Renault R8 (what's that?)

[ChrisOne]

Hi there,

Here is a thread about my 2nd project

A 1967 Renault R8

The story, I bought this car about 10 years ago, after seing an add in a newspaper (at that time there were not a lot of websites, so I decided to go and see her, the car was in a garage since 1989...
That was a big trip (for us european...)
I went to Paris to pick up the car without having seen a single picture of it

After a 1200km day trip, I came back home with this... (my parents were really, really happy to see it in their garden...)







Original paint, never restored



A few word about his model, it is a rear longitudinal engine, cantilevered (I'm not sure of that word, but it means that the engine is behind the rear wheels)
It has 4 discs breaks and a 1108cm3 engine (54hp)

The aim was to restore it fully and add some specials items..

The first step was to remove everything from the body:

Engine/gearbox





Rusty parts:




Empty engine bay:



to be continued...

@ plus

Chris

[theitchybeard]

this should be awesome. stoked to see where this goes.

[ChrisOne]

Since I was working on the car when I was "free" (at that time I was studying the day, and working at the airport at night)
It took some time to remove everything from the body, to stay with that:



The aim was to remove this kind of crude oil (here we call it Blaxon) which was put by the previous owner to prevent the rust (fortunately it worked well)





Finally there was some rust, but not a lot, and it was easily repaired















The tank was in a good shape, but it was restored inside and outside:



Some of the removed parts, were also restored



And I prepared an upgrade for the fron brakes



to be continued....

@ plus

Chris

[TeckniX]

Such a good shape for a car that's been sitting - Definitely lucked out.

Tu pense faire quoi avec? T'as des 'drawings' du future look de ta R8?

[willlarney]

this should be awesome. continue!!!

[ChrisOne]

The car is going to be used in slaloms and hillclimbs, whith an old speed approach

The look will be full stock, however, it has a 1289cm3 engine that will be upgraded (target~80-90hp), the car is very light 750kg, and has been lightened, so I target ~700kg

The car has a vintage rollcage which allowed me to keep the rear seats,

The drive trains are the ones from the R8 Gordini (similar to Alpine A110 ones)
The car will be lowered (the engine and the gearbox too) and the 15x4 wheels have been replaced by 13x6
But you will see it in the coming posts

@ plus

Chris

[P78]

damn an R8

now that's something you don't c a lot

sweet

[ChrisOne]

Has it been sold in the US?

@ plus!

Chris

[ChrisOne]

After that,

there were some cutting and welding to be done (but there was almost no rust compared to some I'v seen on the web...):

















After that, the underbody received a phosphating primer (to avoid having the rust back) and was painted in black





And the 1289cm3 engine



@ TeckniX:

My inspiration:





@ plus

Chris

[ChrisOne]

I forgot one picture on my previous post,

I changed the rear drive train,

original (2 shock absorbers):



Alpine A110, Renault 8 Gordini (4 shocks absorbers, )



@ plus!

Chris

[Chigga]

The drivetrain almost look like the FWD set up except at the back, can you use R7/R5 parts on the engine?

[ChrisOne]

Hi Chigga,
You can swap the engine without too much modification with any "Cleon" Renault based engine for example A110, R5, R12, Clio, Twingo...
Renault used almost the same engine basis from the 60's to 2004
@ plus

Chris

[ChrisOne]

Then I put in place the restored upper part of the rear drivetrain and the tank:



The aluminium parts will be fixed between the black part (gearbox support, which will be restored) and the upper part of the drivetrain to lower the engine and the gearbox





The vintage rollcage has been prepared



Then some work on the brake hoses has been done







In the meantime, some new parts arrived:

Gr. IV springs..



Three nice letters... P L S



Devil vintage exhaust



And adjustable front drivetrain axes



to be continued

@ plus

Chris

[ImAwesome]

this is going to be cool

[TeckniX]

Some great know-how. How many r8 have you restored before?