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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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