They were 38hp if I remember correctly. And if you ever revive your
desire for french motoring and want to hear the city-horn-country-horn
sound again, let me know and I'll send you some of those rare renault
lug nuts (if you had one you'll remember what I'm talking about,
two-piece gadgets) and some bolt-in hubcaps in nice shape. Probably
have some wheels under my dad's shop, too.

When mine cracked a block, my dad welded up the crack with some steel
strap and I put in a bunch of Barr's stop leak and drove on. I don't
think we even pulled the engine to do it. Once the whole drive train
fell out in the road an a friend of mine and I walked to a house and
bummed a bunch of coat hangers from a woman and used them to strap the
engine and transmission in to make it back to my house.

I don't think my dauphine ever reached 70. I have owned a total of
four of them, my first (first car) purchased for what I had in my
pocket at the time: seventy-nine cents. I bought a pair for $500 once.

But YOU... YOU had a Le Car! Hahahahahah!

Jim

On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 1:34 PM, Scott Daniel  - Turbovans
<scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> oh you had a Duafine - I'm sorry !
> lol.
> Caravelle- I even have a real Renault factory parts book for a Carravelle,
> the sproty coupe version that generation of Renaults.
> ( I owned about 8 Renualt 16's .........a 'real car' that.  And some Le Cars
> too. )
>
> I don't think washer fluid would hurt the coolant even slightly.  Be good
> for it almost.  A tiny bit of detergent/cleaner is fine I think.
> Daufine's can't actually sustain running at 70 mph on a hot day with any
> kind of load without overheating.
> Very underbuilt for Western US conditions.
> Had a freind in Colorado with one - it really couldn't do the freeway for
> long periods on a hot day.
> what are those, like 45 hp ?
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@gmail.com>
> To: "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
> Cc: <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
> Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 11:19 AM
> Subject: Re: Are Today's Young People Mechanical Nitwits?
>
>
>> Back when almost all gas stations were full serve, I had an attendant
>> attempt to fill up the radiator of my Renault Dauphine with gas. I had
>> another guy at an oil change place put washer fluid in the coolant
>> overflow behind the license plate door on my vanagon. Good thing I was
>> watching. Can you imagine the head corrosion?
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 1:05 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans
>> <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> you might also appreciate that when vanagons first came out,
>>> a few gas station attendants flipped open the license plate door at the
>>> back.........
>>> ( since many cars of the era had their gas cap back there )
>>> And when they saw a cap and filler neck, they  put gasoline into engine .
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET>
>>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>>> Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:07 AM
>>> Subject: Re: Are Today's Young People Mechanical Nitwits?
>>>
>>>
>>>> Congrats on your daughter's derring-do in the mechanical world!
>>>>
>>>> I can't tell you how many times the guys at the various auto
>>>> quick-service places have asked me where the engine was in my van.
>>>>
>>>> I never ceased to be amazed.
>>>>
>>>> John Rodgers
>>>> 88 GL Driver
>>>>
>>>> Jim Arnott wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Warning!!! Proud papa alert.... and NVC
>>>>>
>>>>> My eldest dau, 27, came home from visiting friends the other night.
>>>>> Walks
>>>>> into the house and asks me, "Do you ALWAYS get hurt when you're
>>>>> working on
>>>>> cars?" I respond that mechanical things frequently demand blood
>>>>> sacrifice.
>>>>> She goes on to comment that when she was putting the front suspension
>>>>> back
>>>>> together on her friend's Mitsu, she pinched her hand. Did papa proud!
>>>>>
>>>>> Want to give your kids a clue?  Make their first car a Beetle. Give
>>>>> them a
>>>>> Muir Bible. Help them maintain it but don't do it FOR them. Worked for
>>>>> me.
>>>>>
>>>>> So no, they're not all clueless. But the vast majority are. Of the
>>>>> 20-30
>>>>> kids that float through my home, there are about three that could show
>>>>> me
>>>>> where to check the oil on their rig.  Those three could also change
>>>>> said
>>>>> oil. The rest? I'd have to show them not just how, but THAT the hood
>>>>> opened.
>>>>> Id10ts.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jim
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>
>