1988 R4 F4 restoration made in France

[Snoopy1974]

Hi David,

yesterday Océane asked me if I had news from you !... Your rims are nice and curiously I didn't know that Dunlop made rims for R4s ?... I knew Dunlop rims for Peugeot 304 or others but for R4... As you noticed the center caps of my rims are also missing and it's very difficult to find these parts, even in France, they're often sold with the rims but almost never without.

I thought about you when I drove my F4 for the first times I also have the "big" 1108 cm3 as I wanted, I believed that I would have the same top speed as the GTL, BUT... at the same speed the noise is incredibly high in the car, the engine seems run very fast, I'm completly stressed for my poor engine running so fast :eek: :eek: :eek:

I think when I will have time to do it, I'll change the gearbox, the ratios are different from the GTL, this is the reason why the engine runs so fast. Did you change yours ????

 

[DavidN]

Hi Alexandre!

Now you can experience by yourself what I am complaining about with the high RPMs of the van.

I didn't do the conversion yet, as I was told not to do it by an F6 expert.
He said that the 1108 ccm F6 engine would not be capable of running with a GTL gearbox.

It has to do with the special camshaft that is used in the F6 engine.
The HP-RPM range just do not fit the ratio of the GTL gearbox.
The van is set up to carry loads therefore it needs rpms to produce power.
It is not a good choice for the Autobahn I guess. :smile:

Dunlop:
http://www.r4-4l.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=19632

Could you do a quick translation of that thread especially if there are special wheel-nuts needed with the Dunlop rims?
It would be nice to know before I buy!

Cheers,

David

http://www.resto-anciennes.com/t63-renault-ma-4l-voiture-de-tous-les-jours

 

[Snoopy1974]

I just finished to read the french forum, youy don't need special nuts, you can use the same as your actual rims It is written these rims was an option on R5 and R6 from 1974...

And for the gearbox... arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I"m going to continue to have broken ears with my engine I tried few days ago to run as fast as possible, the top speed was about 120 km/h but what the noise...

 

[Azazello]

I have a similar doubt with my car.
My original engine was a 956 one, but when the head blowed away I had an engine shop to transform it in a 1108 one as Angel told me was possible.
Now it is coupled with a hao163 gearbox (the TL one), giving a max speed of 120 km/h and good agility. I would like to swap for a 354146 gearbox I already bought to have higher max speed, less noise and less consumption, but my friend said that so it will become too slow changing speed (good for autoroute but not so enjoyable in city and during uphills)... I run on GPL, too.

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi everybody, here are some little news of my F4. Few months ago I installed a carpet in the rear compartment, it simply comes from a sedan R4:

I also made little repairs on the rear panel: rust inhibitor and "Blanc panda" paint, with a little brush:


Even if the car never goes outside when it rains or snows I decided to protect the paint with a special product:

I bought my new registration plates, in France if the car is old, you can put black ones, which are really more beautiful than yellow or with ones

These last days I wanted to repair the rear bumpers, and the corners of the body, I hade to find another bumpers to repair mine, which has steel guards very damaged :?

I found another bumper which is totaly rusty, but curiously its guards are in very good condition


This morning I cutted the rotten parts on mine, and patiently adjusted the good parts:


When it will be welded, it will be epoxy coated with the same color as the front one: RAL 7037.

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi everybody,

the bumper has been repaired and the new parts welded in place by my friend Gérard, the result is perfect I'm going to give it for an epoxy coating paint like the front bumper.





The bumper is now in very good condition while the rear corners of the body are completely deformed, I cannot admit that :eek: :eek:


I'm going to repair these areas, and this kind of job is not especially my cup of tea. Here are the only tools I have to try to repair the body, with naturally aluminium filler to finish the job...

 

[malcolm]

Don't use hard tools. You should be able to buy a soft faced hammer for about 10 euros. Something like the picture below with plastic one side and rubber on the other. Use a heavy piece of wood on the other side of the panel when you hit with the hammer and use the rubber face of the hammer. That way you don't need filler and paint.

 

[Snoopy1974]

I forgot to show that I also have a soft hammer, I will use it and we will see... but I fear I will need filler... Thanks Malcolm

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi everybody, here are the first pictures of the repair... First I used hammer to give again the general shape of each wing:



Then I used the filler shown above for a first step:



After sanding this filler with 80 / 120 and 240 dry paper, I put a "normal" filler to finish the job and then, sanded it from 80 to 500:



The repairs are now ready for the primer...

