R4 TL restauration

[petak]

Nothing without man power

Wanted to upload occasion video (me grinding valves on my engine) but was not allowed.
How to upload video?


PS: me also love your soda-blaster

 

[Jurjenz]

Maybe you can send a link?

Today was and bad news to tell. I decided (fortunately!) not to disassemble the engine. I just cleaned it and painted it.

Distributionchain looks oke to me.

Before painting

Then I repaced the flywheel and gave it a few turns. I noticed it misalignment on the flywheel and some light resistence in opposite position when turning. Crap! I'm pretty sure the flywheel is placed correct on te crankshaft. Tomorrow I will have a friend coming over to look at it. I fear it will be a 2-way ticket to the motorrevision shop to balance out the crankshaft... What do you think? See my video:

 

[mr-reno-139]

Not had many 845 engines to rebuild most went in the scrap bin
more recently the con rods removed first to sell on to austin 7 race car owners

Think there may be a locating dowel peg to locate flywheel correctly and you have managed to ignore it
Will painting the engine fix the carbon deposit in no 1 cylinder ☺
Have you tried putting all 4 pistons half way down and then using diesel fuel filling bores to top and leaving few hours to see if they all stay full up
This will give you an idea on piston ring condition at least

 

[Jurjenz]

Good news!

After a final close exam on the flywheel we noticed a little dirt left on the groove. With a fine blade we removed it with result the flywheel fits perfectly with no distortion! Yeahhhhh!

I'm a bit pissed on myself, I have a cilinder leakage test - I should have done this before I removed the cilinderhead... another lesson learned.
Good idea to test the piston rings with diesel, I'm already hesitant hihi

And, finally I received my order from Franzose, with offcourse the gummi bears and a scale 2CV

Question, sometimes it is needed to fill an oilpump with vaseline (grease) to create vacuum to pump the oil. Is this necessary with a oilpump on the R4? I heard that it is sometimes needed on oilpumps. Let me know!

 

[mr-reno-139]

Can't see any liner clamps in use either if you've been happily spinning engine over
☺

 

[Jurjenz]

Yes, fully aware of that! Thanks for the advice

They had a pretty snug fit, so I took the risk. In case they fell of, I marked the line up and positions. I only turned the engine over 1 time. Next time: linertool.

Huge learning curve past week!

 

[mr-reno-139]

I feel bad to always be critical of other people's enthusiasm
I've made plenty of mistakes and had to find solutions to get me out of trouble too
I do enjoy seeing what you all get up to and don't want people to think I am a know it all big headed person
Because of the language barrier I realise humour does not always translate well and I try not to take life too seriously after 40 years of working only on renaults
Always happy to have R4 friends on Facebook too ☺

 

[Jurjenz]

I feel bad to always be critical of other people's enthusiasm
I've made plenty of mistakes and had to find solutions to get me out of trouble too
I do enjoy seeing what you all get up to and don't want people to think I am a know it all big headed person
Because of the language barrier I realise humour does not always translate well and I try not to take life too seriously after 40 years of working only on renaults
Always happy to have R4 friends on Facebook too ☺

Haha, now worries! I really appreciate all the advice, tips, tricks and do's & dont's

Tonight I have had a good sleep and thought the decisions over. I will contact a motorrevision company what it will cost to give the engineblock a thourough check-over. After all, the engine is the running heart of the car and it would be ^&*#^% if I later notice something is wrong with compresion (or else). I will give it the diesel test this afternoon.

To be continued!

 

[Jurjenz]

Voila, 'I put on the naughty shoes' - (dutch saying, lol). I gave it some serious thoughts and I decided to take the engine apart. In the end a good decision!

 

[JonathanT]

Hi Jurjenz - I think its a good decision to tackle the engine deep down. Ive seen so many smoky old renovations about that often break down on the way to a show or something. A good engine has to be a good investment for happy days

 

[mr-reno-139]

The timing chain kit you mentioned is for 1108 type
How are pistons and liners looking ?

