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1979 4GTL - Sybil

A very big weight has left my shoulders - I have just taken her to a Carrosserie to be patched up, prepared and painted. Got a good price and we will have her back just after christmas. Gives me loads of time to prepare all the parts ready for refitting and also dress the engine so it deserves to be put back.

Quite excited really as I was starting to dread this stage of the fix. I know it is cheating but she has to be back on the road by February or the Missus will not be happy :(
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The wife has had a change of mind and now (with a little persuasion from my son and I) thinks that a grey colour might look a little better on this little 4L instead of an olive green. This would suit the slightly burgundy sunroof we have from the donor Twingo and also allow a nicer interior.

I want to stay with original Renault colours (another reason to stay away from Olive Green which was a Fiat/Lancia colour) and I am pondering over two.

Gris Templier 618
Gris Pyramide 635

Can anyone show a comparison between the two, either pictures of cars or a (seems to be very elusive) a paint chart showing them together.
 
Hi Malcom, this is where I started. I have found a few more now but will get the Carrosserie to get some paint made up in both I think and have a test spray.

Hi Mojobaby, they were not to worried about it. They are going to cut the sections out and make up with small fill pieces building up the correct structure. They were more concerned about the rust on the bottom of my passenger door so now I am searching for a replacement with the correct hinges (exterior) which is proving to be difficult.

My rear wings turned up from Melun yesterday so I will take them along to the garage at the same time I check on the colour.
 
Just popped into our local scrappy just on the off chance there might be a 4L to rip the doors off before heading to the Carrosserie with the new rear wings.

And what was there - a 1979 4GTL...... with good doors. :eek:

So I ripped them off and plaid €30 :mad:

The Carrosserie guy was well chuffed as it saves a bunch of work on my rusty old doors.

Successful afternoon :)
 
While the car is at the Carrosserie (will visit her on Tuesday) I thought I would get the engine cleaned up a little as I don't want to put a dirty motor back into a spotless, newly painted body.

Here it is when I pulled it out about 6 weeks ago.
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A bit dirty but not too bad....

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And then after a bit of cleaning....

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I changed out the head gasket, sump gasket, timing chain cover gasket, fuel pump and carb gasket.

I even took the head apart and rebedded the valves and sandblasted quite a few bits to get everything back sparkling.

Just hope it starts... :eek:
 
thats a beautiful job! looks brand new, especially the carb! can't wait to see the body when it comes back
 
They started on the body this morning. Went up yesterday to give them the wing mirrors to fit to both sides (different doors than the original) and some rubber hinge seals for the rear door.

My wife told them that this is our main car now (we returned our leased mini last week) so they will be finishing the body first so I can take it back and then they will carry on with the doors, bonnet etc as there is quite a bit of work to do. I will then take the body back (fitted out) and have the doors refitted.

Hope to get the body back next week..... its starting to feel real now o_O
 
It has been a few weeks now waiting around but we have finally seen some progress on the Carroserie of the car. The body has been welded, filled and sanded and is in final prep before being painted on Monday. We will pick just the body up on Wednesday so I can get ahead with putting the main part of the car back together including the engine.
The doors, bonnet etc will come later but hopefully not too later:( This is our run around car so we need it back.

I was chuffed with the way the windscreen surround has turned out, that was a real mess.

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Hoping to get most of my car back from the carrosserie tomorrow after a full respray - Just cleaned out the garage and moved a few cars around in preparation.

Fingers crossed, it won't be delayed.....:eek:
 
Yes, yes - it was waiting for me when I got to the Carrosserie. At last I can carry on working on the car. The grey is slightly darker than I expected but I like it. It is a Citroen grey from the old days ;)

So it is back in the garage and I have started with removing the steering rack and replacing the rubber gators and track rod ends.

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thats quite a transformation! You know of course that you'll now have to get chrome bumpers for the finishing touch
 
Never rely on the French ' carte gris' to be accurate particularly on the date of manufacture of a vehicle . For all their bureaucracy the French 'Prefecture' are pretty vague about recording car details, if they get the box that says Renault 4 correct, consider yourself as doing well - as a nation they're far more interested about getting their bread fresh three times a day and the the correct temperature at which to serve a particular type of cheese. Claudia my little French R4, I bought here in Western France 3 months ago, is supposedly manufactured in 1980 but as I delve deeper into her history I suspect she is actually considerably older. What complicates matters even more is that she has been replaced with some parts from later models. For example I think she may well have had her original dynamo system replaced with an alternator. She also has at some point been modified to run on san plumb essence ( unleaded petrol ) - anyway best of luck with your renovation I think you done an excellent job on her.

Claude
 
Cheers - I will be chroming her up a little. Chrome bumpers, door mirrors, hubcaps and I will be putting on the older style grill and have had single round lights put in place of the rectangle set. Little changes that totally take it away from original but that is not what I am trying to do. This is a fun runaround for my wife, to drive and enjoy it.
In fact it is turning out to be our only car for a time, the others are either work vehicles (minibuses) or in need of renovation :)
 
There's a great photo of a rear end shot of an R4 all chromed up on the second inside page of the 2013 CiPeRe Renault Parts catalogue. She's parked along side a Gordini and two DS's. She even has chrome trimmed back light clusters that makes her look very up-market. If you contact CiPeRe you might be able to get you a set- they do have an English speaking adviser, if you like me and still struggling with the lingo.

claude
 
Tripyrenees said:
Cheers - I will be chroming her up a little. Chrome bumpers, door mirrors, hubcaps and I will be putting on the older style grill and have had single round lights put in place of the rectangle set.
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will you change your front bonnet in order to host the round lights or just modify your actual one?
 
The Carrosserie guy is welding on patches and then creating new holes. It was the easiest way, plus my bonnet is quite good.


Crappy job changing the bottom ball joints - who the hell decided to rivet them in (original) and then stick the driveshaft in the way so you can't get the ball joint out. What a job, cutting out the rivets and then pulling out the driveshafts.

All done though, so both top and bottom ball joints done and steering rod ends. All this hidden stuff before I can get on with putting the car back together.
 
Changing the ball joints on a Renault is an art!

Luckily for me, mine had all been done already (ex police) reasonable maintenance. So to put new ones on was just a matter of unbolting.
 
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