1985 Renault R4 F6 restoration project

[John Doe]

I thought that it would go something like "double holds it better"

 

[DavidN]

I thought that it would go something like "double holds it better"

Yeah, you are probably right.
Sorry for my lack of English, I just googled the translation and trusted the finding...

Okay, let's go on with my "restoration diary". :smile:

I spent a fair amount of the last days cutting out all the rust on the two rear frame parts next to the fuel tank...

The frames became more and more floppy as I cut away more and more of the substance. So I supported them with roof batten.

Nicely cut away all the crap...

Here are the new "frames", thanks to a friend of mine who works in a metal processing company and made me the parts for free.

David

 

[DavidN]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since my last posting.

I had to take a few days off because of a little accident that happened last week.
I worked with the angle grinder and one tiny piece of glowing metal surprisingly found it's way through (or past the side of) my protective goggles.
At first I thought it was nothing dramatic and that it will go away by itself.
After 3 painful days I finally decided to see the doc.
He found the piece and extracted it from my lens where it has been melted on.
Man, that was a pain!
After 2 more days everything was fine again.

I had the open chassis parts covered with zinc paint - as Malcolm recommended.

Meanwhile I bought a small sandblasting cabin and Tim, my 12 year old had a little fun with the box...

Actually I wanted to do the big parts e.g. chassis, axles and the body first, but this funky machine had to be tested.
So we restored the rear brake limiter (?).

Before and after:

Today I worked on the chassis' rear frames (again).

I just let the pictures speak ...

...

 

[DavidN]

...

The right rear frame (nearly) finished...

David

 

[John Doe]

I do hope everything will be aligned. Malcolm used chassis jig for extensive chassis work.

 

[DavidN]

I do hope everything will be aligned. Malcolm used chassis jig for extensive chassis work.

Should be.
For lack of a jig I measured more often than I can count ...

 

[DavidN]

Today I finished the second rear frame part.

The rear part of the floor comes next ...

David

 

[mr-reno-139]

very thorough job you are doing wish i had your time and skill
guess you have done other cars before ?
keep at it, very inspiring
regards Paul

 

[DavidN]

very thorough job you are doing wish i had your time and skill
guess you have done other cars before ?
keep at it, very inspiring
regards Paul

Thanks a lot!
The R4 is my first complete restoration.
My whole life I tried to do as much work on cars, scooters, and bikes by myself.
I think it all started 24 Years ago with my first car. A 1969 Alfa Romeo GT Bertone.
It came with a lot of work to do but I never did a complete restoration at least not on a car.

Today I finished the welding on the chassis !!!

First I prepared the rar floor...

And here it is nicely welded in. :wink:

Next on the list is a lot of grinding and then comes the paint job...

David

 

[Snoopy1974]

very nice job David, your chassis will be absolutly NEW
Thanks you also for your proposition about your wheels, if I find here 2 others one to have a set of 4, I will certainly ask you to send them to me. Can you tell me the cost of postage ? (Germany to France, I'm a little afraid :eek

I'm looking forward to read you soon.

A

 

[Snoopy1974]

I forgot the most important, actually I start to repair the chassis of my brother new R4, a 1981 GTL, as you, the rear of the chassis is damaged, but luckily less than yours As Malcolm did on Rosalie, I started to cut with a grinder the damaged section:

My question is what the thickness of the steel sheets you use to repair this part of your chassis ?
Personnaly, I think I will make the repair with a single 2 mm steel sheet instead of 2 ones to prevent the rust between them...

Thanks you for the informations

 

[malcolm]

I also use 2mm sheet for the repair. The original was 1mm plus 1.5mm, so 2mm should work out at about the same strength, and a single skin avoids all the rust problems with double skins.

 

[Snoopy1974]

Yes I think 2mm would be good, but I still wonder why Renault chose this construction with double skins and didn't think there could be rust problems with years ???...

 

[DavidN]

very nice job David, your chassis will be absolutly NEW
Thanks you also for your proposition about your wheels, if I find here 2 others one to have a set of 4, I will certainly ask you to send them to me. Can you tell me the cost of postage ? (Germany to France, I'm a little afraid :eek

I'm looking forward to read you soon.

A

Postage isn't that high.
I could remove the old tyres and send you just the rims.
This way it would probably be something around 30 Euro.
But if it's getting serious I will give you an exact quote of the costs

I forgot the most important, actually I start to repair the chassis of my brother new R4, a 1981 GTL, as you, the rear of the chassis is damaged, but luckily less than yours As Malcolm did on Rosalie, I started to cut with a grinder the damaged section:

My question is what the thickness of the steel sheets you use to repair this part of your chassis ?
Personnaly, I think I will make the repair with a single 2 mm steel sheet instead of 2 ones to prevent the rust between them...

Thanks you for the informations

I used 2 sheets of 1.5 mm.
I do not bother much about the rust problem because I plan on using the car only in the summer months and I will have a nice cavity protection done on the chassis.
(Mike Sanders Cavity protection grease)
Therefore I put 12 mm bore holes on strategic places of the chassis to reach all the hollow parts of it when the paint job is done.
The Mike Sanders grease is said to "wander" for years and to get in between the narrowest places. What it does is to block the air oxygen from getting onto the metal surfaces and so there will be no more rusting.


David

 

[DavidN]

Today I applied the first layer of paint on the top of the chassis.
Finally it looks like a piece of a car again!

 

[DavidN]

Today I turned the chassis upside down and applied the first 2 coats of Paint.

Ah... Black is Beautiful !!!

 

[DavidN]

After I took 2 weeks off for my traditional waterski winter vacation in Florida I have a hard time to fight the jet-lag and the icy cold temperatures over here!
Yesterday I sealed all the joints and seams on the chassis with black paintable sealant and today I managed to apply the stone chip protection.

 

[DavidN]

The outside temperatures over here slowed me down, as my garage has no heating.
To work in the cold is definitely not the best for my self-motivation, but the paint-job on my chassis is finally done.
I decided to use black mat as top coating.

Next I have to work on the axles ...


David

 

[billythefish]

Brilliant job

 

[angel]

It makes you think...why do I have to put the bodyshell back on?... Stunning!!