Gordini Project
This would be a challenging project if I planned to rebuild the
car to original condition. The roof has been crushed by an Astra,
the chassis is rusty, and the engine is seized. Fortunately I'm
planning a lot of modifications including a 1400cc Gordini engine.
It'll get another body tool as this one has rusted in all the
seams.
We'd decided on the forum that the perfect Renault 4 might borrow
parts from various years of production. This one will end up largely
1968 spec, but much of the running gear will be borrowed from
post 1983 cars. |
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Chassis Jig
But first things first. I've decided I'm getting too old to be
messing around welding underneath cars, so decided to bring the
chassis up to a handy level.
The chassis jig could also come in handy for keeping the chassis
straight while I remove the floor, crossmembers and suspension
mountings for repair.
In detail > Chassis jig |
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Inner rear suspension mounting
Clementine the cat has been known to repair rear suspension mountings
before, but this is the first on an early chassis, and it turned
out to be slightly more involved than expected.
In detail > Inner rear
suspension mounting |
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Outer rear suspension mounting
This chassis would have made it through an MOT with a little
patching to the outer suspension mounting, but it made sense while
the chassis was in the jig to do the job properly. I've redesigned
the mounting a little in an attempt to extend it's life.
More > Outer rear suspension
mounting |
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Front chassis repairs
This is the first time I've investigated the wobbly metal often
found at the bottom of the front chassis members. The structure
can look good from below, but mine turned out to be quite rusty
inside.
In detail > Front chassis
repairs |
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Floor Panel
The floor panels had to be removed early on during chassis repairs
for access to all the front and rear chassis. The chassis gets
very floppy without a floor, and that's the main reason for the
jig.
Complete floor panels are no longer available so I used two half
panels.
In detail > Floor panel |
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The 5 Speed Gearbox
Renault made a 5 speed gearbox based on the gearbox used in the
later Renault 4, but they never fitted it in a production Renault
4. It would be a shame not to include the conversion in this project.
In detail > 5 speed gearbox
conversion |
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Steering column
I can't believe how fiddly it is to connect a nice transparent
tortoise shell steering wheel to a GTL steering rack while avoiding
a Gordini carburetor manifold along the way.
I put together a system that works but wasn't happy with it.
So I did it again.
In detail > Steering column
modifications |
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Brakes
There will be plenty of messing around with the brakes on this
project. I'm planning a combination of front disc brakes and a
bench front seat.
That means the handbrake is going to act on the rear wheels,
and the only variant with dash mounted handbrake acting on the
rear wheels was built for the Spanish market in LHD only.
On top of that I'm planning to fit a brake servo.
In detail > Brakes
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Air Intake
Another case of planning one thing and ending up with another.
I wanted to incorporate a hot air feed to the carburettor and
the Gordini airbox looked like it would do the job nicely.
Mounting the air intake required some inner wing modifications
and a new bracket, but then the carburetor top I'd planned to
use wouldn't fit under the bonnet. More modifications were needed
to get everything to fit.
In detail > Air Intake System |
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Aluminium Exhaust Heatshield
Every now and then I feel the need to do something completely
over the top. The heatshield in the picture and pipe were both
formed from sheet aluminium and TIG welded together.
In detail > Aluminium heatshield |
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Inner Wing Welding
While welding the jack mounting to the inner wing I spotted how
much rust that inner wing had. It's well past economic repair,
but I'd bought some new toys for the angle grinder I wanted to
try out.
The result is nothing short of craftsmanship and I'm really pleased
with the result, but 3 days repairing a £100 panel is crazy
even if it's not actually available in that style any more.
In detail > Inner wing welding
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Rear upper wing
This is one of the nastiest areas on the whole car to repair.
The upper wing is 0.8mm (at least I hope it's not 0.6mm)
and is unsupported at it's bottom edge. It's going to take some
technique to stop it from going all wobbly when I weld in the
repair section.
Of course the repair section isn't available from the shops,
so I'm going to have to fabricate something. Also I've a feeling
in the back of my mind that things ought to be modified a little.
In detail > Rear upper
wing repair |
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Preparing for paint
The car will be stripped right back to bare metal before painting.
This is to sort out defects (rust worms) under the original paint,
but should also make for a fantastic photograph when I've finished.
I've assembled all of the bits and pieces into the engine bay,
and the page has pics of the layout.
In detail > Preparing for
paint |
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There might be a little delay in progress until the start of 2008.
Got one of these job things again for a short time and it really takes
the time out of the day. Besides I've fitted a "Hennessey Hot Up
Kit" to Ermintrude the R4 and there's a lot of fettling to extract
that last fraction of a horsepower.