R4 restoration made in France

[Snoopy1974]

Hi, I had many things to do these last months...

Not many news of my car... except I built my fiberglass parts
Inner left wing:

Removing from the mould:

First adjustment:

Building of the first front wing:

Fitting of the accessories in the engine bay:

 

[John Doe]

This is amazing!

 

[Snoopy1974]

Here are some news from the last months...

 

[Azazello]

5. At this moment the most pleasant (!!!!) part the work started: protecting all the places which will keep this color, I used adhesive paper tape and scalpel to have precise cuttings;
View attachment 2997

I know I've already seen such a restoration somewhere... It tooks me several day to find out this thread another time!
Very good job, I am involved in a similar one (though I do not know if I will be so professional...)...
I will borrow you the masking trick, I think...
Thank you for sharing your experience!

 

[stork]

Snoopy1974,
I became a member a few weeks ago and I just ran into your thread. I must congratulate you... you are a fine mechanic and a artist! Thank you for sharing your project with us.
On a side note I noticed your detail in working with the project. You have taken photos of every aspect of the restoration plus many many notes. So I just thought I would put the idea out there of writing a book about your restoration!:smile:
I have been looking for information on the subject and your thread has been the best! I am sure you have many more pictures that you have not posted so you defiantly have the material you just have to put it together and do some more writing with those pictures.
I am sure you will have plenty of buyers for your book. I would be one of them!
All the best and keep up the good work!
Robert
P.S. I know it has been mentioned, but you definitely could sell those fiberglass wings. Have you done a weight comparison between the fiber wings (inside wing and outside wing) with the original? Would be interesting to see the weight difference!

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hello everybody,

many months passed since my last post, many things change in my life too... but it's another story

So, firstly my car isn't still finished, but these days I started the job again, and every day I prepare another part for job painting...

Let me show you pictures of these last months...
Corner behind the rear left door...

View from the underside, not very pleasant :eek:

Building of one of the different new parts in 0.8mm steel sheet:

After many (very) long hours of job, here are the 6 news parts home-made :smile:

This side of the "tablier" in french (I don't know the good word in english) is too rusted to be saved, I decided to take off it to weld a new one found in a scrapyard:







You can notice all the rust in the interior, behind the dashboard, due to the fact that in 1999 the wiring loom has burnt, which destroy all the paint at this place in particular, the body wasn't protected against the rust....

To be continued in the next post, in few minutes

 

[Snoopy1974]

The last post for today, open yours eyes, and do not hesitate to write remarks on my job...
I can't resist, I try to put the new one in place... it fits perfectly

After this step, and before the next painting jobs, I protect all the underneath of the dashboard with "Rustol CIP", the best anti rust primer know in France in general, and from the R4 enthusiasts in particular !

Even the interior have been painted with a special gun to protect the inaccesible areas:

The day after, I had to prepare the support of the new part:

As I already do, I started with a simple sketch of the part I have to do:

After... several long minutes of boring job, cutting, adjusting, etc, the new parts are in place, they fit perfectly again

Here are all the parts I have to build (or bought fot the 2 largest one), they are going to be welded in place with the help of a professional welder working in a marvallous little car garage specialized in old cars, in the village I lived the first 3 years of my life





Seen you soon, I actually wait for the call from the garage owner for the starting of the welding job

 

[orsome]

soundproofing material glued to the floors

:smile: good evening to all,
I started to dismantle the new chassis at the beginning of september, I removed the (wich keep the water and make the floor rusting, I won't put them again when I will reassemble the chassis), the front floor seemed to be in good condition at first sight.

I did put 4mm bitumen mat to my R4 floor and the result seem excellent, 2mm mat is too ligth.It is very easy with electric heat fan. three mats of 40x100 cm is enough.This will add your vehicle weigth by 7,5kg/m2 added

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi all

after waiting 2 months and few days the weldinc job on my R4 body is finally finished, Gerard made an awesome job, let me show you several "before and after":
Left rear corner, before:

After:


Right rear corner, before:

After:


Left rear wing mouting, before:

After:


Right boot floor corner, before:

After:


And finally the biggest one(s), rear seat belt mouting (right side), before:

After:


Nice job, isn't it ?

