Completely restored

Here is one Renault 18 I completely restored recently ;-)

VROOOOOM!

SHE RUNS! And to prove it, here is a movie (right click the link and select "save as..." to download)

Low resolution ( 0,9 Mb)
High resolution (3 Mb)

I never knew that starting a car could make you this happy!!!!

There is one casualty however: the battery. Even after 15 hours on a charger I still needed jump cabels to start her up. I have to figure out a way to keep the battery in condition in storrage.

It's life Jim, but not as we know it:

It's alive!!!

After mounting the new Paris-Rhône starter several times without success, I returned it for the second time. Meanwhile they had refurbished the original Bosch unit I traded for the Paris-Rhône, so this time I got the original back. And guess what? It works!!! The motor turns again!!!!!

A small disappointment was that the battery was completely dead after a year. Even a jump lead couldn’t bring enough power to make the engine actually start. But a recharger will solve that. Hopefully I can report on a running Renault 18 next time!!!

The Bosch Unit before......

.......and after! (look for the 1,000,000 differences :-) )

The empty hole with the flywheel....

....and the Bosch start motor back in it's natural habitat!

The battery recharging after sleeping for 12 months.

Start engine mistery

My 1982 renault 18 has been in storage since march 2002 awaiting restauration. To keep everything running I started her up every 4 to 6 weeks. In september 2004 however the starter engine gave the ghost. So the first restauration project is to get the engine starting again. This turns out to be more complicated than it seems. Getting the starter out was the first challenge as it is build under the exhaust manifold and behind the tubing for the cabin heating. So getting it out requires a flexibel back and long arms.

Here is the old Bosch 0 001 208 209 unit:


I got a refurbished Paris-Rhône D8E139 for it.


But after putting it in and trying to start the car it was happily turing without picking up the flywheel of the engine. Got it out again, checked the flywheel and start motor. All seemed Ok. Build it back in. Same result. Got it out again and had the bendix replaced. Still the same result........ So we're all a bit puzzled about this. The start motor is back to the garage again with all the specs of the car and engine to find out what's wrong.

Meanwhile the whole operation resulted in some nice pics of my fleet. And also to get at least the feeling that I had accomplished something, I started cleaning the engine bay from 23 years of dirt and oily stuff. Compare the left and right shock absorber turret and wing edge:


The flywheel upclose through the hole where the start motor should be. You can see the connection from the manifold to the exhaust on the right side.

Clio and 18. Two generations of Renaults probably discussing car stuff, like the merrits of unleaded and leaded fuel, fuel injection systems vs. good old carburetors, or something like that