Renault 16TS, Registered Number KKU 565, Was Bought New on 26 October 1969 from Ian Harvey

History

Renault 16TS, registered number KKU 565, was bought new on 26 October 1969 from Ian Harvey Motors, 462 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham, in Melbourne by a lady who lived in Park Orchards. It’s an original ‘black dash’ model with the ‘reverse action’ rear door lock buttons. The R16 stayed with the family for many years. Eventually it was passed on to the owner's nephew who was in the Navy. As with most service personnel, he moved around Australia, and the R16 went with him. According to old registration papers, at one stage the car was garaged at Cambewarra, near Nowra, NSW, so presumably the owner was stationed at Jervis Bay.

Theowner and the Renault found their way to Canberra where the car was used as a runabout for some years, but eventually it was offered for sale. The late Terry Nicholls, keen R16 enthusiast and much missed Canberra Renault Club member, bought it for $300 in August 1997 with the idea of stripping it for parts. However, once he had a good look at it, Terry was taken with its very genuine condition. Some of the original items included in the car are the Guarantee (six months) and Maintenance Booklet, the owner's handbook, and a working, manual tuned, Renault-branded car radio and console, complete with installation instructions. It seems that, when purchased, the R16's engine had troubles, including a serious oil leak, but Terry decided to carry out the necessary repairs and put the R16 back on the road as University transport for the family.

In 1998, Terry had a local Renault specialist assemble a rebuilt engine made up from the better of two motors, and fitted with new rings and bearings. He also exchanged some of the trim for better items that he had on hand from other cars and made many small improvements, including fitting a longer handbrake lever from a later model. When the need for the Renault as family transport diminished, Terry converted it to historic registration and used it as a club car for several years. I acquired the car after Terry's sad and untimely death in 2001. It’s my second 16TS. I owned a white 1975 model from 1989 until 1997, when I sold it, and then regretted my action.

When I took over the Terry’s car, I found that there were a number of items in need of some attention. A registration check showed that the lower control arm bushes on one side were worn. A local Renault specialist fixed that up for me with a second hand lower control arm and also fitted a new rear muffler. I also thought that it would be prudent to replace the tyres, which were marginal at best. A trip to a friend with a tyre business resulted in four new Continental tyres, appropriately made in France. I replaced the turn signal lenses with something better from Terry's stock of spares.

The 16TS has subsequently provided several thousand kilometres of very enjoyable Renault motoring. Over the years I have carried out a few running improvements. The lights flickered rapidly and were very bright when the engine was running. A check showed that the charge voltage was a fluctuating 15 volts from the original Ducellier regulator. A spare solid state Bosch regulator reduced the charge to a more reasonable 14.4 volts. I had a minor leak at the front muffler repaired for the huge sum of $10. I fitted a spare R12 wiper arm with a longer blade to the left hand side to improve the wiped area. The coolant bottle suddenly filled up one day, necessitating a change of coolant and a new rubber seal under the radiator cap. The original fixed seat belts were worn badly so I rescued a set of inertia reel belts in excellent condition from Terry’s spares collection and fitted them. And one of the most useful items for any R16 - an isolating switch for the floor operated wiper/washer switch. Without the over-ride, anyone with size 8 or larger shoes triggers the wipers every second time the clutch goes down!

Like any old R16, the rear suspension bushes knock all the time, and as it's a really difficult/expensive job to fix, they'll continue to rattle. The original French wheels were way too soft and hopelessly out of round. I have seven of them and they are all bad. I was able to get a set of later Special wheels from R16 enthusiast Mike Neil, and these were much better.

As we all know, a big bugbear of Renaults of this era is rust. Renault Australia's assembly was quite slap-dash at times, and both the R16s that I have owned have had numerous water leaks. Although this car is remarkably corrosion-free for an R16 there was still some rust in the front floor, but, fortunately, no rust holes. There was also some rust evident in the left hand A pillar, and a rust hole in front of the right hand rear wheel arch which resulted in rust in the rear floor. I had the small rust holes welded up and treated the floor rust. There is still some minor rust in the bottoms of the doors needing attention.

I’ve also attached afew photos. The main one is very flattering but alas, it doesn’t look this good from closer up! The paint is down to the primer in places on the roof, and there are a couple of obvious touch-ups here and there. I contemplated a respray, but I can’t really justify the cost. And I’d have to take it off the road for some time, when I’d really prefer to have it available to drive when I fancy it. So I have convinced myself to live with the ‘original’ appearance and enjoy the drive...

Col