1985 Renault 4 GTL rebuild - Where to start?

[Eoynteenie]

Ok, things are not lookin up for my Rene, and since it was the 4's 50th birthday this sat gone, I tracked up the M27 and M3 (scaring the hell of out modern cars as I pushed my way thou) to go to the meet up at the Brooklands Museum to meet other R4 owners and get help with Rene and start a new plan of action on how to or even if to save him.

I am very happy with the welcome I got althou Rene stood out a bit with his blue bonnet and black wings and had a few people under the bonnet or in the boot, even underneath telling me where the problems hide and how to prevent them.
By the end of the day a full rebuild was said to be the way to go and in the custom direction (modernise if you will).

Now, question is.......not 42.

What is the best way to start this rebuild?
Stuff to watch out for?
Places to look for parts that could be needed?

Any mods that have come across as a good idea to the R4 world?
and ideas people would like to see or not see :?

Also couple of questions for the end of the rebuild really
Stainless Steel Exhausts?
The rims that Derek (Renospeed?) R4 and Van sit one - what are they?
Or can the hubs be converts to others (better brakes, 4 PCD discs at the back?)
and since being 22 years old....lowering?

And yes, i have a Welder :twisted:

 

[snailshed]

Also couple of questions for the end of the rebuild really
The rims that Derek (Renospeed?) R4 and Van sit on - what are they?

If you mean his Blue F6 van (does he have others?) the wheels are called Fergats. They are steel rims painted two tone. There are thin ones sometimes fitted on R4 Clans in France (marginly more common) and then there are fat versions that look the same fitted on R5 Gordini mk1's I think.

The good news, unlike most of the alloy wheels is that Fergats use the standard wheelnuts, but the bad is you have to be a little bit lucky and quite patient to find a set. Sets appear sometimes on Leboncoin.fr or ebay France but the postage is hefty (especially if they have tyres on them) and some sets seem to be asking stupid money (i.e. $300 Eur etc).

An alternative try is to join the R5 Gordini forum in the UK and put a wanted post up. Thats how I found my set and the price was a more reasonable £100.

Good Luck!

 

[Eoynteenie]

forming a rough idea of where i want to go with Rene now

Converting from the 3 hub to 4? is it poss? has it been done?
as thinking along of the lines of theses

Redesigning the grill is he has the early signal lights and the side lights are moved into the grill to minic the Mk1 golf style? and wire up some H4's to give him a bit more POP!

want to get rid of all the plastic and go for chrome bumbers, door handles, boot latch, roof rack?

.....?

 

[pepper]

Id start with getting the poor bodywork right, once that's sorted I'd look at improving or changing things!

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

Hi Eoynteenie, sounds like you might be in a similar place to me with your R4 project - got a car that needs a lot of work and millions of ideas that you want to try out! It's hard to stay focused but I'd echo Pepper's advice - fix the mechanicals and make sure your bodywork and chassis are sound before getting too involved with the cool stuff

It's a shame I couldn't make it to Brooklands, it's always good to meet another member. Especially another young'un who doesn't live too far away

 

[Bajababy]

Ok, things are not lookin up for my Rene, and since it was the 4's 50th birthday this sat gone, I tracked up the M27 and M3 (scaring the hell of out modern cars as I pushed my way thou) to go to the meet up at the Brooklands Museum to meet other R4 owners and get help with Rene and start a new plan of action on how to or even if to save him.

I am very happy with the welcome I got althou Rene stood out a bit with his blue bonnet and black wings and had a few people under the bonnet or in the boot, even underneath telling me where the problems hide and how to prevent them.
By the end of the day a full rebuild was said to be the way to go and in the custom direction (modernise if you will).

Now, question is.......not 42.

What is the best way to start this rebuild?
Stuff to watch out for?
Places to look for parts that could be needed?

Any mods that have come across as a good idea to the R4 world?
and ideas people would like to see or not see :?

Also couple of questions for the end of the rebuild really
Stainless Steel Exhausts?
The rims that Derek (Renospeed?) R4 and Van sit one - what are they?
Or can the hubs be converts to others (better brakes, 4 PCD discs at the back?)
and since being 22 years old....lowering?

And yes, i have a Welder :twisted:

Sounds like an interesting project...keep us informed and send pics. Everyone on here has been invaluable in my quest to bring my 4 back to its original state. It doesn't happen overnight but it sure is worth it...All the best.

 

[Lobster]

and since being 22 years old....lowering?

Not that difficult, hardest bit will be getting the rear torsion bars out. Still, R4s can look pretty good lowered.

