1108 Clan restoration

[Mike Cordeiro]

Hi guys, last winter I came across a rust free and low mileage (51000 kms) Renault Clan that I decided to purchase and restore to its original condition.
I had been looking for a low kilos one for a long time.
This forum was of a great help , and motivation, to get the project done and I believe that it is only fair to share my restoration experience and hopeful motivate some of you that are currently busy with a project.
(o.k. this really is a minor project compared to what I have see here)

As I mention before, this car was absolutely rust free but it was full of scratches and dents aswell as a dull-ish paintwork.

I started with the strip down and removal of all dents...

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

The second stage was to get the body ready for colour. This was definately the most time consuming.
It takes a lot of time and sanding to get the body panels dead straight but it is well worth the effort...

 

[JdeW]

Welcome to the forum Mike,
And may I say that you are a very lucky guy with finding a R4 Clan (GTL) in fine (almost mint) condition
Just removing some dents and repainting..... I wish I was in your position.
Keep sending pictures that's what we all like and good luck and enjoyment with your R4 Clan.
Regards, Joop

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

Welcome to the forum Mike,
And may I say that you are a very lucky guy with finding a R4 Clan (GTL) in fine (almost mint) condition
Just removing some dents and repainting..... I wish I was in your position.
Keep sending pictures that's what we all like and good luck and enjoyment with your R4 Clan.
Regards, Joop

Thanks JdeW, I looked for a rust free and low mileage clan for 5 years (yes I am picky) and eventually came across this one in the north of Portugal belonging to an ex-pat
that had returned from France and brought the 4L with him. It didn't come cheap but I believed that it was time to end the search.

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

The next phase was to find a paint shop that would do the paint work side of things. It was now late November 2017 and all paint shops were fully booked up untill end of February and that would mean that I could not make use of the December holidays to make headway on the project.
Eventualy , after insisting with a local paint shop owner he said, in an ironical way, that I could paint it myself on a Sunday if I wanted too.
I had not painted a car in more than 20 years but I took it as a challenge and accepted his suggestion...

 

[ecurb.renots]

That is starting to look really good

 

[JdeW]

Almost Ferrari red and now the engine .
And that's one nice spraybooth Mike

 

[Jurjenz]

Lovely colour! Jealous on the spraybooth

 

[Jimthevan]

Looking fantastic! What I would give to have access to a workshop like that.

Looking forward to seeing it come together

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

Thank you guys for all the comments, I do appreciate it. I was given access to the spray booth on a Sunday and the owner of the workshop only charged me for the heating costs which was very kind of him.
The colour is the original Renault colour, lucky It still had the paint code sticker on the inner wing.

The next step was now to start assembly and I decided to face the dreaded door rubbers challenge.
I fist bought some after-market rubbers here in Portugal being sold as specific for the 4L but they were way too hard. Afterwards I got a set from Der Franzose which were really great and while I waited for the arrival
of the package, I got a phone call from a friend of mine, that works at Renault, telling me that Renault still stock these rubbers. (original) I had to get a set just in case. They also great quality, similar to the ones from Der Franzose.

Regarding the glue, I found the "Pattex 100%" to be by far the best and easiest way to go. It is colourless and it flows easier that the contact glue. Also, it makes for a much neater job and it has a very strong hold.

All the other rubbers for the windscreen and door glasses I gave then a good rub with a cloth soaked in thinners and left them to dry properly in the sun. Afterwards I rubbed them again but this time with slightly diluted Vaseline to re-hydrate the rubber and , again, left it to dry over night. This really brought them back quite nicely....and soft.

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

The fianl assembly was fairly quick as I had already spent a lot of time preparing and sourcing all the parts necessary.

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

Cont..

 

[JdeW]

Shiny parts and one shiny car, good work Mike
I wish I was allready that far...

 

[Jurjenz]

Holy wow, those are shiny parts! Your work is absolutely stunning!

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

Shiny parts and one shiny car, good work Mike
I wish I was allready that far...

Thank you JdeW. It was a relatively simple restoration because the car was in such good condition to start with...

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

Holy wow, those are shiny parts! Your work is absolutely stunning!

Thank you Jurjenz. I sent all the bolts, nuts and metal brackets for Zinc plating while I was busy with the bodywork.

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

The final product...

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

..some more pic...

 

[Mike Cordeiro]

...last ones.

 

[Jurjenz]

What a beauty it is! EXCELENT!