Fossicking in the garage.

[renault4mad]

R4 friday....a good end to the week. Remember its R4 thursday next week as ive a customers Megane in for service and brakes. Dont forget to do the homework I set you for the week.

Thanks for the Pasty and mini roll

 

[Cornish4]

I always look forward to our R4 day mate, and I'll make sure the homework is completed before my next visit to your emporium, so we can add a bit more beauty to the Fourgonette

 

[Cornish4]

This grille has been languishing unloved for a while, but it's time has come. It will look beautiful on the little Fourgonette.

 

[renault4mad]

Great Job mate....

Have got another for you now

 

[Cornish4]

No problem buddy, time to work some magic.......

 

[Cornish4]

Hi folks, this grille has cleaned up quite well. The badge was glued on, but was easy to remove, and has now been attached with self-tappers, and some dents have also been fixed, ish. There weren't any fastenings, so I used some 3mm ali strip to fashion some, along with 5mm nuts and bolts. The curved edge fastenings are for the ends of the grille, as the van bonnet doesnt have the slots for the tabs. Some stainless mesh has been sourced, which nicely finishes the job. This grille is to go on the F4, as the other grille is deemed too good for a scruffy old van, and may go on Andrews beautiful yellow GTL.

 

[Cornish4]

Hi there guys n gals. Have you noticed how inferior rubber repro parts are these days? A case in point is the rubber bush on the gear selector, which I only replaced last year, not done many miles since, and it's splitting.
So I've now fitted a spherical bearing. I didn't want to weld the bearing on, or modifying the rod in any way, so using the remains of the rubber bush, some plastic spacers and two 3mm aluminium plates I've done the job. The bearing is 26mm OD, and is a snug fit in the bush.
I took the car out for a test drive yesterday, and it works really well. It's quite a notchy gear change, but very positive, and nowhere near as woolly as the original. Shorter travel too of course, which is quite sporty, so with the combination of the stainless big bore exhaust system and the K&N filter she has a lovely sporty feel, which is helped by 4.5in Fergats and beefed-up roll bars front and rear.
I've also recently fitted a vacuum gauge, which is a great indicator of engine condition, and useful too for monitoring the use of the right foot.
I guess that's all for now, so with lockdown looming, stay safe folks.
Regards Brian.

 

[angel]

Nice idea, I'm going to try it too, supplies of this gearshift bush seem to dry up here.

 

[Cornish4]

Thanks angel, I reckon it's a handy mod. I should add it's not my idea as a few owners have already done similar, but this take on the concept seems to work well.

 

[Cornish4]

Hello folks. It's been a year since I did the gear linkage mod, and I'm happy to report it's worked well, and seems fool-proof. The car has been used quite a bit, a run to Beaulieu and also Tilford, so a good test, plus every-day usage.
I've been tinkering a bit, but nothing too taxing, but one job that came up was the back brakes needing an overhaul. The MOT showed an imbalance, it just scraped through, so action was needed. I used the link Andy McGhee posted to help politeperson to get the correct shoes with handbrake cams fitted, and everything else came from der Franzose, cylinders, fitting kit and hand-brake cables too, as these were well past their best. There was contamination on the linings, especially on the right side, tiny leak of oil from the cylinder, and everything was generally mucky. I did find it best to compress the new cylinder and fit it between the shoes before bolting it to the back plate, less chance of damaging the rubber seal, and another tip, which I'm sure many of you know, but maybe it will help someone is cover the open reservoir with cling film and an elastic band. Because as soon as you disconnect the cylinder air will enter the pipe replacing the oil which will end up on the garage floor, so making bleeding the system a pain in the butt!

 

[Cornish4]

Hi folks, I've been using the car quite a bit through the winter, it's been very mild weather wise, so minimal salt on the roads. Also I've never been one for laying up cars over the winter months, but then, I don't live in the North.
One job I have done recently is replace the brake master cylinder. I noticed the level in the reservoir was down a bit, and on investigation the cylinder was leaking at the pedal end, lots of pickled paint and general dampness.
After disconnecting the clutch and accelerator cables I removed the pedal-box, and after a repaint the new cylinder from de Franzose was fitted, and everything put back together. I thought I would take the opportunity to replace the brake fluid with the silicon variety, a good move I think, higher boiling point, it's not hydroscopic, and it doesn't remove paint. Three good reason to change to it.
So, after bleeding the system, assisted by a neighbour, the car is back on the road. It just needs an oil and filter change now, and general check-over, before the 1100 mile road-trip down to Siena in May.
Regards Brian.

