1968 Renault R8. Rusty, Low and Slow (more power loading)

[Adey]

New starter has arrived today, and has also been fitted. It spins strong and fast, is brand new, so should last a while. Its also smaller in size than the one from 50+ years ago which makes its easier to fit and work on. Car started instantly on it too so win there. I also managed to trim the battery a touch, shaved some off the plastic with a flap wheel on a drill so it clear the bonnet hinge.



Got a few more bits to do on the weekend (it never ends lol) including making some brackets to hold the fan shroud and hopefully the horn. Once I get it into use I will need to get one of the tyres looked at as it'll go down over 24 hrs.



Here's some pics, not much to show though

[dikkehemaworst]

really like your youtube channel! nice to see the car in the metal and hearing it. All the luck!!

[Adey]

Mar 6, 2024 11:24:07 GMT dikkehemaworst said:

really like your youtube channel! nice to see the car in the metal and hearing it. All the luck!!

Thanks for watching

[Adey]

Fitting turned up for the oil filter. Gave it a trim, filled up a filter with oil and fired it on 👍🏼

Then using the new insta start starter motor I gave it a quick drive to the shops. Its pretty cool 😎 worn out sloping seat is a little odd to drive on so I may look at that very soon.

[Adey]

And we are up and running, put about 20miles on it this morning, and bar a dicky indicator bulb, which i think its the housing/earth, all was good. I need to get a GPS speedo in there so I can correctly gauge how fast I am going against what the dash is telling me. Had it showing me 65mph at one point! It lacks top end power but that said its plenty for pottering about on all the roads near me, it'd only actually be an issue on the motorway I think. Ran a few errands and then popped to a local vineyard where i could pull over and grab a few pics. Am definitely going to enjoy using this over the coming months. Heater is high on the agenda though, gets chuffing cold in there! Side note, I've received my new log book with the historic classification on (y)



Thanks for reading

[Adey]

Took it out for a little drive again today, I think I'm going to try and get it out for the commute over the next week. I will chuck in a hot water bottle for the early morning start, not even sure where my coffee will go either, and there's no stereo... I'm sure it'll be fun either way. It'll be roughly a 40 mile round trip so wish me luck.....

[MiataMark]

I remember the evening I passed my driving test in my Mum's R8, 4 up between junctions 15 & 16 on the M4 seeing if we could do 100mph, and 2 days latter my first experience of lift off oversteer and bending a (rear) wheel when I drifted into the opposite curb.

[Adey]

did it make 100..... this one struggles at 65 currently

[Adey]

And it made it in to work. 16 miles complete, no major issues at all. One of the wipers made a bid for freedom though the plastic just shattered, looks brittle. I managed to put it back on and just not use them for the rest of the trip.

[Adey]

And we are home. 32 miles complete and its super cool to use. Saw 65 when pushed on the gps but its super happy from 0-50ish and take it in its stride. Started to stutter on initial throttle press just as i got home so will give it a once over in the next few days, I suspect its the points but ill have a look into it.



Here have some more pics. The filtered ones are from people at work who spotted the car, grabbed pics and sent them over in the day. Great conversation starter

[MiataMark]

Mar 11, 2024 9:07:31 GMT Adey said:

did it make 100..... this one struggles at 65 currently

Assuming the statute of limitations has expired, nearly but it was probably a very optimistic speedo.

[remmoc]

As a lover of Imps this really rattles my " I want one " cage .Different just like Imps . what a cool motor

[Adey]

Not looked into the ignition issue yet, but I did get some yellow bulbs fitted

[westbay]

Don't normally like yellow headlights - must be cultural ! - BUT it just seems right on a French car oddly !

[Adey]

Mar 14, 2024 8:47:45 GMT westbay said:

Don't normally like yellow headlights - must be cultural ! - BUT it just seems right on a French car oddly !

its a lot less obvious with them switched off tbh.

[Adey]

I've been tinkering some more though I've not documented it with pictures as much as I should have. So lets have a quick run down of where I am. Wishbones were dropped and the subframe redrilled to take out the factory positive camber and to add a little negative. I also added some spacers to the bottom shock mount so that the shock had a little more usable length. Looks good now, and still clears getting on and off my drive ( I need to get some decent pictures of it)



I have got a horn fitted, now initially I was stumped by this, more so than I should have been tbh. I was reading a switching 12v on the wiring though when adding any load the voltage would drop off to 0v and nothing would work. I tried a few different bulbs and horns to test it and always got the same result. After a few days of thinking I decided to start chopping the wiring back to find black instead of copper.... high resistance. Chopped nearly a foot of the wiring out and bingo it works. Fresh cable laid back in and we are onto a winner.



New pump has turned up also (the correct one with the heater take off on it) so first up was to test the pipework to the heater matrix. Popped the hose onto it to flush it all out, some rusty water flushed through but no where near as much as I was expecting tbh. Ran it through at varying pressures for a good 5 min. The valve under the dash works fine, the control cable has come out of its clip though so didn't actually actuate it from the dash, that part is still on my list of things to fix (hopefully tomorrow) The old pump has been whipped out after about 50 miles so came off nicely and its been replaced with the correct one. New pipes have been connected to the old heater hoses too. Tomorrow I will hopefully refit the rad and test the system for leaks. Fingers crossed all is well and we have another creature comfort that will make using it more comfortable.



Whilst its apart I have also whipped the rocker cover off. I have given it a few coats of wrinkle finish black, just to hide the crustiness and to make it a little more presentable when it goes back together.



Thanks for taking the time to read, here's some pics

[Adey]

As an update, we have warm air available in the front of the car. Took a while to bleed up, but me being a dunce had the nose high as my drive slopes towards the garage. Turned the car around and it pretty much bled itself (y) Now everything is where I want it I need to get it aligned so that's next on the list of jobs. Drives so well in comparison to the Dope, don't get me wrong, id love to have it lower, but its amazingly practical as it is, and comfy.

[Adey]

Fitted a new rocker cover gasket this afternoon along with setting the tappets. Doesn't sound it in the video but it's loads quieter and smoother.

[ovimor]

I think there has been a U-Tube/Webbie about a guy 'banned for filling up' with the bonnet/bootlid open....

U OK 👍

OVIMOR

[redratbike]

Jan 21, 2024 16:57:30 GMT Adey said:

oooo an R10. is that the one thats been on youtube recently, Geoff Buys Cars or something?

geoff is now selling the R10 for more than double he paid for it www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/944961376860739/