1985 Renault R4 F6 restoration project

[DavidN]

Hi David,
There are any discounts or benefits for antique vehicles in Germany?
Such as different plates?

For cars 30+ Years of age you can obtain a special registration combined with a reduced tax.
You'll get a slightly different looking plate with an "H" imprinted at the end.
(H = historical vehicle)

Downside is that the car has to be in an original condition with no aftermarket extras like special exhausts, wider rims, different colour or whatever modification you could imagine...

The approval as a historical car has no influence on the TUV check though.
Even the H-vehicles have to get their check-up every 2 Years.

My F6 probably won't get the H-approval as the silk-mat colour is not original (and the mud tyres will be a knock-out criteria of course ).

David

 

[R4 Felix]

Very nice.
30+ vehicle gets here special license.
driving it is forbidden between 7:00-9:00 except weekends.
It's worth 60% insurance & tax discount.
but it still have to be tested (MOT) every year.

 

[pepper]

No point getting special taxation class in my opinion, as it ends up tying you up in even more legislation as R4 Felix mentions above!

 

[R4 Felix]

You right,
but, it's optional. every owner have to choose between discouts or driving at 7:00-9:00.

 

[DavidN]

After 2 Years and nearly 10,000 Kilometers I thought I have to give you all a quick update on how things are going with my F6 van.

I used the little van during the last 2 summers as a transportation vehicle for my waterski school which is 15 Minutes from my home.
There's always a lot of stuff like wetsuits, wests, wakeboards, waterskis, tow-ropes, and various things I have to have around with me when I go to our marina where my ski school is located.
The F6 turned out to be a perfect choice for that matter.

It is fun to drive, offers enough space to store all that crap, the running costs are pretty low, and you'll get almost every day a smile from here and there when cruising around the countryside with that classical little car.

Last week I passed the bi-annual TUV (~MOT) again without any problems.

I just had two mentionable incidents during the last 2 Years:
The starter got weaker and weaker and in the end would not turn the engine anymore at all.
So I replaced it with a new one.
The first electronic ignition I mounted (Hotspark) got toast and let me sit dead in water 45 minutes from home.
I ordered the 123Ignition which is running perfect since half a Year now.

Of course I did some upgrades during the last 24 months.

I mounted a new intake hose and I fitted the 123Ignition, a complete electronic ignition unit that replaces the original distributor ...

 

[DavidN]

I was able to get a pair of "Love Handles" off eBay, painted them to match the bumpers, and mounted these to the van.
I know it's a quite useless item, but I think it gives the front a more complete look.

 

[DavidN]

Then I added a roof-rack which was powder coated to match the bumpers and cladded with oak-wood ...
(Again a pretty useless item, but it gives the van a more "commercial" look which I like.)

 

[DavidN]

I custom-made a set of front mud-flaps to protect the sensible chassis front-ends and the fuel and brake lines.
I was able to mount the mud-flaps with two stainless brackets on each side on existing bolts and holes ...

 

[DavidN]

I added an OEM tow-bar and a clock to the dashboard ...

 

[DavidN]

... the most recent upgrade was a complete upholstery of the original seats.
It had cost me a fortune :eek: but the craftmanship was superb and after installing the "new" seats the interior looks very appealing again.

 

[Bobble]

Hi, it still looks the same now as it did when you had finished 2 years ago, it's all down to good preparation and attention to detail, i hope mine turns out like yours ( it's a 62 F4) when i eventually start it which i hoping is going to be towards the end of this year.
I do think the love handles finish the front off and i do like the roof rack (but do you use it ?) also the mudflaps look quite substantial which should stand up to the spray thrown up from the front wheels, looking good.

 

[alewis]

yours is looking alot happier than mine is! (I restored mine 2 years ago as well but use mine everyday all year around)

 

[jjad]

Thanks for the update and the great photos. It still looks fantastic!

 

[Lobster]

That still looks very fresh, really nice. Agreed on the love handles and I do like the roof rack, if I could find one of them I'd be pretty happy.

 

[DavidN]

Open heart surgery

My gearbox surprised me with a little failure 2 days ago.
When I started the car and shifted in first gear, all of a sudden the little spring that holds the shift stick of the gearbox to the side, snapped and the shifting felt extremely loose.

Under the hood I found the shift stick that comes out of the gearbox to be very loose. I could even rotate and lift it up a little bit. Not good.

I have a spare gearbox and checked the stick here. Firm with very little play. :?

After a while of thinking what to do, I decided to just change the gearbox cover plate with it's shifter stick attached as my original gearbox is working very well.

I had to dismantle a few things (bonnet, radiator, shifting assembly) and here we are.

After removing the gearbox cover and it's stick-assembly I examined it to find a spring plate to be broken where the shifter stick is mounted to the inside of the gearbox-cover-plate.
There is a plastic ball on the stick which was worn very badly as well.

I cleaned the sealing surfaces of the gearbox and the (spare) cover plate and now I am waiting for a gasket to be delivered from "Der Franzose".

Hope to be on the road again tomorrow!

Cheers,

David

 

[mike4gtl]

Sorry to hear this david. It seems to be gearbox month for R4's, i have one to fit on sunday.

The idler bearing has broken up on this one, still whilst the engine and box is out it gives me the opportunity to fit a timing chain.

 

[DavidN]

... whilst the engine and box is out it gives me the opportunity to fit a timing chain.

Post some pictures of that!
That is one of my next projects on the list, scheduled for the upcoming winter.
I hear the chain rattling when the engine is in idle.
It obviously has a little more play than normal which makes the ignition timing a bit hard to set properly.
When I use the strobe light I can see the marks bouncing around a little too much when in idle.
Shouldn't be that way as I have the 123Ignition mounted.

 

[DavidN]

Up and running again!

Today I finally received the gearbox seal from "Der Franzose".
So I was able to mount the gearbox-top-cover from my spare gearbox with it's shifting assembly to my F6 gearbox.
The spare one was off a GTL, but both boxes are the HA0 type, so they are practically identical. Just the gear ratios differ.

I bolted everything back together and the car is up and running again.
The shifting is as it should be, so I guess I was lucky to have that spare gearbox which saved me some serious Euros.

 

[iMacThere4iAm]

Nice photos DavidN, your engine bay is a thing of beauty!
Would you be happy for some of them to be used on the Quatrelle Wiki? I'd particularly like to add a close-up photo of the gearbox innards if you have one.

 

[DavidN]

Nice photos DavidN, your engine bay is a thing of beauty!
Would you be happy for some of them to be used on the Quatrelle Wiki? I'd particularly like to add a close-up photo of the gearbox innards if you have one.

Feel free to use whatever picture you need.
Re the innards - I can take one pic of the GTL box.
Best would be to PM me your e-mail address.

Cheers,

David