 

[mojobaby]

Brings back some memories

If you bought your set of gaskets from Franzose, you've probably got the set of liner seals in the packet.

No seals on the camshaft.

 

[harbourseal]

Correct me if I'm wrong I seem to remember that there is an inverted wormwheel on the camshaft and crankshaft that pushes the oil back in to the engine.
Good thing that you are doing the whole engine Jurjen.
For all the work I had done on the engine I payed about €400,- Including new piston springs honing of the cilinders and cleaning the engine block.
I also had the head skimmed and tested and I had about a kilo removed from the flywheel and had it balanced with the crankshaft.

It is probably cheaper to buy a replacement engine.
But it is very satisfactory to know that you have build the engine up yourself.
Seeing all this sure brings back memory's

 

[David M]

I will start with a disclaimer.
The last time I worked on the motor was 35 years ago.
I seem to recall that the 845cc motor in my 2106 fourgonette had a duplex chain. It was a 1968 year of manufacture ( in Autstralia, but those bits would be supplied by Renault France) That would mean the purchase of both the cam and crank gears as well as the chain and tensioner. It would make a more durable replacement if it is available.

 

[Jurjenz]

Hi guys!
Thanks for all your thoughts, really appreciated!

When pulling the camshaft gear ring unfortunately it cracked. Today I went to an oldschool blacksmith who also specializes in welding cast iron. The shop was only 30 minutes away: so I went to Warffum, a very small village on the countryside of Groningen. I entered the workshop and it was truly amazing. I was like going back in time for almost 150 years, pre-war machines, and all kind of wonderful tools - just wow!

He welded the cracked gear so I hope it will be oke for the future..

 

[Jurjenz]

Oh, and why is it that (aftermarket) parts for a B1B 800 - 845cc engine are dificult to find? I thought it is an engine produced in large quantities? Or I'm I wrong?

 

[mojobaby]

I haven't had too many problems getting parts, but where possible I just cleaned up my old parts and reused them.

Mostly I used Franzose, but also got some parts from Oscaro. Cylinder head bolts I had to get from Renault directly. Also got some 2nd hand parts from some very helpful members on this forum.

If you're searching for a part, my advice is to get the Renault part number and do a Google search. For example, the part number for your camshaft sprocket that you broke, is 0556 236600. If you search for that on Google you'll find that its available at All4Renault.

http://www.all4renault.com/products/a0556236600-carreto-grande-do-distribuidor-38-dentes-b1b-800/

You're making excellent progress on your car!!

 

[petak]

Here is link to topic where are listed all (or most of them) web shops for Renault 4.

Maybe will help you to source parts you need


P.S. Nice puzzle game you have give your self.

 

[Jurjenz]

Well, I have been to an engineshop. The mechanic told me that it would be best to replace the liners, pistons and rings with a new set. Later on the accountmanager of the shop asked me what the mechanic told me. So I asked in return what it approx. would cost if I order a new set. Well, he didn't looked at the engine but he was sure no new parts are available and if they would do an engine revision it would cost me €3.500 euros. I was adviced to look for a new engine.

I said I would give it some thoughts and thanked them for the checking the engine parts.

...

Back in my car I had a good laugh, €3.500 euros!? Bwahahahahahaha!!

So I will order a new set on Franzose, as well with new bearings.

Next monday I have an appoinment with another engineshop. I noticed some (very small) scratches on the crankshaft. Probably they can polish the crankshaft. So I'm curious on what they say!

In the meantime I had a guick look on the stearingmechanism, man, it feels like it has been very worn out on the inside.. Can't wait to disassemble it..

 

[harbourseal]

As far as I can judge the shape of the liners and pistons from your photographs. I see no need to replace them bij new ones. Just get them honed. And get a set of new piston rings. That will set you back about €150 tops.

Maybe get your crankshaft cleaned up and start rebuilding that engine. If you buy another 845 you don't know what shape it is in.