If you went with the fergat wheels though or anything else that has a tyre profile of 165 or more then it will rub a bit at the rear, lowering it would only make it rub more so you might need to stiffen the suspension up a bit to compensate? Can you get Spax adjustable shocks in an R4 fitment I wonder?

I'd get the car basically right first though and then start modifying it from there as others have said. I quite like the idea of a warm R4 though - slightly more power, slightly lowered and made a bit more useable day to day.

 

[Eoynteenie]

work gets boring and i have a few people at work who put ideas in my heads O.o

as for saying puttin the body right as the engine is ok, stuff around it, not so....

I'm just askin on how to start with the car, what hazards await me as i strip it, do i follow the haynes book of lies or go about it in my own way?

 

[Eoynteenie]

ok, some photos just to show a starting point

Meet Chief MOT'er Polo!

And now Rene, Polo does not hold high hopes

MY GOD LOOK AT THAT HOLE! - Polo

I saw daylight thou it

This is isn't so bad

Damn theses UK roads and metal quality

Engine seems fine, steering needs work, ah as noted by the last MOT,
Bonnet needs looking at along with the inner wings as well

See why your mates call this the death seat, i see road

The Saab 96 is coming back to life, so hopefully with luck Rene and Dot will trade places allowing me and Polo to start the long jounry from poorly Rene to Modern Day Rene Ready

 

[jjad]

What a clever Guinea Pig!

 

[mike4gtl]

Thats just the sort of thing LORD STANBURY would do. use a pet as an mot tester

 

[Geoff in the Gully]

Love the inspector! The best kind - one whose dinner (or not) is in your hands.:lol:

 

[Eoynteenie]

Polo is Renes rebuild mascot because of the cars back story in my family and the reason why i want to save it,

And althou Polo's dinner could be in my hands, hes still a tough piggy to impress

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

How be the chassis, below the waterline ye might say? ...ye know these vessels always rot worst in the bilges.

 

[pepper]

Shiver me Timbers, me hearties!

I'd be having a good look see at the chassis too!

 

[beagle]

After 10 min of reading this thread, I'm still laughing to myself about Polo the MOT tester... It's the picture of him looking through the window that's the best

 

[Eoynteenie]

Ok, Rene's Insurance has run out, and tax and MOT are not far behind, so its off the road for Rene

Now some important questions.
What do i do about the engine, as i plan to leave it in the chassic during the repairs but i want to protect it.
Also me and dad are disagreeing over how to take the tub off - Some one told him to cut thou the door post so to leave the bulkhead inplace where i want to remove it all cause my inner wings have had it and need repair or replacing but i think i'll leave it all together and do what welding that i can till i'm happy or need to remove the tub to look at the chassic..

Also could need a place to store the tub or chassic....not much room at home....

 

[barnfind]

Take it off in one piece, don't start cutting and shutting is my advice.

If you remove the bolt on wings, doors, bonnet and tailgate, the whole thing is fairly lightweight. Undo the bolts that hold it down to the chassis (see Haynes Manual), disconnect wiring, heater pipes, gear linkage, handbrake, steering column, seat belts and I suggest, unbolt the inner wings as well, and with a little gentle persuasion and some wedges under the bolt down points, you should be able to release it from the mastic bed and lift it off.
If you take out the seats, you can lift it up a foot or so and just pull the chassis out forwards on its wheels.

Have a look elsewhere in the Projects section and Clementines website and you will see a few examples of how its done.

I left the engine in place whilst I did mine. If it is stored outside, just wrap it up in polythene to keep the weather out.

 

[alewis]

I agree - Its quite easy to take the whole top off, just about 20 bolts around the edge.

Remove seats
Disconnect controls
Remove outer and inner wings
Disconnect handbrake
Disconnect wires from engine
Disconnect fuel filler (jubilee clips, remove rubber section of hose)
remove bolts around edge of body

And Lift ! (With a bit of rocking if the glue is stuck)

(I took the top off mine in a day)

Then I took the engine out as was quite easy and rolled the chassis on its side for welding

Also for storing the body/tub I just lifted it up and rolled the chassis out to weld and back underneath when not working on it so it took the same space as the car

 

[Eoynteenie]

You guys have so much room

The idea at the the mo is just to get everything out till its just the body, engine and chassis, and then prob around marking everything up, I'm guessin the other side of Xmas its a better idea to take him apart fully when mates can be bribed with beer and college work is less then is is now.

Also Column gear change is difficult when the car wants to hide 3rd gear >.<

Also I'm going to change the oil for some fresh stuff but i would like to know what other people do to the engines before allowing them to sit for a long time,