1982 Eclat Riviera restoration......

[soldave]

Yeah I have. The push switches come out fairly easily; the sides of the switch have a bit of raised plastic that keeps them in position. If you get your nails on the top and bottom of the switch and wiggle/pull, they should come out. The light controls are a little more complex and the heater controls require the console panel taking out to get at them; same with the radio I think.

[Gray14]

Excuse me jumping in but I’ve (just) “been there, (just) done that.”

It’ll be the plastic straps holding the fibre optic lights in place that are stopping the switches coming out easily.

In the centre console if you pull out the 2 air vents, just inside in the top corners are 2 retaining nuts (10mm IIRC) holding the console to the centre moulding. The vents are held in place by flat metal retainers and can be tricky to pull through the console plate.

Take these off and it should release the console enough to remove the plastic straps surrounding the switches. These hold the fibre optic lights to the switches and need to be removed to be able to remove the switches from the console plate.

It might be easier/looser if you disconnect the 4 nuts holding the heater controls panel, 1 in each corner.

They switches on mine just pulled through easily.

Fibre optic cables available on ebay which is also where I sourced some ‘Fablon’ wood grain sticky back plastic.

Drawing below shows location of nuts as small circles

[Benco]

Thanks both, and very happy for anyone who’s been there to jump in! 🙂🙂

I have some free time later today and can’t wait to get stuck onto this, great advice thank-you!

[Benco]

On 20/07/2022 at 22:57, Gray14 said:

Excuse me jumping in but I’ve (just) “been there, (just) done that.”

It’ll be the plastic straps holding the fibre optic lights in place that are stopping the switches coming out easily.

In the centre console if you pull out the 2 air vents, just inside in the top corners are 2 retaining nuts (10mm IIRC) holding the console to the centre moulding. The vents are held in place by flat metal retainers and can be tricky to pull through the console plate.

Take these off and it should release the console enough to remove the plastic straps surrounding the switches. These hold the fibre optic lights to the switches and need to be removed to be able to remove the switches from the console plate.

It might be easier/looser if you disconnect the 4 nuts holding the heater controls panel, 1 in each corner.

They switches on mine just pulled through easily.

Fibre optic cables available on ebay which is also where I sourced some ‘Fablon’ wood grain sticky back plastic.

Drawing below shows location of nuts as small circles

Hi - again thanks for this, really helpful. Just a quick question:

The two nuts just above the heater vents were wing nuts, so very easy to remove.

However trying to reach the others up / around the heater controls are really tricky to get to…. Any advice/angles that might work better?

 Thanks 

[Gray14]

Hi, After removing the 2 nuts holding the console in place it should loosen it up to be able to slightly turn it both ways so that the nuts holding the heater control in place can be accessed and loosened.

The heater control cables are what are making it difficult to access.

[Benco]

Hi Graham, thanks for the advice, very happy to say that the panel is out!

Now I’ve been able to access the rear of all of the switches and try to see if I’ve power to them. 
 

1) No power to the light switch, so I’ve remade the connection at the positive post of the starter motor. This still didn’t help, so I found the loom connection in the drivers footwell and found that contacts there were corroded. Once these were cleaned up it was great to have power to the light switch. As I had all of the switches out I’ve given them a good clean up, with 1200 grit paper and degreased them. However this switch is behaving badly still, so will try and find another that will hopefully be in better shape.

2) I have power to the fan switch but sadly no life here. I’ve gone through and mapped how the switch worked and interestingly the wiring diagram for the 2.2 Eclat is different to how it is on the car. I know that I don’t have air con, and I can see these wires taped up on the loom. So I connected it up as the diagram, only to find a little smoke coming out of the grill. I guess the fan motors are seized? These can only come out with a dashboard removal? 
 

Good news is that headlamp motors, lights are all working. Now only the wipers, and indicators as well to get working!

[Benco]

Small things!

Its nice to have a couple of ‘milestone’ moments while all of the bigger stuff is still underway 🙂.

1. Radio (well the cassette player) now works pumping out sounds I’ve not heard for a while (well not really pumping with some 20W of raw stereo power 😂)
2. As the centre console is out and as the plastic ‘veneer’ was completely cracked/missing in places, then I’ve replaced it all with some real wooden veneer and I’m really pleased with how it looks. Just need to decide what coating to put on, clear polyurethane or a hard wax …. Any recommendations?