 

[mojobaby]

Hi Snoopy, you used Dinitrol first and then sanded it, then you used a "normal" filler. What is the name of the normal filler, the mastic that I use is terrible. When it dries it cracks!!!!!
Thanks for all the photos

 

[elch101]

Hi snoopy,

to decide on the gearbox you need the engine code. Maybe it's a C1C instead of C1E. That would be 956cc instead of 1108. Than longer gear ratios would'nt be a good idea. If the engin has 1108cc, some easy tuning is possible to achieve 44-48 hp and then a GTL-gearbox works perfect.

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi Snoopy, you used Dinitrol first and then sanded it, then you used a "normal" filler. What is the name of the normal filler, the mastic that I use is terrible. When it dries it cracks!!!!!
Thanks for all the photos

Here is the filler I used:
http://www.spieshecker.fr/portal/fr?page=2.1.1_Product_Categories_and_Details&category=Mastics

 

[mojobaby]

Thank you! I see it is a mastic polyester for universal repairs. My shop only has a mastic polyester for plastic and you have to use a hardener with it.
The mastic de finition that I use has hairline cracks in it when it dries
I have done the same repair on my car 5 times and I don't get a satisfactory finish!

 

[Rutger-peer]

The mastic de finition that I use has hairline cracks in it when it dries
I have done the same repair on my car 5 times and I don't get a satisfactory finish!

If you use a 2-pack mastic, make sure you don't use too much hardener and that you don't put on too thick coates at once.

Use about 1-2% hardener (if I'm right, check on the package) and if you have to make a thick coat, put it on in several smaller layers.

 

[mojobaby]

Thanks Snoopy and Rutger-peer!
I bought a 2 part mastic yesterday from a different shop. It's called CAR Urkilight by Besa. Multifunction Lightweight Putty. The guy at the shop said I should use 2% hardener.
I'll be using a thin coat, only to cover perforations made by old rust.

 

[Rutger-peer]

If that rust is local, then it's a good idea to use that stuff. If the car has more of that corrosion, I'd advice you to use a fillerprimer, or whatever it's called in English. In Dutch we call it "schuurprimer"... means as much as a "sandingprimer" or even "spuitplamuur" which translates as "sprayingfiller/-mastic". I think I saw Malcolm name it a "high-build primer". Basically it's a very thick primer with little parts in it, a very liquid mastic. Thinking of it now, it might also just be called "filler" but don't know for sure. Anyway, if you're preparing for a paintjob, I think using this stuff I'm talking about is almost indispensable, it really fills all little holes and "evens out" your surface and makes it smooth.

The normal mastic you use to fill dents or if there's not too much of it, the small rustpits you're talking about. Make sure you have removed ALL rust before applying (only way to do that thouroughly is by sandblasting really).

 

[Snoopy1974]

Thanks Snoopy and Rutger-peer!
I bought a 2 part mastic yesterday from a different shop. It's called CAR Urkilight by Besa. Multifunction Lightweight Putty. The guy at the shop said I should use 2% hardener.
I'll be using a thin coat, only to cover perforations made by old rust.

If you want to fill the holes due to the rust, as Rutger-peer said, you have to remove all the rust, or threat it, and I think you should use the first filler I used on my F4: the "aluminium filler" which is stronger than the normal filler...

Concerning the job on my F4 I painted the repairs with a paint spray especially prepared by my favorute supplier, I removed the newspaper to try to make the retouch as discreet as possible...


Then I refitted my nice epoxy coating bumper in RAL 7037, I was lucky to find 2 shutters for each extremity, they are not perfect but present, this is the most important



The result is much better than I expected (I'm usually not very good in filling and painting jobs...) only a little difference of tint and thickness is a little visible, but anyway, it's better compared with the car whan I bought it.

I installed a new spare wheel, epoxy coated in the same color as the Alpine rims:

I also decided to paint the caps after primering them, I hope the paint will adhere on the stainless steel without problem...



When they will be dry I'll fit them on the rims...

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi, the wheels have been removed and the caps fitted with sealant:


And here is the result:



The paint of the cap is a little lighter than the rim, but the result is good to my opinion

 

[Snoopy1974]

The sun was shining today, from the morning to this evening, so I decided to take my F4 to go to my job... When I was driving back home I tried to see the top speed of the car, I had the GPS on the dashboard to have a good measure... 115 km/h and I think I could do a little better...

The official top speed of a 1108 F4 is 111 km/h, your cars also drive faster than the official speed ???

 

[Tripyrenees]

I did a speed test on my 1983 4TL 1123 and managed 114Km/hr (with a GPS) and now my speedo works it is about the same with that.

I have not done anything to the motor (other than change the oil and filter) since I have had it and previously had not been driven for 10 years. Will do a full rebuild this autumn.

Nice van - that is what I wanted before my kids made me get the 4TL