 

[Snoopy1974]

A detail now, concerning the rear seat belts mountings, I was lucky to find specific moutings with 7/16 tread holes, bought at Gt2i, a french supplier:

http://www.gt2i-competition.com/PLAQUE-A-SOUDER-FIX-OEILLET-7-16-3mm-p-33175-c-375_379.html#FP

View from inside, I'm happy to see it looks like a new car

 

[Rutger-peer]

Looks Great! Had to do exactly the same things (and more!). Great job! Hope you'll be making progress, I'm sure you're eager to drive it again just like I'm eager to drive mine again! Good luck.

 

[Snoopy1974]

Many thanks !

You're luckier than me, your car is about to be finished, mine needs still many months to be on the road :shock: :shock:

I forgot to tell that I bought... 2 others R4, as soon as my 1987 GTL will be finished, I will start the restoration of another one

Maybe the TL 1977:


Maybe the 1967:


1967, 1977, 1987... is anybody here has the same collection ????

 

[angel]

The '67 looks clean and untouched, nice buy!

 

[Rutger-peer]

Hmm, that TL looks like it could use some work. If the roof hasn't been rotten through, it should be fixable though! But i guess it's pretty far gone right? That 0.8 mm sheet metal can't take a lot of rust or it'll be rotten through pretty soon.

Personally, I'd give the 1967 a try first, since it's oldest and store the TL somewhere dry in the meantime!

 

[orsome]

cleaning with vinegar and intake manifold cleaning

item 1: To remove all the fur inside the water pump I decided to dip it in vinegar, someone told me it's a good method
-->how was the result, i can see the photo but what was the acetic acid content in your vinegar used?
-->can i use vinegar for inner cleaning of the radiator, when loose it can heard loose rust? particle to move inside but cannot be washed out with warm water

item 2: Hi everybody, this week I cleaned all the parts before fitting the engine and gearbox in the chassis. My manifold is now ready to fit
-->anybody tried to clean manifolds inside?pls give some ideas for toos to be used

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi all, news of my little GTL...

I bought 2 rear wings at Melun Retro Passion, few days ago, before sanding the repaired body and primer coating, I decided to fit these wings to see if all is ok;

A first sight, it seems to fit very well, even I had to enlarge all the fixing holes to fit the wing correctly:

The space between the body and the wing is also good, except at the rear of the body:

But THE problem is... there is 1,5cm space at the rear between the body and the wing :eek::eek:


What can I do to correct this problem ? The only thing I thought about is welding a steel sheet to enlarge this part of the wing, very complicated for me

 

[Rutger-peer]

Hey Alexandre,

I had similar problems with both my new front and rear wings, I just persuaded them into position and fastened the bolts in a strategic way. In the end you'll be able to get them where you want them, the sheetmetal is pretty bendable.

It's just a really nasty job. Use Sikaflex or some kind of adhesive (for correct sealing) when you're fitting them.

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi Rutger-Peer,

waiting for finding a solution to this problem I decided to protect the body before the temperatures will be too cold...

I started to sand all the rear of the body, where the repairs have been made, a dirty and a not very pleasant job in my opinion:



At this point, half of the floor of the luggage compartiment has been sanded, it's not easy to access to the veins with the electric sander, and I have to finish by hand


At the front of the body the bulkhead have been sanded too, note that the left side it has been completly changed with another one in better condition:


The body is ready to be painted


This job is much more pleasant, even if you can see that there are many bumps on the floor in the rear compartiment...the owner before me used to transport sheeps in the car :eek: :eek: :eek: Unfortunatly I don't have the good tools, and the competences to repair them




With this regular color on the repaired parts, the body looks suddenly more finished



To be continued

 

[Eoynteenie]

View attachment 5835

is this the only real way to fix this area of the car?

 

[Snoopy1974]

Hi Eoynteenie,

I don't know if it's the best way, but even there are not the mouldings as a new car, it's the best I could do with 0.8 mm steel sheet.