New Renault on the drive.

Changed the plugs on Saturday and no difference as expected. I got the feeling the car is either retarded or lean and felt the idle was a little lean too. Today I took off the air filter to adjust the idle mixture just to see if this made the tickover a little smoother and whichever way I turned it the idle got worse. Knowing a lot of the hoses had been changed and seeing a large hose had been replaced under the inlet manifold I wondered if there was an air leak. Spraying carb cleaner around the vacuum hoses made no difference but when sprayed around the inlet manifold to head joint the idle picked up and ran smoother. Next job inlet off.
I called round to the spray shop ealier today and they were puting a coat of primer on my bumper so I dropped off the paint code and hope they will get it done tomorrow.

Trevor.

[stephendell]

If you take the inlet manifold off make sure you use new 'o' rings to put it back. They are a special 'U' channel shape for the atmo and are only available from Renault. We normally keep a set in stock. You can't use normal 'o' rings like they do on the turbo.

Check that the spacer plates aren't damaged. Also if you have the inlet manifold off check the two small hoses at the back for the water return/feed to the cylinder heads.

Worth setting the carbs up as per the manual if you have the complete assembly off.

Stephen,

Thanks for your advice and help. I now have the arbs and manifold off and as you will see in the pics the spacer plate is broken in more than a few places. Just have to wait for parts now .

Trevor.

Picked up the front bumper from the spray shop today and seems like a good match just holding it up against the car. I want to get the car running so I can get it up on ramps to make changing the bumper easier so it will have to wait a few days until parts arrive.

Trevor.

Manifold O rings, spacer plates and carb rebuild kits arrived this week and I got the chance to clean the carbs up, rebuild and adjust them this evening. Going to start putting it back together tomorrow if I get the chance and should be back on the road by the weekend .
Still have the exhaust manifold blow to sort out but that will be addressed when I decide whether or not I change to a complete sports manifold/system like the Devil.

Trevor Skedge.

Got the chance to fit the manifold and carbs back on this afternoon before the rain came in. Glad I took the time to take pictures to remind me how it all goes back together as I had to refer to these during the rebuild. On first start I had a leak from the fuel pipe that supplies the rear carb due to a split in the braided pipe. I had planned to replace this as I don't like this type for exactly this reason (you can't see the condition of the of the pipe under the braid) but couldn't lay my hands on the tubing at the time. Once replaced I restarted the car and glad to say the freshly adjusted choke seemed to do its job reasonably well. I noted the rear twin choke carb was dripping fuel into the venturi which was dissapointing as I took the trouble to set the float height with digital verniers. No real problem as the top of the chamber come off easily and a tweek of the float solved the issue. Put the air filter back on and out for a run.
Glad to say I now have the power that was lacking before and the car performs as I think it should. Still need to set up the mixture with a CO meter but happy to have it back on the road and get along to the first winter meet at Surrey Quays .

[stephendell]

Well done Trevor.

Looking forward to the 'reveal' sans decals at Surrey Quays

Dump the cabs and stick an old Renault 25 fuel injection system on it - more powerful, more economical, more reliable - everybody I know with the Atmo has ongoing carb problems

Dump the cabs and stick an old Renault 25 fuel injection system on it - more powerful, more economical, more reliable - everybody I know with the Atmo has ongoing carb problems

What and mis endless hours of fun sorting them out, again .

More fiddling about this morning and this time replacing the front bumper with the newly repainted item from BIG MVS.



Trevor Skedge.

[BIG_MVS]

Looking loads better Trevor Are you going to give the other stickers ago or leave them just in case they take the paint with them?

Are you going to give the other stickers ago or leave them

I would leave them on myself........I find an all white car looks anaemic without a touch of colour, and those strips are just what is needed

cars looking great Trevor...more importantly, whats that behind the gate?

Steve,

Yes looking forward to Surrey Quays and car seems t be running fine although the choke is not all it could be.

BIG,

Not certain whether or not to take the rest of the decals off but shouldn't be a problem if I decide to as the rest came off ok.

John C,

I know what you mean but doesn't that only apply to cars with silver wheels? I think it would look ok and perhaps black mirrors or would that be bad?

Eastlmark,

Well apart from a gazebo full of boot sale items that are about to go to the tip, somewhere under that lot is a Lotus Eclat S2.2 in need of TLC.

Trevor Skedge

I know what you mean but doesn't that only apply to cars with silver wheels?

I`ve never heard that one

........and perhaps black mirrors or would that be bad?

Black mirrors on a white car.......I would`nt.......it would look as if they were black plastic unless inspected more closely.......only cars at the cheaper end of the market have black plastic mirrors.......colour coordinated.....thats the way to go......but Hey.....thats only my opinion.....the choise is yours
Joking aside, your car looks great as it is.....and just a bit distinctive from the others

John

New exhaust gaskets are on their way so may get this done and then be able to show up at Bruntingthorpe. In hope of this I am getting a full geometry check tomorrow. Car handles well but as I don't know the history as far as setup goes then I thought I would get it looked at properly.

Trevor.