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1985 R4 GTL 1108cc upgrade

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robertposner

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I have an immaculate pale blue 1985 GTL. I do the odd 200 mile motorway journey so need a bit more acceleration rather than more speed - it hoofs along quite nicely but rather noisily at 80mph +. I have been told that I could get an exchange reconditioned R5 1400cc engine - is this the best idea? Would this go with the existing gearbox? Are there any other mods necessary to the suspension/ignition/or anything else? Is there anything I could do to cut down the road noise, apart from buying an iPod or a pair of 600 watt speakers?
 
This is the most simplest way to gain more power. I'm sure others will suggest more expensive methods!! I posted this over a year ago, so here it is.


Get a 1108 basic 5TL with the solex 32 carb. Swap carb, manifold, air filter, water pump and carb heater hoses and rocker cover. Fit these to your 4GTL and slightly modify your choke and throttle cables. Remove the 5 throttle return spring and make up a simple bracket and fit to a manifold nut using a weaker spring for the throttle return. Do the basic timing and adjust the mixture and take it out for a spin. If you get pinking, retard the distributor to zero degrees. If it still does it, try a 117.5 or 118 main jet in the carb and then adjust the timing to the pinking stage, then back off a little. You will also need to rig up a hot air intake for the winter. I grafted a Mini bi-metal air intake unit onto the filter housing with an intake pipe drawing hot air from the front exhaust pipe.

Make sure your car is properly converted to unleaded or you are using an additive.

Steve
 
The R4 would be quite nippy with the modifications suggested by Steve. Going as far as a 1.4 engine would probably be enough to make you want to make sure the brakes are in good condition, and possibly fit slightly firmer suspension dampers.

For noise: a lot of the noise is wind noise (on my car anyway). New door seals can help. The other thing I would be very tempted to do is glue some 1/4 inch open cell foam headlining material to cabin side of the plastic roof panel. This should absorb a lot of the high frequency noise and generally make things sound more dead.

Lower frequency road noise can be improved by putting a layer of the same 1/4 inch foam under the rubber floor mats. This de-couples the mats from the structure so you get less noise transmission.
 
many thanks Steve & Malcolm - I might have a Solex 32 carb on a 1986 Renault 4 GTL 1108cc I have hidden in a railway arch - mechanically the R4 is perfect but it needs loads of welding in all the worst places (suspension mounts etc) so I use it for running spares. Would it be the same as the R5 Solex 32? Or could I replace the jets to make it so? Noise reduction info looks sensible and easily done - thank you. Any point in putting something under the bonnet, or is that area not a great contributor to noise levels?
 
Steve is the man for carb mods - certainly any carb originally fitted to the R4 was detuned.

Absorbtion is the key to reducing noise in the R4. One of those soft linings to the engine bay would probably help.
 
As far as I know, the 32 was not fitted to the later 4GTL's. I have only seen the horrible 28IF's fitted. The 32 is a pumped carb - ie, it has a larger bore and an accelerator pump fitted. This 32 is not the same as fitted to the 5 Mk2. Referring to my original post, someone gave me a scrap Mk1 5TL and I swapped the lot over and it made my 4 very respectable indeed - it was a totally different driving experience. Bear in mind that the 4 is much lighter than the 5 so the larger carb that is meant to give the (heavier) 5 some power certainly works well on the 4.

This mod is the cheapest way to make your 4 keep up with modern traffic conditions - do it, you won't regret it. If you live anywhere near Haverhill in Suffolk, you are welcome to peek under my bonnet if you're not sure.

Steve
 
many thanks for taking the trouble to give me so much useful info - it seems that it would be overkill to repplace the engine (it seems perfectly good and I have a spare good 1108cc engine anyway). Gower & Lee (carb specialists - you can find them on Google) were very helpful when I had a weird carb set-up last year, so maybe they can source a carb/manifold and do a refurb for me if I give them your info. I might take up your offer to potter over to Sussex to have a look at your mod. All the best...
 
I would suggest that you read my original posting again as you'll need far more than the carb and manifold - you have to swap over all the parts I listed. Another benefit of the mod is that the R5 Carb is heated by the engine coolant, so quicker warm ups and no icing.

I do have another spare R5 with all the parts you will need. Send me a private message if you're interested.

Steve
 
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