Although this Renault 4 came to the workshop under its own steam it didn’t come without a variety of issues. On the surface it was quite a nice car but after some digging and a list of job given by the owner, it seemed it wasnt going to be a quick job. The first of which was to investigate the cause of the steam coming from under the bonnet upon arrival. This turned out to be a simple fix, opening the bleed valve on one of the water hoses aloud a large amount of trapped air to be released from the water system allowing the water to flow freely to the radiator.
With the simple fixes out of the way it was time to turn to the main list of jobs. The big mechanical job on this vehicle was an overhaul of most of the braking system. The customer has reported spongy brakes and straight away I could see what looked like brake fluid coming from one of the front flexi hoses. The hose it’s self was ok but the washer between the calliper and flexi was miss shaped and allowing fluid to pass.
The rear brakes also had fluid leaks.
Peeling back the rubber dust covered on the wheel cylinder shows that seals in the wheel cylinder has clearly been leaking. New ones were added to the list of parts needed .
In the end the rear brake shoes and cylinders were replaced to insure the braking material wasn’t contaminated by brake fluid.
on to the front brakes and they had obviously seen better days . The discs on first inspection were quite badly pitted and scored.
The brake callipers that push the brake pad onto the disc was also in need of attention. It was applying the brakes ok but it wasn’t releasing was they were. In the case I was able to work the piston in and out with a set of grip enough to free the pistons enough to return on there own.
The front discs although pitted had enough material left on the to reface them rather than replace them.
The front brakes are now finished with the refaced discs back in place with new pads fitted to complete the job. Not a moment to soon as the old pads were crumbling away.
The final part of the braking system to be replaced was the rear compensator valve.
This valve opens and closes depending on how much weight is in the back on the car. This to like the front calliper had become seized up and locked in one position causing the rear brakes to lock up before the fronts ( not good). Unfortunately unlike the calliper I wasn’t able to free this off so a new one had to be fitted along with the brake pipes that snapped while I was removing it. Located in a small gap behind the rear axle this job wasn’t much fun.
A slightly more fun job was the basic service items that needed fitting. Filters, plugs, leads, and belts are always a satisfying parts of the job allowing the car to run optimally for another few thousand miles.
Finally a full set of new uniroyal tyres are fitted to complete the mechanical side of the job.
I began the bodywork on the Renault by first stripping the trim off the car. The sliding roof was found to have some brittle peeling areas on the corners. These was glued down at this point rather than at the end to avoid getting glue on any new paint.
A small rusty crack on the front quarter panel was found to be repaired at the request of the owner. This unfortunately led to a previous repair that was hidden under quite a lot of filler to be uncovered. The repair must have been from some time ago as it was full of pin holes and one large hole that appeared during grinding.
The best way to repair it was to remove the old repair completely and replace it with a new panel. The new panel is slowly tack welded in to minimise heat distortion. This allows me to have a much flatter repair that requires far less filler than was originally there.
Next was a patch of cracked paint under the wing mirror on the passenger side.
This was ground back and revealed yet more thick body filler. I’m unsure why there was such a low spot under the mirror that needed filling out so far but what ever the cause I had to repair it. The metal wasn’t rotten or even rusty so rather that cut anything out I opted to pull the dent. I use the existing mirror screw holes as the anchor point for my slide hammer and slowly the dent is pulled out. Obviously there is still filler in the new repair but no where near as much.
The last rust patch that needed my attention was on the roof leading into the boot hinge.
As usual the rot is cut out. In this case the inner section is just as rotten so before the roof can be repaired the hinge must be strengthened with welding . Only then can a repair section be made for the roof and filled.
With all of the bodywork done the paint is the next job. The body is prepped by removing the boot, all trim and the doors to be painted separately. The area not being painted are masked off and larger areas covered with static sheet.
In the end the two sides of the car were painted along with the roof. The colour match was good and once the other panels had been machine polished it was almost impossible to tell the difference.
The car is now back with the owner being enjoyed hopefully for years to come.
Thanks to the owners of this one for bringing this one in.
Comentários