 

[Cornish4]

Can of worms.
Greetings guys n girls, I've not been on here for a while, but I've kept an eye on what's been going on.
In Brians little world it's been quiet, but last week I took the GTL for its MOT, and for the first time in 5 years of ownership it failed. Left hand trailing arm outer bearing housing disintegration, that's the only word for it. It came off in several pieces. The good news is that the chassis it bolts to is ok, apart from the lower spacer tube, which I'll have to replace, and there's a bit of welding required on the door frame. So not too bad I suppose. I guess nearly 10,000 miles since the last test, and a good hammering on the trip to Italy have taken their toll, but hey ho, cars are meant to be used.
I have one question for you experts out there. Do I need to unbolt and lower the swinging arm from the inner chassis rail to fit the new bearing housing, as I gather it's a tight fit on the arm, and can't be turned once it's on? If so maybe the fuel tank might have to be lowered a bit to access the bolts. Hence the can of worms. Any useful comments, and helpful advice much appreciated.
Kind regards Brian

 

[JdeW]

Hello Brian, I'm trying to find the more comforting words while looking at the pictures, but regarding my experience with the rear suspension and the severe affected rust at the bottom C-pilar (yes there is a small bit of door frame as well), this is a major repair to be performed, the can of rust worms are more spread than the eye will see, that's why I started a full body off massive restoration on my 1985 GTL although my GTL was severely affected, she looked good from far but was far from good...

As I speak I'm just restoring the C-pilar section on my own GTL which will be soon posted in my restoration topic and it is a bit complicated section to repair but doable, also a copy of M.R. 176 is preferable.
The rear outer mounting can also be more affected than the eye sees and here is a nice explanation to be found.
But generally speaking, when one side is affected the other side will be as well....

The silent block replacement (the outer bush of the rear trailing arm) is a precise angle fitting job as well, here is a nice tutorial.

In my modest opinion I would advise to perform thorough (a body off) repairs/restoration.

Best regards, Joop

 

[Cornish4]

Hello Joop, thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately a bodyoff restoration is out of the question, so I have to make the best of what I've got, and hope there no hidden nasties which I can't see, but of course there probably are. I enjoyed the tutorial, just wish I'd taken photos before I stripped it down, and also got some measurments, but there we are, I'll just have to wing it. Thank you again for your input.
Kind regards Brian.

 

[JdeW]

I know about a good guy here in The Netherlands called Roberto, who does non body off repairs.
Maybe visiting his website in the Projecten section and maybe there is a(re) picture(s) with rear mounting and C-pilar repairs.
He photgraphs all his projects so maybe there is an example.

Projecten

In bezit sinds: 09-01-2013.

renault4.weebly.com

 

[AdamWilkes]

Other alternative is to cut the corner chunk of the rear door-frame(C-pillar)/floor/wheel-arch to access the chassis properly, then weld the lump back in properly after chassis repairs. Easier than a body-off but does require painting afterwards.

 

[Cornish4]

Bit drastic Adam, but I get your point, I'm hoping it won't come to that. As I said, the chassis seems ok, it's just the very end that needs a bit of attention. I'm not going to scrape too much underseal off though

 

[JdeW]

Looking at several projects on Roberto´s website the rear axle has to come off and then repair the affected sections as @AdamWilkes described.

 

[Cornish4]

Hello Joop. Well, I've had a rethink, and as I'm not in a hurry to get the car back on the road particularly, I'm going to delve a bit deeper, and maybe take the tank off, and remove the back suspension, and do any other remedial work while it's in pieces. The car has served me well, with several long continental trips, so I reckon a bit of TLC is in order, and to get it ready for hopefully more of the same next year. Definitely not going to take the body off

 

[Jimthevan]

Hello Joop. Well, I've had a rethink, and as I'm not in a hurry to get the car back on the road particularly, I'm going to delve a bit deeper, and maybe take the tank off, and remove the back suspension, and do any other remedial work while it's in pieces. The car has served me well, with several long continental trips, so I reckon a bit of TLC is in order, and to get it ready for hopefully more of the same next year. Definitely not going to take the body off

Sorry to see your R4 in bits Brian, i'll pop by and see how you are getting on sometime soon. I've just done the similar weld repairs on the bottom of the front door pillar/floor and chassis. As the saying goes - do it once and do it properly. cheers Jim