Renault18
Enthusiast
- Messages
- 12
- Location
- Sandbach
Well, I am Richard, the new owner of Blanche, the Savane which was previously owned by Malcolm. After having searched for a decent 4, I suddenly noticed the car advertised here and decided to go and view. Once Malcolm had sorted the plate transfer it was back down to Bedfordshire to bring her home. This was not without incident, as the oil pressure switched failed and the car got a free coat of rust preventative all over the underside. However, such problems are all part if the fun! I suppose I should expect these problems - mainly as I also own three Renault 18s, three 5s, an 11 TXE Electronic, a 19, a 9 and a Megane!
Since arriving back here, I have set about making Blanche look as she probably would have done back in 1990 and over the past few weeks, boxes and packages have been arriving from France and Holland - along with the Renault dealer I use.
In addition to these bits, I've also stripped the paint off the wheels and repainted them using the correct Renault wheel silver and lacquer - an interesting job, but it was either that or pay £60 per wheel to have them powder coated! The wheels have only recently become unavailable new and were only £49 per wheel from Renault. However, the chrome wheel nuts are still available - an extravagant luxury me thinks!
So, whilst there's still a lot I want to do (including sourcing a new front seat) the car is coming together just as I want. I was thrilled to find that the correct Savane badge for the boot is available separately from R-Quatre.nl as I didn't fancy buying a complete set. The correct period rear window stickers are also available from France!
Next jobs include replacing a leaky front exhaust pipe and repainting all the black metalwork in the engine bay - plus sorting a hole near the front jacking point. However, for now, the result of my efforts looks like this:
Since arriving back here, I have set about making Blanche look as she probably would have done back in 1990 and over the past few weeks, boxes and packages have been arriving from France and Holland - along with the Renault dealer I use.
In addition to these bits, I've also stripped the paint off the wheels and repainted them using the correct Renault wheel silver and lacquer - an interesting job, but it was either that or pay £60 per wheel to have them powder coated! The wheels have only recently become unavailable new and were only £49 per wheel from Renault. However, the chrome wheel nuts are still available - an extravagant luxury me thinks!
So, whilst there's still a lot I want to do (including sourcing a new front seat) the car is coming together just as I want. I was thrilled to find that the correct Savane badge for the boot is available separately from R-Quatre.nl as I didn't fancy buying a complete set. The correct period rear window stickers are also available from France!
Next jobs include replacing a leaky front exhaust pipe and repainting all the black metalwork in the engine bay - plus sorting a hole near the front jacking point. However, for now, the result of my efforts looks like this:
