1959 4cv Restoration in North Carolina USA

[JohnW]

The depressing thing is that the modern trucks on either side of your 4CV are now regarded as normal size cars.

And we wonder why we have the occasional problem with the environment

I had to drive one today to pick up a back axle. It was like driving the Titanic

Best Wishes

Andrew

Yes, they are just ludicrous. Good advertising is selling more and more of the wretched things, with good per-unit profitability for the manufacturers. The top selling vehicle in Australia these days is the Toyota Hilux, believe it or not. It's just plain stupid.

If the original Minis were "road lice", these things are "road dinosaurs".

 

[JohnW]

Does anyone know if the Dauphine speedometer is the same as the 4cv? The drive gears in the gearbox are the same (depending on tire size and final drive ratio) and the actual mechanism appears to be the same size. I have the opportunity to get a nice one with low miles for a low price. The numbers on my odometer are very faded.
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Don't know but I can't see why they'd have changed anything but the face AND something else to give the big difference in angular movement of the speed needle. The 4CV ones appear in good condition from time to time on Ebay France by the way, which might be a much easier way.

 

[Stan W]

I had not thought about the difference in angular movement - thanks for pointing that out. Mine is not too bad and might clean up when I take it out. I need to remove and lubricate it before using it much more, I don't want it to break due to old gummy grease.

When I was working on the headlight switch, I decided to add a set of connectors under the dash since it was to hard to fasten those big 6 volt wires to the switch with almost no slack in the wires. I replaced my temporary connection with a permanent one made with "bullet connectors" as used in old British cars. They are good connectors when not subject to water and salt.

 

[Stan W]

The depressing thing is that the modern trucks on either side of your 4CV are now regarded as normal size cars.

And we wonder why we have the occasional problem with the environment

I had to drive one today to pick up a back axle. It was like driving the Titanic

Best Wishes

Andrew

It is truly ridiculous. This is one of the reasons my wife doesn't want me to drive the 4cv outside the neighborhood. One of those trucks could completely crush the 4cv and hardly notice.....

 

[Andrew Watkins]

Saw an ad ( ? real ? spoof ) for Humvee years ago

Windscreen shot of two guys driving Humvee. Checked shirts and gun rack behind

They are shooting the breeze peacefully when suddenly you see a slight lurch in the image

Passenger asks driver " what was that?"

Driver: "just ran over a Rabbit, don't worry"

Passenger: Arctic rabbit?

Driver: Naw: Volkswagen

Best Wishes

Andrew

 

[Stan W]

I took the speedometer out of the instrument cluster for cleaning and lubrication. It works perfectly now. The needle wasn't always moving freely before. The odometer numbers cannot be cleaned, but they are readable. The plastic surround had been very badly painted with a spray can - drips everywhere. It was so bad I had to strip the paint off. This isn't a great idea as the stripper can soften the plastic, but it worked ok since I rinsed the stripper off after a short amount of time. It still took a good bit of sanding. I cleaned the glass VERY carefully.

 

[JohnW]

I took the speedometer out of the instrument cluster for cleaning and lubrication. It works perfectly now. The needle wasn't always moving freely before. The odometer numbers cannot be cleaned, but they are readable. The plastic surround had been very badly painted with a spray can - drips everywhere. It was so bad I had to strip the paint off. This isn't a great idea as the stripper can soften the plastic, but it worked ok since I rinsed the stripper off after a short amount of time. It still took a good bit of sanding. I cleaned the glass VERY carefully.


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Nice, especially the "VERY carefully". What exactly did you lubricate and what with, out of interest?
A few years ago I pulled the drive out of the speedo cable housing, cleaned it and gave it the lightest smear of chassis grease (as advised by a speedo cable manufacturer here) and that slightly improved things too.

 

[Stan W]

I used a light synthetic oil on the rotating part and the needle pivot points. I used a "plastic safe" grease on the odometer gear. The lubricants were made for model trains. I put some of the light oil down the speedometer cable a while back - a little bit every now and then until it wicked down into the cable.
My temperature gauge seems to read a little low (based on an infrared non contact thermometer). I need to check the voltage on my converter - it probably needs to be tweaked now that the electrical system is operative. I suppose I should set it for 6.6 volts. If you look carefully at the last picture, you can see my first try at making a radio delete plate. I am not happy with it, so I will make another. It is just a decal on a piece of clear acrylic.

 

[Stan W]

I have a little more information on the history of the car. The family that had it for many years did not buy it new and I don't think they actually registered it. Here is what I received:
"As the family lore has it, my grandfather bought it for $25 in 1970 when I was born - for me! Since it was a French car and my name was Lee they called it the Lee Car - a la Le Car. My Grandfather and my dad got it running and used it to hall firewood in the 70s and just drive around occasionally. It was parked for a long time after a few mechanical issues and loss of time to care for it. My grandfather died in 1981. It remained in my grandma's garage until she passed in 2003."

I don't think it will be possible to trace the history of the car before 1970, but I can try to get the title history from North Carolina. I have the complete title history back to 1997, the state might not have anything else. They did for both of my MGAs - everything back to the paperwork from the original dealer. I can only hope! I will mail in the request tomorrow. Here is the only picture I have from circa 1970:

 

[Stan W]

The family that had the car for many years is very excited that I am restoring the car. They always wanted to restore it, but it never happened. It has sentimental value to them - that's why it survived. I am really glad that they know about the restoration. Hopefully they will come see it when finished.

I am starting to work on the left rear fender. There was a substantial bowl shaped dent at the crease where the bottom of the fender turns under. I carefully bumped that out. Nothing fits too well on the rear fender yet. The worst is at the very bottom at the back. How well should it fit here? It probably doesn't matter too much unless you stand on your head to look at the car. The fender arch bead is cracked in one place.

 

[JohnW]

The family that had the car for many years is very excited that I am restoring the car. They always wanted to restore it, but it never happened. It has sentimental value to them - that's why it survived. I am really glad that they know about the restoration. Hopefully they will come see it when finished.

I am starting to work on the left rear fender. There was a substantial bowl shaped dent at the crease where the bottom of the fender turns under. I carefully bumped that out. Nothing fits too well on the rear fender yet. The worst is at the very bottom at the back. How well should it fit here? It probably doesn't matter too much unless you stand on your head to look at the car. The fender arch bead is cracked in one place.

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They aren't brilliant down there but I think should be a wee bit better than yours. When we get home I'll try and remember to get you a photo of mine, but not to show what perfection looks like! It's not an area people look at much.

 

[Stan W]

The rear fender mounting flange has a number of spots that have an accordion shape from the original shaping of the metal. When the fender was damaged, these spots unrolled a bit. The lower rear inboard is the worst. I made a few cuts in the flange to help put it back in the correct shape and will use a small doubler to secure. There are a couple of other undamaged spots that really need a small re-enforcement also. The crack in the fender arch will also have a doulber welded in on the inboard edge to avoid distorting the surface of the fender.

 

[Aln]

Regarding the rear fender fit, mine is quite similar to yours. I am sure with a lot of effort it could be improved, but it is low and virtually under the car so difficult to see, so I have left mine as it was.

Hopefully my car will get a colour coat of paint in the next few weeks, so I can start the long process of reassembly.

 

[Stan W]

I cut four little pieces and welded them in. Now the back of the fender fits and it is very stiff when bolted to the car. I will continue getting the shape correct once I receive my shrinking disc. I got my tie rod end removal tool. The quality was terrible, but it did work. The new steering rack boots are installed.


It is cold here today, but I went out to work on the 4cv anyway. Some friends came over to watch....

 

[Stan W]

I have welded in seat belt mounts and installed the seat belts. I finally received my shrinking disc. It is amazing! I had already worked the rear fender out as much as possible. The pictures don't show it well, but the metal was very stretched and lumpy. After a few hours of hammer, dolly, and shrinking work, the rear part of the fender is so straight that I am not sure it needs any filler. The fender is even better than the final pictures show. I still have to finish the leading edge near the air intake.

 

[Stan W]

I finished the metal work on the left rear wing. I did end up giving it a skim coat of filler to reduce the number of coats of primer/surfacer. The right rear wing is next. I removed several pounds of bondo using paint stripper. There are many large dents that were filled and not hammered out. Weld repairs to the fender bead have distorted the edge.

 

[Stan W]

The left rear wing has two coats of primer, but I still have a little work to do above the center of the wheel - there is a slight high spot. I had to cut the re-enforcing piece at the rear of the right wing (a bad repair from long ago). It was holding the wing in the wrong shape. The picture shows the problems at the front. It fits a lot better now. The spot above the wheel that was welded appears to be a rust repair caused by a big gob of undercoating.

I found a metal supplier that has everything I could possibly want at great prices. They are only an hour away, so I don't have to pay shipping. The company supplies material to a lot of NASCAR racing teams along with custom/restoration shops and individuals. I bought a 2 foot x 4 foot piece of 22 gauge sheet metal to make patch panels for the front wings and the right rear. I will have to cut part of the bead out along with a little of the wing above it. I stared working out the dents with good results.

 

[Stan W]

More work on the right rear wing. Every bit of previous repair work and welding had to be undone.
I made a pattern for the flange which holds the wing to the rear of the car. A new flange was made and welded to the wing. It fits at the back now!
The patch over the wheel was formed over a metal rod bent into the correct shape. I had to attach a strap from the front of the wing to the front suspension to pull it into the right position before welding. It is finally starting to look right. There is still a LOT of stretched metal.

 

[JohnW]

Very impressive work Stan and out of my league! When I had this almost exact problem it took me two days to find a replacement, an undamaged mudguard from a car wrecker in South Australia. This thought leads me to ask whether you know how many 4CVs were actually sold in USA? We got about 14,000 so there are still wrecks around from which some parts can be salvaged.

 

[schlitzaugen]

Geez, this is never ending! Where did you fid this car, again?