[EXCEL V8]

That's going to look great!  How about finishing it with two pack epoxy?  I've had a couple of engineered veneers delivered recently as well - I quite like the ebony.

Pete

[Gray14]

+1 for 2 pack epoxy, 

[Benco]

Thanks both, will look into that!

[Excel SA]

The hard wax and the polyurethane will likely give you two very different results in terms of colour.   The wax will normally bring out the colour and the grain in the wood much better than the sealers.  A two part epoxy or polyurethane will give a harder, easier to maintain finish - a primer used first can also affect/help with the final colour.  The gloss levels of the finish will also differ - hard wax will be matt, 2-part sealers will normally come in a range of gloss levels - from matt to gloss.  The hard wax will also be a fairly thin protective layer, the others are much thicker....

Neil.

[jep]

I prefer a matt or satin finish, my still original Excel is a subtle satin and when I do see gloss woodwork in Excel, perhaps a restored finish, it doesn't look quite right to me. For me, gloss woodwork belongs in 50s 60s cars, though I still prefer the more matt veneer in the very early Elan's. 

I personally wouldn't use wax, a varnish would seem more appropriate for a car interior. Very thin coats, built up slowly. 

Justin

 

[Benco]

Had a very successful time reassembling the centre console, after re-veneering and satin varnishing.

I also went to another level trying to repair the switches, because even though I’d cleaned them the light switch was still very unreliable. When it was fully apart and after removing the switch lever, I found that it wasn’t working properly for 2 reasons.

1) One of the pins that push the copper strip onto the centre contacts had completely worn away, so I made a new pin head that I push fitted into the holder.

2) Even though the contact was being made between the copper strip and the contact I found that the ‘riveted pin’ that joins the contact to the rear connector block - was spinning and not connected. Good news is that this is easily solderable. The effect on the car lights was fantastic, understandably with a much lower resistance they are now so so much brighter!

So I then checked and repaired all of the other switches as I put them back into the console, there weren’t any more worn ‘spring pins’ but quite a few high resistance poor riveted contacts that needed a drop of solder.

I think one of the best improvements was on the rheostat, that had the same problem (2), with the measured resistance fluctuating continuously, until I had cleaned and soldered the rivets, and once done was repeatedly 0-4 ohms. 
 

 

 

 

[Don.Hasi]

On 15/08/2022 at 22:06, Benco said:

 

in my Riviera was the identical Radio installed. 

[Benco]

Hi all, it’s been a little while - this project going slower than I’d imagined and then having problems with apple mail filters which meant that I wasn’t getting password rest mails. Thanks to Bibs that all sorted 🙂.

 

Getting to an exciting stage - the bottom half and head has been rebuilt, I’ve reassembled them and ready to refit the gearbox (once I get a new clutch plate). Oil filter is on as I’ve spun up the oil pump on its own to get some oil into the new bearings. The car is ready to receive the engine and I think everything else is done. Thanks to John W for some 912 parts I needed and advice through my reassembling!

 

[Benco]

With a brand new clutch plate I reassembled the gearbox to the engine using my home made clutch plate centering tool. I won’t deny that it was a little awkward aligning the engine and gearbox but with a bit of patience it went together nicely and very happy that I didn’t need to re-center the clutch plate.

Repainted starter motor is back on and next the simple job of getting it all back into the car!

[Benco]

When I took the engine out I had a normal engine hoist (which didn’t properly reach), so last year I kept an eye out for a gantry and I found one on eBay. In order to have more than enough headroom in the garage I removed one of the ceiling joists and opened up the space. 
Today happy to say that that planning came in very handy as I put the engine/gearbox back in the car. I won’t say that it was a breeze, especially getting the engine mounts back on (I’m sure I might not be doing it correctly) - but it’s nice to see it back together. 
Tomorrow I’ll bolt the gearbox mount on and start refilling engine oil / gearbox oil / reconnecting wiring etc. Then onto the carbs!

[Elite 4.9]

What a great day it must be. I know the feeling well...been there done that many times.

