New Replacement Chassis?

[pepper]

Why isn't someone making replacement chassis for Renault 4s on a regular basis?

There were more made of these than the 2cv so surely there should be a good market for a replacement galvanised chassis.

Anyone need a partner to help setting a chassis manufacturing company up?

 

[malcolm]

I thought about that once, but the R4 chassis is more complex than the 2CV chassis so would cost a lot more to make, especially if you got involved in the pressings needed to make an accurate one. And R4 owners don't like to spend money as a rule. Also I don't know what type approval rules there are in Europe that might make it illegal.

 

[beagle]

You can get 2cv galvanised chassis for only £300 (http://www.2cvcity.co.uk/2cv-parts-spares.asp?spare-part=Chassis). I expect an R4 would cost about three times that given the pressings required. Perhaps a less complex reproduction one could be made. I've spent nearly £300 on just replacement sections and welding alone on my R4 restoration:shock:.

Good luck with your projects guys, I'm putting my poor progress down to bad weather.

 

[pepper]

Its a question of economics, yes our chassis will be more expensive to build initially but once the start up costs have been met then they tend to become a lot cheaper. I remember 15 years ago a 2cv chassis was costing around the £900 mark and look how cheap you ca buy them now.

R4 owners not spending was perhaps correct in the past but more and more people are going to be buying them who are more affluent, (again its like 2cv owners a decade ago) We will spend the money on getting them sorted out properly.

Its also about priorities I've heard of people spending over £50 on a radio console for their cars and even I was bidding on a set of Gordini Alloys on ebay the other week that ended up at the £135 mark!

People in the future are going to need replacement chassis, I hope someone steps upto the mark and provides the product thats required.

 

[malcolm]

This one deserves it's own thread. A new chassis off the shelf would make a big difference in the decision whether to save a car or not. But I still don't think we're at the point where people are throwing money at R4s like they do 2CVs. Maybe they would if they could - there aren't a lot of options around just now.

If anyone were to establish a chassis manufacturing plant the market might not be the UK. There are only a couple of hundred of the old dears left over here. Not sure what the rules are in the rest of Europe, but I reckon the Dutch would want something perfectly original looking, and the French would want something that would survive a Raid.

Now that's an idea - build something suitable for the Raids that the rest of us (apart from the Dutch obviously) can use to repair their cars. Would imply a slightly different design and maybe allow savings on press tools.

 

[pepper]

It could be something that somewhere like Poland with its good labour force but cheaper labour rates, may be a more suitable place to manufacture something like this.

Oh and I agree it was taking the thread off topic, thanks Macolm for moving it around.

 

[malcolm]

No way we should give this to the Polish - they are a lovely bunch but they hardly ever contribute on the forum. Besides, I have it on good authority that there are UK fab shops that would like to take on this sort of thing as a regular.

I've been asking around. For the UK replacement chassis are OK no matter who makes them. For the rest of Europe it's looking like we'd need a set of very authentic looking number punches.

 

[angel]

It's simply because there is no market for such an item nowadays.
We are a fraction of the 2CV fans, be it good or bad... Moreover, there was huge interest in 2CVs 10-15 years ago, whether at that time the R4 was simply the practical aging little car, which got even greater when the chassis started to be available.
Malcolm was right by saying that the R4 chassis is far more complex, in construction. Therefore, when a floorpan rusts, you simply change it and leave the 70% of the chassis intact. On the 2CV there is simply the top and bottom! If anything needs repairing, you are talking about half the chassis! Add to this that it is inherently weak (at the front crossmember mounting point), much more rust- prone (as it tends to retain moisture on the inside), and a lot (an awful lot :-)) easier to replace than our chassis, and you will see why there is a strong market for this.

In my opinion, there is no need for complicated press dies to make the chassis components, most of them can be made with a sheet metal folder. And as long as you have a basic chassis production line, one can offer some "reinforced" chassis for off- road or raid use by simply welding gussets on a "standard" unpainted one.
There is no doubt that some day someone will start building new chassis, especially as the R4 demand is increasing with time as it now does.

 

[John Doe]

I've been thinking about this for some time now. There are many examples where owners would gladly buy a new chassis but they can't so they have to discard their cars.

Poland you say? Why not BiH? We are far enough from strict EU rules and we have relatively cheap labour. My family had always worked with metal, my great-grandfather and my grandfather were blacksmiths, my father is a lathe operator... There are many small companies around here that work with metal. Actually my father sometimes makes parts for a guy that makes pressing tools and machines.