look what I found

[mojobaby]

this poor car has been stuck in a farmers barn for 15 years. I paid 300Euros for it plus another 30Euro to a mechanic to fetch it for me.
The wheels are seized completely so the farmer had to drag it out of the barn with his tractor. The first thing I'm going to do tomorrow is give it a wash.
Can anyone tell me what year it is. I took pics of the engine and interior
[/ATTACH]

 

[jjad]

Can you find the number on the oval plate? Match it up with the codes on the Renault 4 wiki:

http://quatrelle.wikia.com/wiki/Model_identification

Engine codes are on this page:

http://quatrelle.wikia.com/wiki/Engine

 

[DavidN]

Nice find!

My guess is that it is a TL built after 1983.
(Small engine, latest dashboard, hidden door-hinges on front door.)

Post pictures of your next steps!

Cheers,

David

 

[mike4gtl]

Red is my favourite colour for the R4

 

[mojobaby]

So after 7 buckets of water and 2 hours polishing it now looks a little better. The first thing I've got to do is get the steering unlocked. The car came without a key and thats proving to be a problem as the steering is locked.
There's hardly any rust on the car-what a bonus!!

 

[alewis]

Good find !

 

[Geoff in the Gully]

Jeez, that scrubbed up nice. Well done!

 

[politeperson]

Looks like a GTL air filter to me, but no plastic on the door bottoms?

 

[angel]

My guess is 1983, as 84-on TLs had the 32IF7 carb (as far as I can see, it's a 28IF on your engine).

One more on the road...nice!

 

[mojobaby]

Yes-it's 1983, it's written at the bottom of the oval plate. The farmer has lost all the paperwork as well as the key, so getting it transferred into my name could be a nightmare. It was never officially scrapped, he just parked it in the barn and forgot about it. Mind you, he is so big I don't really know how he could fit in the car

 

[mojobaby]

After struggling for a day, this morning I managed to borrow a drum puller from a neighbouring farmer. It came off in 2 minutes. I wish I had known before that he had one! The wheel turns very easily now that the brake shoes have been released.
I'd really like to expose the whole backplate and springs and shoes etc so I can give everything a good clean and rub on some copper grease before I replace the shoes.
Unfortunately I have no idea how to remove the hub so would welcome any advice.

 

[angel]

The hub does not need to be removed in order to gain access to the brake shoes. You must remove them if you wish to clean the backplate itself.

If you are lucky, it will come off with a slide hammer (provided the driveshaft end is free to move in the hub splines, otherwise you have to remove the whole stub axle carrier and drive it out from behind, either be a special puller or by hitting it with a drift and hammer.

 

[mojobaby]

Thanks Angel, I also posted this thread on Technical Help cos i thought more people would read it. Got some good advice there too!
I think I'll just leave the hub on as I don't really have any major problems other than dirt.It sounds like a lot of work when I don't have all the correct tools.
I think the cylinder might have been leaking cos its like the inside of a chimney behind the hub-hopefully I can just scrape it off from the side. A fair bit of rust on the hub as well, that's why the drum was so badly stuck
Will post a photo when its done.

 

[mojobaby]

After getting the tyre off (Renault4 Discussion-removing tyres from rims) I sanded the rim really well! The back, inner and the outside and removed all the rust and pretty much all the paint as well.

After I sprayed the primer, I used a metallic silver grey and then the clear varnish. Apparently the metallic colours don't set without the clear coat.

I'm pretty pleased with the result and also pretty hooked on the smell of spray paint!!

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

Ooh, that looks really nice now. How do you sand all the fiddly grooves? By hand or with some kind of power tool?

 

[mojobaby]

Ooh, that looks really nice now. How do you sand all the fiddly grooves? By hand or with some kind of power tool?

I have some really nice nylon brushes that I fit onto my drill. I usually use them to clean up old doors and Oak beams. They worked really well with the rust and the one on the left fits into the deep narrow grooves perfectly. There were a few spots at the bottom of the rim where the rust was really severe and its left a pitted surface. Used a wire brush for that and of course quite a bit of hand sanding

Sorry about Felicia........

 

[mojobaby]

front brakes-first wheel done

my new front brake pads and cylinders arrived from der Franzose with a small packet of sweets enclosed as well as der Franzose window stickers and a catalogue.
They really seem intent on creating good client relationships, which is how it should be actually, not like the uncaring idiots I've been dealing with here!

So anyway, my right hand front brake has been cleaned and copper greased and looking a lot better than when I first opened it up.

Incidently these are the first brakes I've ever installed; always just left it for the garage to do! the big spring was a bit difficult to put back

 

[politeperson]

Best to carefully paste copper grease an all the moving surfaces to prevent them seizing and squeaking. From the picture it looks a bit like you have built them up "dry".

 

[mojobaby]

I used copper grease very sparingly, and only applied it to 8 areas between the shoes and back plate and also the "hinge" of the handbrake brace and where the flat "distance" bar meets the two shoes. But as I said, very little, just a dab here and there.

 

[mojobaby]

I'm a little concerned that starting on the wheels was probably not the wisest thing to do. The guy who helped me collect the car said engine first and then the wheels.
At that stage the brakes were stuck to the drums and the steering was locked. I couldn't even push it into the barn.
I took the door locks out and gave them to a locksmith and the key that he made was well worth the 32 Euro that he charged. It fits all doors and the ignition and the petrol cap. At least the steering is unlocked now. The boot hasn't got a lock at this stage, but I'll deal with that problem later.

My two front wheels are sorted with new brake shoes, tyres and brake cylinders. I've decided to leave the back wheels until I've at least got the engine running.

Opening the bonnet was depressing! It was so dusty, dirty and rusty so I'm spending a bit of time doing cosmetic repairs before I try and start the engine.
I've cleaned and sprayed the air filter cover and today I cleaned the rocker cover and rockers. The oil was black and thick!

Just one question about the exhaust manifolds and the exhaust pipes. They're very rusty but I can get most of the rust off and perhaps treat them with Kurust or the equivalent. Can they be painted? I have a spray paint that is marked 800 degrees Celsius.

I've uploaded a few photos, so you can see how dirty the engine compartment is