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New Chassis from Melun Retro Passion

B

bosun bill

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Location
Liss, Hampshire, England
Hi everyone,
Has anyone had any experience of obtaining and installing a new R4GTL chassis from Melun Retro Passion?
Derek at Renospeed has fitted one, but had a lot of fettling to do to make bolt holes etc. line up.
All info would be greatly appreciated.
Our '86 R4 GTL (which has been patiently waiting 5 years for me to get my restoration act together) has had rear chassis rails welded some time ago (but not that well) and the front O/S chassis leg has an A4 size hole in the lower plate! It's gonna take some serious welding so we are now debating whether to go for a new one or buy a shed full of steel sheet!
Ta & best regards, Bosun Bill.
 
I'm also tempted by a new chassis - my F4 has finally got to the point where it needs all the normal chassis repairs and I'm not set up for welding just now so am thinking about buying the chassis and swapping everything over. Failing that I suppose I could get the Rodeo going and use that as a van instead. :-)

Anyone had a quote for shipping to the UK?
 
+1
I'm really tempted to get a new chassis for the moment I'll do the job on my Savane.
But I'm not sure about how much is a "plug and play" spare.
For the transport I think you have to contact directly Melun.
(Or if you have a trailer or a van, you could organize a trip in France).
 
How much it cost to buy new chassis? cca 2000€? Transport?

It looks to me that for that kind of money you can do whole car. At least here in Croatia.

But i understand if someone does not have time and will to do whole job
 
I think the reason to have a brand new chassis is more phylosophical than economical, new metal, good anti-corrosion treatment from new and no patchwork instead a work of cutting and welding each piece needs a sobstitution...
The chassis should be 1700 euro with zinc galvanization and 2000 euros with cataphoresis paint.
 
Depends how you value your time. Mine is a little stretched at the moment, and chassis repairs take ages. I think I've decided to sell my van and spend the time on other things, but I'll miss it!
 
When I started the restoration of my 1985 R4 GTL, I seriously considered the choice of going for a new chassis or repairing the original chassis.
I had the time for welding but not the money for a brand new chassis and to me the most important reason is the fact that restoring a car is a process of keeping as much as original as is possible.

I agree with all the above choices (Malcolm, Petak and Leonardo) one makes, going for new or take your welder.
My chassis is almost restored and when I look back at the amount of labour and time spent so far I could ask myself the question "Joop, would you do it again or buy a new one?"
I surely will answer "I would do this again!" because it is great fun and you get to know your R4 on every square cm or inch.

Indeed economical in terms of labour hours not the best choice, but aesthetically for me the best choice.
Regards, Joop
 
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You know Joop, after following your posts on rebuilding your cars' chassis the question did cross my mind, why is this gentleman going to such lengths to bring such a rusty chassis back to life? But I now totally understand, and agree with you. It's part of your car's history, you've kept a lot of the original underpinnings of the original car, you've learnt a great deal about your car, and although a new chassis sounds great, it's an easy way out. You sir, have achieved so much. Well done that man.
Regards Brian.
 
Cornish4 said:
You know Joop, after following your posts on rebuilding your cars' chassis the question did cross my mind, why is this gentleman going to such lengths to bring such a rusty chassis back to life? But I now totally understand, and agree with you. It's part of your car's history, you've kept a lot of the original underpinnings of the original car, you've learnt a great deal about your car, and although a new chassis sounds great, it's an easy way out. You sir, have achieved so much. Well done that man.
Regards Brian.
Click to expand...
Thank you Brian for those nice words.
Maybe for project number 2, I might even set the bar higher on the chassis rebuild challenge e.g. like really forging the pieces :D.
No just kidding, project 1 is keeping most of it original, project 2 will be a fun build and going for a new chassis.
The reason for project 2 with a new chassis is that it is really a quality aftermarket product, with thicker (zincore) sheet metal and cataphoresis protection.
Regards, Joop
 
Hi All !
I know that this is quite an old post but there were a few of you interested in MRP's new chassis... so am I, after having separated the body from the chassis of my project 1985 GTL (post in the relevant section being prepared right now, hopefully published soon !), and finding a real disaster there...

Half of the front cross member just fell apart by its own, and the "right front longitudinal member that supports the engine and the suspension" (surely there's a shorter word for this one but please excuse my poor English vocabulary for technical terms, it'll improve with time :D ) is literally a pile of rust and has not a single square inch of salvageable metal left. I feel like my engine is going to find itself on the floor very soon. And I'm not talking about the usual spots (floors, rear suspension mounts, and so on...) because, well, they're in a "usual" state as well.

