barnfind
Enthusiast
- Messages
- 323
- Location
- Lancashire
I have been reading this Forum for some time now, having been looking out for a good or restorable 4.
I have many happy memories of these cars, we had one in the family and a couple of friends owned them also and their economy, load carrying capability and off road ability were incredible. Unlike the 2CV, which had only a small boot and no proper hatch, an R4 can quite easily double up as a van, in fact, the last time that I can recall seeing an R4 on the road in these parts, was a number of years ago up Longsleddale in the Lake District. As a I drew closer, I realised that the driver had a passenger in the rear....a goat, restrained from joining him in the front by a straw bale!
Anyway, I have bought the low mileage R4 TL from Paul at Rustytrucks.com who offered it in his recent post (just before Easter) under cars for sale and I intend to start a thread on the forum once work starts. The plan is, as Paul hints in his post, that the car will stay up in Cumbria for a few months initially. I will go up for a few days in June and carry out an (organised) stripdown of the car and take away items such as the doors, for repair, to clear the decks for to Paul get to grips with the chassis welding.
At some point when he has finished his work, the whole lot will be put on a trailer and towed a few miles south to my own workshop, where it will be painted and then reassembled into what I hope will be a nice example of a 1978 Renault 4 TL for use as a local driver.
Sounds easy doesn’t it.
There is some chassis corrosion in many of the usual places, but apart from a couple of small areas, the body superstructure looks quite passable. As well as Renault Rust I am anticipating that most of the rubber components on the car will be shot, since it hasn’t been used on the road since 1992. This will mean at the very least a full set of bushes, a new brake hydraulic system, door and window seals, not to mention tyres. The car needs two offside wings and some repairs to a couple of the door bottoms. Some typical trouble spots are very good however. For example the boot floor is spotless and the tailgate likewise
I’ll photograph the car before and during the stripdown, hopefully Paul will be able to take a few shots whilst he is performing his own work, and I’ll post a selection up here to keep you up to date. No doubt I will be onto you all for advice before too long.
I have many happy memories of these cars, we had one in the family and a couple of friends owned them also and their economy, load carrying capability and off road ability were incredible. Unlike the 2CV, which had only a small boot and no proper hatch, an R4 can quite easily double up as a van, in fact, the last time that I can recall seeing an R4 on the road in these parts, was a number of years ago up Longsleddale in the Lake District. As a I drew closer, I realised that the driver had a passenger in the rear....a goat, restrained from joining him in the front by a straw bale!
Anyway, I have bought the low mileage R4 TL from Paul at Rustytrucks.com who offered it in his recent post (just before Easter) under cars for sale and I intend to start a thread on the forum once work starts. The plan is, as Paul hints in his post, that the car will stay up in Cumbria for a few months initially. I will go up for a few days in June and carry out an (organised) stripdown of the car and take away items such as the doors, for repair, to clear the decks for to Paul get to grips with the chassis welding.
At some point when he has finished his work, the whole lot will be put on a trailer and towed a few miles south to my own workshop, where it will be painted and then reassembled into what I hope will be a nice example of a 1978 Renault 4 TL for use as a local driver.
Sounds easy doesn’t it.
There is some chassis corrosion in many of the usual places, but apart from a couple of small areas, the body superstructure looks quite passable. As well as Renault Rust I am anticipating that most of the rubber components on the car will be shot, since it hasn’t been used on the road since 1992. This will mean at the very least a full set of bushes, a new brake hydraulic system, door and window seals, not to mention tyres. The car needs two offside wings and some repairs to a couple of the door bottoms. Some typical trouble spots are very good however. For example the boot floor is spotless and the tailgate likewise
I’ll photograph the car before and during the stripdown, hopefully Paul will be able to take a few shots whilst he is performing his own work, and I’ll post a selection up here to keep you up to date. No doubt I will be onto you all for advice before too long.
