R4 chassis

[David Gray]

Sad to say Lue Lue failed her mot due to a cracked chassis.
Lue Lue is an 850cc 1975 car.
I was really shocked and upset. The car is really good or so I thought but it cracked it the usual place just at the rear swinging arm mount on the near side.
Just goes to show, what looks good on the outside isn't always the case.
I thought the chassis was fine. I kept it clean and painted, but that mounting is such a stupid design. It fills with mud and water.
The dilemma now is do I get it repaired knowing that the other side will be similar or go the full hog and replace the chassis.
Access to get in to weld it is not good.
Any suggestions or comments.

 

[malcolm]

Is it the outer mounting? They can fall off with some rust. Inner mountings can get a bit iffy and will have gone too.

A decent repair to the outer mounting will be body off. If it were me I'd be tempted to wait for Melun Retro Passion to start selling the new chassis hopefully next year. Then it becomes a spanner job. Otherwise there is a fair bit of work in these chassis once you get started.

 

[David Gray]

Yes it's the outer and virtually right up against the sill. Almost impossible to get at.
The other side is likely to be the same.
Someone said they thought Melun Retro had the chassis ready now or is that not true.
I was thinking about speaking to Paul at Mr Reno if I do decide to change the chassis.
Just how big a job is it?
We met you at the 2011 international in France. I'm just glad it didn't fail when we were there.
David.

 

[jeffr4]

If it were me I'd be tempted to wait for Melun Retro Passion to start selling the new chassis hopefully next year.

I hope too, because I can use some new chassis for my kit car project and already ordered 10 new ones for a start , both Melun Retro and der Fransoze,
but der Fransoze is a no-go :
This is the answer by email date last 18 oct:


Hello Jeffrey Middel,
Our project R4 chassis is sleeping at the moment. The customer response was so poor, so that we stopped it.
The development plan is complete, but the request is too bad. If we want to hold the price about 2000 Euro we have to order 100 chassis for the first
production sequence.


Mit freundlichen Grüßen / regards

Ansgar Biemann
Der Franzose Automobiltechnik GmbH
Osloer Str. 9 - 11
D-49377 Vechta
Tel.: 0049 (0)4441 - 9161911
Fax: 0049 (0)4441 - 9161920
Mail: ansgar.biemann@franzose.de
Web: www.franzose.de / www.oltimerbeleuchtung.de / www.cipere.fr

So hopefully/maybe.... Melun Retro Passion.

 

[benchseat]

There is little point in trying to repair a broken suspension mounting if it has broken right off. It is virtually impossible to repair it while simultaneously ensuring that it is perfectly aligned. This leads to the rear wheel running at an angle and going through tyres at a fast rate.

If the mounting is merely cracked it is possible to weld reinforcements to it but whoever does the job has to be careful to keep the mounting absolutely "straight".

We need to keep monitoring the Mélun chassis project carefully. Does anyone have any progress reports? The Franzose one ran into the buffers at least three years ago so their current position is not news. But Mélun need to be kept on-message, insofar as it is possible.

 

[jonigel]

They may well do it next year(Melun) they allready make and sell complete floor pans and the longerons and they are pretty good, the problem here i think is it is pretty easy to get a good s/hand chassis reasonably cheaply, i have bought two this year one complete with discs and cast rear arms in perfect condition ,and there is one on Leboncoin now for 400 euros. So i am not too sure of a big market for a 2 grand chassis yet,you can still get a very good car 2/3 grand.Just my opinon.

 

[benchseat]

An interesting point : the question is how easy it is for those who are not in France to obtain a new chassis. I would say not very : it would be several hundred GBP£ to take a trailer across the Channel, a secondhand chassis would in many cases need to be removed from the body, and some buyers don't speak French (and from personal experience it often seems difficult to obtain a response from Leboncoin advertisers, even if one EMails in French).

Another point is that for a right-hand drive model you might be talking about GBP£ 5 grand for a fully-restored version.

What do our fellow-enthusiasts in Australia or Japan think about this?

 

[jeffr4]

This message I received yesterday from MRP :
Dear Sir,

There are some news about “CHASSIS RENAULT 4” :

“ Thank you for being so many to respond to our form on the manufacture of chassis RENAULT 4.
Here is a preview photographs of the progress of the project.

Photo No. 1: Laser cutting of sheet metal spar full right and left before folding ( Ref: 512-68-1 / 512-68-2) http://www.melun-retro-passion.com/promo=512-68
Photo No. 2: full floor, nine basic floor of origin for the new production being developed ( Ref: 512-38-0) http://www.melun-retro-passion.com/promo=512-38-0

Recognizing the complexity of our project, the objective of a price below € 2000 still our priority.
the availability, its will be in 2013!”

Sincerely,
Stéphanie PEREIRA


Melun retro passion
60 Rue Vauchèvre
77115 Blandy Les Tours
Tél. 01.64.81.31.00
Fax. 01.64.81.31.09
www.melun-retro-passion.com



So : price will be about 2000 euro and it will be available in 2013.
The best would be, like in Holland (we have R-Quatre.nl and Wind-Classic), if there was a representative in Engeland,who has a few on stock , maybe like Derek / Renospeed ??

I myself already claimed about 10 new chassis for my kitcar project and next to the kitcar parts for the " I do it myself builder ", I also want to build complete cars with dutch MOT/Lisence etc.
I am still in process see : http://jeffr4.weebly.com/design--build-a-new-kitcar-quatrelle-sport.html

Question: How do I get the right hand drive conversion set ?

 

[David Gray]

New chassis

I received the same reply just the other day.
So yes they will be available 2013 for hopefully 2000euros.
Just have to sit tight until then I think.

 

[renoir cigar]

Getting a new chassis to this region is going to cost probably more than a chassis! Volume problem! If you were cashed up sure, great idea. Better go fisholene mine right now!
Good idea, cost issues. Really?
Steven