SDC12651.JPG

I won't enter here in the debate of old things brought to life vs new, but in my case, even financially it makes sense to get a new one.

So I have not contacted Melun Retro Passion yet, but reading carefully what they say, it's mandatory to pay for a wooden box for the chassis (110€) and then on top of that transport price (need to get in touch with them but I'd expect at least another 200€ - will let you know once I get round contacting them).

In the meantime, I found that a standard long wheelbase van has sufficient dimensions to get a few chassis in (surely 4, maybe 5). It's still a bit of money, but for at least 2 chassis it starts to make sense.

So, if anyone in the UK is looking for a new chassis (or other bulky items that cost a fortune in shipping), would you be happy to try and organise a trip at MRP sometime this year?

Please let me know your thoughts :)

Regards, Severin
 
I still want a new chassis for my van and about 300€ doesn't seem bad for shipping. I tried emailing for a shipping quote bud didn't get a reply, so would be interested in what you find out.
 
We bought one from Melun, wow what a pain, they don't want to take your moeny or help you at all. It took me close to 6 month to do the deal. We had a language barrier for sure, they don't work everyday or weekends. They couldn't get someone to ship it and the parts (Total £3600 order) to the UK so we negotiated for me to collect. They would only allow collection on a few limited week days and limited times!

We ended up pleading with them and someone came in to open the door at 10am Saturday morning! The chassis fitted simply on the roof rack (They normally hold 100kg so no weight issues) It was a good trip for the old man and I.
 
@malcolm , yes it doesn't look too bad but multiply it by 2, or 3, or 4 that would be better spent in renting a van, having a nice trip there, and come back with 2, 3 or 4 chassis, some other parts if needed, and some cheap nice bottles of wine :drunk:(or other french goodies).
When I get a quotation from them for transport I'll let you know.

@Matthew rosier , I hadn't thought of roof racks... If you've done it, definitely sounds like a possibility ! No issues crossing the border with that (in the sense, no one in Calais to tell you it's unsafe and you shouldn't do it)? How did you get it not to move or slide on the rack?
 
@harbourseal, My "own language" being French or English, does that work? because if it's only Dutch, I'm clueless about what the website says :laughing: More seriously, thanks for the tip, sounds good, considering as well they have not increased their prices for the new year unlike MRP. Do you know if they stamp the chassis number as well before sending? I used the "translate to English" in Chrome but yet couldn't see that mentioned.
 
I was considering buying one myself, but i was short on cash, so i started to repair my own chassis and half a year later im nearly done :D
I got entire floor pan instead, and beacause I'm in mptor trade i got 15 percent discount, and they did not charge vat, so floor shipped to ireland costed me 220 euros
 
Severin45 said:
My "own language" being French or English, does that work? because if it's only Dutch, I'm clueless about what the website says :laughing: More seriously, thanks for the tip, sounds good, considering as well they have not increased their prices for the new year unlike MRP. Do you know if they stamp the chassis number as well before sending? I used the "translate to English" in Chrome but yet couldn't see that mentioned.
Click to expand...
The owner (Jan-Willem) has over 40 years of experience with Renault, you can always send an email (in French or English we are adaptable to foreign languages) and just ask questions.
Restamping the VIN (chassisnumber) is your own responsibility, you have the original chassis, so first take a photo for proof and restamp the VIN into the new chassis. Depending on specific country regulations you may have to do this by an authorized garage or MOT instance.
You can ofcourse weld your own new chassis maybe by using stainless steel still you need to restamp the VIN by your own and the same counts when you weld a repair chassis beam in place
 
@Severin45
The trick is to make personal contact with Jan-Willem.
He will reply in your language of choice.
And he’ll be able to tell you what to do about the VIN number.

Regards, Robert
 
JdeW said:
The owner (Jan-Willem) has over 40 years of experience with Renault, you can always send an email (in French or English we are adaptable to foreign languages) and just ask questions.
Restamping the VIN (chassisnumber) is your own responsibility, you have the original chassis, so first take a photo for proof and restamp the VIN into the new chassis. Depending on specific country regulations you may have to do this by an authorized garage or MOT instance.
You can ofcourse weld your own new chassis maybe by using stainless steel still you need to restamp the VIN by your own and the same counts when you weld a repair chassis beam in place
Click to expand...

Thanks for the full explanation :) For the VIN, despite being your own responsibility, MRP does it for you, that's why I was asking if the same service was available from this company. that's a detail though. Still quite interesting.
 
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