... all been done before

[rowehillmaster]

I found this forum whilst surfing the net one lunch at work, and it brought back memories .... after an agrument with a missing drain cover, my fathers new 1971 4TL was written off, we had an old E reg one too, with my grandfather and me helping the body was removed, a new chassis bought and modified to take an 1108 cc ? Renault 5 engine, I believe it had Renault 6 or was it 12 ? suspension components and front discs, it ran on vented steel wheels R6 or R12 again ? they completed it and it ran on till the late eighties - the conversion was done in about 1975-6 I rekon, as it was done in the summer and we left Scotland in May 1977 - I have a genuine Renault workshop manual - it has a soft purple and white cover and has instructions for making a plien-air ( soft top R4 ) in the back - something I considered doing with an R4 in the early nineties - is any body interested in the book - make me an offer.

 

[rowehillmaster]

.... a bit more I remember -
.... the above mentioned R4 had three Smiths auxillary gauges, one of which was a temperature gauge - mounted in a polished wood insert in the centre of the dash -it had a kenlow fan, with a light, on the right of the dash when on, I think it was an iluminating switch which could be used as an overide, it also had an electronic ignition, if I remember correctly it was home made, as was the intermitant wiper control it also had, the handbrake was on the rear wheels , I seem to think it had some big ciebe headlights built into the bonnet, but still kept the original chrome grill .... and I believe that the ends of the torsion bars were modified - to stiffen it up a little ? it certainly appeared squat at the front .... my dad was around in the early auto/rallycross days at brands hatch with a mini, his brother rallied an R8 or 10 as well as an Imp - I remember going around Knockhill in the snow in the R4 when quite young - I will try to find some pictures.

 

[malcolm]

Sounds very tuned! Renault themselves did almost the same thing with the engine and suspension when they made the GTL that came out in 1981 (ish). Though they didn't modify the torsion bars the front sat a lot lower with the extra weight of the engine. They didn't do much with the carb either so yours would have gone a lot faster than Renault's conversion.

I'd love to see some photos. Have you thought of buying another since the Pleain Air thoughts? I think I have the same manual - 1971 MR61. It's very useful to anyone doing serious bodywork.

 

[rowehillmaster]

... I did own one briefly in the ninetys .... but sold / swaped it for a Harley Davidson .... another story .... but if I saw the right one who knows ? ....I will tap my dad up about 'Rosey' - ( my mum used to call it this, it seem a lot of R4s have names ! ) .... it was his baby, it might of had a carb from a fire pump (my gradfather was chief engineer at a firebrigade workshops) .... it had an HCB Angus badge on the grill for some reason .... I believe that he 'blue printed' the engine and I remember it being run on the bench, prior to installation to the moded chassis, in his workshop for some reason ... I was only 8-9 years old.

 

[rowehillmaster]

here is the only picture I have - sorry for the quality I think it was taken with Kodak 110 that I had - I think it is summer 1978 and it/she has just come back from being sprayed, towing the trailer with the rolling shell to my mums BMW Isetta on .... she wanted that yellow, and the car got the same treatment !

.... not sure if they are its normal wheels, could be another set, I know my dad had spares for the snow chains to go on - yes the winters were bad back then ! .... I recall him using them, at least once, even in Cornwall !

... on my next visit to my parents I will raid the photo box, I think there are some of it on tressels with the refurbished chassis being rolled under .... they may be dated .... there may be some of the old one, it was CPR 5xxE, my mum called it Casper .... it was navy blue with a cream / grey interior, thats about all I can remember .... it sat in the garden for ages after WSN 741J had arrived, we used to play in it .... I think the rear chassis leg broke with rust, one of the wheels was at an odd angle when it was towed away.