the cool kids these days:



Of course, it doesn't really seem to work with white cars.

[DarrenW]

saru said:

Took some inspiration from DarrenW as is the trend with all the cool kids these days:



Of course, it doesn't really seem to work with white cars.

It does if you do it right! ;D

e-mail me the original pic if you can - [e-mail] and I'll do it for you early next week when I'm next in front of my PC at home!

[alpineandy]

Hi, Putting big wheels on a 16 makes them handle like curse word.

If you want to know more about them and what's possible is AUZ look on here :
www.aussiefrogs.com
There's a renner section.

[Saru]

Cheers, alpineandy. I'm already there.

[twincammy]

strangely enough, i have a haynes manual for a r16 if anyone needs one?

[Saru]

On the weekend, drove the 16 to the physio. Tires felt a more than a bit funny so when I got there I jumped out, engine running and walked around the car. Heard the door click shut behind me. Everything was cool with the tyres and it sounded quite sweet idling away but when I got back to the drivers door it had locked closed (the drivers door won't lock with the key and the tab/button is loose inside), keys in the ignition, engine running! Arrgh!

Fortunately the 16 has an external release bonnet. Popped the bonnet and yanked the coil lead out, after wrapping my hand in some paper towel from the servo next door. I was worried about being thrown across the car park (!) but not even a tingle. So now the engine had stopped but the thermo fan (factory fitment on the 16, even in 1965!) kept going which was no bad thing.

Rang the breakdown service I have through my car insurance. "We don't break into cars". Pants.

Did the biz at the physio (my knees are RS). Rang the Mrs who came out with coathanger and Haynes book of lies so I could see if I could snag the locks. No luck.

Hmmm...

I had read a few months ago that old-style pin and tumbler locks and be opened quite easily with a bit of force if you can get a key into them and jiggle it so that the pins work their way into the open position. Worth a shot, right? Found a key on the Mrs keyring that fit, stuck it into the boot lock and give it an experimental jiggle-and-turn. 2 mins later -- success! Crawled in through the boot, unlocked door, turned off ignition, re-connected coil, gave a brief prayer that the battery still had enough juice to kick the engine over and drove home.

Phew!