V8 Body Off...

[cweeden]

I am most of the way through the to-do list to separate the body from the chassis but I am a little concerned about the steering column and the short shaft that pokes up through the floor, in particular how does this behave when I start lifting the body?

I have undone the pinch bolt but can't slide the lower short shaft out of the joint, should I before lifting or does it just slide out and then pivot into a vertical position or does the chassis have to slowly move forward as the body is raised?

You can see the shaft in the picture below as it comes up out of the floor. @Barrykearley, @mike_sekinger any words of wisdom?

 

BTW I managed to get the 4 pedal box bolts out without too much trouble in the end. @mike_sekinger your suggestion of going in via the fuse box made the first two very easy with a small ratchet and extension bars. The other two came out using a hex key adaptor and ratchet spanner wedged in place with some masking tape. You can just make out the blurred bolts in the first image below and the ratchet spanner fixes the problem of a lack of space. 👍

 

 

I was able to disconnect the oil coolers surprisingly quickly...   😇

 

And the gear lever came out after a little bit of advice from @Mightymetro, lift all the trim (and the rubber boot) and undo the single pinch bolt and pull the level out. 🙂 

 

cheers

-Chris

[Fridge]

I expect the principal is very similar to removing the body of an S1, but a lot more pipework etc.

I would recommend removing the steering UJ. Marking it's position beforehand, as they are orientated (on the G cars at least).

Good luck.

[mike_sekinger]

Good progress.

Once the pinch bolt is removed, it will just slide out as you start to lift the body. It's just left to rest against the chassis.

Getting it back in is less straight-forward 🙂

[cweeden]

Question for @Barrykearley, @CHANGES and @mike_sekinger or anyone else who knows the answer. 🙂 

I think I have everything disconnected (including the water recirculating pump which I nearly missed) but as I raise the body the chassis lifts with it and seems to be connected around the rear of the tunnel near the seat belt mounts. I'm pretty sure I've got all the bolts out from the tunnel but wondering if there are any bobbins or sleeves that need to come out as well?

I've taken out one bolt from each side of the tub through the leading edge of the passenger and driver's side foot wells, another each side of the centre tunnel in line with the trailing edge of the wheel arch and the the two securing the seat belt mounts (and the rear bulkhead captive bolt brackets, the two in the rear of the chassis, the two at the very front of the chassis and the pedal box bolts and steering column pinch bolt, all hoses, brake lines and electrical connections etc). 

Have I missed something or is it a case of be brave and use a little persuasion to break the bond between them?

I was looking at @mike_sekinger's chassis pictures and there seem to be a few turrets on the side of the chassis near the captive nut for the seat belt, what are these for? Not more bolts I hope.

cheers

-Chris

[Barrykearley]

Have you disconnected the fuel tank lower link pipes? Removed the earth straps ??

you have done the 4 bolts behind the seats havent you

[cweeden]

33 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

Have you disconnected the fuel tank lower link pipes? Removed the earth straps ??

you have done the 4 bolts behind the seats havent you

Yup, all of those have been taken care of. I think it might just either be gripping the chassis or a little sticky perhaps??? 

[Barrykearley]

Try gently lifting the rear first and seeing if it lifts 

[Barrykearley]

Is the engine in or out ??

[cweeden]

The engine is out.

Turns out there are two bolts just in front of the seat belt bolts, I thought the seat belt bolts were the chassis bolts at that point. So that was the problem there, however it is a game of resolving one issue and moving on to the next.

There is something holding the chassis to the body at the front right corner. I suspected it was the steering column at the U/J but I've opened up the pinch a little and given it a little squirt of penetrating fluid to help it slide, it doesn't feel as it there is much pressure on it to be honest. I can wiggle the lower part of the shaft and it rattles the U/J which I wouldn't expect if it was supporting the front corner. 

The pedal box bolts are out, the brake pipes are undone and out of the way and the two little bolts into the support plate where brake pipes pass through the body have been removed. The two bolts that go through the top support rail right at the front are out and so are the two foot well bolts (and the earth strap on the passenger side).

It's properly holding on too, it will lift the front wheels off the ground without any nasty noises (only a brief check just to see if I was being a wimp). It lifts the drivers side clear first though and there is a small gap on top of the support beam on the passenger side, so it's all pointing to something around the drivers side foot well.

Any other special tricks for the steering column that I've missed or bolts in that area? 

cheers

-Chris

[Barrykearley]

There’s a bolt each side in the footwells which go forwards through the chassis.