Great job !!

I was wondering if you got the exhaust manifold attached?

I remember taken it off my 907 for the first time. Took me 2 hours as you can't see it from the top and you can't see it from the bottom so it is just a feel and try to get a wrench ( I modified a box one ) on the exhaust nut to take it off.

I looked in the shop manual but nothing telling you a better way to access this job. 

But, if you loosen the exhaust side motor mount, and jack gently up the engine will you can not only see the nuts but you can easily make everything come together.  Just my two cents on this engine.

cheers,

Richard

[jonwat]

2 hours ago, Benco said:

Then onto the carbs!

Make sure you don't overnighter them, check the manual if you're not sure.

Edited November 4, 2023 by jonwat

[Benco]

1 hour ago, Elite 4.9 said:

What a great day it must be. I know the feeling well...been there done that many times.

Great job !!

I was wondering if you got the exhaust manifold attached?

I remember taken it off my 907 for the first time. Took me 2 hours as you can't see it from the top and you can't see it from the bottom so it is just a feel and try to get a wrench ( I modified a box one ) on the exhaust nut to take it off.

I looked in the shop manual but nothing telling you a better way to access this job. 

But, if you loosen the exhaust side motor mount, and jack gently up the engine will you can not only see the nuts but you can easily make everything come together.  Just my two cents on this engine.

cheers,

Richard

Yes thanks, exhaust manifold is on - although it did seem to get in the way a little - took a bit of work to get it past the engine mount location on that side.

[Lozza74]

That looks superb!

Is that the Getrag gearbox? If so do you have any pictures of the gear lever ball joint, and more interestingly did you have to replace any of the bushes in the base of the gear level?

It looks very similar to a Getrag 265 I have in a different car, and im trying to find a source for the gear level bushes.

Thanks

[Gray14]

Richard, how about this company, website at top:

Hope these pics help.

G

Edited November 10, 2023 by Gray14

[Benco]

Woo-hoo! 🙂 Engine start!

After double and triple checking that I’d got the timing tight, sufficient coolant, oil in, electric connections on, carbs reset to factory set-up, spark plugs in and leads on, fuel pump connected and float chambers full, out of gear…… and checking once again 🙂….. then it was time to take a deep breath and start the engine… and great news that the engine started almost first time. 

Oil pressure is good (thanks John W), coolant level dropped only a little to be filled up, timing was incredibly stable, lots of fumes from the old exhaust section (after the manifold) that burnt off (I think that the previous owner had to cope with a massive oil leak from the cam covers). No oil leaks or fuel leaks or water leaks (so far) and the heating worked with no leaks in the car.

Now the engine is running I spotted a new problem as the rev meter isn’t working (all other instruments are). Any quick ideas on the cause of that? I presume that the signal from the electronic ignition is working properly (as the ignition system is fine). I’ll check the wiring at the meter end tomorrow.

Also could someone confirm the temperature (on the temp gauges) that I should expect the otter switch to kick the cooling fans in?

Anyway - onwards and upwards, time to finish off the engine (colourtune, compression check, carb balancing). I have to say carb balancing is probably beyond me, any recommendations of places to do that in/around Bristol?

Then it’s time to tighten up all the suspension bolts and get on the road to see whether the gearbox and diff are ok (fingers crossed). 🙂

[jonwat]

5 hours ago, Benco said:

. I have to say carb balancing is probably beyond me,

Get yourself one of these, they make balancing very easy & give perfect results. Here's instructions on how to do it manually.

Those cam cover gaskets need to be stuck in place with silicone or they'll move with the vibration & leak badly which is probably what the DPO found. Why doesn't neither of them have an oil filler cap?

Well done on getting her running, now get driving her. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by jonwat

[Benco]

Thanks Jonwat, looks like another investment and then just the remaining work to do (which will probably take longer than I think it will 🙂).

The cam covers are cleaned up and sealed down properly (famous last words), the lighting wasn’t great in the photo, and the oil filler cap was so rusty that I ended up painting it with black engine enamel for the time being, until I acquire another.

Looking forward to getting on the road, maybe with a goal of a Haynes Breakfast Club meet (on a British Classics morning).