Sticking a 5 speed gordini box in a Renault 4

[malcolm]

I had a thought after a previous post. I'm sure the R5 5 speed box with the two front mountings at the side has been fitted to a Renault 4 before.

Can anyone remember who did it? I'm thinking R4T, but the rtoc pages where his photos were hosted have become members only so I'm not sure.

Has anyone fitted one of these boxes to a Renault 4 without resorting to a floor mounted gearchange? I'm sure the sideways push of the dash change wouldn't be enough to push the gear selector sideways without some sort of additional device other than a stick welded on to the selector. There is a photo of the box below.

 

[Enrique]

Here goes a useless answer:
I fitted an HA1 R5 box to my R4, but it looks completely different. As a matter of fact, it looks very much like an R4's, but with an extra case in front, holding the 5th gear. It also had the selector on the side, but as part of the cover, which was easily replaced by the R4's, with the stick. I don't have the slightest idea of how to fit that thing you have there to an R4.....
R4T has the 4 speed.

 

[malcolm]

I had a look at the gearbox and decided converting it to dash change would be quite straightforward (by welding a long metal bar onto the selector mechanism). But the box is 630mm long and the Renault 4 only has 510mm of space so it's not going to be all that practical.

I spotted the HA1 box in some photos you posted last year. I was lucky and picked one of those up a couple of years ago (they are very rare in the UK). It'll go with the Gordini engine powered car when I get around to building it.

 

[Enrique]

If you need some more pictures, let me know.
In the R4 discussion I posted a link to a Dutch site with many pictures of an R4 Alpine Turbo. There's one picture of the modified front with the attached alpine gearbox. I don't recall seeing the dash change thou...

 

[malcolm]

Thanks Enrique. The Renault 4 Alpine website seems to keep moving around. I've looked for it before so I'm glad it's reappeared on http://members.chello.nl/~f.sikkema1/

The site has been updated since I last found it. The front crossmember has been extended forwards (by more than 120mm at a guess). Looks like he's going for a floor change on that one.

 

[Enrique]

For the HA1 you'll have to make some space too, don't remember how much, but it was something around 40 to 60mm

 

[cees r4AT]

the guy from the r4 on the pictures used cables to change gears.
he made some ingenius system with it, he used the gordinin gearbox with the original shiftstick
it was a gordini turbo with LNG injection, it didn't even run on fuel anymore. he sold it last year, have spotted it ever since.
on his site should be some pictures of the cable system he fixed.
it is not easy to fix, but the gearbox is told to be very smooth..
suc6

cees