[cweeden]

Yup, they were actually the first to go, so it's not them. 🤔

[CHANGES]

Have you got the two vertical bolts infront of the gear leaver under the radio consul on yours,   these are 17mm AF and can be extreacted without taking all the center counsul out but a bit fiddly ...  Not  fitted  to all models ,,  worth looking at from what you describe   ..   See pic with little red flags showing position 

[cweeden]

😬

Thanks Dave, I'll investigate those tomorrow.

cheers

-Chris

[cweeden]

Hmm, well I don’t think I have those bolts on mine. From your pictures @CHANGES they are just behind the lower forward mounts. On the passenger side there is a bar that is bolted in at the bottom and runs vertically up under the dash, so the lugs would be just behind this bar and they are not (having investigated via the radio aperture). 
I think I’ll need to lift the front with a jack and have a good look under there but I’m sure I’ve not missed anything that’s been mentioned so far. 

cheers

-Chris

[CHANGES]

1 hour ago, cweeden said:

(having investigated via the radio aperture).

You won't see them from the radio aperture ,  you will need to remove the lower sections to see in .. they won't stand out easy you will need to look for them ..  use the pic i posted as a guide .  They will be circa 3'' back from the vertical point of front side mount bolts ..   If you try to lift and they are attached you will rip the section of you GRP chassis tunnel away ..    The body should lift very easy when all bolts are undone ,   When you have lifted 1'' or so you may need to move chassis forward 1/2'' to clear the front top wishbone pivot bolt , which can catch in the recess adjacent to them..  

[cweeden]

Sorry Dave, I should have explained that I was able to get my hands in through the radio aperture and have a good feel about and take a bunch of pictures. I took reference from the steady bar that comes straight up from the lower chassis fixing and fully explored where I'd expect them to be plus all the way forward to the heater and all the way backwards to the rear of the lower switch panel, I am certain I do not have the top of the chassis fixings that are in your picture. I am curious about the captive nut on the top of the front suspension turret, I don't think I have one of those and it doesn't look like Barry's chassis has one either, Mike's has been modified there for his pesky shocks so not much help. I was hoping I'd find an extra bolt there but I haven't. I have been under it again and inside it and still the steering column has no tension on it but the chassis still rises at the front with the body. 🙄

 This is Barry's, not sure what the black thing on top of the shock is but the fillet with the captive nut isn't there.

[Barrykearley]

Try lifting the front first - the pedal box mounting holes and the rack column caught on mine the first attempt of lifting and pulled the front wheels up. Just needed a firm wobble and some swear words to jiggle it free

The black this is some grommets if i remember correctly that I stuck there when I was doing chassis pipes 

[mike_sekinger]

You don't have those fixings on the top of the backbone.

[cweeden]

I think it must be just wedged. It has moved about 1/4 of an inch at the front so doesn't suggest it's being held fast by a couple of bolts anywhere. I'll do some gentle jiggling tomorrow and see if I can get it to move any more. Thanks for all the helpful feedback. I'm just a little worried that if it's this tricky to separate how hard is it to marry them back together later. 😖

 

[mike_sekinger]

As Dave mentioned, once you have a little clearance between the backbone and tunnel you will need to move the chassis forward to clear the rear wishbone pivot bolt.

Mine lifted off very easily, as should yours being the very same model.

[cweeden]

Well after a little brave pill I lifted the body until the front wheels were just off the ground. I put some pressure on the drivers side front wheel and wobbled it a bit which wobbled the chassis and the body a little. I kept up the pressure and could hear some very gentle creaking (not cracking) and waited, I few moments later the chassis dropped to the floor and was essentially free. I was then able to lift little by little and check carefully as the body came away, keeping a close eye on the area Mike ringed in red above. This is very tight, the chassis bumping into the fan shroud and the bolt not fully clear, so a little flexing of the shroud was necessary but nothing excessive. Beyond that point it was plain sailing, I have no idea what was holding it up, nothing obvious. Many thanks to all for the hand holding and advice. 🙂 

 

[cweeden]

Going through DeRoure to make a list of what items I need to replace plus those I'd change if they were cheap enough.

I don't think I'll replace the plate that holds the brake pipe unions as it goes through the body with an original Lotus item, they're sold out anyway, which I'm somewhat surprised at after seeing the price.

This is the plate...

And here's the price... 😱

If anyone wants to buy an original one, I have a second hand one for sale at half the price of an original. 🤣

cheers

-Chris

[Mightymetro]

Get it in some citric acid 😁

[cweeden]

Ha, look at the original shocks on my car, Lotus are either a bit cheeky or keen not to waste anything. Anyone else got Tenneco shocks (or even heard of them?). 😬

[mike_sekinger]

Tenneco own Öhlins Racing 🤣